Many times folks have come to me and asked the all too familiar question: “What’s up with the animal costume?” or “What’s up with all those other animals you’re with?”

Looks like it’s time for a bit of a briefer.

Niko Linni Partial Fursuit Out at A Southern California Mall At Night

Photo by Corvin Dallas

So what exactly are “furries”? Well simply put we’re folks that enjoy animal characters.

That’s it.

If you’re partial to animal characters of any kind then you’re more than a good fit for the furry community. And the “Furry Fandom” is the name for this community of furries.

Some furs feel like they either have to have a fursuit and others feel like they have to do something creative. That’s not true.

“Fursuit” is the fandom’s word for our signature costumes made after our characters. We like to call our characters “Fursonas.”

Furries tend to be a very inclusive and diverse community as well, with furs coming in from all walks of life. To quote the old Kingdom Hearts promo it’s “A journey where you’ll never know who you’ll run into next.”

Now the next question might be: what kinds of media and entertainment would qualify as furry?

To be honest I’ve actually seen many schools of thought on this.

The most common is that furry is anything that has animal characters of any kind. Others have argued that only things created by furries for furries should qualify.

Others argue that anything that has animal elements in it can be furry. Including franchises such as Batman and Hawkgirl due to their animal motifs. And even the Ancient Egyptian Gods due to their animal-like appearances.

Going with the first definition still leads to some heated debates. Ask any given group of furs if Five Nights at Freddy’s counts or not.

Plenty of furries have an interest in other hobbies as well. It’s not uncommon to see games of Magic: The Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh unfold at meetups, and as far as gaming goes… did you catch that big Super Smash Bros. tournament at Biggest Little Furcon that was live streamed?

I should also mention that fellow furry SonicFox is the #1 ranked Mortal Kombat X player in the world. So needless to say, you’ll find plenty of geeks and nerds amongst the furred flock.

Five Nights at Freddy's 2 - Help Wanted Newspaper Ad

Screenshot Source: Five Nights at Freddy’s 2

Furs love to organize various meetups and activities that are quite diverse themselves.

Over here in the Southern California Furry Community we’ve got meetups that range from the well-known house party Prancing Skiltaire to a fursuit bowling meetup to a meetup at Lenny Sinatra’s own Executive Suite Nightclub.

Seems like we definitely know how to get around!

Conventions happen year round, all over America, with a few happening around the world too.

California itself hosts three different cons: Further Confusion in San Jose, Pacific Anthropomorphics Weekend (“PAW Con”) in the San Francisco Bay Area, and a potential newcomer named Golden State Furcon.

You can find all full of all kinds of furred goodness at conventions. There’s also that financially dangerous spot known as The Dealer’s Den. It’s the furry version of an Artists’ Alley.

All in all, we’re just a bunch of fun loving fluff balls that, like pretty much anyone else, want to get together and have fun.

So if you see one of us out in the wild don’t be afraid to stop by and say hello and stay for a while. Also, fursuit hugs are fine, make sure to ask first.