AtoZ2017 - U is for Ursula, Usurian & Uberwald #AtoZChallenge

Welcome to Day 21 of the AtoZChallenge and the letter U. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be making a post about shapeshifters of all kinds. Check back to see my choices and, from time to time some flash fiction too.

U is for 

Ursula

Ursula is a sea witch in Disney's The Little Mermaid and she is downright nasty. She wants to defeat Areile's father, King Triton, and take over Atlantica.

When Ariel comes to her for help to earn the love of Prince Eric, she takes the opportunity to try and sabotage Ariel's chances and hence, bring down the king. She grants Ariel's wish to live as a human for three days, but then changes herself into a beautiful young woman called Vanessa and hypnotises Eric.

Ariel must now not only contend with having no voice and being human, but with Ursula's magic as well.

Usurian

We meet an Usurian in the Doctor Who episode The Sun Makers. Their natural form looks something like seaweed, although they are infact a fungus. With the use of partical radiation they can morph into the shape of a dwarvish humanoid.

They are thoroughly unpleasant in either form.

The Collector works for the Company which has subjugated the earth colony on pluto via economic subversion. As a species Usurians are obsessed with business and profit, caring for it above all else.

Werewolf of the Day

Delphine Angua von Uberwald (Disc World)

Angua is from the wonderful world of Terry Prachett's Discworld and is the first werewolf to be hired into the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. Angua uses her very sensitive nose to track any miscreant that causes problems in her city. For Angua her sense of smell is like coloured lights would be to a normal human.

She can also descern gender and strong emotions, which is very useful when she goes undercover in plainclothes at a crime scene.

When in wolf form she is often mistaken for a dog because most people don't know about werewolves.

Angua is from a nobel house, her father being a baron and her mother a lady. She had three siblings, two brothers and a sister, but her sister is dead, one of her brothers probably did it and the other is stuck in his wolf shape and ran away from home. Angua also ran away from home and eventually came to settle in Ankh-Morpork, taking up her job in the Night Watch.

• Who is your favourite Disney villain?
• Are you a Discworld fan? What is your favourite book?

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AtoZ2017 - T is for The Thing & Tony #AtoZChallenge

Welcome to Day 20 of the AtoZChallenge and the letter T. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be making a post about shapeshifters of all kinds. Check back to see my choices and, from time to time some flash fiction too.

T is for 

The Thing

My shapeshifter today gave me the heebeejeebees for years. For T I have chosen The Thing. It is an alien which has been frozen in the permafrost of Antartica for an age, but which was discovered and dug up by a Norwegian research team.

It is a parasitic lifeform, absorbing other lifeforms and then using their characteristics to continue the hunt. It retains all their memories and abilites and if able to perfectly reproduce anyone or any lifeform it desires. All parts of it are as alive as the rest, just in a different form. The only thing is seems to fear is fire.

When we first meet it, it is in the form of a dog, which the Norwegians are trying to destroy. However, it then proves it is quite capable of becoming any human it chooses as well.

The part that really freaked me out was when it is discovered in the body of one man, so divides. His  head drops off, sprouts legs and runs away.

Werewolf of the Day

Tony (Waxwork)

My werewolf today is from one of my favourite 80s horror films, Waxwork. Played by Dana Ashbrook. Tony, is a smart mouthed, cigaret smoking player, who goes to school with the hero of the piece, Mark Loftmore.

China and Sarah meet a strange man when walking to school, who invited them to a private showing at his Waxworks. When their group have nothing to do that evening, they decide to attend the event.

The 18 waxworks are incredibly detailed and all horror based, and, unbeknowst to the group, they also eat people.

The creator of the waxworks is David Lincoln, a madman who has used items belonging to the 18 most evil beings to have ever existed to create them in wax, and parts of their environments to create the scenes around them. This makes each display a trap for the unwary who step into it. Once each trap has a victim all the waxworks will live again, along with their possessed victims, contaminating the world with evil.

Tony has the unfortunate luck to step into the werewolf display. He thinks he's tripping, so goes with the story, which is his mistake. He meets a man, just as the man begins to transform into the werewolf as the full moon rises. He is attacked and begins to turn himself, only to be shot by a werewolf hunter, thus killing him and completing the display.

No one has much luck in my choices today, do they? :)

• What would you do if faced with a perfectly camoflagued alien, panic or reach for the flame thrower?
• What would be your worst nightmare waxwork to end up in?

Click here and here to find other AtoZ posts.

