Werewolf

**Related To:** | Humans

**Werewolves** are shapeshifters who have the ability to transform from an ordinary human appearance to a partially-lupine form.

## History

Werewolves first came to be by magic 2,000 years ago by the first Witch Neena.

Some tribes actually thought they could turn into any animal they wanted by putting on the skin of the animal they wanted. These people were known as Skin-Walkers or Berserkers. They could be classed a Werewolf, if using a wolf skin.

In eighteenth century France, in the province of Gévaudan, the most vicious werewolf that ever lived, a serial killer, transformed and began to ravage the surrounding area, killing his way up to 500 people. But was slain by Marie-Jeanne Valet. From then on particularly, werewolves came to be vilified as monsters of legend.

## Description

* Creation
* Culture
* Packs
* Transformation

There are a few different ways to become a werewolf:

* **Born Werewolf:** - If someone is bitten by a werewolf, the gene then passed down through the bloodline children who are born werewolves.
* **Werewolf Bite:** Alpha Werewolves can turn humans by transmitting their saliva through wounds such as bites. If the human survives the attack, they will transform into a werewolf during the next full moon.
* **Werewolf Copulation:** If a women becomes pregnant with werewolf children, she inherits their typical traits and, at the end, becomes a true werewolf. This transformation is faster than in those who are bitten.

Having been in existence for generations, the werewolves, alongside their neighboring shapeshifters, have their own culture and social customs, protocols and rituals.

Despite this code of loyalty and protection, werewolves are still a predatory species. They are shown to be not just competitive but violent by nature.

Werewolves face from the Werewolf Hunters, all werewolves are trained to know what to do if they are confronted by Hunters-- fight their way out, hide somewhere away from the rest of the pack so as to not lure the hunters to their den, and heal. This puts enormous pressure on the individuals in the werewolf community to do everything possible to learn control over their transformations so they don't risk exposing themselves to the human population and hunters alike.

In the earlier times, due to the active threat of the hunters, werewolves have sought to survive by loosening their ties to humanity and embracing their animalistic bloodlust to hone their abilities, evolve and become stronger. This survival-of-the-fittest mentality is steadfastly believed in by the more corrupt and depraved of shapeshifters

Werewolves can also be drawn towards and aroused by the concept of having power. Specifically of having alpha rank, so killing an alpha to usurp his alpha spark is a common crime in the international community of werewolves. More to the point of gaining power. Conflict and skirmishes between rival packs in the manner of a war between gangs for political reasons and survival also occur.

The majority of werewolves generally do not get along with hunters of the supernatural as they are a prime target for hunters especially since the bloodbath by the Beast of Gévaudan. Most of them are erstwhile enemies of the hunters. Vendetta is also common occurrence amongst the werewolf population mostly due to the hunters' warning and threats and they will symbolize this with the spiral symbol.

There is a strong cultural belief among the international werewolf families that their lycanthropy and canine abilities bind them together in a strong sense of familial unity. Like normal people, werewolves are a social race. They have an instinctive camaraderie and kinship towards their fellows. The majority of the canine shapeshifter community belong to a pack. All members of the international community of the shapeshifters, even the lone wolves, respect this hierarchy

* Werewolf packs are typically made up of one alpha (male or female) and a group of Betas either turnered by the Alpha or the previous Alpha or they joined the pack.
* The Alpha is the one who leads and makes all decisions that the entire pack follows.
* Werewolves become physically stronger and more powerful once they join a pack.
* Pack membership is voluntary but failing to join most often leaves the werewolf without allies and therefore weaker and a Rouge

It is also not unusual for lone wolves to seek out packs to join for refuge, for help in learning control of their animalistic aggression and blend in with human society more efficiently. In other cases, visitors could offer their aid to packs in need, though the primary reason will mostly be because of this instinctive need for companionship. It is uncommon for a werewolf to live and operate alone by choice but still an occurrence.

The initial, most basic shifts in physiology for a werewolf are a change in eye color, lengthening their claws and their teeth morphing into fangs.

