Introduction to Therianthropy

This thread will help newcomers understand the concept of Therianthropy clearly, remove misconceptions and also learn more about how this community works. If clarifications are required, please reply and I will add on to this post as soon as possible.

General Information About Therians:

So, first off, a Therian is a person who identifies as a nonhuman animal. Often, Therians have a strong connection with their Theriotype, the animal they identify as and see this animal side as a core part of their identity. Therians do not choose to be Therians, the experience is called Therianthropy and is completely involuntary. In one of these ways, psychologically, emotionally or spiritually, Therians connect to their Theriotypes in terms of behavior or thought.

A Therian can experience having multiple Theriotypes, whether mythical, earthen, alien, marine, aerial and much more. Although most Therians only have one Theriotype, some Therians may have many more. It is also common that Therians hesitate between Theriotypes, not because they are trying to choose one, but rather because they are trying to find out which one they are. Therianthropy is natural and is extremely hard to define. Sometimes, a Therian can find their Theriotype changing all the time.

Many Therians may choose to engage in an activity that makes them feel closer and more attached to their Theriotype. Quadrobics, the sport of walking and jumping like an animal, gear-making, creating objects that link to their Theriotypes and many other activities are often done to express identity.

Shifts are another part of Therianthropy. A shift is a time, usually temporary, when a Therian feels more connected with their Theriotype. During this process, Therians may change a way of thinking and start letting out their animal sides. Strength and frequency may vary for each Therian, and some don't shift at all.

Different Types of Therians

Category of Experience:
Psychological Therian - Experiences Therianthropy mentally, meaning that everything happens within the brain. Although reasons for this are unclear, there are many theories. Most Therians are Psychological (please take note that this is within my range of knowledge and does not entirely apply to every community!), and most in this category connect to their Theriotype in terms of personality, instincts and behavior.

Spiritual Therian - Spiritual Therians experience Therianthropy on a spiritual level, which commonly has to do with what they believe is their past life or maybe because there is a walk-in spirit. Their past lives are usually animals, which then managed to stay with them in this life. As for walk-in spirits, some believe that animals may choose to be part of another being before being reincarnated.

Physical Therian - Experiences Therianthropy in physical ways, believing that if they are an animal internally, they must be an animal physically. There are varying theories, but most Physical Therians feel like an animal on the physical level because they connect their internal identity so closely to who they actually are physically.

Category of Theriotype:
Ambitherian - Connects to multiple Theriotypes within a range of species, usually having a few connections stronger than the remainder.

Cladotherian - Connects to no specific animal but instead an entire family of animals, such as feline, or mammal. Ranges vary depending on the Therian.

Polytherian - Identifies as different types of animals or species at the same time.

Omnitherian - Identifies as all earthen animals simultaneously, experiencing being every single animal on earth.

Paleotherian - Identifies as an already extinct animals that existed a long time ago, or just went extinct.

Theriomythic - Identifies as mythical and fantasy animals instead of animals that exist in reality.

Category of State:
Shiftingtherian - The most common type of Therian which experiences involuntary shifts and sometimes voluntary shifts. They have a clear boundary between their animal side and human side, only becoming animal temporarily from time to time.

Nonshiftingtherian - These Therians don't shift at all.

Contherian - Experience a constant, continuous blend of animal and human identity, not experiencing shifts and simultaneously being the two.

Suntherian - Always shifted to a certain degree, whether more or less. Don't experience clear mental shifts and are generally more animal than human.

Holothere - Are completely non-human, and are always in their animal state. Don't experience shifts and remain animal permanently.

Common Misconceptions About Therians

1. Is being Therian is being part of a religion? No, Therianthropy is an identity and doesn't affect one's religion.

2. Are Therians part of The LGBT+ spectrum? No, being Therian itself has nothing to do with the LGBT+ community or spectrum but, many Therians are part of the LGBT+ spectrum and identify as LGBT+ because of a certain trait in their Therianthropy.

3. Are Therians and Furries the same thing? No, Furries experience happiness from imitating animals, Therians are animals as part of their identity.

4. Do Therians believe they physically are their Theriotype? No, Therians are mostly psychological and remain human most of the time. Please take note that this is a debatable topic and has lead to misinformation. To be taken with consideration and background research.

Note For Readers
Thank you for reading! I hope this post really helped you! If you have any questions, requirements for clarifications, corrections, suggestions and requests, please reply, I will try to add and edit as much as possible. If more than ten people reply to me, I will then make Threads for all other Alterhuman identities. Have a great day! Give thanks if you found this helpful!

This content is not completely right and verified, check Cygnus' post below for corrections and additional information.

Hi there @Lycanthera ,

I meant to write out a response to this earlier but I've been bogged down with work lately. There's some incorrect and nuanced things you should be aware of about what these words mean and represent. Our forums have a vast amount of information and numerous individual's views on what these things mean, though much of it is scattered (though it's all searchable using our search tool: https://forums.therian-guide.com/search.php) throughout the Introduction to Therianthropy and other boards.

