Werewolf

**Notice:** This **article** uses content directly taken from the Werewolf **article** at the Vampire Diaries Wiki, and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.

## Species Information

### Related species

* Human
* Evolved Werewolf
* Hybrid
* Tribrid
* Witch

### Book(s)

**An Epic Kind of Love Series (Part 1):*** 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

**An Epic Kind of Love Series (Part 2):**

* 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

**Legacies:**

* 1, 2, 3, 4

### Distinction

* Transform into hyper-aggressive wolves on the night of a full moon, provided their gene has been triggered

**Werewolves** (also called **Lycanthropes**, **Loup Garou**, **Rougarou**, **Beasts**, or even just **Wolves** for short) are a supernatural shapeshifting species of individuals who unwillingly transform into large, fearsome, and extremely hostile wolves on the night of the full moon. They were created by the witch Inadu as revenge against her tribe for killing her. Even in their human form, werewolves possess superhuman physical prowess, though not to the same level as a vampire, and their abilities are not as powerful compared to those they possess on the full moon while transformed. These creatures are the most dangerous enemies of vampires due to their venomous bite, which is lethal to them. Werewolves are also hardwired to kill vampires on sight in their wolf form, though they still hunt human prey whenever there are no vampires to kill.

## Triggering The Werewolf Gene

Lycanthropy is an inherited genetic condition due to a curse, and a person can only be a werewolf if they are born to at least one werewolf parent; they cannot be turned by a bite or scratch. Furthermore, the werewolf gene must be "triggered" by taking the life of a living person or supernatural being, such as another werwolf. This can either be intentionally or by accident, in order to gain access to their enhanced physical abilities, though this comes at the cost of transforming into a wolf during every full moon. Untriggered werewolves, however, can kill vampires without activating their curse.

Because difficult-to-control anger and aggression are common personality traits in even those werewolves who have not activated their lycanthropy, the likelihood of them losing control of their rage and inadvertently triggering their werewolf gene by accidentally killing someone is quite high; it is even speculated that the anger and aggression inherent in werewolves is intended to increase the likelihood that a werewolf will activate their lycanthropy. However, it is possible for an untriggered werewolf to go their entire life without killing; in fact, this happens frequently enough that in some cases, a family's lycanthrope heritage will be kept a secret that will ultimately die with an ancestor, causing the knowledge of their heritage to be lost and remain unknown for generations that follow until a member takes a life and unintentionally triggers their curse; this has happened at least twice in the Lockwood Family's history.

After the gene is triggered, the werewolf's eyes will turn black and gold, and their latent powers (such as increased strength and accelerated healing) will activate instantly; from then on, they will be cursed to painfully transform into a wolf on the night of every full moon (although there are unique circumstances that will prevent a werwolf from having to turn, such as pregnancy (in the case of females), being an Evolved Werewolf, or possessing a Moonlight Amulet). A werewolf who has yet to trigger his or her curse only exhibits one characteristic of lycanthropy: increased aggression and anger on a general basis, which can become overwhelming fits of violent rage leading up to and during the nights of the full moon. Also, until their werewolf genes are activated, untriggered werwolves can be compelled by vampires just like any human. After the gene is triggered, however, they become immune to vampire mind control.

## History

### 500 A.D

A powerful witch, that was known as "The Hollow", cursed the members of her tribe that were responsible for her murder and created the Seven Werewolf Bloodlines. The Hollow was hunted by wolves and was killed on the night of a full moon. These circumstances would cause future werewolves to have to take a human life to activate the werewolf gene, forcing the species to have to painfully shapeshift on the night of a full moon into the very animals that hunted her down.

### The Middle Ages

Werewolves actively populated the New World during the early Middle Ages during the time that Viking invasions began in Europe. Many villages across the land were highly populated by werewolves and they lived alongside one another in villages. They also lived alongside humans, although to protect their human and untriggered loved ones, the wolves made sure that they had access to natural means of protection during the time that they were changed. One of the most notable locations of a werewolf village was in what is present-day Mystic Falls. Beneath the area was a series of tunnels that provided protection for the humans while the werewolves were turned on the full moon. One clear rule of the village was that the humans were forbidden from being around the wolves while they were transformed for their own safety, as a majority of werewolves are unable to control themselves when transformed and could easily maim or kill any non-werewolf species in their vicinity.

