One Hundred Fantasy Clichés That Really Need To Rest In Peace

#74: The Typical Werewolf Pack

  Note:  This part of the editorial is going to be quite a bit different from the previous parts.  Instead of focusing on just one cliché, there will be three clichés.  The reason behind this is to sum up one huge general plot point in fantasy literature that just needs to die off.  I give a special thanks to RoyalCatClaw , who suggested I cover these many problems on werewolf-focused stories.  Please go check their account out if you can.  They are quite brilliant to say the least.  Now, on to possibly my most controversial topic ever!

  In recent years, three creatures of the night have ruled literature.  The first is the blood thirsty vampire, an undead human whose fictional origins date back all the way to 1897 with Bram Stoker's Dracula.  Originally demon-like creatures full of inhumane cruelty, vampires have been reinterpreted, for the better or for the worst as undead humans who are trying to retain their humanity in a cruel, judgmental world.  Examples such as L.J. Smith's book series The Vampire Diaries, Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire, Darren Shaw's Cirque du Freak, and Stephanie Meyer's book series The Twilight Saga are such examples of more modernized vampires.  The second creature is the vicious brain eating zombie, which were created as representations of humanity's fears of disease and unexplained illnesses.  They became most recently popularized with stories such as Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore's graphic novel series The Walking Dead, Max Brook's World War Z, and Isacc Marion's Warm Bodies.  Finally, there is the feared shape shifting humanoid wolf beast, the werewolf.  Taking a route similar to the vampire in recent years, arguably the film The Wolfman back in 1941 helped werewolves to gain their current popularity.  Like the other two beasts, there are many books focused on the creature, which to be honest are usually hit or miss.  The werewolf, most notably the modern invention of the werewolf pack, will be the main part of this editorial's dissection of stories with this aspect mixed in.

  Starting off this process is this common werewolf tribe trope; loner werewolves for some reason seem to make the best kinds of packs by scratch.  Seemingly being a cliché breaker for the common trope of the lone wolf, this plot element does more harm to the storyline than any potential game changing good.  Werewolf packs in many forms of literature have been depicted as the following; tight knit and very family oriented.  This parallels real wolves, who live in small family based packs of about ten to fifteen members.  In order to have a lone wolf in the first place, this tight knit family characteristic werewolf packs are known for would have to be broken.  Doing this will almost most definitely break character.  Additionally, if somehow a werewolf happened to be on its own due to exile or leaving from their own free will, how would the creation of a new pack be possible?  Unless there happened to be an unusually high number of loner werewolves, which would most definitely be impossible due to short survival rates, the tight knit communities would take it down before its first year.  This werewolf tribe cliché makes no sense characterization wise or towards the half wolf main characters who would most definitely stick together.  If you want a loner werewolf, that is fine.  Making this loner wolf somehow able to form a pack of other loner werewolves in a short period of time is asking too much.  Just read Annette Curtis Klause's book Blood and Chocolate to see why these close knit werewolf communities are hard to even break down.

  Then there is the ever so present domineering alpha trope.  If you love inhumane love stories such as Fifty Shades of Grey, where the main male lead takes advantage of a innocent woman, this kind of storyline is for you.  For some unexplainable reason, in fantasy love stories, werewolf alpha's are always depicted as domineering and even abusive to their human or werewolf lover.  Apparently due to the preset werewolf nature of uncontrollable rage, this abuse has somehow been seen as okay to a large group of people.  Abuse in any form is never tolerable.  The leader of a werewolf tribe, the main governing figure, whose job it is to keep their tribe in check, should not be depicted this way.  Anyone, especially leaders, should be presented as strong authority figures to be looked upon.  They should treat their lovers with  respect, a similar kind they give towards their tribes.  Just ask Calla, a werewolf from A.D. Robertson's book Nightshade.    A fellow werewolf alpha, she was supposed to marry Ren, another tribe leader.  However, Ren was a womanizer and treated Calla with little to no respect.  On the night they were supposed to get married, Calla tells him off for this and the marriage ends up being terminated.  The Ren's of all the other werewolf pack love stories need to be treated the same.

  Finally, there is the cliché of abuse towards lower ranking pack members; the omegas.  In most if not all werewolf related literature, the lower ranking wolves are treated as second class citizens.  They are abused by the higher ranking wolves and are made to look like a joke.  This strange idea can be rooted to an old human ideology about wolves; the alpha wolf is always the aggressive, main superior.  Over time though, this has been proven to be false.  Wolves treat themselves with equal dignity.  After all, they are a close knit family unit.  No one is treated with less respect.  The same should apply to werewolves, since their pack structure is similar to their full wolf counterpart.  Besides that, who wants to represent inexcusable inequality for no reason besides it being an established cliché?  I can see a majority of you guys agreeing with this reasoning.  In this case, following the facts first is the best option.  Do not take things for granted.

  The werewolf pack in fiction is a flawed plot element that could use some much needed tweaking.  Alpha wolves do not have to be domineering towards their mates.  A rogue, loner wolf is not magically going to create a tribe overnight.  Omegas should be treated as equals to the alphas.  Fixing all these clichés can create a fresher take on these fantasy creatures.