How and why a certain werewolf, or pack of werewolves, acts with kindness varies, although at least some of it may be traced back to mankind's longstanding relationship with dogs. For thousands of years, humans have bred domestic dogs to be friendly, loyal, and obedient. Since werewolves are canine creatures, it's fairly easy to assign them dog-like personality traits (i.e. licking other people's faces, playing fetch, etc.), especially in more comedic works. Another reason for friendly werewolves may just be the recent trend towards portraying traditionally evil or malicious creatures/monsters as benign or even heroic. Yet another reason may be because of wolves being seen in a positive light in recent years, as they became better understood by science.
Can be either Funny Animal or Wolf Man depending on the story.
Compare and related to Chummy Mummy, Delightful Dragon, Friendly Ghost, Friendly Neighborhood Vampire, Friendly Skeleton, Friendly Zombie, and Noble Wolf. Contrast with Savage Wolves. May overlap with Werewolves Are Dogs if the werewolf behaves like a Big Friendly Dog.
Examples:
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Advertising
- Monster Cereals: Fruity Brute is the mascot of the cereal of the same name. He's a friendly werewolf who promotes his monstrous cereal alongside the likes of Count Chocula, Boo Berry, Frankenberry, and Yummy Mummy.
Anime and Manga
- Akazukin Chacha: Riiya, one of the three protagonists besides ChaCha and Shiine, is a little werewolf boy and the muscle powerhouse to his two magician friends. Besides being a friendly Nice Guy who cares for his friends, Riiya can also shape-shift himself into an adorable white wolf pup when necessary.
- Digimon Adventure: Gabumon can evolve into WereGarurumon, who resembles a bipedal, blue werewolf wearing ripped jeans. Despite its intimidating appearance, it's a noble creature with a strong sense of justice and strongly associated with the virtue of friendship.
- Heterogenia Linguistico: The first village Hakaba visits is one inhabited by werewolves (they don't transform and are more like Wolf Men), where his mentor the Professor previously did his research on their language and culture (and even had a kid with one, who ends up serving as Hakaba's guide). As with the other "monsters" in the setting, none of them are hostile to Hakaba, though it takes him a while to adapt to their cultural norms.
- Magical Pokaan: Liru the werewolf is a Genki Girl whose wolf form looks like an adorable little pup.
- Wolf Children: It's established early on in the film that the werewolf myths about shifting during the full moon and attacking people are completely false and that wolf people are just that; regular people who can turn into wolves. The Wolf Man comes off as aloof at first, but is a kind soul. The titular wolf children, Ame and Yuki, are equally pleasant.
Comic Books
- Magic Trixie: Loupie is a little girl werewolf who attends Monstersorri School with Trixie. Loupie started out as kind of an Alpha Bitch in the first book but mellowed out and became friendlier near the end.
- Monica's Gang: Zigzagged with Lobi the werewolf. Depending on the Writer, he is either a mischievous monster who enjoys spooking and intimidating human beings or a playful creature whose behavior is identical to that of a big, friendly dog.
- Scare Tactics (DC Comics): Fang not only ran away from the fighting between his werewolf clan and some ghouls to join a band, he also helps out heroes rather frequently, most often Young Justice.
- Werewolf by Night: The eponymous character is a werewolf named Jack Russell who fights crime.
Film — Animation
- 100% Wolf: Most werewolves in this movie are night vigilantes who actually help people and act as unseen protectors of their town. However, there are exceptions.
- Hotel Transylvania: The werewolf couple Wayne and Wanda, but in different ways. Wayne is The Cynic and a Deadpan Snarker but still has a good heart and cares deeply for his family and friends. Wanda's lovable, maternal, and sweet without being cynical or snarky. Their kids aren't the most well-behaved but are still on the side of good, especially Winnie, who's very protective of Dennis.
- Scooby-Doo
- Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School: Winnie the werewolf is a Fiery Redhead but still just as friendly as the other monster girls. Her father is also rather amicable, though he's also fiercely protective of her.
- Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf: Shaggy gets turned into a werewolf by Dracula and his cronies but is still his usual Nice Guy self.
- Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King: When Shaggy and Scooby first get to the monster world, they come across a man who does not seem happy to see them in his pumpkin patch. He turns into a werewolf before their eyes. After Shaggy convinces him he's a werewolf, the man becomes much more chummy, admitting he acted the way he did earlier to "keep out the riff-raff."
- Wolfwalkers: The titular Wolfwalkers are humans whose souls leave their bodies and turn into wolves while they sleep. All the Wolfwalkers seen are heroic characters who protect the local wolves from being eradicated by the Lord Protector.
Film — Live-Action
- One of the tales told in The Company of Wolves is about a peaceful She-werewolf "from the world below" who means no harm to anyone who gets shot and then reveals herself to an old priest who bandages her injury before she returns to her world.
- Italian cult movie Cross Of The Seven Jewels has the protagonist Marco turning into a werewolf because of a curse. His only victims, however, are members of the Camorra (the Neapolitan equivalent of the Mafia).
- During the climax of Dark Shadows, it's revealed that Carolyn is a werewolf just as she shows up to try and score a Big Damn Heroes moment. Angelique tells Elizabeth that she sent a werewolf to bite her daughter in the crib, just to add some soapy drama to a boring family.
Carolyn: I'm a werewolf, okay? Let's not make a big deal out of it
- The Kibakichi series, a duology where the main character is a werewolf samurai (!!!) in Edo-period Japan, who slays evil creatures to defend humans.
- In The New Mutants one of the mutants is Rahne, a friendly young Scottish mutant who has the ability to transform into a wolf.
- Red Riding Hood: This ends up happening when Peter, Valerie’s love-interest gets bitten by her father, who is revealed to be the werewolf that has been terrorizing the village. Peter leaves to learn to control the curse so he doesn’t pose a threat to Valerie. He returns at the end, tame and in control of himself.
- Teen Wolf: The hero and protagonist of the film is a werewolf named Scott who just wants to fit in and have friends.
- In the Underworld (2003) prequel Underworld: Rise of the Lycans which shows the origins of the Lycan-vampire war. The film depicts the werewolves, lead by heroic werewolf protagonist Lucian, as not quite cute and cuddly but clearly sympathetic underdogs (no pun intended) of the conflict who revolt against the vampires that enslaved them lead by Big Bad vampire Elder Viktor.
- Wolf Guy: Sonny Chiba stars as Akira Inugami, a private investigator infected with lycanthropy, who gained the powers to transform into the titular Wolf Guy, a werewolf superhero who stalks and hunts evil Yakuza and gangsters in Tokyo at night.
Gamebooks
- Howl of the Werewolf: Your character is a travelling swordsman who gets ambushed by a powerful black wolf in Mauristania and ends up contracting a dangerous form of lycanthropy as you travel across Mauristania to find a cure. Throughout the book, you gain all kinds of werewolf-related powers such as fangs (which increase damage on enemies), lightning-fast reflexes, and howling (which lowers enemies' defense) as you battle all sorts of werebeasts, culminating in a climactic battle against Count Varcolac the werewolf lord, where both of you reveal your ultimate werewolf forms in a final showdown.
Literature
- Alfie the Werewolf: In addition to the eponymous character, there are multiple other nice werewolves, the most prominent ones being Alfie's grandfather, Alfie's cousin Leo, and Alfie's girlfriend Noura (though Leo can be threatening if he wants to).
- Azoth Express: Volfram Volkov is an upstanding science professor who just happens to be a werewolf because of a Freak Lab Accident. Despite lacking the usual strength and agility associated with the trope, he uses his intellect and Super-Senses to investigate, all while blowing bubbles out of his Bubble Pipe because he abhors smoking.
- Discworld: Angua, a recurring character in the Watch stories, is often uneasy with her lycanthropic nature but remains a good-hearted woman who is in almost full control of her wolf form at all times (she's vegetarian as a human, but can at least get the wolf side to stop at stealing chickens), often using her enhanced senses to track suspects for the Watch.
- Extreme Monsters: Wulf, the werewolf of the titular team of athletic monster children, is a good kid at heart who mainly likes to joke around.