A notable event in the history of the werewolves comes with the arrival of inhabitants of the "Old World," where a plague had been devastating the population. The newcomers included Mikael, his wife Esther, and Esther's witch mentor and friend, Ayana, as well as Esther and Mikael's young sons Finn and Elijah. Having lost their first-born daughter Freya in Europe, Mikael and Esther wanted to be able to raise a family in a place free from illness, and Ayana eventually led them to the New World where they could live in peace. The villagers accepted the new family and they became an integral part of the village life, with Ayana acting as the local healer and the conduit to The Spirits. Mikael and Esther, desperate to rebuild their family after the loss of Freya, eventually conceived and gave birth to Niklaus, Kol, Rebekah, and Henrik.

However, when Henrik and Klaus broke their village's rule one full moon night and went to watch the wolves turn, Henrik was accidentally attacked and killed by the turned wolves. Determined to not lose any more family, but also not wanting to move away again, Mikael convinced Esther to tap into Dark Magic to perform a modified version of the witch Qetsiyah's Immortality Spell in order to turn Mikael and their children into nearly-invulnerable beings. Once turned, Mikael and their children gained enhanced strength, speed, reflexes, and healing superior to the werewolves that would ensure their protection from their supernatural neighbors, and their new species eventually became known as the Original vampires. However, the ritual had unexpected side effects, and their newly-turned family's lust for blood eventually led them to inadvertently shatter the peace of their village, as their lack of control over their newborn vampire hunger led to them being unable to resist feeding on the innocent inhabitants of the town.

Shortly after being turned into a vampire, Klaus made his first human kill, which resulted in Esther's darkest secret coming to light; Klaus was not Mikael's son, but instead was the product of an affair Esther had with the Alpha of their village's werewolf pack, Ansel. Killing a human activated Klaus' werewolf gene, which turned him into the world's first werewolf-vampire hybrid. Furious at his wife's betrayal, Mikael slaughtered Ansel - whose pack was also responsible for Henrik's death - along with half of the remaining werewolves in their village, igniting the war that still exists to this day between the werewolves and the vampires. However, enough of Ansel's family survived the attack to continue the bloodline, which still exists into the 21st century.

### Modern Times

According to Jackson Kenner, at least two werewolf packs have been around since what he calls the "beginning," which could be referring to the genesis of the werewolf race - the Crescent Wolf Pack and the North East Atlantic Pack. The Magic Purification Spell that The Travelers performed to break The Travelers' Curse and undo Spirit Magic and other non-traditional forms of magic resulted in Tyler Lockwood's werewolf gene being deactivated. This returned him to an untriggered werewolf, though it did not lift the curse completely.

It was revealed that the werewolves' power can be traced back to the myth of The Unification Ceremony, a ritual that bestowed certain unique abilities onto every member of a pack. At the earliest point of their existence, each werewolf bloodline was distinct - some had speed, some had strength, and some could sense their enemies from miles away, presumably among other unique abilities. It was only after a few centuries of intermarriage that all werewolves ended up having the same powers, which is why there is a lack of diversity in werewolf abilities in the modern age.

It was revealed that there are actually seven original werewolf bloodlines, which evolved into seven packs, six of which are the Deep Water, Malraux, BasRoq, Barry, Poldark, and Paxon packs. It is implied that the seventh pack is the Crescent Wolf Pack. Adrianna went on to explain that she, as a Labonair, is from one of the original seven bloodlines, while Klaus is descended from another.

### Werewolf Genocide

After Mikael decimated the werewolf community in the northeast Atlantic region of the New World, and after Esther died at Niklaus' hands out of rage at her betrayal, the Mikaelson siblings returned to the "Old World" and began traveling from country to country as they followed the Normans, feeding on the locals and turning new vampires as they went. The war between vampires and werewolves came to a head at some point during the centuries afterward, when the vampires discovered that the bite of a werewolf was lethal to their kind. This spurred the vampires to preemptively commit mass murders of werewolves to protect themselves from death at their hands. As a result, the werewolves were driven to near-extinction by these massacres, and vampires who were turned in the period of the time following this Werewolf Genocide began to believe that werewolves were nothing more than a myth or legend.

In reality, many werewolves had survived the gencide, keeping their supernatural identities a secret as they began to reorganize themselves into packs in order to help them evade vampires. These packs, which varied in size from one dozen members to upwards of a hundred, also helped give the werewolves a support system to assist them through their very painful transformations each month during the full moon.

