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What is your thoughts about how a werewolf looks like? There are movies that depict them in different ways. Some shown to have an overall appearance of a wolf, others are shown to be almost human-like. Is there an in between on appearance?

I've seen Underworld (1,2,3) Van Helsing, Harry Potter (can't remember which specific one) and Twilight. Personally, I think the werewolves in Van Helsing were perfect for a humanoid depictation. however, if they are suppose to be human then pure wolf, then i think Twilight nailed it.

yeah i think that they are supposed to somewhere in between.

Well I was thinking more along the lines of Gabriel in Blood and Chocolate ...

so more along the lines of looking like a wolf then , ladydarkrayne?

To a certain extent yes , although in the movie even though it was about werewolves when they did transformed it was more like a shape shifting....
but another great one that I think of as well is the classic American werewolf in London as well.

yeah it seems that there is a lot of different ways that the werewolves walk- upwards or all fours

Yes there is... Just go over movies in my head that were either based on werewolves or had werewolves in them.... in the classic ones The Howling, American Werewolf in London, American Werewolf in Paris Wolfen they all were more human like walking on two legs while in the newer ones like blood and chocolate underwolf, Harry Potter they did both walking on all 4 and walking upright.

Yeah I think that Van Helsing did the best one on werewolves. Making them more of a mixture of a werewolf.

i like the version from blood and chocolate the best as well, its what i would think a real werewolf would look like.

the underworld versions where badass though lol

I forgot about Van Helsing, ya they were pretty cool in that movie as well. I just remember as a kid watching the Howling and seeing the first transformation when he was in the drs. office and that when I was that young was kinda scary. lol

well, I do not believe werewolves exist....however the spelling...but in the books I read I imagined them as looking like wolves.

As mythical creatures there is no one correct answer.

Werewolves look however you imagine them.

Nothing looks the same from diffrent parts of the world.
not even people.no animals in any kind fo same species
looks the same.
same for were wolves or lycans.
Same for vampires.
Thats just it...because it is.

Never seen the howling but I know it's a lycan movie.

Here is a a clip of the Howling and American Werewolf in London of the transformations....enjoy

I like the howling transformation over the American Werewolf In London.

Ya so do I , I have seen all of them lol every once in a while scifi has a Howling marathon on usually around halloween

Well, let us take a gander at the definition of "werewolf" shall we?

were·wolf also wer·wolf (wârwlf, wîr-, wûr-) KEY

NOUN:

A person transformed into a wolf or capable of assuming the form of a wolf.

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ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, from Old English werewulf : wer, man; see w-ro- in Indo-European roots + wulf, wolf ; see wolf

WORD HISTORY:
The wolf in werewolf is current English; the were is not. Werewulf, "werewolf," occurs only once in Old English, about the year 1000, in the laws of King Canute: "lest the madly ravenous werewolf too savagely tear or devour too much from a godly flock." The wer- or were- in wer(e)wulf means "man"; it is related to Latin vir with the same meaning, the source of virile and virility. Both the Germanic and the Latin words derive from Indo-European *wro-, "man." Wer- also appears, though much disguised, in the word world. World is first recorded (written wiaralde) in Old English in a charter dated 832; the form worold occurs in Beowulf. The Old English forms come from Germanic *wer-ald-, "were-eld" or "man-age." The transfer of meaning from the age of humans to the place where they live has a parallel in the Latin word saeculum, "age, generation, lifetime," later "world."

So wer(e) would mean a "disquise" of sorts as in to wear.

Then we have a cross meaning of wer(e) with reference to the term "world (wer-ald/were-eld)" which could mean by definition, a "disguise of two worlds."

Strange that the definition itself does not co-exist with the "hair" feature as depicted by wolves. But don't get me wrong here.

Wolf alludes to the canine counterpart so the hair feature would be established triumphantly in itself.

Could the "disguise of two worlds" literally mean "man beast"? Or simple subterfuge of not looking the normal self in a mental sense? Lycanthrope comes to mind. Being a psychotic disorder alluding to the "were-wolf" syndrome.

Hair or a lack thereof, the definition alludes to more of a costumed image of old nortic folklore and dress code of that period. As seen in the movie 300, where the Northlanders were wearing animal skin for armour.

Thus creating a primitive depiction of a man-beast (skin armor of wolves by the Northlanders).

This is only one possibility.

(Continued from last post)

Source link provided: here

If they actually existed I would have to say more like the classic movie character The Wolfman

Universal Studios version not the Van Helsing version.