- Harry Potter: Remus Lupin fits this fairly well. He's a kind-hearted, caring professor who's even a bit of a parental figure to Harry. While he is afraid of hurting people in his wolf form, he's just as friendly as a dog in that form if he remembers to take his wolfsbane potion.
- Played with in Night World.
- Rowan Redfern (herself a Friendly Neighborhood Vampire) states that most werewolves are misunderstood or unfairly branded as savage killers, and that most are noble beings who hunt only to feed and wish to be left in peace. Although this is true of some werewolves, Rowan is perhaps overly optimistic or naive, seeing as a few werewolves in the series are shown to be bloodthirsty murderers (including the murderder of her own great aunt, who later tries to kill her brother), albeit this is due to individual moral failings rather than a species-wide issue.
- Lupe Acevedo plays it straight; she's a kindhearted, courageous and perpetually optimistic teenage werewolf, who is a member of Circle Daybreak - a group dedicated to bringing peace between humans and Night People - and uses her abilities to protect others from dangerous Night People.
- The Rivers family in Family Bites, whose "wolf" forms are more like Big Friendly Dogs.
- Miss Lupescu in The Graveyard Book is a werewolf called a “Hound of God” they are defenders of good who will pursue enemies into hell, she acts a guardian to Bod whenever Silas (a vampire) is away. She starts of somewhat strict but after she saved Bod when he was taken captive by a group of ghouls and almost dragged into hell, the two had a much friendlier relationship.
- Into the Bloodred Woods: Hans is a werewolf and part of Ursula's group, devoted to protecting his sister Greta and others victimized by Albrecht.
Live-Action TV
- Being Human (US): While depicted in human form most of the time, Josh is a werewolf who acts like a Papa Wolf and Team Mom to his family and friends.
- Big Time Rush: In the Halloween Episode, the story was set in a reality where most of the characters were monsters. Kendall, the band's friendly and level-headed leader, was turned into a werewolf.
- Big Wolf on Campus stars with one. Tommy Dawkins was an Ordinary High-School Student before he got bitten by a werewolf, which, in turn, gives him all the powers and drawbacks of being a werewolf. He uses his powers for good, though residents in his community largely sees his werewolf form as only a danger, forcing him to keep his werewolf identity a secret, outside of select characters who serve as Secret-Keeper. Whenever he has the chance, he tries to reason with the Monster of the Week rather than attacking them.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Oz is a cool, thoughtful and friendly guy. He's also a werewolf, but that generally isn't that big of deal; he just locks himself up during a full moon while his friends keep watch.
- Li'l Horrors: Resident werewolf Claudia Howell is a friendly and outgoing Tomboy.
- She-Wolf of London A comedy-drama featuring an American student studying folklore and mythology who is turned into a werewolf while camping on the moors. Her professor attempts to help her cope with her condition.
- Supernatural:
- The Season 2 episode "Heart" features a beautiful woman named Madison who, unbeknownst to herself, is a werewolf. When she discovers this, with the help of Sam and Dean Winchester, she's horrified. The brothers try and cure her, and Sam falls in love with her. Tragically, however, the cure fails and Madison begs Sam to kill her so she won't hurt anyone else. He does.
- Garth, a hunter, becomes a werewolf and learns to control his darker impulses rather than have to be put down as others in the past.
- Teen Wolf: While werewolves are all over the morality spectrum, Scott tries his best to be a hero. Lycanthropy aside, he's a teenage student who loves his mom, plays lacrosse and hangs out regularly with his Muggle Best Friend Stiles.
- Wednesday: Enid Sinclair, Wednesday's roommate at Nevermore Academy, is a bubbly, warmhearted girl who just so happens to come from a family of lycanthropes.
- Wizards of Waverly Place:
- In one episode, Justin started dating a werewolf girl whose kisses turned him into a werewolf. She was friendly and pretty, but she did have some dog-like tendencies that took some getting used to.
- Mason, Alex's primary Love Interest, is a werewolf. While he has a temperamental streak and can be scary in wolf form, for the most part he's a friendly boy who truly loves Alex.
Mythology and Folklore
- In Arthurian Legend, Marrok was a knight first serving King Uther, and later King Arthur. He was cursed to turn into a werewolf by his wife, and she even hid his clothes for seven years so he could not turn backExplanation . Yet despite that, he still did his knightly duties, fending off bandits, witches, etc.