Even still, the mass killings of werewolves has continued on into the modern day, beginning with Niklaus Mikaelson's attempt to create an army of werewolf-vampire hybrids using his blood and the blood of the human doppelgänger, Elena Gilbert, which caused the deaths of dozens of werewolves who then transitioned into werewolf-vampire hybrids themselves. Additionally, a large population of werewolves continues to live in the area surrounding New Orleans. Due to the tensions that exist between the witches, the werewolves, the vampires, and the humans, the werewolf community continues to experience a significant death rate as a result of the infighting between factions.

## Werewolf Settlements

According to Klaus, werewolves exist throughout the United States from the East to the West coasts, though they are not always easy to find. Most werewolves gather in packs, where some of them, like Ray Sutton's pack, remain on the road, only gathering at the full moon so they can turn freely in remote mountains or parks. Nevertheless, some werewolf communities will gather in one place and settle there to create long-term homes in towns and cities where they may make up a significant fraction of an area's supernatural population, such as the Crescent Wolf Pack and The Bayou Pack, who have settled in the greater New Orleans region on the southern coast of Louisiana.

### Mystic Falls, Virginia

Werewolves have existed in the area of Mystic Falls since the late 10th century. When the Mikaelson Family moved to the New World after the "death" of their first-born daughter, Freya, their witch matriarch, Esther, felt so alone as a result of Mikael's emotional distance following Freya's death that she began to have an affair with a man named Ansel, who was the Alpha of their village's werewolf pack. This relationship resulted in the birth of Niklaus, though everyone (except Esther and Ansel) was under the mistaken belief that Klaus was the biological child of Mikael, like the rest of Esther's children.

Years later, their youngest son Henrik was attacked and killed by a werewolf in Ansel's pack when Henrik and Klaus had secretly sneaked out to watch the wolves shift during the full moon. Mikael, not wanting to lose any more of his children, convinced Esther to use a modified version of the ancient Traveler Qetsiyah's immortality spell to ensure that their family would live forever and remain safe from the werewolves. This resulted in the creation of vampirism, as well as The Hybrid Curse, which Esther placed on Klaus using the power of the doppelgänger Tatia's blood to suppress his werewolf side shortly after his first vampire kill triggered his latent werewolf gene. After Mikael learned of Esther's affair with Ansel and his pack's role in Henrik's death, he massacred Ansel and the majority of the werewolf villagers, which set off the rivalry between the werewolves and the vampires that rage on to this day.

Werewolves were presumed to be extinct for centuries until 1864, when George Lockwood at some point triggered his werewolf curse after killing in the line of duty during his time fighting for the Confederacy in the American Civil War; it is assumed that neither George nor the rest of his family, knew the truth about their supernatural status. When George returned to Mystic Falls, he began accidentally killing various townsfolk in his wolf form during the full moons. However, he placed the blame for these deaths on Mystic Falls' sizable vampire population, which led the Founding Families to begin to organize what became known as the 1864 Vampire Round-Up. During the first Founder's Day ball, Katherine Pierce informed George that she knew what he was, and used that information to blackmail him into helping her escape the vampire hunt that the town was planning. In exchange, George wanted the moonstone Katherine had stolen from Klaus centuries prior, which he believed could someday be used to break the mythical "Sun and Moon Curse." They both helped each other by keeping their secrets, and once Katherine escaped town, she never spoke to him again.

During the centuries, various Lockwood family members have triggered their werewolf curse, typically due to the anger issues that came as a result of being a werewolf and being provoked into a fight that turned lethal, such as in the case of Mason and Tyler Lockwood. However, there were many Lockwood family members who never learned of their family's werewolf heritage or triggered their curses, such as Richard Lockwood.

