So you’re a character in a werewolf story and you think silver bullets are a tired cliché. What else can you do to defeat this lupine menace? Werewolf weaknesses depend on the author’s inspiration. What is the setting? Where do these werewolves come from?
Modern Werewolves
If these are modern, movie-inspired creatures, silver may be their only weakness, but you can still find a more creative way to use it. If you have brass knuckles, you could get them silver plated and fight the wolves hand-to-claw. You could try biting them back, if you have silver in your fillings. If you’re a doctor, you could even slap them with some X-ray prints. Those have silver in them, too.
Silver nitrate may injure a werewolf. It is often used as an antiseptic, and can be found in dentistry and dermatology offices. As it’s not pure silver, it likely won’t have the stopping power of a silver bullet, but burning or repelling a monster is better than nothing. However, if the werewolf works in the medical field whenever they’re not wolfed out, the author may give the silver nitrate the power to kill them, just for irony’s sake.
In modern stories, lycanthropy is often portrayed as a contagious disease. If that’s true in your story, you could come up with a vaccine. Take the werewolf down with a sedative or tranquilizer dart and vaccinate them, and cross your fingers that it takes effect before they wake up. Try not to touch the infected person, and remember to wear proper Personal Protective Gear (PPE): a mask, gloves, a dog training bite suit, etc.
If a vaccine isn’t available and you aren’t a virologist, burning the werewolf may work. Try a flame thrower, molten metal in a steel refinery, an active volcano, or a sci-fi heat ray. Ensure that the whole monster is burned, especially if it’s a science fiction werewolf with regenerative healing powers. There’s no point in decapitating it if it can just grow a new head.
How do you stop a science fiction werewolf from healing? Look into blood thinners, anticoagulants, immunosuppressants, or radiation. If you’re a scientist or engineer, try experimental high-tech medical treatments like gene editing and nanobots. Just make sure your mad science finishes the job. If you’re getting ready for bed afterwards and suddenly smell burnt hair, run.
Older Werewolf Lore
Before horror movies made silver bullets the standard, older lore had a variety of werewolf weaknesses. You can try them all and see what works.
Some Ancient Greeks held that people were transformed into werewolves as punishment for their misdeeds. If your story is set in Ancient Greece, you may be able to defeat the werewolf just by waiting for them to return to human form… in nine or ten years. If you don’t have time for that, try making a sacrifice to Zeus or Artemis and asking them for help. (Female characters, stick to Artemis. When women and shapeshifting are involved, Zeus can be… less than trustworthy.)
Some Ancient Greek and Roman sources say that werewolves can be cured through exhaustion. Out of all the werewolf weaknesses, this is probably the simplest. So either keep the werewolf running after you all night long, or wait until they return to human form and give them a gym membership.
Countless old stories mention using wolfsbane to repel werewolves, similar to using garlic against vampires. You may even be able to kill the werewolves in your story with it, if you trick them into ingesting it. You could add the plant to some bait, like a stew with some wolfsbane broth, or a wolfsbane IPA. Just know that it’s also toxic to humans, so don’t eat any yourself, and wear gloves when handling it.
Some lore says that holy water can be used against werewolves, just like vampires, but I wouldn’t bet on it. The werewolves in your story probably aren’t religious. And besides, nobody wants to smell a wet dog.
In Norse myth and tales of the Berserkers and Ulfhednar, warriors with a special connection to Odin become invulnerable, thanks to the god’s magic spells. If that’s the inspiration for your story, you could find a way to sever their relationship with Odin, such as tempting them away to follow another god. Maybe you could convince them to join a wolf cult? (You might have to start one yourself.)
Or you could try your own magic spells. You might need the help of another god for that. Tyr battled the wolf wolf Fenrir, and Víðarr (Vidar) is prophesied to successfully kill the wolf at Ragnarök, but their help would be more useful for physical battles. To dispel protection magic, the goddess Freya is probably your best bet.
If you can’t go talk to a goddess, you can always contact a local wizard, sorcerer, warlock, or other magical person. You should talk to the most skilled person you can find, but if they’ve already been eaten or become a werewolf themselves, you might have to settle for their apprentice or a teenager who just discovered they have magical powers. Just don’t become their mentor, or you’ll end up dead before the third act.
Other myths from around the world, such as the Völsunga saga, describe magic wolf skins that can transform people into wolves or werewolves. If you’re brave enough and strong enough, you could wrestle the werewolf and try to pry the skin away from them to undo their transformation. This may work better in a body horror story. You can tell it’s body horror if the werewolf’s transition is described for several pages in elaborate detail, and sounds more like disease symptoms than magic.
If you can’t yoink the skin off them, you could try using magic to nullify the spell. A transformation spell cast on a wolf skin is likely much weaker than a spell cast by Odin, thankfully. Instead of calling on Freya, you could visit the nearest witch, or even the goth cashier at your local incense and crystals shop.
Some alleged werewolves got their magic skins from “the man of the forest,” a name used for sorcerers, demons, or even the devil himself. If you happen to know the werewolf got their magic skin through a deal with the devil, you could trick them into breaking their pact, or make your own demonic deal yourself. Just try not to become a worse monster than the one you’re fighting. If the devil wants you to start a career in politics, don’t sign anything.
Some European lore speaks of undead werewolves, wolfish vampire creatures like the Pricolici and the Vrykolakas. These creatures are either werewolves who were killed but their bodies weren’t properly destroyed, or just dead sinners who got handed an awful punishment. If the werewolves in your story suck down blood like overgrown chupacabras, they may be zombie vampire wolf monsters like these. They can be defeated by being decapitated with a shovel. Be sure to finish the job with an exorcism. Traditional zombie fighting methods may also work, like a bullet to the brain or removing the head with a chainsaw.
Other Werewolf Weaknesses
If you’ve worked your way down the list of werewolf weaknesses and can’t find one that works, you can always just wait for them to let their guard down. As a general rule, werewolves lose their invulnerability when they’re in human form. If you can tag them with a tracking device or mark them with dye, you can figure out who they are and track them down during the day. A squirt gun full of laundry bluing should work, or you could convince them to rob a bank and hope the teller hands them an exploding dye pack.
If you figure out that the wolf is the butcher at your corner grocery store, it doesn’t matter if he’s vulnerable to silver, magic, or kryptonite. In human form, you can just hit him with your truck. But be sure you’ve got the right person. Don’t just drive around running over every hairy guy with a unibrow.
If the werewolf turns out to be your love interest, which is highly likely, you probably won’t want to murder them in cold blood. You’ve always been a nice person like that. In that case, you can temporarily placate the wolf by addressing them by their human name and reminding them about your relationship. You may even be able to tame them and make them your pet. How fun! You can get them a leash, you can get them cute toys, you can even get them neutered!
Fake Werewolves
Finally, keep track of when you see the werewolf. If they can change at will, and don’t seem bound to the moon, they are actually a shapeshifter and just happen to like the look of a wolf-shaped body. In that case, typical werewolf weaknesses like silver and magic aren’t necessary. You can end the story with a simple shotgun blast to the face.
Good luck, noble protagonist! May you defeat this horrible monster, complete your character arc, and make it to the cash grab sequel!
Thanks for reading! If you have some favorite werewolf weaknesses that weren’t mentioned here, leave a comment below. If you need more horror story ideas, see the list here. I also have a huge collection of story ideas for a variety of genres here. Mix and match sci-fi or fantasy with horror and come up with something totally your own.