- The Faoladh (a type of Irish werewolf) is considered a protector of children, the wounded, and the lost.
- The Wulver (a type of Scottish werewolf, or at least a creature similar to a werewolf; it's a wolf-headed Beast Man but doesn't shapeshift. Also it may or may not have been completely made up in the 1930s) leaves fish on the windowsills of poor families and guides lost travellers to nearby towns and villages.
- In Swedish Livonia, a man by the name of Thiess claimed that Werewolves were given their powers not by the Devil, but by God to battle the forces of the Devil.
- In Northern Italy, the Benandanti are said to transform into wolves to fight off evil witches.
Tabletop Games
- In Werewolf: The Apocalypse and its sequel Werewolf: The Forsaken, the player options default to notional examples of these. Even with the poorly controlled berserker tendencies, generally dysfunctional organizations/society, and general bleakness, it is wholly possible — if not all that easy — to be a nice and pleasant Garou.
Toys
- Monster High: Clawdeen Wolf is both fiercely loyal to and fiercely protective of her family and friends.
Video Games
- BlazBlue: Valkenhayn R. Hellsing is a werewolf who's also an elderly gentlemen, former member of the Six Heroes, and loyal butler of the Alucard Family.
- Darkstalkers: Jon Talbain is a generally decent person who discovered he's actually a werewolf. He goes through a Training from Hell to help control his bestial side, and became somewhat of a loner for people always being weary of him. He began looking positively towards humans again after meeting Felicia, who taught him that humans aren't all bad.
- Eastern Exorcist has a Wonderful Werefox with Xiaoyu, a benevolent, kind-hearted hulijing (that can shapeshift between assuming a teenaged girl, and a fox) who wants to repay you after you prevent your brothers from executing her in the prologue. Problem is, one of your siblings is working in tandem with the demons, betrays you, and frames Xiaoyu for his crimes, but she managed to convince you she's on the side of good by saving you life. Twice!
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Can potentially be enforced by the player after completing the quest "The Silver Hand" of the Companions guild, where the Dovahkiin gets initiated into the Companions' inner circle by becoming a werewolf. Although the city guards will always attack the Dovahkiin in their werewolf form, netting the Dovahkiin a bounty if they fight back and kill any of the guards or are seen transforming, no such penalty incurs when the player is exploring any area where only hostile NPCs spawn. This leaves a werewolf Dragonborn free to kill whatever bandits, animals, monsters, or assassins (if the player chooses to destroy the Dark Brotherhood) that have been harassing and attacking the villagers, travelers, and other citizens of Skyrim.
- Golden Sun: The Lost Age: The party encounter a community of werewolves living in the town of Garoh. Though they're initially freaked out by their monstrous appearance, they quickly learn that the werewolves are fully sentient and have no desire to harm humans, and they're able to have a productive debate with Master Maha, the werewolf's chieftain, on the nature of wind magic.
- Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery: Chiara Lobosca, a character introduced in a sidequest, is a werewolf. She's also very kind-hearted, terrified of hurting people in her animal form, and wants to be a healer when she grows up. She can befriend and even date the player character.
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: Link is cursed to transform into a wolf upon entering an area corrupted by the Twilight Realm. Though, he still retains his heroic personality and can perform a number of unique abilities to combat the various enemies he faces. He later gains the ability to turn into a wolf whenever he wants after he obtains the Master Sword.
- Love of Magic: Bella is a werewolf, and only changes if she loses control of her emotions, which she generally keeps a tight rein on. She also handles logistics for the Knights of the Lake, and is bodyguard for MC or Emily as needed. It is theorized that the encroachment of civilization has had a moderating effect on werewolves over the past few centuries, with the wilder weres not surviving to breed.
- One of the three protagonists from Savage Halloween is Lulu the werewolf, who serves as The Big Guy among the trio of playable characters. They're a group of heroic monsters out to stop Dracula and his underlings from taking over the land of mortal with an endless Halloween night.
