Werewolves are common in fantasy or horror stories I'm familiar with, so are werecats and werebears. The shamanistic belief that humans can become animals and change back to human, technically called "lycanthropy" (but if you know Greek roots you'll see the word "wolf" in there) has been applied to various animals in various cultures throughout the world in ancient beliefs but also in stories of more modern times. Almost always the "were" creatures are large land mammals (though island cultures do include some sea creatures). So in Africa, where I happen to be at the moment, there exist beliefs in what we could call "were-" jackals, giraffes, lions, hippos, and elephants in traditional animistic religions. Now, there probably exists a story about a "werelephant" somewhere, but I've never heard of it. It certainly isn't common, so since this blog is always looking for new or uncommon story ideas, there might be so...
Thoughts on stories, the universe, and everything.