Otherkin

{{Short description|Individuals who identify as not entirely human}} {{about|the subculture|the band|Otherkin (band)}} {{Cleanup rewrite|a large percentage of the article content is derived from low quality sources|article|date=May 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2025}} [[File:Acute heptagram.svg|thumb|An acute heptagram is a common symbol for the otherkin community]]'''Otherkin''' is a subculture of individuals who identify as partially or entirely nonhuman. An umbrella term for this would be alterhuman. Some otherkin believe their identity derives from non-physical spiritual phenomena, such as having a nonhuman soul or reincarnation.<ref name="Cusack2016">{{Citation |title=Spirituality and self-realisation as 'other-than-human': the Otherkin and Therianthropy communities |date=18 November 2016 |work=Fiction, Invention and Hyper-reality |pages=54–71 |place=New York : Routledge, 2016. {{!}} Series: Inform series |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781315582283-11 |isbn=978-1-315-58228-3 |last=Cusack|first=Carole|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313713977_Spirituality_and_Self-Realisation_as_%27Other-Than-Human%27_The_Otherkin_and_Therianthropy_Communities}}</ref> Some otherkin give non-spiritual explanations for themselves, such as unusual psychology or neurodivergence,<ref name="Belanger2004" />{{Additional citation needed|date=March 2026|reason=The study provided is relatively old and the quote cited is mismatched}} or as part of dissociative identity disorder or being plural.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Schechter | first = Elizabeth | date = March 2024 | title = Introducing Plurals | url = http://jcn.cognethic.org/jcnv9i2_Schechter.pdf | journal = Journal of Cognition and Neuroethics | volume = 9 | issue = 2 | pages = 95–141}}</ref> Many otherkins say they are physically human, but not all.<ref name="Belanger2004">{{cite book | author = Michelle Belanger | author-link = Michelle Belanger | title = The Psychic Vampire Codex: A Manual of Magick and Energy Work | author2 = Father Sebastiaan | author2-link = Father Sebastiaan | publisher = Weiser Books | year = 2004 | isbn = 1-57863-321-4 | page = 274 | quote = Some feel that their difference is purely spiritual, while others believe there is a genetic difference between themselves and humanity | url = https://archive.org/details/ThePsychicVampireCodexMichelleA.Belanger}}</ref><ref name="Shea2020">{{cite journal | last = Shea | first = Stephanie C. | date = 13 July 2020 | title = Exploring Other-Than-Human Identity: Religious Experiences in the Life-Story of a Machinekin | journal = Religions | language = en | volume = 11 | issue = 7 | page = 354 | doi = 10.3390/rel11070354 | issn = 2077-1444 | doi-access = free}}</ref>{{rp|66–72}}

The otherkin subculture developed primarily as an online community during the 1990s.<ref name="Bricker2024">{{cite thesis | last = Bricker | first = Nat L. | title = Mental health and well-being of nonhuman-identified individuals: The role of minority stress and resilience | date = May 2024 | access-date = 15 February 2026 | degree = PhD | publisher = Palo Alto University | url = https://www.proquest.com/docview/3108481641 | isbn = 979-8-3844-3281-4}}</ref> It had partly grown out of some small groups of people who described themselves as elves during the 1970s and 1980s.<ref name="Cusack2016" /><ref name="Proctor2019">{{cite thesis | last = Proctor | first = Devin | title = On Being Non-Human: Otherkin Identification and Virtual Space | date = 2019 | access-date = 15 February 2026 | degree = PhD | publisher = The George Washington University | url = https://www.proquest.com/docview/2211490902?sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20Theses | isbn = 978-1-392-06041-4 | quote = }}</ref> Since the late 2000s, the word has come to be treated as an umbrella term for some other nonhuman identity subcultures.<ref name="Bricker2024" />{{Reference page|pages=23–24}}

