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Biology: Reproduction :couple_with_heart_woman_man: - Carriers?

According to the Community Developer Sean Copeland, the worgen curse is not transmitted to offspring, “because it is just a curse.” Since this was posted as part of a CDev post answering several other questions, it is regarded as Blizzard’s official view on the subject as of its posting in 2010. According to this, a human and a worgen would produce a human.

“The worgen curse is just a curse. Its origins are rooted in the druidic pack form that was later altered by the Scythe of Elune. The end result is worgen we see today, beings that can transmit their affliction to others via a single bite. In theory, if two worgen were to mate and produce an offspring, that offspring would not be a worgen. The child would merely possess the genetic material of his or her parents, like any other child sans the curse.” Ask CDev - Answers Round 4

However, there is evidence to support otherwise, which you are welcome to read below. Notably regarding the faulty logic in the quote above, compared to actual lore.

According to Lore

Flawed Logic

In short, there are a few pieces of logic that the CDev response uses to claim two worgen would produce a human. If this post were to have said “No, because magic” or even “-This- curse is not hereditary”, there would be no debate. Likewise, “No, because Elune says so” would have done just as well. However, the post instead uses faulty logic, which can be easily disproved with examples straight from lore itself.

  1. “Curses are not hereditary” - (Yes, they are)
  2. “Worgen is a druidic form” - (Not quite!)
  3. “Worgen are genetically just humans” - (Try again)

Curses in Lore

According to world of warcraft lore, curses - especially blood curses - are transmitted to the child. See the Curse of Flesh, Curse of Sethe, Curse of the Sporemounds, the Naga (lay Naga eggs), Fel Curses (modern orcs), and even blessings (which could be called curses) like the Horns of Eche’ro. The worgen curse, like the curse of flesh or fel corruption, is powerful and infectious. Because it is “just a curse”, and curses are hereditary, the curse should be hereditary. According to this, I would surmise a human and a worgen would produce a worgen. And of course, a child worgen exists in the game, described as the oft forgotten offspring of its father, the big bad wolf.

Genetically Worgen

Despite some worgen having the ability to resume their pre-curse form, worgen are indeed worgen inside and out. The worgen curse is not a druid form, confirmed in both Curse of the Worgen and Wolfheart. The worgen form is also their true form, that a worgen will default to when angered, or even go back to when slain, unlike a druid form. Worgen are also spiritually worgen, shown by several worgen ghosts such as the Day of the Dead ghosts, and those in Shadowfang Keep such as Odo the Blindwatcher. If you are bitten and turned, then - like it or not - you are now spiritually, psychologically, and physiologically a worgen. As the CDev says, the child would bear the genetic material of the parents.

Barely had he begun trailing Eadrik than he almost collided with the worgen, who stood stiffly, staring at something a little farther down the trail. It was another worgen . . . minus his head. Even in death, he still retained his lupine form, something that Jarod had not expected. (Wolfheart pg 341)

Counter-arguments for roleplay

Ultimately there is enough to justify either in roleplay, depending on your stance on the subject. You can also read more on the worgen reproduction debate in the posts below. If you are ever faced with such a situation in your narrative, discuss this with your partner to see what makes sense to the characters and the story.

To counter the CDev response, you could also claim there was bleeding in the womb (see Uterine Bleeding) and the infant was thus born a worgen. To counter the Curses-are-hereditary stance, you could say the mother was given a blessing by a Priestess of Elune so the child may be born without the curse. If you are unsure, you could also always let the child be born human, and give it worgen blood later.

Further Reading

Worgen Senses: Hearing :ear: - Noise and Irritability?

Funny enough, this is the question that has me pondering. The worst part is, I feel like there is a clear example of worgen being irritated by loud noise, but I cannot seem to recall where. And this is part of the reason I love hosting this thread; I then keep an eye out for such sources, and I eventually find it and keep it on hand for next time.

However, for now, I did come to the conclusion that it depends on the worgen, the situation, and the noise. It also boils down to a few simple facts. First, loud noises can be irritating, to anyone. Secondly, worgen have greatly heightened senses, especially hearing. And thirdly, worgen are more irritable than a typical human. It can be surmised that, because loud noise is irritable, and worgen would hear it louder and sharper than a human, and that worgen are easily irritable in general, loud noise would indeed irritate a worgen.

Semantic gymnastics aside, there are also some examples of worgen and loud noise in lore. The first that comes to mind would be the Bloodfang Pack in Curse of the Worgen issue 4, as they are attacking the Gilneans, even through the sound of gunfire and cannon blasts. Another may be the Hillsbrad refugees versus the Forsaken cannonfire in the Silverpine Forest questline. While these examples do not tell us if the loud noise was irritating the attacking worgen any more than they already were, it does show us that worgen - even newly turned worgen like the Hillsbrad Refugees - are not afraid of or deterred by loud noise.

Worgen have heightened senses

“Your quarry? You jest!” Genn sniffed at his opponent. “You think you can take him from me? Listen to me, Varian Wrynn! The curse more than heightened our senses. We see things that no normal human can.
Wolfheart pg 266

The chief worgen then turned his gaze toward the trees. Ears pricking up, he let out a slight snarl. Jarod heard nothing, but a few seconds later the worgen relaxed slightly. “We’re alone now,” the worgen announced with confidence. The night elf did not ask how the other could be certain. He trusted in the worgen’s senses. “I appreciate your talking with me—”
Wolfheart pg 298

Varian caught wind of the worgen long before he saw the first. He knew that they could not smell his scent yet, for the wind blew toward him. The king also knew that they did not hear him, either, despite their acute senses. The curse might have given the Gilneans heightened senses, but they had not had the years to hone them as he had. They were still basically who they had been, while he had a lifetime of experience.
Wolfheart pg 262

Thanks for the questions Demontune! And good ones too. I appreciate getting to write more on the reproduction debate, and I’ll be keeping my ears perked for more sources on worgen and noise. :bacon:

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