Anyway, here's my own thoughts/commentary on what you wrote, as one of the older folks:


Types of Therianthropy:
It's not an emotional connection, though emotions often play a part in how we experience being the species.
The two main divisions are spiritual and psychological as you mentioned, and yes they are involuntary. ^^

Rapidly-Cycling Theriotypes:
A theriotype changing "all the time" usually has to do with experiences that are vague and can apply to several species, leaving the individual uncertain as to what they are. Sometimes, I see critters looking into theriotypes or kintypes that shapeshift when the constant-changing is persistent when trying to find an explanation.

Gear and expression:
Quadrobics and gear are mainly a thing with younger therians looking to express themselves. It's less common with older adults, though some of us have masks or tails that hold some type of significance to us. For instance, mine is mainly a ritual mask.

Psychological Therians:
We don't know if most therians are psychological. Every therian space only represents a small section of the community as a whole. There are also offline-only communities which may not be represented in the demographics of online spaces. The community demographics of online spaces also seems to have changed drastically over time. For example: A large part of the experiences described on AHWw(the UseNET board where the Therian community originally came from) were viewed as spiritual. The majority of the current community was also introduced to therianthropy through social media and sibling/friend advertising, so this likely influences the demographics we're seeing at the moment.

Spiritual Therians:
In spiritual therianthropy, the therian isn't given a theriotype, they view themselves as objectively being their theriotype because their spirit/soul is that of an animal in a literal sense. Sometimes it's because they believe they were reincarnated yet somehow remained an animal in some way(when the past life carries into the current day), walk-ins or possibly replacement reincarnation, having a soul merged with that of a spirit animal to where there's one animalistic being inhabiting a human body...the list goes on. It's much more complicated and varied than what Tiktok portrays spiritual therianthropy as.

"Physical Therianthropy" and Holothere terms:
I'll refer you to my extensive post explaining these and the issues surrounding their use in the community: https://forums.therian-guide.com/Thread-Holothere?pid=289168#pid289168


The categories you mentioned:

Ambitherian - Another tumblr term written to describe a single critter's experiences; not commonly in use. It appears to be a subtype of cladotherian.

Cladotherian - Correct, though it's being and not just connecting to.

Polytherian - Correct, though it's being and not just connecting to.

Omnitherian - it describes being all animals at once, but is considered controversial. My thoughts on it are that it may be describing something akin to being an archetype spirit that's being misinterpreted, or it may describe someone who feels connection to nature/all animals. You wouldn't be able to know the specific experiences of all animals because it would be impossible to actually research every single animal in existence to know if you were this, which is why it's often not considered to be a real thing.

Paleotherian - Correct, though it's being and not just connecting to.

Theriomythic - Almost correct, it's being a mythical/mythological/magical animal or highly animal-like being, such as a kitsune or werewolf. Mythology is often confused with Fiction, but mythology is viewed by the people of the time as factual(A spiritual theriomythic would also likely view themselves as real). Sometimes mythology describes things that are thought to be real in this world, yet other mythologies may describe creatures that only exist within a spirit world or otherwise metaphysical realm. Fictional theriotypes would fall under Fictotherian(Sometimes written as Fictherian) or Fictionkin.

Categories of State:
Shifting Therian - This isn't really it's own term, therians just commonly have shifting as one of their experiences. Those who shift don't always have clear distinctions between human and animal, so you'd have to ask the individual to know if they do.

Contherian - We don't have mental shifts because we're always the animal. It's like being in a constant shifted state that never turns off. My personal experience with this has me in a steady-state of being an animal; I have moments where my instincts get "perked up" to deal with situations, but I don't perceive myself to be more or less animal. I also don't really view myself as human but others might, so it depends on the individual.

Suntherian - This was a term made to describe a single individual (See this post to see him describe it: https://forums.therian-guide.com/Thread-History-of-the-word-Suntherian?pid=136247#pid136247). It describes always feeling animal, but allows for natural variations in intensity. It's used similarly to Contherian by a lot of people..

LGBT+ Affiliation - Almost, a lot of us are LGBT+ and sometimes this is because our perceived species isn't the same sex as our human bodies or the species has specific views on sexuality or gender that would put us into these groups.

Furries - Largely correct

Physical - This is debatable and a subject of controversy within the Therian community (We actually have our own rule about this in the community rules). There is a section of the community who believe this but it is not considered acceptable or possible by most spaces, and it has led to harmful behavior and beliefs in the past, including the creation of cults, cash scams, and misinformation.

Thank you very much Cygnus! I will be paying more attention to detail in the future. If I find time recently, I will modify my post according to what you said. Have a lovely day!

(2025-10-30 11:41)Lycanthera Wrote:  Thank you very much Cygnus! I will be paying more attention to detail in the future. If I find time recently, I will modify my post according to what you said. Have a lovely day!

You're welcome, you'll find a lot more info in our boards as well. This community's been around for a pretty long time and had a lot of critters contributing to the discussions. ^^