Good morning everyone, this is your friendly Frangod posting a question that's been niggling in the back of my head ever since I heard of it. So here it is: what is the attraction of \"furry\" characters? I'm not being condescending or patronizing here, I really want to know because it's not something I understand. When I say \"furry\" I mean the anthropomorphic animal characters. This doesn't include werewolves or other shapeshifters. Please, let me know what attracts YOU to that particular subset of the RP world, because it's something I've just never understood.
This is something that has actually come up in conversation with some friends of mine recently, and I think I mighta/kinda have an idea as to where a large portion of the Furrie/furry fandom comes from.
Cartoons.
A lot of the cartoons from when I was younger had anthropomorphic animal characters in them. Many still do. Hell, there's a commercial I've seen recently, it think it's for Mio Energy drink mix, that showcases anthros.
Another reason why it might seem especially prevalent here on RPR is because I believe that a very large majority of the users play or have played Furcadia. I myself had certainly never heard of furries before I started playing Furcadia all those years ago, but I found that I really quite enjoyed myself and the fandom that grew.
Try giving Furcadia a shot, if you can't quite wrap your head around it. It might help, it might not, but it is a good time.
Cartoons.
A lot of the cartoons from when I was younger had anthropomorphic animal characters in them. Many still do. Hell, there's a commercial I've seen recently, it think it's for Mio Energy drink mix, that showcases anthros.
Another reason why it might seem especially prevalent here on RPR is because I believe that a very large majority of the users play or have played Furcadia. I myself had certainly never heard of furries before I started playing Furcadia all those years ago, but I found that I really quite enjoyed myself and the fandom that grew.
Try giving Furcadia a shot, if you can't quite wrap your head around it. It might help, it might not, but it is a good time.
Alright, let me state first up: I am not a furry RPer. If you look at my character list, all my characters (except one) are either human or close enough to being human that I can play them as one. Furries are just not a thing that have ever interested me. I do have one character with some fur but he is extremely new. I built him just a little while ago, and dipping my toes into that situation for the first time taught me some things.
Some of my friends sent me this video of a furry based tabletop game. I honestly went into the situation with rock bottom expectations but after watching that video and flipping through the manual I was sold.
I looked through the extensive race list and there were things that just... seemed to fit. A big dopey donkey bodyguard. A cold raven spellbinder. A misanthropic goat bounty hunter. I went for a Bat, but it was a very hard choice
All animals have different personalities in real life. Cats in general act differently to dogs. Some animals are stubborn. Some are cheeky. Some are sly. Some are noble and loyal. I had a really great time imagining characters with those basic traits to fit a job outlined in the book.
If you're not constantly thinking "This is an animal" and think of them in terms of personality and physical capabilities it really opens a lot of possibilities, and this book for the first time allowed me to do that. It gave an amazing, well constructed world where I could imagine these characters to be.
Some of my friends sent me this video of a furry based tabletop game. I honestly went into the situation with rock bottom expectations but after watching that video and flipping through the manual I was sold.
I looked through the extensive race list and there were things that just... seemed to fit. A big dopey donkey bodyguard. A cold raven spellbinder. A misanthropic goat bounty hunter. I went for a Bat, but it was a very hard choice
All animals have different personalities in real life. Cats in general act differently to dogs. Some animals are stubborn. Some are cheeky. Some are sly. Some are noble and loyal. I had a really great time imagining characters with those basic traits to fit a job outlined in the book.
If you're not constantly thinking "This is an animal" and think of them in terms of personality and physical capabilities it really opens a lot of possibilities, and this book for the first time allowed me to do that. It gave an amazing, well constructed world where I could imagine these characters to be.
I've been interested in Anthropomorphic characters before I even knew such a thing as furries existed and before I roleplayed at all.
What Jaybird says may have a lot to do with my person interest towards such characters, there were many awesome shows on TV involving Anthropomorphic characters while I grew up. That said, the main reason I watched those shows was because I was already very fond of animals, and I couldn't rightly say what sparked that particular interest.
I've done most of my RP on Furcadia, until RPR came around I rarely rped anywhere else. This means I've seen a lot of cool furry characters and always had incentive to make my own. I do have a fair amount of non-furry characters. It was a year after I joined furcadia that I found out such a thing as the furry fandom existed though, and I was pleasantly (and at times unpleasantly) surprised by it.
What I love most about furry characters though is that there is a lot to work with, you can go with traditional traits attributed to an animal. (A noble lion, a cowardly weasel) Or switch things around to create interesting contrasts. The tabletop Claine linked below, Ironclaw, has only proved to further and solidified these concepts.
What Jaybird says may have a lot to do with my person interest towards such characters, there were many awesome shows on TV involving Anthropomorphic characters while I grew up. That said, the main reason I watched those shows was because I was already very fond of animals, and I couldn't rightly say what sparked that particular interest.
I've done most of my RP on Furcadia, until RPR came around I rarely rped anywhere else. This means I've seen a lot of cool furry characters and always had incentive to make my own. I do have a fair amount of non-furry characters. It was a year after I joined furcadia that I found out such a thing as the furry fandom existed though, and I was pleasantly (and at times unpleasantly) surprised by it.
