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What wound would be of little consequence to a biped but terrible for a quadruped?


Where would a “Magic gland” go for full-body saturation of magic?Physical correctness of trolls with high regeneration abilityWhat would be the most important consequence of decreasing sexual dimorphism in humans?What kind of wing design would a quadruped with six wings need to fly well?If humans adapted to survive car crashes what would our physiology be like?What is the best body plan to allow for giant size in a terrestrial animal?Why would a biped evolve into a monoped?What would the size constraints on my creature be?Would wide hips be a wiser evolutionary trait for digitigrade, biped humanoids?Noah fails his mission - what would Earth look like today and in the far future?













27












$begingroup$


Let's imagine a group of people who can turn from human to wolf at will. Wolves are quadrupeds, and humans are biped, so I guess their weight is differently shared in their body, notably when they walk.



Assuming that, if one such person receives a wound in one form, it is placed in the equivalent of that place on the body of the other form, is there a place on the body that, if wounded, would prevent practical use of the wolf form while having little to no consequence to the human form?










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  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
    $endgroup$
    – L.Dutch
    7 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    losing the third and fourth legs ;)
    $endgroup$
    – Orangesandlemons
    4 hours ago















27












$begingroup$


Let's imagine a group of people who can turn from human to wolf at will. Wolves are quadrupeds, and humans are biped, so I guess their weight is differently shared in their body, notably when they walk.



Assuming that, if one such person receives a wound in one form, it is placed in the equivalent of that place on the body of the other form, is there a place on the body that, if wounded, would prevent practical use of the wolf form while having little to no consequence to the human form?










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  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
    $endgroup$
    – L.Dutch
    7 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    losing the third and fourth legs ;)
    $endgroup$
    – Orangesandlemons
    4 hours ago













27












27








27


4



$begingroup$


Let's imagine a group of people who can turn from human to wolf at will. Wolves are quadrupeds, and humans are biped, so I guess their weight is differently shared in their body, notably when they walk.



Assuming that, if one such person receives a wound in one form, it is placed in the equivalent of that place on the body of the other form, is there a place on the body that, if wounded, would prevent practical use of the wolf form while having little to no consequence to the human form?










share|improve this question







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$endgroup$




Let's imagine a group of people who can turn from human to wolf at will. Wolves are quadrupeds, and humans are biped, so I guess their weight is differently shared in their body, notably when they walk.



Assuming that, if one such person receives a wound in one form, it is placed in the equivalent of that place on the body of the other form, is there a place on the body that, if wounded, would prevent practical use of the wolf form while having little to no consequence to the human form?







biology bio-mechanics






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  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
    $endgroup$
    – L.Dutch
    7 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    losing the third and fourth legs ;)
    $endgroup$
    – Orangesandlemons
    4 hours ago












  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
    $endgroup$
    – L.Dutch
    7 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    losing the third and fourth legs ;)
    $endgroup$
    – Orangesandlemons
    4 hours ago







1




1




$begingroup$
Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
$endgroup$
– L.Dutch
7 hours ago




$begingroup$
Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
$endgroup$
– L.Dutch
7 hours ago












$begingroup$
losing the third and fourth legs ;)
$endgroup$
– Orangesandlemons
4 hours ago




$begingroup$
losing the third and fourth legs ;)
$endgroup$
– Orangesandlemons
4 hours ago










11 Answers
11






active

oldest

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39












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Wikipedia says:




All dogs (and all living Canidae) have a ligament connecting the
spinous process of their first thoracic (or chest) vertebra to the
back of the axis bone (second cervical or neck bone), which supports
the weight of the head without active muscle exertion, thus saving
energy. This ligament is analogous in function (but different in
exact structural detail) to the nuchal ligament found in ungulates.




Severing that would probably be pretty unpleasant for the wolf.



If you can be a bit flexible on what you mean by 'wound', you might also consider:



  • Hyperthermia -- between hardly any sweat glands and also wearing a full fur coat all the time, a heat wave might keep everyone bipedal for a while.


  • Chemical warfare -- with their vastly-improved sense of smell, I would have to imagine that getting sprayed by a skunk, hit by tear gas, etc, is going to suck quite a lot more as a wolf.


If you have any interest in the reverse case, wolves have only-vestigial collarbones, so having a busted one is probably going to be worse for the bipeds.






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  • 7




    $begingroup$
    What's the importance of this ligament for a human, if it exists?
    $endgroup$
    – Spooikypok_Dev
    yesterday










  • $begingroup$
    And if it doesn't exist in humans, a wound couldn't hurt it. (depending on your Built-World version of the werewolf.)
    $endgroup$
    – Carl Witthoft
    yesterday










  • $begingroup$
    @CarlWitthoft: Caving is really annoying after awhile without one.
    $endgroup$
    – Joshua
    yesterday






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @Spooikypok_Dev it's a bit early to select an answer. I would recommend unchecking this answer and deciding on one (maybe still this one) in 48 hours or so. This will encourage more answers.
    $endgroup$
    – Aethenosity
    yesterday






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @AlexandreAubrey They still have the required muscles (after all, they can look up), they'd just be overexerted. Compare the difference between sitting on a chair, and removing the chair while not changing your body position - yes, you have the muscles and the balance to maintain that position, but it's going to be tiring, painful and just plain uncomfortable.
    $endgroup$
    – Luaan
    13 hours ago


















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Broken Phalanges(blue on the middle image)AKA toes and fingers



Broken fingers. hamans can still use their hands with one or two broken fingers, (better with a splint) but a wolf is not running on broken fingers since all their weight sits on them.



Broken toes. likewise since wolves are digitigrade and humans are plantigrade a human can walk (or limp) with broken toes, but a wolf cannot, they can't shift their weight to their heel, well not and walk while doing so. A wolf cannot walk without putting weight on broken toes, a human can limp long without putting their weight on broken toes, keeping all the weight on the tarsals and metatarsals. Humans can even manage a fair turn of speed by walking with the foot sideways provided the ground is level.



enter image description here



enter image description here



enter image description here






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  • 5




    $begingroup$
    Good answer. The picture is illustrative, and could even be improved by numbering the joints to show the correspondence. I just learned about this last week when wondering why many quadrupeds' knees are "backwards" - it turns out that's not a knee, it's equivalent to a heel.
    $endgroup$
    – Nuclear Wang
    22 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    Excellent answer. Phalanges especially as they're load bearing in wolves but you are still able to (just) use your hand with broken ones in an emergency.
    $endgroup$
    – Ynneadwraith
    6 hours ago


















38












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Both Arms



If I incapacitate both your arms, you can still walk and run. If you turn into a wolf then you are limited to pushing your torso across the floor.



Still has a consequence for a biped but not nearly as severe as that for a wolf.






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  • 11




    $begingroup$
    +1 Even just a broken or sprained wrist would be enough to severely slow down a wolf.
    $endgroup$
    – David K
    yesterday







  • 5




    $begingroup$
    While this is the most obvious answer, I wouldn't say this has "little consequence" for a biped. I'm glad that you acknowledge that fact, but losing the ability to use your arms is a pretty big deal to people who are used to having arms (e.g. the vast majority of humans)
    $endgroup$
    – Beefster
    yesterday







  • 2




    $begingroup$
    @Beefster would it be better if only your non-dominant arm was incapacitated. The wolf would still be hindered partially by having to limp places now and as a human with one arm you can manage very well.
    $endgroup$
    – Tolure
    yesterday






  • 3




    $begingroup$
    @Acccumulation, for a dog, walking on its hind legs is much like you walking on your hands: yes, it's possible, but it's not practical for any sort of distance.
    $endgroup$
    – Mark
    23 hours ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    +1... I literally laughed out loud at the image of a human-turned-wolf sliding face first across the floor attempting to escape from some threat...
    $endgroup$
    – Sam Weaver
    18 hours ago


















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Tolure's answer is good.



But I wanted to add, you don't even need an injury, just heat or endurance or both. A wolf has a relatively low endurance for running or heat. A person has huge tolerance for both. The difference is that a wolf cannot sweat. And it essentially holds it's breath to run fast (True for a lot quadrupeds). Humans have sweat and can breath normally while running. A well conditioned human can outlast a wolf in a marathon.



So if your in a warm place or are required to run a very long distance very quickly, your human form might be better suited.






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  • 5




    $begingroup$
    Actually, there isn't much of an endurance difference between humans and wolves: both practice "persistence hunting", where you chase your target until it drops of exhaustion. Difference in marathon performance would be entirely due to the weather.
    $endgroup$
    – Mark
    23 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    Wolves cannot sweat, but they have another strategy - a) they're adapted for and live in cold climates (duh), b) if they need to increase their heat losses, they breathe openly and over their tongues. Not quite as good as human or horse sweating, but again - it's evolved for much colder climates than humans or horses.
    $endgroup$
    – Luaan
    10 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    @Luaan They can't do that if they are running. That's the trick. As Mark said, both developed persistence hunting. Humans are just way better at it in an open area.
    $endgroup$
    – Trevor D
    10 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    @TrevorD That's just as unfair of an comparison as if you put a naked human into arctic winterland and expected him to perform well. We're both persistence hunters, but adapted to very different environments. As long as you only consider our biological makeup (and not our technology, no matter how primitive), that's the main difference - we're persistence hunters adapted for hot, open plains; wolves are persistence hunters adapted for cold, forested areas.
    $endgroup$
    – Luaan
    10 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    @Luaan Actually a wolf will still overheat even in the arctic if running full speed or fast enough that they can't pant. But few people live in the arctic, so it's still a fair advantage for this question.
    $endgroup$
    – Trevor D
    9 hours ago


















7












$begingroup$

Teeth



It depends on the reason. If the human wants to stop the wolf-form from doing harm then they should have all their teeth removed and have false ones made. The false teeth won't fit the wolf. They could also have implants and unscrew them at night.



A werewolf that can only suck wouldn't be too frightening.






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  • 3




    $begingroup$
    Don't forget nails. A wolf with no teeth is still dangerous.
    $endgroup$
    – John Dvorak
    yesterday






  • 2




    $begingroup$
    Also, I'm starting a shapeshifter-friendly false teeth business in your location very soon. You can choose between wolf teeth, which look ridiculous on humans, or human teeth, which are useless in the wolf form, but at least they don't fall out constantly, plus I'm conducting some testing on hybrid human/wolf teeth that appear human, but are substantially sharper.
    $endgroup$
    – John Dvorak
    yesterday










  • $begingroup$
    Here are some early renders of the wolf-form teeth: deviantart.com/aokitianwolf/art/…
    $endgroup$
    – John Dvorak
    yesterday






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @John Dvorak - Keep your fingernails short! Then the worst the wolf can do is headbutt you. I was covering the case where the human is in charge of the teeth and wants to disable their own wolf-form. I don't see a wolf going to a specialist to have fangs made. They can't speak - especially without any teeth. There's nothing worse for business than a lisping wolf with no wallet.
    $endgroup$
    – chasly from UK
    yesterday







  • 2




    $begingroup$
    You really would only have to remove the eyeteeth aka canines. Plenty of people have had this done for one reason or another and it doesn't affect their ability to eat. The wolf would be severely limited in his ability to bite and tear his victim.
    $endgroup$
    – Carl Witthoft
    yesterday


















5












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Injured non-dominant hand



Barely any effect on a day-to-day life of a human besides some annoyance since most of what we do with our hands is not load-bearing, especially the non-dominant hand; this may be dependent on your character's line of work and lifestyle, though. It can even be unnoticeable to people around them when in human form.