### New Orleans, Louisiana

In New Orleans, in the 1900s, a family of werewolves known as the Guerrera Pack was known to be involved in criminal activity. Members of their crime family made a deal with Elijah and Klaus that would both keep the Mikaelsons' existence in the city a secret while also allowing the Guerreras to profit off of the alcohol that would be smuggled into their ports after Prohibition became law.
In the year 1919, many of the Guerreras were killed by Papa Tunde when they refused to cave to his demands, and he put their heads on pikes as a warning to others of the consequences of not cooperating. In 1925, the rest of the Guerrera Pack, which, at the time, was composed of roughly one hundred members, were killed over a two-day guerrilla-warfare-style attack in 1925 by Marcel Gerard and his vampire army; the only survivor of the Guerrera family was a baby named Gabriel, who was then adopted by another family and renamed Gabriel Correa.
Decades later in the early 1990s, the leaders of the royal Labonair Family, along with the leaders of the other royal bloodline of the Crescent Wolf Pack, the Kenner Family, wanted their children, Andréa Labonair (later renamed Hayley Marshall) and Jackson Kenner to get married in order to once again reunite the Crescents as one after years of infighting over whether or not they should form a truce with the vampires. However, a radical werewolf and former Alpha of the Kenner bloodline within the Crescent Clan, Richard Xavier Dumas, became so furious that Hayley's parents had decided to propose a truce with Marcel that he killed them both while baby Hayley laid in her cradle. Once Marcel realized what had been done to Hayley's parents, he became so angry that he convinced a witch to cast what became known as The Crescent Curse on the remaining Crescent wolves; this curse worked by essentially reversing their nature, forcing them to stay in their wolf form at all times, with the exception of the night of the one full moon a month when they would briefly return to their human forms for the duration. Before the curse was cast, Marcel brought baby Hayley to Father Kieran, who found her an adoptive family out of town so she could escape the supernatural war in New Orleans that had killed her parents.

