WikiFur:Featured articles/Complete

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This page is a complete listing of all featured article front-page entries at WikiFur, in reverse chronological order. It may take some time to load!

Note that these are not the complete articles, and are not updated over time - if a topic picks your fancy, click the bold link for more information.


Majira in Majira fursuit v.3.0, and his contemporary design since 2018.jpg

Majira Strawberry, or simply Majira (real name Kyle Summers; born June 18, 1996), is a YouTuber and fursuiter originally from Akron, Ohio, USA, who moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in Autumn 2018. He currently lives with Kiwi Fox. Majira currently has over 100 videos on his YouTube Channel as of January 2019. His content consists of skits, parodies, instructional videos, and collaborations related to the furry fandom.

Majira has reached several milestones on both subscriber and view counts on his main furry channel. On January 3, 2017, he reached 50,000 subscribers. On October 28, 2017, he reached 100,000 subscribers and on December 28, 2018, he reached 200,000 subscribers. He currently has over 216,000 YouTube subscribers (as of March 2019).

Outside of his work in the fandom, Majira runs a non-furry channel where he does vlogs and similiar content of that sort. He is bespectacled and is also famous with his signature hipster-style glasses.

(more..)
art by Chuck Davies.

The Yiffy Guide to Safer Sex explains safe sex to furries, and contains sexually explicit art. Written in 1996 by Andrew Murphy-Mee, it contains art by Chuck Davies, Brian Harp, Lance Rund, Ken Sample, Sean Thomas, Sean Wilkinson and Wookiee, and is free for distribution online or in print format, e.g. at conventions.

The guide has inaccuracies relating to Nonoxynol-9 (which is now believed to increase the risk of HIV transmission) and the safety of mutual masturbation without the protection of medical gloves, and improperly recommends that used condoms be flushed down the toilet. (more..)
009 - Cat Inquiry 43.png

Bolt is the name of the white American Shepherd Dog and protagonist from the 2008 animated feature of the same name. His character development embodies the film’s main messages regarding trust and loyalty.

In the movie, Bolt has spent his entire life from early puppyhood on a TV-set, where he has been kept isolated from the outside world by the producers of a hit television show. In the show, Bolt must use his superpowers to save his owner and co-actor Penny, whom he loves dearly, from the evil plans of the malevolent villain "Dr. Calico."

(more..)
Promo image of Krystal of Cerinia
Krystal is a fictional fox character created by Nintendo and Rare for the Nintendo 64 game Dinosaur Planet. Her role in that game was intended to be a playable primary character, but in the revolutionary introduction of the Nintendo GameCube, her role changed. The game Dinosaur Planet was scrapped and its elements were modified and altered into Star Fox Adventures. Her playable status was made short and she became the "damsel in distress" in the game who was trapped because she could channel spirits. (more...)
JackWebcomicMainCast.jpg

Jack is a furry webcomic by David Hopkins. It is set in a world populated by anthropomorphic animals and focuses on judgment and afterlife.

The titular Jack is a wizened green rabbit who lives in Hell. He is the embodiment of the deadly sin wrath, whose punishment is being the Grim Reaper. In life, the unfairness of some deaths, particularly towards the ones he loved, made him angry. In his position as Grim Reaper, he now has to witness more death, the cause of his wrath. Jack attempts to remember the sins he did in life in order to be forgiven for them. This is hard for him as his other punishment is having no memory of his life on Earth.

Jack has had a mixed reception. Positive reviews claim Jack is enjoyable because the story arcs contain meaning and comments on morality. Critics respond that the comic is "glitz over substance", and have complained about the use of graphic violence.

Jack was joint winner of "Best Dramatic Comic" (alongside Demonology 101) at the Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards in 2004.

(more)
Ozy
Millie

Ozy and Millie is a funny animal comic strip drawn by D.C. Simpson. Launched on April 29, 1998, it ended over a decade later on December 23, 2008, though the author has hinted at possible additional episodes.

Ozy and Millie (vol. 4, Authentic Banana Dye) won the 2002 Ursa Major Award for Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work, and Best Anthropomorphic Comic from the Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards for that same year. It was also nominated for Best Anthropomorphic Comic Strip in 2005, and won the same award in 2006 and 2007.