However, an injured paw on a wolf (based on observation of injured dogs) would keep them from running very fast or with great agility due to pain.



Along the same lines,
Missing fingernails



Again not much of an issue for humans, but lack of claws would reduce the amount of grip a wolf has while running and it ability to capture prey.



Not a wound, per se, but Baldness



Some users mentioned that wolves can't deal with heat due to their thick coats, but let's flip it around: complete inability to grow hair.



Little to no effect on a human (baldness in men is fairly common) and we wear clothes to keep warm, but baldness would make it completely impossible for wolves to live in their natural (cold) habitat.



The baldness could be cause by severe burns, if you absolutely need it to be a wound.






share|improve this answer











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  • $begingroup$
    The non-dominant hand thing was my first thought as well. However, dogs with a single missing/crippled aren't really all that uncommon. Their gait looks a bit stilted, so its clearly not optimal, but otherwise they seem to do fine.
    $endgroup$
    – T.E.D.
    6 hours ago



















4












$begingroup$

Torn UCL



The UCL is akin to the ACL, only on the inside of the elbow. While a human with a torn UCL would have a bit of pain, and would have a harder time throwing things, activities like walking, holding a heavy object, or even stabilizing a weapon wouldn't be that bad. For a wolf, however, it would be similar to a torn ACL, meaning pain when walking, running, turning, or even standing still. If it was the human's non-dominate arm, it would have even less effect on them, while the wolf form would still be just as badly off.



Ears/Ear muscles



While wolves have 18 ear muscles and humans only have 6, if those six muscles are damaged, humans may only barely notice, but wolves will find themselves unable to easily direct their ear toward sounds, limiting hearing.



Worse, if a human's (outer) ear is very damaged, they won't look great, but their hearing won't be too much worse. Wolves, however, use their ears as "sound scoops", directing sounds into their ear canal; without an outer ear, they will lose a lot of directional hearing, and their hearing overall will drop considerably.



Surface burns



While getting a bad burn would suck, as long as it healed decently, a human would only have an unsightly scar to deal with. If the scar is on their back, it may go entirely unnoticed; out of sight, out of mind.



However, hair doesn't grow on burned scar tissue, or at best grows in clumps and patches. Wolves don't (usually) have the option of wearing clothing, and without hair - especially body hair - they will freeze to death in cold weather.



Fused Joints



Wolves and humans use very different joints. While a human would probably be fine if they had one or more ribs fused to their spine, it would mean a huge limitation to a wolf. Likewise, a human with a fused ankle would only be slightly slower than usual, while a wolf would hardly be able to move. A human with a fused wrist, especially non-dominate wrist, would function almost entirely normally, while a wolf would again be nearly unable to walk. Fusing a pair of spinal bones may make a human slightly uncomfortable, or unable to turn their head as far, but would severely limit a wolf's range of motion.



Stuffy nose



For a human, it's pretty annoying to have a clogged nasal passage. You can't smell, you have to breathe through your mouth, and you have an annoying feeling of blockage - not to mention the mucus draining down the back of your throat. For a wolf, however, having a stuffy nose means losing one of their best senses - smell. And, unlike a human, wolves have to work a lot harder to swallow draining mucus; rather than just swallow, they often have to do a sort of "reverse sneeze" to force the mucus down.



Out-of-Balance Digestion



Humans have a far more complex digestion system, compared to wolves. We can eat just about anything, and unless we have some sort of sensitivity or allergy, it goes through the system without a fuss. However, after an illness (especially if we had to take an antibacterial medication), out gut bacteria can get screwed up. If we don't fix it, eating certain foods can become very difficult. However, being that we can eat just about anything, the simplest fix is... don't eat that food.



Wolves don't have that option. They are meat-eaters, and their guts are designed to process one thing, and one thing only: meat. If they can't process proteins, that's basically a death sentence. While it's possible for wolves to digest some non-proteins, those foods are usually heavily processed, essentially pre-digesting them. That food would be hard to come by anywhere but a highly civilized area.






share|improve this answer









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    3












    $begingroup$

    A papercut on your fingertip or palm



    Dogs essentially walk on their fingertips. A biped can easily avoid putting significant pressure on a fingertip or can put a bandage on them, but this isn't so nice to a load-bearing part of your body. It's equivalent to getting a papercut on the soles of your feet. Not fun and opens the door to infections and re-opening the wound as you walk.






    share|improve this answer









    $endgroup$




















      1












      $begingroup$

      Anal glands



      Dogs and wolves have those, but humans don't. So if the lycanthropes take a stab to their anal sacs it may hurt a lot - but when they revert to human form they will not have the sacs, so no pain.



      By the way, I think damage to the anal sacs may be very painful. I once saw a dog whose previous owners tried to castrate him with a slingshot, the poor creature had lesions on a sac. The poor dog required meds for pain for quite a while.






      share|improve this answer









      $endgroup$




















        1












        $begingroup$

        A nasty (but not huge) splinter in the non-dominant hand, just below the fingers.



        For a human, it would hurt but have little effect but try running/trotting on one, or using it to leap up with or claw, when you need to flex that part of both front paws, and impact it on the ground......






        share|improve this answer









        $endgroup$




















          0












          $begingroup$

          Loss of the tail



          Wolves use their tail to communicate as well as for balance while running.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$












          • $begingroup$
            No tail is hardly a terrible consequence for a dog at least. My previous dog was born without a tail and he managed perfectly fine, not to mention all the countries where docking the tail is still legal and a common procedure. I have a hard time believing it would be much different for a wolf.
            $endgroup$
            – pipe
            6 hours ago










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          11 Answers
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          11 Answers
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          active

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          39












          $begingroup$

          Wikipedia says:




          All dogs (and all living Canidae) have a ligament connecting the
          spinous process of their first thoracic (or chest) vertebra to the
          back of the axis bone (second cervical or neck bone), which supports
          the weight of the head without active muscle exertion, thus saving
          energy. This ligament is analogous in function (but different in
          exact structural detail) to the nuchal ligament found in ungulates.




          Severing that would probably be pretty unpleasant for the wolf.



          If you can be a bit flexible on what you mean by 'wound', you might also consider:



          • Hyperthermia -- between hardly any sweat glands and also wearing a full fur coat all the time, a heat wave might keep everyone bipedal for a while.


          • Chemical warfare -- with their vastly-improved sense of smell, I would have to imagine that getting sprayed by a skunk, hit by tear gas, etc, is going to suck quite a lot more as a wolf.


          If you have any interest in the reverse case, wolves have only-vestigial collarbones, so having a busted one is probably going to be worse for the bipeds.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$








          • 7




            $begingroup$
            What's the importance of this ligament for a human, if it exists?
            $endgroup$
            – Spooikypok_Dev
            yesterday










          • $begingroup$
            And if it doesn't exist in humans, a wound couldn't hurt it. (depending on your Built-World version of the werewolf.)
            $endgroup$
            – Carl Witthoft
            yesterday










          • $begingroup$
            @CarlWitthoft: Caving is really annoying after awhile without one.
            $endgroup$
            – Joshua
            yesterday






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @Spooikypok_Dev it's a bit early to select an answer. I would recommend unchecking this answer and deciding on one (maybe still this one) in 48 hours or so. This will encourage more answers.
            $endgroup$
            – Aethenosity
            yesterday






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @AlexandreAubrey They still have the required muscles (after all, they can look up), they'd just be overexerted. Compare the difference between sitting on a chair, and removing the chair while not changing your body position - yes, you have the muscles and the balance to maintain that position, but it's going to be tiring, painful and just plain uncomfortable.
            $endgroup$
            – Luaan
            13 hours ago















          39












          $begingroup$

          Wikipedia says:




          All dogs (and all living Canidae) have a ligament connecting the
          spinous process of their first thoracic (or chest) vertebra to the
          back of the axis bone (second cervical or neck bone), which supports
          the weight of the head without active muscle exertion, thus saving
          energy. This ligament is analogous in function (but different in
          exact structural detail) to the nuchal ligament found in ungulates.




          Severing that would probably be pretty unpleasant for the wolf.



          If you can be a bit flexible on what you mean by 'wound', you might also consider:



          • Hyperthermia -- between hardly any sweat glands and also wearing a full fur coat all the time, a heat wave might keep everyone bipedal for a while.


          • Chemical warfare -- with their vastly-improved sense of smell, I would have to imagine that getting sprayed by a skunk, hit by tear gas, etc, is going to suck quite a lot more as a wolf.


          If you have any interest in the reverse case, wolves have only-vestigial collarbones, so having a busted one is probably going to be worse for the bipeds.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$








          • 7




            $begingroup$
            What's the importance of this ligament for a human, if it exists?
            $endgroup$
            – Spooikypok_Dev
            yesterday










          • $begingroup$
            And if it doesn't exist in humans, a wound couldn't hurt it. (depending on your Built-World version of the werewolf.)
            $endgroup$
            – Carl Witthoft
            yesterday










          • $begingroup$
            @CarlWitthoft: Caving is really annoying after awhile without one.
            $endgroup$
            – Joshua
            yesterday






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @Spooikypok_Dev it's a bit early to select an answer. I would recommend unchecking this answer and deciding on one (maybe still this one) in 48 hours or so. This will encourage more answers.
            $endgroup$
            – Aethenosity
            yesterday






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @AlexandreAubrey They still have the required muscles (after all, they can look up), they'd just be overexerted. Compare the difference between sitting on a chair, and removing the chair while not changing your body position - yes, you have the muscles and the balance to maintain that position, but it's going to be tiring, painful and just plain uncomfortable.
            $endgroup$
            – Luaan
            13 hours ago













          39












          39








          39





          $begingroup$

          Wikipedia says:




          All dogs (and all living Canidae) have a ligament connecting the
          spinous process of their first thoracic (or chest) vertebra to the
          back of the axis bone (second cervical or neck bone), which supports
          the weight of the head without active muscle exertion, thus saving
          energy. This ligament is analogous in function (but different in
          exact structural detail) to the nuchal ligament found in ungulates.




          Severing that would probably be pretty unpleasant for the wolf.



