Editing Werejaguar (section)

==Ravenloft==
[[File:Werejaguar MCR3.png|right|300px]]
[[File:Werejaguar VRG 1.jpg|left|300px]]
The werejaguars of the [[Demiplane of Dread]] appeared in the Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix and [[Van Richten's Guide]] to Werebeasts for [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], and were then converted to [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition]] in the Denizens of Darkness (3.0)/Dread (3.5) [[splatbook]]s. They are also are ''very'' different to their counterparts on other words. Not just because of their Lawful Neutral alignment, which would be odd enough given that most of the other [[werecat]]s are some flavor of Evil, but because they're not technically shapeshifters...

See, when a victim succumbs to the Ravenloftian werejaguar curse, they are '''permanently''' trapped in the form of a humanoid jaguar! Their old memories fade away to dim impressions, and the werejaguar falls in with the rest of the troop, abandoning its former life to pursue the troop's lifestyle..

In general, Ravenloftian werejaguars are a reclusive people who inhabit ancient jungle ruins and carefully tend to the balance of nature in their home territory, almost like a twisted tropical parody of the typical [[druid]] or [[ranger]]. In fact, most werejaguars avoid consuming sapient humanoid flesh, as they find the taste abhorrent; they will defend their territory with lethal zeal, but otherwise are quite content to just let their neighbors be if they are left alone.

...Except that their creator couldn't make up their mind, because after saying the above, their offical lore includes the following entry:
::''When outsiders enter their lands, werejaguars will often hunt them for sport. A victim will be toyed with, catching only fleeting glimpses of the lightning quick cats as they dart to and fro in the jungle. This torment can continue for hours or days, depending upon how fearful the prey is. Only when the cats tire of their fun will they move in for the kill. When that happens, they strike quickly and without mercy.''

This may be explained by the fact that particularly large werejaguar troops may be led by an unusually malevolent alpha, one that will lead its followers to roam far outside of its territory, hunting down all sentient species it comes across.

If one must battle werejaguars, they are dangerous foes indeed; in addition to being able to move through the jungle with incredible stealth, and being almost impossible to surprise in turn, they lack the iconic weakness to silver weaponry. Instead, those hoping to fight these monsters without magical weapons must turn to their own unique weaknesses: the wood of the ebony tree, which deals deadly blows to them, and fire, which they have both a physical weakness against and a natural terror of.