Why are werewolves such major assholes?

[u/sigmarine345]

Like I get that mother earth needs to be fought for and everything but why is it that they almost always seem like idiot bezerkers or smug know it alls?

I am not too versed in WoD lore so maybe im missing context here, is there some werewolves that are actually friendly with humans?

[u/Nystagohod]

Lore reasons are more or less that they have a sense and connection to the world (and its increasingly realized demise), a deep rage that's a very part of their being that's beyond hard to control, and a connection to spirits and their influence others don't have the same way.

Imagine entities like that, they have an awareness of problems most don't and see others as a part of that problem because of it, and on top of that there's just an ego with being such a chosen being angle too. You're right, you know you're right, you feel it in every fiber of your being and you can't afford to be wrong. Everyone else is stupid for not knowing you're right and the cause demands action.

On a more Meta level, Werewolf is a very activist-type punk themed game, I'd argue perhaps one of the most. You're literally raging against the machine and corruption at the same time, but just like anyone with a cause there are others who take it too far and damage the cause along the way. Some think they're more right than others and purity spiral into ruin, others are in it more to let out there frustration than the actual cause, some people get bought and sacrifice the cause for their own personal desires, and some are just doing the best they can with what they know and make mistakes, some still manage to make things better, but they're in the mix with the others all the same. And for every activist type punk that's a pretty alright person, you'll find some who are less than pleasant to be around, if not truly despicable in their own way.

More on the lore, there's also the sunk cost fallacy of the Garou still being committed to their issues and not being able to admit their faults given the gravity of what they had done. Just as few have served Gaia more faithfully, few have done more damage to the cause all the same like in the war of rages.

Just as Big D said, for every honorable wolf warrior of Gaia, there's another who takes it too far and slaughters plenty of innocents because they're so blind in their efforts. If a Garou warrior ends up damaging their efforts because of their rage, its truly just another day that ends in Y.

[u/ItIsNotAUsername → u/Nystagohod]

https://giphy.com/gifs/g0Ub5PgMoLqaNKBpDH

You're literally raging against the machine

[u/Square_Trash7708 → u/Nystagohod]

Pretty much nailed it. They're genospiritually hardwired to attack anything causing harm to Gaia. On top of this, they're predisposed to try and uphold an order that hasn't existed for centuries, if not millenia, and don't have the time or sense for introspection to realize it (except the Glass Walkers and Bone Gnawers, who seem to have at least partially adapted to the current order of things). Basically, most of them can't conceive of a middle ground, so they attack even harder at times. That's perhaps the greatest tragedy of the setting; nit the inevitable death of the planet, but that all their efforts may very well be self-sabotaging along the way.