          If you can be a bit flexible on what you mean by 'wound', you might also consider:



          • Hyperthermia -- between hardly any sweat glands and also wearing a full fur coat all the time, a heat wave might keep everyone bipedal for a while.


          • Chemical warfare -- with their vastly-improved sense of smell, I would have to imagine that getting sprayed by a skunk, hit by tear gas, etc, is going to suck quite a lot more as a wolf.


          If you have any interest in the reverse case, wolves have only-vestigial collarbones, so having a busted one is probably going to be worse for the bipeds.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$



          Wikipedia says:




          All dogs (and all living Canidae) have a ligament connecting the
          spinous process of their first thoracic (or chest) vertebra to the
          back of the axis bone (second cervical or neck bone), which supports
          the weight of the head without active muscle exertion, thus saving
          energy. This ligament is analogous in function (but different in
          exact structural detail) to the nuchal ligament found in ungulates.




          Severing that would probably be pretty unpleasant for the wolf.



          If you can be a bit flexible on what you mean by 'wound', you might also consider:



          • Hyperthermia -- between hardly any sweat glands and also wearing a full fur coat all the time, a heat wave might keep everyone bipedal for a while.


          • Chemical warfare -- with their vastly-improved sense of smell, I would have to imagine that getting sprayed by a skunk, hit by tear gas, etc, is going to suck quite a lot more as a wolf.


          If you have any interest in the reverse case, wolves have only-vestigial collarbones, so having a busted one is probably going to be worse for the bipeds.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered yesterday









          RogerRoger

          2,805317




          2,805317







          • 7




            $begingroup$
            What's the importance of this ligament for a human, if it exists?
            $endgroup$
            – Spooikypok_Dev
            yesterday










          • $begingroup$
            And if it doesn't exist in humans, a wound couldn't hurt it. (depending on your Built-World version of the werewolf.)
            $endgroup$
            – Carl Witthoft
            yesterday










          • $begingroup$
            @CarlWitthoft: Caving is really annoying after awhile without one.
            $endgroup$
            – Joshua
            yesterday






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @Spooikypok_Dev it's a bit early to select an answer. I would recommend unchecking this answer and deciding on one (maybe still this one) in 48 hours or so. This will encourage more answers.
            $endgroup$
            – Aethenosity
            yesterday






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @AlexandreAubrey They still have the required muscles (after all, they can look up), they'd just be overexerted. Compare the difference between sitting on a chair, and removing the chair while not changing your body position - yes, you have the muscles and the balance to maintain that position, but it's going to be tiring, painful and just plain uncomfortable.
            $endgroup$
            – Luaan
            13 hours ago












          • 7




            $begingroup$
            What's the importance of this ligament for a human, if it exists?
            $endgroup$
            – Spooikypok_Dev
            yesterday










          • $begingroup$
            And if it doesn't exist in humans, a wound couldn't hurt it. (depending on your Built-World version of the werewolf.)
            $endgroup$
            – Carl Witthoft
            yesterday










          • $begingroup$
            @CarlWitthoft: Caving is really annoying after awhile without one.
            $endgroup$
            – Joshua
            yesterday






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @Spooikypok_Dev it's a bit early to select an answer. I would recommend unchecking this answer and deciding on one (maybe still this one) in 48 hours or so. This will encourage more answers.
            $endgroup$
            – Aethenosity
            yesterday






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @AlexandreAubrey They still have the required muscles (after all, they can look up), they'd just be overexerted. Compare the difference between sitting on a chair, and removing the chair while not changing your body position - yes, you have the muscles and the balance to maintain that position, but it's going to be tiring, painful and just plain uncomfortable.
            $endgroup$
            – Luaan
            13 hours ago







          7




          7




          $begingroup$
          What's the importance of this ligament for a human, if it exists?
          $endgroup$
          – Spooikypok_Dev
          yesterday




          $begingroup$
          What's the importance of this ligament for a human, if it exists?
          $endgroup$
          – Spooikypok_Dev
          yesterday












          $begingroup$
          And if it doesn't exist in humans, a wound couldn't hurt it. (depending on your Built-World version of the werewolf.)
          $endgroup$
          – Carl Witthoft
          yesterday




          $begingroup$
          And if it doesn't exist in humans, a wound couldn't hurt it. (depending on your Built-World version of the werewolf.)
          $endgroup$
          – Carl Witthoft
          yesterday












          $begingroup$
          @CarlWitthoft: Caving is really annoying after awhile without one.
          $endgroup$
          – Joshua
          yesterday




          $begingroup$
          @CarlWitthoft: Caving is really annoying after awhile without one.
          $endgroup$
          – Joshua
          yesterday




          1




          1




          $begingroup$
          @Spooikypok_Dev it's a bit early to select an answer. I would recommend unchecking this answer and deciding on one (maybe still this one) in 48 hours or so. This will encourage more answers.
          $endgroup$
          – Aethenosity
          yesterday




          $begingroup$
          @Spooikypok_Dev it's a bit early to select an answer. I would recommend unchecking this answer and deciding on one (maybe still this one) in 48 hours or so. This will encourage more answers.
          $endgroup$
          – Aethenosity
          yesterday




          1




          1




          $begingroup$
          @AlexandreAubrey They still have the required muscles (after all, they can look up), they'd just be overexerted. Compare the difference between sitting on a chair, and removing the chair while not changing your body position - yes, you have the muscles and the balance to maintain that position, but it's going to be tiring, painful and just plain uncomfortable.
          $endgroup$
          – Luaan
          13 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          @AlexandreAubrey They still have the required muscles (after all, they can look up), they'd just be overexerted. Compare the difference between sitting on a chair, and removing the chair while not changing your body position - yes, you have the muscles and the balance to maintain that position, but it's going to be tiring, painful and just plain uncomfortable.
          $endgroup$
          – Luaan
          13 hours ago











          42












          $begingroup$

          Broken Phalanges(blue on the middle image)AKA toes and fingers



          Broken fingers. hamans can still use their hands with one or two broken fingers, (better with a splint) but a wolf is not running on broken fingers since all their weight sits on them.



          Broken toes. likewise since wolves are digitigrade and humans are plantigrade a human can walk (or limp) with broken toes, but a wolf cannot, they can't shift their weight to their heel, well not and walk while doing so. A wolf cannot walk without putting weight on broken toes, a human can limp long without putting their weight on broken toes, keeping all the weight on the tarsals and metatarsals. Humans can even manage a fair turn of speed by walking with the foot sideways provided the ground is level.



          enter image description here



          enter image description here



          enter image description here






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$








          • 5




            $begingroup$
            Good answer. The picture is illustrative, and could even be improved by numbering the joints to show the correspondence. I just learned about this last week when wondering why many quadrupeds' knees are "backwards" - it turns out that's not a knee, it's equivalent to a heel.
            $endgroup$
            – Nuclear Wang
            22 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            Excellent answer. Phalanges especially as they're load bearing in wolves but you are still able to (just) use your hand with broken ones in an emergency.
            $endgroup$
            – Ynneadwraith
            6 hours ago















          42












          $begingroup$

          Broken Phalanges(blue on the middle image)AKA toes and fingers



          Broken fingers. hamans can still use their hands with one or two broken fingers, (better with a splint) but a wolf is not running on broken fingers since all their weight sits on them.



          Broken toes. likewise since wolves are digitigrade and humans are plantigrade a human can walk (or limp) with broken toes, but a wolf cannot, they can't shift their weight to their heel, well not and walk while doing so. A wolf cannot walk without putting weight on broken toes, a human can limp long without putting their weight on broken toes, keeping all the weight on the tarsals and metatarsals. Humans can even manage a fair turn of speed by walking with the foot sideways provided the ground is level.



          enter image description here



          enter image description here



          enter image description here






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$








          • 5




            $begingroup$
            Good answer. The picture is illustrative, and could even be improved by numbering the joints to show the correspondence. I just learned about this last week when wondering why many quadrupeds' knees are "backwards" - it turns out that's not a knee, it's equivalent to a heel.
            $endgroup$
            – Nuclear Wang
            22 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            Excellent answer. Phalanges especially as they're load bearing in wolves but you are still able to (just) use your hand with broken ones in an emergency.
            $endgroup$
            – Ynneadwraith
            6 hours ago













          42












          42








          42





          $begingroup$

          Broken Phalanges(blue on the middle image)AKA toes and fingers



          Broken fingers. hamans can still use their hands with one or two broken fingers, (better with a splint) but a wolf is not running on broken fingers since all their weight sits on them.



          Broken toes. likewise since wolves are digitigrade and humans are plantigrade a human can walk (or limp) with broken toes, but a wolf cannot, they can't shift their weight to their heel, well not and walk while doing so. A wolf cannot walk without putting weight on broken toes, a human can limp long without putting their weight on broken toes, keeping all the weight on the tarsals and metatarsals. Humans can even manage a fair turn of speed by walking with the foot sideways provided the ground is level.



          enter image description here



          enter image description here



          enter image description here






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$



          Broken Phalanges(blue on the middle image)AKA toes and fingers



          Broken fingers. hamans can still use their hands with one or two broken fingers, (better with a splint) but a wolf is not running on broken fingers since all their weight sits on them.



          Broken toes. likewise since wolves are digitigrade and humans are plantigrade a human can walk (or limp) with broken toes, but a wolf cannot, they can't shift their weight to their heel, well not and walk while doing so. A wolf cannot walk without putting weight on broken toes, a human can limp long without putting their weight on broken toes, keeping all the weight on the tarsals and metatarsals. Humans can even manage a fair turn of speed by walking with the foot sideways provided the ground is level.



          enter image description here



          enter image description here



          enter image description here







          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited 22 hours ago

























          answered yesterday









          JohnJohn

          35.2k1048122




          35.2k1048122







          • 5




            $begingroup$
            Good answer. The picture is illustrative, and could even be improved by numbering the joints to show the correspondence. I just learned about this last week when wondering why many quadrupeds' knees are "backwards" - it turns out that's not a knee, it's equivalent to a heel.
            $endgroup$
            – Nuclear Wang
            22 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            Excellent answer. Phalanges especially as they're load bearing in wolves but you are still able to (just) use your hand with broken ones in an emergency.
            $endgroup$
            – Ynneadwraith
            6 hours ago












          • 5




            $begingroup$
            Good answer. The picture is illustrative, and could even be improved by numbering the joints to show the correspondence. I just learned about this last week when wondering why many quadrupeds' knees are "backwards" - it turns out that's not a knee, it's equivalent to a heel.
            $endgroup$
            – Nuclear Wang
            22 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            Excellent answer. Phalanges especially as they're load bearing in wolves but you are still able to (just) use your hand with broken ones in an emergency.
            $endgroup$
            – Ynneadwraith
            6 hours ago







          5




          5




          $begingroup$
          Good answer. The picture is illustrative, and could even be improved by numbering the joints to show the correspondence. I just learned about this last week when wondering why many quadrupeds' knees are "backwards" - it turns out that's not a knee, it's equivalent to a heel.
          $endgroup$
          – Nuclear Wang
          22 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          Good answer. The picture is illustrative, and could even be improved by numbering the joints to show the correspondence. I just learned about this last week when wondering why many quadrupeds' knees are "backwards" - it turns out that's not a knee, it's equivalent to a heel.
          $endgroup$
          – Nuclear Wang
          22 hours ago












          $begingroup$
          Excellent answer. Phalanges especially as they're load bearing in wolves but you are still able to (just) use your hand with broken ones in an emergency.
          $endgroup$
          – Ynneadwraith
          6 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          Excellent answer. Phalanges especially as they're load bearing in wolves but you are still able to (just) use your hand with broken ones in an emergency.
          $endgroup$
          – Ynneadwraith
          6 hours ago











          38












          $begingroup$

          Both Arms



          If I incapacitate both your arms, you can still walk and run. If you turn into a wolf then you are limited to pushing your torso across the floor.



