Talk:Werecreature

Rename/merge proposal

I'd like to propose that this page be merged with Werewolf and either redirect to that page, or both pages be merged into a single Werecreature or Werebeast page. Besides the changing of the animal that the character turns into, werewolves and other specific werecreatures often share the same subtropes, appeal, and other minutiae, to the point where detailing both tropes separately will include a lot of repeated information. A general werecreature page would also allow more clear coverage of types of werecreatures that aren't strictly animals, such as the Weretoon AU from the Pizza Tower fandom. Pinky G Rocket (talk) 22:25, 25 September 2023 (UTC)

I feel that werewolves are embedded deeply enough within collective culture to warrant a separate article. Werewolves have a longer history, more associated lore, and a greater variety of expressions than probably any other werecreature. There are many werewolf-specific tropes within folklore (silver bullets), as well as within fannish contexts (pack dynamics, knotting). I feel that the proposed merge could negatively shape coverage of both subjects. Werewolf-related content would likely dominate a combined "Werecreature" article. I worry that this would overshadow and limit coverage of other werecreatures. This subject definitely deserves to be explored in greater depth than in the current "Were-Animal" article. But I don't feel that a merge would be the path forward here. Night Rain (talk) 08:05, 29 September 2023 (UTC)

Would a rename to Werecreature and a rework of both pages work as an alternative path forward? My main grievances with the pages are A) there's a lot of repeated information on both pages, with no clear distinction on what belongs on what page and B) I'd like to cover a fanwork/AU that follows werebeast tropes but does not involve animals. Pinky G Rocket (talk) 15:38, 29 September 2023 (UTC)

I don't think these pages should be merged or renamed. There's a huge fandom (and tons of media) for werewolves and I'm not sure if fans who are interested in this specific type of were-animal are interested in, let's say, werepanthers, werecoyotes or werefoxes. If there is a fandom, I'd even encourage fans to start a page for their favourite were- creature! I also think it's great to have a page dedicated solely to the background of the phenomenon.

As for the repeated information, well, this can happen. I don't feel it's a bad thing though; the fact that a fan reads an article doesn't mean that they also look up any other related pages too. But I agree that, if there is no clear distinction on what belongs on what page, a rework might be useful. SecurityBreach (talk) 06:35, 1 October 2023 (UTC)

I agree that a rework of both articles would awesome if anyone's up to the task. Night Rain (talk) 07:54, 1 October 2023 (UTC)

I understand that werewolves have too much of a distinct history to merge these two articles, and I'm cool with that. However, I'd still like to rename this specific article to Werecreatures, as there are examples in both canon media and fanworks of works following werecreature tropes, but with people turning into non-animal creatures/beasts. Having examples of such and/or explaining in the lead that the wereanimal trope may not be used with animals specifically may be confusing to readers. Pinky G Rocket (talk) 09:48, 1 October 2023 (UTC)

So the new proposal is to rename to werecreature so that it can cover transforming into something that's not an animal, like a dragon? -- FBV (talk) 07:02, 3 October 2023 (UTC)

Yup. There's lots of canon and fanon examples of characters turning into something other than strictly a real-world animal with werecreature tropes, such as dragons, the aforementioned Weretoon AU, Pokemon, unicorns, vehicles, et al. Pinky G Rocket (talk) 14:13, 3 October 2023 (UTC)

Moved from Were-Animal to Werecreature as that appears to have majority support. --Auntags (talk) 21:45, 12 December 2023 (UTC)