I see a unnaturally muscular creature on two legs with Jet black fur and white eyes. The hair on the head flows back into a wild mane, while the face has shorter finer hair. Actually...The best description for me is the werewolf that Hugh Jackman turns into in Van Helsing...That was a good werewolf.

Well, since it's no general concept of transformation I'd give what I did to my story.

Shape shifting = Involuntary; effected by moon.

Size = like human form. In my opinion werewolf shouldn't getting bigger as a wolf than as a man. Where could the mass come form? If we stick to Einstein; it needs Tsar Bomba's energy for werewolf to getting bigger like it showed in T.V.

Shape = I stick to old lore about man turning into a wolf, I always describe a werewolf as look exactly like a wolf but massive as it's man size.

Color = Fur color is the same as hair, since my character is blond, my werewolf is yellowish cream.

Eye = Since eye color is importance to my story. I keep it like human form. (It's green)

Sense = I keep it the same as human form but even in human form her olfaction is unearthly sharp. She can pick one's scent among thousands from miles away. She sense people's emotion from change in their scent. her vision is normal; worsen in wolf form. hearing is sharp but nothing significant.

Strength = Tie to moon circle. Strength and speed increase as moon waxing; decrease as moon waning. Though, even on new moon when she's the weakest; she's as strong as good shape adult.

Last edited by Jeanne (2010-11-21 03:53:24)

thanks for the pic now you're in

that makes three all we need is two more
(yes i know i shrunk it but that's because i looked around and realized that there aren't many responces to posts on this site)

Last edited by A-Cursed-Sacrifice (2010-11-23 17:42:24)

shifting: depends on class, were wolf class, involuntary, full moon only, no control at all, half wolfen form. lycan class, can shift voluntarily near full moon, retains control, has the half wolf and full wolf forms (full wolf only on full moon). loup garou class (the highest class) completely voluntary, retains full control, and can out power the other two classes in wolf form, has intense urge to shift on full moon, but not mandatory, and has both forms at will.

size: for the half-wolf form: same hieght as when human, maybe a little taller. for the full wolf form: about the size a real life wolf, depends slightly on the height and preference of the human form, can be about as big as a dire wolf (which, if i recall correctly, head height for those is up to the average man's ribcage). any lost height when going to the full wolf forms is converted into sheer power.

shape: half wolf: the average person with wolf features, snout, tail, fur everywhere and claws. full wolf form looks exactly like a wolf.

color: fur color is generally the same as thier hair color, though the loup garou class can change thier fur color to whatever they want, as long as they concentrate on it being that color BEFORE they shift.

eyes: same as human form, except when thier mad, or if they are the basic werewolf class. then its red.

senses: sharper in human form than the average human, drastically reduced pain reception, faster than normal recovery rate, in wolf form, senses are through the roof.

strength: more than the average human, a 16 year old underweight female can whup a heavyweight fighting champion, but also tied to class. werewolf class is weakest, lycan class is in the middle, and loup garou class is the strongest in any form and tend to be the dominant in thier packs, if its a mixed pack. though some have been known to have an alpha from a weaker class. it's based a little bit on thier personality. if they have a softer, kinder personality, they wont throw around their power as readily. if they have an aggressive personality, they'll use sheer power to get whatever they want. they do tend to be stronger near the full moon.

(shadow, you should!)

I'm considering adding my own descriptive bit here, but I still have to work it out then I'll cut and paste it.  Before I do I'd like to broach a subject involving the transformation of a human into a werewolf.  Like WarChild I too am particuarly fond of the cinema version of the Van Helsing werewolf and I also like to imagine my werewolves growing in size with more than a few extra ponds of muscle.  Let's face it who doesn't like their werewolves looking strong and powerful.  But the issue I find myself tackling on occassion is trying to invent some kind of plausible rationale for where does our were critter attain all that extra mass from apparently thin air?

I'd like to hear what sort of crazy ideas some of you guys can come up with.
I know it can be a challenging concept to develop, but maybe bouncing ideas back and forth we might be able to come up with something decent.

Back when I was a kid I remember having a discussion like this with my father on a rather similar topic.  The character in question was the big green, mean machine we all know as the Incredible Hulk.  He's a perfect example of what I want to know.  If memory serves me right I think my father even suggested a possible explanaition having to do with ectoplasm, which I believe can be termed as some kind of plasmic gel that in theory permeates our universe on a different plain of existance.

