The trope's basic identity seems to encompass two distinct but closely related concepts: wolves howling at dusk being used to note the onset of night time, and wolves howling late at night to reinforce a creepy setting or establish a fearful mood. In both cases, the description goes, the actual wolves are rarely seen. This is contrasted with Cock-a-Doodle Dawn for the animal sound heralding the change from night to day.
The most immediately concerning thing is potential overlap with Wolves Always Howl at the Moon, which generally encompasses wolves, werewolves, and generally lupine creatures howling in a moonward direction. There is potential ground to distinguish the two concepts — one is a mood and setting signifier, and one plays on associations with a specific celestial object. However, I am not convinced that this distinction is present in the way in which the trope is used, due to the primary issue here — a mess of a page and severe misuse.
The main page is soft split, so let's keep that distinction. All formatting is as it is on the current page.
- When Ash's Rockruff evolves into the appropriately named Dusk Form Lycanroc in Pokémon, it joins its other two forms (the Midday owned by Olivia, and Midnight owned by Gladion) in howling into sunset. Correct Use.
- Occurs in three installments of The Legend of Zelda series, paired with Cock-a-Doodle Dawn. Wolves howl whenever night falls. Correct Use.
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ZCE
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask ZCE
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess ZCE
- Also, when unlocking the howling stones, no matter what time you do the first minigame, you are transported to another area where it is Always Night to do the second howling minigame. Correct Use, but of the other type.
- Happens in Ōkami. ZCE
- Warcraft III has a wolf howl at 18:00 to tell the player that night has fallen (and a rooster crowing to indicate daybreak). Correct Use.
- When you visit Garoh in Golden Sun: The Lost Age for the first time (at night), mournful wolf howls are heard (because it's a village of werewolves). Sadly, the version of the BGM with howls is not part of the soundtrack. Correct Use, but of the other type.
- Though the version without the howls is a darned fine song in its own right. Editorializing, but that's another problem.
- Boma in Heat Guy J does this before battle, when he changes into wolf-man form. ZCE
- Dracula (1931): "The children of the night! What beautiful music they make!" ZCE
- Love at First Bite: "Children of the night! Shut up!" ZCE
- Young Frankenstein: "Werewolf? There wolf. There, castle". ZCE
- Spoofed in Airplane II: The Sequel when a camera shot of the night sky with a wolf howl and Chirping Crickets tracks down to reveal it's actually a base on the Moon. (Parody of) Correct Use.
Literature:
- Holo from Spice and Wolf does this on occasion, even when in human form. ZCE
- In A Wolf in the Soul, Greg joins in howling late at night with the jackals who live in the forest just outside of Jerusalem. Correct Use
Music:
- Ylvis's "The Fox" parodies this with an Auto Tuned howl. ZCE
- Howlin' Wolf: His singing voice was compared to howlin' wolves, thus earning him his stage name. His single "Moanin' At Moonlight" and the album cover from Moanin' in the Moonlight also delve into this trope. Ambigous. The reference to the moon suggests correct use, but otherwise this doesn't mention nighttime.
- Los Redondos' Capricho Magyar ends with a pack of wolves howling. Doesn't mention nighttime
Video Games:
- Banjo-Kazooie features howling wolves prominently in the background ambiance of various "spooky areas", most notably Mad Monster Mansion in the first game and Witchyworld's "horror zone" in the sequel. Correct Use.
- Conker's Bad Fur Day parodies the above "What beautiful music they make!" line. ZCE
Western Animation:
- In Rocko's Modern Life, the Wolfe family do this on their rooftop. To emphasize that they consider Heffer to be a part of their family (despite not actually being a wolf), Heffer joins them (only instead of howling, he says "MOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!") Doesn't mention nighttime
- Correct use: 6/22 – 27.3%
- Correct use, but miscategorized: 2/22 – 9.1%
- Doesn't mention nighttime: 3/22 – 13.6%
- Plain ZCE: 11/22 — 50%
22 examples at a generous count, half of that ZCE, and the rest are a mess. Pretty bad, but nothing some vigorous crosswicking couldn't fix. So I went to do that, and here is what I found. Since only 71 (73 counting the Laconic and Playing With) pages link here, I checked all of them.
