# Werewolves and Lunar Eclipse **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 8, 2014, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716 "2014-10-08T01:36:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716/1 "2014-10-08T01:36:21Z")
Tonight we have a lunar eclipse, and also a full moon. So does a werewolf change because the moon is full, then go back to human form during the eclipse, then change back to a werewolf after the eclipse, then change again to human form at dawn? Where is Neil deGrasse Tyson when I need him? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716/2 "2014-10-08T01:44:38Z")
Moon Knight got bloodied up tangling with a werewolf, and thereafter got superstrength at night in direct proportion to how full the moon was; when a lunar eclipse hit during a full moon, the superstrength he’d been using to beat up crooks faded like ice cream in the sun. And if you can’t trust Marvel Comics on this stuff, who can you trust? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716/3 "2014-10-08T02:40:17Z")
Like so much about the werewolf, we owe the Jekyll-and-Hyde-like “changing against your will during a full moon” thing to Kurt Siodmak. Prior to him, the werewolf was a vastly different beast, but he codified it and invented a lot of its tropes. Hard to believe he only died 14 years ago. Anyway, since Kurt didn’t pronounce on the effects of lunar eclipses (or solar eclipses), you’re free to make up your own rules. Og knows enough writers and screenwriters have. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716/4 "2014-10-08T04:33:35Z")
Eclipse or not, remember that werewolves only change if they can actually _see_ the full moon. On a cloudy night they won’t change at all, unless the clouds dramatically roll back at a crucial moment accompanied by a shocking sting of violins. (Source: _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_.) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716/5 "2014-10-08T11:58:31Z")
In an old issue of Mad magazine a guy only has half of his body (split vertically) change into a werewolf during a _partial_,lunar eclipse. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716/6 "2014-10-08T12:03:05Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Tonight we have a lunar eclipse, and also a full moon. Note that a lunar eclipse requires a full moon. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716/7 "2014-10-08T12:33:06Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Eclipse or not, remember that werewolves only change if they can actually _see_ the full moon. On a cloudy night they won’t change at all, unless the clouds dramatically roll back at a crucial moment accompanied by a shocking sting of violins. (Source: _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_.) No. This can’t be right. What would happen on a night with lots of passing clouds? You’d have your werewolf turning back and forth all evening. The monster would be about to rip apart some fair maiden and suddenly whoosh…back he’d turn and everyone would see that the werewolf was actually Paul, the friendly guy everyone likes. Does not work. Afflicted souls would just travel to a cloudy site each month and not even have to chain themselves up in an isolated room. Got to be the same with an eclipse. The moon is still full, after all. It is not the light, it is the curse. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716/8 "2014-10-08T12:48:17Z")
It’s a full moon the entire time, so they don’t switch back and forth. They just run into more things, because it’s darker out. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716/9 "2014-10-08T12:48:41Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Eclipse or not, remember that werewolves only change if they can actually _see_ the full moon. On a cloudy night they won’t change at all, unless the clouds dramatically roll back at a crucial moment accompanied by a shocking sting of violins. (Source: _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_.) So then the solution to the problem would be to stay inside away from windows during a full moon, right? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716/10 "2014-10-08T13:26:23Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > What would happen on a night with lots of passing clouds? You’d have your werewolf turning back and forth all evening. The monster would be about to rip apart some fair maiden and suddenly whoosh…back he’d turn and everyone would see that the werewolf was actually Paul, the friendly guy everyone likes. Does not work. Pretty sure that, when the clouds part, it’s Michael Jackson who transforms. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716/11 "2014-10-08T13:48:29Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Pretty sure that, when the clouds part, it’s Michael Jackson who transforms. It is hard to take any werewolf seriously who doesn’t transform once a month regardless of whether any passing nimbus happen to be in the area. And don’t get me started on that whole “shape-shifter” nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716/12 "2014-10-08T14:44:54Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Pretty sure that, when the clouds part, it’s Michael Jackson who transforms. Well, he did transform, but he became a white woman, not a werewolf. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716/13 "2014-10-08T14:57:24Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Well, he did transform, but he became a white woman, not a werewolf. When Comedy Central did their MTV parody, the high point was the Thriller parody, in which Michael Jackson transforms into pre-plastic surgery Michael Jackson, with his old nose. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716/14 "2014-10-08T15:24:45Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > It is hard to take any werewolf seriously who doesn’t transform once a month regardless of whether any passing nimbus happen to be in the area. And don’t get me started on that whole “shape-shifter” nonsense. Well, in [_Ginger Snaps_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210070/) (my favorite werewolf move) the transformation was one-time, one-way. You turn into a werewolf, and you stay that way. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716/15 "2014-10-10T01:28:01Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Well, in [_Ginger Snaps_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210070/) (my favorite werewolf move) the transformation was one-time, one-way. **You turn into a werewolf, and you stay that way**. But once that happens, are you actually still a _werewolf_ ? Or are you now, y’know, just a plain old _wolf_? Maybe they such call such a being a _werehuman_ since that’s what they were. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716/16 "2014-10-10T01:40:00Z")
Well, I don’t know about wolves, but water-benders derive power from the Moon, and are powerless during a lunar eclipse. Likewise for fire-benders during a solar eclipse. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716/17 "2014-10-11T02:45:51Z")
My bet is they still change but into some funny skinny short-hair coat like a greyhound. Point and laugh a lot and they will leave you alone. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716/18 "2014-10-11T05:33:34Z")
Clouds and eclipses, bah. I want to know what happens to a werewolf astronaut _on_ the moon. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716/19 "2014-10-11T05:44:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Well, I don’t know about wolves, but water-benders derive power from the Moon, and are powerless during a lunar eclipse. Likewise for fire-benders during a solar eclipse. And what divine entity shafted the water-benders so much? And what about the other benders? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716/20 "2014-10-11T11:05:49Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Clouds and eclipses, bah. I want to know what happens to a werewolf astronaut _on_ the moon. He turns into a werewolf [kaiju](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiju) and rampages across the moonscape. 😃 I recall a funny novel named _Full Moonster_ involving the aftermath of a werewolf touching a Moon rock; the result was a massive magical detonation that destroyed most of a town, created an army of super-werewolves, and killed every telepath on Earth. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-and-lunar-eclipse/700716.md?page=2)