How to make therianthropes make sense for fantasy games and stories!
Werewolves and other werecreatures are one of those elements that just seem to exist in every branch of fantasy. No one seems to complain, they’re cool and they make good characters or enemies to overcome. But because they show up in just about every fantasy setting I always end up asking why they’re there and how they work. I want to know the who-wolf, what-wolf, when-wolf, where-wolf, how-wolf, and why-wolf.
We all know the basics of turning under the full moon, infection via bite, and the weakness to silver. But why are these the way that they are? What role do these rules play in a narrative sense? For what reason in-universe do these things work the way that they do? How did the multiple types of therianthrope come to be? Werelions, weretigers, werebears, oh my?
As I began working to address these questions, an element of the werewolf curse began to intrigue me; the curse part. Most media calls it a curse, and I feel that alone raises questions. Curses aren’t a natural thing in most fantasy, they’re something intentionally made that is then inflicted upon someone. They have a source, and a target. And yet I have rarely seen a story try to explain the reason for the were-curse, who created it and why. Most of the time a setting’s werewolves just exist, with no history given as to their origin. Who was the first and why were they cursed? And by who?
Let’s try to answer those questions.
The First Werewolf
Most of the locals knew better than to hunt in these woods after dark, as faeries were known to haunt the timbers. But one cruel hunter thought he knew better, and made a bad decision one full moon night.
The hunter stalked and struck down a wolf, for no reason other than the thrill. The wolf had not been a menace needing culled, nor did the hunter take any meat. He just wanted to hunt, and the wolf served as his pointless prey. The other hunters would have thought lowly of him for it, so he committed his deed alone in the night.
Witnessed only by the light of the moon.
As the man turned to leave his kill, he was interrupted by the descent of the Moon Faerie, the queen of this wood. She was a part of nature, she could tolerate the natural cycles of predator and prey. But the hunter’s act was outside this order, a senseless act of cruelty. This had to be punished. This had to be…corrected.
The queen gently pulled the lost wolf’s spirit from its remains before glaring at the hunter.
“You stole this beast soul’s body, so yours will serve as replacement.”
She cast the beast’s soul into the hunter, whose body transformed to match the second spirit that now inhabited it. The man-wolf looked to its queen, who smiled upon it.
“To the man’s soul before me, hear my decree. All who act as you do will share your fate, playing host to the souls of the beasts you wrong. And to the wolf’s soul before me, know peace that my magic will protect you from further harm by the arms of man. Go my child, and live in my light.”
As moonlight shone upon the man-wolf’s eyes, the wolf’s soul assumed complete control over the shared body. And the man’s soul was powerless to stop the wolf from bounding off into the night.
Weaving the curse’s mechanics into the narrative.
My primary explanation for the mechanics of the werecurse is the person’s body housing a second soul, that of the beast they turn into. On any full moon night, a new werecursed can be created when someone cruelly strikes down an innocent animal. The soul of the animal is bound to the curse target, as both punishment to the person for their actions and as a chance to give the animal another shot at life.
This maintains the curse’s role as a curse while justifying one of my main nitpicks with werewolves. Most curses are written and bestowed as punishments, but the werecurse makes the target stronger by giving them animal powers and near invulnerability. They can only be meaningfully harmed with silver weapons, and most modern media portrays werewolves as having some access to their bestial abilities even outside of a full moon. Those all sound like boons, not punishments…because they’re boons for the beast’s soul.
A Moon Faerie being responsible helps to explain why the beast’s soul is most able to assume control of the shared body on a full moon night. That would naturally be the night where her magic and the curse would be strongest. And her blessing of protection is to the animal, not the human. To keep it safe from those that would seek to end its new existence as something monstrous. But her spell can only protect it from ‘the arms of man’, which is to say mundane weapons. This allows werewolves to still be harmed by magic and silver, since silver is often viewed in fantasy as intrinsically magical. One could say that this wording wouldn’t protect werewolves from claws and other natural weapons, only manufactured ones. So perhaps the best thing to take down a werewolf is another werewolf.
New werecursed could be naturally created on any full moon night, narratively allowing one to pop up anywhere any time. And it could be any type of animal, not just wolves, justifying any type of werecreature. The curse additionally being spread via bite could be explained as the beast’s soul spreading the curse and a piece of itself into a new body when it thinks it’s in danger. It is just an animal after all, not inherently evil. It would lash out and bite when it thinks it’s in trouble, a piece of its soul spreading into a new body to ensure its survival.
I feel this shared body dynamic also allows for lots of storytelling potential. One can very easily have the classic werewolf plot of the cursed person being at odds with the beast within, intentionally repressing the beast’s soul. The beast, once in control, would likely run wild at any chance it got. If kept caged and repressed, why wouldn’t an animal be hostile and bolt for freedom at the opportunity?
But you could also use this background in more modern werewolf stories where the cursed person is able to utilize their ‘powers’ outside of a full moon. The right kind of person would be able to bond with the beast soul, forming a meaningful partnership where they help one another. If the person respects the beast and gives it the things it needs, the beast will lend its abilities to the person to ensure their mutual survival. This would likely make the strongest werewolves the kindest ones…or the cruelest. You could also have a villainous character subjugate their beast soul and wrestle power away from it, adding to the narrative stakes of a heroic werewolf trying to stop a villainous one.
I present this origin and explanation to authors and dungeon masters looking to help improve werewolf stories. I hope this can act as a creative springboard, and I’m interested to hear what people do with it. And now when you get asked “Werewolf? What about the whywolf?”, now you’ll have an answer.
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed and have a fun time creating new stories! If you liked this, stick around for updates on my upcoming novel and Dungeons and Dragons content!
