History Main / EverythingsWorseWithWolves

[[redirect: WolfTropes ]]

[[redirect:WolfTropes]]

[[redirect:SavageWolves]]

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[[quoteright:350:[[Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/everythings-worse-with-wolves_batb4-3_8376.jpg]]]]
[-[[caption-width-right:350:As if being lost in a spooky forest weren't bad enough...]]-]

So you're out in the wilderness having a jolly time. Then you feel like you're being followed. You ignore it at first and keep going. Then you become aware that you are being hunted. Congratulations, you are being hunted by a wolf.

At first glance, you would think that dealing with a wolf is not so bad as dealing with a [[BearsAreBadNews bear]]. However, there's one thing to keep in mind.

[[ZergRush Wolves hunt in Packs.]]

In RealLife, this almost never happens. On the rare occasions that it does, it is usually because the victim has a dog with them, which causes the wolves to attack for territorial purposes, or it's just a single, sick wolf.

If it's TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, you have to be careful of the friendly neighborhood dogs remembering that [[PostApocalypticDog they're really the same species as wolves...]]

Contrast with BigBadassWolf, which normally deals with one wolf. This deals with multiple wolves.

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!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', there are wolves guarding the fifth floor of [[TheAlcatraz Impel Down]]. They were moved there from Level 2 so they wouldn't kill all the other beasts there!
** Subverted earlier when the crew was in Upper Yard. The wolves appear menacing at first, but after their leader is impressed by Nami's ferocity, they join the campfire.
* Some of the wolves in the ''GingaNagareboshiGin'' manga are bad. But it's averted with those who help Gin and his pack go to the Underworld to save Cross and her puppies.
* In Anime/TheTibetanDog, a pack of wolves attack the sheep Tenzing is herding, but they're driven away by BigDamnHeroes Tibetan dogs.
* In {{Inuyasha}}, one of the youkai him and his group encounter is a giant, manipulated wolf and his normal-sized pack. Later they encounter a village where everyone has been slaughtered by wolves, lead by a humanoid wolf-youkai named Koga. Eventually however, Koga turns out a JerkWithAHeartOfGold and they (usually) get along fine with him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]
* ''Literature/WhiteFang'' - For a Disney film, the scenes where the characters are being hunted by a pack of wolves in the opening 20 minutes or so is almost downright terrifying.
* A pack of mystic wolves are the main antagonists in ''Film/{{Wolfen}}''.
* ''Film/TheGrey'' is basically this trope TheMovie. The survivors of a plane crash in Alaska not only have to survive the elements, but survive the pack of wolves that is chasing them down.
* Wolves take predatory interest on Dan after he jumps from the ski lift and breaks his legs in ''Film/{{Frozen}}''.
* ''Film/LookWhosTalking Now'' featured a group of wolves during the final act of the film. PlayedForLaughs.
* Subverted, like many other tropes, in ''WesternAnimation/{{Hoodwinked}}'', where the Wolf is a {{Fletch}} {{Expy}} trying to get to the bottom of a major story. The sequel dumbs him down even more.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* {{Inverted}} in ''Literature/TheJungleBook''.
* Inverted at first in ''Discworld/TheFifthElephant'' then played straight after the BigBadassWolf who's keeping them in line dies and they revert to their natural instincts, which include killing any werewolves they come across, ([[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent even Angua]]). She doesn't begrudge their hostility though, she knows and accepts that they have some pretty good reasons to hate werewolves.
* Implied in Literature/{{Halvgudene}}
* Creator/JRRTolkien liked this one. Packs of intelligent wolves (called Wargs) threaten the main characters of both ''Literature/TheHobbit'' and ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''.
* In a story by ''Saki'', [[spoiler:two men, the heads of feuding houses, are badly injured and trapped in the woods. No sooner do they decide to put their differences aside do they hear a rustling in the bushes. One man can see their presumed rescuers coming. When the second man asks if they are his men or the other man's men,]] the first man answers with one word. ''"Wolves."''
* While he's watching the Alphas in action in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', Harry notes that humans in this age of guns and helicopters have forgotten just why we used to be afraid of wolves, and that there are several ''very good'' reasons.
* ''Literature/TheWolvesOfWilloughbyChase'': In the novel that gave its name to the series, an alternate England where packs of wolves roam the 19th century Yorkshire countryside, the young heroine is almost killed when one such pack ''attack a train''. She's only saved when the man sharing her carriage stabs the wolf that's got in with them to death.
* During the "[[SuccessionCrisis War of the Five Kings]]" in a ''[[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire A Clash Of Kings]]'' it's become apparent that an enormous pack of wolves, possibly numbering in the hundreds, is roaming the Riverlands under the leadership of a [[BigBadassWolf fearless direwolf]], [[spoiler:presumably Arya's former pet Nymeria]]. The pack has apparently grown stronger by the events of ''[[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire A Dance With Dragons]]''.
* In ''TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'', [[BigBad the White Witch]] has a pack of wolves that serve as her secret police. The pack's Alpha, named Maugrim, even acts as her [[TheDragon second-in-command]].
* In Bryan Miranda's ''The Journey to Atlantis,'' the boys go hunting for food, and run into a wolf. You'd think it would easy for four of them to take down one single wolf, but it's just not that easy. They are basically helpless until the dog, Maxie Jr., shows up to distract the wolf, at witch point they gain the upper hand and kill it.
