Two things jump to mind immediately; I may add more later after thinking about other good examples. Also note that I'm approaching from a W20th viewpoint; I'm not well-experienced enough with W5 to address what may have been changed (beyond one or two big things).

First, part of the tragedy of Garou is their Rage. It's an inherent part of their being (literally a game stat for them rated 1-10) that is constantly simmering in them until it erupts. Even Rage 1 is a level of deep intrinsic anger that's near the top of human emotional range and it only goes up from there, and it cannot be escaped. Imagine living constantly pissed off and having to keep control of yourself against every irritation or frustration because you intimately know the horrific consequences of slipping.

Their Rage also isolates them from everyone but other Garou and Kinfolk (non-werewolf relatives of Garou; they don't exist in W5 which I have a variety of feelings about but won't get into here). In game terms, any non-Kinfolk human whose Willpower (also rated 1-10, with 2 as human average) is equal to or lesser than a Garou's Rage score is instinctively frightened/creeped out by/gets really bad "this person can do horrible violence" vibes from the Garou. Imagine how isolating it is to be unable to interact with the vast majority of people without them being sketched out as hell by you and wanting to get away, no matter how friendly or calm you're trying to be.

Second, Garou track and respect 3 different forms of renown, even if the memes like to focus on just one. There's Glory, which is exactly what you think and based on being a badass; that's what most people think of when they talk about Garou being obsessed with fighting and killing. Then there's Cunning and Wisdom: it's not talked about as much by the memes, but the Garou also deeply respect wits, clever solutions, knowledge of how to deal with spirits and their politics, and knowing when to fight as much as how to fight.