Werewolves ?

[Talavaj]

Hey there, a completely random randomness that has been bugging me for a while.
How you like your werewolves depicted ? I often feel dissatisfied seeing werewolves as they are depicted in modern fiction.

In history (and in modern fiction sometimes) werewolves and the associated lycantrophy are considered a curse or a punishment and the afflicted are often reduced to a grotesque beings not being able to do anything much past eating recently buried corpses.

So why is that modern fiction almost universally depicts lycantrophy as some sort of perverted gift ?
Giving the afflicted superhuman abilities and turning them into furry supercharged hunks and tearing people apart.
Why is that ? Why would you curse somebody by making him even more capable of committing more of the same crime ?
I get that it is so much more badass to see a badass werewolf tearing people to pieces, but still.

Have you never felt a need to see a werewolf who actually feels cursed ?
I myself would love to see a weak skinny (and maybe furless ?) and frail werewolf for a change and I'm pretty sure such depiction could ironically appear way more terrifying.

I for example loved the werewolf from Harry Potter movie adaptation and think he is one of the best werewolf depictions in cinema to date (except for the werewolves from dog soldiers who I loved for a completely opposite reasons though) yet most people think Remus Lupin was a complete werewolf failure.

So how do you feel ? Do you like the supercharged Underworld werewolf type ? Or you would like to see a new actually scary werewolf that wouldn't feel like an omnipotent death machine ?

 

[supertoinkz]

I always have viewed Werewolves as creatures on par with Vampires. Like they could control their shapeshifting abilities and such. Then they pass their power/gift/blessing to a victim which in turn treats that blessing a curse since it'll inferior to the Alpha Werewolf (like it is uncontrollable).

In my opinion, a werewolf who actually feels and acts cursed is truly terrifying. That is if you're 10 inches away from it and a second from being teared into porkchops. The creature will surely be pitied on once it reverts back to a calmer state (ie. human) and then more drama.

It all depends on an individual to create his/her own werewolf.

 

[McQvaBlood]

Because a Werewolf reduced to an empty shell forced to eat corpses, while is - undoubtedly - cursed, lacks a depth of character and is pretty hard to sell to an audience.

Therefore we get the Superman solution, who always felt that he was cursed with such huge power, but you'd still be tempted to take on his powers if you had the chance, even if you declined in the end.

And supernatural beings can be pictured in a way that you awe their power and still very well feel just how cursed they are, for example, I really liked Vampire: Masquarede. You gain fun and outrageously overpowered abilities, but you often lose control entirely and succumb into a murderous rage, that you really don't envy.

 

[Celaquil]

While I agree that someone concepting the ideology of a Werewolf being a cursed creature for then to make him into a motherfucking hulk you love is the equivalent of shooting oneself and one's audience in the head. (And mostly the audience isn't even aware of it...)

I'd still like to stress the point that a buff Werewolf is a great concept. The problem, however, is integrating it into a story in an innovative way. In that sense, I agree. Seeing a stripped down fur-less Werewolf eating dead corpses would be a rather refreshing idea.

 

[takakenji]

the concept of werewolves and vampires have been ruined and should never appear in cinema again

 

[McQvaBlood]

It's the natural conclusion of trying to adapt a concept to a massive, teenage audience, really.

It has to be dumb, fluffy, likeable and not at all threatening.