# Werewolves -- How do you stop them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 25, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181 "2011-05-25T17:50:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181/21 "2011-05-27T22:32:35Z")
> [@kath94](#): > > In **An American Werewolf in London** , the guy that was killed by the werewolf (can’t remember his name – Griffin Dunne played the part) keeps showing up to warn his friend, David, that he will become a werewolf under the full moon, and encourages David to kill himself before then. > > In **Being Human** , IIRC, George tried to suppress his lycanthropic tendencies with tranquilizers, but all that did was bottle them up so they could leak out unexpectedly. It seems to be no only a curse, but one to be ashamed of. Most 'wolves on the show, the ones we’ve seen anyway, take precautions to contain themselves in some way before the full moon. For crying out loud, those are movies! We’re talking about real werewolves here. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181/22 "2011-05-27T22:44:42Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Effect of silver dental work on werewolves? Worst case of gingivitis you’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181/23 "2011-05-28T03:09:15Z")
You mean [THIS](http://video.adultswim.com/robot-chicken/silver-bullet.html) wouldn’t work? Warning: Video above may not be SFW, as it features bathroom humor and noises (it IS _Robot Chicken_, after all). ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181/24 "2011-05-29T01:03:29Z")
Take off and… no, I just can’t go there. ---
**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:** [May 29, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181/25 "2011-05-29T01:23:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Take off and… no, I just can’t go there. Of course you can’t; the dropship is out of commission. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181/26 "2011-05-29T04:59:51Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Right. Most victims of werewolf attacks end up dead, not survivors who are now cursed to become werewolves themselves. I think that’s the best in-universe reason. Someone wrote a math paper showing that even with modest ‘infection rates’, if vampires existed in real life they would very quickly take over the entire human population. So this may be one of those things you just have to ignore for the sake of fiction (except for that Daybreakers movie, which used that as its premise). In some werewolf stories (and some vampire ones too), you can break the curse and turn back to human by killing your own maker. In one vampire story, you could turn human again with a massive blood transfusion, so that might work with werewolves. And of course in season two of the UK version, Humans capture werewolves and try to cure them by sticking them in a hyperbaric pressure chamber during the full moon, but it just seems to end up killing them. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181/27 "2011-05-29T05:12:51Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Someone wrote a math paper showing that even with modest ‘infection rates’, if vampires existed in real life they would very quickly take over the entire human population. So this may be one of those things you just have to ignore for the sake of fiction (except for that Daybreakers movie, which used that as its premise). I assume that’s why a lot of modern vampire fiction (what little I’ve seen) usually requires some “give and take” as it were, some conscious decision to “sire” another vampire. I assume the creators of the earliest legends didn’t really think that part through. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181/28 "2011-05-29T05:15:08Z")
Regarding vampires: Does anyone still hew to the idea that dead werewolves become vampires? Seems like an interesting mixing of the mythologies, and a distinct disincentive to killing werewolves. (Doesn’t make as much sense symbolically, though: Vampires are things that look human but do terrible things for selfish reasons (sociopaths), werewolves are normal humans most of the time until something breaks through and they lose control (rage disorders), and zombies are not human and can’t even act human and are, ultimately, inevitable (death). (Or, vampires are sexual libertines capable of un-repressing urges better left repressed in late Victorian society, werewolves are self-loathing homosexuals or something, and zombies are still Haitian robot-slaves most Europeans have never heard of.)) ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181/29 "2011-05-29T06:02:54Z")
What would happen if a werewolf in human form (the other 29 days of the month) bit someone? ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181/30 "2011-05-29T10:44:57Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Regarding vampires: Does anyone still hew to the idea that dead werewolves become vampires? Seems like an interesting mixing of the mythologies, and a distinct disincentive to killing werewolves. Supposedly, that is only the case for those who deliberately choose to become werewolves. > [@RandMcnally](#): > > What would happen if a werewolf in human form (the other 29 days of the month) bit someone? According to _Cursed_, sleeping with a werewolf in human form can pass the infection. According to _Buffy_, not. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181/31 "2011-05-29T14:17:31Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Supposedly, that is only the case for those who deliberately choose to become werewolves. And since in some traditions vampires were not people who’d been the victims of other vampires but people who’d practiced dark magic or committed great sins in life, it makes sense that a person who chose to become a werewolf would rise as a vampire after death. ---
