Shapeshifter (Anita Blake mythology)

Numerous different types of shapeshifters exist in the universe, including werewolves and wererats. Anita distinguishes between lycanthropes, which includes solely persons infected by contact with another lycanthrope's bodily fluids, and shapeshifters, a class that includes both lycanthropes and persons who are able to shapeshift as a result of magic, such as a personal or family curse.

In the Anitaverse, lycanthropes are barred from certain professions and can in fact still be killed on sight in some states. The status of non-lycanthrope shapeshifters, being far more rare, is less clear. To what extent, if any, human society recognizes the authority of lycanthrope social groups (packs, pards, etc.) -- whether criminal acts undertaken at the order of one's alpha might be regarded as actions taken under duress, for instance -- is similarly unclear.

hapeshifter attributes

hape change

Lycanthropes can assume at least two forms - human and animal. Many can also assume a "hybrid" form that is bipedal with animal characteristics or even transform a small part of their body at will (for example, "growing" fingers into claws).

Changing between forms takes a great deal of energy; most lycanthropes must feed immediately after changing to animal form and collapse into a comatose state for several hours after returning to human form. Stronger lycanthropes do not need to feed immediately or collapse, but are extremely tired. The lycanthropes Anita encounters most frequently can change shape almost at will.

Lycanthropes who spend too much time in animal form may not be able to shift back completely. As a result, some of the lycanthropes Anita meets have fangs or voices or eyes resembling their animal form, even when in human shape.

Other shapeshifters may have different forms available, and may experience different effects. For example, is able to shift back and forth to his swan form without unconsciousness, and it is not clear if he has an intermediate "swanman" form.

Contagion

Lycanthropes' bodily fluids are contagious, but only when the lycanthrope is in an animal or hybrid state. Lycanthropy can be also be passed along by getting a bad batch of lycanthrope vaccine, as Richard did. To date, all lycanthropes introduced in the series were infected with lycanthropy well before first meeting Anita Blake; as yet, no established human characters (save perhaps Anita herself) have contracted lycanthropy, and thus the stages through which someone gradually moves from conventional human society to a lycanthrope hierarchy have not been depicted.

Physical abilities

* All lycanthropes are extremely fast, strong, and resistant to damage. Lycanthropes' strength appears to depend somewhat on their actual size and somewhat on their level of supernatural power.
* Lycanthropes can recover from almost any wound other than that caused by silver weapons. For example, in "Circus of the Damned", is able to regenerate an entire arm, and Richard Zeeman is able to recover from having his throat literally torn out.
* Lycanthropes have extremely acute senses, even in human form. For example, in "The Lunatic Cafe" Richard claims to be able to "smell" emotions or lies. "Narcissus in Chains" mentions that sometimes being anxious changes the smell of a person and perhaps that is what the lycanthropes smell. The same book has Nathaniel remarking he can hear a person's heart beat or the blood moving in the body, even in human form.
* Lycanthropes are effectively allergic to silver and feel physical pain from even skin contact, although some seem to enjoy silver jewelry.

Command of animals

Lycanthropes appear able to command animals of their species. (For example, wererats can command rats).

Reaction to vampire's call

Lycanthropes can be "called" and commanded by a vampire with the ability to call their species of animal. Sufficiently powerful lycanthropes can resist a vampire's call, or even interfere with the call, preventing the vampire from calling other lycanthropes or animals. For example, , as the Rat King, was able to prevent Nikolaos from calling actual rats and from calling wererats against their will.

Similarly, sufficiently powerful shapeshifters, such as Richard, are able to look vampires in the eyes without being affected by their mental powers.

Alpha weres

Some shapeshifters reach "alpha" or "master" status, a power level similar to that of a master vampire. Alpha shapeshifters may display some of the following traits:
* An ability to resist transforming.
* The ability to partially shapeshift, for example shifting hands into claws, or even "cosmetic" shapeshifting - shifting bones or flesh simply to alter appearance.
* The ability to force other shapeshifters to change form, or to prevent them from doing so.
* Some shapeshifters, such as Richard can share their power with others by allowing them to feed on the shapeshifter's blood.
* The ability to heal others, by a variety of means. (For example, was able to heal through physical contact, usually ending in sex, but the healing happened before intercourse).

