Once pariahs in Garou society, trying times have led to the partial reintegration of the Metis breed into the ranks of the Garou. A Garou born from two Garou parents is called a Metis and is invariably deformed as a result of this inbreeding. A half-wolf Garou is called a lupus, and is born as a wolf. A half-human Garou are called a homid, and is born in homid form. The circumstances of their parentage determines their breed. Most often, Garou are born to one human and one Garou parent but in families (both wolf and human) where Garou blood is especially strong, Homid or Lupus Garou sometimes are born from non-shapeshifting parents. A Garou's extended non-shapechanging family is called its Kinfolk.
As dual beings (being both wolves and men), Garou can (and do) interbreed with both species. In the World of Darkness, lycanthropy is not a disease but a heritable trait. Instead, they are depicted as defenders of Mother Earth and its Umbra (or spirit world). Unlike werewolves in most traditional folklore, Garou in Werewolf: The Apocalypse are neither mindless predators nor lunatics.
There are: glabro physically strong and brutish humans, crinos the traditional wolf-man, and hispo wolves of unnatural size and strength. Created by (and in most cases fighting on the side of) a force known as Gaia, Garou are shapeshifters capable of changing their physical form at will to appear as humans (a form they call homid), wolves ( lupus), or several intermediary mixed forms.
The Garou are beings of both physical strength and spiritual depth.