The werewolf non-human genre

[onehitwanda]

 

[StillStunned]

Is this still about werewolves? Also, is that Dinah Meyer?

 

[Bamagan]

Is this still about werewolves? Also, is that Dinah Meyer?

No, now it's about anime and hucows?

 

[onehitwanda]

Is this still about werewolves? Also, is that Dinah Meyer?

Technically yes, it's from Penny Dreadful, which has a werewolf in it.

It also has quite possibly one of the most disturbing supernatural scenes ever filmed:

 

[AlinaX]

Dina Meyer is so beautiful.

 

[onehitwanda]

Dina Meyer is so beautiful.

it's not Dina Meyer though. It's Sarah Greene.

 

[StillStunned]

it's not Dina Meyer though. It's Sarah Greene.

We'll just have to close our eyes and pretend.

 

[SimonDoom]

No, now it's about anime and hucows?

Underworld: Rise of the Hucows.

So much potential. I want to see Kate Beckinsale stretch herself creatively.

 

[AlinaX]

I’m just happy to have an excuse to share a crush.

ETA: Never google your crush. :-(

 

[AlinaX]

Plus Kate Beckinsale is so much fun in Jolt.

 

[onehitwanda]

I’m just happy to have an excuse to share a crush.

I don't think we need excuses here...

 

[Demiurging]

Beauty and the Beast.

At the very least she's an interesting character (in the Disney version, all I know of the original comes from cultural osmosis). Although a captive, she becomes the firm, near-mother figure that the Beast had been lacking for most of his life. I like an active lead much more than a passive one.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Back to what I think the original question was...

IMHO, a credible heroine is not normally a warrior (sorry, I find the entire DC/Marvel multiverse to be simply weird). Female heroines to me are realistic women who use their female strengths (things like emotions, quick thinking, sexuality, coordination (vs muscle bulk), etc) to overcome superior male strength and aggressiveness.

And who are the ultramasculine predators out there? (Okay, serial killers, but those are slimy, not appealing.) Who can the average female reader identify with the heroine as having conquered without irrational superpowers? It's classic Beauty and the Beast.

Billionaires, of course. Money is a superpower in a sense and somebody with a LOT of money is very powerful, for good or for evil. So, very popular in chicklit, your rogue billionaires - misanthropic super-rich guys who are (mostly) tamed by innocent (or not so quite innocent) women. There's a reason '50 Shades' sold so many copies to women - and it wasn't the accurate representation of the Lifestyle. Normal woman meets superpowerful man, is dominated sexually (another blue-ribbon female fantasy, the shrinks say), then gradually gentles him with her character and gentleness, winning his heart. Boffo!

Sadly, the number of billionaires lurking around street corners being limited, who else fits? Pirates, of course. Princes, especially, in an SF/F or medieval setting. To a certain extent, upper-level criminals, but that's a bit dodgy.

Finally, real monsters. Vampires fit the bill.

And werewolves! Just look at your off-the-shelf werewolf - tall, decidedly not balding, strong, usually deficient in the pot belly department, too. Fierce, overpowering, just dripping with testosterone - 100% certified maiden trophy-bait. She's captured, taken, turns on the feminine overdrive switch and all that's lacking by the final page is a jewelled leash to take Fido for walkies. (Not that she would want that, of course, for a drop of the untameable beast remaining in the tamed MC is critical for him to remain interesting.)

 

[Bramblethorn]

Metamorphosis. The act of changing from human to something else is often considered innately erotic to transformation fans, sometimes regardless of what the 'something else' actually is. This is a theme that seems to have some overlap with the interests of the transgender community, many of whom understand the feeling of not being quite at home in their bodies, or in the roles society prefers. Changing bodies means changing expectations and limitations. The ability to take on a different form, especially one that gives the reader 'power' to which they aspire but probably cannot obtain in reality, tends to be highly appealing. That's classic wish fulfillment, of course, and common across erotica, as the large number of ten-inch dicks and giant tits can testify; transformation fans just take it a little bit further and in a somewhat different direction.

As a version of this: extended puberty metaphor. Getting hairy and smelly, having uncontrollable urges, breaking out of the family unit to find your own "pack".