Werewolf

The Werewolf--a creature, also known as a lycanthrope, that can turn itself from human to wolf, or into a wolf/human hybrid--are part of the mythology and folklore of several cultures, and have long been a staple of horror fiction. H. P. Lovecraft mentioned werewolves occasionally in his fiction, as did other early writers of Cthulhu Mythos fiction. 
Chaosium recognized werewolves as part of the Mythos in 2007, when it added the creatures to the Malleus Monstrorum sourcebook for tthe Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game. Many of the werewolves in Marvel Comics have a Mythos-connected origin.
== In Lovecraft's Fiction ==
The most extensive treatment of the werewolf trope in Lovecraft's fiction comes in "The Ghost-Eater", a story he revised for C. M. Eddy, Jr., that appeared in the March 1924 Weird Tales. The villain of the story is Vasili Oukranikov, a Russian immigrant in Maine who was said to be "a servant of the devil—a werewolf and eater of men." Travelers in the Maine woods would report "being chased by a big wolf with shining human eyes—like Oukranikov’s." Oukranikov's monstrous identity was confirmed when "somebody took a pot shot at the wolf, and the next time the Russian came into Glendale he walked with a limp." (This identification of a shapeshifter via an injury suffered in animal form is a common folkloric motif.)DanaRehn.com, "Werewolves, Wolves, and the Intersections between Human and Animal", by Dana Rehn, August 25, 2021. The story's narrator sees the werewolf's ghost in "the gaunt form of a great gray wolf" whose "hind foot was held in the air, as though wounded by some stray shot." An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia describes the tale as a "conventional ghost/werewolf story".An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia, "Ghost-Eater, The", S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz (Hippocampus Press, 2004).
Another werewolf reference occurs in a Lovecraft story that appears in the same issue of Weird Tales: "The Rats in the Walls". Delapore, the narrator, notes in that story that the modern residents of the neighboring village of Anchester "viewed Exham Priory as nothing less than a haunt of fiends and werewolves." While the villagers were certainly correct to associate Exham with monstrous activity, it's unclear whether, in the context of the story, this particular identification was accurate or not.
A more substantive account of lycanthropy occurs in the story "The Shunned House" (1928), in which the narrator notes the coincidence that the Roulet family, which is associated with the house's curse, shares both a name and a hometown (Caude, France) with Jacques Roulet, an actual character from French history who was tried and convicted of lycanthropy in 1598.Social History in the Touraine--Central France, "Werewolves in the Touraine--the Case of Jacques Roulet", by Jim McNeill, December 3, 2010. The narrator notes, as an "ominous item in the annals of morbid horror", that the historical Roulet "had been found covered with blood and shreds of flesh in a wood, shortly after the killing and rending of a boy by a pair of wolves. One wolf was seen to lope away unhurt." The story is equivocal about what this says about the reality of lycanthropy: Speaking of himself and his uncle Elihu Whipple, the narrator says, "To say that we actually believed in vampires or werewolves would be a carelessly inclusive statement. Rather must it be said that we were not prepared to deny the possibility of certain unfamiliar and unclassified modifications of vital force and attenuated matter."
Another reference to werewolves by Lovecraft seems clearly metaphorical: In "The Last Test" (1928), a story he revised for Adolphe de Castro, the character Surama emits at his death "a frantic, ululant yelp as of a thousand ghouls and werewolves in torment." It's worth noting, however, that ghouls are certainly real in the universe of the Cthulhu Mythos.
== Averoigne ==
Werewolves, also known as loup-garous, are a defining feature of Averoigne, Clark Ashton Smith's Mythos-linked pseudo-historical French setting. In "A Rendezvous in Averoigne" (1931), Smith's second story to use the setting, a character wandering through the forest recalls "stories of loupgarous and goblins, of fays and devils and vampires that infested Averoigne." In "The Maker of Gargoyles" (1932), the "great, shadow-haunted forest" is said to be "a place of equivocal legends, of loup-garous and phantoms." The direct route between Ximes and Périgon in "The Beast of Averoigne" (1933) runs "for many miles through the werewolf-haunted forest." (In that same story, the Beast's metamorphosis back into the human it possesses is compared to "a werewolf that returns from its beasthood.")
"The Colossus of Ylourgne" (1934) describes the forest between Vyones and Ylourgne as "the werewolf-haunted forest"--and, later, as "the towering woods that were haunted by robbers and werewolves." At another point, the necromancer Nathaire is said to have retreated to Ylourgne in order to "weave, unmolested, the black spells of a supreme and lycanthropic malice."