AtoZ2017 - S is for Shadow, She-Ra & George Sands #AtoZChallenge

Welcome to Day 18 of the AtoZChallenge and the letter S. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be making a post about shapeshifters of all kinds. Check back to see my choices and, from time to time some flash fiction too.

S is for 

Shadow

The Shadow is the alter ego of Lamont Cranston (Alec Baldwin), a playboy from New York. He doesn't shapeshift much, but when he is the Shadow his face changes to a much more sinister form. His eyes have also been know to change.

After the first world war Cranston reinvented himself as Yin-Ko, a warlord and opium dealer in the far east. However, he was kidnapped and then trained by the Tulku, a holy man with extraordinary powers, to harness his inner darkness and use it for good.

Back in New York he run a network of informants, people he has saved, as he takes on crime and the underworld. These criminals he defeats easily, but his true test comes when Shiwan Khan comes to New York, intent on taking over the world where his anscestor Genghis Khan failed. Khan was also a student of the Talku, but rejected the teachings and killed his master.

She-Ra

She-Ra, the Princess of Power is from the Masters of the Universe franchise. Adora, her alter ego, is the twin sister of Adam and she was kidnapped as a baby by Hordak.

She was brought up to become a force captain in the Horde on the world of Etheria, however, when her true origins are revealed and the spell on her is broken, she joins the Great Rebellion instead.

Given a sword of power by Prince Adam and told how to use it by the Sorceress, Adora becomes She-Ra and like her brother uses her powers to fight the forces of evil.

Of course She-Ra is an obvious attempt to sell toys to girls as well as boys, but I always liked her. She was as powerful and clever as He-Man and it was good to see a girl in charge.

Werewolf of the Day

George Sands (Being Human)

George (Russell Tovey) is a werewolf from the Being Human tv show. He's highly intelligent, but not as socially adept as some and is best friends with Mitchell, who happens to be a vampire.

He became a werewolf while on holiday in Scotland with his fiancee. He went for a walk with a tag along American tourist and they were attacked by a werewolf. The American was killed, but George was only injured, thus infecting him. When he realised what he was he left everything behind.

He works as a porter in St Jude's hospital, the only job he can hold down due to his monthly condition. He is in denial about his condition for a long time only eventually trying to take control of it after events get out of hand.

And there we have S, I hope you enjoyed my choices today.

• Do you like your heroes/heroines on the darker side, like The Shadow, or fluffy like She-Ra?
• If you suddenly found out you were a werewolf, would you leave your family behind to keep them safe or ask for their help?

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AtoZ2017 - R is for Rutan & Red Riding Hood #AtoZChallenge

Welcome to Day 18 of the AtoZChallenge and the letter R. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be making a post about shapeshifters of all kinds. Check back to see my choices and, from time to time some flash fiction too.

R is for 

Rutan

Rutan are a warlike alien from the Doctor Who universe. In their original form they look like green balls, similar to jelly fish, with long glowing tentecales. They are amphibious and able to live in and out of water.

They can also produce a deadly electric shock.

They have the ability to shapeshift into the shape of other lifeforms, however, they do not seem to gain any information from the form they assume. They also find the process taxing.

They are a hive lifeform and the needs of the individual are not important. They are also at war with the Sontarens.

Werewolf of the Day

Red Riding Hood/Ruby (Once Upon a Time)

Red Riding Hood is from the television series Once Upon a Time, and to begin with she doesn't know she's a werewolf.

In the Enchanted forest a wolf is killing sheep  and some of the townsfolk want to hunt it. Red wants to go with them, but Granny will not let her. The day after she finds the bodies of the men in the well.

Red wants to track the wolf, but in doing so finds that the footprints go from wolf to human, giving her the idea that they are not dealing with a real wolf at all. The tracks lead to her window and the only person she knows who was there was Peter, so she thinks Peter is the wolf.

Unfortunately Granny has been keeping secrets. There is a curse on her family, they are werewolves and it is only the red cloak that keeps Red from transforming.

I can't believe we're on R now. Time flies.

• Do you remember the wonderful effects of the original doctor who? Lots of bubble wrap and cling film :)
• If you knew your family was cursed, would you keep it a secret from your descendents?

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AtoZ2017 - Q is for Evil Queen & Quentin Collins #AtoZChallenge

Welcome to Day 17 of the AtoZChallenge and the letter Q. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be making a post about shapeshifters of all kinds. Check back to see my choices and, from time to time some flash fiction too.

