Wererat
A wererat is a fictional lycanthropic creature akin to a werewolf, but shapeshifting into the form of a rat instead of a wolf. This type of therianthrope is rare in historical legends, but has become common in modern role playing games and fantasy fiction inspired by them. They are commonly portrayed as sewer-dwelling scavengers and opportunistic thieves.
Contents |
[edit] Mythology
There are some references to "goblin rats" or rat-themed yōkai in some Japanese myths that may or may not be the source for the wererats in games and novels. Brad Steiger has written about wererat sightings in Oregon, mostly by children. Some of the Benandanti were supposed to change into mice.
[edit] Games
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the wererat is one of several different types of animalistic forms. They are classified as "lycanthropes", despite the fact that the term reflects a lupine, or wolven, form. In the Oriental Adventures supplemental sourcebook, they appear as the Chinese mythological creatures, the Nezumi, or "ratlings" as they are often called by humans, are a race of bipedal ratlike humanoids. They are also found in various games inspired by or based on Dungeons & Dragons such as Legend of the Five Rings, NetHack and Neverwinter Nights.
See Ratkin for wererats in White Wolf's "World of Darkness" role-playing setting.
Another example of wererats can be found in the Kamigawa plane of Magic: The Gathering, a race of bipedal ratlike humanoids called the Nezumi.
In the Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game wererats are one of the species of werebeasts that dwell in the Darkest Heart, a magically corrupted forest found in the southern region of the Land of the Damned. Wererats, along with many other werebeasts, are relatively unheard of in the Palladium world outside of the mysterious Land of the Damned.
In Warhammer Fantasy the Skaven are a ratlike race. While not wererats, per se, they are very close in apperance. They are divided into many clans each seeking power. It has been hinted that this infighting is the only reason they have not yet taken over. These include Clan Moulder, mad users of alchemy and mutation magic, Clan Pestilens, the plagued rats, Clan Eshin, a secretive assassin clan, and Clan Skryre, insane magic engineers. All clans use the mysterious Warpstone to further their causes in their own backstabbing ways.
In Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura wererats are enemy monsters that can be found in the wild, in the sewers and in other places.
[edit] Fiction
The popularity of wererats in modern fantasy may have been pioneered by the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser novel The Swords of Lankhmar by fantasy Grandmaster Fritz Leiber. While there is no shapeshifting per se, there is therianthropy aplenty: normal-sized rats with human intelligence, humans who change size to pass between human and rat society, humans who are half-rat, and a rat city below the human one.
Wererats also appear in the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton (see wererats in Anita Blake mythology and wererat characters in Anita Blake).
The rats changed into men are characters in the fairy tale Cinderella and star in various adaptations such as the children's book I was a Rat by Philip Pullman.
Yuki Sohma, from a popular manga series, titled Fruits Basket, transforms into a rat when hugged by a member of the opposite gender or when weakened.
Peter Pettigrew is a rat Animagus, akin to a wererat, in the Harry Potter series.
In the American Manga Gold Digger wererats were one of several lycanthropic races created by an enchanter named Iceron. Five characters important to several recent events are wererats. Sherissa, the near immortal leader of the wererat clans, Gothwrain her thrall, servant and apparent enemy, and also three young warriors/assassins collectively known by fans as the Mall Rats (Gold Digger): Lydia McKraken, Romeo Ellis and Moisha Rich.
Splinter from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe is a anthropomorphic rat who learned the ways of ninjutsu from his owner and master, Hamato Yoshi. He is the Turtles' sensei and adoptive father. In the 1987 TV series and Archie Comics series, Splinter was Hamato Yoshi mutated into a rat instead of being just Yoshi's pet.
[edit] See also
- Skin-walker
- Shapeshifting
- Therianthropy
- Lycanthropy (disambiguation)
- Were
- Werebear
- Weregild
- Werehyena
- Werecat
- Werewolf
- Mulberry Street (film)
[edit] References
- Hall, J. (2003). Half Human, Half Animal: Tales of Werewolves & Related Creatures. Bloomington, IN: Authorhouse. ISBN 1-4107-5809-5.