The series followed the adventures of a quiet young arctic fox named Ozy and his best friend, a rebellious red fox girl named Millie, along with Ozy's adoptive dragon father Llewellyn and Millie's mother, Ms. Mudd. Over time, the two single parents found companionship with one another, making for a somewhat psychotic yet close-knit family. (more...)
A-Frame communal bedding structures at night at Oklacon

Oklacon is an annual furry convention in Roman Nose State Park, near Watonga, Oklahoma, USA. It is a full-weekend event, running every year on the weekend of or immediately preceding Halloween. This predominantly outdoor convention emphasizes hands-on community and small-group craft, gaming, and wilderness activities, with most attendees camping on the park's grounds or sharing communal bunk bed buildings, called A-Frames, around the group camp site. It was the first outdoor-format furry convention in the US, and it enters its ninth year as the largest outdoor furry convention in the world.

Even with an annual turnout of approximately 250 attendees, several individuals prominent in the fandom have visited this convention, including 2, Blotch, Jeff Goode, and Sub-level 03, which made its debut in the Furry Fandom at the first event in 2003. Oklacon has maintained the same charity since its inception, Safari's Interactive Animal Sanctuary in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, USA. From 2004 through 2010, the attendees of Oklacon have raised $26,492 for the charity, averaging one of the highest per-capita donation rates among furry conventions worldwide. (more...)
Female (left) and male (right) Nephilim as depicted in the Avernum game series

The Nephilim, or Nephil for short, are a race of feline humanoids in the game series Exile and its remake Avernum, set largely in the underground world taking the same name. Most live underground after being sent there by the human Empire, who rule the surface world. Some still survive on the surface, albeit constantly hunted by xenophobic Empire troops. As a result, the majority of Nephilim underground and on the surface are hostile towards humans, though some do get along and even live amongst them.

Nephilim are one of the three playable races in the series — the other two being humans and Slithzerikai — and typically serve as a low-level enemy for the player's party to fight, though their role becomes more complex as the games progress. While Nephilim society is rarely explained in depth, much can be gleaned from the in-game descriptions and comments by NPCs. (more...)

The Mouse Problem was a sketch in Monty Python's Flying Circus, a popular BBC comedy series. It aired 13 October 1969 as part of the show's second episode (Sex and Violence). An audio version was distributed on the Monty Python's Flying Circus album in 1970.

The sketch is generally accepted as a satire of period coverage of homosexuality (the Stonewall riots had taken place just a few months before). Some members of furry fandom find it interesting to compare this satire with media coverage of furry fandom in the present day. It is "re-discovered every few years" by those new to the fandom.

The sketch was reportedly cut on rebroadcast into the USA, eliminating the section with The Amazing Kargol. Some suggest that this is due to the promotion of bestiality, arson and murder, all of which were hot topics in mid-1970s USA. (more...)
Fritz the Cat

Fritz the Cat is a 1972 animated film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi as his feature film debut. Based on the comic books by Robert Crumb, the film was the first animated feature film to receive an X rating in the United States. It focuses on Fritz (voiced by Skip Hinnant), a feline in mid-1960s New York City who explores the ideals of hedonism and sociopolitical consciousness. The film is a satire focusing on American college life of the era, race relations, the free love movement, and left- and right-wing politics. Fritz the Cat was the first independent animated film to gross more than $100 million at the box office.

Fritz the Cat had a troubled production history and controversial release. Creator Robert Crumb is known to have had disagreements with the filmmakers, claiming in interviews that his first wife signed over the film rights to the characters, and that he did not approve the production. Crumb was also critical of the film's approach to his material. Fritz the Cat was controversial for its rating and content, which viewers at the time found to be offensive. Its success led to a slew of other X-rated animated films, and a sequel, The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat, was made without Crumb's or Bakshi's involvement. (more...)
TigerTails Radio

TigerTails Radio is a furry Internet radio show based in the United Kingdom, started by TK Tiger in mid-2004. It streams every Monday night on BritFur FM and a server provided by Mhisani.

In its first season, one three-hour show was broadcast for every day of the year. The show has changed format numerous times, and has raised over £1000 for UK children's charity Comic Relief. (more...)
Poster for Mark Allen's Pet Project.

