Jacob Russoff was the elder of two children sired by Gregory Russoff, a Transylvanian baron and scholar. Russoff's ancestor Grigori first brought lycanthropy (turning into a werewolf) upon the family when in 1795 he tried to rescue his wife, Louisa, from the vampire-king Vlad Dracula and was bitten by a female werewolf. Because his children were born before that event, Grigori's descendants did not immediately become werewolves themselves; however, the curse on the Russoff family only needed a catalyst to trigger it. In the mid 1950s Gregory Russoff, great-great-grandson of Grigori, acquired a copy of the Darkhold, which includes the secret origin of lycanthropy. By reading that passage, Gregory activated the curse and became a werewolf. He sent his wife, Laura, to her native America with their children for their own protection. Gregory was eventually killed by an angry mob.
Laura Russoff married again, to a man named Russell. Jacob Russoff became Jack Russell, and with his sister Lissa was raised in Los Angeles. When he turned 18, the curse struck him in turn and he became a werewolf.
For about two years, Russell became a werewolf by night during the full moon. He took precautions to lock himself up, but sometimes the wolf escaped. During that time he never took a human life, although several of the persons he encountered were scarred or crippled. As a werewolf, Russell encountered Moon Knight, the Hangman, Sarnak, Doctor Glitternight, the Hunchback, Tigra, and DePrayve.
Mysterious beings known as "The Three Who Are All" partially lifted Russell's curse: he could change shape voluntarily at any time and retain his human intellect while in werewolf form. He became an occasional crimefighter, once encountering Iron Man in New York. Unfortunately, the curse still applied on nights of the full moon, when the wolf's mind supplanted Russell's. He designed a virtually escape-proof cell for those times.
Russell worked with Dr. Karl Malus, a medical researcher in L.A., to solve his problem. Malus instead used an experimental machine to subvert his will. The original Spider-Woman helped him escape, but a month later, he found that Malus's treatments had unintended consequences. He lost control over his transformations, and his werewolf form became even more lupine, with longer ears and snout, curved spine, and canine legs.
A devil-worshipping cult led by Schuyler Belial tried to capture Russell for use in a satanic ritual. If they sacrificed a werewolf and transfused his blood with theirs, they believed they would become werewolves themselves. For almost a year he fled from the cult. With help from Moon Knight, Russell finally confronted the cultists, and several of them died in the melee.
Returning to Los Angeles, Russell found that his werewolf side was becoming stronger each month. He contacted Morbius|Dr. Michael Morbius for help, but he escaped and had to be subdued by the West Coast Avengers.
With more control of himself, Russell met Iron Man again while rescuing his sister from Morgan le Fay. Recently, he joined Dr. Michael Morbius's new team, the midnight sons. Jack Russell remains a reluctant adventurer, though, hoping that one day he can lift the curse.
Lycanthropy: Jack Russell can transform himself into a werewolf, which is a human/wolf hybrid of supernatural origin, through sheer force of will, usually by meditating on the image of a full moon. While in that form, he retains his normal intellect, is capable of speech (with some difficulty), and looks more like the classic werewolf. During a full moon, however, he changes involuntarily, loses his cognitive abilities, and looks more like a wolf than a human.
Superhuman Strength: The Werewolf possesses superhuman strength. While in his intermediate form, he is able to lift about 1,500 lbs. His more wolf-like form, during a full moon, is somewhat more powerful and he is capable of lifting at 1 ton. His strength also extends into the muscles of his legs, allowing him to leap, from a crouch, roughly 18 feet into the air.
Superhuman Stamina: The Werewolf's musculature produces less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of an ordinary human, granting him superhuman levels of stamina. He can exert himself at peak capacity for several hours before fatigue begins to impair him.
Superhuman Agility: The Werewolf's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of even the finest human athlete.
Superhuman Reflexes: The Werewolf's reflexes are similarly enhanced and are roughly twice as fast as those of the finest human athlete.
Superhumanly Acute Senses: The werewolf has superhumanly the acute senses of sight, smell, and hearing similar to those of an actual wolf. He can see part of the infrared spectrum and thus detect the heat signatures of objects or people in total darkness. He can smell other living creatures within 100 feet (when upwind) and follow a scent over nearly any terrain. He can hear the sound of a heartbeat in a cave at a distance of 30 feet.
Claws and Teeth: The Werewolf's claws and teeth are extremely sharp and tough, enabling him to rend through a variety of substances including fabric, wood, cinderblock, and even some metals.
Regenerative Healing Factor: The Werewolf is capable of regenerating damaged or destroyed areas of his body with much greater speed and efficiency than an ordinary human. Injuries that result in massive tissue damage such as bullet wounds, slashes, punctures, blunt force trauma, and severe burns heal completely, without so much as a scar, in a short amount of time. His ability to heal is at least 10 times that of a human.
Template:Power Grid
Abilities
The Werewolf is a formidable hand to hand combatant, although he has had no formal training. He also has some expertise in dealing with occult and supernatural forces.
Weaknesses
The Werewolf has a special vulnerability to objects or weapons composed of silver. Silver is useful against many supernatural or demonic creatures due to it's mystical purity. If he recieves what would be a fatal injury to an ordinary human, such as being shot through the heart, with a silver bullet, he will die within a matter of minutes. If he is merely injured by a silver weapon, it will take him much longer to heal than it would from being injured by a weapon composed of conventional material.
Notes
Jack Russell's sister, Lissa, was cured of lycanthropy soon after her first transformation at age 18 by the sorcerer named Taboo, who mystically took her curse upon himself.
The character's name may be an unintentional pun. There is a breed of terrier called "Jack Russell."
Werewolf by Night was one of the characters featured in the series of Marvel Value Stamps issued in the 1970's. File:Werewolf Marvel Value Stamp.jpg
Marvel Value Stamp #7
Trivia
In the early years of his curse, Russell looked more like the classic "Wolf Man" (as in the 1941 film). After his appearance in Moon Knight #29, he began to look more like a real wolf.
