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Description
“A short list of terms commonly used among werewolves that hold a unique meaning to them.

Biter- A werewolf who sets up the goal for himself to change as many humans as possible into werewolves. It is believed that this can become an addictive behavior, though whether this is due to a result of the nature of biting itself or a psychological power-hungry effect is unknown. Fortunately the ritual that the werewolf has to go through to arm the bite and change one human leaves him feeling too mentally tired to do it again immediately (kind of a depletion of a spiritual energy reserve that allows them to pass their condition on), preventing this from being used to change large numbers of humans in a short time. Most werewolves can change a human once every month or two.

Bitten-to-Born Ratio- The estimated number of werewolves in a population that were bitten and changed vs. inheriting it from a werewolf parent. The werewolves are themselves still uncertain of how many of their own abilities work and effect the minds of their people, so there are many possible misconceptions floating around. It is widely believed that people who were bitten are more unstable and dangerous. A population of werewolves with a higher number of bitten should theoretically have more rogues. The most widely cited evidence for this is the fact that pack records show a higher level of criminal behavior among American werewolves than those in European countries. Bitten are fairly common in America, but much more rare in most parts of Europe.

Camouflage- A chemical compound developed by a werewolf scientist that is capable of temporarily stripping a werewolf of his scent. The formula is a highly guarded secret made available only to the leaders of the dominant packs, but cheep imitations that provide limited protection can easily be found on the black market. Gives an advantage to the Hunters when they are tracking down rogues. Length of effect varies depending on conditions, but it must be applied frequently and there is no 100% guarantee that it will offer full protection. Sometimes used in a complicated maneuver that allows a werewolf to temporarily hide his own identity and use another’s scent to take on the identity of another werewolf or even a human for spying purposes.

Carry-Over Traits- Features of the wolf and human forms that can always be seen in the other. While in wolf form- human looking eyes and the ability to speak. While in human form- pointed canine teeth and enhanced senses.

City Wolf- Can refer to a werewolf who lives in a city area and rarely has the opportunity to visit more natural habitats, or one who was raised in the city and has little interest in connecting to his “wild side” in nature. Despite enhanced senses and instincts some werewolves are poor candidates for survival in the wilderness and would prefer to stay closer to urban areas.

Cub-Born- A werewolf who is born in wolf form. They will usually not gain the ability to take human form until they are around the age of 16, so this is rarely done intentionally in werewolves who are trying to live normal lives in human society. It is considered normal in packs of werewolves or societies of other shapeshifters who live in the wilderness and spend most of their time in animal form. Children born in animal form mature at roughly the same rate as human children.

Feral- A werewolf that has forgotten his human identity, usually as a result of complete isolation or spending too much time in wolf form. Behavior will be the same as an animal’s, though a bit more intelligent. He will go on living like this until he dies unless something very personal and important from his past snaps him out of it, such as hearing his name spoken to him or seeing a loved one. There is no record of a werewolf going through the process twice, so it is believed that once someone recovers from it they are immune to future incidents.

Hunter- A werewolf trained by a pack to fight for them. Can serve many different purposes depending on what the pack needs- hunt down and kill rogues, guard people, track down missing people, scout for the presence of enemy packs, etc.

Hybrid Form- The ability to mix and match traits from both forms. Usually this is done in only very subtle ways, such as changing a paw into a hand to quickly manipulate something or growing human canine teeth to full wolf length to bite with. Although a werewolf can chose which parts to change he cannot go out of order of the natural sequence of transformation. The change from one form to the other begins at the extremities- the hands, feet, face, and end of the spine (tail) will be affected first. Though a werewolf can blend his anatomy enough to be both wolf-like and bipedal, he cannot for example stay human and grow fur all over his body. Heavily blended forms are usually considered awkward and uncomfortable, and are rarely preferred to the full-wolf and full-human forms.

