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Werewolf Transformation is ridiculously OP (World Ending!)

Panderbander
Panderbander
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Okay, so we all have seen the myriad of threads talking about how werewolf is strong but have we considered that the transformation is AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO ALL LIFE ON TAMRIEL?

I present to you
SOME MATH

So, some quick napkin math here based on the perceived difference in size between a female Khajiit and a transformed werewolf. Looking at the screenshots here, we can see that the transformed werewolf is approximately 3x the size of the Khajiit in total mass.

hpwhcc69wzk7.png
jykrqs0ludrm.png

The average human female, globally, has a mass of about 62kg (137lbs), which would place the werewolf's total mass around 186kg (410lbs). So far so good, that seems like a reasonable size for a hulking beast of Daedric design. BUT HAVE WE CONSIDERED WHERE THAT MASS GOES WHEN THE WEREWOLF TRANSFORMS BACK?!

As we don't see a huge piece of werewolf slough off or a burst of wind or anything of that sort occur when the transformation back to humanoid form happens, we can assume the mass is transformed into energy. For anyone with any basic high school knowhow of how physics works, this results in a LOT of energy released. In this case, unimaginable amounts.

Reverting from werewolf to human (or Khajiit in this case) results in approximately 124kg (274lbs) of mass being converted into energy. Using the famous E=mc² equation, this results in the following equation:

124kg * (299792458m/s*299792458m/s)

which equates to

11,144,564,216,337 MEGA JOULES of energy being released

Even without knowing how much energy a MJ contains, it's easy to see that this is a BIG NUMBER.
For comparison, the largest atomic weapon ever detonated was the Tsar Bomba by the USSR in 1961. The resulting release of energy was 3300 times greater than the first bomb atomic weapon used in WW2, and that weapon flattened a city.

That explosion is diminutive in comparison to the energy released by the 124kg of mass being converted into energy by a werewolf transforming back.

The Tsar Bomba resulted in an energy release of approximately 209,200,000MJ. Some quick math for our comparison of how big this energy release is in comparison to our werewolf transformation:

11,114,564,216,337 / 209,200,000 = 53,129 (rounded)

THE WEREWOLF TRANSFORMING BACK WOULD RESULT IN AN EXPLOSION 53,129 TIMES MORE POWERFUL THAN THE LARGEST ATOMIC WEAPON EVER DETONATED.

I think it's safe to say that the Tamriel as we know it is toast after a single werewolf reverts back, let alone an entire pack of them. Praise the Eight that the laws of physics don't apply here!
Edited by Panderbander on July 25, 2026 9:42AM
Leader of Lycan Syndicate, PC NA's tri-faction werewolf guild.~~~Played since the beta, got the monkey.~~~"The blood of the pack is now yours. They are your only family, your only allegiance!"
  • Erickson9610
    Erickson9610
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    More proof that the human form is OP.
    PC/NA — Lone Werewolf

    Werewolf Should be Allowed to Sneak Prowling added in Update 50!
    Please give us Werewolf Skill Styles (for customizing our fur color) Added in Update 50!, Grimoires/Scribing skills (to fill in the holes in our builds), and Companions (to transform with).
  • Gabriel_H
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    You premise is based on the density of the werewolf remaining the same.
  • Panderbander
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    Gabriel_H wrote: »
    You premise is based on the density of the werewolf remaining the same.

    I think it's fair to say that since werewolves are supposed to be significantly better at taking on damage than a human, the density might actually be higher than a human's.

    Then again, maybe they're just full of air like large, furry balloons.
    Leader of Lycan Syndicate, PC NA's tri-faction werewolf guild.~~~Played since the beta, got the monkey.~~~"The blood of the pack is now yours. They are your only family, your only allegiance!"
  • Gabriel_H
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    Gabriel_H wrote: »
    You premise is based on the density of the werewolf remaining the same.

    I think it's fair to say that since werewolves are supposed to be significantly better at taking on damage than a human, the density might actually be higher than a human's.

    Then again, maybe they're just full of air like large, furry balloons.

    Or they are better at taking damage because it's a bigger target with more empty space inside.
  • Panderbander
    Panderbander
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    Gabriel_H wrote: »
    Gabriel_H wrote: »
    You premise is based on the density of the werewolf remaining the same.

    I think it's fair to say that since werewolves are supposed to be significantly better at taking on damage than a human, the density might actually be higher than a human's.

    Then again, maybe they're just full of air like large, furry balloons.

    Or they are better at taking damage because it's a bigger target with more empty space inside.

