Oklahoma City: Beyond the Veil

"Classic" werewolf
The "classic" werewolf is someone who uses magic to transform themselves into a wolf. This is not necessarily a wizard or well-trained practitioner of magic, since the transformation spell will work for anyone who learns it. The physical body is transformed, but the mind remains the same. This can be a disadvantage in the beginning because, although the person gains all the senses of a wolf, they do not have the life experience of using them. The werewolf must learn to use smell and hearing as their primary sensory input rather than sight, and learn to move and react to their environment as a four-legged creature. All this takes time, but the werewolf can eventually learn to do well in their new form. The wolf form has all the natural capabilities of an ordinary wolf; silver is not needed to kill them and they do not heal wounds any more quickly than normal wolves under normal circumstances. This type of werewolf can reassume its human form whenever it wishes, and through experimentation, they may learn to apply the ability to manipulate their tissues to healing small wounds, such as muscular lacerations.

The transformation spell can be cast on another, forcing someone to assume the form of a wolf (or any animal the caster chooses). This is a violation of the Second Law of Magic, because the mind of the transformed person is eventually lost and all that is left is the mind of a wolf. If the spell is reversed in time, the victim will recover; however, once lost, the personality cannot be restored and the person is, in a sense, dead. The Alphas are the werewolves featured predominately in the series.

Alphas
The Alphas are a group of college werewolves that act as Harry's apprentices and backup in the series. As classic werewolves they were taught a wolf transformation spell by a wolfwere (a wolf that can become human), Tera, as well as how to behave in their transformed state. They are initially slightly nerdy students led by the werewolf Billy. While physically weaker than many of their adversaries they make up for this with the use of teamwork and guerrilla tactics, such as ambushes and hit and run operations.

In the beginning of the series, the Alphas fought and travelled in large numbers. However, due to graduations of the students and other life happenings, most have moved on. By the time of "Harry's day off" the Alphas are down to four members and lose one more in the events of Turn Coat. However, they are increasingly competent at their tasks, gaining enough of Harry's respect to become among the truly 'clued in'. Will has demonstrated that they can use their shapechanging ability to quickly heal wounds, although it causes great hunger to do so.

The current members of the Alphas are Will (the leader), Georgia (Will's wife), Andi (the cute redhead) and Marci (returned in Side Jobs).

Hexenwolf
A hexenwolf uses a talisman imbued with powerful magic to transform itself into a huge wolf. The hexenwolf's wolf form is much larger and more powerful than any natural wolf, possessing enhanced speed, strength, and ferocity. The only part of the hexenwolf that is unaffected by the transformation are the eyes, which remain the same color as their human form. The talisman itself may take many forms, including a ring or amulet, but most commonly appears as a belt made from a wolf pelt. The talisman engenders the transformation by providing an anchor for a spirit of bestial rage, and is activated with an incantation by the wearer. This spirit protects the human personality while in wolf form. However, the hexenwolf loses all human inhibitions and runs more on primal human desires. The hexenwolf can be wounded or killed by normal weapons and can be forced to transform back into human form if someone manages to remove their talisman. A hexenwolf may reassume human form at will, but the power that the talisman gives the user is addictive—in many cases, this addiction begins to affect the user's mind and personality in human form, much like a drug addict needing a fix. The most seriously afflicted lose all impulse control, becoming violent and sociopathic. Harry briefly became a hexenwolf to fight off another hexenwolf. See Fool Moon.

Loup-garou
A Loup-garou is the closest to the monsters of legend. These werewolves have been intentionally cursed by someone, usually a very powerful sorcerer, demon lord, saint, or one of the Faerie Queens to be possessed by a wolflike demonic entity at every full moon. They become near-mindless killing machines with supernatural speed, strength and ferocity. They recover from injury almost instantly, are immune to poisons as well as any kind of sorcery that attacks the mind. They can only be killed by a weapon made from silver which has been inherited—not just purchased. The curse of the loup-garou can be hereditary if the one who placed the curse specified it as such. Usually the person afflicted with the curse is aware of their condition and will have enough sense to isolate or shield themselves from society to prevent the horrible damage they would inflict on the rest of the people with the next full moon. As such, Loup-garou attacks on the populace are thankfully rare. The only one featured in the series to date is Harley MacFinn whose family curse originated from St. Patrick himself.

Lycanthrope
A lycanthrope is someone who is a natural channel or medium for a spirit of rage. The lycanthrope is born with this ability; it does not allow them to physically change into a wolf, but grants them a beast-like strength. When this spirit takes over, the lycanthrope becomes stronger, more aggressive, and more resistant to pain, injury and sickness. They heal wounds rapidly and tend to congregate in groups much like packs with an Alpha leader. Although harder to hurt or kill than an ordinary person, lycanthropes can be killed with ordinary weapons. In Fool Moon, Bob explains that the Norse berserkers were lycanthropes. The lycanthropes featured in the series are a biker gang known as the Streetwolves.

Other shapeshifters

Listens-to-Wind
Listens-to-Wind ("Injun' Joe"), a Wizard of the White council, has also shown the ability to change shape with ease, presumably with the use of magic; he was able to change into many animals, including, but not limited to: a huge bear, a flying squirrel, and a turtle. He did this during the events of Turn Coat in order to counter the naagloshii's shapeshifting attacks, and finished the fight victorious, the injured naagloshii fleeing the battlefield howling in pain.

Skinwalker
Another kind of shapeshifter that appears in the novels is the Skinwalker in the novel Turn Coat. The skinwalker, also called the naagloshii, has the ability to change itself into an enhanced version of any animal and can use magic extensively. They are also able to perfectly mimic people, down to the retina and fingerprint level if necessary. Its true form is that of a golden-furred semi-humanoid. Naagloshii gain power by hunting magical practitioners and devouring their power; most are millennia old and thus have acquired extreme power, to the extent that even powerful wizards avoid fighting them if possible. They are, however, not invulnerable - the fugitive Warden Donald Morgan relates a tale to Dresden about an encounter with a naagloshii he had in the 1950s, which he ultimately defeated by luring it onto a government nuclear bomb testing site in Nevada, then escaping into the Nevernever seconds before the bomb detonated, killing the skinwalker.

Tera West
Tera, the fiancée of Harley MacFinn in the book Fool Moon, was seen as a supernatural being, most likely from the NeverNever, as when she looked into Harry's eyes there was no soulgaze. She was able to change form into that of a wolf at will and seemed to move much more gracefully than any other of the types of werewolf. At the end of the novel, she transformed into a wolf and joined a pack, causing Harry to surmise that she was, in fact, actually a wolf that was able to take on the form of a human, using similar means to those of a "classic" werewolf.