Learjet said: "Sorry to derail thread. So many questions, so little time."

In my best Australian accent…"No worries, mate."   If Learjet wishes to talk about werewolves in a vampire killing kit thread…I have absolutely no problems with it.  Ok…so…Orion has done a nice job bringing up various "facts" about the werewolf legend.  I'll take a different approach…

Learjet asked:  "An eclipse of the Moon can occur at full Moon, what happens to werewolfies then?  And what happens if a werewolf looks at a full moon through a telescope? Or Jupiter's moons which are always full?"

These questions as well as your questions about silver…it really depends upon how you are viewing the werewolf.  Are you considering it as a biological entity or does "magic" come into play?  It's a very important distinction.

If you're going biological, or going with a plain scientific approach…then things are going to fall apart very quickly.  Does silver have any sort of property that iron or steel, typical metals used for blades, do not have?  Nope.  Silver has been associated with "purity" in different cultures at different times but that doesn't really translate to metallurgy.  Beyond that, the reason why blades aren't made of silver is because it's weak and you'd have to sharpen it a few times a week just to keep the edge.  Silver is really for the decorative hilt and an in-lay on your fancy-schmancy ceremonial blades that aren't meant for combat.

Silver bullets are interesting.  When werewolves were at there height of popularity, firearms was in its infancy.  Many things were tested and failed.  Silver as ammunition…expensive and weak.  Not a match made.  I can see the faulty logic though…use a more expensive metal for bullets and it must be better.  And they "look" great.  Then again, maybe it didn't matter anyway.  Most of those early pistols and rifles couldn't hit the side of a barn from 10 feet away.  I would have went with a good steel sword.  It won't miss, won't misfire, and doesn't have an insanely long reload time.  Just start hacking away.  Primitive…yet highly effective.

As for the moon…man, a biological approach starts to really stretch thin.  I can't see the light of the moon being a big deal because, as we all know, the moon doesn't generate it's own light, it's simply reflecting the sun's light.  In any event, there's nothing "different" about moon light…as in…it doesn't really cause any mysterious effects that we know about.  However…the moon does have some gravitational pull.  Since it can effect tides, can that be attributed to the "change or transformation" of the werewolf?

Well…let's talk about that transformation first.  Many use the caterpillar to the butterfly argument for an example of nature (outside of single cell bacteria) completely changing it's form.  On the surface, the argument may cause one to pause…for about a second or two.  Then the response is always…the caterpillar is not the "normal state" for the butterfly.  The butterfly does not revert back to the caterpillar at any time.  The caterpillar is merely a developing stage for the butterfly.  What creature can change not just it's appearance, but it's actual species and then change back again?  Um….none.

So once we introduce the gravitational effect of the moon upon humans…we're already lost.  That transformation is awfully tricky…well, unless you introduce magic…and then all bets are off and everything fits nicely.

The origin of the werewolf is often debated.  Personally, I lean towards the Greek and the story of King Lykaon (or Lycaon…depending upon what you are reading).  As the story goes, Lykaon wanted to test the divinity of Zeus by serving him human flesh (yeah…I'm not sure what's up with that "test" either…).  Zeus, not being too thrilled with this, killed all of his sons and then turned Lykaon into a wolf…thus starting the line of "man-wolves."  In fact, this is where the word "lycanthrope" can be traced to.  So…the moral of the story?  Don't test the divinity of Zeus on a whim…very bad things happen…

From this point…the stories become wildly varied and mixed according to the culture.  And once Hollywood got a hold of it…the stories barely resemble the actual legends and myths.

Ok…not sure if this helped or hurt.  But Learjet, you've been a stand-up guy and great contributor to SV.  As a werewolf…I still have to kill you.  But…you're death shall be quick and painless.  That is my gift to you.  There seemed to be a bit of a mix up with the C4 delivered to your house…so, I'm just sending a couple of F-22 Raptors to visit you, your entire neighborhood, and your entire region.  Like I said…I like REALLY big explosions…

@ Learjet -

Well, um….yeah.  But our Werewolf killiing rate is nearly 100%!  Prove that it isn't…