Howler

Howler is an American action-supernatural-comedy video game series created by Daniel Wright, being developed by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment since October 30th, 2007.

Synopsis

Set in a town known as Shadow Falls, after being bitten by a strange wolf, a young adult turns into a werewolf at night and ends up dealing with various threats.

First Game

After getting bitten by a strange wolf while being out with his friends, he ends up having the ability to turn into a werewolf at night. Soon, things get worse for him when a monster hunter named Jeanette sees him and attempts to go after him. After making friends with a group of supernatural creatures, Howler tries to save himself and all of the innocent supernatural beings from Jeanette while unintentionally getting himself into other supernatural threats.

Lost in Hawaii

When Howler and his friends get into a freak accident at Wylda's hut, they are accidentally sent to Hawaii. Soon, they discover a cult who plans to rule over Hawaii. Can Howler stop them before they reach their goal?

The Dark Virus

When a strange dark entity spreads a virus across Shadow Falls, Howler, along with Wylda, Lex, and The Naga (surprisingly), must find the cure and defeat the dark entity who is responsible for it.

Night of the Cthulhu

Howler and his friends head out of Shadow Falls for a vacation, only to soon end up into a strange area where Lovecraftian monsters roam around.

The Great War

Things start getting crazy in the Shadow Falls forest when a ghoul general wants to cause a war. Howler and the others, who are all against the idea for a war, head out to stop him.

Stuck in Dream Land

While sleeping, a strange entity named Doctor Dream traps Howler and his friends into a place called Dream Land. Discovering that they're all in separated areas, they try to find a way to get back with each other and escape Dream Land.

Characters

Main

• Jeffrey Morrison/Howler (voiced by Charlie Schlatter in his human form and Kevin Michael Richardson in his werewolf form) - a shy and well-meaning young adult who can turn into a werewolf at full moon, being out to revert his state while he fights threats whenever he has to.

Supporting

Introduced in First Game

• Bella Stoker (voiced by Jennifer Hale) - a generally kind vampire who is Howler's love interest, often aiding him.
• The Ghost Twins, consisting of:
  • George (voiced by Jeff Bennett) - a ghost boy who is usually happy and likes to goof off.
  • Georgia (voiced by Kat Cressida) - a ghost girl who, unlike George, is more serious and more mature. However, even so, she still cares about her brother.
• Frank N. Stein (voiced by John DiMaggio) - a Frankenstein monster who is unintelligent. Despite that, however, he gets random bursts of intelligence. It is later explained by Bella Stoker that he has "multi-intelligence disorder", making him smart at times and stupid at other times.
• Greg (voiced by Doug Lawrence) - a gargoyle who is immature and is usually a narcissist.
• Lex the Lynx (vocal effects by Dee Bradley Baker) - a dimwitted lynx who acts like a cat and loves to play. He was rescued by George when a grizzly bear tried to eat him once.
• Wylda (voiced by Kimberly Brooks) - a witch who likes making potions and casting spells, either helping or harming someone. However, whenever her potions/spells harm someone, it's usually unintentional.
• The Zombie Duo, consisting of:
  • Zachariah (voiced by Keith Ferguson) - a zombie who is stupid.
  • Zoey (voiced by Nika Futterman) - a zombie who is also stupid, though is shown to be slightly smarter than Zachariah.
• Mayor Vlad Dracula (voiced by Clancy Brown) - a vampire who is the mayor of the forest all of the supernatural creatures in Shadow Falls live.
• Phillip (voiced by Bumper Robinson) - a fun-loving young adult who is one of Howler's friends he hangs out with whenever it's daytime and he's not hanging out with his supernatural friends. However, he and Lacey end up finding out Howler's secret in Howler 3.
• Lacey (voiced by Mae Whitman) - a studious young adult who is also one of Howler's friends he hangs out with. Just like with Phillip, it's usually whenever it's daytime and Howler's not hanging out with his supernatural friends. However, she and Phillip end up finding out Howler's secret in Howler 3.
• Boris Morrison (voiced by Fred Tatasciore) - Jeffrey's strange father who has a high interest in the supernatural.
• Lisa Morrison (voiced by Susanne Blakeslee) - Jeffrey's mother who is really caring and protective of Jeffrey/Howler.

Introduced in The Nightstalker

• Kris and Kloe (voiced by Ashley Johnson and Lacey Chabert, respectively) - two twin kitsunes who both have a crush on Howler, despite him dating Bella.
• Jacky (voiced by Tim Curry) - a fictional evil clown character who is from George's favorite show, The Clown & Dinosaur Show.
  • Rex (voiced by Charlie Adler) - a fictional Tyrannosaurus rex character who is Jacky's partner crime.

Introduced in Lost in Hawaii

• Akamai (voiced by Kate Higgins) - a beautiful Hulu girl who Greg falls in love with.

Introduced in The Great War

• Sasha (voiced by Alanna Ubach) - a succubus who was an antagonist in Howler 6, but redeemed when she gets betrayed by the General.