Remember the movie Ghostbusters and that gelatin substances Slimer spewed all over someone?  That's a good example of ectoplasm and how you could imagine it looking like if it were taken out of its native realm and forced into physical reality.  This ectoplasm is presumably all around us so what if during the transformation of our Hulk/Werewolf their bodies somehow make use of this material and are able to incorporate it into mass and muscle?  It does kinda of remind me, ectoplasm that is, of what I imagine a clump of amino acids to look like, you know," the basic building blocks of life".

Well that's all food for thought.  I think I'm going to research some ideas now and see what I can find out.  Let's see what you guys can come up with?

Last edited by SilentStrider (2011-01-19 04:49:17)

To bounce this explanation of why out there...

If you look at the character's of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, you see the same base transformation as with the Hulk, and werewolves.
The real question that should be asked is-- What spurred the individual transformations in the beginning?

For Bruce Banner it was the added influence of Gamma Radiation and a latent recessive gene that was activated and enhanced by the gamma radiation. Sadly, the Hulk lost a large amount of Dr. Banner's intelligence and self control. The Hulk very basically began acting on instinct and reacting to the base emotions of Bruce Banner. The chemicals released by the brain that induce anger, fear, love, or any other emotion had a chemical effect on the gamma radiation which was affecting the recessive gene. With any emotion a certain amount of adrenaline is released by the brain, the stronger the emotion is, the larger the dose of adrenaline. I propose that once the recessive trait was mutated, and activated and made dominant by the Gamma radiation. The introduction of adrenaline induced a physical increase in strength as is common in human beings, however it reacted negatively with the mutated gene causing a virtual explosion inside of Bruce Banner which induced the change in size and strength.

In the case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll induced the change with a potion. Eventually, after taking the potion enough times the potion had an adverse effect on his genes causing a similar genetic mutation of a recessive gene making it dominant as found in the case of Bruce Banner. Whenever Dr. Jekyll changed however, his Mr. Hyde personality came out. Mr. Hyde was generally considered evil, but he was also intelligent. Why did that happen? Why couldn't Dr. Jekyll maintain control? Why was Hyde evil, and still intelligent when Bruce Banner wasn't? What was different? The answer is all the same and is very simple. When Dr. Jekyll became mister Hyde, it happened for the same reason as Bruce Banner's change into the Hulk. The introduction of adrenaline into the system of Dr. Jekyll caused a reaction with the mutated gene triggering the change. However, Dr. Jekyll was highly sensitive to any dose of adrenaline, so his emotional state was only half the problem. If you had Dr. Jekyll run on a treadmill for ten minutes, his body wold be producing a certain amount of adrenaline. Any introduction of adrenaline in his case would cause the change into Mr. Hyde. When such an introduction of adrenaline occurs in normal humans it causes us to become more concerned with what we want, we don't think about whats stopping us from getting it, and we do anything to get it, but at the same time we don't lose any of our intelligence.  It only serves to make us even more deadly. Case and point: A mother lifting a car off of her child due to the introduction of adrenaline. In the case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, it is the same as a normal human. The change occurs because of the mutated recessive trait being affected by the introduction of adrenaline sending him into a childlike mentality of, "I want this, and nothing will stop me from having it." If he wants money, he would rob a bank, if he wants sex, he would rape someone, if he wants to fly he will jump off of a building, if he wants to die he would stab himself. Anything Dr. Jekyll is feeling is superimposed onto Mr. Hyde who does everything in his power to get what he wants. For example, Dr. Jekyll is (forgive the crudeness of this next part) attracted to his secretary, he does a couple jumping Jacks and Mr. Hyde takes over and rapes the secretary. He turns back and his need is satisfied. Another example, Dr. Jekyll is angry at his friend who has slept with his girlfriend. A part of him wants to kill his friend, and when Dr. Jekyll is angry he gets a dose of adrenaline making Mr. Hyde come out. Mr. Hyde hunts down and kills Dr. Jekyll's friend. Mr. Hyde is a being of pleasure, and he has the intelligence to achieve that pleasure no matter what the pleasure is thanks to Dr. Jekyll. That is how we explain Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

In the case of a Werewolf you have three base properties as seen with the above two cases. One: Introduction of foreign substance into body. Two: Chemical reaction inside of body.
Three: Recessive trait that is mutated by foreign substance causing change.

