Editing Werewolf (section)

=== Werewolf fiction ===
{{Main|Werewolf fiction}}
[[File:The Were-Wolf by Clemence Housman.jpg|thumb|''The Were-Wolf'' by [[Clemence Housman]]]]
Most modern fiction describes werewolves as vulnerable to [[silver]] weapons and highly resistant to other injuries. This feature appears in German folklore of the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web|first=D. L.|last=Ashliman|author-link=D. L. Ashliman|title=Werewolf Legends from Germany|url=http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/werewolf.html#temmezarnow|website=pitt.edu|access-date=1 January 2022}}</ref> The claim that the [[Beast of Gévaudan]], an 18th-century wolf or wolflike creature, was shot by a silver bullet appears to have been introduced by novelists retelling the story from 1935 onwards and not in earlier versions.<ref>Robert Jackson (1995) ''Witchcraft and the Occult''. Devizes, Quintet Publishing: 25.</ref><ref>{{cite book|language=fr|first1=Benoît|last1=Baud'huin|first2=Alain|last2=Bonet|year=1995|title=Gévaudan: petites histoires de la grande bête|publisher= Ex Aequo Éditions|page=193|isbn=978-2-37873-070-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|language=fr|first=Guy|last=Crouzet|year=2001|title=La grande peur du Gévaudan|publisher= Guy Crouzet|pages=156–158|isbn=2-9516719-0-3}}</ref>

English folklore, prior to 1865, showed shapeshifters to be vulnerable to silver: {{qi|...till the publican shot a silver button over their heads when they were instantly transformed into two ill-favoured old ladies...}}<ref>[[Sabine Baring-Gould]]. "The Book of Were-Wolves". (1865) p. 101</ref> {{circa|1640}} the city of Greifswald, Germany was infested by werewolves. {{qi|A clever lad suggested that they gather all their silver buttons, goblets, belt buckles, and so forth, and melt them down into bullets for their muskets and pistols. ... this time they slaughtered the creatures and rid Greifswald of the lycanthropes.}}<ref>Temme, J.D.H. Die Volkssagen von Pommern und Rugen. Translated by [[D.L. Ashliman]]. Berlin: In de Nicolaischen Buchhandlung, 1840.</ref>

The 1897 novel ''[[Dracula]]'' and the short story "[[Dracula's Guest]]", both written by [[Bram Stoker]], drew on earlier mythologies of werewolves and similar legendary demons and "was to voice the anxieties of an age", and the "fears of late [[Victorian age|Victorian]] [[patriarchy]]".<ref name=Sellers>Sellers, Susan. ''Myth and Fairy Tale in Contemporary Women's Fiction'', Palgrave Macmillan (2001) p. 85.</ref> In "Dracula's Guest", a band of military horsemen coming to the aid of the protagonist chase off Dracula, depicted as a great wolf stating the only way to kill it is by a "Sacred Bullet".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stoker|first1=Brett|title=Dracula's Guest|page=11|url=http://www.bramstoker.org/pdf/stories/03guest/01guest.pdf|quote="A wolf{{snd}}and yet not a wolf!" ... "No use trying for him without the sacred bullet," a third remarked}}</ref> This is also mentioned in the main novel Dracula as well. [[Count Dracula]] stated in the novel that legends of werewolves originated from his [[Székelys|Szekely]] racial bloodline,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stoker|first1=Bram|title=Dracula|chapter=Ch 3, Johnathon Harker's Journal|page=42|url=http://www.planetebook.com/ebooks/Dracula.pdf|quote='We Szekelys have a right to be proud, for in our veins flows the blood of many brave races who fought as the lion fights, for lordship. Here, in the whirlpool of European races, the Ugric tribe bore down from Iceland the fighting spirit which Thor and Wodin gave them, which their Berserkers displayed to such fell intent on the seaboards of Europe, aye, and of Asia and Africa too, till the peoples thought that the werewolves themselves had come.}}</ref> who himself is also depicted with the ability to [[shapeshifting|shapeshift]] into a wolf at will during the night but is unable to do so during the day except at noon.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stoker|first1=Bram|title=Dracula|chapter=Ch 18, Mina Harker's Journal|url=http://www.planetebook.com/ebooks/Dracula.pdf|quote=His power ceases, as does that all of all evil things, at the coming of the day. Only at certain times can he have limited freedom. If he be not at the place whither he is bound, he can only change himself at noon or exact sunrise or sunset.}}</ref>

The 1928 novel ''The Wolf's Bride: A Tale from Estonia'', written by the [[Finland|Finnish]] author [[Aino Kallas]], tells story of the forester Priidik's wife Aalo living in [[Hiiumaa]] in the 17th century, who became a werewolf under the influence of a malevolent forest spirit, also known as ''Diabolus Sylvarum''.<ref>Chantal Bourgault Du Coudray, ''The Curse of the Werewolf : Fantasy, Horror and the Beast Within''. London: I.B. Tauris, 2006. {{ISBN|978-1429462655}} (pp. 112, 169)</ref>