    This is fair. They could, in fact, be more like foam.
    Leader of Lycan Syndicate, PC NA's tri-faction werewolf guild.~~~Played since the beta, got the monkey.~~~"The blood of the pack is now yours. They are your only family, your only allegiance!"
  • Gabriel_H
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    Gabriel_H wrote: »
    Gabriel_H wrote: »
    You premise is based on the density of the werewolf remaining the same.

    I think it's fair to say that since werewolves are supposed to be significantly better at taking on damage than a human, the density might actually be higher than a human's.

    Then again, maybe they're just full of air like large, furry balloons.

    Or they are better at taking damage because it's a bigger target with more empty space inside.

    This is fair. They could, in fact, be more like foam.

    Wait! I know what happens. Mass is conserved throughout the process.

    As you can see from your screenshot, the werewolf is naked. Yet, when they transform to wolf, the armour et al is transformed to energy to fuel the process and give them the extra mass, and then upon returning to human form the additional mass once again become armour et al.
  • SwordOfSagas
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    It's daedric magic, as for how it works you'll have to ask Hircine lol.
  • Elvenheart
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    Much like how every time a bell rings an angel gets their wings, every time a werewolf transforms a new Daedra is born.

    Or, to take it further, part of the magic that goes into being a werewolf ties the individual to a Daedra in Hircine’s realm. When one transforms into a werewolf, the transformation consumes the energy of the Daedra, and transforming back reforms the Daedra. This means that there are a lot of Daedra that say, “Oh, not AGAIN!” every time transformations take place!
    Edited by Elvenheart on July 25, 2026 1:16PM
  • katanagirl1
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    Yes, this has always bothered me from a standpoint of physics:

    The law of conservation of mass states that matter can neither be created nor destroyed in a chemical or physical change.
    (From google search)

    The mass of the werewolf is more than the mass of the Khajiit.
    PS5 NA
  • laniakea_0
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    @Panderbander there's really no need for a transformation into energy since there is a much simpler explanation. the mass differential is likely filled by spare Creatia (probably sourced from the Hunting Grounds). when you transform back, it simply goes back to where it came from.
  • Panderbander
    Panderbander
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    laniakea_0 wrote: »
    @Panderbander there's really no need for a transformation into energy since there is a much simpler explanation. the mass differential is likely filled by spare Creatia (probably sourced from the Hunting Grounds). when you transform back, it simply goes back to where it came from.

    Praise be the Eight for producing a world where the laws of physics as we know them are subverted by magic!
    Leader of Lycan Syndicate, PC NA's tri-faction werewolf guild.~~~Played since the beta, got the monkey.~~~"The blood of the pack is now yours. They are your only family, your only allegiance!"
  • Wuuffyy
    Wuuffyy
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    I would like to think it’d have to tie with the fact that lycanthropy in the Elder Scrolls universe stems from Hircine and it’s possible that him (and his ‘god-like’ power) along with his realm would potentially act as both a battery and a potential energy dump as well.

    But again, this is on the same level as ‘wizard space magic’ so who knows at this point, lol.
    Edited by Wuuffyy on July 25, 2026 10:00PM
    Wuuffyy,
    WEREWOLF FINALLY GOT A REWORK AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (sorry I mean... NERF WW, one-bar BAD, DESTROY one-bar builds)
    ESO player since 2014 (Xbox and PC for PTS)
    -new players, feel free to DM for guidance!
  • laniakea_0
    laniakea_0
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    laniakea_0 wrote: »
    @Panderbander there's really no need for a transformation into energy since there is a much simpler explanation. the mass differential is likely filled by spare Creatia (probably sourced from the Hunting Grounds). when you transform back, it simply goes back to where it came from.

    Praise be the Eight for producing a world where the laws of physics as we know them are subverted by magic!

    no, it's basically like converting to energy and right back to creatia.
  • TX12001rwb17_ESO
    TX12001rwb17_ESO
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    They swell up like a Balloon and bones stretch.
  • Attorneyatlawl
    Attorneyatlawl
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    Great Scott! ;) 1.21 gigawatts!!!!!
    Edited by Attorneyatlawl on July 26, 2026 6:54AM
    -First-Wave Closed Beta Tester of the Psijic Order, aka the 0.016 percent.
    Exploits suck. Don't blame just the game, blame the players abusing them!

    -Playing since July 2013, back when we had a killspam channel in Cyrodiil and the lands of Tamriel were roamed by dinosaurs.
    ________________
    -In-game mains abound with "Nerf" in their name. As I am asked occasionally, I do not play on anything but the PC NA Megaserver at this time.
  • wolfie1.0.
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    Two even more fascinating are two additional phenomena:

    Argonians lose their tails and their scales when they transform into werewolves...