Mark Allen's Pet Project is a stand-up comedy show about furries, written and performed by British comedian Mark Allen. The show came about from Allen's attempts to understand the relationship between humans and animals. During his research, he learned about furries and decided to "infiltrate them."

Because of the wariness that most furries have with people outside the fandom, Allen bought himself a Dalmatian dog fursuit.

In his show, he talks about how he competed in a "Fursuit Olympics" and talks about, "learning about tolerance anew". His show also features film footage of his visits to furry activities. (more...)
Uncle Kage

Uncle Kage (Dr. Samuel Conway) is Chairman of Anthrocon, and regularly attends many other furry conventions. He has been a guest of honor at numerous conventions, both in and out of the furry world, including Albany Anthrocon, Feral! 2001, ConClave, Duckon, Eurofurence, and I-CON. He holds a doctorate in chemistry from Dartmouth College, and is a professional scientific researcher.

Uncle Kage's name is actually an abbreviation of Kagemushi Goro, or the Samurai Cockroach, his selected fursona. Kage has also claimed that his cockroach fursona is also part wolf. In 2001, Uncle Kage went incognito to Mephit Furmeet 5 as "The Unknown Furry", wearing a cheaply-designed fursuit, including a mask made from a paper bag.

Kage was introduced to furry fandom by Jim Groat at Noreascon in 1989. He became a regular of FurryMUCK in 1991 and still spends time there in the evenings. (more...)
Megaplex 7

Megaplex is a furry convention first held in March 2002 as Pawpet Megaplex. Megaplex 7 took place 28-30 March 2008 in Jacksonville, Florida, with 255 attending.

Megaplex's stated goal is to provide "a celebration of interactive arts and performance, with a primary focus on anthropomorphics and fantasy". Programming has focused on fursuiting, puppetry, improvisation, and other types of performance, including a capella groups in 2003, 2004 and 2006. In 2005 it hosted the Potpourri of Puppets, a regional puppetry event.

Attendance peaked at 387 in 2005, but had declined to 185 by 2007. Reasons for this include unpopular track scheduling in 2005, a disappointing hotel experience in 2006, and a forced move to Jacksonville compounded by a schedule conflict with Furry Weekend Atlanta in 2007. Attempts to reverse this trend include new rules permitting dealers to discreetly sell mature work and a later convention starting date. (more...)
Diana transforming the hunter Actaeon into a deer

Greek mythology encompasses the beliefs and rituals of Classical Greece. It was followed for over three thousand years until the establishment of Christianity and Islam. Unlike many ancient religions, most of Greek mythology came from the telling of stories by the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and their own cult and ritual practices.

Greek mythology has no end of stories and characters that appeal to furries, from human/animal hybrids, to stories of transformations. Some furry spiritualists consider this to be one of the earliest forms of furry. Examples include minotaurs, centaurs, satyrs, fauns, dragons and chimeras, including the Sphinx. (more...)
The Elven Star, a symbol of otherkin.

Otherkin are those who believe that their physical forms do not define or fully encompass their mental states, personality, psychology, or spiritual nature. First appearing on the Internet in the mid-1990s, the term was intended to imply some form of kinship with an 'other' element outside of a person's biological nature, physical mind and experiences, and human life.

Otherkin generally feel they have an affinity or connection with another animal or being. The term is believed to have been coined in the late 1980's by those with a relation to the fae folk and/or elves of traditional mythological culture and folklore, but associations with other creatures became common, including unicorns, gryphons, dragons, angelics, and demons. (more...)
Yiffstar

Yiffstar, also known as the Yiffy Story Archive, is a privately funded non-commercial story archive of erotic furry fiction and artwork. Though focusing on furry stories with adult or sexual content, it has sections for non-sexual work. Yiffstar also hosts a multi-room chat system, a MUCK, forums, IM, and an oekaki.

Submitted content is moderated by a crew of volunteer reviewers. There is no censorship for content, other than the requirement of entries to be furry or animal related. The site is run by Toumal, who founded it on 19 September 2002. Since then, over 25,000 submissions have been approved, including more than 15,000 stories, 9,000 pictures and 160 songs. (more...)
All Fur Fun

All Fur Fun was a furry convention first held from Friday March 30 to Sunday April 1, 2007 at the Ridpath Hotel in Spokane, Washington, U.S.A. Blind Pig author Phil Geusz called the 110-person event "the best of both worlds", being both intimate and professionally run. Its chairman is Moorcat.

