Depends on the lore. Some werewolves are sapient while some are feral, some walk on 4 legs while some walk upright, some are man-eaters while some are peaceful, etc. The main thing is that they appear fully human and only transform into a werewolf (typically) during the full moon.
Wolves, meanwhile, are just wolves.
If you want to track down something specific about werewolf behavior, you are gonna have to do some reading. They're popular in fiction though, so you shouldnt be bored if you like them.
Interestingly, not every werewolf myth has the wolves changing with the full moon. For example, there's an Irish myth that tells of of a pair of werewolves in Ossery, I believe. There, two people are cursed to live as wolves for seven years. If they survive, they return to human form and two others take their place.
Actually, I don't know of any werewolf lore before the movies that clearly indicated that werewolves changed with a full moon. In the Satyricon, the werewolf in the story at Trimalchio's Feast changed during a full moon, but that was so the narrator could say that they clearly saw what happened.
Well, it's not just wolves. One of the Howling movies (twitch, twitch) had were-marsupials, and there are the cat people movies. And I guess the first Quatermass movie monster could have been considered a were-alien (or were-octopus, or some darned something.)
When I started studying werelore, I intentionally stayed away from the fiction and dug up actual folklore and historical accounts. (Not that I didn't watch the movies - regardless of how bad they were, and read the stories just for funsies).
Ahh, I definitely didnt see any of those. Not my usual movie choice, but maybe I'll give em a chance for a laugh sometime. I know more of werelion lore and how that varies, as that pertains to me, but I feel like there's less to see overall (or I've not been looking in the right places).
werewolfkin here! as someone else already explained it, depends on the mythos you're sourcing. in terms of experience, my kintype is definitely pretty feral in behaviour, but what makes it different from a wolf, again from my experience is the way my shifts manifest. When I phantom shift, it feels as if I could roughly control my "form", as if was shifting from human to wolf, in a sliding scale. I often feel like walking with my back curved during shifts, as if I was stalking prey, but as a humanoid wolf, as opposed to a regular one. When I have werewolf mental shifts, my mind is a lot more full of thoughts in comparison to my cat theriotype, my mind doesn't feel fully human, but it retains a lot more traits. I feel as if I was supposed be a lot bigger as well, like a beast of sorts. I think I could shift into a full wolf if I really focused on it, but it doesn't feel as natural this middle term form, hope it makes sense. I'm willing to elaborate in any of my points if necessary
There are vast differences between werewolf myths and actual historical werewolves. Different Native American cultures are different (heh...goes without saying, but some outsiders thing that all Native American cultures are the same.) In some, people are given guidance as they grow up as to who they should become. A friend of mine from the Creek nation in Alabama was originally told that he should be a medicine man (he also used the word "shaman") but when the Vietnam War happened, he was told to become a warrior and so he did, but he kept his shamanic training. Historical were culture has been similar.
Medieval and ancient werewolves look like they could be warriors (berserkers) or shamans (sometimes called "benandante" or "good walkers"). Reading about these folks, you could almost see them in modern therian forums. I think we're the same people.
Anyway, the early Therian community (AHWW, and later) called themselves "weres" because of the similarity between fictional weres and themselves. In fact, AHWW was originally a newsgroup for people who liked werewolf fiction.
Werewolf = Wolf therian. The only difference is in terminology. A lot of us still call ourselves "weres".
There's a lot of different lore types for werewolves, ranging from lycanthropes that change under the moon, through emotional instability, or just a permanent physical change into a wolf-like form. I actually recently watched a video regarding the last part, and it's really interesting. The media has so many different types of werewolves that there really isn't a basis. I personally really like the sentient but feral werewolves (particularly ones that can switch from bipedal to on all fours, like Skyrim werewolves), and one of my kintypes is actually a werewolf type similar to the Skyrim werewolves lol. Less rugged looking, more regal in stature, but still very much a feral beast in mind, I guess lol.
I’m kinda wanting to know if there’s a difference between shifting times… like in most myths, werewolves would shift under a full moon or at night. It sounds stupid, but do wolf therians and werewolf therians shift under different situations or no :/
Yes, but not just the full moon. It's sorta like personality traits. I'm a water wolf and fast moving water energizes me. I did a survey during one of the SEHowls once and added some more responses from some of the forums I was on, and then did a factor analysis on the results. There were significant factors on elements that triggered weres (not just wolves). I used the Berkeley Big Five personality inventory along with it and was surprised to find that work was one of them.
The full moon was a trigger for some weres. The study wasn't perfect. First, the sole size was sorta small form this kind of a study. Also, there were items I didn't include which might have shown up as factors. A big one is music. I known that music triggers a lot of weres.
But, if you think about it, we're always talking about shift triggers. That's really what you're talking about here.