    Ember wolfsbane and hater of all wolves will not comment if you are a werewolf and transform in front of her, nor will she if you put her on a wolf mount, or wolf themed armor....
  • Panderbander
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    wolfie1.0. wrote: »
    Two even more fascinating are two additional phenomena:

    Argonians lose their tails and their scales when they transform into werewolves...

    Ember wolfsbane and hater of all wolves will not comment if you are a werewolf and transform in front of her, nor will she if you put her on a wolf mount, or wolf themed armor....

    Me being the evil person I am, placed Zerith Var on the Dro Mothra Senche Raht mount
    Edited by Panderbander on July 26, 2026 8:14AM
    Leader of Lycan Syndicate, PC NA's tri-faction werewolf guild.~~~Played since the beta, got the monkey.~~~"The blood of the pack is now yours. They are your only family, your only allegiance!"
  • spartaxoxo
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    11,144,564,216,337 MEGA JOULES of energy being released

    Even without knowing how much energy a MJ contains, it's easy to see that this is a BIG NUMBER.

    This has got to be one of the funniest threads I've seen in a while LMAO.
  • Ecgberht_confused
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    The fact that Aetherius spills into Mundus prevents both mass and energy conservation. Even the second law of thermodynamics doesn't apply here!
  • LunaFlora
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    this is a pawesome thread
    miaow this is my forum signature! my name is Luna ( she/her ).

    🌸*throws cherry blossom on you*🌸
    "Eagles advance, traveler! And may the Green watch and keep you."
    🦬🦌🐰

    PlayStation EU is my primary server.
    LunaFloraBlossom on PlayStation 5 and PC.
    my main character is a Bosmer Warden named Greehnhart in-game, Greenie Florahart in full.


    all characters on PS EU:
    - Luna Blossom, Bosmer Dragonknight.
    - Dotty Greehnhart, Bosmer Sorcerer.
    - Lía Greehnhart, Khajiit Nightblade.
    - Lady Greehnhart, Altmer Templar. Lady is her name and title.
    - Holly Blossom, Altmer Sorcerer.
    - Sally Jadehart, Argonian Nightblade. Like a green salamander.
    - Dorothy Pizzalover, Orc Warden. add pizzas to the game please.
    - Greehnhart, Bosmer Warden.
    - Lúcia Azurehart, imperial Necromancer. Azureblight, she has a Maarselok outfit.
    - Bunny Rubyhart, Dunmer Nightblade.
    - Wisteria Antheia, Khajiit Templar. blue hair like the wisteria.
    - Cynthia Turquesa, Breton Warden.
    - Rubyhart, Bosmer Nightblade.
    - Hestia Rubyhart, Dunmer Dragonknight.
    - Aurelia Cherryhart, Altmer Warden. Spriggan.
    - Aurora Honey, Redguard Templar. Meridian cultist.
    - Speaks-With-Blossom, Argonian Warden.
    - Lulu Nightshade, Nord Necromancer.
    - Lunetta Gleamblossom, Bosmer Arcanist. Ohmes Khajiit.
    - Dianna Hyacinth, Altmer Arcanist. Maormer, water hyacinth.

    Links to my Housing threads:
    Links to my Fashion threads:
  • arctangent
    arctangent
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    Excess energy released by WW transformation (or any other transformation, for instance Vampire Scions, Storm Atronachs, all those dead monsters y'all kill) is NOT released on Nirn, it is ported back to the Plane the mass came from in the first place:
    The Plane of Garbage, where all the excess clutter goes when it disappears from Nirn.

    If conditions are just right YOU can be ported there too, and visit Recycle City and The Landfill and all the other somewhat smelly regions there. Getting back might be a problem, though.
  • Kiash
    Kiash
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    While it's fun in a RP way, it's definitely an existential threat in BGs haha.
    Edited by Kiash on July 26, 2026 1:53PM
  • HatchetHaro
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    Wait, but where did the 124kg of raw werewolf muscle, fur, and rage come from in the first place? According to E=mc², creating 124kg of matter out of thin air requires absorbing the same 11,144,564,216,337 MJ of heat and energy from the environment!

    Which means that the very moment a person transforms into their werewolf form, they don't just bulk up and grow fur; they violently suck all ambient thermal energy out of the region, instantly plunging the surrounding 22km radius into absolute zero. For context, Tamriel is about 19km wide in-game, which means that each werewolf transformation will flash-freeze the entire continent, its surrounding seas, and all of its inhabitants into solid ice.

