Cassidy LeDonne

Popularity of Werewolves

Werewolf: a person who changes for periods of time into a wolf, typically when there is a full moon (“Werewolf”).  Werewolves are mythical creatures who has a Middle/Old English origin (“Werewolf”).  Though the origin of werewolves takes place in England, the population of werewolves and endless amount of stories about them, has expanded throughout the world.   Werewolves can be found in any culture, whether it be in their history, TV shows or movies.  That leaves the question, why are werewolves so popular?  In the reading “Hairy Snout, Human Heart: Werewolves in Harry Potter’s World and in European History” in the book, Harry Potter and History, Eveline Brugger talks about the idea of humans transforming into animals, specifically werewolves, in the magical world of Harry Potter and the history of the werewolf existence.

The popularity of werewolves stems from Europe.  “Of all European predators, the wolf probably has the most ambiguous reputation” (p 294).  But what’s so confusing about the wolf population?  Why is there so much curiosity about them?  Well, there is a weird appeal to people that you can be both human and animal.  For a while there wasn’t acceptance that humans could turn into animals, especially in the beliefs in religion in the early twelfth and thirteenth centuries.  Once the term “werewolf” was accepted and the idea that werewolves could exist, they were feared.  Fearing werewolves is what made the mythical animal so popular.  Most “wolves appear as threatening and dangerous” (p 294) and that attracts a lot of attention.  Wolves were viewed as very dangerous back in the day, as they appeared in horror genre movies.  However, current day, there are a lot of TV series that portray friendly wolves.  In the TV series, “Teen Wolf”, Scott McCall plays a wolf, who was bitten, but goes to extreme measure to save his friends and family.  Scott McCall is hero in a sense and is out to get the bad wolves or bad creatures that try to destroy his hometown.  As Eveline Brugger states, “In their wolf shape, some of them are murderous beasts, while others are tame and kind” (p 295).  In Harry Potter, Remus Lupin and Fenrir Greyback are great examples of the good and bad wolf concept.  Remus Lupin appeared as someone who struggled with their existence as a wolf and only wanted to do well, even if at full moon, he wasn’t his human self.  Fenrir Greyback appeared as someone who embraced their wolf-like behaviors, even in human form, and only wanted to create hectic and chaotic environments.  Since, in recent years, there was a good and bad wolf existence, it only furthered extended its popularity around the world.

The popularity of werewolves also comes from the idea that humans can turn into animals specifically on a natural cause.  The full moon plays a huge role in the curiosity behind werewolves.  Even though the full moon didn’t “play a prominent role either in pre-modern werewolf literature or in the werewolf persecutions” (p 301), it now plays a huge role in the popular culture today.  In every movie or TV show, there will be scenes that show the significance of the humans turning into werewolves on a full moon.  In the first season of the TV show, “Teen Wolf”, Scott McCall just recently got bitten by a werewolf and every full moon that happens, he tries to chain himself to his bed or chain himself to a pole to try to restrain himself from turning into a murderous beast, since he couldn’t control his powers at first.  Eveline Brugger adds, “In the Harry Potter universe, the full moon is crucial for the transformation, and most other modern werewolf stories also mention the influence of the moon in some form” (p 301).  In Harry Potter, viewers can see Remus Lupin struggling with his transformations whenever there was a full moon.  Through Harry Potter, and other TV shows like “Teen Wolf”, the popularity of werewolves has increased and is now a typical mythical animal that people will see in today’s entertainment culture.

The werewolf image has transformed since its original appearance back in the early twelfth and thirteenth centuries.  The werewolf image started out as something many religions weren’t willing to accept into their beliefs and since then, werewolves have turned into a huge culture popularity.

Work Cited

Reagin, Nancy Ruth. Harry Potter and History. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2011. Print.

“Werewolf.” Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.