==Etymology== The word "otherkin", in the context of a subculture, was created in July 1990 by participants of a mailing list made for elves and other mythological creatures.<ref name="Bricker2024" />{{Reference page|pages=23–24}}<ref name="Cambridge2016">{{cite web | date = July 2016 | title = Why be human when you can be otherkin? {{!}} University of Cambridge |url=https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/why-be-human-when-you-can-be-otherkin |access-date=15 February 2026 |website=www.cam.ac.uk |language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260307163309/https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/why-be-human-when-you-can-be-otherkin|url-status=live|archive-date=7 March 2026}}</ref> It came along with the variant "otherkind," which appeared first in April 1990.<ref name=":1" /> Mailing list participants used both interchangeably for a while.<ref name="Proctor2019" />{{Reference page|page=193}}<ref name="Lupa2007">{{cite book | author = Lupa | title = A Field Guide to Otherkin | title-link = A Field Guide to Otherkin | publisher = Immanion Press | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-905713-07-3}}</ref>{{rp|50}} Over the following decades, the word "otherkin" entered common usage enough to be later added to the principal historical dictionary of the English language. In 2017, the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defined otherkin as "a person who identifies as non-human, typically as being wholly or partially an animal or mythical being."<ref>{{cite magazine | date = 24 February 2017 | first = Megan | last = McCluskey | title = Oxford Dictionary Adds 'Squad Goals,' 'Yas' and 'Drunk Text' | url = https://time.com/4682491/oxford-dictionary-2017/ | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230720215758/https://time.com/4682491/oxford-dictionary-2017/ | archive-date = 20 July 2023 | access-date = 15 February 2026 | magazine = Time | language = en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | date = 8 April 2017 | title = Otherkin – definition of otherkin in English Oxford Dictionaries | url = https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/otherkin | archive-url = https://archive.today/20170408121820/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/otherkin | archive-date = 8 April 2017}}</ref>

Coincidentally, the word "otherkin" also existed in the Middle English language. The ''Middle English Dictionary'' (1981) defines the adjective "otherkin" as "a different or an additional kind of, other kinds of".<ref>{{cite book | author = Sherman M. Kuhn | title = Middle English Dictionary: O.3, Volume 0 | publisher = University of Michigan Press | year = 1981 | isbn = 0-472-01153-7 | page = 344}}</ref> Additionally, "otherkin" has appeared in multiple works of fiction as a term unrelated to the subculture.<ref>{{Cite book |last=House of Chimeras |url=https://houseofchimeras.neocities.org/ |title=Academic Publications, Non-Academic Publications, Media, Art, and Fiction Related To Nonhumanity |date=21 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bear |first=Elizabeth |title=Whiskey & water: a novel of the Promethean Age |date=2007 |publisher=ROC |isbn=978-0-451-46149-0 |location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bangs |first=Nina |title=Eternal pleasure |date=2008 |publisher=Leisure Books |others=Copyright Paperback Collection (Library of Congress) |isbn=978-0-8439-5953-6 |series=A Leisure book |location=New York}}</ref>

