As you have probably guessed, werewolves are my FAVORITE type of monster by far. I was 100% the wolf girl in elementary school. I think the reason I love werewolves so much is because they're very useful as being used as allegory for identity, connection to our animal origins, and "otherness". Unfortunely most of the popular werewolf narratives are romance stories that revolve around the bunk """alpha male""" cliche or A/B/O fanfics. Obviously people can enjoy these stories as much as they want but tbh I am sick of that kind of werewolf trope dominating (ha) the landscape. There are still good werewolf stories/characters out there though, and I made this list of werewolves from media, ranked from 1-10 based on how good I think the writers & designers utilized the werewolf in their story.

VAN HELSING (2004)
RATING: 9/10

Holllyyyyyyy shit. Love this one. One of my top fav werewolves. You've got all the classics here. A character facing inner turmoil and fighting their insticts, huge fangs and claws, he's fucking HUGE, turning in the light of the full moon, etc. I unironically love this movie to be honest. It's so campy and indicitive of its time. The vampires and other creatures also look fucking awesome in my opinion. The CGI can look dated but for its time I think it holds up. This is no Jurrasic Park lol. Also the movie does have romance but thankfully the action doesn't take a back seat to it, and I think there's a good blend of both. This is a great film to watch with friends on a movie night.

THE HOWLING (1981)
RATING: 7/10

These werewolves are pretty good. But not THE best. I love how disgusting and nasty they look. The costumes/props/creature effects are really gritty and I appreicate how the design is more realistic, BUT I wish they were used on screen more! This film didn't have the biggest budget and it unfortunately shows. The transformation scene is REALLY cool and you can tell the prop guys put a lot of effort into it, but all their work is underutilized in my opinion. It also doesn't help that the tension in this mystery film is kinda lacking. It definitely feels like the team had a really cool idea, but not enough budget to execute it the way they wanted.

HARRY POTTER
RATING: 3/10

Ok, so this already gets points docked because of JKR's awful bigotry. But even barring that this werewolf SUCKS! On top of the design being pretty low tier ( he looks like a weak ass bitch), I'm pretty sure I've seen theories that JKR wrote Remus's lycanthropy as a "bury your gays" motif, which is why Remus goes through so much shit and then dies in the end. By the way, did you know Robin Williams was originally supposed to play Remus & had a totally different (not bad) take on the character, but wasn't choosen in the end since "only British actors" were allowed? Like, fuck you JKR. God.

SABREWULF (KILLER INSTINCT)
RATING: 10/10

Another REALLY GOOD werewolf. You've got a lot of the same classics here (inner turmoil on idenity, big ass fangs and claws, becoming more violent in the light of the full moon). Except this time, the story is more tragic. Baron Konrad von Sabrewulf is destined to forever be cursed by his lycanthropy, always searching for a cure that doesn't exist. His design in the original arcade is ok, but damn did they really put in their all for the 2014 remake. The skins are awesome too. I wish I was better at fighting games just so I could play as this guy. Killer Instinct actually still has a competitive FGC despite being nearly 10 years old.His theme is fucking awesome btw. (Composed by Mick Gordon who also composed DOOM and DOOM ETERNAL)

THE ELDER SCROLLS: SKYRIM
RATING: 7/10

Not a whole lot to say about this one. I actually really like the Theives Guild storyline and always make sure to play it whenever I decide to pick the game up again. The werewolf design is pretty classic, but at the same time kind of boring. I wish they did more with it. Like maybe have slight differences between all the characters/races in their werewolf form? Idk. Can't complain too heavily about this one though. There's probably a million mods out there that fix any issues I have that I just haven't found yet.


JON TALBAIN (DARKSTALKERS)
RATING: 10/10

Love this guy. He's a classic werewolf, but unlike the Skyrim wolves, I love the little changes the designers gave here. His FLOOF. Also the fact that Jon knows karate and uses it in tune with his werewolf instincts. Like what the heck lol. Unlike Sabrewolf or Van Helsing though, Jon goes through a whole arc where he learns to accept his trauma and can control his werewolf transformation, which is super cool and heartwarming for once. This is another instance where I wish I was better at fighting games so I could play as this guy. Except there hasn't been a new Darkstalkers game in decades and I'm sick of it. MORE DARKSTALKERS CAPCOM PLEASEEEEE.

VICAR AMELIA (BLOODBORNE)
RATING: 8/10

OK I know she isn't TECHNICALLY a werewolf but like. Look at her lol. Pretty werewolf like if I do say so myself! I could include Darkbeast Paarl, Cleric Beast, and Father Gascoigne too if I wanted. But I digress. I loveeee her design. Her fight is super cool and the sound design the SFX team did is also super cool. Damn those SCREAMS. Chilling. I'm taking points off though since she only shows up once during the game. But it's ok because every boss in this game fucking slaps. Her music slaps too (even if it is just Cleric Beast again).

SUPERNATURAL
RATING: 2/10

Ok listen. I too was one of those SuperWhoLock tumblr fangirls back in 2013. The first few seasons of this show have a special place in my heart. But oh my lord. Their werewolves ARE SO BAD. They're basically just humans with sharper teeth and longer nails with super strength. Boooooo. I get that the show had a budget of $72 per episode for special effects but good god. You could have easily added an explanation in the latter seasons (when they had a boatlaods of cash) on why the werewolves suddenly looked better. All the monsters in Supernatural suffer a similar fate too.

TWILIGHT
RATING: 2/10

This should not be a surprise to anyone, but the werewolves in the Twilight series SUUCCCKKKKK. I've never read the books so I don't know if they're described as more traditional werewolves in the novel or not, but in the movie the designs are just plain lazy. They're just regular wolves but bigger! Even the transformation sucks! Their skin just falls off and boom, big wolf. What?! Yes the designs of the monsters isn't the important part in the book/movie series but come onnnn. I feel like for the movies at least, they were making so much money from #TeamJacob fangirls that they could've gone further.

BLAIDD (ELDEN RING)
RATING: 10/10

Omg....what a man. Blaidd is one of my favorite characters in Elden Ring (because I am very predictable), even though pretty much every compainion in Elden Ring is awesome too lol. Not only is he HUGE but his design fucking slaps and also he is so polite. When big scary monstorous looking characters are softspoken ooougghhhhh. Also the missions you need to do to get his armor set are super intricate and worth it. Also that cut petting animation that may or may not be real?? I die. Shoutout to my friend Angel for giving me a Blaidd keychain she made during Magfest last year. I need to put that on my phone or something.