Introduced in Stuck in Dream Land

• Liz the Lizard (vocal effects by Frank Welker) - a lizard who became Lex's best friend next to George. She was first introduced in the franchise in Howler: The Mirror World.

Introduced in Rise of the Werewolf King

• Gwen (voiced by Kath Soucie) - a ghost woman who is the Ghost Twins' mother, being pretty beautiful and very caring of her children.
• Ophelia (also voiced by Ashley Johnson) - a vampire who is rather naïve about the world around her.
• Ogrek (voiced by Kevin Grevioux) - a stern ogre who loathes King Lycan after what he and his werewolf allies did to his hometown and now leads a group of supernatural creatures who are also against King Lycan.
  • Monto (voiced by TBD) - a feisty minotaur who is willing to attack King Lycan and destroy his kingdom.
  • Swasher (voiced by TBD) - a grumpy swamp monster who joined Ogrek's group since King Lycan and his allies ruined his entire swamp home.

Introduced in Crystal Clear

• Crystella (voiced by Colleen Villard) - a cheerful yet serious blue fairy who lives in and rules the huge cave where the mystical crystals are kept, as she ends up helping Howler and his friends on getting the crystals back before the villain who took them ends up gaining lots of power from using them.

Introduced in spin-offs

• Roy Whitney (voiced by Josh Keaton) - a man who is a conspiracy theorist as he helps Jeanette to find Desire.

Antagonists

Introduced in First Game

• Jeanette Helsing (voiced by Vanessa Marshall) - a woman who wants to eradicate all supernatural beings, whether they're good or bad.
• The Naga (voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz) - a giant snake with humanoid arms who constantly tries to kidnap Howler and/or his friends, but always fails miserably. He is basically a recurring character.
• The Black Knight (voiced by Greg Eagles) - a ghostly knight figure who tries to take over the Shadow Falls forest.
• The Headless Horseman (voiced by Crispin Freeman) - a headless horseman who wants to scare people.
• Mr. Impton (voiced by John Kassir) - a greedy Imp who loves to steal stuff for fun.
• Gold Statue (voiced by Catherine Taber) - a golden living human statue who guards a cave.

Introduced in The Nightstalker

• The Nightstalker (voiced by Keith David) - a demonic entity who is out to conquer Shadow Falls.
• Shadow Howler (voiced by Robin Atkin Downes) - a shadow werewolf that is an evil version of Jeffrey/Howler created by the Nightstalker.
• The Cockatrice (vocal effects by Frank Welker) - a two-legged dragon monster with a rooster's head.
• Baba Yaga (voiced by Tress MacNeille) - an ugly-looking woman who uses a pestle.
• Chimera (voiced by Rob Paulsen (lion), Charlie Adler (goat), and Maurice LaMarche (snake)) - a lion-goat-snake hybrid.
• Medusa (also voiced by Susanne Blakeslee) - a female human creature called a Gorgon with snakes for her hair that can turn anyone who looks at her into stone.

Introduced in Lost in Hawaii

• Mau Taioo (voiced by Jim Cummings) - a Hawaiian cult leader who aims to rule over Hawaii.
  • Leilani (also voiced by Colleen Villard) - a member of the cult who is Mau's second-in-command.
• Kaupe (voiced by Patrick Seitz) - a malicious spirit that lures people to their death.
• Naggette (voiced by Jill Talley) - Naga's grouchy mother.

Introduced in The Dark Virus

• Shade (voiced by Ron Perlman) - an entity of darkness who was responsible for spreading the virus.

Introduced in Night of the Cthulhu

• The Cthulhu (voiced by Michael Dorn) - a giant octopus-human-dragon hybrid who aims on enslaving mankind.
• Kassogtha (voiced by Debra Wilson) - Cthulhu's mate who TBD.
• Angelica, Sergei and Buddy (voiced by Kari Wahlgren, Rob Paulsen, and Charlie Adler, respectively) - a trio of imps who love to cause chaos.
• Dagon (voiced by Dave Boat) - a reptile-like humanoid entity who TBD.
• Mi-Go (voiced by Kirk Thornton) - a crustacean-like entity who TBD.
• Yog-Sothoth (voiced by Dave B. Mitchell) - TBD
• Shub-Niggurath (voiced by Wendie Malick) - a large entity who TBD.
• Nyarlathotep (voiced by TBD) - a dark humanoid entity who TBD.

Introduced in The Great War

• The General (voiced by Chris Williams) - a corrupt ghoul general who wants to start a war.
• Skull Banshee (voiced by Vanessa Williams) - a skeleton/banshee hybird.
• Razor (voiced by Christopher Judge) - a monstrous wolf/vampire hybrid.