The most comm werewolf transformation, as well as the most practical is a near-human shape that includes all of the above features. Further features consists of a ridged brow, an alteration of body or facial hair including sideburns on their cheeks, a lengthening and sharpening of their ears, as well as the ability to run using a combination of their hands and feet.

As werewolves grow in experience or if they were to undergo an Evolution, they can develop the ability to shapeshift further. An alpha is supplemented in this talent due to the spark of power they wield. Depending on their power and character, a wolf's transformation could manifest as either an quadrupedal beast, or an bipedal wolf-man.

Some werewolves are able to shift into a full wolf form, but this ability is extremely rare. A shapeshifter with this ability is the most powerful form of werewolf, their abilities, strength, speed having reached their zenith. To be able to shapeshift into this form, a werewolf must find the balance between their humanity and their wolf ability. This form can be achieved after evolving.

They have some obvious abilities humans do not.

* ***Voice*** ~ They're able to use their voices to snap fellow Pack members out of non-responsive states such as a purely animalistic bloodlust or a health-related unconsciousness. The most particularly common werewolf voice is the roar of an Alpha, with is used to restrain, or force the shift upon, other lesser canine shifters.
* ***Fangs*** ~ The extension of fangs, is one of the first steps in a shapeshift for a werewolf. The fangs can be used as a werewolf's last resort defense mechanism. The fangs are most commonly used by alphas to transform a human into a new werewolf through the Bite or to wound other were-creatures and hinder their healing.
* **Claws** ~ Claws, along with fangs, are one of the first shifts in morphology to take place when a werewolf shapeshifts. The fingernails thicken and become hooked and pointed. A werewolf's claws are their primary instinctive offensive tools, like how fists are for human beings. Alphas, using their claws, can hinder the healing factor of other beings. An Alpha's claws can also be used to transform a human into a were-creature with a scratch, similar to the Bite, though it is less effective. Werewolf claws are also used in the process of Memory Manipulation.
* ***Hearing*** ~ The hearing of a supernatural creature is far more acute than that of a human's both in frequency range and distance. A shapeshifter individual will be able to listen to conversations, and pick up sounds several yards away from their position, they can hear through walls, and track movement. Normally when they discover this ability, one will feel simply uncomfortable, just picking up the most random sounds in their vicinity and in some cases be overwhelmed by all the different noises. Eventually when they learn to control and mask this talent, they can simply hone in and listen to one single sound they'd like. Using their hearing, one will be able to search an area, or a crowd of voices to discern a particular object of their interest. One downside of this concentration is that one will be harmed by a loud sound just close to the individual. Because they can hear someone's heart, a being with supernatural hearing will be able to discern when one could be lying because of the jump in said person's heartbeat that bolsters the deception.
* ***Smell/Scent*** ~ The supernatural sense of smell of a particular being is far more keener than that of a human's. A supernatural sense of smell seems to be as more keen by an order of magnitude, similar to a dog. Canine shapeshifters can track individuals via their scent, much like a bloodhound, and so they are effective trackers. They can also smell illness. Their sense of smell can be so refined they are able to detect emotions - anger or fear. They do this by picking up chemosignals - chemical signals that communicate emotion, which an individual can give off via their scent, allowing them to identify the hormonal changes that person exhibits, or has exhibited at specific locations in the past.
* ***Sight/Vision*** ~ There are both internal and external changes to the eyes of a supernatural creature. Initially, the eyes will glow in response to emotion. Supernaturals will often identify themselves by flashing their eye color. A supernatural creature with enhanced vision will more acute than a human's, and in more ways than one, including binocular vision or infrared. Said beings with a supernatural eyesight will possess glowing eyes that is reflective of their species. They have night vision like most predators, being able to see well in low light as well as binocular vision. While provoked into a state of aggression, or in a state of bloodlust, a were-creature's vision will be internally depicted as red.