Q is for 

Evil Queen

Everyone knows the story of Snow White and my shapeshifter today is her evil stepmother, the Queen from Disney's film adaptation. Obsessed with being the fairest in the land, the queen uses a magic mirror to make sure of her position. However, she watched her lovely growing more beautiful day by day, until eventually the mirror gives the verdict that Snow White is the fairest in the land.

The Queen cannot stand this and plots to have Snow White killed.

We see her shapeshifting abilities when she uses magic to turn herself into an old woman (in the Brother's Grimm version she just uses a disguise) to trick Snow White into eating the poisoned apple.

In this incarnation her end comes when she is chased by the seven dwarves and lightning destroys the pinacle on which she is standing, sending her crashing to her death. Perversely this is merciful compared to other versions where she is tricked into coming to Snow White's wedding and forced to dance in red-hot iron shoes until she dies.

Werewolf of the Day

Quentin Collins (Dark Shadows)

Quentin is the grandson of Edith and Gabriel Collins and so many things happened to him it's hard to keep up. One of these was Magda's curse.

Quentin was married to Jenny, who told him she was from New York, but she was in face a Romany. When Quentin was unfaithful and ran off with another woman, Jenny went mad and was locked in her room. When Quentin returned he was not told and believed she had simply left.

However, she escaped and managed to kill him, but he was restored to life. He then planned to kill her before she could get him again. However, Magda, Jenny's sister, threatened to curse him should any harm befall her sister, so peace reigned for while. However, Jenny escaped again and saw Quentin kissing another woman and tried to kill them both, so he strangled her.

Magda made good on her promise and curse him and the first born of every generation to be a werewolf. Quentin was uncontrollable in his werewolf form and killed many people. He tried a cure, but made everything worse and became even more dangerous. Eventually he had a magical portrait made that turned into the werewolf instead of him, and also aged instead of him, so he became functionally immortal.

Phew, Quentin was a busy boy wasn't he :).

• Which fairy tale do you remember the most clearly from your childhood?
• If as much happened to you as happened to Quentin, would you have given up and become a hermit?

See you tomorrow :)

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AtoZ2017 - P is for James Potter & Paul #AtoZChallenge

Welcome to Day 16 of the AtoZChallenge and the letter P. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be making a post about shapeshifters of all kinds. Check back to see my choices and, from time to time some flash fiction too.

P is for 

James Potter

We've had Harry Potter werewolves already, now we have an Animagus. James Potter, father to Harry and one of the Marauders.

His animal form is that of a stag, hence his nickname of Prongs. Along with Sirius Black and Peter Petigrew he learned to become an animagus so they could all keep their friend Remus Lupin company on the nights when he turned into his werewolf form.

James was something of an arogant whatsit when he was at school and what he and the other Marauders did to Severus Snape was unforgivable. However, he must have matured well because otherwise a sensible girl like Lily Evans would never had had anything to do with him.

He was betrayed by Peter Pettigrew and murdered by Voldemort along with Lily because of the prophecy about Voldemort and Harry.

Werewolf of the Day

I could not find a werewolf for P, so I have written some flashfic for you instead.

P is for Paul

part 2 of Curses

by Natasha Duncan-Drake

(each part can be read seperately, but if you read them in order they build on each other - there will be 4 parts [Nicky, Paul, Xerxes & Yani])

Paul Ulvis, werewolf, Alpha-elect, mate to Yani

Paul could not believe the situation he had managed to get himself into. He didn't remember much after the lorry had hit him, but some good Samaritan had clearly brought him to a veterinary surgery. The drugs had worn off during the night and he could easily have broken out of the cage, but the CCTV camera was pointing right at him.

He had no choice but to wait it out for a chance to escape.

He was listening to the clock tick when he smelled alpha bitch. Half of him wanted to turn over and show his belly and the rest wanted to puff up like a peacock. He only just managed to keep himself in check.

"I am so sorry," the woman who burst through the door said, "I had no idea."

That confused him, she had to be from a weak line not to have realised he was a werewolf like her.

"Oh my god, your leg!"

He had noticed that his back left leg was missing from the knee, but he wasn't worrying about that. He growled a little before she could become hysterical. It was frustrating not being able to talk.

"I've turned off the CCTV."

That was one thing at least. When she just stood there he tapped his foot on the cage floor. He had never thought his short stint in the Scouts would be useful for anything, but apparently Morse code was useful outside of the movies. He tapped out the universally recognised sign for "S.O.S".