All Fur Fun arose after the permanent cancellation of Conifur Northwest. As part of the cancellation, Conifur Northwest donated various assets.

There were three AFFs (from 2007 to 2009). An AFF was planned for 2010, but was cancelled.

A proposed furry convention, SpokAnthro, is being planned to occur also in Spokane, Washington. (more...)
Califur's 2006 Logo

Califur is a convention that succeeded the long-running ConFurence as the annual furry event of Southern California. Califur is organized by FENEC Adventures. Related events include Califur Train, and Califur Diego. Attendance has grown from 328 in 2004 to 496 as of 2007.

FENEC ("Furries Enjoying the Natural Environments of California") was conceived by Alohawolf, Dawn Britt, and Dennis Carr with the initial idea of having a furry-themed campout. While riding home from the southern California FurBQ, Dawn commented to Dennis and his wife, Karmin, about the lack of other camping events such as Feral! in Southern California. Dennis pointed this out while chatting on the Furnet IRC Network, and Robert took charge from there.

As the campout was being planned, additional staffers including Glen Wooten, Zsanene "Zee" Stevens, Tank "Trapa" Winters, "Drew kitty" along with ConFurence co-founders Mark Merlino and Rod O'Riley were brought on board. With the demise of ConFurence in 2003, Mark and Robert expressed a desire to see a regional convention maintained in Southern California. The decision was made in early autumn of 2003 to plan a traditional hotel-based convention to succeed ConFurence 2003 with Califur 0 the following year. (more...)
Lake Area Furry Fans, or LAFF

Lake Area Furry Friends (or LAFF) is a regional social group and mailing list focused on the northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, and northwestern Indiana, including the Chicago, Milwaukee, and Madison metropolitan areas.

Formed in 1996, the list grew into a community with offshoots into LiveJournal, MySpace and Second Life. It is primarily used to organize social functions, including a monthly bowling outing (followed by multiple after-bowling parties, including SliderCon), summer softball games, and an annual trip to Noah's Ark Waterpark in the Wisconsin Dells.

The year culminates in a grand New Year's Eve party in Northern Illinois. Numerous weekly events also take place, as well as one-off outings organized by community members, many of whom volunteer for Midwest FurFest. (more...)
Theseus slays the Minotaur

In Greek mythology, the Minotaur was a creature that was half man and half bull. It dwelt in the Labyrinth, an elaborate maze constructed by King Minos of Crete and designed by the architect Daedalus to hold the Minotaur. The Minotaur was eventually killed by Theseus. It is one of the earliest examples of an anthropomorphic character in history.

Minotaurs are quite uncommon in the furry fandom, but they feature in fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: the Gathering, Shadowbane and in World of Warcraft as the Tauren. (more...)
Hologram of a human combined with a picture of a tiger at the MIT Museum

Therianthropy is a generic term for the transformation of a human into another animal form, either as a part of mythology or as a spiritual concept. It is derived from the Greek therion, meaning "wild animal", and anthrōpos, meaning "man".

Therians believe that they have an intrinsic, personal, and integral connection to an animal (or animals). Most believe that mental and emotional shifts can occur as a result; a controversial minority extend this to the physical world. Some believe they have the spirit or soul, in whole or in part, of a non-human animal; most identify as feline or canine, often big cats and wolves. Their beliefs often overlap with aspects of shamanism or totemism.

Some furries view therianthropy as "taking it too far," while some therians view furries as frivolous and ignorant of the "true nature" of animals. However, relations are usually friendly, and therians can often be found at furry conventions and other social events. (more...)
Banrai

Andrea Brooks, also known as Banrai, has been in the furry fandom since 1995. She attended the North Carolina School of the Arts in 2002-3, where she met her husband, Kasan. She is a housewife and freelance artist, with a recent trend towards craft hats and tails.

