Horrors of Shape Shifting Werewolf

Though shape shifting beings are of many kinds the most popular and common is werewolf. Wolf is one creature on the planet which is close to human beings in body, mind and spirit. It is one of the most successful partnerships ever achieved in the history of mankind with animal kingdom. One can witness them in form of dogs as pets in modern day. Dogs are but domesticated version of wolves.

Men originally depended a lot on wolves for existence and naturally man shaped himself after the wolves for survival skills. Idea of morphing into wolf is not strange. All of us give in to a wolf’s temper during outbursts. A human being can periodically express the physical characteristics of a ferocious animal. This was the precursor to the idea that man can temporarily become a wild creature of some sort like a wolf. Wolf was an easy candidate because of its long association with human beings and because it is a wily predator and is found across the world.

The above in a nutshell gives the background to the belief of werewolf in our folklore mythology and literature. Werewolf aka lycanthrope, wolfman, monster, werejaguar is a wolf-human, a human with the ability to shape shift into a wolf or a hybrid wolf-like creature, either purposely or due to  a curse or affliction like  a bite or scratch from another werewolf. The transformations occurred on the night of a full moon. Werewolf is a mutant combination of man and wolf.  Lycanthropy is considered divine punishment in some cultures.

The werewolf is a widespread concept in  European folklore of the medieval period. Werewolf belief system spread to the modern world through colonialism. Belief in werewolves was akin to the belief in witches, ghosts and spirits. Werewolf is almost always seen as vicious, antagonistic and evil in all cultures of the world. Werewolves can’t be killed by conventional weapons. Certain supernatural weapons as well as silver can kill them. Werewolves can also be killed by decapitations and some supernatural beings. Werewolves represent untamed energies, trickery or deceit and underbelly of primal human instincts. It is also interpreted as an internal struggle between a good and evil in a human being.

Werewolves are supernatural and have enhanced senses by way of sight, smell and hearing. They have an infectious bite. A bite can transform a human being into a werewolf on the next full moon. They can regenerate in spite of extensive wounds. Werewolf is not a real animal. It is a figment of human imagination- a mythological animal a part of stories, nightmares. Interestingly, one can find them everywhere in folk legends and Halloween. J. K. Rowling has also explored and exploited the nature of a super being who is a goodhearted professor during day but transforms during the night as werewolf. Remus John Lupin is a Dark Arts professor who as a child was bitten by a werewolf thus getting infected by the magical disease of uncontrollable nature. Not to mention, he had to deal with hiding it from people throughout the life.