In 2011, the Originals returned to New Orleans and moved into the Mikaelson Mansion with the tribrid Adrianna Gilbert, one of the last surviving members of the Labonair family who was pregnant with Klaus Mikaelson's hybrid child. She soon discovered that a werewolf was watching her after the witch Sabine Laurent (who at the time was, unbeknownst to anyone, possessed by Céleste Dubois) told her that the wolf was drawn to her due to the "miracle child" she and Klaus created.
When a faction of witches tried to kill Adrianna and her unborn child, the werewolf following Adrianna attacked and killed all the witches, saving her life. A short time later, Adrianna visited the Bayou and found a distant relative of hers named Eve who explained that the vampires made a witch curse all the surviving members of the Crescent Wolf Clan.
It was later discovered that werewolves from all over America, both nomads and pack members alike, were coming to New Orleans to see Adrianna and her unborn hybrid baby for themselves. One of these werewolves, a member of the North East Atlantic Pack, Cary, had a ring that identified him as a descendant of Klaus' biological father, Ansel, and was thus kin to both Klaus and his daughter.
During the first full moon after learning about the Crescent wolves and the Labonair Family, Adrianna decided to have a full moon party at the plantation house for the Crescents, as their curse only allowed them to return to their human forms during the few hours the full moon was at its peak and she was eager to meet them after learning that they were her distant relatives. Unknown to anyone, some of the werewolves had made a deal with some witches who led them to believe that they would break their pack's curse in exchange for attacking and neutralizing Rebekah. In order to fulfill his end of the bargain, one of the werewolves, Oliver, began to flirt with Rebekah in order to lower her guard so he could lead her out to the woods to be attacked by The Bayou Pack werewolves who weren't under the Crescents' curse. Meanwhile, Adrianna finally talked to Hayley and told her about her family, which led to Hayley finally meeting Jackson.
Jackson then informed Hayley and Adrianna that a witch said they would lift their curse because of Adrianna but she immediately realized it was a trap because she hadn't made a deal with any witches. Rebekah was attacked by the werwolves in the woods and incapacitated by their bites. Meanwhile, the witches trapped Jackson, Adrianna, and Hayley inside and set the house on fire. The three were saved by Elijah, who managed to break in and get them out in time.
Unhappy with the fragile peace between the factions, Klaus sought his own agenda by allying himself with the werewolves in hopes that he could create a new army of empowered werewolves using a "moonlight rings" spell of his mother's creation dating back to the late 10th century. It was later explained that these moonlight rings were created using black kyanite stones that had been enchanted to not only prevent the werewolf from turning on the full moon, but that would also allow them access to the powers they would only ordinarily be able to use while in their wolf form, such as their venomous bites and augmented physical abilities equal to that of vampires.
Klaus and Adrianna worked closely with the Crescent wolves and a witch, Genevieve, to create the rings. In the end, Klaus was forced to work with Francesca Correa, a well-known matriarch of a drug cartel and casino enterprise, to gain the black kyanite stones that were needed to create the rings.
The majority of the supernatural population of New Orleans, including Klaus and Adrianna, were under the impression that Francesca and her many brothers were humans, but they were ultimately revealed to be untriggered Guerrera werewolves who had been pretending to be human while they plotted to take back the city they believed belonged to them. They were also revealed to be working with Genevieve against the Mikaelsons and Adrianna and stole the stones for the Guerrera wolves instead of the Crescents so they could finally trigger their werewolf genes without being forced to turn on the full moon.
They also handed over Adrianna and her unborn child to the witches so that they could both be sacrificed on Esther's orders in the name of more power for the witch community. Unbeknownst to them, Adrianna had cast a modified immortality spell on herself, which caused her to turn into the Original Tribrid instead of dying permanently. When Adrianna woke up after being killed, she joined the Mikaelson brothers, and the three of them, with the help of Katherine, Damon, and Marcel, ended up rescuing their baby. Still, the Guerrera werewolves, led by Francesca, gained control over the city and banned all vampires from the French Quarter.
After Marcel's defeat, the werewolves became the dominant force of the city. With the death of the witch Elder Genevieve, the last resurrected Harvest girl, Cassie, returned from the dead. Secretly, she was being possessed by the leader of the French Quarter Coven, Esther, the mother of the Originals and creator of the vampire race. Determined to rid the world of her creation, Esther continued Genevieve's alliance with the Guerreras and earned their trust by producing moonlight rings for them. Gradually, more and more werewolves began to join the Guerreras in their new dominion within the city. The humans did not care much about the politics involved in this change of leadership as long as tourists continued to travel there in large numbers. As a result, since any vampire who entered the Quarter was sentenced to immediate execution, and no witch or human was allowed to interfere with their rule, the Guerrera werewolves experienced very little resistance from any of the factions following their family's coup.
After losing control of New Orleans, the Mikaelsons (including Adrianna) sealed themselves away from the world in their compound, selling their grief to the community while the Guerreras strengthen their hold over the Quarter. However, secretly they were assessing the lay of the land; Elijah Mikaelson and Katherine Pierce were focused on locating the twelve rings that could incapacitate Klaus so that they could identify their first targets. Meanwhile, Marcel and Damon Salvatore were obtaining large stashes of wolfsbane and working on rebuilding the vampire community. Once it became clear that the Guerreras did not possess the missing White Oak Stake, Elijah, Klaus, Adrianna, Marcel, Hayley, Damon, Katherine, and Caroline worked together on a scheme during the full moon that resulted in the group killing the twelve owners of the moonlight rings forged with Klaus' blood so the rings could be taken and destroyed.
After learning of Esther's plans to become the leader of the werewolves, Klaus and Adrianna encouraged Hayley to reclaim her title as the Alpha of the Crescents and to convince them to join their side instead of Esther's in the name of returning the city to its peaceful state so that Hope could return home to them. Hayley was ultimately able to convince the pack to allow her to lead once again. Hayley and Jackson decided to get married and perform The Unification Ceremony, which would allow Jackson and the rest of the pack to mystically inherit Hayley's hybrid ability to transform into a wolf at will and no longer be forced to turn on full moons. With this ability, the werewolves would no longer be dependent on the moonlight rings provided by Esther and the witches in her service, without being in exile or forced to live as slaves.
It was later revealed that Lucien Castle was capturing werewolves from all seven original packs--Crescent, Deep Water, Malraux, BosRoq, Barry, Poldark, and Paxon-- in order to harvest their venom, which, when combined, would create a venom so potent that, once exposed to a vampire's system, could be cured by neither Klaus, Adrianna, nor Hope's blood.

### Smoky Mountains

A national park in the Smoky Mountains is one of the open grounds where werewolf packs gather for the full moon, a place where they can turn freely without needing to restrain themselves and without fear of hurting humans. This was once a popular gathering place for Paige's Pack before they were turned into unstable hybrids by Klaus and ultimately died due to having no doppelgänger blood upon which to feed after they awakened in transition.

## Physiology

### Food

Like normal humans, werewolves can eat human food if they wish. However, because they turn into ferocious beasts during the full moon, they are carnivores. When in wolf form, they can feed on human or vampire body parts and organs, but they are not required to ingest them in order to prolong their existence, like vampires must do with blood. There are no known consequences from abstaining from human or vampire flesh while in werewolf form. It seems that most werewolves do not get to feed on humanoid flesh, because most tend to lock themselves up during the full moon, or are scared or distracted away from their victim before they can eat them.