== Terms and identities == thumb|289x289px|A collection of therian accessories, including masks, tails, and a collar. The term "otherkin" includes a broad range of identities. Otherkin may identify as creatures of the natural world, mythology, or popular culture.<ref>{{cite book | author = Michelle Belanger | author-link = Michelle Belanger | title = Vampires in Their Own Words: An Anthology of Vampire Voices | publisher = Llewellyn Worldwide | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-0-7387-1220-8 | page = 25 | url = https://archive.org/details/vampiresintheiro0000bela/page/n291/mode/2up}}</ref> Examples include but are not limited to aliens, angels, demons, dragons, mermaids, elves, fairies, horses, rabbits, foxes, wolves, cats, dogs, and fictional characters.<ref name="Bonewits2007">{{cite book | author = Isaac Bonewits | author-link = Isaac Bonewits | title = Real Energy: Systems, Spirits, And Substances to Heal, Change, And Grow | author2 = Phaedra Bonewits | publisher = Career Press | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-56414-904-6 | pages = 196–197 | url = https://archive.org/details/realenergysystem0000bone}}</ref><ref name="Mamatas2001">{{cite news | last = Mamatas | first = Nick | date = 20 February 2001 | title = Elven Like Me: Otherkin Come Out of the Closet | url = https://www.villagevoice.com/2001-02-13/news/elven-like-me/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150516155609/http://www.villagevoice.com/2001-02-13/news/elven-like-me/ | archive-date = 16 May 2015 | access-date = 27 June 2021 | newspaper = The Village Voice | location = New York | author-link = Nick Mamatas}}</ref><ref name="Penczak2007">{{cite book | last = Penczak | first = Christopher | title = Ascension Magick: Ritual, Myth & Healing for the New Aeon | publisher = Llewellyn Worldwide | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-0-7387-1047-1 | pages = 416–417; 441 | url = https://books.google.com/books/about/Ascension_Magick.html?id=7vITnmphx-kC}}</ref><ref name="Kirby2006" /> Rarer are those who identify as plants, machines, concepts, or natural phenomena such as weather systems.<ref name="Shea2020" /><ref>{{cite news | last = Beusman | first = Callie | date = 3 August 2016 | title = 'I Look at a Cloud and I See It as Me': The People Who Identify As Objects | url = https://www.vice.com/en/article/i-look-at-a-cloud-and-i-see-it-as-me-the-people-who-identify-as-objects/ | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201222211542/https://www.vice.com/en/article/zmbeae/i-look-at-a-cloud-and-i-see-it-as-me-the-people-who-identify-as-objects | archive-date = 22 December 2020 | access-date = 15 February 2026 | work = Vice Media}}</ref> The identity "transspecies" is used by some.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grivell |first1=Timothy |last2=Clegg |first2=Helen |last3=Roxburgh |first3=Elizabeth C. |date=2014 |title=An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Identity in the Therian Community |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262685394_An_Interpretative_Phenomenological_Analysis_of_Identity_in_the_Therian_Community |journal=Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research |publisher=Routledge |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=113–135 |doi=10.1080/15283488.2014.891999 |s2cid=144047707}}</ref>

===Therianthropy===

The term "therianthrope", commonly called "therian", refers to individuals who identify as an animal on any level, whether it be spiritual, psychological, or even physical.<ref name="Blom2025" /><ref>{{cite journal | last = Blom | first = Jan Dirk | last2 = Sharpless | first2 = Brian A. | date = July 2025 | title = A systematic review on clinical therianthropy and a proposal to conceptualize zoomorphism as a diagnostic spectrum | url = https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763425001939 | journal = Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews | volume = 174 | article-number = 106193 | doi = 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2025.106193 | issn = 0149-7634 | hdl = 1887/4254975 | hdl-access = free | pmid = 40350004}}</ref> This identity is typically considered involuntary and integral to the self.<ref name="Bricker2024" />{{Reference page|pages=23–24}} The species of animal a therian identifies as is called a "theriotype".<ref name="Baldwin2020" /><ref name="Robertson2014">{{cite journal | last = Robertson | first = Venetia Laura Delano | date = 13 January 2014 | title = The Law of the Jungle: Self and Community in the Online Therianthropy Movement | journal = Pomegranate | volume = 14 | issue = 2 | doi = 10.1558/pome.v14i2.256 | issn = 1743-1735 | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276223263_The_Law_of_the_Jungle_Self_and_Community_in_the_Online_Therianthropy_Movement}}</ref> While therians mainly attribute their experiences of therianthropy to either spirituality or psychology, the way in which they consider their therian identity is not a defining characteristic of therianthropy.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Laycock | first1 = Joseph P. | date = 2012 | title = We Are Spirits of Another Sort | journal = Nova Religio | volume = 15 | issue = 3 | pages = 65–90 | doi = 10.1525/nr.2012.15.3.65 | quote = There is a not a finite list of Otherkin "types," but some of the most common include faeries and elves, vampires, therianthropes (individuals who identify with animals and shapeshifters), angels and demons, and "mythologicals" (legendary creatures such as dragons and phoenixes). | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259731979_We_Are_Spirits_of_Another_Sort_Ontological_Rebellion_and_Religious_Dimensions_of_the_Otherkin_Community}}</ref>

