View source for Totally Not a Werewolf

{{trope}}
When a [[Voluntary Shapeshifter]]'s alternate form is mistaken for an ''actual'' monster by other humans.

For a great example, see the [[Our Werewolves Are Different|myopic lore behind werewolves]]: While some werewolves are literally just [[Voluntary Shapeshifter]]s, others are individuals [[Curse]]d (or sometimes [[Viral Transformation|infected]]) with some manner of [[Involuntary Shapeshifting]] into a wolf-shaped creature. Thus, it's easy to assume that if you see any character working and living a human life by day, but running through the woods and howling at the moon by night, then you should at least pack a [[Silver Bullet]] in case you run into them on a full moon ... right?

Except... they're not an ''actual'' werewolf. This often occurs because the [[Universe Bible]] already defines the rules and requirements for being a werewolf, and this individual doesn't fit the description; they are very much distinct from the "real" werewolves out there. They don't exhibit the behaviors expected of the creature type they transform into, even when [[The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body]]; for example, they can't [[Viral Transformation|spread their "condition"]] on to other people.

But at least they'll forgive you—they must deal with this confusion all the time. Depending on the individual's demeanor, some may even play off the confusion.

Can be considered a [[Defied Trope]] in relation to [[Our Werewolves Are Different]] and [[Our Werebeasts Are Different]]. Contrast to [[Not Using the Z Word]], where the individual ''is'' an actual werewolf, but nobody wants to use the term.

If someone has to actually keep ''saying'' that they're "Totally Not a Werewolf", [[Tempting Fate|beware]]: They may also be [[Most Definitely Not a Villain]], and one should consult [[Insistent Terminology]] for more details.

Should the [[Voluntary Shapeshifter]] be mistaken for the monster by other members of ''its own'' species, this may be due to the romantic phenomenon of [[Attractive Bent Species]].

{{examples}}
==Examples of being mistaken for a werewolf:==
=== Comic Books ===
* Marvel has the mutant Wolfsbane, who had to be reassured she was not a werewolf, as they were considered to be demons where she was from and her wolf like appearance caused her much self loathing. Jonah Jameson's son, the astronaut John, is not a werewolf either but has an alien weapon that makes him look like a wolf man. He is considered a godly savior by said aliens.

=== Literature ===
* While the [[Animorphs]] are [[Voluntary Shapeshifter]]s thanks to alien technology, in ''Megamorphs #3'', Cassie is mistaken for a werewolf by a German soldier. 
* In The ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]]'' Saga, Sam Uley and his pack are not werewolves; they are shape shifters who can only turn into wolves. A clue to this is that they shift voluntarily, while werewolves in the ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]]'' universe can only change on a full moon.
* [[Mercy Thompson]] is a ''walker'', not a werewolf. Even if she does hang around with them a lot.
* ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' has at least five completely different magical creatures that could be classified as "werewolves," including the unstoppably destructive loup-garou, people who made a [[Deal with the Devil]], people who can channel animal spirits, people who can just turn into wolves at will, and at least one {{spoiler|wolf who can turn into a ''human'' at will}}. Getting them mixed up can potentially be fatal.
* Wolf from the ''Wolf & Raven'' [[Shadowrun]] short stories was originally intended to be a werewolf, until the author was told that Weres in that Verse are animals who assume human form, not vice versa. The character was therefore re-written as a human physical adept with an intense -- [[Jekyll and Hyde|sometimes too intense]]—spiritual bond to the Wolf totem.


