Multi-weres

[CanisLupus]

I didn't found any topic related, so I will post it.

before voting, think that there's other wereanimals. I mean, That there are more than only werewolves, like weredogs, werecats, wereanything.

[Morkulv]

[Apokryltaros]

Wait, do you mean "multiweres" as in, a person who's a werewolftiger, or wereravencat, or as in, "more than a werewolf" as in, a different species of werebeast?

[23Jarden]

Wait that changes things. I thought you meant someone who could turn into different animals.

[Fenrir]

Wouldn't the viruses fight each other for dominence for the host? So logically it would only be one the one that has the deepest foothold in the host. And it might kill the host

[Timber-WoIf]

once again, it would depend on the scenerio...

if it were viral/geneticly based, it would be extreamly complicated, too much i think to be considerable.

it it were magical... well, magic has no rules, because its magic

my personal openion... too much. Kinda lame, repetitive. Could make the animal influence on instict and habit either weak or extreamly complicated. You dont put a 120mm, and a howitzer, and a set of TOW missiles, and a flamethrower, and a minigun, and a MLRS, and a pair of 50.cal, and an EW outfit, etc, etc, on a tank. As cool as it may seem to pile things on, it just doesn't turn out that well, and neither will a werewolf/jaguar/dragon/shark/eagle/ferret. Or a werewolf-vampire. or much anything else. makes a charicter to powerful for my tastes...

then again, i dont much like super-heros; charchicters who are noticably better than the others, save maybe the villan. I pefer leader-heros; don't have any extraordinary advantages over others, but insteads leads others to defeat the villian/villans.

so... yea. Just my opinion.

[Lyco]

Having werewolves that also are werecats or were-anything elses just seems bizarre and complicating. As Fenrir said, if lycanthropy is a virus then it's just unlinlky that another virus like, i don't know, "tigeranthropy" to co exist in the same body. Sure it's a pretty cool idea, but it would just end up making things way more complicating then they need to bo. For my, i say "no"... i guess i'm a purest when it comes to these sorts of things.

[Apokryltaros]

The idea of a werebeast being able to manifest more than one species just sounds too Mary Sue, if you ask me.

[Kirk Hammett]

Depends how the hybrid manifests and depends on the scenario and story as Timber Wolf said. I'm not always keen on having double shifting in my stories, but I have been known to mess with hybrids, but then I turned it into a new species and ditched the hybrid idea. But I guess I didn't have it as a virus and it couldn't pass that way, they had to be born of a mating. Whether the DNA would match anyway is unlikely, but if we're talking fantasy, why the hell not have some weird hybrid? Just depends.

But yeah someone who can beat everyone else and shift into everything...that is fairly Mary Sue, especially when they 'oh so suffer' so much from it but everybody happens to love the character.

[Scott Gardener]

Very world-setting specific.

My world-setting is virus-like organism-based. In it, one infection usually prevents co-infection. Polytherianthropy is extremely rare, but it does happen, as a few virus-like entities don't specifically block co-infection.

Since my shifters are fluid-shifting--that is, werewolves can become human, wolf, or anything in between--a polytherianthrope can assume any mixed form. A weretiger/wolf can become a wolf, tiger, human, tiger anthro, wolf anthro, wolf/tiger hybrid, wolf/tiger anthro, or mix degrees of elements. One could do a pretty convincing impression of the "werewolves" in Underworld, but with stripes.

[vrikasatma]

I have another world-provisional scenario that is similar to Scott's. The main character is a werewolfsnake and the story makes reference to a weremanticore, a werewolfowl and a weregryphon. The race of shifters also had a legendary saviour-to-come called the Barong, which means "together" in Balinese. The Barong is comprised of every shifter-type (but prefers a lion-dragon template) and continually shifts so rapidly that it seems to shimmer like the sun; your eyes can't pick out what animal/form the Barong is in at any given moment, so it looks almost like heat waves rising off the pavement.

A good many of the fabulous creatures in mythology and legendry were also purported to be shapeshifters to some degree or another. How would you know the cockatrice, the minotaur or the pegasus was a shapeshifter unless it shifted in front of your eyes?

Question: What is this Mary Sue that you speak of?

