Wolves have been recovering from having a bad reputation in media for a long time. Man versus nature is one of the oldest conflicts stories have explored, and wolves have been an avatar of this concept for many years. While many people love wolves and what they stand for, a lot of media, especially open-world video games, cannot drop the bad wolf representation.
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What Wolves Represent In Open-World Games
Hostile wolves are not just a product of man versus nature, but a part of certain media genres. They are incredibly popular in dark fantasy stories, and open-world video games love that genre. Dark fantasy is the genre of Dragon Age, Elden Ring, Dragon’s Dogma, The Elder Scrolls series, The Witcher series, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Devil May Cry, just to name a few. Most of these games also pit players against wolves.
A product of dark fantasy is that nature is unkind, so wolves, bears, and other predators may hunt people. Not only is nature unkind, but it is more untouched. In these open-world fantasy games, there is no urban development. Most of the map is typically woods, fields, hills, and mountains. In these open-world games, it is quite normal to be attacked by a pack of wolves. Usually, the wolves are actually not that reminiscent of wolves known in the real world. The wolves of video games are often larger and sometimes have a different bone structure to make them look more monstrous.
There are some wolves that have been integrated deeper into the story, rather than just wild hostile animals. The Dreadwolf and werewolves are plots relevant to Dragon Age. The Dreadwolf is an ancient god that tricked the elf pantheon, while werewolves are a curse. Both of these examples further perpetuate the bad representation of wolves. In Elden Ring, there are wolf shadows like Maliketh and Blaidd and there is the Red Wolf of Radagon. All turn out to be hostile at some point in the game.
Overall, open-world games show wolves as products of the dark in the dark fantasy world. They are associated with the night when the world is more dangerous. They are often in groups, so developers make them easy to fight individually while more of a challenge when they are in a group.
Wolves That Broke The Mold
Though most wolves in video games get a bad representation as hostile monsters, there are some examples of positive representation. Amaterasu from Okami is perhaps the most powerful and kind wolf there is in media, saving the world, helping people in minor ways, and making plants grow. However, this game stems heavily from Japanese culture, where wolves are a sign of good luck. When Amaterasu enters a village, though some may be scared, most greet her as a good omen. Another open-world game example is Link’s wolf form in Zelda: Twilight Princess.
However, Link and Amaterasu are special cases that do not really help regular wolf representation. Amaterasu is a goddess whose true form is said to be a woman, not a wolf. Link is similar in that he is really just Link and is transformed into a wolf due to special circumstances. Going forward, it would be great to see more games move away from the stereotypes about wolves.
MORE: Dragon Age: Who is the Dread Wolf?
