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I prefer werewolves to vampires. I suppose that is because I am predisposed to like animals over corpses.

To me, lycanthropy means freedom. You become that creature, and can run wild from man's laws and societal restrictions. According to old folklore they have but a few weaknesses; most common being mountain ash, wolfbane, rye and mistletoe. And unlike vampires are unaffected by religious artifacts (in truth the silver aversion was added in pop culture... though it worked in Hellsing, so I don't know). So as long as you avoid that, you are otherwise all right.

Vampires by comparison are chalk full of restrictions and weaknesses. They cannot come out in broad daylight, they cannot cross bodies of water except at certain tides, they cannot enter a building without being invited, they cannot listen to scripture, they cannot touch religious artifacts (like crosses and holy water), they are weak against different substances (silver and garlic), they have to live on the blood/life of others to survive, they are defeated by time...

I much prefer the freedoms of being a wild creature over the restrictive tradeoffs of having "eternal life."

Overall, I like vampires a lot more. However, wolves used to be my favorite animal when I was a kid, so I suppose werewolves are awesome too.

Oi, where's the "neither" option on the poll? rofl

at least vampires are still possessed of their own will, they have a choice in whether or not to go rampaging about, most werewolves don't have that option.

Personally I'd rather be a Jedi. 3nodding

I'd rather be a Time Lord. 3nodding
(Nahh, I'm just joining in this lil' bandwagon to annoy ya. ;D )

I rather be a vampire.
I personally have never taken a liking to werewolves. They are hairy, the half beast half human shape has never appealed to me and I hate being a slave to the moon and not be conscious while causing destruction and taking lives.

Vampires are also slaves to their nature, but in my opinion they are stronger. They may not age in body but they age in power and consciousness. They are aware of the world and their nature; one could say that they are somewhat civilized creatures.

In many stories, legends and media when you become a werewolf you don’t only lose your humanity but you lose your values, sense of pride and dignity.
Why is that appealing? I can see the appeal of being free of mans laws but to be striped of your values and have no self worth seems rather shameful to me. I will never understand the appeal of becoming a savage. I like and take pride in a lot of human values, and by that I mean the Victorian, Edwardian and Romantic values, not the shameful human behavior of today’s society.

I’d say that vampires though being monsters still conserve their pride and a lot of their human values. They way they dress, act and hunt, they also seem to keep their human nature and play with their food becoming masters of manipulation and confusion.

Humans are always going to fear the unknown, but they will also seek their destruction, take arms and hunt it. Werewolves to me are not as feared as vampires because humans are always going to feel superior to a beast and a werewolf is a savage animal, but think of the vampire, he can take any form, wield many powers and appear human. I’d say that an enemy who looks just like you is something to be feared.

like level E s in Vampire knight?

"Were" is an old... I think Anglo-Saxon word for "man." And "wolf" obviously means "wolf." So when you apply them together, the word "werewolf" literally means "man-wolf." Therefore for a long time people believed that werewolves were only men and not women. Savage beasts indeed! xd

I do like one version of wolf lore though, of cunning wolf women who silently lured children out of their nurseries in the dead of night, devoured them in a secret location, then slipped back into bed and woke as heart broken mothers who had no recollection of what happened in their other forms (or maybe she does, depends on what you read).

Honestly though, I don't think it's fair asking "Vampires or Werewolves?" Because no matter which answer we give, there will always be different versions of the stories to contradict our reasons. I can explain to you why I love werewolves all day till my fingers fall off, and there will still be at least several different versions that will make my logic null and void. Same as Kriegy's love of werewolves, same as Dita's love of vampires, same as bitesexgod's love of Jedi... There's just no winning for losing.