          Still has a consequence for a biped but not nearly as severe as that for a wolf.






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$








          • 11




            $begingroup$
            +1 Even just a broken or sprained wrist would be enough to severely slow down a wolf.
            $endgroup$
            – David K
            yesterday







          • 5




            $begingroup$
            While this is the most obvious answer, I wouldn't say this has "little consequence" for a biped. I'm glad that you acknowledge that fact, but losing the ability to use your arms is a pretty big deal to people who are used to having arms (e.g. the vast majority of humans)
            $endgroup$
            – Beefster
            yesterday







          • 2




            $begingroup$
            @Beefster would it be better if only your non-dominant arm was incapacitated. The wolf would still be hindered partially by having to limp places now and as a human with one arm you can manage very well.
            $endgroup$
            – Tolure
            yesterday






          • 3




            $begingroup$
            @Acccumulation, for a dog, walking on its hind legs is much like you walking on your hands: yes, it's possible, but it's not practical for any sort of distance.
            $endgroup$
            – Mark
            23 hours ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            +1... I literally laughed out loud at the image of a human-turned-wolf sliding face first across the floor attempting to escape from some threat...
            $endgroup$
            – Sam Weaver
            18 hours ago















          38












          $begingroup$

          Both Arms



          If I incapacitate both your arms, you can still walk and run. If you turn into a wolf then you are limited to pushing your torso across the floor.



          Still has a consequence for a biped but not nearly as severe as that for a wolf.






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$








          • 11




            $begingroup$
            +1 Even just a broken or sprained wrist would be enough to severely slow down a wolf.
            $endgroup$
            – David K
            yesterday







          • 5




            $begingroup$
            While this is the most obvious answer, I wouldn't say this has "little consequence" for a biped. I'm glad that you acknowledge that fact, but losing the ability to use your arms is a pretty big deal to people who are used to having arms (e.g. the vast majority of humans)
            $endgroup$
            – Beefster
            yesterday







          • 2




            $begingroup$
            @Beefster would it be better if only your non-dominant arm was incapacitated. The wolf would still be hindered partially by having to limp places now and as a human with one arm you can manage very well.
            $endgroup$
            – Tolure
            yesterday






          • 3




            $begingroup$
            @Acccumulation, for a dog, walking on its hind legs is much like you walking on your hands: yes, it's possible, but it's not practical for any sort of distance.
            $endgroup$
            – Mark
            23 hours ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            +1... I literally laughed out loud at the image of a human-turned-wolf sliding face first across the floor attempting to escape from some threat...
            $endgroup$
            – Sam Weaver
            18 hours ago













          38












          38








          38





          $begingroup$

          Both Arms



          If I incapacitate both your arms, you can still walk and run. If you turn into a wolf then you are limited to pushing your torso across the floor.



          Still has a consequence for a biped but not nearly as severe as that for a wolf.






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$



          Both Arms



          If I incapacitate both your arms, you can still walk and run. If you turn into a wolf then you are limited to pushing your torso across the floor.



          Still has a consequence for a biped but not nearly as severe as that for a wolf.







          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited 14 hours ago









          Glorfindel

          3991514




          3991514










          answered yesterday









          TolureTolure

          76914




          76914







          • 11




            $begingroup$
            +1 Even just a broken or sprained wrist would be enough to severely slow down a wolf.
            $endgroup$
            – David K
            yesterday







          • 5




            $begingroup$
            While this is the most obvious answer, I wouldn't say this has "little consequence" for a biped. I'm glad that you acknowledge that fact, but losing the ability to use your arms is a pretty big deal to people who are used to having arms (e.g. the vast majority of humans)
            $endgroup$
            – Beefster
            yesterday







          • 2




            $begingroup$
            @Beefster would it be better if only your non-dominant arm was incapacitated. The wolf would still be hindered partially by having to limp places now and as a human with one arm you can manage very well.
            $endgroup$
            – Tolure
            yesterday






          • 3




            $begingroup$
            @Acccumulation, for a dog, walking on its hind legs is much like you walking on your hands: yes, it's possible, but it's not practical for any sort of distance.
            $endgroup$
            – Mark
            23 hours ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            +1... I literally laughed out loud at the image of a human-turned-wolf sliding face first across the floor attempting to escape from some threat...
            $endgroup$
            – Sam Weaver
            18 hours ago












          • 11




            $begingroup$
            +1 Even just a broken or sprained wrist would be enough to severely slow down a wolf.
            $endgroup$
            – David K
            yesterday







          • 5




            $begingroup$
            While this is the most obvious answer, I wouldn't say this has "little consequence" for a biped. I'm glad that you acknowledge that fact, but losing the ability to use your arms is a pretty big deal to people who are used to having arms (e.g. the vast majority of humans)
            $endgroup$
            – Beefster
            yesterday







          • 2




            $begingroup$
            @Beefster would it be better if only your non-dominant arm was incapacitated. The wolf would still be hindered partially by having to limp places now and as a human with one arm you can manage very well.
            $endgroup$
            – Tolure
            yesterday






          • 3




            $begingroup$
            @Acccumulation, for a dog, walking on its hind legs is much like you walking on your hands: yes, it's possible, but it's not practical for any sort of distance.
            $endgroup$
            – Mark
            23 hours ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            +1... I literally laughed out loud at the image of a human-turned-wolf sliding face first across the floor attempting to escape from some threat...
            $endgroup$
            – Sam Weaver
            18 hours ago







          11




          11




          $begingroup$
          +1 Even just a broken or sprained wrist would be enough to severely slow down a wolf.
          $endgroup$
          – David K
          yesterday





          $begingroup$
          +1 Even just a broken or sprained wrist would be enough to severely slow down a wolf.
          $endgroup$
          – David K
          yesterday





          5




          5




          $begingroup$
          While this is the most obvious answer, I wouldn't say this has "little consequence" for a biped. I'm glad that you acknowledge that fact, but losing the ability to use your arms is a pretty big deal to people who are used to having arms (e.g. the vast majority of humans)
          $endgroup$
          – Beefster
          yesterday





          $begingroup$
          While this is the most obvious answer, I wouldn't say this has "little consequence" for a biped. I'm glad that you acknowledge that fact, but losing the ability to use your arms is a pretty big deal to people who are used to having arms (e.g. the vast majority of humans)
          $endgroup$
          – Beefster
          yesterday





          2




          2




          $begingroup$
          @Beefster would it be better if only your non-dominant arm was incapacitated. The wolf would still be hindered partially by having to limp places now and as a human with one arm you can manage very well.
          $endgroup$
          – Tolure
          yesterday




          $begingroup$
          @Beefster would it be better if only your non-dominant arm was incapacitated. The wolf would still be hindered partially by having to limp places now and as a human with one arm you can manage very well.
          $endgroup$
          – Tolure
          yesterday




          3




          3




          $begingroup$
          @Acccumulation, for a dog, walking on its hind legs is much like you walking on your hands: yes, it's possible, but it's not practical for any sort of distance.
          $endgroup$
          – Mark
          23 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          @Acccumulation, for a dog, walking on its hind legs is much like you walking on your hands: yes, it's possible, but it's not practical for any sort of distance.
          $endgroup$
          – Mark
          23 hours ago




          1




          1




          $begingroup$
          +1... I literally laughed out loud at the image of a human-turned-wolf sliding face first across the floor attempting to escape from some threat...
          $endgroup$
          – Sam Weaver
          18 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          +1... I literally laughed out loud at the image of a human-turned-wolf sliding face first across the floor attempting to escape from some threat...
          $endgroup$
          – Sam Weaver
          18 hours ago











          8












          $begingroup$

          Tolure's answer is good.



          But I wanted to add, you don't even need an injury, just heat or endurance or both. A wolf has a relatively low endurance for running or heat. A person has huge tolerance for both. The difference is that a wolf cannot sweat. And it essentially holds it's breath to run fast (True for a lot quadrupeds). Humans have sweat and can breath normally while running. A well conditioned human can outlast a wolf in a marathon.



          So if your in a warm place or are required to run a very long distance very quickly, your human form might be better suited.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$








          • 5




            $begingroup$
            Actually, there isn't much of an endurance difference between humans and wolves: both practice "persistence hunting", where you chase your target until it drops of exhaustion. Difference in marathon performance would be entirely due to the weather.
            $endgroup$
            – Mark
            23 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            Wolves cannot sweat, but they have another strategy - a) they're adapted for and live in cold climates (duh), b) if they need to increase their heat losses, they breathe openly and over their tongues. Not quite as good as human or horse sweating, but again - it's evolved for much colder climates than humans or horses.
            $endgroup$
            – Luaan
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Luaan They can't do that if they are running. That's the trick. As Mark said, both developed persistence hunting. Humans are just way better at it in an open area.
            $endgroup$
            – Trevor D
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @TrevorD That's just as unfair of an comparison as if you put a naked human into arctic winterland and expected him to perform well. We're both persistence hunters, but adapted to very different environments. As long as you only consider our biological makeup (and not our technology, no matter how primitive), that's the main difference - we're persistence hunters adapted for hot, open plains; wolves are persistence hunters adapted for cold, forested areas.
            $endgroup$
            – Luaan
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Luaan Actually a wolf will still overheat even in the arctic if running full speed or fast enough that they can't pant. But few people live in the arctic, so it's still a fair advantage for this question.
            $endgroup$
            – Trevor D
            9 hours ago















          8












          $begingroup$

          Tolure's answer is good.



          But I wanted to add, you don't even need an injury, just heat or endurance or both. A wolf has a relatively low endurance for running or heat. A person has huge tolerance for both. The difference is that a wolf cannot sweat. And it essentially holds it's breath to run fast (True for a lot quadrupeds). Humans have sweat and can breath normally while running. A well conditioned human can outlast a wolf in a marathon.



