Furries are people with an interest in anthropomorphic animal characters, often as part of the furry fandom. The fandom includes art, writing, character design, costumes, roleplay, conventions, online communities and social groups.
Furscience, the public research project of the International Anthropomorphic Research Project, describes the furry fandom as a global community spanning online, local and international settings.
Furry Fandom
The furry fandom is built around fictional animals with human traits. These characters may walk upright, speak, wear clothes, hold jobs, belong to fictional societies or represent personal identities.
People join the fandom for different reasons. Some are mainly artists or writers, some enjoy character design, some attend conventions, some make or wear costumes, and others simply enjoy anthropomorphic characters in games, cartoons, comics or online spaces.
Fursonas
A fursona is a personal furry character. It may be a direct avatar, a roleplay character, a mascot, a design exercise or a mix of those things.
Fursonas can use real animals, mythical creatures, hybrids, robots or original species. They are often used in artwork, profiles, stories, badges, convention material and online accounts.
Fursuits
Fursuits are costumes based on furry characters. They can be full-body suits, partial suits, heads, paws, tails or smaller accessories.
Furscience notes that furries are often wrongly reduced to fursuiting. Many furries do not own a fursuit, and fursuiting is only one visible part of the wider fandom.
Conventions
Furry conventions are organised events for fans, artists, writers, costumers, performers and vendors. Anthrocon describes itself as a convention celebrating anthropomorphics, meaning human-like animal characters.
Convention activity can include panels, art sales, dances, fursuit parades, gaming, charity fundraising and social meetups. Large conventions have become important meeting points for a fandom that also exists heavily online.
Misconceptions
The furry fandom is often misunderstood because its most visible elements, especially fursuits, are easy to sensationalise. The fandom is not one single lifestyle, identity or belief system.
Adult material exists in parts of the fandom, as it does in many fan communities, but it does not define every furry space. Public conventions, local meets, art groups and family-friendly events often have their own rules and standards.
See Also
References
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