Zodeanthropic Polymorphism

Zodeanthropic polymorphism, or "zodeanthroposis", is the collective name given to any curse or disease that causes physical transformation in an afflicted individual involving animalistic attributes. The most common form of zodeanthroposis is lycanthropy, a curse that involves a transformation into a bestial wolf-like creature. Prior to the discovery of the broader condition, many believed lycanthropy to be the source of all transformations, regardless of animal involved. As zodeanthroposis is most commonly transmitted from animals to sapients, the frequency with which people would contract lycanthropy while the wolf was being domesticated is often seen as the reason for the misunderstanding. In truth, lycanthropy is a substrain of zodeanthroposis, often referred to as "lupine zodeanthroposis". There are a vast number of strains of zodeanthroposis, with the strain determining the associated animal. This also means that the strain of zodeanthroposis is conditional on the condition's animal of origin, though the resulting form and kind of zodeanthroposis do not.
There are two dominant forms of zodeanthroposis: true and hybrid. True zodeanthroposis involves transformations into an animal form indistinguishable from other members of the species, similar to a druid's ability to Wild Shape. In contrast, hybrid zodeanthroposis involves partial transformations, creating the kinds of half-man, half-animal "beast" forms most commonly associated with descriptions of lycanthropy.
Likewise, there are three kinds of zodeanthroposis: willful, cursed, and progressive. Willful zodeanthroposis grants the afflicted full control over their transformation, allowing them to shift between their forms at will. Notably, this is the only "synthetic" version of zodeanthroposis that exists, as it was created on accident while alchemists were attempting to discovera cure for zodeanthroposis. In contrast, cursed zodeanthroposis involves entirely involuntary transformations occurring under specific circumstances. Much like the hybrid form of the condition, cursed zodeanthroposis is the kind most commonly associated with zodeanthroposis due to the frequency with which it manifested in those with lycanthropy. The third kind, progressive zodeanthroposis, is a much more grim outcome, as it involves a single, one-way transformation into the "beast" form, with no known method of reversal.