- Artistic License – Biology: Index, defines trope using "start of night" definition.
- Canine Confusion: Lists this as a subtrope. Not clear why, and no description provided.
- Clifftop Caterwauling: Used to pothole "wolves" when mention that they only howl when they have a cliff to stand on.
- Cock-a-Doodle Dawn: Defines this trope as its opposite number, "when wolves howl at dusk". Defines Wolves Always Howl at the Moon in the same manner.
- Howl of Sorrow: Mentioned in a see-also with no context.
- Silly Spook: Used to pothole dogs baying at the moon.
- This Index Barks: Index, defines trope using "creepy atmosphere" definition.
- 24-Hour Trope Clock: Index, no definition.
- This Index Barks: Index, defines trope using "creepy atmosphere" definition.
- Wolves Always Howl at the Moon: Two mentions. Described in the description as "when a wolf's howl is used to signify the change from day to night", and used to pothole "the rising of the moon" in an example. Counting this as two examples.
- Animation.Investigation Held By Kolobki: Sparse context, but mentions that the example is paired with a shot of the moon.
- Characters.Battlarts: ZCE
- Characters.Blush Blush: A wolf howls at the moon.
- Characters.Dark Souls IIIDLC Characters: Wolf enemies howl to alert other wolves to player's presence. (Note: I had originally cut this when I thought this would just take some light cleanup; I'm keeping it here because the inbound links are few enough that it might skew results.)
- Characters.Elden Ring Enemies And Bosses: Dog enemies howl to alert others to player's presence. (Same as above.)
- Characters.Elden Ring Secondary Characters: Linked in a description of Wolves Always Howl at the Moon.
- Characters.Hearthstone Heroes Of Warcraft Alternate Heroes: Wolf character uses howls as emotes.
- Characters.Hunger Games Simulation Players A To M: ZCE
- Characters.Jewelpet Magical Green Jewelpets: ZCE
- Characters.Metro: Dog enemies howl when aggroed.
- Characters.One Stormy Night: Wolf stands on a cliff and howls to the sky. No mention of what time this happens.
- Characters.Pokemon Generation VII Rowlet To Comfey: Puppy Mon howls when the sun sets, especially when close to evolving into a wolf Mon.
- Characters.Puyo Puyo Compile Minor: ZCE
- Characters.Rhythm Thief And The Emperors Treasure: ZCE
- Characters.Spooky Month Skid And Pump Families: Kid in skeleton costume howls to call another kid.
- Characters.Survivors Of The Calamity Other Hyruleans: Wolf spirits howl when about to transform into humans.
- Characters.The Legend Of Zelda Villains And Enemies: Wolves howl when day transitions to night.
- Characters.The Little Engine That Could: Wolf howls as a threat.
- Characters.The Moomins: Dog howls to contact wolves.
- Characters.Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines Sabbat: Bestial vampires during the night.
- Beasts of Burden: Dogs howl to communicate.
- The Steep Path Ahead: ZCE
- Unleashing of a Dark Night: ZCE
- Benji: Wolf howls during night sequences.
- Donor: Wolves howl while hunting lost character.
- Fangs of the Living Dead: Wolves howl to reinforce spooky setting.
- Motor Home Massacre: ZCE
- Nosferatu the Vampyre: Wolves howling reinforces a creepy atmosphere.
- Scars of Dracula: Wolves howl as background to a monologue about freedom and its absence.
- The Final Terror: Character is told to howl like a wolf as a joke.
- To Walk Invisible: Two human characters howl together. No other context.
