The furry fandom is a subculture defined by an interest in anthropomorphic animal characters. Members of the fandom, known as furries, often identify with their own personalized characters known as fursonas, and may wear fursuits, engaging with fellow furries on the internet and at furry conventions. Art, literature, digital media, and music all play a part in the furry fandom's identity and interests. Though much of the furry fandom's history and studies on the community have centered on the United States, furry communities exist worldwide.
While some furries engage in the subculture primarily through sexual activities, many portrayals of furries' sexuality are characterized as exaggerated and associated with a negative perception. Stigma against furries has led to individuals hiding their furry identity from friends, family, or coworkers. The furry fandom is largely male-dominated, but a significant portion of the fandom identifies as transgender, outside the gender binary, or both. Some members of the community identify as partially non-human; those who identify this way are more often associated with the therian subculture or otherkin, which may not necessarily overlap with the furry fandom.
Terms for the fandom originated in the 1980s, though portrayal of anthropomorphic animals had existed previously in culture and literature. Socialization between members of the furry fandom grew through the development of the Internet, and the first furry conventions started through the efforts of artists and anthropomorphic animal fans at science fiction conventions in the 1970s, at which time highly anthropomorphized characters were known mainly as funny animals. Furry conventions have since grown to host thousands of attendees, have varying economic impact on their host cities, and are often associated with charities. As the furry fandom grew as Internet adoption became widespread, they came to be derided by media outlets, online communities, and became the target of physical threats and politcal attacks. In the 2020s, furries have become strongly associated with the information technology industry. Websites and apps commonly used by the furry fandom include Fur Affinity and Telegram.
Definition
Members of the furry fandom, furries, are generally described as individuals who are interested in anthropomorphic animal characters. Some examples of anthropomorphic attributes include exhibiting human emotions, speaking, and wearing clothes, though the term itself is defined simply as attributing human characteristics to non-humans, and all of these attributes are not necessary. For instance, any non-human character that is depicted as feeling complex emotions can be considered anthropomorphic, regardless of whether it speaks or walks upright. Anthropomorphism and its significance in human culture greatly predates the advent of furries as they are now; imagery of human figures with animal anatomic features are known from engravings and cave paintings that date to the Upper Paleolithic period. Having fur is not a prerequisite for a character to be considered "furry", though alternative terms may be used to distinguish subsets of the community; for example, a person interested in anthropomorphic reptiles may be considered a "scalie", but would remain part of the furry fandom regardless of their preferred species.
An anthropomorphic character that has the anatomy of a regular animal is described as "feral"; these characters are relatively unpopular within the community. Members of the fandom are more likely to describe being furry as being part of a community organized around an interest in anthropomorphic animals rather than having the specific interest on its own; studies on the fandom have found that there is no one accepted definition of "furry" within the group. Those who most strongly identify as furry are more resistant to the idea of the furry fandom being considered part of or lumped together with other fandoms, such as the anime and manga fandom. Members of the furry fandom distinguish the group as unique compared to other fandoms because of how it centers on an "aesthetic interest", rather than interests related to aspects of an established canon; however, furries participate in activities common between different fandoms like performing cosplay, hosting conventions, and producing fan art. Furthermore, furry aesthetics derive a great deal of inspiration from American and Japanese animation, and furries are more often invested in representations of animals in media than they are in the biology of real-world animals; greater associations between the individual and non-human animals are more often seen in the therian community.
History The history of the furry fandom is largely documented by furries, and this documentation often aims to depict the fandom in a positive light; many furry authors tailor their works with the intent of being seen by other furries, and may omit narratives that make parts of the subculture seem unpalatable. The furry subculture originates in the 1970s with a group of "original furries", most of which were men, who individually had an interest in anthropomorphic animals and congregated to watch sci-fi and anime titles. This early period of the furry fandom was largely documented by fandom historian Fred Patten. Mark Merlino and Rod O'Riley are credited with starting the first room parties for furry socialization that evolved into the later concept of furry conventions. Merlino had held screenings of cartoons featuring anthropomorphic animals since 1977, and in 1985 at Westercon, Merlino and O'Riley held a themed room party where Looney Tunes episodes and Animalympics were shown. The event was a success, and the two continued to hold similar parties at different conventions. At the following year's Westercon, the event was branded as a "furry party", and such events soon took off at different science fiction and fantasy conventions. By 1989, there was sufficient interest to stage the first furry convention, Confurence 0, which was held at the Holiday Inn Bristol Plaza in Costa Mesa, California. Once the Internet became accessible to the general population in the 1990s, it became the most popular means for furry fans to socialize. The newsgroup alt.fan.furry was created in November 1990, and virtual environments such as MUCKs also became popular places on the internet for fans to communicate, with the most prominent of these being FurryMUCK.
