The Complete Idiot's Guide to Werewolves

by Brown Robert

  Wolf’s Rain

  Wolf’s Rain is the English title of the anime and manga series Urufuzu-Rein . The series was created by Keiko Nobumoto and animated by Toshihiro Kawamoto. The anime was directed by Tensai Okamura and was originally released in 2003 by BONES Studios. The series was later adapted into a two-volume manga series.

  Wolf’s Rain follows the harsh journey of four wolves who are seeking a lost paradise of legend. They have learned to make themselves appear like normal people to the eyes of humans. In this postapocalyptic world, few wolves still survive. After nearly being completely wiped out almost 200 years ago, the wolves learned to conceal their existence from humans, and they have long lived among them in secret. The four main characters of the series have names that are related to wolves and are as follows:

  • Tsume: His name means “claw,” and he is a grey- and black-furred wolf that bears a giant scar on his chest. In human form the scar remains visible, but he looks like a tall, thin, and muscular younger man, with silver-grey hair and black clothes. In the story, he has long lived as a leader of a gang of human thieves. He later abandons this life in order to join the others in their pursuit of the wolf paradise.

  • Kiba: His name means “fang,” and he is a white wolf. As a human, he appears as a dark-haired young man in blue jeans, a t-shirt, and a jacket. Kiba’s pack was wiped out by humans when he was a cub, so he’s spent his life away from them in the wild (though as a cub he was nursed back to health by American Indians friendly to wolves). Kiba comes to the city following the scent of the lunar flower, which he thinks is the key to paradise. At first, he is repulsed by the idea of trying to look like a human, but he eventually comes to see the wisdom in it.

  • Hige: His name means “whiskers,” and his fur is tan. Hige is young and carefree, and as a human he looks like a teenager in a yellow jacket. He is the only wolf of the group to wear a collar. He doesn’t know where he got it, and the purpose of it isn’t unveiled until later on in the story. Hige mainly cares about only two things—food and finding himself a female mate. Hige also has a keen sense of smell.

  • Toboe: His name means “howling,” and his fur is brown. He is the youngest and most naïve/innocent of the group. The others consider him to be a “puppy” because, for most of his life, he was raised by an old woman who found him as an abandoned wolf cub. Unlike the others, Toboe is usually friendly to humans because of this experience. Regardless of what the others think of him, he has the best ears in the group.

  Beastly Words

  The Japanese word anime means “animation” and generally refers to cartoon series that are most frequently adapted from previously well-received manga.

  The Curse

  Usually, manga that are successful are later turned into anime. In the unusual case of Wolf’s Rain, however, the opposite occurred. It was first an anime series and later was adapted into a two-volume manga. While the two versions are certainly similar, there are a number of key differences between them. For example, many characters from the anime version are not included in the manga. Also, the ending of the manga is markedly more positive then the one from the original anime version.

  These four wolves all realize that they have come to Freeze City because they caught the scent of a lunar flower, a special flower that only blooms under the light of the moon. At first, Kiba is the only one who believes in the wolf paradise. Eventually, however, all four wish to find it. When they find the source of the flower’s scent, they realize it is coming from a strange girl named Cheza who is being held in stasis by the nobles who own the city. Kiba realizes that she must be the “Flower Maiden” from legends who will lead the wolves to paradise.

  According to the mythology of the story, the O-kami, or “wolves,” will return when the end of the world is at hand, and they will be the only ones who know the way to paradise. Few of the people in the story’s postapocalyptic world believe this to be anything more than an old fairy tale, but there are some who know better—the nobles who own the cities. They want the wolves’ paradise for their own and plan to escape the planet by going to it using the lost and advanced arts of alchemy. These nobles believe they can use Cheza’s body to force open the gate to the wolves’ paradise.

  The wolves free Cheza from the nobles and begin following her to paradise. The powerful armies of the nobles, however, pursue them every step of the way (when they aren’t fighting with each other, of course). As if traveling through a barren wasteland wasn’t bad enough, the nobles’ forces are not the only ones chasing them.

  A former sheriff and extreme alcoholic from a town called Kyrios (a Japanese transliteration of the English word “curious”), named Quent Yaiden, has dedicated the rest of his life to the extermination of all wolves. One day, long ago, his home was burned and his young son was killed. Quent looked at the burning scene and saw a wolf standing over his son’s body. Because of this, he believes that wolves were responsible and now hunts them with the aid of his half-wolf dog, named Boo-roo/ “Blue” (a black-furred dog with blue eyes). When Blue learns that she is part wolf and discovers she is able to assume human appearance and communication, she has no choice but to run away from her former master because she believes he will kill her.

  In the end, all of these characters assemble for a final confrontation with the last paradise-obsessed nobleman. Who will be the ones to lay claim to paradise, the noble or the wolves? Better yet, will there be a paradise for any of them? Since this is a relatively new series, you will have to see Wolf’s Rain for yourself if you wish to know the answers to these questions.

