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Furry is a colloquial term used to indicate a particular category of fictional anthropomorphic animals. Put simply, a furry is a funny animal taken "seriously" for the benefit of an adult audience. Usage of the term furry is limited almost exclusively to members of furry fandom or other cultural groups aware of furry fandom; it is not widely used in mainstream circles. The term furry is also very often used to refer to a furry fan.
Famous Examples
Within the accepted usage of "furry", Roger Rabbit, Bugs Bunny, and Mickey Mouse are "funny animals": they are anthropomorphic, mostly behave like people, and can be considered to be the cartoon equivalents of character actors. In addition, Usagi Yojimbo, Omaha the Cat Dancer, the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (even though turtles don't have fur), and the characters of Father of the Pride are furries. They are generally more "realistic" in appearance than the funny animals and behave more like hybrids of humans and animals. They are sapient "people" as much as any well-limned fictional characters, but they aren't presented as animals for laughs. For example, the rabbit characters in Richard Adams' novel Watership Down are sentient and talk to each other, but their behaviour and psychology is very closely derived from that observed in real-life rabbits. Other furries are not so closely tied to their animal characteristics, but a degree of serious consideration is almost always given to this aspect of their characterization. Andre Norton's Breed to Come, Brian Jacques' Redwall series, and Steven Boyett's The Architect of Sleep are other examples of novels featuring furries, as is Paul Kidd's Fangs of K'aath, which has been cited as a source of inspiration for many people to create furry works.
A popular motif in furry art and fiction is to play against species stereotypes by depicting furry versions that display the opposite characteristics. One example is the comic book Usagi Yojimbo which features the adventures of Miyamoto Usagi, a skilled and ferocious rabbit samurai that contrasts against the stereotype of the species being gentle and helpless.
Furry creatures are often found in games, especially role-playing games and computer games. Examples include the race of humanoid ducks found in the role-playing game RuneQuest, the feline-humanoid race (known as the "Vah Shir") found in the MMORPG EverQuest, and the races found in the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games. However, in many video games from Japan, characters often regarded in the Western World as "furry" are actually kemono, an independent genre with different cultural associations.
There are several web comics based on Furry characters, such as Newshounds and Kevin and Kell.
Specifically what defines a furry character is not exactly certain. While some members of the fandom restrict it to physically anthropomorphized characters, others say that having human intelligence is enough. For example, many furs are fans of the Disney film The Lion King and believe that the characters within are furries due to the fact that they think, interact and behave on a human level.
The terms morph or anthro (both contractions of anthropomorph) are also used for furries. The name of the animal the furry is based on is often prepended, for example rabbitmorph or lionmorph, to provide a more specific description. Morphic rabbit or morphic lion are yet other ways to describe such creatures. They can also be referred to with anthro preceding the name of the animal, as in anthro rabbit. The base animal is not necessarily limited only to those animals with fur: sometimes more specific terms such as "scaley" and "feathery" are also used when dealing with animals possessed of the corresponding skin (or plumage) type. Some terms used by people in the Furry Fandom include:
- Scaly - A reptile character (for example, a dragon)
- Feathery - A furry character with feathers (for example, a gryphon)
- Macro/Microfurry - A very large/small furry character (for instance, King Kong)
- Babyfur - A furry who is also an infantilist and/or involved in one or more of the variations of infantilism.
- Scritch - Gentle scratching.
- Fursuit - a furry costume.
- Yiff - A synonym for "sex", "sexy", "aroused" and so on. See the sexuality section below.
- Furvert - Someone who is into the sexual aspects of the fandom.
- Fursona - a furry fan's "furry persona".
Furry Fandom
- Main article: furry fandom.
Much furry interest centers on artistic representations, often cartoon-like, of furry creatures; Yerf and the VCL are two online repositories of such furry art. Amateur and professional artists ply their wares online, by mail order, and at furry fandom conventions. In 2003, Anthrocon's art show tallied sales of almost $50,000, about 25% of which was for erotic or pornographic images. Further Confusion's art show in 2003 and 2004 exceeded $60,000 in sales, with one piece going for $10,000 in the 2004 auction.
Comics creator Steve Gallacci is believed by some to have popularized this usage of "furry" through his association with some science fiction and comics conventions and the small-press "funny animals" APAzine Rowrbrazzle.
Some members of the furry community see furry animals not simply as art or fiction, but as representations of their true selves; these are often called "furry lifestylers" to distinguish them from "furry fans".
Many furries (term commonly used to describe members of the furry community) have a character (furry) of their own in which they use to represent themselves in a fictional environment and for some a realistic environment. Generally this is referred to as roleplaying, and the character as a fursona or avatar. Many will use these characters as images of themselves for others to view them as.
A more common way to look at it would be popular video or role-playing games in which people can design their own character. People see these characters and interact with them as if they were the real person, and generally the person behind the character acting as if they are the character. In the end the character is used to represent themselves to others.
Sexuality
The place of sexuality in furry fandom is debated. Some furry works are erotic or pornographic, and some furries feel that their identity as furry is a part of their sexuality. There are discussion forums, online communities, and online art galleries devoted to erotic furry artwork and stories. Criticisms of the furry community often focus on the perceived amount of sexual content, and critics may view the fandom as a fetish. Other members of the furry community do not feel that their "furriness" is related to their sexuality and are uninterested in sexualized furry works. Many of those who are interested in the non-sexual aspect of Furries may feel that those who in fact are interested in the sexual aspect make a bad impression on Anthropomorphism.
The act of sex might be termed yiff in furry circles. See the article on yiff for more.
Conflicts
Some people occasionally view the furry community with contempt, a prejudice highlighted in Lore Sjöberg's Geek Hierarchy (http://www.brunching.com/geekhierarchy.html). The comedy website Something Awful (in particular, the Something Awful forums), the web site Portal of Evil, and a small portion of the furry community have long been critical of the fandom, largely due to the perceived perversity of furry sexuality and the obsessive nature of some furry devotees.
See also
External links
Maintained by people considered to be in the furry fandom:
- Furries (http://www.leinir.dk/leinir/content.php?content=furries) (or The Everything2 Guide to Furries)
- Furlife TWiki (http://konig.demon.co.uk/twiki/bin/view/Furlife/WebHome)
- The Furry Code (http://www.vulpine.pp.se/cgi-bin/furcode)
- PeterCat's Furry InfoPage (http://www.tigerden.com/infopage/furry/index.html) – a repository for FAQs, lists and periodic postings
- nothingkat.com (http://www.nothingkat.com) – "A True Bite Into The Furry Fandom"
- Furry Sociology (http://www.visi.com/~phantos/furrysoc.html) – "Furry Sociology 101"
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