Oz Osbourne

*An Unusual Werewolf*

* Overview
* Sheet
* Background
* Logs

 I am my thoughts. If they exist in her, Buffy contains everything that is me and she becomes me. I cease to exist.

— Oz

Oz was one of the Scoobies of Sunnydale Highschool, having entered that group by dating Willow Rosenberg. Shortly after making it to college, an unfortunate encounter with a female werewolf named Veruca showed Oz how much he had to learn about who he was and how his wolf actually worked, so he ventured away on his own for a long time. While he hasn't been seen in a few years now, he has gained greater control over his shifting and has once again sought out his old friends.

## Personality

Oz is a thoughtful, sensitive young man who shows great tact at dealing with the people around him. Quiet and stoic, he rarely gets bent out of shape about anything, and when he does speak, he speaks in short, non comittal phrases. However his thoughts run very deep, and what he's thinking is often quite philosophical. He takes his werewolf side quite seriously, and when it proved a danger, he left for a long time, seeking either a cure or a way to control the beast that lurked within him.

## SKILLS

Adventuring with the Scoobies taught Oz to work out and train his various athletics. Sometimes, he couldn't be a werewolf and still had to fight, other times, he had to pursue a fleeing vampire. Running, jumping, weight lifting, all that good stuff. High school PE helped too.

Oz is a decent hand to hand fighter in human form, able to stake fledgling vampires. He's also a fairly good archer, able to at the least hit unmoving targets, even from a good distance away.

This is how Oz earns his money, as the guitarist in the band Dingoes ate my baby. He's fairly good on the old strings, good enough he needn't seek employement elsewhere.

Oz can speak English and French fluently.

This is how Oz prevents his werewolf from occurring on the Full Moon. He's gotten quite good at it, and this method of 'releasing the wolf into the earth' works well for him to prevent him from changing at all. It doesn't work so well for controlling the wolf once it's unleashed.

Oz's control over his wolf is poor, but he does have SOME control. He's also relatively good at overcoming temptation.

## POWERS

Werewolves of this type can intimidate those without exceptional willpower, especially normal humans and most animals, simply by making their eyes glow and growling or snarling towards them. They naturally gives off a predatory aura, though this is enhanced and punctuated by any show of dominance, typically when they are agitated or nervous.

Werewolves are famously able to transform into more bestial shapes, gaining various special traits and abilities based on their current form. With training, they learn to perform partial-shifts, such as manifesting claws or fangs while otherwise remaining in human form. By default, werewolves of this type are able to manifest what is often called the "Wolfman" form, which essentially resembles their human shape but with a more bestial edge, including features such as glowing eyes, fangs, and claws. Other, more powerful or exotic forms are detailed in separate power entries, as are the special traits that their various forms provide.

The resiliency this type of werewolf allows them to endure non-lethal wounds from personal weaponry such as swords, shotguns, or even rifles without significant loss of ability. Minor wounds heal almost instantly, and even more severe wounds will heal within a few days at most.

In their "wolfed out" forms, werewolves of this type have sharp fangs and claws. These are able to carve through stone and steel, and their bite's pressure is able to shatter bone and tear flesh easily.

Werewolves of this variety are much tougher, stronger, and more agile than an average human, able even to twist and bend solid metal, smash through most structures short of armored or strongly-reinforced materials, and break through solid walls of cement or brick with moderate effort. They can resist substantial amounts of damage, especially blunt force trauma, and emerge either unscathed or with only minor injuries. Especially when "wolfed out," and specifically when running on all fours, they can easily outrun most mundane opponents. They also possesses superior agility, able to catch arrows in midair with moderate effort and, with a little luck, even dodge projectiles like bullets. This enables them to leap much higher and farther than an average human, as well as giving them the ability to bounce off walls and tumble like a skilled gymnast.

The senses of this type of werewolf are enhanced far beyond the ability of any average human. They can hear things like a person's heartbeat and tell if they are nervous and possibly lying and clearly hear the murmur of a quiet conversation several rooms away. He can see over long distances and also possesses excellent night vision. Through scent, they can track a person, even if the trail is days old; they can also isolate specific individual scents in a larger group.

## ADVANTAGES

Oz comes from an unusual strain of werewolf, which means that what most hunters know about werewolves doesn't consistently apply to him. While his powers, apart from his enhanced senses, mostly don't work in human form, neither do most of his weaknesses, apart from his vulnerability to silver. Thus, measures like mountain ash or wolfsbane do not affect him in his human shape.

Dingoes Ate My Baby. The band he's in with Devon, and Oz is the guitarist. Not only does this make him money, as he gets paid for those gigs, this is his primary source of income. It's a good enough band he can survive on such income fairly well.

While most creatures who over-eat tend to lose the bulk of the food they have consumed as solid waste within a day or two, Oz has the unusual ability to keep food in his system for up to a week or so. As a result, he can actually store up food and not need to eat again for days at a time. This makes him the natural enemy of all-you-can-eat buffets everywhere.