Hmm, referring back to the author's orginal question in this thread I believe a werewolf can be depicted by the imagery in the storyteller's imagination and by the dictionary defination kindly supplied by SoulShroude :) I have seen all kinds of drawings of them on this website and each one is quite fearsome in its own right :)

I believe if such a creature did exist it would look like a normal wolf,or maybe a little larger like the prehistoric dire wolf.

Personally I like to imagine werewolves as fully transforming, so on all fours etc etc… but also being slightly different from regular wolves, for example being bigger, more ferocious, and solitary.

There is a lot written about werewolves and how they shift, some totally into a wolf and others just going into a frenzy. Most of the mythology I have read usually speaks mostly of males changing but in movies you see both sexes. Very often in myth the person doesn't change really, they just act like a wolf, howling and such. Cannibalism was the hallmark supposedly in myth of the werewolf and a lot of other things. Now in fiction, it could be anything and when you read old writings they never use the word Lycan this way. They do speak of lycanthropy but they don't refer to the shifter as a lycan. I have only seen this in movies.

I don't like the half form, it's pretty, but I don't like it.

It is representative of poor shamanism, medicine, or storytelling. I think that the transformation to wolf form may start with a costume for some, but anyone with enough practice does not need the costume any longer, to help them asume the form. The half man, half wolf form represents an apprentice, and not someone who has mastered themself, or their audience.

As a ritual, as promulgation, and as an intermediate stage for an apprentice it is beautiful, but to concider it an endstage would seam traumatic to me.

I would say they look more human like than wolf like.
I was recently wondering, since no one has ever actually caught evidence supporting bigfoot, perhaps these so called sightings are more of Werewolves.
The feet , hand and hair samples could be that of a Werewolf and not some primitive ape species at all.
Considering Lycanthropy is a actual diagnosis in the medical realm.

That's true. It seems more reasonable that it would be a lycanthrope instead of a ape-man.

As mythical creatures their appearance is entirely dependent upon the story being told. The wolves in Blood and Chocolate would be out of place in The Howling or The Wolfman. Likewise those iterations would not work in Blood and Chocolate. The appearance fits the story and must help promote the premise of that story. There is room for all iterations.

I think that it's more along the lines of the Van Helsing werewolf.

Van Helsing did a great job, how the werewolf actually looked somewhat human underneath the wolf....amazing.

I love Werewolves! The studies based on them through legend is facinating.
They are highly Spiritual reflected creatures among Native Indians and other world cultures.
I wish more movies were made available of them.
The "Wolf Brothers" of Mexico are the last highly profiled Lycanthropy alive today. The gene is carried by females, but the males have a higher response to developing the wolf like state.

wolf is a wolf i say i dont know that much about them tho so i dont have much of an oppion

Intriguing question, and as the comments indicate iit depends on if you are talking about fantasy/fiction or historical/real.

Fantasy is a lot more permissive. I personally loved Van Helsing and Underworld. I think the FX people love a good werewolf story. One of the more interesting portrayals on a character level rather than makeup level is the British series Being Human. Of course, the transformation scenes on the show are awesome and radically distrubing as well. I can't comment on the Twilight werewolves - I only saw the first movie because of the hype and lost interest. I just can't get into vampires that twinkle.

The historic European werewolf was a human being who turned wolf on the inside - savage, viciously attacking people by ripping, clawing and biting them to death the way a beast would. There were a number of documented attacks, several which included cannibalism as the bodies were partially eaten by said werewolves. The outside came to resemble the inside - long shaggy hair, long ragged nails, stooped posture, little or no clothing, dirt, grime, blood splattered - living in the woods full-time will do that to you. So the half-human half-wolf is historically accurate for Europe.

The morphing into full wolf form is more akin to shaminism.

I think what is far more dangerous is the wolf-beast on the inside and the beautiful, seductive on the outside.

On a more personal note, I think the whole werewolf thing does wolves a mass injustice. I like a lot of things about wolves - they have a high degree of intelligence, a strong social sense, and (something others may not find attractive but I do) they are monogamous, mating for life. Some of the guys who want to be Alpha Wolf kinda miss or ignore the last point.

I think the lable werewolf is misleading as wolves aren't unthinking vicious beasts, but I guess wereweasels just aren't as sexy.

I like the ones depicted in the "Underworld" movies.

Personally I like werewolves and how they are depicted in all the movies..whether they are human-like or more animal-like.

My thoughts of werewolf is back into my infancy, in a place where people talk about them just normal talk. The howling movie was the best impersonation of the transformation. Most of the time, the face of the moon have an effect to change a person into a wolf.