  “Werewolf by Night” and the Braineaters

  The “Werewolf by Night” character Jack Russell remains the oldest werewolf character still in print (though somewhat sporadically) in American comics. The cursed werewolf character Jack Russell first appeared in Marvel Comics in the second issue of Marvel Spotlight in February of 1972. Jack Russell was born in Romania under the name Jacob Russoff to parents Gregor and Laura Russoff. When he was only a baby, Jack’s father Gregor was found out to be a werewolf and was shot down by villagers with a silver bullet. His mother soon remarried to his father’s brother, Philip, and they all immigrated to America, where they were given the anglicized last name “Russell” and Jacob’s name was changed to “Jack.” Jack grew up not knowing the truth about his real father.

  On the night before Jack’s eighteenth birthday, a full moon, he was first transformed into a werewolf. The next day, during his birthday party, Jack felt himself transforming again and had to run away from the festivities to hide his secret. While he was away, his mother was killed in a tragic car accident. He later learned this was not an accident and that the brakes to his mother’s car had been cut when his step-father had refused to pay a blackmailer who knew about the curse of lycanthropy that had plagued Jack’s father.

  Jack Russell’s life would soon become one of tragedy and lonely wandering, as he did his best to control the beast within him. Later, he learned to control his abilities and, for a time, embraced his werewolf side and even created his own pack of werewolves, who dubbed themselves the “Braineaters.”

  Eventually, the exploits of Jack Russell and his Braineaters would become popular enough to warrant a comic book title of their very own. The series was entitled Werewolf by Night, but it ran for only 43 issues from 1972 to 1973. A second series of the Werewolf by Night story again had a brief run during the 1990s. In 2007, a single-issue comic involving the Jack Russell character was published by Marvel under the title Legion of Monsters: Werewolf by Night. In January 2009, the character of Jack Russell was once again reinvented for a brand new audience, released as a four-part miniseries under the title Dead of Night.

  Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos

  The Howling Commandos were originally a hero team concept from Marvel Comics, who were led by the character Nick Fury and fought as a special commando team in World War II. This original form was a part of the popular war genre of comics. The series was not ex
clusively restricted to the stage of World War II; Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos also completed missions in the Korean War and Vietnam. However, while the original team members were indeed special, they were not supernatural.

  In December 2005, Marvel released a totally new version of Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos. The new story had a six issue run until it’s cancellation in May of 2006. While still under the supervision of the older Nick Fury, now chief of the American elite military organization called S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Hazard Intervention, Espionage, and Logistics Directorate), the new team consisted of supernatural creatures, and was designed to deal with paranormal missions. Aside from its six issue run, the Howling Commandos only ever appeared in one other comic, in the third issue of the recently resurrected vampire hunter series Blade. In the field, the Howling Commandos were now lead by a character named Warwolf, whose real name is Vince Marcus. He has the power to transform into a werewolf at will, as long as the planet Mars is in the night sky.

  The Creature Commandos

  The original Creature Commandos first appeared in November 1980, in issue 93 of the DC Comics series Weird War Tales. The original story concept was created by Pat Broderick and J.M. DeMatteis. The Creature Commandos were an elite military unit made up of soldiers who had been given supernatural powers through an experimental project codenamed “Project M.”

  The original Creature Commandos led by a human officer, Lieutenant Matthew Shrieve, were meant to serve as an elite team in the fight against the Nazis in World War II. The members consisted of a vampire (Sergeant Vincent Velcoro), a gorgon (Dr. Myrra Rhodes), a clone of Frankenstein’s monster (Private “Lucky” Taylor), and a werewolf (Warren Griffith). Later in the series, the team was joined by an android soldier, J.A.K.E., codenamed the “G.I. Robot.” The series ended with the team, once the war had ended, being forced inside a rocket aimed at Berlin. The rocket, however, veered off course and shot into deep space.

  The Savage Truth

  War comics were a popular genre of American comic books for about 60 years. The genre first took off in the late 1930s, and even before the United States became involved in World War II, several war genre comics (such as the famous Captain America) depicted heroes fighting Hitler’s Nazi regime. The war comic genre hit its peak after the close of World War II, but began to die out during the mid- to late 1990s.

  In 2005, the Creature Commandos series was resurrected under the storyline that the rocket had somehow found its way back to Earth. Significantly aged, the team finds its way back to Project M. They receive modifications that significantly extend their lives. However, they are so extremely altered that they are no longer able to assume human forms. The series ran until 2006, when the mini-series of which it was a part finally reached the end of its run.

  Only the End of the World Again

  Only the End of the World Again was the creation of legendary comic writer Neil Gaiman (most well known for writing the popular Sandman series) and artist Troy Nixey. Released in 2000 by Oni Press (who bought the original serialized story), Only the End of the World Again was an immediate hit with hardcore fans of Gaiman’s work.

  The main character of the story is Neil Talbot, a Brtish businessman who comes to the strange town of Innsmouth to work as an adjuster. Soon after his arrival, a fat local man begins screaming out that the world is ending. What’s more, the man claims that the world will be destroyed because of a werewolf. Soon, Talbot begins to experience a number of strange and mysterious occurrences, launching him into several odd adventures. These adventures soon lead Talbot to suspect that he is the werewolf foretold of by the town’s overweight doomsdayer.