The first works uniquely associated with the furry fandom were created in 1976, when cartoonists Ken Fletcher and Reed Waller created the amateur press association Vootie, which was dedicated to animal-focused art. Many of its featured works contained adult themes, such as "Omaha" the Cat Dancer, which contained explicit sex. Vootie was at first distributed only through local conventions and Fletcher's contacts, but grew a small following over the next several years. The publication ran for 37 issues from 1976 to 1983 and was succeeded by the amateur press association Rowrbrazzle, which was active from 1984 onwards. According to Patten, the concept of furry originated at a science fiction convention in 1980, when a character drawing from Steve Gallacci's Albedo Anthropomorphics started a discussion of anthropomorphic characters in science fiction novels. This led to the formation of a discussion group that met at science fiction conventions and comics conventions.
The specific term furry fandom was being used in fanzines as early as 1983, and had become the standard name for the genre by the mid-1990s when it was defined as "the organized appreciation and dissemination of art and prose regarding 'Furries', or fictional mammalian anthropomorphic characters". Prior to this point, these anthropomorphic animals were generally referred to as funny animals, a term used in comics since at least the 1870s. Internet newsgroup discussion in the 1990s created some separation between fans of funny animal characters and furry characters, meant to avoid the baggage that was associated with the term "furry". Some fans consider the origins of furry fandom to be much earlier, with fictional works such as Kimba, the White Lion, released in 1965, Richard Adams's novel Watership Down, published in 1972 (and its 1978 film adaptation), and Disney's Robin Hood being oft-cited examples.
During the mid- to late 2000s, furry art became associated with art sharing sites such as DeviantArt. Many furries who created characters or fursonas during this period would design brightly colored dogs or wolves, leading to the coining of the commonly derisive term "sparkledog". This period marked significant growth within the fandom, and members frequently saw abuse from other online communities. Public media began to focus on the furry fandom, largely through lenses of sex-obession or a complete identification with animals. By the 2010s the fandom had become more strongly associated with the LGBTQ community, and attacks on the latter started using furries as targets. During this period, groups that embraced far-right politics emerged in the furry fandom; the largest growth of these groups, identifying as "altfurry" or "Furry Raiders", occurred in 2017. Furry influencers have become more prominent through social media like TikTok during the 2020s, with some describing it as a means to "take the furry community mainstream". As of 2023, the most popular furry website was FurAffinity, an art sharing website and forum. The messaging program Telegram is the preeminent way furries communicate with each other, and social media sites like Twitter, Discord, and Reddit remain popular sites in the furry fandom.
Inspiration Allegorical novels, including works of both science fiction and fantasy, and cartoons featuring anthropomorphic animals are often cited as the earliest inspiration for the fandom. A survey conducted in 2007 suggested that when compared with a non-furry control group, a higher proportion of those identifying as furries liked cartoons "a great deal" as children and recalled watching them significantly more often, as well as being more likely to enjoy works of science fiction than those outside of the community. Designs associated with the furry fandom are largely informed by American and Japanese animation.
While cartoons and other media are common routes that lead to interest in the furry fandom, by far the most common source of exposure to furries is the internet. This is contrasted with sports fans, who are generally more likely to become fans due to the influence of friends or family. Some furries have expressed a feeling that they were always a part of the fandom, but did not know it until they were exposed to others in the community; others discover the fandom through research into media or ancient mythology, through happenstance, introduction by a friend or significant other, online role-playing, or pornography. Individuals remain in the fandom for various reasons, but the most prominent motivation among those surveyed is a sense of belonging in the fan community.
Activities and interests According to a survey from 2008, most furries believe that visual art, conventions, literature, and online communities are strongly important to the fandom. While the most straightforward interest of furries remains the anthropomorphic characters themselves, artwork, paraphernalia (such as fursuits, leashes, collars, accessories, and other costume pieces), conventions, and furry events remain strong interests within the fandom in subsequent surveys.
Crafts