**Author:** ![Imago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@Imago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imago)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181/32 "2011-05-29T22:30:13Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Well, I don’t think it’s technically _required_ for the vampire to suck your blood, but that’s like saying it’s not required for a chocolate lover to eat the whole cake. Sure, they could skip it, but that’s the _fun_ part. I always figured you had to be drained mostly dry of blood before drinking a vampire’s blood would make you a vampire. Like how an embalmer takes the blood out of a corpse before they pump it full of fluid. Symbolically, taking the delicious human goodness out of you before filling you full of their vampire corruption. I also always figured lycanthropy needed to be passed through saliva, which might theoretically mean if they bit you in human form you would have a chance, albeit smaller, of contracting it. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181/33 "2011-05-29T22:39:03Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > And since in some traditions vampires were not people who’d been the victims of other vampires but people who’d practiced dark magic or committed great sins in life, it makes sense that a person who chose to become a werewolf would rise as a vampire after death. That makes more sense. This moralistic overtone has largely been lost in modern vampire and werewolf stories. (I’m sure there are exceptions.) ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181/34 "2011-05-30T00:08:50Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > That makes more sense. This moralistic overtone has largely been lost in modern vampire and werewolf stories. (I’m sure there are exceptions.) The title character in Bram Stoker’s _Dracula_ is actually described as having become a vampire due to his study of black magic a the [Scholomance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholomance), but this is barely mentioned in the book and is easily forgotten. (I’d forgotten it myself until another Doper brought it up in a past vampire thread, and I’ve read _Dracula_ several times.) I don’t know that this bit of backstory has been used in any of the countless _Dracula_-inspired plays, novels, movies, etc. More significant to the plot of the original novel are Dracula’s attempts to turn innocent Englishwomen into vampires by biting them, so that’s what tends to be emphasized in derivative works. Stoker also describes Dracula as being able to take different forms, including that of a wolf, so the Count is arguably a kind of werewolf. It’s not clear whether he learned how to transform into a wolf while still alive or if this is something any vampire can do. IIRC then the vampirized Lucy Westernra (who wouldn’t have studied black magic while alive) and Dracula’s three brides back in Transylvania (who may or may not have) are never described as changing into animals, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they _couldn’t_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181/35 "2011-05-30T00:22:53Z")
Modern technology suggests a “stop” or “pause” button. D&D methods include a mortal blow with a silver weapon. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181/36 "2011-05-30T00:25:46Z")
If you’re bitten by a werewolf, you still have a chance to fight off the curse, much like fighting off a viral infection. Infusions of belladonna help fight off the curse, but be careful not to use too much (it _is_ poisonous, after all). If you can make it through the next full moon without changing, you’re in the clear. If you change, the curse is with you for good. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181/37 "2011-05-30T00:39:18Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > The title character in Bram Stoker’s _Dracula_ is actually described as having become a vampire due to his study of black magic a the [Scholomance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholomance), but this is barely mentioned in the book and is easily forgotten. (I’d forgotten it myself until another Doper brought it up in a past vampire thread, and I’ve read _Dracula_ several times.) I don’t know that this bit of backstory has been used in any of the countless _Dracula_-inspired plays, novels, movies, etc. More significant to the plot of the original novel are Dracula’s attempts to turn innocent Englishwomen into vampires by biting them, so that’s what tends to be emphasized in derivative works. > > Stoker also describes Dracula as being able to take different forms, including that of a wolf, so the Count is arguably a kind of werewolf. It’s not clear whether he learned how to transform into a wolf while still alive or if this is something any vampire can do. IIRC then the vampirized Lucy Westernra (who wouldn’t have studied black magic while alive) and Dracula’s three brides back in Transylvania (who may or may not have) are never described as changing into animals, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they _couldn’t_. AFAIK, the Scholomance has NEVER been touched in a Dracula-themed anything. I have not gone thru 100% of Dracula movies & books, but neither Fred Saberhagen’s A MATTER OF TASTE & THE DRACULA TAPES nor Jeffrey Sackett’s BLOOD OF THE IMPALER- the best Dracula origin stories I’ve read- dealt with it. I think both Saberhagen & the Marvel 1970s comic mag “Dracula Lives” had Vlad as the target of a Gypsy curse for slaughtering her people. Sackett had him making a personal deal with the Devil on the eve of his execution by the Turks, with the implication that he may eventually become the AntiChrist. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181/38 "2011-05-30T13:19:29Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I believed you had to be bitten to become a werewolf. More to it than that, to paraphrase: _“Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a volf when de volfbane blooms and ze autumn moon is bright.”_ How often does that happen? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181/39 "2011-05-30T14:58:57Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Traditionally, lycanthropy was _not_ spread through bites. This seems to have been something filmmakers borrowed from vampire lore. And it wasn’t really vampire lore. In **Dracula** , a single bite only weakened you; the vampire had to drain you completely over a period of time. Then, after you were buried, they’d unearth your coffin (which you kept to sleep in during the day) and you’d be a vampire. You also were not hurt by sunlight. You gained your powers in the night and had to sleep in your coffin during the day (which is when you were vulnerable to a stake in the heart – during the night, a stake wouldn’t harm you). But you were the equivalent of a third-shift worker – if you woke up during the day, you could function normally (though perhaps a bit tired). Also, vampires were walking corpses – they were always at room temperature. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181/40 "2011-05-30T17:09:44Z")
There’s also the implication that sunlight is at the very least rather annoying to vampires: Whenever Dracula has to be out and about by day, he wears a wide-brimmed hat. Still a far cry from “reduced to a pile of dust by a single pencil-beam of sunlight”, of course. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolves-how-do-you-stop-them/583181.md?page=3)