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A werewolf was a human who suffered from lycanthropy, an infection that caused them to transform into lupine creatures, particularly during full-moon nights.[1]

Origins

“It acts on pure instinct. No conscience, predatory and aggressive.”
―Rupert Giles[src]

A person would become a werewolf after another werewolf bit them,[1][2] which infected their blood with werewolf saliva.,[3] It did not matter whether the original werewolf was transformed or not at the moment the bite took place.[1] Scratches did not change a person,[3][4] nor was the condition genetically passed to offspring.[5]

After the infection, the victim transformed into a lupine creature during the three nights of the full moon and remained so from sunset to sunrise,[1] or, in the case of the Lycanthropus exterus breed, from moonrise to moonset.[6] If the infection occurred during a night of the full moon, the newly bitten werewolf would only be able to transform on the next full moon night.[6] When transformed, the human side of the psyche was completely dormant, taken over by a feral predatory mentality that knew only the hunt.[1]

Biology

“They're suckers for that whole sexual heat thing. Sense it miles away.”
―Gib Cain[src]

Werewolves were capable of sensing strong emotions, sometimes from miles away, and were attracted by sexual heat.[1] The werewolf's sense of smell was highly developed and remained so even when in human form.[7] It was enhanced enough to track and distinguish the scents of individual people,[7][8] and enabled the werewolf to smell whether someone was afraid.[7] Nina Ash showed increased sight and hearing as well, and craved meat.[6] Werewolves could perceive the presence of other werewolves[9] and had a primal, physical attraction to one another.[10]

The psyche of a newly bitten werewolf remained separate between the human self and the feral side. The werewolf did not remember their transformation until evidence provided conscious knowledge of their condition, such as waking up naked in a place different from where they had transformed.[1][6]

Even after the werewolf acknowledged its condition, they retained no memories of whatever action they might have taken during the transformation.[10] The lupine beast, completely dominated by instinct, was incapable of recognizing loved ones or friends.[1][8][10][11][12][13] It did, however, retain some of the person's intelligence, being able to recognize certain words and react to them, often violently.[11] The wolf side also influenced the werewolf's basic instincts and impulses while in human form.[6][10]

As the time a person had been a werewolf lengthened, they would begin to retain memories of the time spent in wolf form.[10] Before this phase of the werewolf's life, it was also possible for the werewolf to exert certain influence on its actions during the feral phase.[10]

Silver was the most effective way to kill a werewolf,[6] but other severe injuries were enough to be fatal as well. While both were transformed, Daniel "Oz" Osbourne killed Veruca by tearing into her throat with his fangs.[8] During the battle against Twilight's army, members of Monroe's pack lay dead with (regular) bullet wounds riddling their chests.[14]

Like vampires, werewolves could be affected by drugs (such as Haldol)[8] and tranquilizers (such as Phenobarbital).[1] A tranquilizer meant for a transformed werewolf was once accidentally used on a regular human without any lasting ill effect,[11] so whatever the dosage was, it wasn't lethal to humans. Tranquilizers were sometimes employed to restrain free-roaming werewolves without injuring them.[1][6]

Cures

The werewolf curse was impossible to cure as a whole: once a person became infected, they could not be unmade a werewolf. However, it was possible to control the transformation. During his first visit to Tibet, Buddhist monks taught Oz meditation techniques combined with herbs in his diet, chanting, and charms. After this, he was able to roam about under a full moon in apparent ease and comfort. However, with this technique, intense negative stimulation such as great physical pain or overly stressful social situations could trigger the transformation, even during the day.[8]

Returning to Tibet for a second time, Oz and Bayarmaa found a more wholesome way to control their werewolf transformation, based on the original Tibetan religion, Bon. This time, rather than bottling up the wolf, they allowed its energy to flow out of them and into the world around them: "the wolf is pulled into the earth." This technique took about a year to get right and consisted, among other things, of connecting with the land with their own mortal bodies.[5] However, the method's necessary chants were actually an invocation of wrathful goddesses dwelling deep inside the earth, who accepted the werewolves' offering of their power in exchange for the deities' protection.[14]

Psychological and social issues

While some werewolves tried to hold their animalistic impulses in check,[1][13] other werewolves believed that their human side was merely a disguise, a cage for their true selves, and they did not restrain themselves in any way.[10][5] Whether a werewolf chose to embrace its condition or not depended on several social and psychological factors and couldn't be blamed solely on the influence from the bestial side of the werewolf psyche:

On the side of humans, reaction to the existence of werewolves was varied:

Species

A Lycanthropus exterus.

A Lycanthropus exterus.

There were more than one species of werewolf. Nina Ash contracted lycanthropy from a breed of werewolf never seen before in North America called Lycanthropus exterus. Thus, Nina was a different species of werewolf from Oz and Veruca's.[6]

The more common werewolf was smaller, with a heavy coat of fur, and while still very dangerous, didn't have a large mouth or canine set of teeth. The Lycanthropus exterus, in contrast, walked on two legs, had longer, more powerful arms, was larger, and sported a more canine-like head and fangs.[6]

Examples

Behind the scenes

Appearances

Canonical

Others

Episodes
Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels
Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics
Spike comics
Angel comics
Video games

References