The foreign substance is a Wolf bite, or a Werewolf bite. My theory is that a certain rare type of rabies is introduced into the human system via a wolf's/werewolf's bite. This rare type of rabies has a genetic effect on the recessive trait already located in the human body causing it to mutate. The gene becomes dominant, and and is highly reactant to adrenaline.  The moon cycle often has an affect on the human body that usually goes unnoticed. Sometimes it's a bad headache, sometimes you get sick, and other times as in the case of most women you have cramps or go through your period on the dates of or around the full moon. The moons effect on the human body resonates with mutated gene causing the change. The change can also be induced with the introduction of adrenaline into the body. The werewolf itself is merely the rabies imitating it's first host and running wild. Physical changes are common in modern day society namely the three main types of physical change is: Bone restructuring, muscle strength increased, and hair amount increased. To those who have these qualities without the introduction of foreign substance into their bodies, the full change would be quite remarkable. The rabies would mutate the already dominant gene making it more potent and the introduction of moon phase and adrenaline would cause them to become quite the powerful Werewolf.

I submit this as my theory for the change From Human to Werewolf.

that's also my theory for the lycanthropy. not a sickness, but a genetic trait, one that involves a much higher percentage of the brain active, resulting in the shape changing and various other things associated with lycanthropy. and as for the species of them, it hasto do with two things: he family's common species, and the individual's personality. often times the person will be of the same species, but be a different breed. for example, a person born into a family of were-snakes would be a snake, but, if they have, say, a cold personality, they might be a viper or a cobra, if they have a unfeeling killer type personality, they may wind up as an anaconda (which would make thier crimes hard to track, as they may eat their victims more often than not), or if they have a nicer personality, they may wind up as a 'gentler' snake, such as a python or some other black-eyed breed of snake. occasionally, however, if an individual's personality is vastly different from that of thier family's, they may wind up as a different species altogether, but still carry a gene for the family species, and have a bit of the traits of that breed, even if its normally incompatible with thier species. this is also how cross breeds and even cross hybrids are handled: there is mixing of the two breeds in the children, who, based on thier personalities, may have abilities of one or even both breeds, and three or all four in the case of cross hybrids. though it gets unstable if the crosshybrids dont have a single common species. the children will be immune to most diseases that affect humans and the species they carry, but they also will have strange illnesses that only affect them at random times, like randomly fainting or such despite being fine two seconds earlier, and then feeling fine immediately afterwards. though the DNA starts to get highly unstable if you try and mix five or more different species, like say two hybrids with a common species had a child who tied to mate with a hybrid without any similar species, or anything like that. which is why the children of cross hybrids generally try and find someone who at least has a common breed with them, or multiple if they fall for a hybrid. obviously, however, homosexual cross-hybrids dont have that worry...they simply have to keep an eye on thier own health and that of thier mates.

I like your ideas for werewolves, Clair, but the big thing for me that I was trying to figure out was the spontaneous creation of extra body mass.  Where can a shape-changing creature suddenly acquire it?  While I investigated that idea I also realized bigger doesn't necessarily mean stronger.  Below is an excerpt from the link I posted in the above explaining that concept.

"Think about it. Strength depends on the cross-section area of your muscles and bones. It doesn't matter how long they are, it's the thickness that counts. So if you are twice as big, you will be four times as strong (muscles are twice as wide and twice as deep) but eight times as heavy (height times width times depth). Four times as strong, but eight times as heavy? So you will feel only half as strong as before! The bigger you get, the weaker you feel. And it works the other way too. That is why fleas can jump huge distances, but elephants can't jump at all."

This guys solution wasn't about a body suddenly growing the way we would think of growing, which is usually considered to be the multiplying of cells.  Even if it was the case of cells just getting larger then once again where do the cells get all this material from in order to increase their size?  To cut to the meat of it all, and to drop all the other examples of popular suggested methods, the above link was making the point that the transformation wasn't occurring at a cellular level, but rather an atomic level.  The spaces between atoms was what increases as well as the forces that hold them together.  I actually thought the whole concept was quite brilliant and wraps everything up in a nice neat bow.