Werewolves have not been seen to attack each other in human or lupine form, but have been known to hunt both human and vampire prey while transformed under the full moon. Jules, for example, was seen to be horrified when she woke up to find she'd slaughtered a group of campers after she had attacked Rose the previous evening. Unstable hybrids also have the urge to attack vampires regardless of what form they are in, as witnessed when a werewolf, Ray, instinctively attacked the vampire Damon Salvatore instead of pursuing its first choice, Elena Gilbert.

### Appearance

Werewolves in their wolf form are quite similar to natural wolves, although unlike natural wolves, werewolves have glowing yellow or orange eyes, wicked fangs, a larger size, and a much more feral and predatory appearance. They can also be distinguished from regular wolves by their displays of supernatural strength, blurred speed, and size which is comparable to fully grown humans. The fur color of wolf forms differs from one to the other. Werewolves appear the same as any other human the rest of the month, aside from their enhanced abilities of speed, strength, and healing.

### Werewolf Transformation

A werewolf will only transform into a wolf under a full moon. The first transformation is quite slow, and the person is subjected to at least 5 or 6 hours of intense, bone-breaking pain before the actual transformation. After the first transformation, the experience does not last nearly as long, but it is still painful and something many werewolves come to dread. Klaus mentions that embracing the transformation rather than fighting it as most werewolves do, would make the process faster. Hope Mikaelson and Alexia Salvatore, who were on their first transformations, followed this advice and their transformations were considerably faster, taking only moments instead of hours. It is unknown if this is due to their unique natures or possible for any werewolf that accepts the transformation rather than fights it.

During the transformation, the body of the person is twisted in an unnatural manner as bones reshape and shift to form a wolf's skeleton, causing the person immense physical and psychological pain. Later, the werewolf grows excessive body hair and becomes feral. Their irises turn golden-yellow, their sclera turns black, and their teeth elongate into canines before they finally transform into their wolf shape. A werewolf returns to their human form after a few hours, sometimes sooner, sometimes later. After the first transformation, the werewolf will experience muscle aches.

Older werewolves can control themselves to some extent on the night of the full moon, but many find it necessary to dose themselves with wolfsbane to weaken them before they lock themselves up in chains to prevent themselves from hurting anyone while they're transformed. The Crescent werewolves have seemed to gain much more control over their actions in wolf form than typical werewolves, most likely, as a result of spending all of their time in wolf form while they were cursed by Céleste Dubois. Werewolves also feel everything more sharply in their animal form, especially familial ties. Ansel, for example, would wake up from his transformation closer to his son's village after each full moon. Since he was brought back to life he would wake further from Klaus and New Orleans, drawn to his granddaughter, despite not even knowing she was alive. This shows familial ties in their werewolf form prioritizes the younger generation over the old.

## Psychological Characteristics

Werewolves are known to be aggressive, strong, and fast, even in human form. Tyler Lockwood often had trouble controlling his temper, especially leading up to or during the full moon. Those with the werewolf curse still latent can exhibit some supernatural traits which can be triggered by aggression, along with unusual physical strength for the person's given size and age, but they cannot fully transform, and they also have a tendency to black out when they become overwhelmed in fits of rage. Werewolves seem to have a strong sense of duty and loyalty to protect their own and feel a responsibility to help their fellow werewolves whenever they can.

Werewolves have a higher body temperature than humans. When Tyler first activates his curse, he states that his skin feels as if its on fire. Once a werewolf has triggered their gene, their eyes turn gold (the eyes of a wolf) while enraged, as Mason's did when he stopped the fight between Tyler and Carter, or when feeling threatened. Activating the curse is also painful, as werewolves have been seen to double over in pain before their eyes change for the first time.

While some werewolves prefer to keep to themselves and keep their beastly natures hidden, most seem to aggregate themselves into packs and residing in areas isolated from general human society so they can run free on full moons without fear of hurting or killing anyone.

### Code of Loyalty

Werewolves are very similar to witches when it comes to their own kind. Unlike vampires, werewolves have an unwavering sense of loyalty, and will often bond with other werewolves they meet. They form packs and work with each other as sort of an extended family. The bond of loyalty between werewolves is so strong that while changed under full moons, the only beings they do not attack are other werewolves (regardless of whether or not they have activated their werewolf gene). This code does seem to extend to Klaus' hybrids, as well. It's possible that another reason why Klaus' hybrids were so loyal, aside from the Sire Bond between them, was because of their werewolf heritage.

