I'm going to have to say WEREWOLVES

[alphonsine_emil]

Honestly, I can tolerate vampires in fiction, specifically in YA. Vamps are no longer vicious, blood-thirsty creatures of the night. Nowadays, people associate them with hawt underwear models with glitter and super special powers. Vampires are practically the token Gary Stu (or Mary Sue) of a novel. And yet I can still tolerate that. It's redundant

Comments

[venomlaced]

I have to say I disagree with the bestiality thing. I mean unless they are 'wolfed out' then they are in human form. I can see where someone with a taste for bestiality would find a werewolf extremely accessible to their fantasies, but considering most werewolves aren't 'wolfed out' 24/7 I don't see how bestiality plays into it. Vampires are corpses. Necrophilia is not much better.

"Even if that werewolf can transform into an Adonis-like god, he's still, deep down, a ball of fur with fangs and blood lust. He's a freaking animal. Literally."

Also, in most cases you have this reversed. A person turns into a werewolf, werewolves aren't just wolves that magically transform into people. Werewolves aren't just literally 'animals'. Sure there's an animal inside them, but then there's 'an animal inside of all of us', and werewolves are often utilized as an extreme metaphor for that concept. It is reasoning vs. instinct. Where as the vampire is the external monster (temptation, sin), the werewolf is the monster within. Most media with werewolves deals with that human/animal dichotomy as two irreconcilable sides, not a purely animalistic entity inhabiting a human body that changes into its true form. At least, that's the trend.

I'm not trying to be rude with this, I just disagree with what you've said. But then I have a bit of a soft spot for werewolves, because I feel that they are the underdog of supernatural stories (pun intended). But then I don't dislike vampires either. I'm sort of finicky, and appreciate both very much for their potential for exploration and love them when I feel that they are used effectively.

[alphonsine_emil]

No, it's okay. I totally respect your opinion and I have to admit that you made some pretty good points But... I'm just not a fan of werewolves. I guess I also have a slight bias for vampires. Mostly because of Alucard.

[venomlaced]

A friend tried to get me into Hellsing in High School but I never could keep up with it. From what I remember he seemed to be pretty cool, so I see how someone could be partial. :D Like I said, I really like them both, it's just poor werewolves. Nobody ever loves them. haha

[darkmanifest]

I always thought The Captain was pretty badass, if not Alucard's equal.

[mongoose_bite]

This is a good comment. I agree.

Although to be honest I've never actually read anything with werewolves in it.

[venomlaced]

Yeah, I mean there's so little in comparison with vampire literature. I mean sometimes you might have werewolves mentioned in a vampire book, but for the most part I haven't seen much around. I don't really have the time to actively look for werewolf literature, so the trend may be going up due to stuff like True Blood/Southern Vampire series and Twilight, but before I never really saw much just laying around. Aside from a few books/series, it seems werewolves or lycanthropes were just like a side dish or an opposition to the vampy main course.

It's mostly movies and television that I have to get my werewolf fix from. :)

[mongoose_bite]

I think part of the problem is 'traditional' werewolves were just that, wolves. The myths started back in a time when wolves were a real and genuine threat to humans and were scary in and of themselves. Nowadays, people see a wolf and it reminds them of a dog. No one is scared of wolves.

So the best we get is kind of fluffy New Age back to nature tropes.

[venomlaced]

Yeah I can sort of see that. But I'm not gonna lie, if I had to choose between facing off with a vampire or a werewolf, I'd pick the vampire. I think werewolves are scarier.

Vampires, sure they're evil and/or tainted, and totally go against the natural order, but werewolves are nature personified. The vampire is going to drain me of blood but a werewolf, if it's the "no trace of humanity left while in wolf form" variety, then it's going to shred me in an extremely violent death. That's if you're looking to the horror genre.

Now, in most supernatural literature, the monster is the main character/love interest or some other form of protagonist. But then I think that attitude is more a product of the times and shows how the psychological symbolism of the monster evolves, for better or worse (depending on your definition).

[mongoose_bite]

I think werewolves can be scary if done right, but they've lost something over the years. The only werewolf book I have read was actually a non-fiction work tracing the origins of the myths and also the stories of 'real' werewolves; people who believed they became animals.

I remember the old Roman story where the werewolf sort of does it deliberately. Ha found it, thank you wikipedia. "When I look for my buddy I see he'd stripped and piled his clothes by the roadside...He pees in a circle round his clothes and then, just like that, turns into a wolf!...after he turned into a wolf he started howling and then ran off into the woods." From Satyricon. 60 C.E.

Lot of potential. Sadly underutilised.

[venomlaced]

That sounds like a pretty fascinating read actually.

Monsters have been around since the beginning of time, and have always been a fascination, and yet I totally agree that there is a great deal of potential that hasn't been realized. I think any supernatural creature could use some branching out in modern thought and storytelling, vampires included. I think some of it has gotten really stale, for no good reason. There's plenty of space for interpretation and psychological symbolism. Maybe ten years from now there will be a whole chunk of new stories on film and in print, where the themes surrounding monsters are nothing like they are now. So I guess we can both look forward to that possibility. haha

[venomlaced]

*blushes* <3

[lots42]

I believe the URL i want to push is 'peteristhewolf.com'.

Basically, 'What does one do with the most dangerous werewolf ever when the human inside is completely innocent'.

[harumi]

Isn't there a reverse werewolf in mythology? I seem to recall wolves that turn into humans once every month instead of the reverse.

[the_mome_wrath]

I've heard of something like that too. I thought they were called a wolfwere. I could be completely wrong though.

[venomlaced]

Probably, but then that's why in my description I made sure to say that that was the current trend.

There's probably plenty of mythology about all sort of animals being able to shift into humans. Like the coyote, who was the trickster in some native american cultures, particularly the plains. If I'm not mistaken he could change forms. Then there's stuff like the Selki, which were like seals, but they could shed their skins and take on the forms of young women. So I totally wouldn't be surprised if their were some form of mythology where wolves turned into humans.