Wolfman

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Wolfman
Name
Japanese	狼男
Profile
Species	Yōkai (Werewolf, Vampire: Jigoku Arc)
Gender	Male
Home	England Jigoku
Abilities	Agility
Affiliation	Western Yōkai
Family	Wild (2007)
First Appearance
Manga	I'm a Freshman (1964)
Anime	Series 1 Episode 10 (1968)
Portrayals
1968 anime	Kunihiko Kitagawa
1985 anime	Hiroshi Ōtake Masato Hirano (Ep. 46) Yasuo Tanaka (Ep. 51)
1996 anime	Bin Shimada
2007 anime	Yasuhiro Takato
2018 anime	Takeshi Kusao
Video games	Kōji Ishii (2003 PS2)

The Wolfman (狼男 Ōkami-Otoko or 人狼 Hito-Ōkami, lit. "Human Wolf"), is a werewolf and a member of the Western Yōkai. He first appeared in the Shonen Magazine story The Great Yōkai War, where he was instead called the Man-Eating Wolf (人食いおおかみ, Hitokui-Ōkami).

In the Jigoku Arc, a wolfman appeared as a vampire.

Appearance

In I’m a Freshman, Wolfman has a hairy head with large, pointy ears, a face with bushy eyebrows, angry eyes, a mouth with sharp teeth and fangs, an upturned nose, and chin with long hair. He wears a business suit and tie.

In the Shonen Magazine series, Wolfman has a hairier face, smaller ears, no eyebrows, larger eyes, and a larger, smiling mouth.

In Kitarō's World Obake Tour, Wolfman has a less hairy face, more visible wrinkles, and a more frowning mouth with only a pair of tusks. His tie has a striped pattern.

In GeGeGe no Kitarō: Kitarō Jigoku Arc, Wolfman resembles his Shonen Magazine design, though his suit is unbuttoned and has a x pattern, and he now lacks a tie.

In the Akuma-Kun manga, the Wolfman resembles his I'm a Freshman design, but with bigger eyes and nostrils, and wears a checkered, long-sleeve shirt and pants.

In the live-action Akuma-kun series, Wolfman now wears a business suit like the GeGeGe no Kitarō design of the character, and has a messy mane, a longer snout, large ears and fangs, a long tongue, bushy eyebrows, furry arms, and a long tail.

Personality

In the manga and 1968 anime, Wolfman is arguably the fiercest of the Western Yōkai, and by far is the most hostile in behavior. While he normally gets along with the other Western Yōkai, Wolfman is more likely to antagonize them in competitive games like the one seen in Yōkai Rally. He is often seen working for other villains like Backbeard, Gamotsu, or Dracula.

In the 1985 anime, Wolfman is once again a fierce threat, though he is shown to relax more often, eating things like shrimp, since he now commands an army of Vampire Wolves to attack or keep the islanders in line. This might be a reference to how Dracula commanded an army of other vampires in the manga and 1968 anime. Despite his fierce attitude, he is later shown accidentally fighting his own partner Dracula after being tricked by Kitarō. After he was saved by Kitarō in episode 51, he now leaves on good terms.

In the 1996 anime, Wolfman's hostile personality is now shown to be because of Evil Powder.

In the 2007 anime, he is concerned over his son's flamboyant choice of fashion and behavior.

History

While werewolves of legend can transform between man and wolf, the Wolfman is only ever shown in his wolf form.

In The Great Yōkai War, he appears as a member of the Western Yōkai Army under Backbeard. He represented England in the Yōkai Rally. In the third anime version of the Yōkai Rally, he admires Kitarō for going out of his way to save him and the Witch after an accident.

He later appears in stories like Shinigami Tai-Senki, After Yuki-hime-chan and GeGeGe no Kitarō: Kitarō Jigoku Arc, though he usually only plays a small role. In Jigoku Hen he is said to be a type of vampire. In Kitarō's World Obake Tour a seemingly different Wolfman lives in Romania, and serves Dracula. Another Wolfman in the series, possibly the previous Wolfman's younger brother, likes jewelry and has an interest in medicine, even knowing the right medicine to break Gorgon's spell. In the anime adaptations, he fights primarily with his claws.

In Gegege no Kitarō: Yōkai Sen-Monogatari, he is super agile and specializes in sneak attacks. He is invinsible under a full moon but is weak against silver weapons. Kitarō defeats him by using his Finger Bullets to fire Neko-Musume's silver ring into his body.

In the film GeGeGe no Kitarō: Yōkai Tokkyū! Maboroshi no Kisha, he is actually shown transforming. He is defeated by Kitarō's Remote Control Geta.

In the fifth anime, he is the father of Wild, and his generation is said to have fought in the original Great Yōkai War 12 years prior. In episode #68, he reunites with the original Frankenstein, Dracula II and Witch and launches an all-out attack on Jigoku, where he blocks the way of the Kitarō Family.

In Shōsetsu Gegege no Kitarō ~Ao no Koku~, Wolfman was mentioned as a minion of Backbeard and one of the participants in the original Great Yōkai War on Kikaiga Island.

Legend

Wolfman illustration

Were creatures are present in many cultures around the world, with the Werewolf of Eastern Europe being the most iconic example. Werewolves appear as normal humans by day, but when the full moon rises, transform either into a wolf, or a wolf-man hybrid. These people loose any sense of their humanity left, and turn hostile and animalistic, often only turning back when the sun rises. If the person was injured in some way as a Werewolf, those injuries will still carry on as a human.

The reason people turn into werewolves varies, either by a ritual, often involving wearing a wolf skin, applying ointments, or chanting mantras, or a curse inflicted upon by a wizard or witch, that could even manipulate their actions while transformed.

Hunting Werewolves is hard not only due to their aggression, but their limited time transformed. A weapon of choice often used to kill them are bullets made from melted silver crosses, though this seems to be a relatively modern invention.

Werewolves have their roots in Norse Mythology and the Old Testament, and are also found in the folklore of the Baltic Slavic people of ancient Eastern Europe. Latin American Werewolves are often considered vampires due to their tendency to attack young girls by sucking their blood. There is even a story in Bahia, Brazil, about a man who hid his Werewolf identity and got married, but eventually grew more eager to drink his wife's blood until he finally bit her and slit her throat.

Historically, Werewolves have been linked to many fictional and real diseases and disorders, like Lycanthropy, Rabies, and Hypertrichosis.

Trivia

• Shigeru Mizuki's illustration of Wolfman and his origin in London, is based on the film Werewolf of London.