## Moon Aspect

Werewolf biology for both females and males is greatly influenced by the moon and her phases. Each werewolf is bound to the phase of the moon under which they first transformed. During that phase they are especially drawn to assuming the transitional form. Werewolves with insufficient, and some may say unnatural, willpower are irresistibly compelled to assume the transitional form during the height of their moon phase. There are also other, behavioral changes that occur preceding one's moontime. A werewolf approaching their moontime will become increasing irritable, emotional and aggressive, much like a female entering her menses. It is common practice for werewolves to go on religious retreats during their moontimes.

### **Full Moons**

Because a werewolf gains their power from the moon, full moons (and especially on supermoons, when the full moon is even closer to the Earth than it normally is) are when they are at their strongest. However, this also means that their animal instincts and heightened aggression are at their peak as well, which makes them much more likely to lose control and harm or kill someone by accident. This makes werewolves vulnerable to exposure and also makes it easier for them to be captured or killed by hunters, which is why hunters do the majority of their hunting on full moons when werewolves are most likely to make a mistake. Due to this risk, most werewolves are trained to control themselves on a full moon, typically by using an "anchor" to help them retain their humanity.

An anchor can be a person, a relationship with a person, an emotion, an object, a mantra, or even just their own sense of self.

Werewolf packs may also have their own methods of training their Betas to maintain control over their lycanthropy.

Until werewolves gain full control of their transformations on full moons using their anchors, they are typically restrained in some way to prevent them from running wild, loose and attacking people. Ideally, this involves locking the wolf in a secured room, like a boiler room, which has a strong enough construction to withstand the werewolf's heightened strength; another method involves tying them up with large amounts of heavy chains, though this is not always strong enough to keep a full-moon-crazed werewolf at bay and is not ideal for long-term use. Werewolves who already had anger issues prior to being turned can often have a much harder time learning to control their shifts than the majority of werewolves because a werewolf's anger is already heightened to begin with, and it is usually the trigger for an involuntary transformation.

Supermoons, or full moons that are especially close to the Earth, only make werewolves even stronger and more bloodthirsty and aggressive than on normal full moons; they can feel the effects strongly even during the day when exposure to moonlight is at a minimum, increasing the amount of time during this moon phase that a werewolf must work to resist the moon's influence.

## Werewolf Hierarchy

* Alpha
* Beta
* Delta
* Rouge

The Alpha is the highest ranking member of a shape-shifter's wolf pack and its leader. Alphas are distinguishable by their glowing crimson-red eyes. They draw on the shapeshifters in their packs as well, giving them additional strength with every member they turn or have join their pack. The injuries they inflict on lower-ranking werewolves takes much longer to heal than a normal wound would because of the additional power they possess.

**Responsibilities**~ As the leader, the Alpha holds absolute control over his pack members, allowing the whole pack to act as a single unit in fights, emergencies and when otherwise needful, eliminating any delay between an order and its execution. The Alpha wolf can choose his most trusted companions to become his second, also known as Beta, and third. Both are then subsequently given the responsibility to lead the packs if the Alpha is unable to.

**Alpha Voice**~ The Alpha voice is an ability that only a genetic or elected Alpha shape-shifter possesses. An Alpha shape-shifter can use his Alpha voice to command his pack members in both human and wolf forms. Once an Alpha shape-shifter gives orders to members of his pack, his orders are obeyed blindly. The pack members cannot directly disobey commands even if they are in disagreement. This ability, however, is limited to pack member and cannot influence a genetic Alpha shape-shifter.

**Becoming an Alpha** ~ Werewolves can gain the rank of Alpha in four different ways, including by inheritance, by killing another Alpha and stealing their powers (which is one of the most common methods), or, in extremely rare cases, by ascending due to sheer force of will.

