What are the similarities between werewolves in various legends?
Most old legends depict a werewolf as being in Lupus form (not to be confused with the skin disease called lupus). Lupus form, also called feral form, is the point in the transformation in which a werewolf looks like a common wolf. Usually, they are slightly larger than normal wolves (although not as dramatically over-sized as they are depicted in the twilight movies). To get an idea of their size, stand on all fours. You wouldn’t be much bigger than that if you were a werewolf in Lupus form (if you believe they exist of course). I can’t think of many legends in which a werewolf was in Crinos, or anthropomorphic, form. I suppose the legend of Lycaon of Arcadia is an example of that. One other great similarity is that, since the legends were written by humans, werewolves are usually depicted as being evil or monstrous. In a way, most of them skew werewolves’ image similar to how one group of people will demonize another in the midst of conflict. For example, think of the comics American