Lycanthrope social organization

Werewolves

The social habits of werewolves are probably the most fully described in the series, both because of Anita and Jean-Claude's association with the wolves and because werewolves appear to be the most prevalent type of shapeshifter, particularly in the St. Louis area.

Dominance

Dominance is a key element in werewolf social organization. The pack is structured in a clear hierarchy, and pack members move up or down by winning or losing challenges against other pack members.
* Although most dominance battles end when one participant backs down, leadership of the pack is only transferred by a battle to the death.
* A dominant pack member may issue any order to submissive member, provided that the dominant does not order the submissive to do anything illegal.
* A pack member may offer or receive "protection" to or from another member. A pack member must accept all challenges on behalf of any person to whom he or she has offered protection.
* Non-werewolves, such as Jean-Claude and Anita Blake may be classified as "dominant" to certain members of the pack, but may not typically be considered "alpha" or full members of the pack. (Anita is an exception).

Werewolf terminology

The werewolves have a variety of private terms, primarily borrowed from Norse mythology.

Bolverk

The Bolverk, named after Bolverk of Norse mythology, is the enforcer of the Ulfric. The Bolverk carries out punishments or performs duties the Ulfric does not want to do himself, or if he is not available to do so. For example, in the Thronnos Rokke clan, Richard makes Anita the Bolverk of his pack because he is too kind-hearted to carry out punishments necessary to those who defy his authority. Generally the tasks assigned to the Bolverk are the most unsavory in terms of "normal" acceptance, i.e. having to kill a rogue member. Often at times the Bolverk is used as almost as a bogeyman to keep other wolves in line. The Bolverk is allowed three helpers called Baugi, Suttung, and Gunnlod. The titles Baugi and Suttung are based on the two giants Bolverk tricked to get the mead of poetry; the Gunnlod is named after Suttung's daughter, who Bolverk seduced for the mead of poetry.

Erato and Eros

Erato, a muse of erotic poetry, and Eros is the god of love or lust. For the werewolves, these roles are held by other werewolves who help the new werewolves learn to control themselves and their physical form during sex, usually to prevent the change from human to wolf during sexual release.

Fenrir

An official challenger to the Ulfric, named after Fenrisulfr or Fenrir, the wolf that is destined to kill Odin in Norse mythology.

Freki and Geri

The Ulfric's second and third in command. Named after Odin's wolves of Norse mythology.

Freyja

A lupa who declares herself independent of the Ulfric and challenges the Ulfric to reclaim her. Any male wolf may win her by having sex with her. The male wolves will do anything, including kill each other, to win her. Anita is forced to do this in "Blue Moon" under the control of Raina's munin. She is ultimately reclaimed by Richard in one of the cabins. SEE: Freyja.

Lupa

Named for Lupa, the mother of Romulus and Remus, the position is reserved for the Ulfric's chosen mate. Although the lupa need not fight for her/his position, the position of most dominant female (or male in the case of male Lupas) is determined by conflict. The term is Latin for "she-wolf" and "prostitute."

Lupanar

A meeting place for the werewolves, possibly their place of power. For Richard's clan, there is a huge rock that the Ulfric sits on that looks like a throne, hence Thronos Rokke clan. In Blue Moon, the lupanar of the Oak Tree Clan has an incredibly huge oak tree in it.

Munin

The "munin" are the spirits or memories of the dead pack members, named after Munin, Odin's raven of memory in Norse mythology. Live pack members can "call the munin," drawing on memories or abilities of former members. Various packs appear to preserve the munin by different methods. For example, the werewolves of the Thronos Rokke clan preserve the munin of dead pack members by eating their bodies. Anita has called the munin of Verne's pack. She can also channel the munin of former Lupa of the Thronos Rokke clan, Raina. This is possible because Anita personally killed Raina, and her necromancy powers and ties with the Ulfric of the clan allowed Raina to bind her munin to Anita. Anita can use Raina's munin to heal badly injured lycanthropes, although this requires her to be at least somewhat sexually attracted to her patient and Raina will usually try to extort a price for the healing, usually something unpleasant or embarrassing to Anita.

Thronos Rokke

The name of the St. Louis clan of werewolves, named for the "throne rock" on which their Ulfric sits.

Ulfric

The ultimate alpha male of the pack. The Ulfric will be replaced by whoever defeats him in combat. In theory it does not have to be a death fight, and the Ulfric can in fact step down, but the new Ulfric will usually kill the old one to prevent a dominance split, as Jacob intended in Narcissus in Chains. Theoretically, female weres may become Ulfric, but female Ulfrics are rare because the strongest males normally have a significant strength advantage over even the strongest females. The term is a derivative of the Norse "ulfr," meaning "wolf."

