I knew from the beginning all of my villains would have their roots in Judeo-Christian folklore. But I wanted to tie them into something else as well, and just as ancient. Greek mythology gave me the link.

In the Bible, Cain is the first murderer and his reward is to roam the earth. God places a curse on him, so that no one will touch him. We're never told what this could be. Was he marked in some way? Did looking at him give you a bad feeling to make you avoid him?

In Greek mythology, there is a man who is punished for the sin of cannabalism. Zeus curses him by turning him into a wolf to roam the earth. His name is Lycaon, which if you know about werewolves, is where we get their alternate name, lycans.

There is a fear associated with these men as bloodthirsty killers. Wolves probably don't scare us as much now, but in societies where wolves prowled and attacked your herds, they were an evil menace worthy of being condemned as bloodthirsty monsters. It doesn't take much to connect Cain, a curse, and wolf.