#3 - Werewolf

Werewolf legends have been around for quite a while and in cultures across the globe. One of the earliest werewolves (and probable root of the term lycanthrope) was King Lyacon, who was transformed into a wolf in retribution for attempting to serve his own son to Zeus for dinner (see below). This early tradition was very different from the modern werewolf form. There were two main types of werewolves, the voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary werewolves had taken proactive steps (usually a deal with the devil or some form of herbal potion) to gain the ability to turn into a wolf. Involuntary werewolves were cursed by some outside force, either through witchcraft or in retribution for evil deeds (ala Lyacon). The contagious bite theory and the silver bullet method of destroying a werewolf did not appear until modern retelling of the werewolf legend. Traditional folk legends prescribed wolfsbane, prayer, or cleansing to rid oneself of a werewolf curse.

The modern werewolf story began in the Universal Monsters line of films. The first werewolf film was 1935's Werewolf of London, but this film stayed more true to the eastern European tales, with the curse coming from an herb and none of the contagion theory. In 1941's the Wolf Man, however, Lon Cheney's character is infected by a bite and is killed by a silver walking stick. These details have been repeated in popular culture as canonical rules so frequently that the original folk tales have morphed into a legend informed by the germ theory of disease.

The popular culture references to werewolves are too numerous to count. There are hundreds of books and films with either werewolf characters or references to lycanthropy. Numerous songs deal with the concept and characters are present in music videos. There are references in the genres of horror, comedy, drama, fantasy, and television. The widespread nature of these cultural references likely stems from the extreme popularity of Universal's big three monsters - Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Wolf Man - which tapped into unconscious fears of disfiguration and anti-social behavior. These three characters tapped into these collective fears and gave birth to the blockbuster macabre film, informing popular culture ever since.

Next week: another biblical monster that dwarfs all the monsters so far.