- Daring Do: ZCE
- A Wolf in the Soul: ZCE
- Scamp: The Adventures of a Little Puppy: Dog puppy howls instead of sleeping.
- Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: Wolves howl at night before attacking.
- Literature/Viy: Loud howling during a very creepy event.
- Howlin' Wolf: A singer's voice is compared to a wolf howling.
- Moanin' in the Moonlight: A wolf is shown howling to the moon.
- Loan Shark: Potholing a howling noise in an unrelated quote. No wolves are involved.
- Animorphs: The Capture: Wolf howls to alert other wolves.
- Animorphs: The Encounter: Wolves instinctively howls to alert other wolves.
- Game of Thrones S1E2: "The Kingsroad": Wolves howl during a northward journey.
- Gravity Falls S1 E13 "Boss Mabel": ZCE
- Mad Men S 7 E 1 Time Zones: A coyote howls.
- Martha Speaks S 1 E 9 Down On The Farm: A howling coyote unnerves characters staying at a farm.
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic S2 E19 "Putting Your Hoof Down": Wolf howls in the background of an Old, Dark House.
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic S3 E6 "Sleepless in Ponyville": A wolf howling at night spooks an already nervous character.
- Supernatural S 08 E 14 Trial And Error: A wolf howls.
- The Real Ghostbuster S 4 E 2 Poultrygeist: Subversion of howling during creepy moments.
- The Yellow King: Monstrous hounds damage souls with their howling.
- The Solve-It Squad Returns!: Wolves howl during Dramatic Thunder.
- Call of Duty: Zombies: Pothole for "wolf howls".
- Atom Zombie Smasher: Wolves howl at the start of night.
- Stranded Deep: "Bats do it." That's the example in its entirety.
- The Bard's Tale: Wolves howl to call more wolves. Referred to as an aversion.
- The Long Dark: Wolves howl to communicate. Referred to as an aversion.
- They Hunger: Wolves howl in the wilderness.
- Town of Salem: A wolf howl signals that start of the game's night phase.
- WolfQuest: Listed as one entry with Wolves Always Howl at the Moon. Wolves can howl whenever they please.
- Black Wolves Saga: "The wolf pack has the tendency to do this before an attack." No further context.
- Wolves howl at the onset of night: 7/72 – 9.7%
- Wolves howl to reinforce creepy or frightening atmospheres: 10/72 – 13.9%
- Wolves howl to communicate or summon more wolves: 8/72 – 11.1%
- Wolves Always Howl at the Moon: 7/72 – 9.7%
- Wolves howl for whatever other reasons: 24/72 – 33.3%
- Non-canines howling: 5/72 – 6.9%
- ZCE: 11/72 – 15.3%
Overall, there's a very clear identity problem here. Correct usage, collectively, makes up 23.6% of examples, and ZCEs and random misuse make up what's left — which is over three quarters of the examples. There is also an evident problem with this being confused with Wolves Always Howl at the Moon, which gets mixed into this even when examples of the former aren't listed as this trope. The name also doesn't indicate that it's about wolves, which seems to be why non-canine examples get mixed in.
I have mixed feelings here. The basic concepts of "wolves how to mark the onset of night" and "howling wolves are used reinforce creepy settings" are sound, but keeping them mixed with each other is definitely leading to trope dilution. By the same line of reasoning, folding this into Wolves Always Howl at the Moon would probably just worsen things, because then you'd be defining the trope as "wolves howl to show their association with the moon and to signal the fall of night and to reinforce creepy atmospheres", and by that point you've basically just broadened it to "wolves howl".
My instinct is that "wolves how to mark the onset of night" can probably be separated into its own thing, although it would need a more specific name to avoid the current trope's issues. "Howling wolves are used reinforce creepy settings", however, can probably be expanded to include other animal noises being used for this general purpose — I feel like owls hooting and ravens cawing get put to similar uses, so something like Ominous Ambient Animal Noises or what have you might be viable.
