Ghost Analysis Time!
Been forever since I posted these but hopefully not the last! Here’s my analysis on the lovably wolf man, Wulf!
Possible Backstory/Death
Before his death, Wulf was known as Alejandro Guadalupe Rivera; “Lupe” by friends and family. He was the oldest of a family of five who owned a bakery together in a small town in Texas. But, with his brothers they would also be known as “coyotes”, people who smuggled others across the border for a fee. They were careful as they were efficient in doing this dangerous work, particularly in who to trust and who to believe. Yet, they still felt that what they did for these people was helping make a great difference in their lives, Lupe especially. He was the one to lead these people to a new land of freedom even if it would cost him his own. Having as many risks as it did, Lupe never could have imagined that death would be the one to claim him in the end.
Appearance/Influences
I believe Wulf may have died around the late 1980s to early 1990s. His hoodie and sweatpants being my best clue to this theory as these clothing items spiked in popularity around this time period due to the emergence of hip hop culture and Norma Kamali’s Sweatshirt Collection; both which made it a huge fashion trend at the time. So, the likelihood of there being a green hoodie and matching sweatpants available to purchase is higher than in any other time period prior. It also means he was working/died during the fall or winter time since anywhere near the U.S-Mexico border is averaged to hit between 30°F to 50°F at night.
Aside from attire, Wulf is considered a werewolf or anthropomorphic wolf in the show. Though, for some reason he reminds me of a combination of a wolf and a coyote based on his features compared to another ghost wolf in the show. While I may be looking at just a small detail here, it should be noted that Wulf has long pointed ears similar to a coyote which compared to the ghost wolf, who has short/rounded ears, shows that this is not a common feature for wolf ghosts to have along with his sabertooth like teeth. I feel like that due to his previous profession and his nickname “Lupe” meaning “Wolf” in Spanish were the two main factors caused his ghostly form to change into what it is now in the show. He is an animal hybrid ghost after all; I can imagine various factors/memories of the individual’s past play a factor towards their identity as a ghost once their form begins to change as a result of their obsession taking over after a certain period of time.
Other than his animalistic features, the scar on his snout region was courtesy of Bullet, Walker’s second in command. If you’ve read my previous ghost analyses, you’ll know that Bullet and Wulf have a history/hatred against one another prior to Bullet joining the GZPD. While that scar remains a reminder of their first encounter, Wulf isn’t bothered by it much unlike Bullet who lost his eye/depth perception from that scuffle.
Motives/Obsession
Obviously, Wulf’s obsession is relative to freedom as each episode he’s in was always about evading Walker and the GZPD. Yet, he has selflessly helped friends who he barely met for a day be freed despite the risks it has on his own freedom. It can be said that helping those he deems as friends worthy of his loyalty is also another part of his obsession based on his own actions/morality that he remembers from his past life. To me, I think the kindness and friendship that the Phantom trio showed Wulf had reminded him of his past life and family. In “Public Enemies” we see him going through the gang’s photo album, looking pretty somber while doing so. Possibly, further indicating his regret for leaving his family so early in his life along with being unable to see them again.
That sort of closeness and love is likely what he misses the most once he died. But, luckily for him, now he has three new friends that are there for him when he needs them the most and vice versa.
Additional Hcs
If I had to consider the human appearance of Wulf, I see him looking like Agustín Bernal specifically in the movie “Instructions Not Included”/“No se aceptan devoluciones” (Ironically, watching this movie helped me figure out Wulf’s story for this analysis)
I’m 85% sure the reason Walker pursued Wulf was probably due to his ability to jump between worlds and how he may have helped others cross these realms, both intentionally and unintentionally. Walker being Walker and not wanting this to occur in his prison when they were already trying to recapture all the previous inmates lead to him giving the shock collar on Wulf. Though, I’m unsure if this was Walker’s idea or Bullet’s to begin with here.
Apparently, the Esperanto that Wulf speaks is considered grammatically incorrect based on the word choice is basically the english equivalent substitute for his words. While this may be a simple error, it could also add on more to his backstory and unique speech pattern. If we say that Wulf was Mexican-American, then maybe as a result of dying/changing over the years his speech became a mix of his two languages into this odd form of Esperanto. Since this language is composed of five different languages including Spanish and English, I can imagine that if English was his first language and Spanish second then he would lean more to the english substitutes creating such an odd speech pattern. Even at the end of Public Enemies, he speaks a complete sentence in english to Danny, “Friend! We'll meet again!”, before he is sucked into the ghost zone with Walker. Another idea is maybe this form of esperanto was the one he and his brothers used when it came to talking about business matters in secret when they would smuggle folks over the border in the past. Course, its up to you guys on what you consider makes more sense here.
Ghost analyses Masterpost (Link)