50 Fun Facts About Werewolf

'Werewolf' descends from wer(e)wulf, a compound from which historical language in which wer meant 'man'?

The wer element meant 'man', so the word is literally 'man-wolf'. It is a cognate of Middle Dutch weerwolf.

The word 'lycanthropy' comes from an Ancient Greek term meaning what?

Lukánthrōpos combines lýkos (wolf) and ánthrōpos (man). The Greek root also gives us the name Lycaon.

In Greek myth, Lycaon was turned into a wolf by Zeus after serving the god a meal of what?

Lycaon killed and cooked his son Nyctimus to test whether Zeus was truly a god. Zeus later restored the boy to life.

Which ancient historian reported that the Neuri were said to turn into wolves once a year?

He recorded the claim in his Histories, attributing it to the Scythians and to Greeks settled in Scythia, and said he did not believe it himself.

Which Roman work has a soldier urinate in a circle around his clothes and turn into a wolf?

The tale is told by the freedman Niceros at Trimalchio's dinner. The soldier's clothes turn to stone until he returns.

In Marie de France's 12th-century lai Bisclavret, how does the knight's wife trap him in wolf form?

Bisclavret needs his clothes to change back, so she has a knight take them. The king later adopts the strangely noble wolf at court.

When Bisclavret finally gets revenge on his treacherous wife, which body part does the wolf tear off?

The lai adds that many of the wife's female descendants were born without noses afterwards.

Norse ulfheðnar warriors were like berserkers but went into battle wearing what instead of bearskins?

They were reputed to channel the spirit of the animal they wore to become more effective in battle.

Peter Stumpp, the 'Werewolf of Bedburg' executed in 1589, said the Devil gave him what to transform?

Stumpp said the girdle turned him into 'a greedy, devouring wolf'. His severed head was displayed on a pole with a wooden wolf.

Gilles Garnier, the 'Hermit of St. Bonnot', was convicted of lycanthropy in the 1570s in which French town?

Garnier claimed a spectre gave him an ointment that turned him into a wolf. He was tried by secular courts and burned at the stake.

The Beast of Gévaudan terrorised south-central France between 1764 and which year?

One 1987 study counted 210 attacks and 113 deaths. The region is now largely the department of Lozère.

Which local hunter is credited with shooting the final Beast of Gévaudan at Mont Mouchet in June 1767?

The royal gunbearer François Antoine had already killed a huge grey wolf in 1765, but attacks continued afterwards.

The tale that the Beast of Gévaudan was felled by silver bullets made from melted-down medals of the Virgin Mary was invented by which writer?

The silver-bullet detail entered retellings only from the 1930s onward; earlier accounts say nothing about it.

Wolfsbane, traditionally used against lycanthropy, is a common name for which flowering genus?

Also called monkshood, its alkaloid aconitine is so toxic that 2 mg can be fatal. The Greek name lycoctonum literally means 'wolf's bane'.

Clinical lycanthropy is a rare psychiatric syndrome involving a delusion that the patient can do what?

Despite the name, the delusion is not limited to wolves; cases involving dogs, cats and other animals are recorded.

In the penny dreadful Wagner the Wehr-Wolf, the title character agrees to be a werewolf for how long?

In exchange the kind-hearted old shepherd gets youth, wealth and knowledge, a bargain that plays out across Renaissance Italy.

Whose 1857 novel The Wolf Leader follows Thibault, a shoemaker who makes a pact with an upright-walking wolf?

The story is set around 1780 in Villers-Cotterêts, the author's home town, and is said to be based on a folk tale he heard as a child.

Which 1933 novel by Guy Endore is often called the most renowned lycanthropy novel of the 20th century?

Hammer's 1961 film The Curse of the Werewolf was based on it, though the studio moved the setting to Spain to save on sets.

Which werewolf bit Remus Lupin as a child in the Harry Potter series?

Lupin's schoolfriends became Animagi to keep him company during transformations and nicknamed him Moony.

Which actor played Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter films?

Lupin taught Defence Against the Dark Arts in Harry's third year and coached him to cast a Patronus.

Twilight's Jacob Black, the wolf shapeshifter played by Taylor Lautner, belongs to which tribe?

Jacob lives on the reservation at La Push, Washington. Stephenie Meyer said she originally intended him as a minor plot device.

In Terry Pratchett's Discworld, the werewolf Angua von Überwald serves in which organisation?

She first appears in Men at Arms, keeps a strict vegetarian diet in human form, and falls in love with Carrot Ironfoundersson.

The 1985 werewolf film Silver Bullet is based on a novella by which author?

The novella is Cycle of the Werewolf. Corey Haim's Marty names his souped-up wheelchair after the film's title.

In Werewolf of London (1935), where is botanist Wilfred Glendon bitten while hunting a rare flower?

The plant, Mariphasa lumina lupina, is said to feed on moonlight and is the only thing that can hold off his transformations.

Which actor played the botanist-turned-werewolf in Universal's Werewolf of London (1935)?

Jack Pierce, who created Karloff's Frankenstein look, designed the makeup, and Hull's actor-friendly version was later recycled.