Banrai lives in Black Mountain, NC and founded the NC Furs LiveJournal in 2003. She is also moderator of the conbadges monthly swap community, a co-moderator on Furbid Horrors, and founder of the otherkin community Alfandria on LiveJournal. Other than her draconic fursona, her characters include Augenti and Tias.

Banrai began drawing fellow artist Aido's characters in 1998. Over the next five years she assumed her muse's works, style and identity under a similar name, insisting that she was the real Aido. She wove these works into her own setting (later replaced), and claimed the art of a former roommate, among others. In November 2005, after being banned from Elfwood, suspended from the VCL, and losing close friends, she admitted to and apologized for her actions towards Aido. Since then she has acquired a better reputation through FurBid commissions, convention exposure and other art.

Banrai used to be active on Second Life as an events manager, DJ, builder, and SA W-Hat. She was on the first Furry Cruise, and has attended MFM and FWA. (more...)
Treehouse

The Astonishing Treehouse of the Secret Moon (usually just The Treehouse or Secretmoon) is a fictional location in Tapestries MUCK. Founded by Lori'anne in mid-1999, it became well-known as a public area, and remains popular as of 2007. Its website is home to a few of the long-term residents, as well as a mature ageplay-themed oekaki.

The area's theme is that of a slightly magical treehouse, permanently lit by the moon. The treehouse proper contains a large playroom, as well as a well-appointed bathroom and observation deck. Higher branches hold secondary sleeping platforms, along with a watchtower, while the hollowed-out basement of the tree hides an underground ball-pit. Surrounding areas include a grassy glade, a lake and a secluded pool.

In late 2000 the Treehouse became the focus of conflict between then-owner Crassus and maintainer Ben Raccoon. Escalation of the conflict led to a suspension of control, as changes in MUCK rules had rendered the existing shared-character power structure illegal. Ben was given sole ownership of the region by Tapestries wizards a few months later, and remains in charge to this day.

The Lion King MUCK is a role-playing MUCK based on the movie, and on African wildlife in general.

Founded by Joshua C. Templin in June 1995, the storyline (originally based on his fan fiction The Tales of Tanabi) has shifted a number of times, with more than one reset of the Feature Characters.

The MUCK has a rather high population of lions, including three official Kings and Prides. Leopards and panthers are common, as are cheetahs, hyenas, and other African species.

Notable controversies have revolved around guest characters, the number of Adult Male Lions, healers, interspecies mating, and TinySex. Several spinoffs have resulted, including Endless Round, Otherlands and Romance in the Savannah. (more...)
Miss Intex July by ToyDragon

Balloonies are a particularly fanciful style of furry character, and a sub-genre of the fandom. The basic concept of the Balloonie is a living, animate version of a "real" creature made of rubber, latex, or similar materials, though some have been crafted from substances as unusual as soap bubbles or bubblegum. Balloonies can be considered a variation of inanimorph - characters that are composed of inorganic materials or substances not ordinarily considered alive.

When roleplayed, the creation of a balloonie tends to come about through the deliberate action of a second person. Their nature makes them popular with those who have an attraction to materials like rubber, and in some circles these fans and their characters are called rubberfurs. (more...)

The Jack Lynch Mysteries are a series of six semi-furry hardboiled detective SF stories by Clint Warlick totaling around 36,500 words, five of which were published in Yarf! between 1991 and 1997. Clint dropped out of the fandom and stopped writing the series, but surfaced in 2004 in the Dealers' Den of the first Califur with a self-published collection of all six stories.

The stories appear to be set in a future San Francisco Bay area with a deliberately "retro" atmosphere, and feature the essential slavery of semi-human genetic constructs created in the wake of a worldwide pandemic. The protagonist is faced with classic detective problems, such as tracking down missing persons, solving murders, and saving beautiful women from danger. (more...)
Shark Tale

Shark Tale is a 2004 CGI movie from DreamWorks Animation, written by Michael J. Wilson and Rob Letterman and directed by Letterman, Bibo Bergeron and Vicky Jenson. The movie features anthropomorphic characters in an underwater setting, and premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 10, 2004.

