Post by Paradox on Apr 23, 2016 20:59:38 GMT
Okay, so on many sites, this is often an overlooked and confused thing: what is the difference between werewolves and therians?
If you go into various communities, you may find many different answers. Some may say that werewolves and therians are the same thing. Others may say that werewolves are fantasy, and therians are the real thing, werewolves in a more "realistic" way. Still there are others that claim that werewolves are simply those that have a two-legged wolf form, and wolf therians are those that shift into regular looking wolves.
What is the truth? Which is the right answer?
Well, to start off, therians and werewolves are nowherenear the same thing. Most therians would define therianthropy as being a "non-physical identification to an animal". Therians are not physical. This is not to say that therians are somehow "lesser" than werewolves, but they do not have a physical bent to them. They cannot make their theriotypes become physical, no matter how hard they try, and the majority of the community believes any shift in order to achieve this is a complete waste of time. Therians can mentally shift into their wolf forms, but this is not true shifting as in with a werewolf or other shapeshifter. There can also be "werewolf therians" but they are as non-physical as anyone else in the wider otherkin community.
Werewolves (or lycans/lycanthropes as some people might call them, though they're really the same thing overall), on the other hand, are able to shift into their wolf form. They can become a wolf in a physical way, through shifting. When they shift, they'll usually get some sort of tangible, physical result from their efforts. Werewolves are made to shift, and while they may also have a spiritual or psychological identification to being a werewolf, they are very much a physical kind of creature.
Werewolves and therians are not the same thing. A werewolf in a therian community would quickly get reprimanded for claiming to be able to shift, for example, and there are differences between what the two experience, and even the basic definition of the terms. The term "werewolf" has always had a physical background to it, and while the term therianthropy has been taken from other sources, it has now come to mean a person who non-physically identifies as some sort of animal.
As for the forms, it has no bearing on whether one calls themselves a werewolf or not. Four legs or two legs, they both can be classified under the definition of "werewolf", as long as they can actually shift. Same thing for therians-one could actually identify as a bipedal werewolf(werewolfkin) or a regular wolf(wolf therian) but if they cannot shift physically, then they are a therian.
There are also differences when it comes to energy and general beliefs on the matter-werewolves appear to have more energy in general to be able to transform, unlike a therian, but these are topics for another day. For now, these are the basic differences between therians and weres, and why they are not the same.
If you go into various communities, you may find many different answers. Some may say that werewolves and therians are the same thing. Others may say that werewolves are fantasy, and therians are the real thing, werewolves in a more "realistic" way. Still there are others that claim that werewolves are simply those that have a two-legged wolf form, and wolf therians are those that shift into regular looking wolves.
What is the truth? Which is the right answer?
Well, to start off, therians and werewolves are nowherenear the same thing. Most therians would define therianthropy as being a "non-physical identification to an animal". Therians are not physical. This is not to say that therians are somehow "lesser" than werewolves, but they do not have a physical bent to them. They cannot make their theriotypes become physical, no matter how hard they try, and the majority of the community believes any shift in order to achieve this is a complete waste of time. Therians can mentally shift into their wolf forms, but this is not true shifting as in with a werewolf or other shapeshifter. There can also be "werewolf therians" but they are as non-physical as anyone else in the wider otherkin community.
Werewolves (or lycans/lycanthropes as some people might call them, though they're really the same thing overall), on the other hand, are able to shift into their wolf form. They can become a wolf in a physical way, through shifting. When they shift, they'll usually get some sort of tangible, physical result from their efforts. Werewolves are made to shift, and while they may also have a spiritual or psychological identification to being a werewolf, they are very much a physical kind of creature.
Werewolves and therians are not the same thing. A werewolf in a therian community would quickly get reprimanded for claiming to be able to shift, for example, and there are differences between what the two experience, and even the basic definition of the terms. The term "werewolf" has always had a physical background to it, and while the term therianthropy has been taken from other sources, it has now come to mean a person who non-physically identifies as some sort of animal.
As for the forms, it has no bearing on whether one calls themselves a werewolf or not. Four legs or two legs, they both can be classified under the definition of "werewolf", as long as they can actually shift. Same thing for therians-one could actually identify as a bipedal werewolf(werewolfkin) or a regular wolf(wolf therian) but if they cannot shift physically, then they are a therian.
There are also differences when it comes to energy and general beliefs on the matter-werewolves appear to have more energy in general to be able to transform, unlike a therian, but these are topics for another day. For now, these are the basic differences between therians and weres, and why they are not the same.