===Terminology===

Something specific an otherkin identifies as is called a "kintype". A common grammatical construct within the otherkin community is to add the suffix -kin to the end of what they identify as, making it a personal identifier. For example, someone who identifies as a dragon may be called "dragonkin".{{Citation needed|date=February 2026|reason=Previously supplied source is unfit per WP:RS}} Someone who strongly identifies ''with'' but not ''as'' an animal or other entity is called "otherhearted". For example, someone who identifies with dogs may be called "doghearted".<ref name="Bricker2024" />{{Reference page|page=176}}<ref name=":0" />

==Community== Otherkin communities online largely function without formal authority structures and mostly focus on support and information gathering, often dividing into more specific groups based on kintype.<ref name="Kirby2006">{{cite book | author = Kirby, Danielle | url = https://www.academia.edu/1962034/Alternative_Worlds_Metaphysical_Questioning_and_Virtual_Community_Amongst_the_Otherkin | title = Through a Glass Darkly: Collected Research | publisher = Sydney University Press | year = 2006 | isbn = 1-920898-54-9 | editor = Frances Di Lauro | chapter = Alternative Worlds: Metaphysical questing and virtual community amongst the Otherkin | access-date = 15 February 2026 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140102195904/http://ojs-prod.library.usyd.edu.au/index.php/SSR/article/view/259/238 | archive-date = 2 January 2014 | url-status = live}}</ref> There are occasional offline gatherings, but the otherkin network is mostly an online phenomenon.<ref name="Proctor2019" /><ref name="Kirby2006" />

The therian and vampire subcultures are related to the otherkin community, and are considered part of it by most otherkin but are culturally and historically distinct movements of their own, despite some overlap in membership.<ref name="Baldwin2020">{{cite journal | last1 = Baldwin | first1 = Clive | last2 = Ripley | first2 = Lauren | date = 7 August 2020 | title = Exploring Other-Than-Human Identity: A Narrative Approach to Otherkin, Therianthropes, and Vampires | url = https://czasopisma.uni.lodz.pl/qualit/article/view/8147 | journal = Qualitative Sociology Review | language = en | volume = 16 | issue = 3 | pages = 8–26 | doi = 10.18778/1733-8077.16.3.02 | hdl = 11089/38377 | issn = 1733-8077 | hdl-access = free}}</ref>{{Sup|:13}} The word "alterhuman" exists as an umbrella term which intends to encompass all of these subcultures, as well as others such as plurality.<ref name="Bricker2024" /><ref>{{cite web | date = 25 September 2020 | title = Otherkin are the internet's punchline. They're also our future | url = https://www.dailydot.com/irl/otherkin/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201120180302/https://www.dailydot.com/irl/otherkin/ | archive-date = 20 November 2020 | access-date = 15 November 2020 | website = The Daily Dot | language = en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis | last = Jackson | first = Nikky | title = Alter-humanity: An examination into other than human individuals through the lens of identity | date = 2019 | access-date = 15 February 2026 | degree = MA | publisher = Lancaster University | url = https://www.academia.edu/43751218/Alter_humanity_An_examination_into_other_than_human_individuals_through_the_lens_of_identity}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite journal | last = Ziemna | first = Joanna | date = November 2024 | title = Self-Creation of Other-Than-Human Identities: A Netnographic Analysis of Identity Labels in the Alterhuman Community on Tumblr | url = https://journal.avant.edu.pl/index.php/en/article/view/62 | journal = Avant | language = en | volume = 15 | issue = 2 | doi = 10.26913/ava2202406 | issn = 2082-6710 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

===Symbols=== [[File:Acute heptagram.svg|thumb|right|200px|A regular {7/3} heptagram, known as the "Elven Star" or "Fairy Star"]]

A common symbol for otherkin is a seven-pointed star, specifically a regular {7/3} heptagram, known as the "Elven Star" or "Fairy Star".<ref name="Proctor2019" />{{Reference page|page=146}} Otherkin have used it for decades. One early use of it was by the Silver Elves in an article they published in the summer 1986 issue of ''Circle Network News''.<ref name="Lupa2007" />{{rp|52–53}}