**Types of Alpha's**

* **Regular Alphas:**Regular Alphas are the most common kind of Alpha werewolf, and usually describe one who has obtained their status by killing another Alpha in battle. Most have a werewolf form that is only slightly more animalistic than their Beta form, but their abilities are significantly greater than the average wolf.
* **Full Wolf Alphas:** Full Wolf Alphas are much less common than Regular Alphas, though they have similar physical abilities such as super strength, speed, agility, and healing. Unlike Regular Alphas, however, Full Wolf Alphas can transform into an actual wolf in addition to their human and werewolf forms.
* **Beast Alphas:**Beast Alphas are somewhat similar to Full Wolf Alphas in that they have a more advanced shapeshifting ability than Regular Alphas, but instead of becoming true wolves, Beast Alphas become a humongous and monstrous animal form, though they retain their human four-curve spine in order to stand upright if necessary. Beast Alphas are also typically very powerful in their beast form
* **True Alphas:** True Alphas are rarest of their kind, and only appear in the werewolf world once every century at most. True Alphas are Beta werewolves whose virtue, strength of will, and connection to their humanity is so great that they can literally will themselves to ascend to Alpha status without inheriting or stealing the power from another Alpha. Because they literally produce their own Alpha "spark," it cannot be stolen by any werewolf unless they were personally bitten and turned by the True Alpha in question-- if a Beta who had no relation to the True Alpha succeeded in killing them, they would remain a Beta. The difference between a "normal" Alpha and a True Alpha is simply how they become Alphas, other than that they are the same and like all Alphas, they can shift into a beast form.

**Known Alpha's**

Beta's of the pack is the Alpha’s second in command. They are defined by there glowing yellow eyes.

Similarly to the Alpha, the "Beta" is able to give orders to other pack members, which they can't disobey, and which are overruled only by the Alpha, if need be. To be promoted, the chosen wolf must be trusted by the Alpha. How the chain of command extends to lower ranking members is unknown, but it may be surmised that it is similar to what is found in wolves. They are usually loyal to their Alphas and to each other, and will defer to their Alpha's judgment in most cases, though there have been instances when a Beta has risen to the occasion and killed their Alpha due to lack of confidence in their leadership or out of thirst for power. The Beta will step up should the Alpha leave the pack or become killed or injured to the point where they can no longer lead a pack of their own.

Deltas are second in command to the Betas, or third in command to the whole pack. Like the rest of the pack they are loyal to their Alpha along with their Beta.

His authority and capabilities are supposedly similar to the ones of a Beta, only of one rank lower than him. Similarly to the Alpha and Beta, the third is able to give orders to other pack members, which are overruled only by the Alpha and the Beta.
Rouge werewolves, also known as "lone wolves," are werewolves who do not belong to a pack. There are many reasons why a werewolf may not have a pack, such as being kicked out or abandoned by their former pack, being the sole survivor of a pack who had been killed by hunters or other supernaturals, or, in rare cases, having chosen solitude over the security of a pack. Because werewolves are naturally drawn to be in packs due to the additional power they gain from it, Rouge werewolves are known to be the weakest and are extremely vulnerable to hunters.They are defined by there glowing crystal blue eyes.

## Powers and Abilities

**Active Powers**

* **Claw Retraction:** The ability to extend and retract sharp claws.
* **Enhanced Roar:**The ability to possess a powerful roar.
* **Enhanced Speed:** The ability to move at extraordinary physical speed.
* **Enhanced Strength:** The ability to have and exert a level of physical strength much greater than that of a normal person.
* **Mind Link:** The ability to develop a mental link with another living being. Werewolves can communicate together when in a pack but only with wolves they have turned or if there biological family are wolves too.
* **Pain Absorption:** The ability to absorb another's pain to aid in their recovery or to comfort them.

**Other Powers**

* **Accelerated Healing:** The ability to heal yourself quickly from most injuries.
* **Canine Control:** Can calm down other canine animals, like dogs, and also, make them attack on command (has the opposite effect on cats).
* **Enhanced Agility:** The ability to possess agility beyond that of a normal member of the user's species.
* **Enhanced Reflexes:** The ability to have drastically enhanced reaction speed.
* **Enhanced Senses:** The ability to possess senses that are amplified beyond their regular function.
	+ **Enhanced Hearing:** The ability to pick up every single sound, and can decipher layer upon layer of noise; has the ability to pick up a conversation from a mile away in a busy city.
	+ **Enhanced Smell:** The ability to detect specific smells, and locate their origin.
	+ **Enhanced Vision:** The ability to see with amazing clarity over a distance.
* **Enhanced Stamina:** The ability to function for long periods of time without tiring or straining oneself.
* **Lunar Empowerment:** The ability to gain strength from moon, this happens only during the Full Moon.
	+ **Lunar Mind:** The ability to revert to a feral mind while under the moon.
* **Predator Instinct:** The ability to possess instincts akin to that of a predatory creature.
* **Retractable Fangs:** The ability to grow fangs, back and forth.