Incubation Period- The time that passes between when a human is bitten and when they experience their first transformation. Usually during the night one week after they have been bitten, though the time can be anywhere from sundown to sunrise the next day. Named for the effect seen during infections with diseases, though the real reason is believed to be offering the human a chance to adjust to subtle changes that will leave him more prepared to experience the first transformation. May bring mood swings, strange dreams, and slightly heightened senses.

Rogue- A werewolf who uses his shapeshifting abilities to take advantage of humans in some way. Can cover a wide range of behaviors, from simply frightening humans for fun to hunting and killing them like prey. Most large packs are concerned about the chance of this behavior resulting in unwanted attention from humans and the risk of exposure that brings, so they use Hunters to uncover the identity of rogues within their own territories and kill them.

Tooth-and-Claw Style- Fighting only using wolf form instead of relying on human weapons. This is usually used in two different ways. One is a reference to a part of the training program the Hunters go through, usually thought of as more basic self-defense than anything since guns are the preferred way of killing rogues. The other is a kind of duel used to prove a werewolf’s strength and skill in fighting.

Due to the close connection of the larger werewolf packs around the world these terms are very widely used. They may not be as common in more remote packs, or among other types of shapeshifters unless they are affiliated with a wolf pack.”

Installment #6 of my werewolf guide, describing the version I have spent the last couple of years developing. Just for fun.

Other chapters:
Introduction- [link]
Non-wolf shapeshifters- [link]
How shapeshifting is transferred with a bite- [link]
Rogues- [link]
Restraint- [link]
Psychology- [link]
Physical appearances- [link]
South America- [link]

I was going to do psychology next, but I was interested to see just how many unique terms I have come up with for my characters to use frequently. 12 so far.
Glad to finally get back to doing some good traditional media for this. It’s been a long time since I’ve used charcoal. Overall I like it (except for the hands, as usual ). His face should really be human up to the ears, but I was having a lot of difficulty drawing human faces so I just took the easier route.

Places where these terms have made their way into previous work:
Biter- [link]
Carry-Over Traits- [link]
Cub-Born- [link]
Incubation Period- [link]
Rogue- [link]
Tooth-and-Claw Style- [link]

Description
“A short list of terms commonly used among werewolves that hold a unique meaning to them.

Biter- A werewolf who sets up the goal for himself to change as many humans as possible into werewolves. It is believed that this can become an addictive behavior, though whether this is due to a result of the nature of biting itself or a psychological power-hungry effect is unknown. Fortunately the ritual that the werewolf has to go through to arm the bite and change one human leaves him feeling too mentally tired to do it again immediately (kind of a depletion of a spiritual energy reserve that allows them to pass their condition on), preventing this from being used to change large numbers of humans in a short time. Most werewolves can change a human once every month or two.

Bitten-to-Born Ratio- The estimated number of werewolves in a population that were bitten and changed vs. inheriting it from a werewolf parent. The werewolves are themselves still uncertain of how many of their own abilities work and effect the minds of their people, so there are many possible misconceptions floating around. It is widely believed that people who were bitten are more unstable and dangerous. A population of werewolves with a higher number of bitten should theoretically have more rogues. The most widely cited evidence for this is the fact that pack records show a higher level of criminal behavior among American werewolves than those in European countries. Bitten are fairly common in America, but much more rare in most parts of Europe.

Camouflage- A chemical compound developed by a werewolf scientist that is capable of temporarily stripping a werewolf of his scent. The formula is a highly guarded secret made available only to the leaders of the dominant packs, but cheep imitations that provide limited protection can easily be found on the black market. Gives an advantage to the Hunters when they are tracking down rogues. Length of effect varies depending on conditions, but it must be applied frequently and there is no 100% guarantee that it will offer full protection. Sometimes used in a complicated maneuver that allows a werewolf to temporarily hide his own identity and use another’s scent to take on the identity of another werewolf or even a human for spying purposes.

Carry-Over Traits- Features of the wolf and human forms that can always be seen in the other. While in wolf form- human looking eyes and the ability to speak. While in human form- pointed canine teeth and enhanced senses.