===Religious and spiritual beliefs=== Joseph P. Laycock, assistant professor of religious studies at Texas State University, considers otherkin beliefs to have a religious dimension, but asserts that "the argument that Otherkin identity claims conform to a substantive definition of religion is problematic".<ref name="Laycock2020" /> Many otherkin themselves reject the notion that being otherkin is a religious belief.<ref name="Proctor2019" />{{Reference page|page=94}}<ref name="Laycock2020" />

Some otherkin claim to be especially empathic and attuned to nature.<ref name="Mamatas2001" /><ref name="Luiggi-Hernández2025">{{cite journal | last = Luiggi-Hernández | first = José G. | last2 = Fein | first2 = Elizabeth | last3 = Bradley | first3 = Jennifer | last4 = Pelly | first4 = Jenna | last5 = Roberts | first5 = Sharon E. | last6 = Gerbasi | first6 = Kathleen C. | date = March 2025 | title = The jackal in the city: An empirical phenomenological study of embodied experience among therians and otherkin. | url = https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/hum0000350 | journal = The Humanistic Psychologist | language = en | volume = 53 | issue = 1 | pages = 40–58 | doi = 10.1037/hum0000350 | issn = 1547-3333 | url-access = subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last = Plante | first = Courtney N. | last2 = Reysen | first2 = Stephen | last3 = Roberts | first3 = Sharon E. | last4 = Gerbasi | first4 = Kathleen | date = March 2018 | title = "Animals Like Us": Identifying with Nonhuman Animals and Support for Nonhuman Animal Rights | url = https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08927936.2018.1434045 | journal = Anthrozoös | language = en | volume = 31 | issue = 2 | pages = 165–177 | doi = 10.1080/08927936.2018.1434045 | issn = 0892-7936 | url-access = subscription }}</ref> Some claim to be able to shift mentally or astrally, meaning that they experience the sense of being in their particular form while not actually changing physically.<ref name="Lupa2007" /><ref>{{cite book | author = Raven Digitalis | title = Shadow Magick Compendium: Exploring Darker Aspects of Magickal Spirituality | publisher = Llewellyn Worldwide | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-0-7387-1318-2 | page = 178 | url = https://books.google.com/books/about/Shadow_Magick_Compendium.html?id=jRId9jgqhj4C}}</ref> Moreover, the claim to be able to physically shift is generally looked down on by the community. They may also describe being able to feel phantom limbs/tails/horns that coordinate with their kintype.<ref name="Baldwin2020" /><ref name="Luiggi-Hernández2025" /> Some otherkin claim to also go through an 'awakening' that alerts them to their kintype.<ref name="Baldwin2020" />

Many otherkin believe in the existence of a multitude of parallel universes, and their belief in the existence of supernatural or sapient non-human beings is grounded in that idea.<ref name="Kirby2006" />

==History== {{Expand section|It reads more as a list of singular events that occurred than a coherent timeline. Misses 2020s|date=February 2026}}

=== 1970s === The earliest recorded instance of a group that would be considered otherkin were the Elf Queen's Daughters, a group who considered themselves elves.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2011-03-13 |title=Elf Queen’s Daughters and the Silver Elves |url=http://www.technogypsie.com/faerie/?p=93 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927070432/http://www.technogypsie.com/faerie/?p=93 |archive-date=2016-09-27 |access-date=2026-04-16 |work=Faerie Lore |language=en-US}}</ref> Arwen and Elenor, also known as "The Tookes" founded the group sometime in the late 60s or early 70s and began publishing letters from their home in Oregon throughout the 70s.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Scribner |first=Orion |url=https://frameacloud.itch.io/otherkin-timeline |title=Otherkin Timeline: The Recent History of Elfin, Fae, and Animal People. |date=5 September 2024 |edition=Version 2.1}}</ref> Some of these letters would appear in ''Green Egg'' magazine, a contemporary neo-pagan publication. By 1977, the Elf Queen's Daughters would stop publishing letters. In 1979, a later group known as The Silver Elves would visit the Elf Queen's Daughters home and live with them for a month.