          So if your in a warm place or are required to run a very long distance very quickly, your human form might be better suited.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$








          • 5




            $begingroup$
            Actually, there isn't much of an endurance difference between humans and wolves: both practice "persistence hunting", where you chase your target until it drops of exhaustion. Difference in marathon performance would be entirely due to the weather.
            $endgroup$
            – Mark
            23 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            Wolves cannot sweat, but they have another strategy - a) they're adapted for and live in cold climates (duh), b) if they need to increase their heat losses, they breathe openly and over their tongues. Not quite as good as human or horse sweating, but again - it's evolved for much colder climates than humans or horses.
            $endgroup$
            – Luaan
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Luaan They can't do that if they are running. That's the trick. As Mark said, both developed persistence hunting. Humans are just way better at it in an open area.
            $endgroup$
            – Trevor D
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @TrevorD That's just as unfair of an comparison as if you put a naked human into arctic winterland and expected him to perform well. We're both persistence hunters, but adapted to very different environments. As long as you only consider our biological makeup (and not our technology, no matter how primitive), that's the main difference - we're persistence hunters adapted for hot, open plains; wolves are persistence hunters adapted for cold, forested areas.
            $endgroup$
            – Luaan
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Luaan Actually a wolf will still overheat even in the arctic if running full speed or fast enough that they can't pant. But few people live in the arctic, so it's still a fair advantage for this question.
            $endgroup$
            – Trevor D
            9 hours ago













          8












          8








          8





          $begingroup$

          Tolure's answer is good.



          But I wanted to add, you don't even need an injury, just heat or endurance or both. A wolf has a relatively low endurance for running or heat. A person has huge tolerance for both. The difference is that a wolf cannot sweat. And it essentially holds it's breath to run fast (True for a lot quadrupeds). Humans have sweat and can breath normally while running. A well conditioned human can outlast a wolf in a marathon.



          So if your in a warm place or are required to run a very long distance very quickly, your human form might be better suited.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$



          Tolure's answer is good.



          But I wanted to add, you don't even need an injury, just heat or endurance or both. A wolf has a relatively low endurance for running or heat. A person has huge tolerance for both. The difference is that a wolf cannot sweat. And it essentially holds it's breath to run fast (True for a lot quadrupeds). Humans have sweat and can breath normally while running. A well conditioned human can outlast a wolf in a marathon.



          So if your in a warm place or are required to run a very long distance very quickly, your human form might be better suited.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered yesterday









          Trevor DTrevor D

          2,519317




          2,519317







          • 5




            $begingroup$
            Actually, there isn't much of an endurance difference between humans and wolves: both practice "persistence hunting", where you chase your target until it drops of exhaustion. Difference in marathon performance would be entirely due to the weather.
            $endgroup$
            – Mark
            23 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            Wolves cannot sweat, but they have another strategy - a) they're adapted for and live in cold climates (duh), b) if they need to increase their heat losses, they breathe openly and over their tongues. Not quite as good as human or horse sweating, but again - it's evolved for much colder climates than humans or horses.
            $endgroup$
            – Luaan
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Luaan They can't do that if they are running. That's the trick. As Mark said, both developed persistence hunting. Humans are just way better at it in an open area.
            $endgroup$
            – Trevor D
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @TrevorD That's just as unfair of an comparison as if you put a naked human into arctic winterland and expected him to perform well. We're both persistence hunters, but adapted to very different environments. As long as you only consider our biological makeup (and not our technology, no matter how primitive), that's the main difference - we're persistence hunters adapted for hot, open plains; wolves are persistence hunters adapted for cold, forested areas.
            $endgroup$
            – Luaan
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Luaan Actually a wolf will still overheat even in the arctic if running full speed or fast enough that they can't pant. But few people live in the arctic, so it's still a fair advantage for this question.
            $endgroup$
            – Trevor D
            9 hours ago












          • 5




            $begingroup$
            Actually, there isn't much of an endurance difference between humans and wolves: both practice "persistence hunting", where you chase your target until it drops of exhaustion. Difference in marathon performance would be entirely due to the weather.
            $endgroup$
            – Mark
            23 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            Wolves cannot sweat, but they have another strategy - a) they're adapted for and live in cold climates (duh), b) if they need to increase their heat losses, they breathe openly and over their tongues. Not quite as good as human or horse sweating, but again - it's evolved for much colder climates than humans or horses.
            $endgroup$
            – Luaan
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Luaan They can't do that if they are running. That's the trick. As Mark said, both developed persistence hunting. Humans are just way better at it in an open area.
            $endgroup$
            – Trevor D
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @TrevorD That's just as unfair of an comparison as if you put a naked human into arctic winterland and expected him to perform well. We're both persistence hunters, but adapted to very different environments. As long as you only consider our biological makeup (and not our technology, no matter how primitive), that's the main difference - we're persistence hunters adapted for hot, open plains; wolves are persistence hunters adapted for cold, forested areas.
            $endgroup$
            – Luaan
            10 hours ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Luaan Actually a wolf will still overheat even in the arctic if running full speed or fast enough that they can't pant. But few people live in the arctic, so it's still a fair advantage for this question.
            $endgroup$
            – Trevor D
            9 hours ago







          5




          5




          $begingroup$
          Actually, there isn't much of an endurance difference between humans and wolves: both practice "persistence hunting", where you chase your target until it drops of exhaustion. Difference in marathon performance would be entirely due to the weather.
          $endgroup$
          – Mark
          23 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          Actually, there isn't much of an endurance difference between humans and wolves: both practice "persistence hunting", where you chase your target until it drops of exhaustion. Difference in marathon performance would be entirely due to the weather.
          $endgroup$
          – Mark
          23 hours ago












          $begingroup$
          Wolves cannot sweat, but they have another strategy - a) they're adapted for and live in cold climates (duh), b) if they need to increase their heat losses, they breathe openly and over their tongues. Not quite as good as human or horse sweating, but again - it's evolved for much colder climates than humans or horses.
          $endgroup$
          – Luaan
          10 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          Wolves cannot sweat, but they have another strategy - a) they're adapted for and live in cold climates (duh), b) if they need to increase their heat losses, they breathe openly and over their tongues. Not quite as good as human or horse sweating, but again - it's evolved for much colder climates than humans or horses.
          $endgroup$
          – Luaan
          10 hours ago












          $begingroup$
          @Luaan They can't do that if they are running. That's the trick. As Mark said, both developed persistence hunting. Humans are just way better at it in an open area.
          $endgroup$
          – Trevor D
          10 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          @Luaan They can't do that if they are running. That's the trick. As Mark said, both developed persistence hunting. Humans are just way better at it in an open area.
          $endgroup$
          – Trevor D
          10 hours ago












          $begingroup$
          @TrevorD That's just as unfair of an comparison as if you put a naked human into arctic winterland and expected him to perform well. We're both persistence hunters, but adapted to very different environments. As long as you only consider our biological makeup (and not our technology, no matter how primitive), that's the main difference - we're persistence hunters adapted for hot, open plains; wolves are persistence hunters adapted for cold, forested areas.
          $endgroup$
          – Luaan
          10 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          @TrevorD That's just as unfair of an comparison as if you put a naked human into arctic winterland and expected him to perform well. We're both persistence hunters, but adapted to very different environments. As long as you only consider our biological makeup (and not our technology, no matter how primitive), that's the main difference - we're persistence hunters adapted for hot, open plains; wolves are persistence hunters adapted for cold, forested areas.
          $endgroup$
          – Luaan
          10 hours ago












          $begingroup$
          @Luaan Actually a wolf will still overheat even in the arctic if running full speed or fast enough that they can't pant. But few people live in the arctic, so it's still a fair advantage for this question.
          $endgroup$
          – Trevor D
          9 hours ago




          $begingroup$
          @Luaan Actually a wolf will still overheat even in the arctic if running full speed or fast enough that they can't pant. But few people live in the arctic, so it's still a fair advantage for this question.
          $endgroup$
          – Trevor D
          9 hours ago











          7












          $begingroup$

          Teeth



          It depends on the reason. If the human wants to stop the wolf-form from doing harm then they should have all their teeth removed and have false ones made. The false teeth won't fit the wolf. They could also have implants and unscrew them at night.



          A werewolf that can only suck wouldn't be too frightening.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$








          • 3




            $begingroup$
            Don't forget nails. A wolf with no teeth is still dangerous.
            $endgroup$
            – John Dvorak
            yesterday






          • 2




            $begingroup$
            Also, I'm starting a shapeshifter-friendly false teeth business in your location very soon. You can choose between wolf teeth, which look ridiculous on humans, or human teeth, which are useless in the wolf form, but at least they don't fall out constantly, plus I'm conducting some testing on hybrid human/wolf teeth that appear human, but are substantially sharper.
            $endgroup$
            – John Dvorak
            yesterday










          • $begingroup$
            Here are some early renders of the wolf-form teeth: deviantart.com/aokitianwolf/art/…
            $endgroup$
            – John Dvorak
            yesterday






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @John Dvorak - Keep your fingernails short! Then the worst the wolf can do is headbutt you. I was covering the case where the human is in charge of the teeth and wants to disable their own wolf-form. I don't see a wolf going to a specialist to have fangs made. They can't speak - especially without any teeth. There's nothing worse for business than a lisping wolf with no wallet.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            yesterday







          • 2




            $begingroup$
            You really would only have to remove the eyeteeth aka canines. Plenty of people have had this done for one reason or another and it doesn't affect their ability to eat. The wolf would be severely limited in his ability to bite and tear his victim.
            $endgroup$
            – Carl Witthoft
            yesterday















          7












          $begingroup$

          Teeth



          It depends on the reason. If the human wants to stop the wolf-form from doing harm then they should have all their teeth removed and have false ones made. The false teeth won't fit the wolf. They could also have implants and unscrew them at night.



          A werewolf that can only suck wouldn't be too frightening.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$








          • 3




            $begingroup$
            Don't forget nails. A wolf with no teeth is still dangerous.
            $endgroup$
            – John Dvorak
            yesterday






          • 2




            $begingroup$
            Also, I'm starting a shapeshifter-friendly false teeth business in your location very soon. You can choose between wolf teeth, which look ridiculous on humans, or human teeth, which are useless in the wolf form, but at least they don't fall out constantly, plus I'm conducting some testing on hybrid human/wolf teeth that appear human, but are substantially sharper.
            $endgroup$
            – John Dvorak
            yesterday










          • $begingroup$
            Here are some early renders of the wolf-form teeth: deviantart.com/aokitianwolf/art/…
            $endgroup$
            – John Dvorak
            yesterday






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @John Dvorak - Keep your fingernails short! Then the worst the wolf can do is headbutt you. I was covering the case where the human is in charge of the teeth and wants to disable their own wolf-form. I don't see a wolf going to a specialist to have fangs made. They can't speak - especially without any teeth. There's nothing worse for business than a lisping wolf with no wallet.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            yesterday







          • 2




            $begingroup$
            You really would only have to remove the eyeteeth aka canines. Plenty of people have had this done for one reason or another and it doesn't affect their ability to eat. The wolf would be severely limited in his ability to bite and tear his victim.
            $endgroup$
            – Carl Witthoft
            yesterday













          7












          7








          7





          $begingroup$

          Teeth



          It depends on the reason. If the human wants to stop the wolf-form from doing harm then they should have all their teeth removed and have false ones made. The false teeth won't fit the wolf. They could also have implants and unscrew them at night.