- Sonic Unleashed: Sonic undergoes lycanthropy for the duration of the game, turning into a werehog at night. Despite the transformation being the result of Sonic accidentally absorbing the energy of Dark Gaia, Sonic's heroic and kind personality is not changed in the slightest when becoming the werehog due to his incredible Heroic Willpower, and he actively makes use of the form's Super-Strength and stretchy arms to fight Dark Gaia Monsters.
- Terraria: The Zoologist, one of the NPCs that may show up to assist the player, is a werefox who's known to undergo full lycanthropy during the full moon or Blood Moon. Though she ends up becoming more feral, she still remains friendly and possesses enough self-control to refrain herself from attacking everyone and destroying stuff.
- Trials of Mana: Kevin is a werewolf and one of the main playable heroes.
- The Witcher: Downplayed by Vincent Meis, a city watchman who is also a werewolf. He is a savage monster when transformed, but he retains his sense of justice and makes a point of exclusively attacking members of criminal gangs in an effort to clean up the city. When Geralt confronts his monstrous form, he has enough sentience to recognize Geralt as a friend and not attack unless Geralt decides to put him down.
- World of Warcraft has the worgen, a playable race of heroic werewolves.
Visual Novels
- Monster Prom: Scott Howl is a romanceable werewolf who is notably friendly even among his peers, and his name is a nod to Scott Howard of Teen Wolf. He's the one character who's universally liked by the rest of the cast, even the resident Alpha Bitch makes a point of avoiding doing anything that would hurt his feelings.
Webcomics
- Adapting to Night: Derpy's backstory reveals she fell in love with a were-pony who was friendly and didn't want to hurt anyone. In fact, he was part of a colony that were full of these who just wanted to live in peace, having even lived in isolation so as not to frighten anyone. This softened her Van Helsing Hate Crimes attitude and she eventually married him and had Dinky. Sadly, her brother Sky couldn't accept it, having never moved past their parents being killed by a monster. In his zealotry, he committed genocide on the whole colony, Derpy's husband included.
- Dominic Deegan: Milov Danovich. While all of his people (the residents of the Winter Archipelago) can become werewolves, and none of them seem to suffer from the negative traits usually ascribed to "creatures of the night" (they can change at will, it doesn't cause pain, they retain sentience and memories while transformed, they don't have an unnatural bloodlust), some of them (especially the younger members) act like arrogant jocks while many (especially the elder members) tend to look down on humans and other races, so as a whole they don't completely fit the trope. Milov himself, however, is introduced early on in the webcomic as a heroic figure, fighting against necromancers, demons, and other evil magic-users or creatures alongside the beautiful Lady Jayden, the White Magic priestess whom he protects and loves deeply. While he can be suspicious of strangers, has a temper (though only set off by true villains and threats to Jayden, for the most part), and can be vitriolic with some of his friends, by and large he is a warm, compassionate, generous fellow who can always be counted on when the going gets tough. And as a spellwolf (a werewolf who can do magic—most can't—strengthened by the power of the moon), that is incredibly often; even if he does suffer from the Worf Effect a great deal, he's one of the more powerful side characters, is dedicated to his pack and his duty, and remains one of Dominic's True Companions right to the end of the comic.
- Grrl Power: Gregor the were-dire wolf is a powerful being on the Twilight Council who represents theranthropes and protects humans from supernatural threats. Sydney also finds his Wolf Man form to be irresistibly cute, because he is fluffy.
- Spinnerette: Werewolf of London, Ontario (usually just goes by London) is a werewolf who's an all around Nice Guy who works as a superhero for the Legion of Canadian Superheroes.
Web Original
- They Are Smol: The Dorarizins are alien predators who resemble huge wolf-men. Luckily, they think we're adorable. Human body odor is chemically very similar to the pheromones very young Dorarizin pups exude, meaning they catch a whiff of us and every nerve starts screaming "protect the child" at them.
Web Video
- Acquisitions Incorporated: The "C" Team: During the "Doomgate Inn" arc, the party befriends a young werewolf named Trevor who is shunned from his cousin's eponymous inn because, being a werewolf, he interferes with the patrons' vampire cosplay party. After the cosplayers are slaughtered by a different band of adventurers, the "C" Team convinces Trevor to take over the running of the Doomgate Inn, and "Return to Doomgate Inn" reveals that he eventually turned it into a safe haven for other monstrous outcasts of the region.