I like the ones in underworld and van helsing... i have always seen them as a human sized wolf something part human part wolf...

The wolves in twilight aren't werewolves they are just shape shifters.

I love wolves, they are extremely intelligent and a close knit family pack. Perfect family in my opinion. We could all learn from them.

I think there are two different species of Werewolves, the Lycanthropy disorder that is genetic and diagnosed of massive hair growth, and those that have the ability to use their will of mind to actually tranform into a wolf.
Native Indians were capable of this, so why is it not able that others can as well.
Either way, I like Werewolves!

Personally, I think of werewolves as something completely different and unique. Their own species in ancient times perhaps. There's too much evidence that supports their existence in the legends and tales all over the world from far flung cultures. I prefer to call them lycans though because 'werewolf' has come to mean some big, hairy, drooling, ravenous monster everyone fears. They get a bad rap that they don't deserve. Perhaps they are a special form some of the gods took to live in our world. People did seem to hold them high in their societies if you look at a lot of native lore from around the world.

What people don't seem to understand though, or atleast not many people, is that 'werewolf' is a loosely fitted term used to describe any kind of shapeshifter. This is done in error because there are several different types.

First, there are lycans, which I've already described. Generally they are larger than average wolf-like creatures with the ability to walk on all fours and on two legs. I believe they are their own species and either went extinct a long time ago or still thrive secretly.

Then there are shapeshifters. A good example of a shapeshifter is a Berserker. Berserkers were Viking warriors who wore the pelts of wolves and bears and believed it would lend them the animals' abilities during their battles. They gathered courage and strength from the animal's spirit.

Finally, there are therians. A therian is simply an animal spirit in a human body. It can be a wolf, bear, cat, duck, bat, raven, whatever. ANY animal spirit. They are often given the 'were' prefix and then the animal's name. Werewolf, werecat, werebat, etc. Some prefer NOT to use the 'were' prefix because of its negative connontations and instead just call themself by the animal's name. One of the few exceptions is a therian wolf. Instead of being called just a wolf, or a werewolf, some of them prefer to refer to themselves as wolfen, as I myself do.

So the term 'werewolf' is far too broad to narrow down to simply one type of appearance, in my opinion.

I kind'a like the concept from the movie, Wolf. The physical transformation is complete but the good or bad heart of the person remains.

in my opinion the kinship does not change the physical appearnce, but what its celestial shape he find changed from human to wolf beast... this is werewolf inside and the nature adopt the wolve's some feature...

I think something like Underworld and van helsing.

I still think a werewolf would be more humanistic then wolfen form.

Shape-shifters are what werewolves are...whether it be into the 4 legged wolf or the wolfman.

To me, a true werewolf has the form of a human for most of the month then it is in its wolf form around the time of the fullmoon. I know it's cliche and what-not, and it's not how the werewolves in my story operate at all lol But that's how I always heard of werewolves being

In my opinion highly psychic energy conscious person when intake the energywhile meditating in late night in open area when moon light is on, it is the perfact condition for subconscious lock and even in deep room cells this happen too. butwhat he see himdel is total beast with the face of dired beast. that time the face become wolf face in vision and the beast is so powerfukl due to intake it is not easy handling when person intke psychic energy while meditating. he get in subconscious lock while he became beast in celestial and remains hous for this position and get intoxicated and love to be the same celestil being... coz its rich condition of full of energy and health and the own celestial viewed just like mirror and the release of energy and subconscious lock while hndling that energy. Subconscious lock is just like you got strong beer not only one cane but its like you become drunk in the swimming pool with nice taste of beer. andthis happen when youeven not wet and not drunk... who will not like this condition wthout having poisoned ofalcohol this much intoxication of energy and subconcious.

repeating this again and again it become the nature of wolf (beast) but not materialistic, it all celestial.

This is my opinion only...

many a time I could not handle psychi energy and started barking in my loneliness and have become suc beast. so forwerewolf my this opinion formed coz else i did notsee werewolf. yes when i was beast my face ws just like wolf but i ws two legged huge beast whose skin was gone and flesh and muscle flesh was appeared in my vision... immediately i had to do relaxing exercise to come out of this intoxicated subconscious lock.

Still say that society should follow along with my definition post, as it steps out of the "fantasy" world that society just loves to live in and gives actual credibility to the subject itself.

It is quite obvious at how impressionable the mind can be, when wanting something to be SO real, that they create an image based upon that belief. As likely as taking things for granted, society seems to do this ALL the time.