          A werewolf that can only suck wouldn't be too frightening.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$



          Teeth



          It depends on the reason. If the human wants to stop the wolf-form from doing harm then they should have all their teeth removed and have false ones made. The false teeth won't fit the wolf. They could also have implants and unscrew them at night.



          A werewolf that can only suck wouldn't be too frightening.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered yesterday









          chasly from UKchasly from UK

          17.9k778162




          17.9k778162







          • 3




            $begingroup$
            Don't forget nails. A wolf with no teeth is still dangerous.
            $endgroup$
            – John Dvorak
            yesterday






          • 2




            $begingroup$
            Also, I'm starting a shapeshifter-friendly false teeth business in your location very soon. You can choose between wolf teeth, which look ridiculous on humans, or human teeth, which are useless in the wolf form, but at least they don't fall out constantly, plus I'm conducting some testing on hybrid human/wolf teeth that appear human, but are substantially sharper.
            $endgroup$
            – John Dvorak
            yesterday










          • $begingroup$
            Here are some early renders of the wolf-form teeth: deviantart.com/aokitianwolf/art/…
            $endgroup$
            – John Dvorak
            yesterday






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @John Dvorak - Keep your fingernails short! Then the worst the wolf can do is headbutt you. I was covering the case where the human is in charge of the teeth and wants to disable their own wolf-form. I don't see a wolf going to a specialist to have fangs made. They can't speak - especially without any teeth. There's nothing worse for business than a lisping wolf with no wallet.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            yesterday







          • 2




            $begingroup$
            You really would only have to remove the eyeteeth aka canines. Plenty of people have had this done for one reason or another and it doesn't affect their ability to eat. The wolf would be severely limited in his ability to bite and tear his victim.
            $endgroup$
            – Carl Witthoft
            yesterday












          • 3




            $begingroup$
            Don't forget nails. A wolf with no teeth is still dangerous.
            $endgroup$
            – John Dvorak
            yesterday






          • 2




            $begingroup$
            Also, I'm starting a shapeshifter-friendly false teeth business in your location very soon. You can choose between wolf teeth, which look ridiculous on humans, or human teeth, which are useless in the wolf form, but at least they don't fall out constantly, plus I'm conducting some testing on hybrid human/wolf teeth that appear human, but are substantially sharper.
            $endgroup$
            – John Dvorak
            yesterday










          • $begingroup$
            Here are some early renders of the wolf-form teeth: deviantart.com/aokitianwolf/art/…
            $endgroup$
            – John Dvorak
            yesterday






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @John Dvorak - Keep your fingernails short! Then the worst the wolf can do is headbutt you. I was covering the case where the human is in charge of the teeth and wants to disable their own wolf-form. I don't see a wolf going to a specialist to have fangs made. They can't speak - especially without any teeth. There's nothing worse for business than a lisping wolf with no wallet.
            $endgroup$
            – chasly from UK
            yesterday







          • 2




            $begingroup$
            You really would only have to remove the eyeteeth aka canines. Plenty of people have had this done for one reason or another and it doesn't affect their ability to eat. The wolf would be severely limited in his ability to bite and tear his victim.
            $endgroup$
            – Carl Witthoft
            yesterday







          3




          3




          $begingroup$
          Don't forget nails. A wolf with no teeth is still dangerous.
          $endgroup$
          – John Dvorak
          yesterday




          $begingroup$
          Don't forget nails. A wolf with no teeth is still dangerous.
          $endgroup$
          – John Dvorak
          yesterday




          2




          2




          $begingroup$
          Also, I'm starting a shapeshifter-friendly false teeth business in your location very soon. You can choose between wolf teeth, which look ridiculous on humans, or human teeth, which are useless in the wolf form, but at least they don't fall out constantly, plus I'm conducting some testing on hybrid human/wolf teeth that appear human, but are substantially sharper.
          $endgroup$
          – John Dvorak
          yesterday




          $begingroup$
          Also, I'm starting a shapeshifter-friendly false teeth business in your location very soon. You can choose between wolf teeth, which look ridiculous on humans, or human teeth, which are useless in the wolf form, but at least they don't fall out constantly, plus I'm conducting some testing on hybrid human/wolf teeth that appear human, but are substantially sharper.
          $endgroup$
          – John Dvorak
          yesterday












          $begingroup$
          Here are some early renders of the wolf-form teeth: deviantart.com/aokitianwolf/art/…
          $endgroup$
          – John Dvorak
          yesterday




          $begingroup$
          Here are some early renders of the wolf-form teeth: deviantart.com/aokitianwolf/art/…
          $endgroup$
          – John Dvorak
          yesterday




          1




          1




          $begingroup$
          @John Dvorak - Keep your fingernails short! Then the worst the wolf can do is headbutt you. I was covering the case where the human is in charge of the teeth and wants to disable their own wolf-form. I don't see a wolf going to a specialist to have fangs made. They can't speak - especially without any teeth. There's nothing worse for business than a lisping wolf with no wallet.
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          yesterday





          $begingroup$
          @John Dvorak - Keep your fingernails short! Then the worst the wolf can do is headbutt you. I was covering the case where the human is in charge of the teeth and wants to disable their own wolf-form. I don't see a wolf going to a specialist to have fangs made. They can't speak - especially without any teeth. There's nothing worse for business than a lisping wolf with no wallet.
          $endgroup$
          – chasly from UK
          yesterday





          2




          2




          $begingroup$
          You really would only have to remove the eyeteeth aka canines. Plenty of people have had this done for one reason or another and it doesn't affect their ability to eat. The wolf would be severely limited in his ability to bite and tear his victim.
          $endgroup$
          – Carl Witthoft
          yesterday




          $begingroup$
          You really would only have to remove the eyeteeth aka canines. Plenty of people have had this done for one reason or another and it doesn't affect their ability to eat. The wolf would be severely limited in his ability to bite and tear his victim.
          $endgroup$
          – Carl Witthoft
          yesterday











          5












          $begingroup$

          Injured non-dominant hand



          Barely any effect on a day-to-day life of a human besides some annoyance since most of what we do with our hands is not load-bearing, especially the non-dominant hand; this may be dependent on your character's line of work and lifestyle, though. It can even be unnoticeable to people around them when in human form.



          However, an injured paw on a wolf (based on observation of injured dogs) would keep them from running very fast or with great agility due to pain.



          Along the same lines,
          Missing fingernails



          Again not much of an issue for humans, but lack of claws would reduce the amount of grip a wolf has while running and it ability to capture prey.



          Not a wound, per se, but Baldness



          Some users mentioned that wolves can't deal with heat due to their thick coats, but let's flip it around: complete inability to grow hair.



          Little to no effect on a human (baldness in men is fairly common) and we wear clothes to keep warm, but baldness would make it completely impossible for wolves to live in their natural (cold) habitat.



          The baldness could be cause by severe burns, if you absolutely need it to be a wound.






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$












          • $begingroup$
            The non-dominant hand thing was my first thought as well. However, dogs with a single missing/crippled aren't really all that uncommon. Their gait looks a bit stilted, so its clearly not optimal, but otherwise they seem to do fine.
            $endgroup$
            – T.E.D.
            6 hours ago
















          5












          $begingroup$

          Injured non-dominant hand



          Barely any effect on a day-to-day life of a human besides some annoyance since most of what we do with our hands is not load-bearing, especially the non-dominant hand; this may be dependent on your character's line of work and lifestyle, though. It can even be unnoticeable to people around them when in human form.



          However, an injured paw on a wolf (based on observation of injured dogs) would keep them from running very fast or with great agility due to pain.



          Along the same lines,
          Missing fingernails



          Again not much of an issue for humans, but lack of claws would reduce the amount of grip a wolf has while running and it ability to capture prey.



          Not a wound, per se, but Baldness



          Some users mentioned that wolves can't deal with heat due to their thick coats, but let's flip it around: complete inability to grow hair.



          Little to no effect on a human (baldness in men is fairly common) and we wear clothes to keep warm, but baldness would make it completely impossible for wolves to live in their natural (cold) habitat.



          The baldness could be cause by severe burns, if you absolutely need it to be a wound.






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$












          • $begingroup$
            The non-dominant hand thing was my first thought as well. However, dogs with a single missing/crippled aren't really all that uncommon. Their gait looks a bit stilted, so its clearly not optimal, but otherwise they seem to do fine.
            $endgroup$
            – T.E.D.
            6 hours ago














          5












          5








          5





          $begingroup$

          Injured non-dominant hand



          Barely any effect on a day-to-day life of a human besides some annoyance since most of what we do with our hands is not load-bearing, especially the non-dominant hand; this may be dependent on your character's line of work and lifestyle, though. It can even be unnoticeable to people around them when in human form.



          However, an injured paw on a wolf (based on observation of injured dogs) would keep them from running very fast or with great agility due to pain.



          Along the same lines,
          Missing fingernails



          Again not much of an issue for humans, but lack of claws would reduce the amount of grip a wolf has while running and it ability to capture prey.



          Not a wound, per se, but Baldness



          Some users mentioned that wolves can't deal with heat due to their thick coats, but let's flip it around: complete inability to grow hair.



          Little to no effect on a human (baldness in men is fairly common) and we wear clothes to keep warm, but baldness would make it completely impossible for wolves to live in their natural (cold) habitat.



          The baldness could be cause by severe burns, if you absolutely need it to be a wound.






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$



          Injured non-dominant hand



          Barely any effect on a day-to-day life of a human besides some annoyance since most of what we do with our hands is not load-bearing, especially the non-dominant hand; this may be dependent on your character's line of work and lifestyle, though. It can even be unnoticeable to people around them when in human form.



          However, an injured paw on a wolf (based on observation of injured dogs) would keep them from running very fast or with great agility due to pain.



          Along the same lines,
          Missing fingernails



          Again not much of an issue for humans, but lack of claws would reduce the amount of grip a wolf has while running and it ability to capture prey.



          Not a wound, per se, but Baldness



          Some users mentioned that wolves can't deal with heat due to their thick coats, but let's flip it around: complete inability to grow hair.



          Little to no effect on a human (baldness in men is fairly common) and we wear clothes to keep warm, but baldness would make it completely impossible for wolves to live in their natural (cold) habitat.