Western Animation
- Wilford Wolf of Animaniacs is a generally dorky Funny Animal by day, but when the full moon comes out, he hulks up in a Fabio-esque hunk of a werewolf who possesses a charming disposition, basically giving resident sex symbol Minerva Mink a taste of her own medicine. While he never appears again, it wasn't uncommon for them to be depicted as a couple.
- Ben 10:
- One of Ben's Omnitrix aliens is the werewolf-like Blitzwolfer, who's just as heroic as Tennyson's other transformations.
- Scout, another alien werewolf who was introduced in Omniverse, is a Plumber who's firmly on the side of good and doesn't share the Fantastic Racism most of Anur Transyl's inhabitants have toward outsiders and in fact calls them out for it when they act hostile towards Ben.
- Casper's Scare School: The young werewolf Wolfie is rather sweet to his friends as long as he's not under a full moon, as he'll become a snarling beast then. His easygoing nature is actually a plot point in "Fleshed Out," where it's revealed that if he goes too long without getting angry, he'll become a human. Sadly, Wolfie Took a Level in Jerkass starting in season two.
- Danny Phantom: Wulf is a pretty friendly, Esperanto-speaking ghost werewolf. Walker offers to release him if he assists in capturing Danny Phantom, but instead Wulf becomes the ghost boy's friend. Makes you wonder what they imprisoned him for in the first place (though, knowing Walker, he could have had any petty excuse).
- Drak Pack: Howler is a heroic descendant of the Wolf Man.
- Fangface: The titular Fangface is a werewolf who helps his human friends catch other monsters. He does, however, occasionally lose control and try to eat them - particularly his best friend Puggsy, who is quite literally his Chew Toy. This is all played for laughs.
- Gravedale High: Reggie Moonshroud is a werewolf who's a gentle nerd.
- Hotel Transylvania: The Series: Despite being mainly portrayed in their werewolf form, the werewolf twins Charlotte and Sophie aren't fearful or prejudiced against humans like most other monsters are and have sometimes gone (in their human form) to sell beverages to them.
- Johnny Bravo: "A Wolf in Chick's Clothing" has Johnny date a werewolf named Fluffy, mainly putting up with her so he can see her gorgeous human form again once the full moon is gone. Fluffy is shown to be outgoing and friendly, with the only reason Johnny breaks up with her in the end being because she turns into a fat, balding, male stamp collector named Melvin on Wednesdays.
- Monster Loving Maniacs has Wolfchefski. When the Van Altens first meet him, he wasn't even aware he was a werewolf and was happy to cooperate when they offered to alleviate his curse. Since removing the curse of lycanthropy is impossible in the show's universe, they settle on balancing out his wolf and human sides to turn him into a Wolf Man. But even after that, he remains a Nice Guy and friends with the Van Altens, even helping them out on a few occasions.
- OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes: Enid's werewolf father Bernard is a loving dad and husband.
- Sabrina and The Groovie Goolies: During one episode, Sabrina visits Horrible Hall, home to a collection of movie monsters. One of these is Wolfie, a werewolf whose personality is akin to a frenetic hippie with severe body hairs, or a manic dog that walks upright and speaks English. Wolfie and the other Hall residents are mostly harmless and usually glad to have company. They even have their own band, which plays Once an Episode, with Wolfie playing a stringed instrument similar to a horizontal lyre.
- In the episode “Who's Afraid Of The Big, Bad Wolf?” in Tangled: The Series, Rapunzel discovers that the young girl Catalina/Red is the werewolf that has been stalking the village at night. However it is revealed she meant no harm and only transformed into a werewolf because she felt unheard and had been repressing her frustration. Once her sister Angry/Kiera apologizes and promises to listen to her more she becomes docile and even gives Rapunzel and her friends a ”Wolf-hug”.
- Teen Wolf: As in the film it's based on, main character Scott Howard is a friendly werewolf who just wants to be a normal high school student.
- Vampirina: The family pet, a Pekingese named Wolfie, is a werewolf who's as friendly and harmless as regular dogs both in and out of his bestial form.