### La Luna Sanguinis

According to Finn, the werewolves had a ritual a thousand years ago by which, on a blood moon, they would hunt and purposefully trigger their curse by killing a human, willingly enduring the pain of their transformations in exchange for the strength they gained as warriors. This ritual was meant to be a rite of passage, where young werewolves embraced their nature rather than shying away from it; this is in stark contrast to many modern-day werewolves, who do whatever they can to avoid triggering their curses and having to deal with the pain of their monthly transformations.

### Lunar Psychosis

Lunar psychosis is a very rare occurrence among werewolves in which the werewolf's mind is in flux, trapped between their wolf and human state. When a werewolf is affected by this, they have a harder time bridging the gap between the two states and to access their memories as they normally would. This only happens after a premature reversion from wolf to human, when something causes the body to shift back before the full moon is over, typically something caused by extreme trauma. Given that a werewolf prematurely returned to their human state, left unattended, there is a danger that they could revert back to their wolf form. In order for a werewolf to overcome the issue, their mind needs to be surrounded by all the things that are familiar to them so that it can connect them to their humanity, and not their lycanthropy.

Given the Crescent Wolf Pack's ability to control their turns at will, they had access to both sides of their minds and developed an elixir to access the division between the two sides. According to Alexia, the elixir is a family recipe stemming from Adrianna's side of the Crescent Pack and has a copy of the recipe in her possession.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Super Strength:** Werewolves possess supernatural strength that makes them far stronger than immortals, Supernatural Hunters, and humans, such as when Tyler pulled the door off his locker. There have been several occasions to suggest that untriggered werewolves possess more strength than any average humans, which would indicate some form of enhanced strength even before activation of their curse. However, werewolves in their human form are not as strong as a vampire and have been shown to be far weaker on several occasions. They've also shown to be strong enough to at least defend themselves, such as when Mason punched Damon. When they are in their wolf form, their powers amplify to a degree that excels that of non-Original vampires, making them more powerful than non-Original vampires. In wolf form, a werewolf can overpower and kill any non-Original vampire with ease, and are strong enough to overpower an Original Vampire in small groups. Such examples in wolf form include: when Tyler overpowered Damon, a vampire over 170 years old; or when Jules tackled and bit Rose, a 560-year-old vampire.

* **Super Speed:** Werewolves are much faster than humans and some other supernatural beings. They possess this ability both in and out of transformation, with an animalistic quickness.
* **Super Agility:** Werewolves possess superhuman agility. In both human and wolf form, they have demonstrated that they can move, jump very high, climb, flip, and run incredibly fast without difficulty or exhaustion. They can also jump down from incredible heights with almost gravity-defying grace.
* **Super Durability:** Werewolves can take far more trauma than humans without nearly as much discomfort or injury, however, not as much as vampires. They can also exert themselves for long periods without tiring.
* **Healing Factor:** Werewolves possess superhuman regenerative abilities, meaning that if they are physically injured, their bodies will heal rapidly. Like vampires, werewolves can heal from the most grievous of injuries, even in human form, albeit more slowly in comparison to vampires. However, unlike vampires, when a werewolf's neck is broken, they stay dead.
* **Super Senses:** Werewolves have extremely keen and heightened senses of smell, sight, taste, hearing, and touch that exceed their wolf counterparts and that of regular canines. With this, experienced werewolves such as Jules could sniff out vampires - something vampires themselves are incapable of - and Tyler could taste vervain placed in his coffee, which would be otherwise impossible since coffee's intense flavor masks the taste of the herb. Untriggered werewolves are also gifted with more sensitive hearing such as when Tyler was able to hear the Gilbert Device.
* **Lycanthrope Enhancement:** Werewolves are able to make their eyes glow when angry or threatened, but only for a short amount of time. When a werewolf is furious or forced to defend themselves, their anger increases all their power and abilities for a short period of time, which allows them to access some of the power of their wolf form to give them an edge.
* **Shapeshifting/Transformation Control:** During a full moon, they will unwillingly transform from their human form and into their wolf form. However, if a female werewolf is pregnant, they will not turn for nine months as the transformation would kill the baby.

