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Werewolves & Other Shapeshifters

A guide to werewolves, shapechangers and other human/animal transformations.

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Intro to Werewolves

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This guide will cover all things relating to and about various types of shapeshifters. One of the most widely known shapeshifters is the werewolf, sometimes referred to as a "lycanthrope." The latter term is derived from one of the earliest instances of human-to-wolf transformations in literature: King Lycaon of Arcadia. The story can be found in Ovid's Metamorphoses.

Towards the end of the Middle Ages, spanning the 16th and 17th centuries, there were strings of "werewolf trials" across Europe. These trials happened in relation to the more well-known witch hunts/trials of the time. Like some accused "witches," many of those accused of being werewolves are now believed to have been suffering from any number of mental illnesses.

One of the most popular historical accounts of man-eating lupine beasts comes from the place formerly known as Gévaudan, France. The "Beast of Gévaudan," as it has come to be remembered, terrorized the, now historic, French province from 1764-1767. Different theories speculate as to the beast's true identity, so the matter is still up for debate.

The werewolf of today's pop culture can largely be traced back to the 1941 film The Wolf Man. Lon Chaney Jr.'s performance as the titular monster has become a staple of classic horror cinema. However, the oldest surviving film to feature a human-wolf shapeshifter is the 1925 film Wolfblood: A Tale of the Forest.