City Wolf- Can refer to a werewolf who lives in a city area and rarely has the opportunity to visit more natural habitats, or one who was raised in the city and has little interest in connecting to his “wild side” in nature. Despite enhanced senses and instincts some werewolves are poor candidates for survival in the wilderness and would prefer to stay closer to urban areas.

Cub-Born- A werewolf who is born in wolf form. They will usually not gain the ability to take human form until they are around the age of 16, so this is rarely done intentionally in werewolves who are trying to live normal lives in human society. It is considered normal in packs of werewolves or societies of other shapeshifters who live in the wilderness and spend most of their time in animal form. Children born in animal form mature at roughly the same rate as human children.

Feral- A werewolf that has forgotten his human identity, usually as a result of complete isolation or spending too much time in wolf form. Behavior will be the same as an animal’s, though a bit more intelligent. He will go on living like this until he dies unless something very personal and important from his past snaps him out of it, such as hearing his name spoken to him or seeing a loved one. There is no record of a werewolf going through the process twice, so it is believed that once someone recovers from it they are immune to future incidents.

Hunter- A werewolf trained by a pack to fight for them. Can serve many different purposes depending on what the pack needs- hunt down and kill rogues, guard people, track down missing people, scout for the presence of enemy packs, etc.

Hybrid Form- The ability to mix and match traits from both forms. Usually this is done in only very subtle ways, such as changing a paw into a hand to quickly manipulate something or growing human canine teeth to full wolf length to bite with. Although a werewolf can chose which parts to change he cannot go out of order of the natural sequence of transformation. The change from one form to the other begins at the extremities- the hands, feet, face, and end of the spine (tail) will be affected first. Though a werewolf can blend his anatomy enough to be both wolf-like and bipedal, he cannot for example stay human and grow fur all over his body. Heavily blended forms are usually considered awkward and uncomfortable, and are rarely preferred to the full-wolf and full-human forms.

Incubation Period- The time that passes between when a human is bitten and when they experience their first transformation. Usually during the night one week after they have been bitten, though the time can be anywhere from sundown to sunrise the next day. Named for the effect seen during infections with diseases, though the real reason is believed to be offering the human a chance to adjust to subtle changes that will leave him more prepared to experience the first transformation. May bring mood swings, strange dreams, and slightly heightened senses.

Rogue- A werewolf who uses his shapeshifting abilities to take advantage of humans in some way. Can cover a wide range of behaviors, from simply frightening humans for fun to hunting and killing them like prey. Most large packs are concerned about the chance of this behavior resulting in unwanted attention from humans and the risk of exposure that brings, so they use Hunters to uncover the identity of rogues within their own territories and kill them.

Tooth-and-Claw Style- Fighting only using wolf form instead of relying on human weapons. This is usually used in two different ways. One is a reference to a part of the training program the Hunters go through, usually thought of as more basic self-defense than anything since guns are the preferred way of killing rogues. The other is a kind of duel used to prove a werewolf’s strength and skill in fighting.

Due to the close connection of the larger werewolf packs around the world these terms are very widely used. They may not be as common in more remote packs, or among other types of shapeshifters unless they are affiliated with a wolf pack.”

Installment #6 of my werewolf guide, describing the version I have spent the last couple of years developing. Just for fun.

Other chapters:
Introduction- [link]
Non-wolf shapeshifters- [link]
How shapeshifting is transferred with a bite- [link]
Rogues- [link]
Restraint- [link]
Psychology- [link]
Physical appearances- [link]
South America- [link]

I was going to do psychology next, but I was interested to see just how many unique terms I have come up with for my characters to use frequently. 12 so far.
Glad to finally get back to doing some good traditional media for this. It’s been a long time since I’ve used charcoal. Overall I like it (except for the hands, as usual ). His face should really be human up to the ears, but I was having a lot of difficulty drawing human faces so I just took the easier route.

Places where these terms have made their way into previous work:
Biter- [link]
Carry-Over Traits- [link]
Cub-Born- [link]
Incubation Period- [link]
Rogue- [link]
Tooth-and-Claw Style- [link]