Werebears are the bear-shaped cousins of the werewolf, and in Skyrim they only show up on the island of Solstheim with the Dragonborn expansion. Folklore claims the province is crawling with them, but the Last Dragonborn will not meet a single one on the mainland. Unlike lycanthropy of the wolfish kind, this is not a curse the player can catch: you can fight werebears, summon one and even help one, but you can never become one.
In practical terms they behave much like werewolves, sharing the same animations and sounds. One oddity follows from this: werebears stand on their toes like werewolves do, whereas the ordinary bears of Skyrim walk flat-footed.
Where to find them
- Snowclad Ruins – a pack of three werebears waits here, first visible in human shape before they transform and attack.
- Random encounters – packs of three can appear in the Solstheim wilderness. A transformed werebear may change back into a human after a while.
- Filial Bonds – Wulf Wild-Blood asks for help finding his brother Torkild, who has become a werebear.
Conjure Werebear
Cleansing the Beast Stone during the quest “Cleansing the Stones” grants the Conjure Werebear power, letting you call one of these brutes to fight on your side for a while.
Lore
The book On Lycanthropy describes Skyrim as heavily infested with werebears and explains why some folk crush canis root and smear it on the trees around their homes: it is believed to keep werebears away. Solstheim, an island once held by Skyrim, was used in the past by the Daedric Prince Hircine as a hunting ground for his lycanthropes, which helps explain why the beasts gather there.
Not every scholar is convinced. The anthropology enthusiast Lentulus Inventius, a member of the Order of the Horn, looked into the rumours and found almost nothing reliable. His only credible lead was an account from Karsten Hammer-Back involving lycanthrope hunters of the Silver Hand; everything else he put down to folk tales grown out of ordinary but vicious bear attacks.
Elsewhere in Tamriel, werebears are said to be the most common breed of lycanthrope, with reports from High Rock, Cyrodiil and Morrowind as well. Even M’aiq the Liar has an opinion, though it amounts to a confused question about men who are bears.
Notes
The werebear was first shown at the Bethesda Game Jam, alongside the Vampire Lord. Unlike werewolves, some werebears revert to human form when they die.
