Creatures able to take the form of a human or a wolf
- "Because according to Gervase of Tilbury a werewolf who hasn't been bitten himself needs to be initiated. That means you can have the werewolf virus all your life but never even know it because it's never activated. Generations of Smallwoods have lived and died, but the virus was dormant in them because they didn't know the secret of waking it up."
- —Stefan Salvatore[src]
A werewolf is a supernatural being with the power to shift from the form of a human to that of a wolf. The virus (also known as lycanthropy) can be passed by two ways; being bitten by a werewolf, or inheriting the virus from a parent. A woman who becomes pregnant with a werewolf's children shifts form uncontrollably before obtaining the power to choose to be fully human or fully wolf. A werewolf becomes human if they have one of their members removed.
Becoming a werewolfEdit
- If a human is bitten by a werewolf in wolf-form, they too become a werewolf.
- The child of a werewolf carries the werewolf virus (also known as lycanthropy). The virus can be activated by killing a person and drinking their blood, after which they will gain the power on the next full moon.
- A woman who becomes pregnant with the child of an activated werewolf will shift uncontrollably from human to wolf-form before gaining the power to choose to be fully human or fully wolf.
Unbecoming a werewolfEdit
A werewolf can become human if one of their members is removed. Gervase of Tilbury reported that Raimbaud, a werewolf of Auvergne, France, became human after having one of his hind paws cut off by a carpenter.
Notes and referencesEdit
- ↑ Gwen Sawicki: But that horrid disease wasn't lycanthropy – being a werewolf, right? (The Return: Midnight - Chapter 22)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Stefan Salvatore: Because according to Gervase of Tilbury a werewolf who hasn't been bitten himself needs to be initiated. That means you can have the werewolf virus all your life but never even know it because it's never activated. Generations of Smallwoods have lived and died, but the virus was dormant in them because they didn't know the secret of waking it up. But the man in the raincoat knew. He knew that you have to kill and taste fresh blood. After that, at the first full moon you can change. (Dark Reunion - Chapter 10)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Elena Gilbert: Damon says that having a werewolf baby turns you into a werewolf even faster than if you're bitten, and that at some point in the pregnancy you gain the power to be all wolf or all human, but before that point you're just a mixed-up mess. (The Return: Shadow Souls - Chapter 1)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Stefan Salvatore: It is commonly reported and held by grave and worthy doctors that if a werewolf be shorn of one of his members, he shall surely recover his original body. Gervase goes on to tell the story of Raimbaud of Auvergne, a werewolf who was cured when a carpenter cut off one of his hind paws. Of course, that was probably hideously painful, but the story goes that Raimbaud thanked the carpenter 'for ridding him forever of the accursed and damnable form.'(Dark Reunion - Chapter 10)