Shark Tale received mixed reviews from movie-goers, some feeling that DreamWorks was copying Pixar's Finding Nemo, or that the movie relied too heavily on dated pop-culture references. There was also concern over Italian-American stereotypes depicted in the movie, and the suggestions of a "homosexual agenda". Despite the mixed reactions, Shark Tale did well at the box office, generating over $360 million worldwide. (more...)
Ironclaw's cover

Ironclaw is a role-playing game by Sanguine founded on a dice comparison system and created with furries in mind. There are a total of 12 initial species, although players are encouraged to create their own. Set in a European early-renaissance fantasy theme, players can select to become anything from mercenaries to wizards to scoundrels and everything in between.

During the character creation process, the players are given 20 points with which to develop their character. The player is also encouraged to imbue their character with 'Flaws', which add more depth to their character. Beginning characters may gain up to 10 points back through flaws. Finally, the player chooses a selection of skills for their character, defining what they can do. There are four primary schools of magic but minor ones exist as well.

The basic premise of Ironclaw is one of caste struggle on the mythical island of Calabria. The are four great noble houses are locked in a struggle for superiority - the Rinaldi: a house of foxes that control the economic and cultural capital of the island; the Avoirdupois, a noble house of religiously devout and martial horses; the Bisclavret, a wolf house that has given up its pagan past and seeks its place through modernization, and the Doloreaux, a house of stubborn boars who practice the 'old ways' of nature worship.
A convert to Lapism?

Lapism is a belief system created in the stories of Phil Geusz. Described as a religion followed by a small but growing number of people on twenty-first century Earth, the most obvious feature of Lapists is that many of them have undergone a physical transformation through genetic engineering - the Change - to resemble anthropomorphic rabbits.

Lapists believe that the Change serves both to alter behavior directly, making the person more peaceful and friendly, and encourages social reinforcement; as the believer commits to appearing in public with a rabbit-like appearance, others react to them as a representative of Lapism, inducing them to live up to the group's positive stereotype. Not all Lapists have undergone the Change, and the relative importance of the physical rabbit-form and a person's actual beliefs and behavior is a major theme.

Lapist teachings do not specifically mention any gods or appeal to revealed knowledge, making it similar to some religions, such as Confucianism, that are sometimes called "philosophy" rather than "religion." Lapism could be considered as either, and even Lapist characters disagree on the question. (more...)
*-* *, * *, * *-* .* .* ** ,'', * * *, * *, | |, * | ` | | ` ` | * | | | | |, * | ` |-* |' | | | | |-* `. `. |*, | | | | |' | | | | | `| | , | | , , | | , , . , | `| | , *-* * * *' --* *-* *` *` * * '' `` * * *` ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~----------------~~~~~ ~~~--------------------------~~~ , , ~~--------------------------------~~ .### ~~------------------------------------~~ `/' ~----------------------------------------~

Endless Round MUCK was a role-playing MUCK based on the The Lion King which opened in November 2005. When it was closed by the head wizard in October 2006, the playerbase created Kings and Vagabonds MUCK.

Original characters were intended have just as much say (both in and out of character) as feature characters. Players were required to have one non-leonine character for every male lion character, and a maximum of two feature characters. Unlike some other Lion King multiplayer worlds, shamans, mystics and the like were not limited to primates or those with full thumbs. No TinySex was allowed.

Endless Round opened with all feature characters as they were in the first weeks before Simba's presentation. While they remained true to their film counterparts, the players were free to affect the TinyPlot in any in-character fashion - for example, hyenas ambushed Mufasa's subjects during Simba's presentation. The MUCK had a parallel plotline for the Simba's Pride characters, who grew up alongside the original TLK FCs. (more...)
Howloween 2006 banner with chainsaw-toting pink rabbit mascot

Howloween is a Halloween-themed furmeet held in Burnaby, British Columbia (about 9 kilometers east of downtown Vancouver, Canada). There is an associated fursuit-optional bowling event.

Howloween began in 2002 at the home of TJ_Wolf in Burnaby. About 10 people attended the house party, which featured modest events such as pizza and videos.

Howloween 2003 was the first to be held in a formal hotel setting. The event was featured in the CBC television program Culture Shock. Howloween was held at the same hotel in Coquitlam from 2003 to 2006.