=== [[Live Action TV]] ===
* Happens all the time on ''[[Doctor Who]]'', although it is possibly a subversion. The Doctor has admitted he makes up some of the technobabble because he doesn't want to say "It's magic" so a "Lupine Wavelength Hamaevoform" fits the [[Not Using the Z Word]] aspect of this trope. Also, the various Vampires from ''Curse of Fenric'', ''Smith and Jones'', ''Vampires of Venice'', ''State of Decay'', etc.
* ''[[True Blood]]'': {{spoiler|Sam}}'s not a werewolf, he's a [[Voluntary Shapeshifter|shifter]], thank you very much. Werewolves genuinely exist—and yes, [[Our Werewolves Are Different|they're different]].
** He's not a big fan of [[Our Werebeasts Are Different|werecats]] either.
* ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' introduced "skinwalkers", who can transform into wolves (or dogs, at least) and are distinct from the ''actual'' werewolves who do transform with the lunar cycle, but into humans with evil eyes and bad teeth. However, they do share a number of characteristics, including the ability to [[Viral Transformation|infect people by biting them]], and an allergy to silver. Not very surprising, then, that the brothers thought they were hunting a werewolf when they started looking into the skinwalker.


=== [[Role Playing Games]] ===
* ''[[Old World of Darkness]]'': Vampires, werewolves, Pooka changlings, and mages all had powers which could let them turn into wolves. So what happened if you put one of each on a stage to perform this trick in front of mortal witnesses? The vampire gets the expected mundane reaction, the werewolf drives witnesses into hallucinations and denial, the changeling leaves all but the least banal of viewers remembering it as a vague dream, and the mage explodes because the universe doesn't like people turning into wolves.


=== [[Video Games]] ===
* In ''[[City of Heroes]]'', the War Wolves of the [[No Swastikas|Fifth Column and the Council]] were created through scientific means. They are immensely strong, and howl like wolves, but they aren't actually werewolves.
* When the 2005 trailer for ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]'' was released, fans and reviewers quickly attached a 'werewolf' label to the depiction of Link being transformed into a wolf. Nintendo did respond saying that only the 'wolf' part was accurate; Link's transformation was revealed to be a [[Fisher Kingdom]] effect of game's [[Chosen One]] being exposed to the Twilight Realm.
* ''[[Quest for Glory IV]]'' has the gypsies, whom the superstitious townsfolk think are werewolves. Their leader laughs at the idea, saying "Cross my palm with silver; you'll not see me flinch!" The hero has some experience with this, having befriended a tribe of Leopardmen in [[Quest for Glory III|the previous game]].
* Inverted in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' with Worgen druids, who [[Not Using the Z Word|are actual Worgen]], but can shapeshift into other animal forms through druidic spells unrelated to their natural lycanthropic abilities.
* A dialogue option in ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines]]'' allows you to mistake Beckett for a Werewolf in your first face-to-face meeting. He finds it funny.


=== [[Web Comics]] ===
* ''Sorcery101'' distinguishes werewolves from ''wolf-demons'', which are sort of the opposite: supernatural wolves that can assume a mostly-human form.
* ''[[Spinnerette]]'' has a rather long arc starting out with both the heroes and the villains chasing something that appears to be a werewolf. The heroes end up catching a three headed guardian of the underworld. The villains run into an [[Eldritch Abomination]] the former was trying to hunt down. There wasn't a single werewolf involved in the story, unless we count one of the heroes.


=== [[Web Original]] ===
* Techwolf of the [[Whateley Universe]] looks like a seven foot tall werewolf all the time. He's not. He's just under a curse. And Bloodwolf can transform into a werewolf shape because he's a mutant: he's an Avatar who has captured the spirit of the werewolf. However there are real werewolves out there. And Paige has been turned into a werecat.


=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* Timberwolf from the ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (TV series)|Legion of Super Heroes]]'' cartoon is one of these, especially when first captured. Lampshaded by Bouncing Boy:
{{quote|-looks at some scratches on Lightning Lad from Timberwolf-
'''Bouncing Boy''': Hope you don't turn into one of those things. }}
* One Halloween episode of ''[[Gargoyles]]'' had a mysterious wolf-like animal roaming through the city every night, and Goliath is seen researching werewolves as a possible cause. It turns out it's actually Fox, whose [[Unholy Matrimony|engagement present]] is an [[Artifact of Doom]]. Her fiance Xanatos has no fewer than ''four'' plans to get it off of her. 
* ''[[Ben 10]]'' had an episode where Ben was attacked by an alien matching the description of a local werewolf myth, and the previously unknown [[Mega Manning|"collect DNA"]] function of his [[Transformation Trinket|Omnitrix]] activated, slowly transforming him into a duplicate of it. The cast drew the obvious false conclusion.


