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Originally Posted by blackjack60
Those weren't mutually exclusive--wolves were pretty terrifying to pesants and villagers in an age before firearms.
Again, not exclusive concepts. There's a reason why people transform into wolves rather than sheep or eagles.
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Neither of these refute my point, though? The werewolf has become more overtly monstrous- rather than more overtly wolfy or human- to serve its narrative purpose in the stories in which it appears because the modern audience no longer fears wolves but it still fears monsters. In this way the "scary" werewolf is trying to adapt to modern times, and I think they've chosen an effective path even if it is neither true to humanity nor werewolves. Depending on the story the werewolf is in, choosing this direction is often more in service to the narrative than going a route with more true human or wolf anatomy.
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Originally Posted by blackjack60
True. But physically, the werewolf for most of its existence in legend holds some obligation to physically resemble a wolf.
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For sure, but that obligation is tenuous and as a point to respond to the OP I believe it's more than filled by monstrous werewolves in the stories they are usually found in. Nobody is wondering what these creatures are, they're all recognizably lupine, which is the most I think a werewolf ever needs to be. From there, the form of the wolf should serve narrative.
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Originally Posted by blackjack60
I agree, but the concept has room for lots of "true" variations.
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I agree, which is why I mentioned as much in my post.
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Originally Posted by blackjack60
The original poster wasn't asking for anatomically correct werewolves--he was asking for werewolves that more accurately combined wolf and human anatomy. That's a more difficult and interesting feat to accomplish, and most werewolf films haven't really risen to that challenge--they've just exaggerated traits from the very few great werewolf films.
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I think that's exactly what the OP was asking for. You'll even see he came back in and praised "Bitten" and "Blood and Chocolate" for their depiction of werewolves which are wholly anatomically correct. So it's at the very least part of the OP's original point. As I said, the OP's criteria for werewolves is not even particularly rare, it's actually decently popular right now. It's just that many movies aren't looking for a werewolf that's anatomically or mentally faithful to humans or wolves and I was arguing for that being a perfectly valid direction.