The first feature film to use an [[anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] werewolf was ''[[Werewolf of London]]'' in 1935. The main werewolf of this film is a dapper London scientist who retains some of his style and most of his human features after his transformation,<ref name=FoSFF>{{cite book |title=Films of Science Fiction and Fantasy |author=Searles B |pages=165–167 |year=1988 |publisher=Harry N. Abrams |isbn=0-8109-0922-7}}</ref> as lead actor [[Henry Hull]] was unwilling to spend long hours being made up by makeup artist [[Jack Pierce (makeup artist)|Jack Pierce]].<ref>Clemens, pp. 119–120.</ref> [[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]] drew on a Balkan tale of a plant associated with lycanthropy as there was no literary work to draw upon, unlike the case with vampires. There is no reference to silver nor other aspects of werewolf lore such as cannibalism.<ref>Clemens, pp. 117–118.</ref>

A more tragic character is [[Lawrence Talbot]], played by [[Lon Chaney Jr.]] in 1941's ''[[The Wolf Man (1941 film)|The Wolf Man]]''. With Pierce's makeup more elaborate this time,<ref name=Clem120>Clemens, p. 120.</ref> the movie catapulted the werewolf into public consciousness.<ref name=FoSFF/> Sympathetic portrayals are few but notable, such as the comedic but tortured protagonist [[David Naughton (actor)|David Naughton]] in ''[[An American Werewolf in London]]'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Steiger|first= Brad |title=The Werewolf Book: The Encyclopedia of Shapeshifting Beings|publisher=Visible Ink |location=Farmington Hills, MI |year=1999 |isbn=1-57859-078-7 |oclc=41565057 |page=12}}</ref> and a less anguished and more confident and charismatic [[Jack Nicholson]] in the 1994 film ''[[Wolf (1994 film)|Wolf]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Steiger |first= Brad |title=The Werewolf Book: The Encyclopedia of Shapeshifting Beings |publisher=Visible Ink |year=1999 |isbn=1-57859-078-7 |oclc=41565057 |page= 330}}</ref> Over time, the depiction of werewolves has gone from fully malevolent to even heroic creatures, such as in the ''[[Underworld (film series)|Underworld]]'' and ''[[Twilight (novel series)|Twilight]]'' series, as well as ''[[Blood Lad]]'', ''[[Dance in the Vampire Bund]]'', ''[[Rosario + Vampire]]'', and various other movies, [[anime]], [[manga]], and [[comic book]]s.

Other werewolves are decidedly more willful and malevolent, such as those in the novel ''[[The Howling]]'' and its subsequent sequels and [[The Howling (film)|film adaptations]]. The form a werewolf assumes was generally anthropomorphic in early films such as ''The Wolf Man'' and ''Werewolf of London'', but a larger and powerful wolf in many later films.<ref>{{cite book |last=Steiger |first=Brad |title=The Werewolf Book: The Encyclopedia of Shapeshifting Beings |publisher=Visible Ink |year=1999 |isbn=1-57859-078-7 |oclc=41565057|page=17}}</ref>

Werewolves are often depicted as immune to damage caused by ordinary weapons, being vulnerable only to [[silver]] objects, such as a silver-tipped cane, [[Silver bullet|bullet]] or [[blade]]; this attribute was first adopted cinematically in ''The Wolf Man''.<ref name=Clem120/> This negative reaction to silver is sometimes so strong that the mere touch of the metal on a werewolf's skin will cause burns. Current-day werewolf fiction almost exclusively involves lycanthropy being either a hereditary condition or transmitted like an [[infectious disease]] by the bite of another werewolf.

In some fiction, the power of the werewolf extends to human form, such as invulnerability to conventional injury due to their healing factor, superhuman speed and strength, and falling on their feet from high falls. Aggressiveness and animalistic urges may be intensified and more difficult to control, such as hunger, and sexual arousal. Usually in these cases, the abilities are diminished in human form. In other fiction, it can be cured by medicine men or antidotes.

Along with the vulnerability to the silver bullet, the full moon being the cause of the transformation only became part of the depiction of werewolves on a widespread basis in the twentieth century.<ref name="WicherSpyra2014">{{cite book|author1=Andrzej Wicher|author2=Piotr Spyra|author3=Joanna Matyjaszczyk|title=Basic Categories of Fantastic Literature Revisited|year=2014|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1-4438-7143-3|pages=95–96}}</ref> The first movie to feature the transformative effect of the full moon was ''[[Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man]]'' in 1943.<ref name="Cook2011">{{cite book|first=Donald F.|last=Glut|title=The Frankenstein Archive|date=2002|publisher=McFarland|isbn=0786413530|page=19}}</ref>

Werewolves are typically envisioned as "working-class" monsters, often being low in socio-economic status, although they can represent a variety of social classes and at times were seen as a way of representing "aristocratic decadence" during 19th century horror literature.<ref>Crossen, Carys Elizabeth. ''The Nature of the Beast: Transformations of the Werewolf from the 1970s to the Twenty-first Century''. University of Wales Press, 2019, p. 206</ref><ref>Senn, Bryan. ''The Werewolf Filmography: 300+ Movies''. McFarland, 2017, p. 8</ref><ref>Wilson, Natalie. ''Seduced by Twilight: The allure and contradictory messages of the popular saga''. McFarland, 2014, p. 39</ref>