Therianthropy
This is an informational page about therians.
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Written by Tsuga. Open to suggestions. Expect
updates if I think of anything else to add.
Therian: A therian is someone who identifies as an animal based on involuntary animalistic behaviors. They believe they are that animal in a psychological and/or spiritual sense. (Not physically or biologically.)
Theriotype: The animal a therian identifies as. It can be any earthly non-human animal, including extinct animals.
Polytherian: A therian with multiple theriotypes.
Cladotherian: A therian who identifies as a group of animals as a whole (so it’s phycological, not spiritual) like a family or genus instead of a species.
Suntherian or contherian: A therian whose theriotype is integrated into their personality. They don’t have mental shifts because they’re always in a half human, half animal state mentally. It’s unchanging.
Species dysphoria: A feeling of sadness, resentment, discomfort, depression, etc. because of being in a human body. Some therians wish they weren’t a therian, because going through this can be very upsetting.
Quadrobics: An activity involving walking, trotting, running, jumping, etc. on all fours.
Otherkin: An umbrella term that therianthropy falls under. Anyone who identifies as non-human in some way is an otherkin, by definition. The difference between otherkin and therian is that otherkin can be mythical and fictional beings, while therians are strictly earthly animals. Alterhuman is another word used that’s similar to otherkin.
Otherhearted: Someone who feels a connection to an animal but does not identify as it. Also called animalhearted. Instead of identifying as an animal, you identify with it. Many animalhearted people will mistakenly call themselves a therian before discovering animalhearted. Whichever animal they connect to is what they’re called, like “lizardhearted” for example. If you’re confused on if an animal is a theriotype or a hearttype, ask yourself “do I feel as though this animal is me, or do I just really relate to this animal on a deeper level?”
Furry: Furries have nothing to do with therians or otherkin. Furries choose to be furries. They are people who are interested in anthropomorphic animals. Some furries dress up, but dressing up isn’t what defines them.
A shift is when a therian becomes more like their theriotype in some way for a certain period of time. How extreme shifts are and how long they last depends on the person.
Mental shift: This is typically what people are referring to when they say shift. It’s a change in a therian’s mentality that causes them to think and act more animal-like than usual. How much it affects the therian’s thinking depends on how major the shift is. A major mental shift usually means the therian is in a full animalistic state of mind; they think in feelings instead of words.
Phantom shift: A shift in which a therian feels body parts of their theriotype that aren’t really there (tail, ears, teeth, fur, claws, talons, wings, antennae, etc). It may cause confusion and dysphoria.
Dream shift: When a therian is their therioype in a dream and it feels real.
Sensory shift: When a therian’s brain tries to mimic the senses of their theriotype. (For example, heightened hearing.) Of course, it’s impossible to actually change biologically because of a shift. But senses can be slightly hightened/dulled or feel as if they were because of a sensory shift. Some people’s theriotypes have different senses that humans don’t have, in which case they’ll have a false impression of that sense during a sensory shift.
There are other types of shifts too, such as an aura shift, but they’re much less common.
Question: What counts as “involuntary animalistic behaviors”?
Answer: Any instinctual urges a therian gets that are difficult to control, that resemble that of an animal’s urges. For example, a wolf therian may feel territorial and have the urge to growl. Or an ant therian might feel as though they need to work together with others when presented with food.These behaviors happen all throughout a therian’s life, and are commonly how someone figures out they’re a therian. Note that your personality traits aren’t automatic signs of a theriotype. Your personality might be affected by your theriotype, but just because you’re a loyal person, for example, doesn’t mean you’re a dog therian.
Q: Does having too many theriotypes make you fake?
A: No. Sure, some fakers have a lot, but that doesn’t mean all polytherians with lots of types are fake. There isn’t a “limit”, as long as you genuinely connect to and identity as all your types and have done adequate research.
Q: Can you choose your theriotypes?
A: No, not at all. Therians don’t pick their types, they discover them. I, for instance, really wish I were NOT a cat therian or any predatory therian. I love all animals dearly, so I absolutely hate having urges to chase after and catch rodents/birds.Liking an animal has nothing to do with it being your type. I mean, you probably like the animal you identify as because, well, you identify as it. But liking an animal is not an indicator that it’s your theriotype. Foxes were once my favorite animal, but I don’t experience fox-like urges and don’t feel like a fox, so I am not a fox therian.
