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Furries experience their fandom mainly through art, of their own characters and of others. How these furry characters are depicted can differ vastly from artist to artist. Nonetheless, in general, most furry artists have a preference for bright, happy colours, often with pastel tones. The furry aesthetic can be seen as being a part of Petcore.

In many OCs (especially older ones made pre-2010), tacky, kitschy colour combinations are seen (such as a wolf character with grey body, neon blue snout, eyes and hair, plus bright pink stripes on their body). Although this trend seems to have diminished somewhat, the preference for bright, happy colours remains, which is unsurprising, considering how many furry characters are - directly or indirectly - inspired by cartoons. Therefore, the furry fandom is often close to Kidcore.

Obviously, not all furry artists have this aesthetic, and in principle virtually any aesthetic may be combined with a furry character.

History

The furry subculture has its roots in the 1970s underground comix movement, a genre of comics of which depicted adult content

In 1976, a pair of cartoonists created a press association based on animal based art called Vootie, many of its featured works featured adult themes

The concept of a “furry” itself originated at a science fiction convention in 1980, when a discussion started about more anthropomorphic characters in science fiction novels.

Visuals

Anthropomorphic cartoon characters are the core of furry visuals, seen through either artwork or custom suits called "fursuits". The colors used in furry designs are neon and very bright.

Fashion

Furries occasionally accessorize with pins, buttons, badges, wallets, lanyards, backpacks, shirts, hoodies, and socks that feature furry characters or are custom-made to resemble a fursona. Tails and animal ear headbands made of faux fur are also sometimes worn.

Kigurumi, or kigu, is a type of hooded one-piece pajama costume that originates from Japan. Kigurumi are made to resemble animal bodies and have animal faces on the hood. Kigurumi are somewhat popular with furries as a more accessible way to dress like their fursonas without spending thousands on a fursuit.

Fursuits

A fursuit is a costume designed to look like a fursona or another anthropomorphized character. The main component is the fursuit head, with additional components like gloves, shoes, sleeves, and body suits being optional to complete the look. A fursuit is comparable to a mascot costume, but no official affiliation to a brand is made and the head and body of the fursuit is more structured. Sometimes fursuit makers will design and construct a fursuit that is not a commissioned piece and auction or sell it off to a second party. In this case, that suit is called a "pre-made". Some fursuits have magnetized eyebrows and eyelids or electronic components like lights and speakers to aid in character performance. A fursuit can be any species, including fictional or anthropomorphized inanimate objects, and the colors chosen are often unnatural for the species. The number of furries that own or desire a fursuit is small compared to the size of the furry fandom.

Art Style

Toony

A toony fursuit head has large, exaggerated facial features and resembles a cartoon more than a real animal. Toony suits often have plastic mesh eyes, fabric teeth and tongues, plush noses, and body padding to help make a rounded silhouette. Markings on toony suits are usually made by piecing the fur sewing patterns together.

Semi-Realistic

Semi-realistic fursuits blend traits of toony and realistic suits in a variety of ways. This could be a combination of realistic colors and toony proportions, fantasy colors on a realistic suit, realistic eyes and a realistic muzzle with toony ears and hair, or any other combination possible.

Realistic

Realistic fursuit heads have small eyes made from painted glass cabochons. They are made to look as realistic as possible and have less visibility than toony heads as a result. The markings of realistic suits use more airbrushing than toony suits to to achieve a smooth and realistic blending of colors.

Kemono

Kemono is a Japanese fursuit style utilizing highly detailed anime eyes that are created by printing a digital artwork of the iris on either perforated material or as a sticker on top of black car tint. There is a tendency to a chibi-like style, but mature character designs exist as well.

Furkig

Furkig is a type of furry costume that utilizes a solid mask base (often 3D printed), a zentai/morph suit, and elaborate outfits. Different to a fursuit, both the head and body are smooth with fur being only used for minor parts like ears, and tails. They often feature wigs made from synthetic hair instead of hair sculpted from faux fur like fursuits have. They are the most common among kemono fans.

Anatomy Style

Plantigrade

Plantigrade fursuits have feet and legs built like a regular human leg. They don't mimic the toe-walking stance of many mammals and are considered easier to make than digitigrade fursuits. For some animals, like bears, plantigrade suits are more realistic than digitigrade suits.

Digitigrade

Digitigrade (or digi) fursuits have sculpted feet and legs to achieve the illusion of an animal that walks on its toes, such as a cat or a dog.

Partial

A partial fursuit is a suit that doesn't cover the wearer's entire body. This can be anything from just a head (head only) to everything but the torso (3/4 suit). Common partial components are a head, paw gloves, a tail, and paw shoes. Partials are worn with human clothing covering the non-costumed portions of the wearer's body. A fursuiter wearing a partial without sleeves or legs in combination with a short-sleeved shirt or shorts in a manner that reveals their human skin is said to be "poodling".

Fullsuit

A fullsuit covers the entire body, including the torso, and is often worn without any additional human clothing, but clothes may be worn over the bodysuit as accessories. Fullsuits can have a variety of leg styles and padding, including plush suits which use a large amount of padding to look like a stuffed toy.

