Werewolf Anatomy

A werewolf is a fantasy creature, which has a form that is a combination of a wolf and a human. A werewolf is considered to be one-and-a-half to three feet taller than a normal height human.

Since the werewolf is still bipedal and half-human, much of the muscle structure is similar to a human (Figure 1).

 

Figure 1: Muscle structure of human (left) and werewolf (right) 

The werewolf skull in comparison to the human skull is quite different. The cervical vertebrae are more similar to those of canines than human. When on all fours, they appear to have a very long neck; this changes when on all fours. The jawbone is longer than human and the eyes occupy a larger region of the skull (Figure 2). 

  

Figure 2: Human and Werewolf skull 
 

The lower skeletal structure of werewolf is more similar to quadruped than biped (Figure 3). While they show a wider range of flexibility in their hip joints, they still have restrictions such as the high hock and stifle, preventing full bipedal movement. Though the hock is lower than that of normal quadruped, it still doesn't show the characteristics of the human heel (Nylak, 2006).

Werewolf have legs those of a wolf, although they are upright and mounted more like human legs. Werewolf's feet structure is highly similar to that of a quadruped, exhibiting only four toes and is slightly bulkier to support full body-weight on two feet (Figure 3).

 Figure 3: Lower skeletal structure of werewolf (left) and canine (right) 

 

The hips of the werewolf exhibit femurs in which the ball joint sits slightly to the outside of the knee. However, the angle of the hock cannot reach 180 degrees, creating a slightly hunches-over posture that is necessary to maintain balance while standing on two legs (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Ball joint position of werewolf 

The scapula of the werewolf is not closely attached to the trunk as quadrupeds, and the glen humeral joint allows 360-degree movement. Similar to the extended femur of the werewolf's leg, their humerus (upper arm) is also longer than that of quadrupeds (Figure 5); the arms have structure similar to that of a human. The ball and socket joint of the elbow has a 180 degree range of motion (Nylak, 2006).They have pads on their palms and distal phalanges, but on their metacarpals, as well (Figure 6).

 

Figure 5: Upper arm of werewolf (left) and quadruped (right) 

 Figure 6: Werewolf padding on palms (left) and Canine front paw padding (right)