Who played Larry Talbot in Universal's The Wolf Man (1941)?

Talbot returns to his ancestral home in Llanwelly, Wales, and is finally beaten to death with his own silver-headed cane.

Which screenwriter invented the 'Even a man who is pure in heart...' verse for The Wolf Man (1941)?

Siodmak also wrote Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man; much of what audiences think of as werewolf 'lore' traces to his scripts.

Who played Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)?

The plot revives Talbot when grave robbers open his crypt under a full moon and remove the wolfsbane laid over him.

Which pub do the American backpackers enter on the moors at the start of An American Werewolf in London?

The moors scenes were shot around the Black Mountains in Wales, not Yorkshire, with Crickadarn standing in for East Proctor.

Whose transformation effects in An American Werewolf in London won the first Oscar for Best Makeup?

The category was created in 1981. The film's soundtrack is built almost entirely from songs with 'moon' in the title.

Who wrote and directed An American Werewolf in London?

A sequel, An American Werewolf in Paris, arrived in 1997 from Hollywood Pictures and was poorly received.

In The Howling (1981), Karen White is sent to recover at a secluded rural retreat called what?

Rob Bottin created the on-screen transformation of Eddie Quist using air bladders under latex; the film is based on Gary Brandner's 1977 novel.

In Teen Wolf (1985), Scott Howard uses his werewolf powers to star in which sport?

He plays for the Beavers, his school's hopeless team. The film opened the same summer as Back to the Future.

In MTV's Teen Wolf (2011-17), Tyler Posey's Scott McCall protects which fictional California town?

Developed by Jeff Davis as a supernatural reimagining of the 1985 film, the show ran 100 episodes and got a Paramount+ movie in 2023.

In Wolf (1994), Jack Nicholson's Will Randall is bitten by a wolf while working in which profession?

The bite happens on a Vermont country road after he hits the animal with his car. Michelle Pfeiffer and James Spader co-star.

Ginger Snaps (2000), which ties lycanthropy to puberty, follows the Fitzgerald sisters in which country?

Katharine Isabelle and Emily Perkins play Ginger and Brigitte in Bailey Downs, Ontario. Two sequels were shot back-to-back in 2004.

In which country was Dog Soldiers (2002), set among werewolves in the Scottish Highlands, actually filmed?

Tax deals and a Luxembourg-based company's crew and student facilities drove the choice. Sean Pertwee and Kevin McKidd star.

In Underworld (2003), what do the vampires call the werewolf species they have secretly warred with for centuries?

Kate Beckinsale's Selene is a Death Dealer; Michael Sheen plays the werewolf leader Lucian. The film grossed over $95 million on a $22 million budget.

Who played Lawrence Talbot in the 2010 remake The Wolfman, opposite Anthony Hopkins as his father?

The film won the Academy Award for Best Makeup, but reshoots pushed the budget from $85 million to $150 million.

Which director of The Invisible Man and Upgrade made Blumhouse's 2025 Wolf Man?

Ryan Gosling had been attached under director Derek Cianfrance before both left in December 2023; the new version is set at an Oregon farmhouse.

In What We Do in the Shadows (2014), which comedian plays werewolf pack leader Anton?

The pack's polite motto is 'werewolves, not swearwolves'. The film cost $1.6 million and grossed $5.9 million.

Marvel's 2022 special Werewolf by Night was the directing debut of which film composer?

Gael García Bernal plays Jack Russell and Laura Donnelly plays Elsa Bloodstone; a colour version followed in 2023.

On Buffy the Vampire Slayer, how does Oz (Seth Green) become a werewolf?

Cousin Jordy nips his finger in the episode 'Phases'. Oz, guitarist for Dingoes Ate My Baby, later learns control techniques in Tibet.

Which actor played the werewolf George Sands in BBC Three's Being Human?

He was the only original cast member to last the whole run; the house moved from Bristol to Barry, Wales, after series two.

Which actor's guest role as werewolf Alcide Herveaux on True Blood was expanded to series regular?

In Charlaine Harris's novels Alcide runs Herveaux Contracting in Jackson, Mississippi, and eventually becomes packmaster of the Long Tooth pack.

The party game Mafia was invented in 1986 by Dmitry Davidoff at a university in which city?

Andrew Plotkin added the werewolf theme in 1997, arguing the mafia had less cultural resonance. Commercial versions include Ultimate Werewolf.

What are the player-character werewolves called in Werewolf: The Apocalypse (1992)?

The Garou see themselves as the planet's immune system and can shift between five forms, from human to full wolf.

Which Skyrim expansion expands the abilities of vampire and werewolf players?

Bloodmoon was actually the werewolf expansion for the earlier Morrowind, set on the island of Solstheim.

In the film-within-a-film opening Thriller, Michael Jackson transforms into what creature?

The makeup artist deliberately avoided making another werewolf after his recent London one. In 2009 Thriller became the first music video in the US National Film Registry.

Warren Zevon's 1978 hit 'Werewolves of London' features the drummer and bassist of which band?

The song, from Excitable Boy, peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained Zevon's only Top 40 hit. Kid Rock sampled it in 2008.