Also know as Lycanthropy, the word comes from the Greek lykoi, "wolf", and anthropos, "man". The legend of the werewolf is one of the most ancient and wide spread. Stories of werewolves can be found as far back as history has been written. These shape-shifter myths can be found all over the word from China to Iceland and Brazil to Haiti. Some of the earliest accounts of werewolves come from Romania and Greek sources. Ovid, in the Metamorphoses, told of King Lycaeon, who was visited by passing gods. Not believing them to be true gods he decided to test them by serving human flesh in one of the many dishes served at a banquet in their honor. Cannibalism being very frowned upon in that part of the world was a major slight indeed. Upon discovering the tainted dish, the gods changed King Lycaeon into a werewolf -- since he obviously liked human flesh, the wolf form would be a more acceptable form to take part in such a vile activity The most widely know story of the werewolf would be Little Red Riding Hood. There are many ancient were tales to worn the fragile, small and easiest of targets -- children. Little Red Riding Hood features a wolf who talks to Little Red Riding Hood and then dresses in grandmas clothing to fool the innocent little girl. Not something any 'ol wolf could do. The full moon has been linked to werewolves. Conversely, unlike movie werewolves, 'real' werewolves change shape voluntarily. In many myths they are witches who take animal form to travel unnoticed using either a potion made from magic ingredients - the fat of dead children, herbs, human blood - or an animal-skin. A 'real' werewolf changes completely, becoming the animal rather than a hairy human. The full moon business seems to be dramatic license. However it is an interesting notion since the full moon has been associated with creating madness in humans and to be a time during which man and beast have a magical connection. As with witches, finding a werewolf largely seems to be a matter of looking hard enough. Some of the warning signs, according to the world's myths, are: - Red hair - Born on the 25th of December - Eyebrows join in the middle - Index and middle fingers are of the same length - Love of rare or raw meat - Hairs on the palms of the hands - Hair on the inside of the skin (that seems like a tough one to check!) - Will change back to a human if you throw a piece of iron or steel over its head when in animal form.

Lycanthrops were thought to be shapeshifters. The legends about them are as ancient as the cultures they sprang from. Without digressing into symbols and pentagrams and yes, witchcraft, I can say the origins of the werewolf are European.

[The parts in brackets are my own words. There are many theories.] "Many authors have speculated that werewolf and vampire legends may have been used to explain serial killings in less enlightened ages. This theory is given credence by the tendency of some modern serial killers to indulge in practices (such as cannibalism, mutilation and cyclic attacks) commonly associated with werewolves. The idea (although not the terminology) is well explored in Sabine Baring-Gould's seminal work The Book of Werewolves." [This is the most likely, and widely believed. Many things those days were twisted into being worse than they were. Either, because they were passed on by word of mouth, or because they were changed to get small children to listen to their mommies and daddies.] "A recent theory has been proposed to explain werewolf episodes in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries. Ergot, which causes a form of food borne illness, is a fungus that grows in place of rye grains in wet growing seasons after very cold winters. Ergot poisoning usually affects whole towns or poor sections of towns, resulting in hallucinations, mass hysteria and paranoia, as well as convulsions and sometimes death. (The hallucinogen LSD can be derived from ergot). Ergot poisoning has been propounded as both a cause of an individual believing that one is a werewolf and of a whole town believing that they had witnessed a werewolf. This theory, however, is controversial and not widely accepted." [This is the one I have always believed. The part about it not being widely accepted is incorrect, I think. Most books and documentaries use this as one of the viable reasons.] Some modern researchers have tried to use conditions such as rabies, hypertrichosis (excessive hair growth over the entire body) or porphyria (an enzyme disorder with symptoms including hallucinations and paranoia) to explain werewolf beliefs. Congenital erythropoietic porphyria has clinical features which include photosensitivity (so sufferers only go out at night), hairy hands and face, poorly healing skin, pink urine, and reddish colour to the teeth." [I have only heard this theory a few times.] "There is also a rare mental disorder called clinical lycanthropy, in which an affected person has a delusional belief that he or she is transforming into another animal, but not necessarily a wolf or werewolf." [This is another widely accepted theory.] "Others believe that werewolf legends were partly inspired from shamanism and totem animals in primitive and nature-based cultures.[citation needed] The term therianthropy has been adopted to describe a spiritual concept in which the individual believes he or she has the spirit or soul, in whole or in part, of a nonhuman animal." [This is another thing used to scare small children. Most likely religious people trying to scare the kiddies away from blasphemous things.] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werewolf

The first recorded Werewolf sighting took place around the countryside of German town Colongne and Bedburg in 1591. An age-old pamphlet describes those shivering moments vividly. Few people cornered a large wolf and set their dogs upon it. They started to pierce it with sharp sticks and spears. Surprisingly the ferocious wolf did not run away or tried to protect itself, rather it stood up and turned out to be a middle-aged man he was Peter Stubbe from the same village. Stubbe was put on a torture wheel where he confessed sixteen murders including two pregnant women and thirteen children. The history behind his downfall was rather bizarre. He had started to practice sorcery when he was only 12 and was so obsessed with it that even tried to make a pact with the Devil. Wearing a magic girdle he started to attack his enemies, real or imaginary. After several months, he would take the guise of a wolf and continued with his evil acts with more brutality. In the wolf form he used to tear up victims’ throats and suck warm blood from veins. Gradually his thirst for blood grew and he roamed around fields in search of prey. http://members.tripod.com/alam25/first.htm I just report them as I find them guys....LOL

The werewolf legend origionally came from Europe many years ago... But almost EVERY CULTURE has had a man-animal creature that feasts on human blood & flesh. I remember a story from the Philippines from the TV Series Nigniiiig that had a Pinoy Manimal in it...