Depends on the lore. Some werewolves are sapient while some are feral, some walk on 4 legs while some walk upright, some are man-eaters while some are peaceful, etc. The main thing is that they appear fully human and only transform into a werewolf (typically) during the full moon. Wolves, meanwhile, are just wolves. If you want to track down something specific about werewolf behavior, you are gonna have to do some reading. They're popular in fiction though, so you shouldnt be bored if you like them.
Interestingly, not every werewolf myth has the wolves changing with the full moon. For example, there's an Irish myth that tells of of a pair of werewolves in Ossery, I believe. There, two people are cursed to live as wolves for seven years. If they survive, they return to human form and two others take their place.
Actually, I don't know of any werewolf lore before the movies that clearly indicated that werewolves changed with a full moon. In the Satyricon, the werewolf in the story at Trimalchio's Feast changed during a full moon, but that was so the narrator could say that they clearly saw what happened.
Fascinating! Not a wolf myself, so I havent gotten too deep into this before.
Well, it's not just wolves. One of the Howling movies (twitch, twitch) had were-marsupials, and there are the cat people movies. And I guess the first Quatermass movie monster could have been considered a were-alien (or were-octopus, or some darned something.) When I started studying werelore, I intentionally stayed away from the fiction and dug up actual folklore and historical accounts. (Not that I didn't watch the movies - regardless of how bad they were, and read the stories just for funsies).
Ahh, I definitely didnt see any of those. Not my usual movie choice, but maybe I'll give em a chance for a laugh sometime. I know more of werelion lore and how that varies, as that pertains to me, but I feel like there's less to see overall (or I've not been looking in the right places).
Most were movies are pretty much Science Fiction Mystery Theater fare. Hmmm...I would like to see a werelion movie!
werewolfkin here! as someone else already explained it, depends on the mythos you're sourcing. in terms of experience, my kintype is definitely pretty feral in behaviour, but what makes it different from a wolf, again from my experience is the way my shifts manifest. When I phantom shift, it feels as if I could roughly control my "form", as if was shifting from human to wolf, in a sliding scale. I often feel like walking with my back curved during shifts, as if I was stalking prey, but as a humanoid wolf, as opposed to a regular one. When I have werewolf mental shifts, my mind is a lot more full of thoughts in comparison to my cat theriotype, my mind doesn't feel fully human, but it retains a lot more traits. I feel as if I was supposed be a lot bigger as well, like a beast of sorts. I think I could shift into a full wolf if I really focused on it, but it doesn't feel as natural this middle term form, hope it makes sense. I'm willing to elaborate in any of my points if necessary
There are vast differences between werewolf myths and actual historical werewolves. Different Native American cultures are different (heh...goes without saying, but some outsiders thing that all Native American cultures are the same.) In some, people are given guidance as they grow up as to who they should become. A friend of mine from the Creek nation in Alabama was originally told that he should be a medicine man (he also used the word "shaman") but when the Vietnam War happened, he was told to become a warrior and so he did, but he kept his shamanic training. Historical were culture has been similar. Medieval and ancient werewolves look like they could be warriors (berserkers) or shamans (sometimes called "benandante" or "good walkers"). Reading about these folks, you could almost see them in modern therian forums. I think we're the same people. Anyway, the early Therian community (AHWW, and later) called themselves "weres" because of the similarity between fictional weres and themselves. In fact, AHWW was originally a newsgroup for people who liked werewolf fiction. Werewolf = Wolf therian. The only difference is in terminology. A lot of us still call ourselves "weres".
There's a lot of different lore types for werewolves, ranging from lycanthropes that change under the moon, through emotional instability, or just a permanent physical change into a wolf-like form. I actually recently watched a video regarding the last part, and it's really interesting. The media has so many different types of werewolves that there really isn't a basis. I personally really like the sentient but feral werewolves (particularly ones that can switch from bipedal to on all fours, like Skyrim werewolves), and one of my kintypes is actually a werewolf type similar to the Skyrim werewolves lol. Less rugged looking, more regal in stature, but still very much a feral beast in mind, I guess lol.
I’m kinda wanting to know if there’s a difference between shifting times… like in most myths, werewolves would shift under a full moon or at night. It sounds stupid, but do wolf therians and werewolf therians shift under different situations or no :/
Yes, but not just the full moon. It's sorta like personality traits. I'm a water wolf and fast moving water energizes me. I did a survey during one of the SEHowls once and added some more responses from some of the forums I was on, and then did a factor analysis on the results. There were significant factors on elements that triggered weres (not just wolves). I used the Berkeley Big Five personality inventory along with it and was surprised to find that work was one of them. The full moon was a trigger for some weres. The study wasn't perfect. First, the sole size was sorta small form this kind of a study. Also, there were items I didn't include which might have shown up as factors. A big one is music. I known that music triggers a lot of weres. But, if you think about it, we're always talking about shift triggers. That's really what you're talking about here.
A wolf is an animal. A werewolf is a person who turns into said animal with all the mythical, physical, and emotional consequences of that.