Woge

Woge (VOH-gə; Germ. Wogen "surge"), named from the psychological impulse that drives it, refers to the act of morphing into one's Wesen form; it is used as a gerund. In the Grimm series, English-speaking Wesen disregard the grammatical rules surrounding verbs, using anglicized forms "woge" and "woges".

As Woge is impulse-driven, a dead Wesen will woge back (or "retract") into human form. Likewise, a Wesen tends to enter Woge once they perceive something as a threat come close to their vicinity. As such, to voluntarily enter one without necessary cause could take a while, as seen in, where it took Monroe a few seconds to shift into his Blutbad form.

Monroe describes it as painful to some degree, but one eventually gets used to the sensation. Woge only affects the Wesen's body, and not any item they may have on their person, such as clothes.

At lesser levels of Woge, often triggered by emotion, a Wesen may reveal its true form only to Grimms and other Wesen within the vicinity. Normal people would see no difference. But if they so will it, Wesen can invoke their Woge to a level where their morphing could be seen by normal people.

Monroe once referred to the event as "the first time you 'fang out.'" It is hinted that it doesn't occur immediately after birth, but might at an early age. In, William Granger says that Drang-Zorns do not experience their first woge until around age 13. Until a Wesen woges for the first time, they may not be aware of what they are until such time. This is similar to how Grimms do not manifest their abilities until they are much older.

Many Wesen develop an ability to woge on demand by rolling their heads or other specific movements; others may find it difficult to do on demand.

Varying degrees of woge
Woge can occur in different degrees, a higher degree of woge yielding a more complete transformation. One particular Wesen, the Jägerbar, has even been observed in a complete transformation into a grizzly bear when naked.

Many Wesen have been observed partially transforming, and most known Wesen have been observed transforming only to a degree detectable by a Grimm. Blutbaden, Balam and Drang-Zorn have demonstrated being able to shift partially by localizing the Woge around their eyes. Blutbaden's eyes turn into a fiery red, Drang-Zorn's turn green, and Balam's eyes turn amber. Others have only partially woged before, such as Doug Shellow morphing only his arm.

There also appears to be a large degree of separation between the human and Wesen forms. One Klaustreich showed scars on his face, clearly sustained during a past fight, every time he transformed yet did not possess scars on his human form. A male Dämonfeuer also demonstrated this as his human face, but not his Wesen face, was badly damaged. A male Coyotl had a scar over the left side of his face and what appeared to be a blind right eye when woged but had none of these injuries while in human form.

Also, the fact that the injuries kept appearing when transforming suggests that injuries sustained when in one body doesn't have any effect on the other and that Woge does not reset either the Wesen or Human forms and that injuries sustained are permanent.

On the other hand, it should also be noted that some species seem incapable of becoming totally human and their Wesen forms and abilities blur together with their human bodies to a greater or lesser degree. One such Wesen is the Siegbarste who retain their dense bone structure and high tolerance for pain even in their human form. Hexenbiests are also known to retain their marks upon their tongues at both human and Wesen forms. Many types of Wesen (namely canid Wesen) have shown to have enhanced senses without morphing, and Blutbaden have also consistently displayed being inhumanly strong while in their human forms. Spinnetods also retain their regenerative abilities despite being in human shape.

Some Wesen can tell if their own is being truthful or not via their woge.

Wieder Wesen
Wieder Wesen are Wesen who have mastered control of their Woge. Wieder Wesen often adopt an almost entirely harmless lifestyle, either by choice or out of necessity.

For example, the Wieder Blutbad Monroe switched to a vegan diet to help himself avoid having to confront his Woge, while the Wieder Spinnetod Charlotte experiences the effects of rapid aging since she is unable to molt without consuming human entrails. She also refrains from wearing shiny things, because Spinnetoden are attracted to them and she is resisting her impulses.

They may show signs of "giving in" by instinct, as seen when Monroe shifted into Blutbad form after seeing several kids ride past him, but this is often short-lived. Typically, they only succumb to their Woge for defensive purposes; and thus offer themselves an edge during confrontations.

Loss of Woge ability
In Hexenbiester, the ingestion of a Grimm's blood causes the Wesen within the individual to die, and the person is unable to woge into a Wesen form again, effectively rendering the person a normal human.

Woge retraction disorder
In some rare cases, a Wesen may not be able to retract or woge back following the transformation. Four such cases were caused by a sudden drop in supply from a subcutaneous drug pump that pumped homeopathic herbs, spices, and traces steroid amounts into the bloodstream of Wildermänner.

This was also accompanied by a wild rampage. This may be attributed to the Wesen developing a dependency on the drug that suppresses their woge, since after it ran out, they begin to exhibit dangerous symptoms