===1990s=== The first otherkin presence on the Internet was the ''Elfinkind Digest'', a mailing list for "elves and interested observers", created by a student at the University of Kentucky in 1990.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jenni Bergman |title=The Significant Other : a Literary History of Elves |publisher=Cardiff University |year=2011 |page=225 |url=https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/55478/3/U516593%20%281%29.pdf}}</ref><ref name="Lupa2007" />{{rp|50}} In the early 1990s, newsgroups such as alt.horror.werewolves (AHWW)<ref name="Coudray2006">{{cite book | author = Chantal Bourgault Du Coudray | title = The Curse of the Werewolf: Fantasy, Horror and the Beast Within | publisher = I.B. Tauris | year = 2006 | isbn = 1-84511-158-3 | url = https://archive.org/details/curseofwerewolff0000bour}}</ref> and alt.fan.dragons on Usenet, which were initially created for fans of these creatures in the context of fantasy and horror literature and films, also developed followings of individuals who identified as mythological beings.<ref name="Lupa2007" /><ref name="Cohen1996">{{cite book | last = Cohen | first = D. | url = https://archive.org/details/werewolves00cohe_0/page/104 | title = Werewolves | publisher = Penguin Books | year = 1996 | isbn = 0-525-65207-8 | location = New York | page = [https://archive.org/details/werewolves00cohe_0/page/104 104]}}</ref>

===2000s=== On 15 December 2006, the Minneapolis-based newspaper ''Star Tribune'' published an article about dragons that included a section about the otherkin blog ''Draconic''.<ref>{{cite web | title = Dec 15, 2006, page E2 – Star Tribune at The Minnesota Star Tribune | url = https://startribune.newspapers.com/image/250367410/ | website = Newspapers.com}}</ref> The article took quotes from the mission statement of the blog, written by site founder Chris Dragon.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

===2010s=== On 7 April 2010, the Swedish newspaper ''Dagens Nyheter'' published an article titled "{{lang|sv|Ibland får jag lust att yla som en varg}}" ("Sometimes I get the urge to howl like a wolf") in which Lanina, founder of the Swedish language otherkin and therian forum therian.forumer.com, described the basics of what it is like to be a therian.<ref>{{cite news | last = Lerner | first = Thomas | date = 7 April 2010 | title = "Ibland får jag lust att yla som en varg" | url = https://www.dn.se/insidan/insidan-hem/ibland-far-jag-lust-att-yla-som-en-varg | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110909073826/https://www.dn.se/insidan/insidan-hem/ibland-far-jag-lust-att-yla-som-en-varg | archive-date = 9 September 2011 | access-date = 19 July 2023 | work = Dagens Nyheter | language = Swedish}}</ref> The article is the first known article to offer a description of "therian" identity by a major European newspaper.

In 2011, the International Anthropomorphic Research Project (IARP), a Canadian-American multidisciplinary research group, expanded the scope of its annual ''International Furry Survey'' to include otherkin and therians for the first time.<ref>{{cite web | title = International Furry Survey: Summer 2011 | url = https://furscience.com/research-findings/appendix-1-previous-research/international-summer-2011/ | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230524195004/https://furscience.com/research-findings/appendix-1-previous-research/international-summer-2011/ | archive-date = 24 May 2023 | access-date = 15 February 2026 | website = Furscience | language = en-US}}</ref>

==Research== Danielle Kirby published one of the first pieces of academic research on otherkin in 2006, which served to introduce the community to other academics.<ref name="Kirby2006" /> Kirby described otherkin as sharing ideas with the neopagan movement, however she called this an "interim classification", and warned that "to construe this group as specifically neo-pagan or techno-pagan obscures the focus of the participants".<ref name="Kirby2006" /> Subsequent research has treated the otherkin community as having an essentially religious or spiritual character.<ref name="Cusack2016" /><ref name="Robertson2014" /><ref name="Laycock2020" /><ref>{{citation | last = Bador | first = Damien | title = J. R. R. Tolkien et Ferdinand de Saussure: un héritage en fiction | date = 2019 | work = Tolkien et la Terre du Milieu | pages = 55–74 | publisher = Éditions Rue d'Ulm | doi = 10.4000/books.editionsulm.4020 | isbn = 978-2-7288-0679-9 | s2cid = 246344364 }}</ref>