[JoshuaMadoc]

Vrikasatma: http://www.subreality.com/marysue/explain.htm

[bloodwolf_345]

Polyweres could shift into forms separatly at will, there would be no randomness. But I also beleive that the Polywere could combine any number of the forms to his/her advantage. Let's just say someone has Wolf, Fox, Lion, Tiger, Puma, Cheetah, Squirrel, Otter, Hare/Rabbit, and Bat. The Polywere could combine the Squirrel and Cheetah to be not only very agile, but also very fast. Or if said Polywere were being persued he/she could add in the bat for a quick get-away by flying. The combination of any of these would help the Polywere get out of any situation that puts him/her in any sort of danger, for instance jumping without a parachute, the bat form could help. Or if someone falls overboard off a ship/boat, he/she could shift into an Otter and be fairly safe, and possibly catch a meal on the swim (yum, Pike).

[PariahPoet]

I would like to see a poly-were that shifts at will, but can choose attributes from each creature if he so desires or shift seperately. Not limited to just one style of shifting.

[Apokryltaros]

I just don't like the idea of a poly-werebeast. It's like a superpower where he has an animal for every occassion. And a poly-werebeast doesn't sound very tragic if he can pick and choose which animal features appear. Why not just have him sprout a machinegun and a dvd player for hands, while we're at it?
Furthermore, how does one explain the way he became a werewolftigerleopardottersquirrelraveneagle?
The guy drove his car through a gypsy's petting zoo, and was cursed to change into all of the animals he ran over? Or, he happened to have been conveniently attacked by a werewolf, a weretiger, a wereleopard, a wereotter, a weresquirrel, a wereraven, AND a wereeagle all on the same night of the full moon?

[bloodwolf_345]

I beleive that everyone has multiple "fursonas" waiting to be unlocked. You only have to be bitten/attacked by one. When the others "awaken" the person can shift into them, if he/she so desires. Just because a Polywere has the capability to shift into several creatures at once, does not mean that he/she will do so.

[Jamie]

When I see these characters, I tend to like it when their powers are limited and non-silly.

Non-silly means not shifting into something all weird and mixed like a bear/rhinoceros/tiger/human hybrid form.

Limited generally means a maximum of three animal forms (and usually I don't see this kind of fiction done well if the shapeshifter has three animal forms, two is much better than three).

Otherwise, it almost always ends up being too silly, or too superpowered.

[Apokryltaros]

I beleive that everyone has multiple "fursonas" waiting to be unlocked. You only have to be bitten/attacked by one. When the others "awaken" the person can shift into them, if he/she so desires. Just because a Polywere has the capability to shift into several creatures at once, does not mean that he/she will do so.

So, in otherwords, a person who is attacked by a werewolf would turn into a werepuma if he happens to realize that he's a "cat-person"?
Where's the logic in that?

[vrikasatma]

The premise I was going on was "Shapeshifter." That's actually what the Chimaera is, it wasn't a two-headed critter with a goat and lion heads, lion body and a snake tail like the statue depicts. Someone just decided to capture the snake-lion-goat shift and everyone else took it as canon. In archetypal actuality, the Chimaera was a blindingly facile poly-shifter, "all beasts under the sun."

The scenario given by Apokryltaros was just absurdism. Here's a point to ponder on, if we're going to stick with the "it's a virus, not magic!" theory:

Suppose the "lycanthrope" virus was actually a non-specific virus that didn't give you the "wolf" pattern in and of itself, but caused you to take the form of the animal you most identified with? This can change from time to time because healthy psyches tend to grow, evolve, change and "shift." I identify most closely with Wolf but occasionally I feel very Cattish, or connect with Dragon, or Raven. To me, being stuck with one morphology for my whole existence would be hellish, and to be stuck in one animal-type would be antithetical to the concept of shapeshifting. Shifting of Shape!

A polywere doesn't have to be something awkward or ridiculous out of a child's mix-and-match book. It could be something as subtle as a wolf that can sheath its claws and upon closer inspection, those black hairs around its head and in its mane are revealed to be filoplumes (hairlike feathers). It's a polywere: wolf-panther-raven, but to the passing glance reads like a black wolf. Overpowered? Yeah, sure, the wolf-panther-raven can climb trees, but that's not all-powerful. It's storytelling wiggle-room and a plot twist and a good storyteller/writer uses it not for power, but for interest and depth.

I submit that it wouldn't be all together at once, but rather like a season-change; as the infected host human changes their psyche, outlook and set of identifications, in her next shift would exhibit a couple elements that are more catlike or birdlike than wolfish: I'm talking about a linear change from one morphotype to another. Could she go "retro" and return to a prior morphotype? Personally I wouldn't see why not: she's spent time in that species and the virus "knows" how to direct a wolf-shift if that be the host's will. Furthermore, a talented shapeshifter — say, an older, more experienced one who's been practicing or just has a knack for it — could mix and match if they like, as in the example of Scott's "fluid shapeshifters."