Though werewolves are often mentioned in Averoigne stories, they seldom appear onstage. One story that comes close to featuring a loup-garou is "The Mandrakes" (1933), in which the potion-maker Gilles Grenier is reported to have "been driven out of Blois, where all persons bearing the name Grenier were popularly believed to be werewolves." (This may be a reference to Jean Grenier, a famous historical werewolf case from 1603,The Book of Were-Wolves, "Jean Grenier", by Sabine Baring-Gould (Smith, Elder & Co, 1865). though Jean was from Landes, to the southeast of where Averoigne is supposed to be, whereas Blois is to the north.) While Gilles Grenier is noted for his "excessive hairiness," with "hands...black with bristles" and a "beard [that] grew almost to his eyes," "no other signs or marks of lycanthropy were ever displayed by Gilles."
The one incontrovertible werewolf in Smith's Averoigne tales is Malachie du Marais from "The Enchantress of Sylaire" (1941)--the last story Smith published in the setting. Malachie becomes a werewolf by drinking the water of a pool "cursed from old time with the infection of lycanthropy"--either because he was tricked by the enchantress Séphora, his lover who had grown tired of him, or by his own choice "out of evil curiosity." 
In wolf form, Malachie's fur is "a glossy bluish-black," and he is "far larger than the common grey wolves of the forest." As a human, his "hair grew almost to his brows, the beard nearly to his lower eyelashes," and "his arms, legs, shoulders and chest were matted with bristles." He can regain his human form during the dark of the moon, and briefly at other times by chewing the root of a rare plant "that somewhat resembled wild garlic." It's noteworthy that when Anselme sees the huge wolf, his first thought is that it might be a werewolf, but then, "He had heard many tales of werewolves, who were reputedly common in medieval France."
== The Black Kiss ==
In "The Black Kiss" (1937), credited to Robert Bloch and Henry Kuttner, Dr. Makoto Yamada--a student of "psychic lore"--asks the protagonist Graham Dean: "Why do you suppose folklore abounds with tales of men who have been able to change themselves into beasts--werewolves, hyenas, tigers, the seal-men of the Eskimos? Because these tales are founded on truth!"
But he adds: "I do not mean...that the actual physical metamorphosis of the body is possible, so far as we know. But it has long been known that the intelligence—the mind—of an adept can be transferred to the brain and body of a satisfactory subject."
==Call of Cthulhu RPG==
In the Call of Cthulhu game, Werewolves are humans which take a partly lupine humanoid form or a full wolf form. An individual may be cursed, turning into a werewolf at the full moon, and perhaps be unaware of the curse. Persons may be able to control the metamorphoses, and some even glory in the transformation. They propagate the species through the saliva by biting. Werewolves are able to regenerate, but can only be killed by silver weapons or fire.
==Marvel Comics==
Supernatural werewolves in the Marvel Universe are usually tied in one way or another to Chthon, who is depicted as a Lovecraftian Elder God. Some Marvel werewolves were created directly by Chthon's magic, while others were cursed by the Darkhold, a grimoire written by Chthon.
A lineage of werewolves known as the Wolf Men was created in 18,000 BC by aliens in the Savage Land, using a combination of science and Chthon's magic.Marvel Database, "Wolf Men". Other werewolves were created later, perhaps as a gift from the Elder Gods.Marvel Database, "Werewolves".
Such creatures are depicted in Marvel lore as having regenerative healing and superhuman strength, reflexes, speed, agility, stamina, durability, and senses. Their transformations are controlled by the phases of the Moon, which also influences how feral they become. Marvel werewolves have the ability to pass on their curse via a bite or scratch, as well as transmitting it from parent to child.
Werewolves can also be created in Marvel Comics via scientific means; such werewolves lack a Mythos connection.
==Gallery==
Werewolf (Paizo).jpg|Werewolf (Pathfinder) 
Werewolf, Conan (Modiphius).jpg|Werewolf (Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of)
BrokenMoonWerewolf.jpg|Werewolf (Broken Moon)
Werewolves-TheDoomThatCameToGotham.jpg|Werewolves (Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham)
Werewolf-CallOfCthulhu.jpg|Werewolf (Call of Cthulhu)
Werewolf-CastADeadlySpell.jpg|Werewolf (Cast a Deadly Spell)
== References ==
Category:Earth-Native Species
Category:Species Originating From Lovecraft Circle Works
Category:Species Incorporated From Folklore, Myth & Religion
Category:Other Supernatural Beings