"Oh, oh," the woman said, "Morse code. Um, I don't know Morse code ... but I bet there's an ap for that."

She pulled a smart phone from her back pocket and quickly began tapping at it. Paul waited.

"Okay, go," she said, holding the phone towards him.

"Can you take this muzzle off?" he tapped out and the ap dutifully translated.

It was irritating him.

"Oh god, of course, yes," the woman said, fumbling with the cage. "I cannot believe I amputated your leg. If I'd known I would have set it, but it was so damaged."

"It will grow back when I transform," he told her, since she seemed so worried about it.

"Really?" she asked as she pulled at the strap on the muzzle.

He reassessed her again. If she wasn't used to werewolf healing she had to be from a very, very weak line. Some werewolves were left with scars from wounds, but most could heal anything except life threatening injuries. His line was very strong, if he could just get back to human everything would be back to normal.

"What pack are you from?" he asked, tapping out each letter even as he yawned to loosen his jaw.

"Um," she said, "maybe yours?"

He didn't get it.

"You're packless?" he asked.

Werewolves did not do well without packs.

"I suppose so," she replied, "but I've only been a werewolf since yesterday, so I don't know how these things work."

"Yesterday?"

"Yes, you bit me."

Paul sat down with a thump.

"I'm guessing that's not a good thing?" the woman said.

Paul couldn't form a coherent thought, let alone tap anything out in Morse code. Two facts were warring for dominance in his brain: first he had just broken so many rules he couldn't even think of them all; second he was only twenty two, he shouldn't have had the power to turn a human into a werewolf, let alone by accident.

"Are you okay?" he finally managed to communicate.

Werewolves always shifted for the first time when the moon rose after they had been bitten. It hadn't been a full moon, but that was just legend.

"I'm fine," she assured him.

"And everyone else?" he had to ask.

"My kids think it's amazing," was the surprising reply.

New werewolves were not usually the most stable of creatures. He gave up trying to rationalise what was going on.

"Can't you turn back?" the woman asked.

"Cursed."

Even his Morse code sounded terse and annoyed.

"Oh," she said. "Is there anything I can do to help? I'm Nicky, by the way."

Many thanks for reading, I hope you are enjoying the fic.

• If you were an animagus, what animal do you think you would be?

See you tomorrow for Q.

Click here and here to find other AtoZ posts.

AtoZ2017 - O is for Odo & Oz #AtoZChallenge

Welcome to Day 15 of the AtoZChallenge and the letter O. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be making a post about shapeshifters of all kinds. Check back to see my choices and, from time to time some flash fiction too.

O is for 

Odo

Deep Space Nine was terribly exciting for the Star Trek franchise because it was the first time they stepped out of the mould. It was not set on a Federation Starship, but a Space Station and that wasn't even Federation built.

Odo (Rene Auberjonois) is one of the really intriguing characters because he isn't even technically humanoid. He is in fact a gelatenous creature that can take any form he choses. He is a Changeling.

He can maintain any form for sixteen hours, after which time he must return to his gelatenous form to regenerate. He is the Constable on DS9, responsible for the day to day security of the Promenade and Station.

Werewolf of the Day

Daniel "Oz" Osbourne (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Daniel Osbourne, Oz to his friends is from the iconic Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He is played by Seth Green and did not start the series as a werewolf.

He is a bass player and musician at heart and that is his main focus in life. So much so that, despite being very bright, he had to repeat his senior year of high school and joined the Scooby Gang as a year mate (very useful to keep his character around :)).

Oz became a werewolf when he was infected by his pre-adolescent cousin Jordy during a tickle fight. He struggled with the condition greatly, losing to it on several occasions, but eventually making peace with it.

Oz was always one of my favourite characters in the early seasons. His laid back attitude and complete acceptance of everything supernatural was inspired.

Thanks for dropping by :).

• If you could chance into anything at will, would you try another person first, or an animal or an object, and which one?
• Do you have a favourite Buffy character?

Happy AtoZing!

Click here and here to find other AtoZ posts.

AtoZ2017 - N is for Nathaniel Graison & Nicky #AtoZChallenge

Welcome to Day 14 of the AtoZChallenge and the letter N. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be making a post about shapeshifters of all kinds. Check back to see my choices and, from time to time some flash fiction too.

N is for 

Nathaniel Graison

Nathaniel is from the Anita Blake books and he is a wereleopard. He had mahogany auburn hair and lilac eyes and is on the pretty side of handsome. He's also a submissive and a stripper at the Guilty Pleasures club.