Minmaxers and Mary Sues will do what they will, but a good writer knows how to weave disparate elements into a story and make them all balance.

[Apokryltaros]

I apologize if my example is absurd, but, it's, for the most part, the only example archetype that I've come across and recognized. I have heard about the polywere "Chimera" from Anita Blake's stories, but, I didn't like his origins very much, where after having been attacked by a werewolf, he decided to go "what the Hell," and have himself attacked by as many other werebeasts as he could find.
I like your example, as I can't see the seams very clearly. Plus, I find the idea of people turning into mythical beasts (many of which are composite animals) fascinating. On the other hand, I don't find the idea of people wanting to turn into a bunch animals in order to have the best of both worlds, without any of the drawbacks, without ever needing to pay the Piper, if you will. It's that, they make a song and dance about being flawless, and yet, their seams are obvious and ugly. While it's also true that I like obvious and ugly seams, that's only when the whole point is where the thing in question is supposed to be an abomination of Heaven and Nature, not a superbeing/ego avatar.

If you ask my opinion, it's one thing to want to be granted the power of several animals, but, it's something else entirely to be granted the power of several animals, only to be unprepared to handle such power.

[vrikasatma]

I think I'm standing on pretty firm ground when I say we've settled the "raging mindless evil beast"/cursed question. I think the concensus was "that's lame/no way." And I would tend to agree.

Why not have lycanthropy/the ability to shapeshift be a little bit of wonder in a world gone tawdry? The downside, whether you're a werewolf or a werepoly-critter, is that you've stepped out of the mainstream, you can never return to the life you've had, and you're exposed. Doesn't matter whether you turn into one animal or a bunch, you're still outcaste. The Rubicon has been crossed, why not explore the opposite shore?

But that's me. I read "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" when I was a kid and I like the "freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose" and Hero's Journey plotlines.

[Set]

I like the idea of a polywere. Of course, I am biased in this regard, but speculation is nothing more than opinion.

I think they could shift into both hybrid forms and seperate ones. They don't have to be of completely different animals, one could be a lion/tiger polywere instead of a duck/crocodile.

For some reason as I read this topic the image of Mystique from X2 popped into my head. Specifically the scene where she's rapidly switching apearance due to the effects of Stryker's modified Cerebro. Perhaps an injured, sick, or inexperienced polywere would shift in this manner.

[Renorei]

My thoughts:

-Polyweres can exist.
-They can shift into the gestalt and ''full-animal'' forms of all of their different viruses
-They can blend their different inner animals in any conceivable way they choose



Though, I REALLY like an idea that someone mentioned in a thread a long time ago. The lycanthropy virus doesn't necessarily make you a wereWOLF. You could become any wereanimal, based on something unique about you (whether it be determined by DNA or brainwaves, or whatever, I don't know). I like this because, while wolves are awesome, I want more variety. Despite the fact that I like wolves, if I were bitten I would more than likely become a weredog or werehorse.

[Shadow Wulf]

Well Lycanthropy was specificly ment a disease where a man turns into wolf, so thier for its only meant for werewolves.

[bloodwolf_345]

I beleive that everyone has multiple "fursonas" waiting to be unlocked. You only have to be bitten/attacked by one. When the others "awaken" the person can shift into them, if he/she so desires. Just because a Polywere has the capability to shift into several creatures at once, does not mean that he/she will do so.

So, in otherwords, a person who is attacked by a werewolf would turn into a werepuma if he happens to realize that he's a "cat-person"?
Where's the logic in that?

It's like someone with Multiple Personality Disorder, he/she may not even be aware of the other personalities. "Identity" is a good movie that shows this kind of thing. If a Werecreature has multiple "fursonalities", it could be the bite of the Were....whatever that awakens them. As my signature says, I have a fractured Psyche... the 6 Fursonas that I have co-exist in harmony, and I am in total control. If someone discovers by accident after being bit like he would change into the Werecreature he was bitten by for a while, then suddenly he finds himself staring at a different reflection then that of the Werecreature he was used to.(Bitten by Werewolf, but has a 'sleeping' otter fursona, he may find himself staring at the reflection of a Wereotter)
For this I beleive it is whether the person is capable of having more than one persona, or Fursona, within him/her. Taking the logic of science and putting a bit of a twist on it..... or saying a person has multiple Spirit Guides, and once bitten by a Werewolf, he/she can then assume the animal forms of his/her Spirit Guides.