Starting in 2016, scholars have utilized a narrative identity approach, investigating how otherkin come to understand their experiences.<ref name="Shea2020" /><ref name="Baldwin2020" /><ref name="Blom2025">{{cite thesis | last = Bricker | first = Natalie | title = Life Stories of Therianthropes: An Analysis of Nonhuman Identity in a Narrative Identity Model | date = 25 April 2016 | publisher = Lake Forest College Publications | url = https://core.ac.uk/works/27587688 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230715145116/https://core.ac.uk/works/27587688 | archive-date = 15 July 2023 | url-status = live}}</ref> Reviewing prior research, Stephanie C. Shea criticizes the prevailing conception of the otherkin subculture as being, or being alike to, either a religion or a spirituality.<ref>{{cite thesis | last = Shea | first = Stephanie | title = IDENTITY AND BELIEF: An Analysis of the Otherkin Subculture | date = June 2019 | access-date = 15 February 2026 | degree = MA | publisher = University of Amsterdam | url = https://www.academia.edu/43287628 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230820200610/https://www.academia.edu/43287628 | archive-date = 20 August 2023 | url-status = live}}</ref>

In four surveys of furries (with a sample size of 4338, 1761, 951 and 1065 respectively), depending on the sample, between 25% and 44% responded that they consider themselves to be "less than 100% human", compared to 7% of a sample of 802 non-furries surveyed at furry conventions.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Plante | first1 = Courtney N. | url = https://furscience.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fur-Science-Final-pdf-for-Website_2017_10_18.pdf | title = FurScience! A Summary of Five Years of Research from the International Anthropomorphic Research Project | last2 = Reysen | first2 = Stephen | last3 = Roberts | first3 = Sharon E. | last4 = Gerbasi | first4 = Kathleen C. | date = 2016 | publisher = FurScience | isbn = 978-0-9976288-0-7 | location = Waterloo, Ontario | page = 78 | access-date = 15 February 2026 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220421044257/https://furscience.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fur-Science-Final-pdf-for-Website_2017_10_18.pdf | archive-date = 21 April 2022 | url-status = live}}</ref> ==Public perception and media coverage== Perception of individuals who identify as otherkin varies and is subject to individual interpretation.<ref name="Bonewits2007" /> Reactions often range from disbelief to aggressive antagonism, especially online.<ref>{{cite book | author = Th'Elf | title = The Vampyre Almanac 2006 | publisher = Lulu | year = 2006 | isbn = 1-4116-6084-6 | editor = Sebastiaan van Houten | editor-link = Sebastiaan van Houten | chapter = Otherkin}}</ref>

Otherkin have been called a religious movement (or a "quasi-religion")<ref name="Kirby2009">{{cite book | author = Kirby, Danielle | url = https://archive.org/details/exploringreligio0000unse_q7d1 | title = Exploring Religion And The Sacred in A Media Age | publisher = Ashgate Publishing | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-0-7546-6527-4 | editor1 = Christopher Deacy | pages = 148–149 | chapter = From Pulp Fiction to Revealed Text: A Study of the Role of the Text in the Otherkin Community | editor2 = Elisabeth Arweck | url-access = registration}}</ref> that "in some of its forms, largely only exists on the Internet".<ref>Dawson, Lorne L.; Hennebry, Jenna. "New Religions and The Internet: Recruiting in A New Public Space". Essay published in several books:

*Lori G. Beaman. ''Religion and Canadian Society: Traditions, Transitions, and Innovations''. Canadian Scholars' Press, 2006. {{ISBN|1-55130-306-X}} *Lorne L. Dawson; Douglas E. Cowan. ''Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet''. Routledge, 2004. {{ISBN|0-415-97021-0}} *Lorne L. Dawson. ''Cults and New Religious Movements: A Reader''. John Wiley & Sons, 2003. {{ISBN|1-4051-0181-4}}</ref> Although otherkin beliefs deviate from the definition of "religion", many individuals share a primary interest in the paranormal, but many do not.<ref name="Kirby2009" />