## Weaknesses

* **Electricity:** Werewolves are incredibly vulnerable to electricity, which, for unknown reasons, seems to interfere with the nature of their abilities. For this reason, hunters have been known to use cattle-prod tasers to incapacitate wolves in order to capture them, and will hook them up to car batteries with electrical wires in order to torture them. Lower voltages will simply prevent a wolf from transforming or healing, while higher voltages can easily knock out or even kill a werewolf.
* **Full Moon:** Though being a werewolf is considered a gift in the supernatural community due to the increased strength, speed, stamina, and healing abilities that it provides, it also comes with a price, which is that the werewolf becomes extremely feral, bloodthirsty, and easy to anger on the full moon, when they are at the height of their power. For this reason, werewolves must be trained to control themselves on full moons in order to prevent harm and exposure to bystanders and to avoid the wrath of the werewolf hunters who patrol wooded areas during the nights of the full moon for just such a loss of control.
* **Intense Emotions:** The transformation into a wolf can be easily triggered by intense emotions such as anger, fear, stress, or any other sensation that increases the heart rate, which, especially for newly-bitten werewolves, puts them at risk of losing control and can result in harm to innocent civilians, exposure to the human world, and can also put the werewolf at risk of being killed by a hunter as punishment for anything they did while transformed.
* **Mountain Ash:**When used properly, Mountain Ash can form an impenetrable barrier to keep supernatural creatures in or out. It can also, according to Leo, modify their behavior - keeping them from “causing trouble”. If a building is surrounded by mountain ash in an unbroken circle, a werewolf will be unable to enter it, nor will they be able to leave it if they are in the building when the circle was created. For this reason humans who are *"in the know"* and can safely handle mountain ash use it in order to protect themselves or to create traps for werewolves and other supernatural creatures.It is a result from burning a specific tree. There are four different types of trees that are used to create mountain ash.
	+ ***Eucalyptus regnans*** from Australia, the tallest of all flowering plants.
	+ ***Fraxinus texensis*** from Texas.
	+ ***Sorbus aucuparia***, also known as rowan.
	+ ***Sorbus americana***, from eastern North America
* **Silver:** They are vulnerable to silver, as they can be killed with a silver knife or bullet. Contact with silver will hurt them.
* **Wolfsbane:** Wolfsbane, also known as aconite, is an extremely toxic herb for werewolves, though different strains have different effects. Most wolfsbane will kill a werewolf if it reaches their heart, though it can be cleared by ingesting the ashes of the exact same strain that poisoned them, or by literally burning out a wound that has been made by a wolfsbane-laced weapon. The effects of Wolfsbane vary depending on the type, amount and delivery method. It can cause hallucinations, weaken, render unconscious or kill werewolves.

## Notes

* Bites, scratches and other wounds inflicted by an Alpha will not heal as quickly as other injuries.
* Alphas can, by killing their betas, become stronger.
* Becoming a werewolf can heal scars and cure chronic illnesses like asthma, epilepsy or even cancer.
* In the dark, werewolf eyes seem to react to light like a regular canine with eyeshine.
* Smelling chemosignals allows werewolves to know what someone is feeling.
* Werewolves can control their healing ability to some degree, while they are conscious.
* Some werewolves have the ability to sense illness and, in one case, the onset of an epileptic seizure. This seems to be due to a combination of their "Heightened Senses" working in concert on a subconscious level.
* Some werewolves have so much mastery over their body that they can inhibit their scent. Making them undetectable to other werewolves.
* They are know to have a short temper and an "anger gene" stated by Mary Shield.