** Later on, when they need wolf pelt to be able to survive the snow, they go looking specifically for more wolves, and find a whole family in a cave. Although three of them plan to take on the entire cave (which would have been suicide), some {{Divine Intervention}} from Sol comes in the form of a lightning bolt that kills most of the wolves, leaving only three for the humans to fight.
** The antagonist, Loki, also takes the form of a crimson-colored wolf. He is not seen with any other wolves, but attacks Mickello directly once every year in an attempt to kill him. Or just injure him.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Wolves in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' are green most of the time. The [[http://magiccards.info/mm/en/252.html pack aspect]] tends to get played up on wolf-related cards too, often with some ability leading to [[http://magiccards.info/wwk/en/118.html more wolves]] joining the fray.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/SpiralKnights'' has Wolvers, they are quick, depending on the breed can inflict status effects, and if they're accompanied by an Alpha, their attack increases, players will often be killed by a pack of wolvers at least once in their in-game life.
* ''The Note'' had wolves as early encounters.
* As did ''VideoGame/VagrantStory''.
* In ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'', wolves are tough, highly aggressive, persistent, have a knack for showing up precisely when you don't need them do, love to kill your horses, and ''attack in waves''. You gun down four or five of them, look around, and the coast seems clear, only for another batch to arrive just as you put your gun away.
* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', many Wolf-type enemies have an ability that causes them to howl and alert other nearby wolves of the player's presence, effectively swamping you if you're not very careful.
* In the game ''VideoGame/{{Gun}}'', wolves pop up from time to time. They're quite big.
* Wolves act as enemies in the forested areas in ''VideoGame/FridayThe13th''.
* In ''VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves'', there is a huge wolf called Lupis Gigantormus that roams Holland.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' you'll occasionally run into packs of wolves as enemies. There's even one specific encounter on the overworld map that can be especially vicious on higher difficulties, a rare form of That One RandomEncounter.
* In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', it's not uncommon for a player to find themselves being attacked by two or three wolves at once. They're rather easy to kill, but they are quite large. However, they can become ParanoiaFuel if you can hear the howls but are unable to see them or know the direction the howls come from.
** The worst part of the wolves however is that they may infect you with Rockjoint plague which severely reduce your fighting ability.
* Wolf packs are one of the worse non-zombie threats in the ''VideoGame/{{Cataclysm}}'' {{roguelike}}. They're made all the worse by the fact that their letter color can make them ''very'' hard to spot before they're on top of you.
* In ''Videogame/{{Minecraft}}'', wolves normally mind their own business, and can even be tamed and used as guard animals. But if you attack a wolf, it and its whole pack go berserk and try to kill you.
* Latter portion of the cemetery stages in ''VideoGame/MediEvil'' feature wolves.
** In order to leave the cemetery, you have to fight two stone wolves which guard it.
* In ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII'', ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresIII'', and ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'', wolves are the archetypical wild predator of the wilderness. Actually, if Age of Empires II is played without the expansion, wolves are the only predator in a game, that ranges geographically from Europe to the Middle East, to Asia. Age of Mythology is also the only game of the series where wolves can actually be hunted for food, otherwise they are just a menace deadly to villagers.
* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'': A wolf pack attacks Conner after he kills a buck near their territory. As a credit to how tough they are, the wolves slow him down for maybe, like, twelve seconds.
** Also of note is that Conner's AnimalMotif - besides the eagle that all Assassins identify with - is that of a wolf, to indicate his predatory hunting style. The name "[[MeaningfulName Conner]]" even means "lover of wolves".
* In ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'' V, wolves are one available type of neutral monster. Their individual stats are average, [[FragileSpeedster comparing poorly with the human soldiers one level below except for their VERY high initiative]], but their two special abilities are this trope done in a very dangerous form. Not only can each stack summon an equally large stack once per battle, but when one wolf stack attacks the enemy, ALL wolf stacks able to attack that enemy will do so as a free action. This is as painful as it sounds.
* Wolves, and other creatures in the wolf family, in the ''VideoGame/{{Gothic}}'' series can be dangerous depending on your level, because unlike with most other enemies, it is difficult to lure them to you one at a time, so you'll usually have to deal with entire packs.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in ''Literature/{{Tasakeru}}'', where wolves are one of the eight sentient species. The other species ''think'' they're scary, primitive, carnivorous savages, but they're just following very old traditions.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* The Wolf Apocalypse in ''Webcomic/{{Gunshow}}'', which was caused by God who had forgotten Jesus's birthday, and was trying to make it up to him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' provides the page image. The wolves are a danger to Belle and her father and even manage to injure the Beast.
* Lord Shen's henchmen from ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'' are wolves.
* ''Film/TheSecretOfKells'', when [[TheFairFolk Aisling]] sics her wolves on Brendan as he's traveling through the forest in search of oak galls. Later inverted when [[spoiler:Aisling sics them on the Vikings that are about to kill Brendan and Aidan in a BigDamnHeroes moment.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/RoverDangerfield'' - along the lines of the wolf scenes in Look Who's Talking.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'' - the band's therapist tries to attack them but falls out a window. He survives the multi-story fall, but then gets his arms ripped off by wolves who live in the compound (though he survives that and gets a new pair of mechanical arms).
* In the WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic episode [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E11FamilyAppreciationDay Family Appreciation Day]], there are timber wolves (literally made of timber).
** They reappear in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E10SpikeAtYourService Spike At Your Service]], where they demonstrate the ability to [[MakeMyMonsterGrow combine into one big wolf]].
* And who could ever forget Disney's own [[Disney/ThreeLittlePigs Big Bad Wolf]]?
[[/folder]]