Joseph P. Laycock argues that the otherkin community serves existential and social functions commonly associated with religion, and regards it as an alternative ''nomos'' that sustains alternate ontologies.<ref name="Laycock2020">{{cite journal | last = Laycock | first = Joseph P. | date = 2012 | title = “We Are Spirits of Another Sort”: Ontological Rebellion and Religious Dimensions of the Otherkin Community | url = https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/nr.2012.15.3.65 | journal = Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions | volume = 15 | issue = 3 | pages = 65–90 | doi = 10.1525/nr.2012.15.3.65 | issn = 1092-6690}}</ref> Professor Jay Johnston feels that nonhuman identity "is perhaps not so much pathological as political".<ref>{{cite book | last = Johnston | first = Jay | title = Animal Death | date = 2013 | publisher = Sydney University Press | isbn = 978-1-74332-023-5 | editor-last = Johnston | editor-first = Jay | pages = 293–306 | chapter = On having a furry soul: transpecies identity and ontological indeterminacy in Otherkin subcultures | doi = 10.2307/j.ctt1gxxpvf.23 | jstor = j.ctt1gxxpvf.23 | access-date = 15 February 2026 | editor2-last = Probyn-Rapsey | editor2-first = Fiona | chapter-url = https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1gxxpvf.23 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230817120553/https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1gxxpvf.23 | archive-date = 17 August 2023 | url-status = live}}</ref>

According to Nick Mamatas, they represent a dissatisfaction with the modern world, and they have taken fairy lore out of its original context.<ref name="Mamatas2001" />{{Update inline|date=September 2022|?=yes|reason=Reaction is from February 2001, and the source treats otherkin as a monolith. I found no source claiming Mamatas believes his reaction still applies broadly to otherkin today. Is it still relevant after so many years, or should the reaction be removed?}}

==See also== *{{annotated link|Changeling}} *{{annotated link|Clinical lycanthropy}} *{{annotated link|Depersonalization}} *{{annotated link|Dysphoria}} *{{annotated link|A Field Guide to Otherkin|''A Field Guide to Otherkin''}} *{{annotated link|Mermaiding}} *{{annotated link|Quadrobics}} *{{annotated link|Tulpa}} *{{annotated link|Walk-in (concept)|Walk-in}} *{{annotated link|Wolf (2021 Irish-Polish film)|''Wolf''}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * {{cite book | author = Anna Peachey | title = Reinventing Ourselves: Contemporary Concepts of Identity in Virtual Worlds | author2 = Mark Childs | publisher = Springer | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-0-85729-360-2 | chapter = Ch. 4: Liminal Phases of Avatar Identity}} * {{cite magazine | last1 = Baker-Whitelaw | first1 = Gavia | date = 21 July 2015 | title = Meet the people who don't identify as human | url = http://theweek.com/articles/552648/meet-peoplewho-dont-identify-human | magazine = The Week}} * {{cite journal | last1 = Proctor | first1 = Devin | date = April 2018 | title = Policing the Fluff: The Social Construction of Scientistic Selves in Otherkin Facebook Groups | journal = Engaging Science, Technology, and Society | volume = 4 | pages = 485–514 | doi = 10.17351/ests2018.252 | issn = 2413-8053 | doi-access = free}} * {{cite thesis | last = Proctor | first = Devin | title = On being non-human: Otherkin identification and virtual space | date = 2019 | degree = PhD | publisher = George Washington University | url = https://www.proquest.com/docview/2211490902 | id = {{ProQuest | 2211490902}}}} * [https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/why-be-human-when-you-can-be-otherkin "Why be human when you can be otherkin?" University of Cambridge, Research published 16 Jul 2016] * [https://www.dailydot.com/irl/otherkin/ "Otherkin are the internet's punchline. They're also our future"]. The Daily Dot, article published 26 September 2020

==External links== {{wiktionary}}

Category:Internet culture Category:Spirituality Category:Subcultures Category:1990s neologisms Category:Collective identity Category:Reincarnation Category:New religious movements established in the 1990s Category:Transhumanism