Nathaniel comes from an abusive background. He ran away from home at the age of seven after seeing his brother beaten to death by his abusive step father. He then became a child prostitute and was addicted to drugs for a long time.

Gabriel, the then Nimir-Raj or the wereleopard pard found him, turned him and cleaned him up, but Nathaniel was already completely submissive and a mascochist. When we first meet him he has absolutely no ability to say no.

Over his time with Anita he learns some self-confidence and how not to give in to his wilder masochistic tendencies. He becomes Anita's animal to call in her second triumverate with Damian and is part of a menage a trois with her and Micah. the new Nimir-Raj of the pard.

Nathaniel is one of my favourite characters from Anita Blake, he is just so interesting, even if there are sometimes whole paragraphs devoted to the colour of his eyes :).

Werewolf of the Day

I could not find a werewolf for N, so I have written some flashfic for you instead.

N is for Nicky

part 1 of Curses

by Natasha Duncan-Drake

(each part can be read seperately, but if you read them in order they build on each other - there will be 4 parts [Nicky, Paul, Xerxes & Yani])

Nichola Jackson, vet, wife to Archie, mother of Lilly and William.

The bed was really cold ... and hard.

Nicky opened her eyes and tried to force her sleepy brain to make sense of her surroundings. The reason for the issues with the bed became apparent very quickly: she wasn't in bed. She was curled up on the bathroom floor ... naked.

"What the hell?"

"Darling, are you awake?" came through the door.

"Yes," she replied, looking around and trying to figure out why on earth she was sleeping in the bathroom.

In her head there was an empty space. She'd only passed out drunk once when she was seventeen and decided never to do that again. That and the fact she remembered the after effects being much, much worse, led her to conclude that was not the explanation.

"Great, because the kids really need to get ready for school."

Nicky pushed herself to her feet and almost hit the sink behind her as she misjudged her own strength. Something very weird was going on. Luckily she had left her bathrobe on the hook last time she had had a shower, so she grabbed it, put it on and opened the door.

"Why was I sleeping in the bathroom?" she asked, even as her youngest, Lilly, dashed past her.

"You seemed to want to," her husband Archie said, with a smile that was kind of conflicted.

"Lil, no!" William wailed as he saw his sister had claimed the bathroom first.

Lilly smiled around her toothbrush and slammed to door. At least some things were normal.

"I think this needs coffee," Archie decided and gently took Nicky by the hand and led her towards the kitchen.

"What's going on?" she asked, even as she sat down at the breakfast bar.

"Darling, I don't think the wolf dog that bit you yesterday at work was any kind of dog at all," Archie said after pouring them each a mug of dark, caffeinated liquid.

Nicky sniffed hers and carefully pushed it away, hoping her husband would not notice. It smelled way too strong.

"Why?" she asked, doing her very best to keep calm.

"Um," Archie was clearly struggling with something. "Nicky, you're a werewolf."

"I'm a what?!"

"Last night you finished dinner, went up to the bedroom and changed into a wolf," her husband told her. "Then you came downstairs, played with the kids for three hours (they think it's awesome by the way), chewed up one of the sofa cushions and decided to sleep in the bathroom."

"That was past their bed time."

It was the only thought that made sense in her head.

"Yes, well, Darling," Archie said, "I didn't feel like arguing with you."

Nicky could understand that.


"Oh my god," she said as one thought led to another, "I have a drugged up werewolf in a cage in my surgery."

I hope everyone is still enjoying the AtoZ.

• Would you rather be a wereleopard or a werewolf?

See you tomorrow!

Click here and here to find other AtoZ posts.

AtoZ2017 - M is for Maya, Scott McCall & Mags #AtoZChallenge

Welcome to Day 13 of the AtoZChallenge and the letter M. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be making a post about shapeshifters of all kinds. Check back to see my choices and, from time to time some flash fiction too.

M is for 

Maya

This shapeshifter didn't have fancy effects and CGI, she had a wibbly sound effect and a cut away before people in suits were running around. Maya (Catherine Schell) is from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Space 1999.

Maya didn't pop up until season 2. When those from Moonbase Alpha visited her planet Psychon, her father Mentor tried to capture them to use to power his biological computer, Psyche. When Maya found out the truth she helped the Alphans get away and hence was welcomed into their community as a science officer.