Introduced in Stuck in Dream Land

• Doctor Dream (voiced by Steven Blum) - a strange entity who trapped Howler and his friends in Dream Land.
• The Cloud Colossus (voiced by Tim Blaney) - a giant cloud-like creature.
• Mona, Lisa and Joan (voiced by Rachael MacFarlane, Stephanie Sheh, and Cindy Robinson, respectively) - three Dullahans who act like cheerleaders.
• Golden Clown (voiced by Mark Hamill) - an evil clown who wears golden clothes.
• Fire Starter (also voiced by Steven Blum) - a fire being who causes large fires.
• Brain Crusher (voiced by David Kaye) - a giant brain-like being who attempts to steal other brains and crush them.
• Lady of the Mirror (voiced by Erica Lindbeck) - a feminine figure who is able to get inside mirrors and pop out of them to grab her figures.
• King Cuviper (vocal effects by Frank Welker) - a cucumber-like snake creature.

Introduced in Rise of the Werewolf King

• King Lycan (voiced by Terrence C. Carson) - a werewolf who claims himself as king of the werewolves.
• Queen Rema (voiced by Kelly Hu) - a seductive werewolf who claims herself as the queen of werewolves and is Lycan's wife.
• Snarl (voiced by Matthew Mercer) - a psychotic werewolf who is a personal enforcer of Lycan.
• Aleskie (voiced by Kaiji Tang) - a brutal werewolf who is also a personal enforcer of Lycan.

Introduced in Crystal Clear

• Shash (voiced by Seth Green) - an egotistical and arrogant short blue elf who is obsessed with mystical crystals and the powers they give out as he stole all of Crystella's crystals in hopes of making himself the most powerful creature in Shadow Falls forest.

Introduced in spin-offs

• Desire (voiced by Grey Griffin) - a spirit-like humanoid who is responsible for killing off Jeanette's parents back when she was a little girl.
• The Owlman (vocal effects by Frank Welker) - an owl-like humanoid who flies around the sky above Shadow Falls, looking for unsuspecting victims.

Common gameplay

Howler plays as a 3D platformer as the goal is to get from one level to the next. Each world has six levels as Howler is capable of going into each level in any order. Howler is capable of slashing, climbing up some edges and howling as each of these abilities can be used to progress.

Games

Main

1. Howler (2007)
2. Howler 2: The Nightstalker (2009)
3. Howler 3: Lost in Hawaii (2011)
4. Howler 4: The Dark Virus (2015)
5. Howler 5: Night of the Cthulhu (2017)
6. Howler 6: The Great War (2019)
7. Howler 7: Stuck in Dream Land (2020)
8. Howler 8: Rise of the Werewolf King (2021)
9. Howler 9: Crystal Clear (2022)
10. Howler 10: All Star (2024)

Spin-offs

1. Jeanette the Monster Slayer (2016)
2. The Monster Slayer Society (2020)
3. Bella's Vampiric Adventure (2023)

Spin-off series

1. Howler: Racers Across Shadow Falls (2017-present)

Media

Television

• Howler (Cartoon Network, 2019-present)

Films

Theatrical

• Howler (2019)
• Howler and the Misery Bringer (2021)
• Howler vs. the Mysterious Mind Feeder (2024)

Direct-to-video

• Howler: Attack of the Shadow Army (2011)
• Howler: The Mirror World (2019)

Books

Comic books

• Howler (2012-present)
• Lex's Origins (2018)
• Four Young Witches (2020-present)
• Howler: Backstories (2020-2021)

Merchandise

See Howler/Merchandise.

Reception

Critical response

The franchise received very positive reviews from critics and fans alike, with fans praising it for its humor, writing, and animation.

In addition, fans claim [The original, Nightstalker, Lost in Hawaii, The Dark Virus, Night of the Cthulhu, The Great War, Dream Land, or Werewolf King, or Crystal Clear?] to be the best game entry of the franchise yet.

Tropes

See Howler/Tropes.

Gallery

Jeffrey Morrison/Howler (In his werewolf form).

Jeffrey Morrison/Howler (in his human form).

Bella Stoker.

George.

Georgia.

Frank N. Stein.

Greg.

Lex the Lynx.

Liz the Lizard.

Gwen.

Wylda.

Zachariah.

Zoey.

Phillip.

Lacey.

Crystella.

Jeanette Helsing.

Younger Jeanette.

The Naga.

Mr. Impton.

Shadow Howler.

Shade.

Desire.

Razor.

Jacky and Rex.

Trivia

• Bella's name is a pun on the names of the actor, Bela Lugosi, and the writer, Bram Stoker.
• According to Daniel in an interview, Howler started off as a short comic he made back in 1992 when he was in high school to impress his friends, as it was about a werewolf and a vampire (whose names were Wayne and Vicky) capturing humans, only to fail miserably at the end.
• Fans believed that the characters, Georgia and Lex, were inspired by Rachael and Bulk from Daniel Wright's previous work, Me and a Different Dimension.
• In Howler 3: Lost in Hawaii, it has been confirmed that Shadow Falls is located in Massachusetts.
• Throughout the series, starting in Howler 2, the wolf that bit Jeffrey has been making cameos.