Q: Do I have to do quadrobics to be a therian?
A: No. Quadrobics is a choice. Not all therians choose to do it. It’s mainly a trend among younger therians, brought upon by TikTok. (Which isn’t a bad thing. It’s a really fun activity!) But if you look at the older generations of therians, most don’t do quadrobics.
Q: Why do some therians do quadrobics?
A: Either simply for fun/to exercise, or to connect to their theriotype. Keep in mind that not all therians have theriotypes with four legs. One of my types is a fish, and if that were my only type, obviously quads wouldn’t help me connect to it (but I might still do quads for fun).
Q: Is everyone who does quadrobics and wears gear a therian?
A: Nope, everyone can do quadrobics and wear gear, not just therians.
Q: Are therians with “weird” theriotypes valid?
A: Yes. Therians aren’t just wolves and cats. There are crabs, insects, pigs, fish, and all the other less known ones. I once met a cockroach therian, who you would assume was a troll, but they were dead serious and perfectly valid. They felt drawn towards wet leaves and basements.
Q: How do I shift?
A: All therians shift in different ways. Some therians can train themselves to shift manually, by meditating, playing nature noises, or other methods that work for them. But shifts usually happen involuntary for most people. Shifts can be triggered by one’s surroundings, being near other animals that are their theriotype, hearing certain sounds/smelling certain scents, the brain being in a certain state of mind, or other stimuli. They can also just occur randomly, which may be annoying if you’re in a public place. (Shifts can lead to both positive and negative experiences!)
Q: What if I don’t shift?
A: That’s fine! Everyone has their own experiences. Some therians simply do not shift, and you shouldn’t beat yourself up if your attempts to shift fail.
Q: Does everyone get species dysphoria?
A: No, some therians are fine with a human body.
Q: How do I make tails?
A: If you choose to make a tail, the two most common ways to do it is to either use faux fur or yarn. Faux fur tails are made by stitching/sewing fake fur to resemble a tail and then stuffing it and adding a belt. As for yarn tails, I believe there are a few different ways and styles to do them, and some styles can look very realistic. I don’t know much about it but here’s a cool tutorial: https://youtu.be/uVXO7khBFz4?si=2AiX-Ld2PU1g4u__
What causes therianthropy?
Everyone has different beliefs on why therians exist. Here are a few common theories, but there are more that aren’t listed. Therians can have different theories for each of their theriotypes.Don’t treat this as a list of theories you must choose from. It’s only to give you an insight on what some therians think is going on.
Psychological theoriesTheory 1: Certain animals imprint on someone’s brain from a young age and cause the person to act like them as a result.Theory 2: Some people are simply born with different brains that cause them to think more seemingly animal-like. There’s evidence that the human brain can develop differently for some people, as seen with neurodivergence.
Spiritual theoriesTheory 3: They were an animal in their past life. People with this theory sometimes claim to experience visions, memories, and dreams of their past life.Theory 4: They’re an animal in another dimension/universe.
Why are there so many wolf and cat therians?
Theory 1: A lot of people live with cats and dogs from a young age, so those animals imprint on them.
Theory 2: Wolves and cats are just cool. A lot of wolf and cat therians probably have other theriotypes too that are less known, but they don’t try to figure them out because they aren’t as interesting. Most therians are more interested in researching if they’re a cat or wolf therian, so they end up figuring that out and ignore any other potential theriotypes. This would also explain why, as in theory 1, people who have lived with dogs end up being wolf therians instead. Because they’re uninterested in figuring out a dog type, and instead want to see if they have a wolf type.
Theory 3: Wolves and cats have a special connection to humans for some reason. Some people point out the similarities between wolves and humans, in that both form close relationships with family and protect each other from danger. However, others say this doesn’t make sense because then there would be much more primate therians.
Theory 4 (DEBUNKED): Humans have killed a lot of wolves when hunting and in past events, and the spirits of those killed wolves are then born into humans in turn. This theory was debunked because, well, humans kill billions of animals for food every year that aren’t wolves.