Wereleopards

St. Louis's wereleopards are substantially less numerous than its werewolf and wererat counterparts. A likely reason for this phenomenon is the low contagion characteristic of cat-based lycanthropy.

The social rituals of the leopard pard is more difficult to discern in comparison to the wolf pack. There could be many reasons for this difficulty. It is possible their smaller numbers or decision to reshape the pard members into submissive prostitutes warped their social structures beyond recognition. Another possibility is their introduction "as a group" occurred later in the series (Burnt Offerings - book 7) as opposed to the wolves and they have not been featured in as much detail as the wolf pack.

The principle social characteristic of the pard members is a need for physical contact as a source of emotional reassurance. Pard members frequently rub against one another and against Anita as if they were cats.

An interesting and notable characteristic in wereleopard terminology is the existence of three different titles for their leaders: Nimir-Raj/Nimir-Ra, leoparde lionne, leopard passant. The titles do not affect the functional, internal authority of the leader, but they do describe the type of leader currently in power.

Wereleopard terminology

Pard

"pard" is the term wereleopards use to refer to their group. (In Middle English, "pard" referred to panthers or leopards).

Nimir-Ra and Nimir-Raj

A given pard's queen is its "Nimir-Ra," and its king is its "Nimir-Raj." (Nimir appears to be a version of "Namir," the word for panther in Hindi, Arabic, and Hebrew. "Raj" is Hindi for king or ruler.)

Léoparde lionné and lion passant

Terms based in French heraldry to describe a wereleopard leader who is not of a Nimir-Raj or Nimir-Ra status. According to in "Burnt Offerings", a "léoparde lionné" refers to a rampant leopard -- an alpha who is a brave protector or avenger such as Anita. Gwen states that a "lion passant" refers to a sleeping lion -- an alpha that leads but does not protect.

In fact, the pard's understanding of heraldry appears to be in error. Under standard heraldry terms, "passant" means a "walking" animal (three legs on the ground, one leg up), while "dormant" means a "sleeping" animal. The term "léoparde lionné," however, is used correctly -- the term referred to a leopard in the typical pose of a heraldic lion, i.e. rampant. [ [http://www.heraldsnet.org/saitou/parker/Jpglossl.htm A Glossary Of Terms Used In Heraldry By James Parker ] ]

Wererats

The wererats of St. Louis refer to their community as the Rodere. They are led by , their Rat King. Rafael's rats include a disproportionately high number of soldiers and mercenaries, and are more likely to use guns than most other lycanthropes. They make up the majority of Jean-Claude's security at the Circus of the Damned.

Rafael has allied his Rodere with Richard and Anita and, through them, to the Thronos Rokke clan and Blooddrinkers clan. The name of Rafael's clan is the Dark Crown Clan, and Rafael has a crown branded into his arm to show he is the king.

Werehyenas

The werehyenas are one of the major power groups in the St. Louis shapeshifter community, together with the werewolves and wererats. Their leader, has recruited only men as werehyenas, because hyenas in nature are matrilineal, and since Narcissus is a Hermaphrodite s/he won't have to fear including a female alpha into their group as s/he will not take another female werehyena into the group.

Werehyena Terminology

Oba- Female clan leader.

Wereswans

Wereswans are shapeshifters but not lycanthropes. Being a wereswan is most often a result of a curse or of heredity. They are also the only non-predator form of lycanthropy yet seen in the Anita-verse, and therefore often risk being victimized as prey by the other species.

Female wereswans are referred to as swanmanes. (See also swan maiden). The wereswans of St. Louis are currently led by , their Swan King. Reece states that he is the first Swan King in a century, and that he has been destined from birth to that position, since he has a birthmark in the shape of a swan, he has mentioned that he is not entirely happy with being King. Usually a swan queen is born in the same generation, so they rule together. Although in Donovan's case there was no baby born with the birthmark or the power to help him. , the former leader of the wereswans of St. Louis, was a Swan Prince. The swans have the ability to shift backward and forward between forms without becoming tired.

Werelions

Mentioned in "Danse Macabre", the werelions of St. Louis are a pride of mostly-submissives who were led by their Rex Joseph, prior to The Harlequin, whom the position of Rex was gained by Haven.

