Chances are that when a new TV show premieres and it is meant to have creatures that are not human – the creature of choice will be the vampire – not the werewolf! Why have werewolves been pushed aside in favor of vampires? What do those bloodsuckers have over the shapeshifter? The answer has alot to do with how popular society has gone about promoting the image of each creature.
Werewolves are scarier to humans
One of the simplest answers to the lack of werewolves on the small screen (when compared to vampires), is that plain and simple, werewolves are seen as scarier to humans. One simple difference are the fangs – in werewolves, fangs are often long and sharp and cannot as easily be retracted and hidden behind the lips the way vampire fangs can. Another major difference is the manner in which shapeshifted werewolves are portrayed physically – they are portrayed as towering over any human in sight – they appear as large, powerful creatures with obvious strength as displayed in rock-hard bulging muscles (specifically in males). Vampires on the other hand, generally do not have on display that physical difference in size and bulk which is obvious to the human. Yes, like werewolves, vampires are seen as having obvious advantages over humans, but the differences portrayed are easier for the vampire to mask and are not as obvious to the human eye…a typical portrayal of a shapeshifted werewolf however, is of a creature that cannot hide his/her physical differences. The truth however is that yes, while a shifted werewolf is indeed stronger and more powerful than a human, the difference in muscle mass and size and bulk is not always necessarily as extreme as TV portrayals would have you believe.
Werewolves aren’t promoted as being “sexy”
It’s unclear why this is so, but it is. In TV shows – and movies, and novels – generally, vampires are portrayed as being much sexier than werewolves. This goes back to how popular culture envisions the werewolf physically – as a huge, hulking creature with little finesse and even less sophistication. Vampires on the other hand are often portrayed as being cultured and refined, as being intelligent and worldly. Their intellectual prowess often comes across stronger in the media than the werewolf’s intellect which humans insist on overshadowing with his muscle mass. The truth however is that werewolves and vampires are both long-lived creatures with equally superior intelligence…and when a werewolf wants, he or she can direct all that knowledge and charm into disarming even the most hardened human, and you would be hard-pressed to convince any human that anyone else – human or vampire was sexier.
Werewolves don’t seem as human
It’s the shapeshifting aspect of the werewolf that does it. Humans see werewolves transform from human into a different creature altogether, and just can’t relate. It makes no difference that vampires are technically “undead”. The only thing that matters is that they still look human – a shapeshifted werewolf on the other hand often doesn’t look completely human. Also, if you’ll notice, most TV shows purposely don’t depict the vampire’s shapshifting abilities which are often talked about in legend (shifting into a bat, transforming into fog, etc.). Were they to do so, the vampire would be seen in a similar light as the werewolf – as a creature that is less than human, and harder to relate to.