          The baldness could be cause by severe burns, if you absolutely need it to be a wound.







          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited 7 hours ago

























          answered yesterday









          Alexandre AubreyAlexandre Aubrey

          1,23929




          1,23929











          • $begingroup$
            The non-dominant hand thing was my first thought as well. However, dogs with a single missing/crippled aren't really all that uncommon. Their gait looks a bit stilted, so its clearly not optimal, but otherwise they seem to do fine.
            $endgroup$
            – T.E.D.
            6 hours ago

















          • $begingroup$
            The non-dominant hand thing was my first thought as well. However, dogs with a single missing/crippled aren't really all that uncommon. Their gait looks a bit stilted, so its clearly not optimal, but otherwise they seem to do fine.
            $endgroup$
            – T.E.D.
            6 hours ago
















          $begingroup$
          The non-dominant hand thing was my first thought as well. However, dogs with a single missing/crippled aren't really all that uncommon. Their gait looks a bit stilted, so its clearly not optimal, but otherwise they seem to do fine.
          $endgroup$
          – T.E.D.
          6 hours ago





          $begingroup$
          The non-dominant hand thing was my first thought as well. However, dogs with a single missing/crippled aren't really all that uncommon. Their gait looks a bit stilted, so its clearly not optimal, but otherwise they seem to do fine.
          $endgroup$
          – T.E.D.
          6 hours ago












          4












          $begingroup$

          Torn UCL



          The UCL is akin to the ACL, only on the inside of the elbow. While a human with a torn UCL would have a bit of pain, and would have a harder time throwing things, activities like walking, holding a heavy object, or even stabilizing a weapon wouldn't be that bad. For a wolf, however, it would be similar to a torn ACL, meaning pain when walking, running, turning, or even standing still. If it was the human's non-dominate arm, it would have even less effect on them, while the wolf form would still be just as badly off.



          Ears/Ear muscles



          While wolves have 18 ear muscles and humans only have 6, if those six muscles are damaged, humans may only barely notice, but wolves will find themselves unable to easily direct their ear toward sounds, limiting hearing.



          Worse, if a human's (outer) ear is very damaged, they won't look great, but their hearing won't be too much worse. Wolves, however, use their ears as "sound scoops", directing sounds into their ear canal; without an outer ear, they will lose a lot of directional hearing, and their hearing overall will drop considerably.



          Surface burns



          While getting a bad burn would suck, as long as it healed decently, a human would only have an unsightly scar to deal with. If the scar is on their back, it may go entirely unnoticed; out of sight, out of mind.



          However, hair doesn't grow on burned scar tissue, or at best grows in clumps and patches. Wolves don't (usually) have the option of wearing clothing, and without hair - especially body hair - they will freeze to death in cold weather.



          Fused Joints



          Wolves and humans use very different joints. While a human would probably be fine if they had one or more ribs fused to their spine, it would mean a huge limitation to a wolf. Likewise, a human with a fused ankle would only be slightly slower than usual, while a wolf would hardly be able to move. A human with a fused wrist, especially non-dominate wrist, would function almost entirely normally, while a wolf would again be nearly unable to walk. Fusing a pair of spinal bones may make a human slightly uncomfortable, or unable to turn their head as far, but would severely limit a wolf's range of motion.



          Stuffy nose



          For a human, it's pretty annoying to have a clogged nasal passage. You can't smell, you have to breathe through your mouth, and you have an annoying feeling of blockage - not to mention the mucus draining down the back of your throat. For a wolf, however, having a stuffy nose means losing one of their best senses - smell. And, unlike a human, wolves have to work a lot harder to swallow draining mucus; rather than just swallow, they often have to do a sort of "reverse sneeze" to force the mucus down.



          Out-of-Balance Digestion



          Humans have a far more complex digestion system, compared to wolves. We can eat just about anything, and unless we have some sort of sensitivity or allergy, it goes through the system without a fuss. However, after an illness (especially if we had to take an antibacterial medication), out gut bacteria can get screwed up. If we don't fix it, eating certain foods can become very difficult. However, being that we can eat just about anything, the simplest fix is... don't eat that food.



          Wolves don't have that option. They are meat-eaters, and their guts are designed to process one thing, and one thing only: meat. If they can't process proteins, that's basically a death sentence. While it's possible for wolves to digest some non-proteins, those foods are usually heavily processed, essentially pre-digesting them. That food would be hard to come by anywhere but a highly civilized area.






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$

















            4












            $begingroup$

            Torn UCL



            The UCL is akin to the ACL, only on the inside of the elbow. While a human with a torn UCL would have a bit of pain, and would have a harder time throwing things, activities like walking, holding a heavy object, or even stabilizing a weapon wouldn't be that bad. For a wolf, however, it would be similar to a torn ACL, meaning pain when walking, running, turning, or even standing still. If it was the human's non-dominate arm, it would have even less effect on them, while the wolf form would still be just as badly off.



            Ears/Ear muscles



            While wolves have 18 ear muscles and humans only have 6, if those six muscles are damaged, humans may only barely notice, but wolves will find themselves unable to easily direct their ear toward sounds, limiting hearing.



            Worse, if a human's (outer) ear is very damaged, they won't look great, but their hearing won't be too much worse. Wolves, however, use their ears as "sound scoops", directing sounds into their ear canal; without an outer ear, they will lose a lot of directional hearing, and their hearing overall will drop considerably.



            Surface burns



            While getting a bad burn would suck, as long as it healed decently, a human would only have an unsightly scar to deal with. If the scar is on their back, it may go entirely unnoticed; out of sight, out of mind.



            However, hair doesn't grow on burned scar tissue, or at best grows in clumps and patches. Wolves don't (usually) have the option of wearing clothing, and without hair - especially body hair - they will freeze to death in cold weather.



            Fused Joints



            Wolves and humans use very different joints. While a human would probably be fine if they had one or more ribs fused to their spine, it would mean a huge limitation to a wolf. Likewise, a human with a fused ankle would only be slightly slower than usual, while a wolf would hardly be able to move. A human with a fused wrist, especially non-dominate wrist, would function almost entirely normally, while a wolf would again be nearly unable to walk. Fusing a pair of spinal bones may make a human slightly uncomfortable, or unable to turn their head as far, but would severely limit a wolf's range of motion.



            Stuffy nose



            For a human, it's pretty annoying to have a clogged nasal passage. You can't smell, you have to breathe through your mouth, and you have an annoying feeling of blockage - not to mention the mucus draining down the back of your throat. For a wolf, however, having a stuffy nose means losing one of their best senses - smell. And, unlike a human, wolves have to work a lot harder to swallow draining mucus; rather than just swallow, they often have to do a sort of "reverse sneeze" to force the mucus down.



            Out-of-Balance Digestion



            Humans have a far more complex digestion system, compared to wolves. We can eat just about anything, and unless we have some sort of sensitivity or allergy, it goes through the system without a fuss. However, after an illness (especially if we had to take an antibacterial medication), out gut bacteria can get screwed up. If we don't fix it, eating certain foods can become very difficult. However, being that we can eat just about anything, the simplest fix is... don't eat that food.



            Wolves don't have that option. They are meat-eaters, and their guts are designed to process one thing, and one thing only: meat. If they can't process proteins, that's basically a death sentence. While it's possible for wolves to digest some non-proteins, those foods are usually heavily processed, essentially pre-digesting them. That food would be hard to come by anywhere but a highly civilized area.






            share|improve this answer









            $endgroup$















              4












              4








              4





              $begingroup$

              Torn UCL



              The UCL is akin to the ACL, only on the inside of the elbow. While a human with a torn UCL would have a bit of pain, and would have a harder time throwing things, activities like walking, holding a heavy object, or even stabilizing a weapon wouldn't be that bad. For a wolf, however, it would be similar to a torn ACL, meaning pain when walking, running, turning, or even standing still. If it was the human's non-dominate arm, it would have even less effect on them, while the wolf form would still be just as badly off.



              Ears/Ear muscles



              While wolves have 18 ear muscles and humans only have 6, if those six muscles are damaged, humans may only barely notice, but wolves will find themselves unable to easily direct their ear toward sounds, limiting hearing.



              Worse, if a human's (outer) ear is very damaged, they won't look great, but their hearing won't be too much worse. Wolves, however, use their ears as "sound scoops", directing sounds into their ear canal; without an outer ear, they will lose a lot of directional hearing, and their hearing overall will drop considerably.



              Surface burns



              While getting a bad burn would suck, as long as it healed decently, a human would only have an unsightly scar to deal with. If the scar is on their back, it may go entirely unnoticed; out of sight, out of mind.



              However, hair doesn't grow on burned scar tissue, or at best grows in clumps and patches. Wolves don't (usually) have the option of wearing clothing, and without hair - especially body hair - they will freeze to death in cold weather.



              Fused Joints



              Wolves and humans use very different joints. While a human would probably be fine if they had one or more ribs fused to their spine, it would mean a huge limitation to a wolf. Likewise, a human with a fused ankle would only be slightly slower than usual, while a wolf would hardly be able to move. A human with a fused wrist, especially non-dominate wrist, would function almost entirely normally, while a wolf would again be nearly unable to walk. Fusing a pair of spinal bones may make a human slightly uncomfortable, or unable to turn their head as far, but would severely limit a wolf's range of motion.



              Stuffy nose



              For a human, it's pretty annoying to have a clogged nasal passage. You can't smell, you have to breathe through your mouth, and you have an annoying feeling of blockage - not to mention the mucus draining down the back of your throat. For a wolf, however, having a stuffy nose means losing one of their best senses - smell. And, unlike a human, wolves have to work a lot harder to swallow draining mucus; rather than just swallow, they often have to do a sort of "reverse sneeze" to force the mucus down.



              Out-of-Balance Digestion



              Humans have a far more complex digestion system, compared to wolves. We can eat just about anything, and unless we have some sort of sensitivity or allergy, it goes through the system without a fuss. However, after an illness (especially if we had to take an antibacterial medication), out gut bacteria can get screwed up. If we don't fix it, eating certain foods can become very difficult. However, being that we can eat just about anything, the simplest fix is... don't eat that food.



              Wolves don't have that option. They are meat-eaters, and their guts are designed to process one thing, and one thing only: meat. If they can't process proteins, that's basically a death sentence. While it's possible for wolves to digest some non-proteins, those foods are usually heavily processed, essentially pre-digesting them. That food would be hard to come by anywhere but a highly civilized area.






              share|improve this answer









              $endgroup$



              Torn UCL



              The UCL is akin to the ACL, only on the inside of the elbow. While a human with a torn UCL would have a bit of pain, and would have a harder time throwing things, activities like walking, holding a heavy object, or even stabilizing a weapon wouldn't be that bad. For a wolf, however, it would be similar to a torn ACL, meaning pain when walking, running, turning, or even standing still. If it was the human's non-dominate arm, it would have even less effect on them, while the wolf form would still be just as badly off.