Quadruped

A quadsuit or quad costume is a fursuit that utilizes the wearer's arms as forelegs, allowing them to walk on all fours in a hunched position. Quadsuits are rare, owing to the limited number of quadsuit makers.

Media

Here you can find a list of media featuring the typical anthropomorphic furry characters.

Comic Books and strips

  • Pogo
  • Krazy Kat
  • Garfield
  • Calvin and Hobbes
  • Ozy and Millie
  • Usagi Yojimbo

Manga & Anime

  • Aggretsuko
  • Beastars
  • BNA: Brand New Animal
  • Fairy Tail: Happy's Great Adventure
  • Mofu Kano Pot-Pourri
  • My Sister, The Cat
  • Kemono Friends
  • Wotakoi
  • Ookami to Koushinryou
  • The Wind Rises

Film

  • Robin Hood (1973)
  • Space Jam (1996)
  • Wolf Children (2012)
  • Zootopia (2016)
  • Balto (1995)
  • Madagascar (2005)
  • Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
  • Alpha and Omega (2010)
  • Kung-Fu Panda (2008)
  • The Bad Guys (2022)
  • Rio (2011-2014)
  • Migration (2023)

Television

  • Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
  • Goof Troop
  • Looney Tunes
  • Animaniacs
  • Mickey Mouse
  • The Great Warrior Wall
  • My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
  • Littlest Pet Shop (1995)
  • Regular Show

Video Games

  • Banjo Kazooie
  • Crash Bandicoot
  • Goodbye Volcano High
  • Ratchet & Clank
  • Sonic the Hedgehog
  • Star Fox
  • Undertale
  • Five Nights at Freddy's
  • Neopets
  • Changed
  • Freedom Planet

Fashion Brands

  • Hyena Agenda
  • Fursona Pins
  • Howl Out
  • Nomad Complex
  • Camp Howl
  • Dogz Crew

Music

Members of the furry subculture may listen to various genres of music, although they are most associated with EDM music such as Scene.

Songs

  • Furry Coo by Rhubarb the Bear
  • Furries FC by Pepper Coyote
  • Love Me Like You Do by Fox Amoore
  • Paws to the Walls by Fox Amoore
  • The Fandom by Mystery Skulls
  • Wild Ones by Flo Rida ft. Sia
  • Legend by Aviators
  • Furry Road by Fox Amoore ft. Rhubarb the Bear
  • Furries in a Blender by Renard
  • Cheetah Love by Eurobeat Brony
  • Ode to a Furry by Leslie Fish
  • We Made One Brain by Fox Amoore
  • Furry, Oh So Furry by Sparky Fox
  • Furreality by Alexander James Adams
  • Born to Be Alive by Felicia Fox
  • Furry Superstars by 2 Gryphon
  • Furry Girl by SciFox
  • Furry Weekend by Matthew Ebel
  • Furry Love Anthem by Capt. John Redbeard
  • Furry Join Me by Fox Amoore
  • Furry Man by Easy Street
  • Furries Are Beautiful Creatures by Matthew Ebel
  • Furry Friends Forever by Lacey Johnson
  • Furries in the Media by Rhubarb the Bear
  • Hoof & Paw by Singer Max Wilde
  • Furry Friends by Foxes and Peppers
  • Anthro by Fox Amoore
  • FurReal by Samson
  • Fursona by JFox and Dillon Francis

Subgenres

Kemono

Kemono (ケモノ) is the Japanese equivalent to the Western furry and also commonly used to refer to the anime-inspired style. The term translates to “beast” and fans are referred to as "kemoner" (ケモナー). Kemoners dress up in fursuits, go to conventions, draw art, and enjoy the same movies as furries, like Zootopia. In many ways, the fandoms are nearly identical, but there are some differences.

Controversy

Please note this section is available for informational documentation and does not take a stance on this subject, nor does it promote the views detailed. Documentation on all aspects of a subject is necessary for understanding the entirety of the subject through multiple perspectives. Viewer discretion is advised.

Among furries, and especially among non-furries, the sexual aspect of the fandom (sometimes still designated using the rather outdated term "yiff") is controversial. A number of furries will vehemently claim that the fandom has absolutely nothing to do with sex or porn, explicitly distancing themselves from it and condemning all furry porn, which in a whole in unrelated to the fandom, most furries who separate themselves from the fandom, are simply enjoying the artwork, commissions, and other things the community provides, without the fetish.

However, most furries are at ease with the sexual aspect and find erotic furry art one of the most pleasant things about the community. This sexual aspect is by far mostly explored through online pornographic art and not, as is commonly believed, enacted in real life.

Among some non-furries, there exists the great misconception that most, if not all furries, are zoophiles, ie. people who fantasize about having sex with actual, feral animals (whether these be 'real' or cartoon animals like Pluto). Most social research however suggests that the vast majority of furries are not interested in sex with non-anthropomorphic animals, and that zoophilia is not more common in the furry fandom than in the general population. Associating the fandom with zoophiles, rapists and pedophiles is about as valid as associating homosexuality with sex offenders. However, getting this to be accepted common knowledge among your layman is, much like the stigma around homosexuality and sex offenders, going to take a long time to fully scrub from the Furry community.

Resources

External links to help get a better understanding of this aesthetic.

Music Guide

Communities

Vendors

Gallery

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