== Examples of being mistaken for other monsters ==
=== Anime and Manga ===
* ''[[Shaman King]]'' has Boris Tepes Dracula, a descendant of the original Dracula whose family use shaman powers to mimic vampires. Specifically he uses blood as a medium to channel bat spirits, forming a cloak which can split into bats. When he bites someone he absorbs more blood into the cloak while injecting some back in - since this blood is still under his control he can then use the victims as [[People Puppets]].
* Arystar Krory from ''[[D.Gray-man]]'' is an Exorcist who unknowingly gained an [[Empathic Weapon|Innocence]] that takes the form of fangs and compels him to drain the blood of [[The Heartless|Akuma]]. Since most of the Akuma he attacked were in human form, he thought he had become a vampire who was killing helpless humans.
* In ''[[Soul Eater]]'', witches are humans with the power to change into animals. Blair is an animal with the power to change into a human. It actually makes a huge difference, as [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|Maka and Soul unfortunately find out.]]


=== [[Comic Books]] ===
* The ''[[Marvel Universe]]'' has [[Our Vampires Are Different|plenty of vampires]]. [[Morbius]] differs from the rest by his scientific origin (combined with DNA of a vampire bat), and the fact that he is very much a living being. How much this trope applies varies [[Depending on the Writer]].
** Also, anyone with super powers is mistaken for a mutant until their origin is known to the public. (Mind you, people prone to fearing mutants for their powers ''aren't'' likely to be comforted by the fact that for you it was [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|mongoose blood]] instead of [[Superpowerful Genetics|inborn]].)
* In one arc in ''[[Fables]]'', the characters' [[Masquerade]] is threatened by a journalist who, being [[Wrong Genre Savvy]], assumes that their near-immortality means that they must be vampires.


=== [[Tabletop Games]] ===
* The [[Old World of Darkness]] had a supplement with a character who was a were-''[[Spider People|spider]]'', of all things, imitating a [[Our Vampires Are Different|vampire]].
* A werebat from ''[[Ravenloft|Children of the Night: Werebeasts]]'' made a point of dressing and acting like a vampire to throw off potential monster-hunters.


=== [[Video Games]] ===
* In ''[[Threads of Fate]]'', when Rue transforms himself into a [[The Goomba|harmless Pollywog]] to sneak up on some bandits, the girl he rescues assumes that the Pollywog is his true form, and it takes a while for Rue to correct this mistaken first impression.


=== Webcomics ===
* Inverted in ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'': [http://egscomics.com/?date=2002-03-16 Sarah] (because of her own bitter experience) and Elliot assume that Grace's transformation is the result of some [[Mad Scientist|Tedd]]'s [[Transformation Ray|experiments]]. [[Shapeshifter Default Form|Oops]]... Later a straight variant, [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-05-21 when we learn why] Susan [http://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/?date=2009-10-29 despises] "[[Twilight (novel)|vampire romance]]":
{{quote|'''Grace''': "What was it? The monster."
'''Susan''': "It used to be human. Some people use magic to try and achieve immortality by turning themselves into parasites. The immortals call them aberrations, and... ''[beat]'' You know what? Screw it, it was a vampire."
'''Grace''': "Really?!"
'''Sarah''': "A vampire?!"
'''Susan''': "''No, not really'', but it was a monster that used to be human, hypnotized young women and sucked blood out of their necks. It doesn't matter what I say, you two are going to hear 'vampire'." }}

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Werebeast Tropes]]
[[Category:Magic and Powers]]
[[Category:Shapeshifting]]
[[Category:Totally Not a Werewolf]]
[[Category:Example as a Thesis]]