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* Wolves and other creatures in the wolf family in the ''VideoGame/{{Gothic}}'' series can be dangerous depending on your level, because unlike with most other enemies, it is difficult to lure them to you one at a time, so you'll usually have to deal with entire packs.

[[PunctuatedForEmphasis Wolves.]] [[OhCrap Hunt. In.]] [[ZergRush Packs.]]

** They reappear in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E10SpikeAtYourService Spike At Your Service]], where they demonstrate the ability to [[MakeMyMotherGrow combine into one big wolf]].

** They reappear (as CGI) in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFrienshipIsMagicS3E10SpikeAtYourService Spike At Your Service]]. And if they could [[MakeMyMonsterGrow do that]] before, Granny Smith just earned respect from a whole new generation...

In RealLife, this almost never happens. On the rare occasions that it does, it is usually because the victim has a dog with them, which causes the wolves to attack for territorial purposes, or it's just a single, sick wolf. Except when it isn't, of course... just ask the next of kin of Kenton Joel Carnegie, a 22-year-old geology student who found out why a pair of wolves walking behind you is not a good thing.

* ''Film/SeasonOfTheWitch''

* ''Wolf Town''

* ''Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog''

* In ''[[VideoGame/SlyCooper Sly 3]]'', there is a huge wolf called Lupis Gigantormus that roams Holland.

* ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast''

* In {{Inuyasha}}, one of the youkai him and his group encounter is a giant, manipulated wolf and his normal-sized pack. Later they encounter a village where everyone has been slaughtered by wolves, lead by a humanoid wolf-youkai named Koga. Eventually however, Koga turns out a JerkWithAHeartOfGold and they (usually) get along okay with him.

* In {{Inuyasha}}, one of the youkai him and his group encounter is a giant, manipulated wolf. Later they encounter a village where everyone has been slaughtered by wolves, lead by a humanoid wolf-youkai named Koga. Eventually however, Koga turns out a JerkWithAHeartOfGold and they (usually) get along okay with him.

* ''Film/LookWhosTalking'' featured a group of wolves during the final act of the film. PlayedForLaughs.

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Wolves in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' are green most of the time. The [[http://magiccards.info/mm/en/252.html pack aspect]] tends to get played up on wolf-related cards too, often with some ability leading to [[http://magiccards.info/wwk/en/118.html more wolves]] joining the fray.
[[/folder]]

* ''Film/TheGrey''. This is the plot of the movie. The survivors of a plane crash in Alaska not only have to survive the elements, but survive the pack of wolves that is chasing them down.

* TheGrey, which is basically this trope TheMovie.

* ''TheWolvesOfWilloughbyChase'': In the novel that gave its name to the series, an alternate England where packs of wolves roam the 19th century Yorkshire countryside, the young heroine is almost killed when one such pack ''attack a train''. She's only saved when the man sharing her carriage stabs the wolf that's got in with them to death.

[-[[caption-width-right:350:As if being lost in a spooky forest wasn't bad enough...]]-]

* In ''Videogame/DragonAge: Origins'' you'll occasionally run into packs of wolves as enemies. There's even one specific encounter on the overworld map that can be especially vicious on higher difficulties, a rare form of That One RandomEncounter.

In RealLife, this almost never happens. On the rare occasions that it does, it is usually because the victim has a dog with them, which causes the wolves to attack for territorial purposes, or it's just a single, sick wolf.

* ''WhiteFang'' - For a Disney film, the scenes where the characters are being hunted by a pack of wolves in the opening 20 minutes or so is almost downright terrifying.