Everyone has heard the phrase "strength in numbers." For this type of werewolf, the expression is quite literally true. After being accepted by the pack's alpha (or alphas, in unusual cases), a werewolf gets stronger, faster, and tougher than they would be as a lone wolf. The strength of this enhancement depends both on how many total members the pack has, as well as how close together the members are at a given time. The size of the pack also affects the pack's alpha, whose powers increase when they're leading or protecting their pack members. In practical terms, this usually does not increase the characters' power ratings to a higher level than is on their sheet, only pushing them higher within that range of ability, but in staff-approved circumstances, those powers may be elevated from Basic to Enhanced or Enhanced to Supernatural as befits the current plot or scene.

Oz was an active member of Sunnydale's "Scooby Gang" for quite some time, and he has maintained contact with various members of that group over the years. Most likely, at any given time, he could call on them for help and plausibly receive it.

Still waters run deep. For a young man his age, Oz displays uncommon sensitivity and awareness when dealing with people around him. Moreover, he displays great internal awareness as well, often perceiving where he should be and how he should be. Given this and his naturally keen intellect, he often carries a particular air of wisdom.

## WEAKNESSES

Except for his enhanced senses, none of Oz's powers work in human form. The good news is, in human form, he's immune to most measures designed to to keep supernatural creatures out, such as barriers of mountain ash. On the other hand, his "wolfman" form is covered in a thick pelt from head to toe, which makes him stand out a great deal more than most other werewolves.

Werewolves are closely tied to the phases of the moon. This affects them in various ways, such that they are at their strongest when the moon is full and their weakest during a lunar eclipse. The phase of the moon also strongly affects the werewolf's emotions, such that they can become almost overwhelming near the full moon. Werewolves often find a strong urge to shift during the full moon, as well as on the nights just before and after a full moon. Most werewolves eventually learn to control their shifts and to manage their emotions via various methods.

During a full lunar eclipse, werewolves of this type are generally powerless and essentially reduced to the status of ordinary, if healthy, humans. If the Bite cured them of any health conditions or injuries, these remain cured. Once the moon becomes visible again, their power is restored. During a partial eclipse they are somewhat weaker than normal, but they do retain their powers at a high-end Basic level.

Mountain ash, when activated, creates a barrier against most supernatural creatures. Werewolves of this type cannot generally penetrate such a barrier, nor can they create one.

The traditional bane of werewolves, Oz is quite vulnerable to silver, and it's the only way to kill him in werewolf form. Unfortunately for him, Silver is the most well known weakness for werewolves in pop culture, and it's likely to be the first thing an enemy thinks of when faced with him.

Wolfsbane is a poisonous plant that is especially dangerous to werewolves. When introduced into a werewolf's system, it slows the natural healing process and may force uncontrollable shifting and steadily-increasing weakness that may lead to death. Various methods, both medical and ritualistic, exist to cure this poisoning, but they all require specialized knowledge, power, or ingredients.
Oz started out as a Sunnydale High student, although he didn't meet the Scoobies till his Senior year (their junior year), when he caught sight of Willow and found himself entranced by her. A member of the band Dingoes Ate My Baby, Willow continued to catch his eye. They started dated, but then Jordy bit him, and he became a werewolf. The Scoobies dealt with this relatively cleanly by keeping him tranqued and locked in a cage the nights of the full moon. His relationship with Willow continued to deepen over the course of the year, but Oz, though very smart, was a lousy student and found himself forced to repeat senior year. Now the same year as the rest of the Scoobies, Oz continued to work alongside them. Willow cheated on Oz, briefly, but Oz took the time he needed to deal with it, and then took Willow back. He finally graduated high school this time. Oz joined the rest of the Sunnydale squad in the same college, but when a female werewolf named Veruca showed up, she seemed intent on leading Oz down a dangerous path. Her influence made his wolf side seem stronger than ever, and he found the beast within too difficult to control, leading to a violent confrontation that left Veruca missing, presumed dead, and made Oz decide that his only choice was to leave town. So, he disappeared for a time, traveling on his own and seeking to gain control over the wolf within. Only when he felt that he could control his shifting did he return, seeking out his old comrades.

Logs featuring Oz Osbourne:

* 2019.01.18 - Waking Up at Rowanwood: Ethan, Aiden, Oz, and Isaac
* 2019.01.19 - The Siege of Rowanwood: 1
* 2019.01.19 - The Siege of Rowanwood: 2
* 2019.01.21 - Battle Aftermath 3: Fireside Resolve, a Battle for Survival
* 2019.01.22 - The Apocalypse, Day Two: Breakfast Club
* 2019.01.22 - The Council of the Vale
* 2019.01.26 - The Apocalypse, Day Three: Seattle Expedition Preparation
* 2019.02.03 - It May Be the Apocalypse, but Armageddon Is Canceled
* 2019.02.04 - Tempers Flare
* 2019.02.27 - The End of the Apocalypse