Like all her race she has the ability to change her molecular structure and become anything or anyone she wishes to. This proved very useful to the residents of Moonbase Alpha on many occasions.

Werewolf of the Day

Scott McCall (Teen Wolf)

Scott McCall (Tyler Posey) is the Teen Wolf of the title of the show. Bitten in the first episode by a rogue alpha werewolf thank to being in the woods looking for half a body with his friend Stiles, Scott starts to change.

He almost kills Stiles at least once as they figure out what's going on. Eventually Scott's innate goodness and sense of morality lead him to become a True Alpha, an alpha werewolf that spontaneously became so rather than inheriting their powers or stealing them by killing another alpha.

Scott is a good guy, but he seems to beleive the world is very black and white, good or evil, and sometimes this leads him to make really dumb choices.

Mags (Doctor Who - The Greatest Show in the Galaxy)

Mags (Jessica Martin) appears in the Doctor Who episode The Greatest Show in the Galaxy along with the 7th Doctor and Ace. She, along with Captain Cook have been lured to see the legendery Psychic Circus.

However, what none of the potential guests realise is there are only three spectators at the circus and everyone else is there to entertain. Acts that do not please the plain looking family of Mother, Father and Daughter never get a second chance.

When the Captain is taken into the ring with Mags he uses simulated moonlight to reveal she is in fact a werewolf and tries to set her on the Doctor.

As with all Sylvester McCoy episodes once the Doctor teamed up with Ace, this story had layers all through it and I really liked the touch with Mags, especially considering who the family turn out to be. Frankly I will never forgive them for cancelling the show just when it was getting really good.

I hope you enjoyed my werewolves and shifter today.

• Which is your favourite Gerry Anderson show/film? S1999, Capt Scarlet, Thunderbirds etc?
• If your best friend suggested running about in the woods to find half a dead body, what would you say?

See you next time for the letter N.

Click here and here to find other AtoZ posts.

AtoZ2017 - L is for Loki & remus Lupin #AtoZChallenge

Welcome to Day 12 of the AtoZChallenge and the letter L. Every day in April (except Sundays) I will be making a post about shapeshifters of all kinds. Check back to see my choices and, from time to time some flash fiction too.

L is for 

Loki

So who else could I go with for L than the greatest trickster of them all, Loki? In Norse legend he is a shapeshifter extrodinaire and in the MCU he has these abilities, but toned down a little.

Played by the wonderful Tom Hiddleston, Loki is broken, bonkers and beautiful. This is one guy with serious daddy issues. Not only is he forever trying to get the attention of his adopted father, but in doing so he killed his real father as well. For a very intelligent being he's definitely one sandwich short of a picnic in a lot of his reasoning.

Loki has the ability to literally become someone else, as seen when he takes the form of Odin and Captain America. We know he can change his form at a fundamental level because he has lived his whole life in a body that is not his own. As a Frost Giant he should be blue, but either Odin changed his form when he rescued him as a baby or Loki's magic did it instinctively, making him Aesir. It was finding out his true heritage that pushed Loki off the deep end, his stesser as they say.

As you can probably tell, Loki is one of my favourite characters - he has so much depth. He's such a great character that they had to cut him from the dream sequence in Age of Ultron, because he was in it for 30 seconds and the trial audience assumed he organised the whole thing.

Werewolf of the Day

Remus Lupin (Harry Potter)

One of the Marauders, friend to James and Lily Potter and werewolf.

Remus was infected with lycanthropy by Fenrir Greyback in a revenge attack against his father Lyall. He is a quiet person, but highly intelligent and willing to dive into trouble for his friends.

Along with Sirius Black, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew he created the Marauder's Map while at Hogwarts, giving him and his friends the ability to see where every being was in the castle. The map even sees through enchantments.

During Harry's third year he taught at Hogwarts as the Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts, during which time we find out he takes the Wolfsbane potion to prevent there werewolf part of his nature from taking over at the full moon.

His was a member of the Order of the Phoenix during the first wizarding war against Voldemort and rekindled his role when Voldemort returned. He married Nymphadora Tonks, another member of the Order, and had a son, Teddy.

In the movies he is played by the great David Thewlis.

Happy AtoZ - I hope you are enjoying the challenge.

• Have you seen the new teaser trailer for Thor Ragnarok yet?
• Which Loki incarnation is your favourite - MCU, comics or mythological?
• Could you maintain your zen like Remus seems to do, with all the injustice around him?

See you tomorrow!

Click here and here to find other AtoZ posts.