* **Werewolf Bite:** A werewolf's venom is extremely lethal to non-Original vampires. While an Original vampire cannot die from the venom, they are not wholly immune to the effects of the bite. For non-Original vampires, the venom acts as a poison of sorts that will enter the bloodstream and deliver the toxin throughout the body, producing discomfort and weakness, developing uncontrollable hunger that progresses to delusions, hallucinations, rabid rage, and dementia, culminating in death. Original vampires undergo the same effects, but do not die and will eventually fully recover.
* **Full Moon:** A werewolf's strength, speed, agility, and all their powers are enhanced to their peak during a full moon.
* **Immunity to Silver:** Werewolves are immune to magic bonded to silver. Weapons made of silver might wound them, but the wound still heals at supernatural rates and will not be fatal to them.

## Weaknesses

* **Wolfsbane:** When ingested, wolfsbane causes a werewolf to become severely weak and feverish. Also, if a werewolf's skin is exposed to wolfsbane, it will burn them.
* **Mortality:** In most situations, minor physical injuries such as gunshots, stab wounds, and broken bones will cause a werewolf pain and slow them down until they heal. However, they still share many of the same weaknesses as non-supernatural beings and can perish from extreme trauma (e.g. suffocation, extreme blood loss, a broken neck, etc.). They can also die from old age.
* **Magic:** Werewolves are susceptible to the powers of witchcraft. This is inclusive of mystical objects such as the Starling Necklace, Gilbert Device, and Dark Objects. Multiple spells have been performed by witches against werewolves to cause several effects against them, such as slowing down or speeding up a werewolf's transformation during a full moon, telekinetically ripping a heart from a werewolf's chest, or cursing a pack of werewolves to be trapped in their wolf form at all times except for a few short hours during the full moon when they return to their human forms.

## Former Weaknesses

* **Doppelgänger Blood Magic:** If blood from the last pair of doppelgängers is used in The Magic Purification Spell, all activated werewolves revert back to being a mortal with an untriggered wolf gene like Tyler. Kai absorbed the magic purification spell and as such, it no longer exists.

## Myths

* **Silver:** Contrary to popular belief, werewolves are not weakened by or allergic to silver, as Mason explained after Damon stabbed him with a silver knife. Mason guessed that the myth was probably started by werewolves. Silver actually has the opposite effect - when a werewolf is wounded by silver, it heals. This is why Klaus can't be neutralized by the White Oak Daggers.
* **Wolfsbane:** Several myths have surrounded the use of this herb and its relation to and effects upon werewolves, including the myth that wolfsbane supposedly either causes or cures lycanthropy. These myths are false.

## Notable Werewolves

  Ansel | Ansel was an Alpha werwolf of the North East Atlantic Pack, the lover of Esther Mikaelson, biological father of Niklaus Mikaelson, and the grandfather of Hope Mikaelson. He was resurrected by Esther and later killed by Klaus.
  George Lockwood | George was the first known member of the Lockwood family to trigger the werewolf gene. He is the son of Benjamin Lockwood.
  The Guerrera Family | The Guerrera Family were a crime family of werewolves who worked with the Originals in the early 1900s. They were killed by Papa Tunde.
  Lana | Lana was an Alpha and queen of the Crescent werewolf clan in 1919. She was killed by Mikael.
  Mason Lockwood | Mason was Richard Lockwood's brother and Tyler's uncle. He aided Katherine Pierce in her attempt to find the moonstone. He was killed by Damon.
  Jules | Jules was an Alpha werewolf and friend of Mason Lockwood. She and her boyfriend Brady kidnapped Caroline Forbes so that they could leave with Mason's nephew, Tyler, and help him adjust to his new life as a werewolf. She was killed by Klaus as a sacrifice to break the Hybrid Curse.
  Cary | Cary is a descendant of Ansel and relative to Klaus. He is also a member of the North East Atlantic Pack.
  Francesca Guerrera | Francesca was an Alpha and a descendant of the Guerrera Family. Her family spent decades hiding their werewolf side but activated it once they had control of the Quarter. She was killed by Adrianna.
  Jackson Kenner | Jackson was an Alpha Evolved Werewolf and the husband of Hayley Marshall. He was killed by Tristan de Martel.
  Oliver | Oliver was a member of the Crescent werewolf pack.

## Trivia

* There are seven original Wolf Packs, with each bloodline having their own unique strain of Werewolf Venom.
* The Northeast Atlantic Pack and the Crescent Wolf Clan are said to have been fighting against each other since the beginning of the werewolf species.
* Werewolves procreate sexually, and the werewolf gene or curse is carried down through their bloodlines.
* Werewolves are the antithesis to vampires, as vampires are typically solitary creatures due to their immortality, while werewolves group in packs.