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  • What Is Lycanthropy?
  • Advantages & Disadvantages
  • How To Cure Lycanthropy
  • Types Of Were-Creatures

The Elder Scrolls games are chocked-full of lore, from pantheons of gods to the many types of governments to the pure geology of Tamriel. Today, we're doing a deep dive into a particularly special condition: lycanthropy!

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If you've placed Skyrim, you're probably familiar with the condition from the questline for the Companions. However, you still might not know everything there is to know. Read on!

What Is Lycanthropy?

Lycanthropy is a type of disease. Anyone who contracts it will transform into a were-creature (usually a werewolf). The first transformation is always the most difficult and chaotic, but afterwards, it is possible for lycanthropes to learn to control their abilities and harness them at will.

The Daedric Prince Hircine created the infection and inflicted it on mortals, becoming the patron god of lycanthropes in the process. Long ago, werewolves were like his bloodhounds, hunting the people of Solstheim.

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It is noted in canon that "lycanthropy" should technically only refer to werewolves and not all were-creatures because the root of the word comes from the word for "wolf" (in the real world, it's the Greek "lykos"). However, in practice, it is used to refer to the disease all were-creatures have.

Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages

Disadvantages

Beast Form

Allows you to turn into a were-creature once a day, significantly increasing your damage, health, and stamina. You remain a were-creature for a few minutes but can extend this period by feeding on corpses.

Sleepless Nights

You don't sleep well as a werewolf. In Skyrim, this manifests as being unable to receive the resting bonus or Lover's Comfort modifier.

Immunity

Werewolves cannot catch any diseases.

Horrifying

Almost all races attack you on sight while in your Beast Form.

Anonymity

Any actions taken in your Beast Form do not count against you because no one can recognize you. However, it is possible for people to observe you transforming, and they can add to your bounty.

The Afterlife

After death, were-creatures don't go to their respective racial afterlives, like Sovngarde for the Nords. Instead, they go to Hircine's domain to hunt for all eternity.

Animal Alliance

Wild animals of the same type as the were-creature will see you as a friend until you attack them. For example, wild wolves won't attack a werewolf.

How To Cure Lycanthropy

After a person has contracted it, there are not many ways to cure the disease.

In The Elder Scrolls 3: Bloodmoon, we see that the Glenmoril Witches, a group of Hircine worshippers, know a special ritual called The Rite of the Wolf Giver that can cure a were-creature.

In The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, you can instead kill a Glenmoril Witch and take her head to Ysgramor's Tomb. If you activate the Flame of the Harbinger this way, your own beast spirit leaves your body, and you can kill it, thus ridding yourself of the disease.

Other than those two cures, a were-creature's only remaining option is to become a Vampire Lord. In the Dawnguard DLC to Skyrim, you may choose to side with the vampire faction; if so, the leader will cure your lycanthropy by turning you into a vampire. It's worth noting that this only works through this method in the DLC; you can't cure it by becoming a vampire in any other fashion since, under normal circumstances, were-creatures are immune to all other diseases.

Types Of Were-Creatures

There are several different variations of were-creatures, though werewolves are the most common. It's a common misconception that a person's race determines the kind of werecreatures they become. While there do seem to be some connections between race and the disease (for example, the only known werecrocodiles are Argonians), it is not a clear-cut correlation.

Type

Found Where?

Werewolves

All across Tamriel

Werebears

Skyrim and Solstheim

Werecrocodiles

The Black Marsh and Morrowind

Werelions

The Black Marsh, Cyrodiil, and Elsweyr

Werevultures

Valenwood

Wereboars

High Rock and Hammerfell

Werebats

Valenwood

NEXT: Skyrim: Who Are The Dawnguard?