Werelion terminology

Pride

The name werelions use to refer to their groups. Groups of regular lions are also called prides.

Rex and Regina

A given pride's king is its "Rex," and its queen is its "Regina." ("Rex" is Latin for absolute ruler or king, and "Regina" is Latin for queen.)

Uncommon wereanimals

Weresnakes

Throughout the series, the only weresnakes Anita has encountered are werecobras and (perhaps more indirectly) wereanacondas.

Of the werecobras, the leaders are called Kadra (female) and Kashyapa (male). They have the ability to have offspring like mammals or like reptiles.

Werebears

The queen of this group is called an Ursa, which might imply there are more than a handful of members but Anita only meets a few.

Weretigers

One of the rarest forms of lycanthropes, there is only one weretiger in St. Louis, named Christine.

In The Harlequin, another were-tiger appears named Soledad. It is presumed that she is running from an arranged marriage. This leads to the discussion of Were-tiger society.

There are only four clans of tigers within the United States. They all keep to themselves. Their culture is also divided about purebloods, inherited lycanthropes, and attacked. Being given tiger lycanthropy is seen as a reward for a job well done. They think it is a sin to give it to someone not worthy. Tiger lycanthropy is one of the harder-to-catch strains. It is also one of the few that can be inherited, as well as caught. Tigers tend not to announce they are infected and entire families may stay in "the closet." Tigers have forced their clan members to marry other clan members, sometimes to keep the strain amongst themselves. Most have arranged marriages, they have been known to abduct known tigers, if an arranged marriage cannot be done.

Weredogs

The only weredogs mentioned are Janet Talbot and her son. Janet says that her shapeshifting ability is inherited and is not tied to the moon; they are able resist changing during the full moon if they choose to. This enables them to carry offspring without risk of miscarriage.

Werefox

There is only one werefox mentioned, Gilbert (also called "Gil"), who is exceptionally timid.

*Also notes that the werefoxes for the majority are hidden in China and remain the only weres in the country after the government had local wizards search and drive out the other were groups and witches.

Werejaguars

Primarily located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, there hasn't been any mention of them in St. Louis. They are ruled by the Vampire and self proclaim Aztec goddess Itzpapalotl (Obsidian Butterfly)

Other shapeshifters

Panweres

Panweres have the power to transform into more than one type of lycanthrope. The one panwere mentioned in the Anitaverse was Chimera, who was capable of transforming into a werelion, wereleopard, werehyena, wereanaconda, werewolf, and werebear; there was also the possibility that he had obtained werecobra as well and would have the powers if he had lived to the next full moon. Anita Blake was also believed to be a panwere by Chimera because he sensed that she was part leopard and wolf. Since the Harlequin Anita is shown to have five beasts residing inside of her. Leopard, wolf, lionness, tiger, and as of yet an undefined animal. Although she does not shift she comes close a few times and her animals can appear in spirit form when she is in danger.

Lamia

A Lamia is a half human, half snake. They were presumed to be extinct, but at least one still survives. She was Mr. Oliver's servant but when he died she began working at the Circus of the Damned. They are also believed to be "true immortals", as Anita Blake tried and failed to kill her. They can change from human to a half snake form (snake tail/human torso). They have retractable fangs that can inject a lethal poison.Their fangs also inject a substance that can change a human into a Lamia, which was what she was trying to do to her harem in Circus of the Damned.

Nagas

A Naga is a snake-like Hindu creature that is immortal. In The Lunatic Cafe one naga survived being skinned alive, by someone who wanted the skin for shape-shifting. However, that plan was foiled since Nagas are immortal and the spell for skin shape-shifting requires the original occupant of the skin to be dead by the end of the spell.

Nagas are known as the guardians of pearls and raindrops, in Hindu legend. Their skin has a pearl on the forehead. They are usually shown as cobras/snakes, or human-headed snakes, but could take on a full human form.

Magical shapeshifters

Witches could potentially shape-shift, with the proper spell and with the skin from a werecreature. Shifting this way has benefits since the person gains all the power of the skin but is not tied to simply changing with a full moon. Unfortunately, for the spell to work properly, the werecreature has to die at the end of the spell.

A witch was also responsible for 's ability to shift into a swan, she cast a spell on him, hoping it would make him more compassionate.

References