A short list of terms commonly used among werewolves that hold a unique meaning to them.

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Biter- A werewolf who sets up the goal for himself to change as many humans as possible into
werewolves. It is believed that this can become an addictive behavior, though whether this is due to a
result of the nature of biting itself or a psychological power-hungry effect is unknown. Fortunately the
ritual that the werewolf has to go through to arm the bite and change one human leaves him feeling too
mentally tired to do it again immediately (kind of a depletion of a spiritual energy reserve that allows
them to pass their condition on), preventing this from being used to change large numbers of humans in
a short time. Most werewolves can change a human once every month or two.

Bitten-to-Born Ratio- The estimated number of werewolves in a population that were bitten and
changed vs. inheriting it from a werewolf parent. The werewolves are themselves still uncertain of how
many of their own abilities work and effect the minds of their people, so there are many possible
misconceptions floating around. It is widely believed that people who were bitten are more unstable
and dangerous. A population of werewolves with a higher number of bitten should theoretically have
more rogues. The most widely cited evidence for this is the fact that pack records show a higher level of
criminal behavior among American werewolves than those in European countries. Bitten are fairly
common in America, but much more rare in most parts of Europe.

Camouflage- A chemical compound developed by a werewolf scientist that is capable of temporarily
stripping a werewolf of his scent. The formula is a highly guarded secret made available only to the
leaders of the dominant packs, but cheep imitations that provide limited protection can easily be found
on the black market. Gives an advantage to the Hunters when they are tracking down rogues. Length of
effect varies depending on conditions, but it must be applied frequently and there is no 100% guarantee
that it will offer full protection. Sometimes used in a complicated maneuver that allows a werewolf to
temporarily hide his own identity and use anothers scent to take on the identity of another werewolf or
even a human for spying purposes.

Carry-Over Traits- Features of the wolf and human forms that can always be seen in the other. While in
wolf form- human looking eyes and the ability to speak. While in human form- pointed canine teeth and
enhanced senses.

City Wolf- Can refer to a werewolf who lives in a city area and rarely has the opportunity to visit more
natural habitats, or one who was raised in the city and has little interest in connecting to his wild side
in nature. Despite enhanced senses and instincts some werewolves are poor candidates for survival in
the wilderness and would prefer to stay closer to urban areas.

Cub-Born- A werewolf who is born in wolf form. They will usually not gain the ability to take human form
until they are around the age of 16, so this is rarely done intentionally in werewolves who are trying to
live normal lives in human society. It is considered normal in packs of werewolves or societies of other
shapeshifters who live in the wilderness and spend most of their time in animal form. Children born in
animal form mature at roughly the same rate as human children.

Feral- A werewolf that has forgotten his human identity, usually as a result of complete isolation or
spending too much time in wolf form. Behavior will be the same as an animals, though a bit more
intelligent. He will go on living like this until he dies unless something very personal and important from
his past snaps him out of it, such as hearing his name spoken to him or seeing a loved one. There is no
record of a werewolf going through the process twice, so it is believed that once someone recovers from
it they are immune to future incidents.

Hunter- A werewolf trained by a pack to fight for them. Can serve many different purposes depending
on what the pack needs- hunt down and kill rogues, guard people, track down missing people, scout for
the presence of enemy packs, etc.

Hybrid Form- The ability to mix and match traits from both forms. Usually this is done in only very subtle
ways, such as changing a paw into a hand to quickly manipulate something or growing human canine
teeth to full wolf length to bite with. Although a werewolf can chose which parts to change he cannot go
out of order of the natural sequence of transformation. The change from one form to the other begins
at the extremities- the hands, feet, face, and end of the spine (tail) will be affected first. Though a
werewolf can blend his anatomy enough to be both wolf-like and bipedal, he cannot for example stay
human and grow fur all over his body. Heavily blended forms are usually considered awkward and
uncomfortable, and are rarely preferred to the full-wolf and full-human forms.

Incubation Period- The time that passes between when a human is bitten and when they experience
their first transformation. Usually during the night one week after they have been bitten, though the
time can be anywhere from sundown to sunrise the next day. Named for the effect seen during
infections with diseases, though the real reason is believed to be offering the human a chance to adjust
to subtle changes that will leave him more prepared to experience the first transformation. May bring
mood swings, strange dreams, and slightly heightened senses.

Rogue- A werewolf who uses his shapeshifting abilities to take advantage of humans in some way. Can
cover a wide range of behaviors, from simply frightening humans for fun to hunting and killing them like
prey. Most large packs are concerned about the chance of this behavior resulting in unwanted attention
from humans and the risk of exposure that brings, so they use Hunters to uncover the identity of rogues
within their own territories and kill them.

Tooth-and-Claw Style- Fighting only using wolf form instead of relying on human weapons. This is usually
used in two different ways. One is a reference to a part of the training program the Hunters go through,
usually thought of as more basic self-defense than anything since guns are the preferred way of killing
rogues. The other is a kind of duel used to prove a werewolfs strength and skill in fighting.
Alpha-The leader of a Pack. Alpha
An Alpha is the leader of a pack of werewolves. It is the strongest, most powerful and so far the most
lethal variety of Werewolf.
Becoming an Alpha
A Beta or Omega can become an Alpha by killing an Alpha.
A Beta or Omega can become an Alpha through strength of character or force of will alone. These are
called True Alphas and are very rare.
Special Abilities
An Alphas bite can transform a human into a werewolf. The bite usually only has two outcomes -
transformation or death although there are exceptions (See Lydia Martin and Kanima).
Alphas have the ability to hide their scent from other werewolves.
Alphas have limited telepathy and mental control over the betas that they create.
Bites, scratches and other wounds inflicted by an Alpha will not heal as quickly as other injuries.
Alphas can heal the extremely ill with their pain transference ability but they give up part of the "spark"
that makes them an Alpha. This can result in a loss of Alpha status.

Omega- An Omega is the lone wolf; existing without a pack and without an Alpha. They have all the
werewolf abilities mentioned above but are considered weaker than other types because they are not
part of a pack.Werewolves can become Omegas by choice or be forced out of a pack by the Alpha or by
circumstance.
Beta
Betas are members of a pack and, because of this association, they are considered stronger than
Omegas.

They do not seem to have any special abilities beyond those mentioned above.




Due to the close connection of the larger werewolf packs around the world these terms are very widely
used. They may not be as common in more remote packs, or among other types of shapeshifters unless
they are affiliated with a wolf pack.

Installment #6 of my werewolf guide, describing the version I have spent the last couple of years
developing. =) Just for fun.

Other chapters:
Introduction- [link]
Non-wolf shapeshifters- [link]
How shapeshifting is transferred with a bite- [link]
Rogues- [link]
Restraint- [link]
Psychology- [link]
Physical appearances- [link]
South America- [link]

I was going to do psychology next, but I was interested to see just how many unique terms I have come
up with for my characters to use frequently. 12 so far.
Glad to finally get back to doing some good traditional media for this. Its been a long time since Ive
used charcoal. Overall I like it (except for the hands, as usual :x). His face should really be human up to
the ears, but I was having a lot of difficulty drawing human faces so I just took the easier route. :XD:

Places where these terms have made their way into previous work:
Biter- [link]
Carry-Over Traits- [link]
Cub-Born- [link]
Incubation Period- [link]
Rogue- [link]
Tooth-and-Claw Style- [link]