Silver Summit

Terry Wessner

Why a were?

Short answer: Because I want to.

Long answer: It might surprise some people to learn that, despite my having started this zine dedicated to werecreatures, I don't really have a deep, obsessive interest in them. My specific interest in lycanthropes is actually a subset of my broader interest in furries - characters with a combination of human and animal traits.

What's the difference between a were and a furry? I see lycanthropes as a subset of furries. Their distinguishing feature is the transformation. Unlike most furries, weres have at least two different forms that are not of the same species. One of these forms is usually human, but that is not a requirement. Most weres transform repeatedly, but if a character has at least one, permanent, cross-species transformation in his or her life, that's good enough for my classification scheme.

Wolves are the most common subject for weres, and they're my personal favourite, but I like to see more variety than that. There's a wide range of traditional shapeshifter lore to explore, such as the fox-people of Japan, and the wereleopards of Africa. There's no reason to stick to carnivores, or even to mammals. How about some werehawks or a weresalmon?

The one type of were that I'm definitely not interested in seeing more of is the cliché Hollywood monster. Most people don't realize that virtually everything about contemporary werewolf mythos comes from one source - Universal Pictures' The Wolf Man, released in 1941. The full moon, involuntary transformations, silver bullets, hairy palms, the loss of about 100 IQ points when morphed - they all come from this one film, which wasn't even a good movie to begin with! It's time to leave that version of the werecreature behind us.

What I do want to see is material that explores the many possibilities of these underutilized creatures. What sort of personality differences might exist between a were's two forms? How much behavioural overlap would there be? What would a society of weres be like? How well would they get along with humans? What sort of jobs would they have? Do they live openly or in secret? Is there a maximum time before an involuntary transformation sets in? Will the ability to transform fade if it isn't used regularly?

There's also a lot of room for artistic interpretation. If a were has an intermediate form, what would it be like? Would a were-dolphin have legs? Does a werefalcon have hands? Where exactly does all that hair or feathers go when morphing back into human?

There's a lot of potential to be mined here. The answers to some of these questions appear in this very issue. More will be coming in the months and years ahead.

I want to thank everyone who has contributed to this issue of Fang, Claw, and Steel. A zine is only as good as its contributors, and I'm very fortunate to have such talented individuals gracing these pages. Thank you all, this zine wouldn't exist without you!

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Weird Confessions