What I love most about furry characters though is that there is a lot to work with, you can go with traditional traits attributed to an animal. (A noble lion, a cowardly weasel) Or switch things around to create interesting contrasts. The tabletop Claine linked below, Ironclaw, has only proved to further and solidified these concepts.
This is a very interesting topic for me. Personally, since I started with playing humans, playing furries is difficult for me. I have tried it before though with a half-feral, but it was quite different since she was half-feral.
But recently, I have a character that is a cat, but has an anthro form. I have found she is one of the most fun characters to play. She is cute and innocent, she doesn't quite understand humans and being a cat there are things like string and fish that absolutely grab her attention.
Playing a furry is a lot different than playing a human. Even anthropomorphic characters, it's just a lot different. They are animals, they have their animalistic tendancy. It's the kind of thing you want if you are tired of playing humans. Because humans have human tendancies. With furries, you can have human tendancies mixed with animal tendancies. I.E, a dog that freaks out when he sees cats, but has a drinking problem.
Something like that. It's just an interesting twist to the daily blahs, in my opinion.
But recently, I have a character that is a cat, but has an anthro form. I have found she is one of the most fun characters to play. She is cute and innocent, she doesn't quite understand humans and being a cat there are things like string and fish that absolutely grab her attention.
Playing a furry is a lot different than playing a human. Even anthropomorphic characters, it's just a lot different. They are animals, they have their animalistic tendancy. It's the kind of thing you want if you are tired of playing humans. Because humans have human tendancies. With furries, you can have human tendancies mixed with animal tendancies. I.E, a dog that freaks out when he sees cats, but has a drinking problem.
Something like that. It's just an interesting twist to the daily blahs, in my opinion.
I play furries because they're fun to RP. You're more or less forced to take their animal instincts and traits into consideration which affects their behavior at critical moments during roleplay.
But most important, they are the ultimate definition of fiction and can be designed in most creative ways. Take Magi for example. She's not only an animal.that walks on two legs, she is a hybrid between a dragon (non-existent being) and a feline, and a powerful sorceress. That just sounds a bit more fun to me than a highschool kid who knows how to use magic.
Furries are not something recent though. Just look at some Egyptian gods. Humans have been fascinated by the concept of animals being like humans for a long, long time.
But most important, they are the ultimate definition of fiction and can be designed in most creative ways. Take Magi for example. She's not only an animal.that walks on two legs, she is a hybrid between a dragon (non-existent being) and a feline, and a powerful sorceress. That just sounds a bit more fun to me than a highschool kid who knows how to use magic.
Furries are not something recent though. Just look at some Egyptian gods. Humans have been fascinated by the concept of animals being like humans for a long, long time.
Thank you all for your well-considered and thoughtful replies! I really appreciate the care you all took when answering my question. I guess I get a little distracted by the whole cat/dragon/octopus kinda hybrids that seem to attract many RPers. Once people start creating imaginary creatures based on animals that don't exist, it gets very difficult for me to identify with a particular character.
Now, I get the whole character IS and animal thing. I've read the Wind in the Willows, Watership Down, the Mouse Guard graphic novels, and most of Brian Jacques' excellent Redwall series, so I've been very thoroughly exposed to that aspect of the 'furry' genre. I guess I was just confused about the Nekos and whatnot. I mean, for me, it's already difficult to put myself in the mindset of something as alien as a vampire or a character of a different sex! Making considered and consistent actions with what I perceive would be 'realistic' can get monumentally complex when you think of adding additional abilities like time travel, consider the moral and ethical ramifications of a character in situations involving murder or mortal combat. I guess for me, it's too much of a stretch to wrap my mind around cat people. Huh, I never realized I was so deficient in that area... Strange, too, because I have no trouble with alien races and cultures (of course, I'm mainly just anthropomorphising the aliens into a near-human analog; it's damn near impossible to think of something truly ALIEN--the paradox is already apparent in the word 'alien' itself, but I digress).
Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to help an old roleplayer understand this unique genre a little better! Maybe I'll try out an anthro character when I've matured my playstyle a bit more.
Now, I get the whole character IS and animal thing. I've read the Wind in the Willows, Watership Down, the Mouse Guard graphic novels, and most of Brian Jacques' excellent Redwall series, so I've been very thoroughly exposed to that aspect of the 'furry' genre. I guess I was just confused about the Nekos and whatnot. I mean, for me, it's already difficult to put myself in the mindset of something as alien as a vampire or a character of a different sex! Making considered and consistent actions with what I perceive would be 'realistic' can get monumentally complex when you think of adding additional abilities like time travel, consider the moral and ethical ramifications of a character in situations involving murder or mortal combat. I guess for me, it's too much of a stretch to wrap my mind around cat people. Huh, I never realized I was so deficient in that area... Strange, too, because I have no trouble with alien races and cultures (of course, I'm mainly just anthropomorphising the aliens into a near-human analog; it's damn near impossible to think of something truly ALIEN--the paradox is already apparent in the word 'alien' itself, but I digress).
Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to help an old roleplayer understand this unique genre a little better! Maybe I'll try out an anthro character when I've matured my playstyle a bit more.
I find furries get played for a variety of reasons. There are those furries that are people who think they have "animal souls" and whatnot; they're not bad people but I avoid playing too much with those as many of them have a distorted end of where reality ends and begins and I'd rather keep my OOC SEPARATE.
There are a lot of nice furry characters, though. Mine all come with miscellanious points. Aside from wanting to reflect certain personality points, I like the idea of toying with different cultures and aspects of morality. Also, animal forms can make for nice spirituality. Rumea's feline appearance is actually precursor to her being the Young/Old Sun of her world while at the same time battling against it, and lions have strong solar attributes in some cultures, and in alchemy the Young Lion eats the sun, so I had fun with that!
I find, though, that if I want to experience the fullest potential of an animal mindset (which truly is alien, if you think about it), I prefer ferals. Anthropomorphs are a way for humans to be comfortable with animal traits, still humanizing them in our own ways. My Auroch character, for example, is fun.
There are a lot of nice furry characters, though. Mine all come with miscellanious points. Aside from wanting to reflect certain personality points, I like the idea of toying with different cultures and aspects of morality. Also, animal forms can make for nice spirituality. Rumea's feline appearance is actually precursor to her being the Young/Old Sun of her world while at the same time battling against it, and lions have strong solar attributes in some cultures, and in alchemy the Young Lion eats the sun, so I had fun with that!
I find, though, that if I want to experience the fullest potential of an animal mindset (which truly is alien, if you think about it), I prefer ferals. Anthropomorphs are a way for humans to be comfortable with animal traits, still humanizing them in our own ways. My Auroch character, for example, is fun.
Well...
My love for my more furred characters was brewed a long time ago. When I was young, I was introduced to DnD, where my irrational distaste towards the role of the cleric and the fondness of being one of the Catfolk started. Their stat boosts were great, but not too overpowered, so I was able to play one~
Then my friends and I started to free-form roleplay and the main setting was our creation. We were the founders of a new place. Being the first of our families, it was our actions that either helped or severely hindered the generations to come after us. I portrayed the grand mother of one family and my love of animals may have changed a whole family's appearance~
It was in our city that I first created who would later become to be known as Tannis, my most beloved character~ From there, it was only natural to integrate her into Furcadia when I discovered it.
But why is Tannis a feline-like figure?
Because she chooses to be so~
My love for my more furred characters was brewed a long time ago. When I was young, I was introduced to DnD, where my irrational distaste towards the role of the cleric and the fondness of being one of the Catfolk started. Their stat boosts were great, but not too overpowered, so I was able to play one~
Then my friends and I started to free-form roleplay and the main setting was our creation. We were the founders of a new place. Being the first of our families, it was our actions that either helped or severely hindered the generations to come after us. I portrayed the grand mother of one family and my love of animals may have changed a whole family's appearance~
It was in our city that I first created who would later become to be known as Tannis, my most beloved character~ From there, it was only natural to integrate her into Furcadia when I discovered it.
But why is Tannis a feline-like figure?
Because she chooses to be so~
Magica wrote:
I play furries because they're fun to RP. You're more or less forced to take their animal instincts and traits into consideration which affects their behavior at critical moments during roleplay.
But most important, they are the ultimate definition of fiction and can be designed in most creative ways. Take Magi for example. She's not only an animal.that walks on two legs, she is a hybrid between a dragon (non-existent being) and a feline, and a powerful sorceress. That just sounds a bit more fun to me than a highschool kid who knows how to use magic.
Furries are not something recent though. Just look at some Egyptian gods. Humans have been fascinated by the concept of animals being like humans for a long, long time.
But most important, they are the ultimate definition of fiction and can be designed in most creative ways. Take Magi for example. She's not only an animal.that walks on two legs, she is a hybrid between a dragon (non-existent being) and a feline, and a powerful sorceress. That just sounds a bit more fun to me than a highschool kid who knows how to use magic.
Furries are not something recent though. Just look at some Egyptian gods. Humans have been fascinated by the concept of animals being like humans for a long, long time.
This sums up what I was going to put
I didn't RP anthros until I found Furcadia.
I RPed humans or mythical creatures (winged humans typically) on forums for some time. But I found Furcadia and preferred how you'd post in real time. Seeing as there was no default human avatar, or any human avatar, when I started playing over 10 years ago I gave a cat ago.
It was a bit weird, but anthros were a concept that I was vaguely familiar with due to cartoons and playing D&D.
I RPed humans or mythical creatures (winged humans typically) on forums for some time. But I found Furcadia and preferred how you'd post in real time. Seeing as there was no default human avatar, or any human avatar, when I started playing over 10 years ago I gave a cat ago.
It was a bit weird, but anthros were a concept that I was vaguely familiar with due to cartoons and playing D&D.
I like to draw, and I find cartoonized animal faces easier to draw than an equivalent human face. And since I generally get my character ideas from doodles... there you go. Really, it's just laziness.
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