              Ears/Ear muscles



              While wolves have 18 ear muscles and humans only have 6, if those six muscles are damaged, humans may only barely notice, but wolves will find themselves unable to easily direct their ear toward sounds, limiting hearing.



              Worse, if a human's (outer) ear is very damaged, they won't look great, but their hearing won't be too much worse. Wolves, however, use their ears as "sound scoops", directing sounds into their ear canal; without an outer ear, they will lose a lot of directional hearing, and their hearing overall will drop considerably.



              Surface burns



              While getting a bad burn would suck, as long as it healed decently, a human would only have an unsightly scar to deal with. If the scar is on their back, it may go entirely unnoticed; out of sight, out of mind.



              However, hair doesn't grow on burned scar tissue, or at best grows in clumps and patches. Wolves don't (usually) have the option of wearing clothing, and without hair - especially body hair - they will freeze to death in cold weather.



              Fused Joints



              Wolves and humans use very different joints. While a human would probably be fine if they had one or more ribs fused to their spine, it would mean a huge limitation to a wolf. Likewise, a human with a fused ankle would only be slightly slower than usual, while a wolf would hardly be able to move. A human with a fused wrist, especially non-dominate wrist, would function almost entirely normally, while a wolf would again be nearly unable to walk. Fusing a pair of spinal bones may make a human slightly uncomfortable, or unable to turn their head as far, but would severely limit a wolf's range of motion.



              Stuffy nose



              For a human, it's pretty annoying to have a clogged nasal passage. You can't smell, you have to breathe through your mouth, and you have an annoying feeling of blockage - not to mention the mucus draining down the back of your throat. For a wolf, however, having a stuffy nose means losing one of their best senses - smell. And, unlike a human, wolves have to work a lot harder to swallow draining mucus; rather than just swallow, they often have to do a sort of "reverse sneeze" to force the mucus down.



              Out-of-Balance Digestion



              Humans have a far more complex digestion system, compared to wolves. We can eat just about anything, and unless we have some sort of sensitivity or allergy, it goes through the system without a fuss. However, after an illness (especially if we had to take an antibacterial medication), out gut bacteria can get screwed up. If we don't fix it, eating certain foods can become very difficult. However, being that we can eat just about anything, the simplest fix is... don't eat that food.



              Wolves don't have that option. They are meat-eaters, and their guts are designed to process one thing, and one thing only: meat. If they can't process proteins, that's basically a death sentence. While it's possible for wolves to digest some non-proteins, those foods are usually heavily processed, essentially pre-digesting them. That food would be hard to come by anywhere but a highly civilized area.







              share|improve this answer












              share|improve this answer



              share|improve this answer










              answered 20 hours ago









              ArmanXArmanX

              10.2k32542




              10.2k32542





















                  3












                  $begingroup$

                  A papercut on your fingertip or palm



                  Dogs essentially walk on their fingertips. A biped can easily avoid putting significant pressure on a fingertip or can put a bandage on them, but this isn't so nice to a load-bearing part of your body. It's equivalent to getting a papercut on the soles of your feet. Not fun and opens the door to infections and re-opening the wound as you walk.






                  share|improve this answer









                  $endgroup$

















                    3












                    $begingroup$

                    A papercut on your fingertip or palm



                    Dogs essentially walk on their fingertips. A biped can easily avoid putting significant pressure on a fingertip or can put a bandage on them, but this isn't so nice to a load-bearing part of your body. It's equivalent to getting a papercut on the soles of your feet. Not fun and opens the door to infections and re-opening the wound as you walk.






                    share|improve this answer









                    $endgroup$















                      3












                      3








                      3





                      $begingroup$

                      A papercut on your fingertip or palm



                      Dogs essentially walk on their fingertips. A biped can easily avoid putting significant pressure on a fingertip or can put a bandage on them, but this isn't so nice to a load-bearing part of your body. It's equivalent to getting a papercut on the soles of your feet. Not fun and opens the door to infections and re-opening the wound as you walk.






                      share|improve this answer









                      $endgroup$



                      A papercut on your fingertip or palm



                      Dogs essentially walk on their fingertips. A biped can easily avoid putting significant pressure on a fingertip or can put a bandage on them, but this isn't so nice to a load-bearing part of your body. It's equivalent to getting a papercut on the soles of your feet. Not fun and opens the door to infections and re-opening the wound as you walk.







                      share|improve this answer












                      share|improve this answer



                      share|improve this answer










                      answered yesterday









                      BeefsterBeefster

                      20217




                      20217





















                          1












                          $begingroup$

                          Anal glands



                          Dogs and wolves have those, but humans don't. So if the lycanthropes take a stab to their anal sacs it may hurt a lot - but when they revert to human form they will not have the sacs, so no pain.



                          By the way, I think damage to the anal sacs may be very painful. I once saw a dog whose previous owners tried to castrate him with a slingshot, the poor creature had lesions on a sac. The poor dog required meds for pain for quite a while.






                          share|improve this answer









                          $endgroup$

















                            1












                            $begingroup$

                            Anal glands



                            Dogs and wolves have those, but humans don't. So if the lycanthropes take a stab to their anal sacs it may hurt a lot - but when they revert to human form they will not have the sacs, so no pain.



                            By the way, I think damage to the anal sacs may be very painful. I once saw a dog whose previous owners tried to castrate him with a slingshot, the poor creature had lesions on a sac. The poor dog required meds for pain for quite a while.






                            share|improve this answer









                            $endgroup$















                              1












                              1








                              1





                              $begingroup$

                              Anal glands



                              Dogs and wolves have those, but humans don't. So if the lycanthropes take a stab to their anal sacs it may hurt a lot - but when they revert to human form they will not have the sacs, so no pain.



                              By the way, I think damage to the anal sacs may be very painful. I once saw a dog whose previous owners tried to castrate him with a slingshot, the poor creature had lesions on a sac. The poor dog required meds for pain for quite a while.






                              share|improve this answer









                              $endgroup$



                              Anal glands



                              Dogs and wolves have those, but humans don't. So if the lycanthropes take a stab to their anal sacs it may hurt a lot - but when they revert to human form they will not have the sacs, so no pain.



                              By the way, I think damage to the anal sacs may be very painful. I once saw a dog whose previous owners tried to castrate him with a slingshot, the poor creature had lesions on a sac. The poor dog required meds for pain for quite a while.







                              share|improve this answer












                              share|improve this answer



                              share|improve this answer










                              answered yesterday









                              RenanRenan

                              49.7k13115250




                              49.7k13115250





















                                  1












                                  $begingroup$

                                  A nasty (but not huge) splinter in the non-dominant hand, just below the fingers.



                                  For a human, it would hurt but have little effect but try running/trotting on one, or using it to leap up with or claw, when you need to flex that part of both front paws, and impact it on the ground......






                                  share|improve this answer









                                  $endgroup$

















                                    1












                                    $begingroup$

                                    A nasty (but not huge) splinter in the non-dominant hand, just below the fingers.



                                    For a human, it would hurt but have little effect but try running/trotting on one, or using it to leap up with or claw, when you need to flex that part of both front paws, and impact it on the ground......






                                    share|improve this answer









                                    $endgroup$















                                      1












                                      1








                                      1





                                      $begingroup$

                                      A nasty (but not huge) splinter in the non-dominant hand, just below the fingers.



                                      For a human, it would hurt but have little effect but try running/trotting on one, or using it to leap up with or claw, when you need to flex that part of both front paws, and impact it on the ground......






                                      share|improve this answer









                                      $endgroup$



                                      A nasty (but not huge) splinter in the non-dominant hand, just below the fingers.



                                      For a human, it would hurt but have little effect but try running/trotting on one, or using it to leap up with or claw, when you need to flex that part of both front paws, and impact it on the ground......







                                      share|improve this answer












                                      share|improve this answer



                                      share|improve this answer










                                      answered 2 hours ago









                                      StilezStilez

                                      3,492815




                                      3,492815





















                                          0












                                          $begingroup$

                                          Loss of the tail



                                          Wolves use their tail to communicate as well as for balance while running.






                                          share|improve this answer









                                          $endgroup$












                                          • $begingroup$
                                            No tail is hardly a terrible consequence for a dog at least. My previous dog was born without a tail and he managed perfectly fine, not to mention all the countries where docking the tail is still legal and a common procedure. I have a hard time believing it would be much different for a wolf.
                                            $endgroup$
                                            – pipe
                                            6 hours ago















                                          0












                                          $begingroup$

                                          Loss of the tail



                                          Wolves use their tail to communicate as well as for balance while running.






                                          share|improve this answer









                                          $endgroup$












                                          • $begingroup$
                                            No tail is hardly a terrible consequence for a dog at least. My previous dog was born without a tail and he managed perfectly fine, not to mention all the countries where docking the tail is still legal and a common procedure. I have a hard time believing it would be much different for a wolf.
                                            $endgroup$
                                            – pipe
                                            6 hours ago













                                          0












                                          0








                                          0





                                          $begingroup$

                                          Loss of the tail



                                          Wolves use their tail to communicate as well as for balance while running.






                                          share|improve this answer









                                          $endgroup$



                                          Loss of the tail



                                          Wolves use their tail to communicate as well as for balance while running.







                                          share|improve this answer












                                          share|improve this answer



                                          share|improve this answer










                                          answered 19 hours ago









                                          ThorneThorne

                                          16.7k42351




                                          16.7k42351











                                          • $begingroup$
                                            No tail is hardly a terrible consequence for a dog at least. My previous dog was born without a tail and he managed perfectly fine, not to mention all the countries where docking the tail is still legal and a common procedure. I have a hard time believing it would be much different for a wolf.
                                            $endgroup$
                                            – pipe
                                            6 hours ago
















                                          • $begingroup$
                                            No tail is hardly a terrible consequence for a dog at least. My previous dog was born without a tail and he managed perfectly fine, not to mention all the countries where docking the tail is still legal and a common procedure. I have a hard time believing it would be much different for a wolf.
                                            $endgroup$
                                            – pipe
                                            6 hours ago















                                          $begingroup$
                                          No tail is hardly a terrible consequence for a dog at least. My previous dog was born without a tail and he managed perfectly fine, not to mention all the countries where docking the tail is still legal and a common procedure. I have a hard time believing it would be much different for a wolf.
                                          $endgroup$
                                          – pipe
                                          6 hours ago




                                          $begingroup$
                                          No tail is hardly a terrible consequence for a dog at least. My previous dog was born without a tail and he managed perfectly fine, not to mention all the countries where docking the tail is still legal and a common procedure. I have a hard time believing it would be much different for a wolf.
                                          $endgroup$
                                          – pipe
                                          6 hours ago










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