    When the werewolf transforms back and releases the mega-nuke, it isn't destroying Tamriel; it's just defrosting it! The blast cancels out the absolute-zero freeze!

    In fact, the werewolf transformations keep Tamriel in thermal equilibrium. Every time someone transforms into a werewolf somewhere, someone else transforms back into their mortal form, and the only explanation for why people don't experience these differences in temperature, outside of some truly Aedric levels of coincidence, is because there are so many werewolves transforming at all times all across Tamriel.

    For someone to perceive a temperature difference, there needs to be a change of at least 0.5°C over ~100 milliseconds. To keep Tamriel's temperature drift within that 0.5°C margin over the 2-second duration of a werewolf's transformation, one werewolf transformation must be accompanied by a werewolf reversion within 30.68 microseconds. What this means is, to maintain Tamriel's thermal consistency, there is a minimum of 32,593 werewolf transformations on Tamriel every second.

    That is a minimum, which assumes that each werewolf transformation is for sure met with a reversion, like an alternating current, and we all know werewolves do not have that level of continent-wide coordination. Given that there is pure statistical randomness with the werewolf transformations, and that those temperature fluctuations need to blur together to below 0.5°C over 100ms: in order to keep Tamriel feeling like it's yet another Morndas, there needs to be an average of about 651,850 werewolf transformations per second, which is about 56.3 billion transformations per day!

    The cold seasons are just some of the werewolves choosing to go into hibernation!

    Edited by HatchetHaro on July 26, 2026 4:28PM
    Best Argonian NA and I will fight anyone for it

    20 Argonians

    7x IR, 7x GH, 8x TTT, 5x GS, 6x DB, 1x PB, 4x SBS, 1x MM, 1x US, 2x CB, 1x Unchained
  • Panderbander
    Panderbander
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    Wait, but where did the 124kg of raw werewolf muscle, fur, and rage come from in the first place? According to E=mc², creating 124kg of matter out of thin air requires absorbing the same 11,144,564,216,337 MJ of heat and energy from the environment!

    Which means that the very moment a person transforms into their werewolf form, they don't just bulk up and grow fur; they violently suck all ambient thermal energy out of the region, instantly plunging the surrounding 22km radius into absolute zero. For context, Tamriel is about 19km wide in-game, which means that each werewolf transformation will flash-freeze the entire continent, its surrounding seas, and all of its inhabitants into solid ice.

    When the werewolf transforms back and releases the mega-nuke, it isn't destroying Tamriel; it's just defrosting it! The blast cancels out the absolute-zero freeze!

    In fact, the werewolf transformations keep Tamriel in thermal equilibrium. Every time someone transforms into a werewolf somewhere, someone else transforms back into their mortal form, and the only explanation for why people don't experience these differences in temperature, outside of some truly Aedric levels of coincidence, is because there are so many werewolves transforming at all times all across Tamriel.

    For someone to perceive a temperature difference, there needs to be a change of at least 0.5°C over ~100 milliseconds. To keep Tamriel's temperature drift within that 0.5°C margin over the 2-second duration of a werewolf's transformation, one werewolf transformation must be accompanied by a werewolf reversion within 30.68 microseconds. What this means is, to maintain Tamriel's thermal consistency, there is a minimum of 32,593 werewolf transformations on Tamriel every second.

    That is a minimum, which assumes that each werewolf transformation is for sure met with a reversion, like an alternating current, and we all know werewolves do not have that level of continent-wide coordination. Given that there is pure statistical randomness with the werewolf transformations, and that those temperature fluctuations need blur together to below 0.5°C over 100ms, in order to keep Tamriel feeling like it's yet another Morndas, there needs to be an average of about 651,850 werewolf transformations per second, which is about 56.3 billion transformations per day!

    The cold seasons are just some of the werewolves choosing to go into hibernation!

    You have some intriguing ideas. We may have to collaborate our research efforts!
    Leader of Lycan Syndicate, PC NA's tri-faction werewolf guild.~~~Played since the beta, got the monkey.~~~"The blood of the pack is now yours. They are your only family, your only allegiance!"
  • Gabriel_H
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    spartaxoxo wrote: »
    11,144,564,216,337 MEGA JOULES of energy being released

    Even without knowing how much energy a MJ contains, it's easy to see that this is a BIG NUMBER.

    This has got to be one of the funniest threads I've seen in a while LMAO.

    I think you mean furriest!

    I'll see myself out
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