Your opinions on werewolves

Do you believe werewolves are real??? if so please xplain your theory of there origin if night please explain why im interested in hearing what people have to say

In my opinion werewolfes belongs right next to the tooth fairy and other fairytales.

But Michael J Fox was cool in "Teen wolf"!

Hi unieq, I'm new posting but have been an avid lurker for quite some time but feel compelled to post on this subject for the following reason. Werewolves or Lycanthropes have been my worst nightmare and fearful obsession since I was just a little kid and all through my life I have had dreams of either being a werewolf, being chased by werewolves or seeing people change into werewolves. All of these dreams are really vivid and when I wake up in the morning after them I am always mentally drained and still feel very tired. In fact it has become a running joke with my partner who maintains that I growl and whimper while I'm dreaming about them.

I have now come to refer to these dreams as "Running with the pack" as that’s what I'm usually doing, running on all fours with other werewolves, through forests and towns hunting down prey (usually people). I don't know whether I'm vividly dreaming, astrally projecting or just have a strong imagination, but it always seems so real that I can smell the sharp tang of the fear and the faeces as the prey soils itself with fright. The funny thing is…If I ever met a real-life American Werewolf in London style werewolf face-to-face I would probably drop dead with fright. I find them terrifying!

There are several documented cases of people who genuinely believe that they are wolves. These are generally referred to as Lycanthropes and the condition itself is called Lycanthropy. And there are also people who look like werewolves, well the old 50’s type hammer horror ones like these who suffer from a condition called Hypertrichosis Wolf People I think it’s fair to say that there probably have been in the past, many people who suffered either condition, were cast out from their town or village at a young age, never learned to walk on two feet and went feral which led them to hunt and kill food with bare hands and teeth as they lacked the education to use tools.

The legend that werewolves only come out when the moon is full may be attributed to an increase in their nocturnal behavior around this time in the month because maybe the moonlight was better to hunt by or they simply felt the pull of the moon as most people do when it is full and I can tell you that as a mental health worker for 7 years working on acute psychiatric wards, when the moon is full the patients get more agitated and are more prone to violent behavior and emotional outbursts. In fact, this is how Lunatics of old got their name.

Do I believe they are real? Well I feel there is a fairly strong case to argue that there are definitely people who believe they are werewolves, and definitely people who look like werewolves but perhaps not enough solid evidence to say that there are defiantly shape-shifting werewolves like we see in the movies. Perhaps these feral, insane and hairy people are the werewolves of old and through time, talk and imagination have become the shape-shifting werewolves we see in the movies.

Just my opinion though, Google Clinical Lycanthropy for more facts and make up your own mind.




[edit on 2-12-2007 by Xhuttu]

Speaking from a biologists point of view, I don't believe in them. I see two kinds of werewolfes:

1. The ones that can shapeshift every full moon, or at will.
2. The ones that are werewolfes throughout their life.

If werewolfes breed, they need to be in a place were they can stay hidden. This is really no viable option, because they need to be at least a thousand individuals to have a large enough genetic pool to work from. And a thousand plus werewolfes would have been spotted by now.. (And no, I don't believe in bigfoot either)

If the wolf has been transformed from bite, it needs to go through a physical transformation, either at will, or at full moon. This transformation can not happen I believe. Hair needs to grow out at an enourmous rate, it can't happen over minutes, its simply not possible. The teeth has to grow out and back again, which is also not possible due to lacking muscles in the jaw. There are no way a person can change its physical attributes and posture in the way we see werewolfes to in litterature, although the former could be possible but again, not within minutes. The enhanced senses are also a no go.

The entire process *could* take place over several days, but some traits of the werewolf nature could not be reversible (Ie. no shapeshifting back and forth is possible). Technically I guess, the process in which this transformation occours, could take place by virus which is transferred through the bite. Although this would take a virus without equal and of epic proportions.. O_o

Werewolves

I would have assumed by now that everyone has concluded that these fictional creatures are 100% legend, folklore and myth.
Myths are sometimes evolve into folklore and become anchored into a cultural ethos.
The myth then cements in the relevant culture and becomes embellished and distorted.
e.g. My great grandfather was an Irishman and told me stories of the 'Boories'.
These good spirits always congregated around the chimney pot for warmth on cold nights to keep warm and their presence was welcome to gaurd the chimney, once the fire had died down, from bad spirits entering into the house.
Maybe this myth has some pogue/and/or celtic roots. I do not know but this unlikely tale may have been a vignette of the folklore in this area of Ireland and passed down the generations.
This is how myth and legend expands into mainsteam culture.
Werewolves are no more fact than the Boories... just a fairy story!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ya' mean ...not real?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

as with many other mythological creatures werewolve legend s are included in many cultures stories talesetc for me there are just to many reported sightings to completely rule them out ide love to hear if anone has first hand expierience

Other than that the werewolf has appeared in more cultural myths than the vampire, not a lot.

My personal belief is that this is somehow tied in with the urban legend of Bigfoot, for the similarities between the two creatures (covered in hair, primitive, etc) are startling.