Vampires or Werewolves? A question horror fans are faced with. In shows like The Vampire Diaries and the up-and-coming spin-off The Originals and films such as Underworld, there's a battle going on between the 2 supernatural species. In my earlier blog "The Fang Fetish" I discussed our obsession with vampires. In this blog I'm going to explore the other obsession: the supernatural war between the two species.
Both vampires and werewolves are seen in pop-culture as sexy monsters. In folklore both species were seen as monstrous representations of man's inner beast and evils. Both are creatures of the night (a time when it's dark; a human's worst fear) that hide in the shadows and lust for blood.
First a little about werewolves: in European folklore werewolves change on the night of the full moon; when bitten or scratched by another werewolf, you turn into one; wolfsbane and silver (a metal thought to be 100% pure) can hurt a werewolf (a silver bullet can kill them); and in some cases, wearing the skin of a dead criminal gives the person the power to shape-shift into a werewolf. The only cure is death. In some stories killing the wolf that made you will break your curse. The werewolf (or lycanthrope) can be seen as man's inner-self; his wild-side. The full moon part of the legend is said to drive anyone mad ("lunatic") and police and hospitals will tell you that 911 calls increase during the night of the full moon. Although there is no scientific evidence to support the theories of the moon driving one crazy, it could be that because we believe it does that we do sometimes go off the rails. Our love of wolves in the United States alone can cause us to take a deeper look into our love of the werewolf legends. Around the time of 2007-2008, the wolf population in the Mid-West bounced back with a vengeance, taking the wolf off the endangered species list. Wolves hunt in packs and have a sense of family and duty, which we humans admire and look for in a community. We call someone a "lone wolf" because they seem to prefer solitude. Wolves can also be seen as sexual symbols that represent man's virility or that he likes to sleep around. During World War II, soldiers who liked to sleep around with a lot of loose women were called "wolves". In the Grimm Fairytale, Little Red Riding Hood, a girl walking through the woods alone is met by a stranger (a wolf), which could be interpreted as a young woman meeting a sexual predator (also the girl is wearing red, a color of passion and lust). In France, when a girl "saw the wolf" it's a euphemism for a girl losing her virginity (also if a girl didn't see the wolf, she was still a virgin). The St. Valentine's Day tradition was once a celebration that centered around the worship of the wolf; villagers would sacrifice a goat, dip a thong made from the goat's hide in dog blood, then give the young women a good "thwack" on the backside in hopes of transferring virility and fertility upon the woman. The festival was meant to appease the wolves and stop them from eating too much of their livestock and ask for their protection. This holiday took place on February 15th but the Catholic Church moved it to a day earlier.
Back to the topic: Vamps or Wolves? Both have an animal aspect (Werewolves are more obvious) but both species take a stab at our fascination in letting loose; giving into our "wild-sides" and throwing off our puritanical shackles. Vampires and Werewolves are sexual symbols. They are both symbols of power and represent the darkest parts of ourselves.
In films, television, and books, the war between werewolves and vampires is one fought because they not only hate each other but they feel like they were born to be enemies. In the film franchise Underworld, the vampires are blue bloods who consider themselves above human laws and who should be feared and respected as they enslave the lycans (werewolves) who they view as no better than human dogs. Vampires are immortal and werewolves are mortal (except in Underworld and shows like Lost Girl where they are immortal).
On the whole, vampires and werewolves will always be at odds. This genre is so embedded in our human psyche that any story without it seems bland and unrealistic. In the CW's new series spin-off of The Vampire Diaries, The Originals will explore the vampire vs witch genre, which in my opinion is a nice genre to explore. The character Klaus, is half vampire and half were-wolf; a creature that combines our love of both species and allows for a realm of new possibilities that lay in the hundreds. Klaus is also able to procreate, which yes, sounds "Twilight" but the mythology fits as Klaus is half-werewolf and so not entirely impossible. I will absolutely say that a vampire-werewolf hybrid, is the perfect merging of the two top monsters in the world of horror and the supernatural.
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