  The Least You Need to Know

  • Anthropomorphism has existed in human art since ancient times.

  • Usually, ancient depictions of anthropomorphic figures portrayed the gods and nature spirits of ancient polytheistic religions.

  • The Japanese anime series Wolf’s Rain is not technically about humans who turn into wolves, but wolves that can make themselves look like humans.

  • The longest running werewolf character in American comic books is the Marvel character known as Jack Russell.

  Chapter 13

  Werewolves in Gaming

  In This Chapter

  • An explanation of the “Werewolf” party/card game tradition

  • The werewolf hero of the 1988 arcade class Altered Beast

  • The “old-school” Werewolves of London game for the now-antique Commodore 64 computer

  • The rather funny elements of the Japanese-designed postapocalyptic video game, Werewolf: The Last Warrior

  • The Beast Within, part of the short-lived “point-and-click” interactive genre of PC gaming

  The powerful image of the werewolf is a longstanding character icon of the gaming world. From party games to role-playing and video games, werewolves can be found in nearly every gaming outlet imaginable. Since it is unlikely that any of us will get to experience the reality of being a werewolf, games offer us the next best thing by providing an imaginative outlet where our minds can briefly allow the beasts within us to be unleashed in a safe and fun way.

  “Werewolf” (Card Game and Party Game)

  The “Werewolf” game is easy to set up, and just about anyone can learn how to play relatively quickly. This game can be played with five or more people, a pen, and a few evenly sized squares of paper. The first thing you will need to do in order to play “Werewolf” is make a set of the following cards:

  • One card that says “Game Master” or “Moderator”

  • One card that says “Seer”

  • Two cards that say “Werewolf”

  • Enough cards that say “Villager” for the remaining people playing

  These cards represent each person’s role in the game. After you’ve made them, they need to be well shuffled and handed out to the players. Remember, the number of cards must match the number of players exactly. Otherwise, the key cards (Game Master, Seer, and Werewolf) might not be put into play, and without them the game would get confusing. Once the cards have been handed out (one card per player), all players should quickly glance at their card but keep their role to themselves. Only the Game Master should reveal his role to the group, or he can be chosen by the group ahead of time and just given the card.

  Two players are now werewolves, and it is their goal to kill all of the villagers (in the game, of course) without being discovered. There is one player, the Seer, who has certain privileges that allow her to detect which two players are Werewolves. All the other players are now Villagers (potential werewolf victims).

  The Savage Truth

  The “Werewolf” game is thought by most to have originally been based on a preexisting, similarly constructed kind of party game called “Mafia.”

  The game is played in two alternating phases—night and day. The opening phase of the game should always be night. When it is night, the Game Master will instruct all players to close their eyes. Then he will say, “Werewolves, open your eyes.” At this point, whichever two players hold the Werewolf cards should open their eyes and take notice of each other. Then the Game Master should instruct the Werewolves to pick someone in the group to kill. The Werewolves must then agree (quickly and without speaking, of course) on which Villager they want to kill by pointing that player out or using some other silent signal. It is very important that all players be spaced out well enough so as not to detect movement. The Werewolves should also try not to make too much noise. Once the victim has been chosen, the Game Master will say “Werewolves, close your eyes.”

  The Game Master now says, “Seer, open your eyes.” Whichever player drew the Seer card should now open her eyes. The Seer will now choose one player to point to in an attempt to uncover which two are the Werewolves. The Game Master will confirm or deny the choice, usually by giving a thumb’s up/down or by nodding/shaking the head. A “yes” answer means the person is a Werewolf, and a “no” answer means the person
is not a Werewolf but a Villager. The Seer must also be careful not to make noise because, if the Werewolves discover who she is, they will want to knock her out of the game as fast as possible. Once the Seer’s choice has been acknowledged, the Game Master will say, “Seer, close your eyes.”

  The Game Master now says, “All players open your eyes. It is now day.” Once everyone’s eyes are opened, the Game Master will point to the person chosen by the Werewolves and say, “You have been ripped to pieces by werewolves.” This player is now out of the game and should reveal his card to the others and set it down, facing up. Once a player is dead, he cannot speak. The player can go do something else if he wants, but he can’t talk to any of the remaining players. Any arguments must be made before the votes are cast. Also, only dead players may show their cards to anyone.

  Now the real fun of the day phase begins. All players must get together (including the unknown Werewolves) and choose someone to lynch. In this phase of the game, anything goes. There are no restrictions on what can or cannot be said. Players can completely deny anything they want, just as long as they don’t show anyone their card. If the Seer knows who a Werewolf is, she must do her best to draw the group’s attention to that player without letting it out that she is the Seer (because there is still another Werewolf, who would then kill the Seer on the next night). The Werewolves can lie, deceive, and misdirect the other players as they please in order to avoid being lynched. Werewolves can even turn on each other to throw off suspicion.