In 2004, the meet was extended to two days and moved to the upstairs event area of the hotel. A fursuit of the new mascot - a pink bunny with a hockey mask and chainsaw - was introduced, and the pumpkin carving contest was held for the first time. 2005 introduced the candy table, where furries pooled their money to buy a whole bunch of candy. Attendees who pre-registered this year received a Howloween t-shirt with their membership.

The 14th Howloween was in 2016, with 319 attending. (more... - site)
The Lion King 1995 VHS cover.

The Lion King is an animated movie released by Disney in 1994. It is popular in the furry community and is reported by some as their first introduction to the fandom. Many participate in The Lion King MUCK or on one of the other large number of multiplayer worlds inspired by The Lion King. The characters of The Lion King have also been featured in numerous works of fan fiction.

Disney went on to form a three movie direct to video series, releasing Simba's Pride or The Lion King 2, released in 1998 in the US, and The Lion King 1 1/2 (The Lion King 3 in Europe) in 2004. There is also a Lion King musical on Broadway.

There are many similarities between the movie and a Japanese anime series called Kimba the White Lion. Originally, The Lion King was to be called King of the Jungle and was to include a white lion as the lead.

Although many people believe that the movie takes its inspiration entirely from the Swahili language, all of the songs in the film are written in Zulu. However, many of the names and phrases in The Lion King are words in Swahili. The most popular of these examples is the phrase Hakuna Matata (lit. "there are no worries"). (more...)
Treehouse apartments in The Forest (early 2006)
Protest wall (vertical)
Brave New Store (temporary)

The Forest is an island simulation in Second Life. Created on 12 January 2005 by Spade Richelieu, it was sold in April 2005 to Anshe Chung, a well-known Second Life land baron, and it became part of their collection of connected island simulations, Dreamland. It was operated for over a year by members of the Second Life furry community. The Forest's officers, known as Forest Guides, included Eirinn Overdrive, Ron Overdrive, Walter Faddoul and Yiffy Yaffle.

Shortly after The Forest passed into Anshe Chung's possesion it was mysteriously erased. This, along with the move of Club Fur to FurNation Worlds led to a spontaneous spasm of rebuilding in which The Forest was reinvented as a woodland-themed furry sim. Many people, both furs and humans, took part in the rebuilding.

A new pub was being built at the end of May 2006 when a crisis arose. Anshe demanded 1/4 of the area of The Forest be rezoned for commercial development, and when the officers failed to make a choice she wiped the southeastern quarter clean, including the new tavern and several residential properties.

Protest was swift, in the form of large black banners and buttons from Alazarin Mondrian. Most of the content of the sim was returned to its owners in the early hours of 29 May, and a previous version of it was restored. Around 80% was owned by its designer, Yiffy Yaffle, who promptly removed it, rendering the sim bare of trees, housing and decoration, including the Forest Store. A mass exodus to Wolf Valley ensued.

The Forest remained very bare at the start of June. Meanwhile, the former Guides moved to a new sim, Serenity Woods, created less than a week after their departure. The Forest has since been rebuilt, but it remains significantly less busy than Serenity. (more...)
"Normal? Who'd wanna be? It's not for us. You can heckle us all you like from the Boring Bus..."

The Furry Song is a song by Kurrel the Raven about the furry community. Its lyrics are rapped in a jovial Australian voice over the top of an original reggae-inspired breakbeat-driven backing track.

The song has been taken by some as a statement to attempt to eliminate stereotypes of furry fans and artists, although the original intent was just to write a song about furries to serve as a general introduction to the community, with a bit of angst at the end.

There are two different release versions of The Furry Song; they share more or less the same backing track and the third verse is only slightly different from version to version.

The first version from August 2001, the Kwooky Womble or Boo! version (also known as I'm Furry), arguably has the better groove but is let down by its final verse. At that point the song descends into lyrics about how terribly furries are mistreated by the media and everyone else in the world without offering any hope on what to do about it. The lyrical performance is also not the best. Kurrel deemed this version simply not good enough to be known for, and the song was promptly withdrawn from download pending a rewrite.

The second version from April 2004, the Kurrel the Raven or Hi! version, has a better fourth verse and far more animated delivery albeit with a slightly weaker groove. The song goes far more into the diversity of the furry community and goes very much on the attack in the final verse. Despite the marked improvement over the Boo! version, Kurrel again deemed the song unworthy to be offered for download due to its "myriad shortcomings" and was withdrawn once again from release. (more...)
Roy Calbeck

Scott Malcomson is a furry artist, also known as his unicorn fursona Roy Calbeck. He is best known for his artwork (much of which is on Yerf), but also for being the founder and chief organizer of ZonieCon, a past member of the Burned Furs, and as candidate for governor of Arizona under the Reform Party ticket.

Scott found the fandom in the quarter bins of an El Paso comic book shop in 1989. Dismayed to discover that most furry comics of the day had been forced out of business, he joined forces with Jim Groat's GraphXpress to provide financial support for Red Shetland, culminating in an animated project aimed at translating the comic into a Saturday Morning cartoon. Over the years, he became a member of the Tucson Mob as a result. At one point, he attempted to create an umbrella company aimed at showcasing the best the fandom had to offer under the working label of "Rising Phoenix Comics Group", but was unable to obtain sufficient support from angel capital groups to move forward.

Scott was encouraged to become a member of the Dallas Brawl by Joy Riddle, and would later become a member of Rowrbrazzle. His character, the ex-military roustabout alcoholic Roy, was chosen as a comic foil to Joy's own Harry Horsemage. Ironically, Roy became a canon part of the BattleTech universe when Scott's take on the history of the fictional unit Eridani Light Horse was picked up by FanPro and published as official material.

Scott obtained 8,500 votes in 1998 on a $1,000 Arizona Reform Party campaign by participating in numerous debate forums. He served as a Delegate for Arizona to the 2000 and 2002 National Convention, being elected Secretary of the state party in 2001. Prior to that, he was a member of the U.S. 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment as an M1A1 tank crewman during the Gulf War. (more...)
Fender, Fur Affinity's mascot and spokesferrox, as drawn by Mutley James

A statue of Beekin the Help Dragon

Furcadia is a furry graphical multiplayer online community developed for Windows by Felorin and Talzhemir, with contributions from a large and active volunteer community. Furcadia has been running since 1996, and is possibly the largest online furry community, with up to 4,500 users active at any given time. It provides a graphical environment where a furre (Furcadia character) can explore dreams (player-made areas) and interact with others.

Playable species include Rodent, Equine, Feline, Canine, Musteline, Lapine and Squirrel. It is also common to use one of these base species to create another; for example, choosing the colouring on a squirrel to make it look like a skunk.

While Furcadia is free to play, furres can purchase various add-ons (known as Digos) for their character using real-world money. These include four types of wings (Classic, Tri-colour, Butterfly and Bat), various alternate species (Dragon, Phoenix and Gryphon), and flight and fire-breathing effects.

Many third-party applications have been written to complement the Furcadia Client, including proxies, bots, editors (which allow the editing of patches, DragonSpeak scripts and dream maps) and alternate clients. As furres can create their own dreams, role-playing continuties range from Pirates on the High Seas, to Furres in Spaceships, to Elizabethan Gardens, to Medieval to Fantasy; one famous outside the Furcadia community is Lost Lake, featured in popular webcomic DMFA. The official continuity is known as Furre! (more...)
Afitw.jpg

A Fox in the Works is a long-running online furry story written by Foxeris that first appeared online on December 25th, 1995. The series is a sci-fi and fantasy mixture following the life and adventures of Fox Cutter, his wife Oriana, and their friends through a sprawling multi-verse. The stories range from high fantasy, political intrigue, science fiction, mystery, romance and drama, all to varying degrees.

The story has progressed through five years of storytime so far, with each year comparable to a season of a TV series. It is primary made up of short stories, with the occasional novella and one or two novels every year. Each year is built around a large story arc started in the previous year, which may continue onto the next. Many subplots wind through the series. While it is best to read the series from the beginning, the story "Run Around" is a good mid-series starting point. (more...)
2's fursona, by Jessie T. Wolf

Matthew Davis, also known as 2, the Ranting Gryphon, is a professional comedian who performs mainly at sci-fi and furry conventions. 2 also performs and records audio 'rants', and hosted an Internet radio show called 2 Sense which ran until 2 July 2005 for about 80 mostly-weekly episodes, up to two hours in length.

A performer for most of his life, he began as a rock guitarist in the 1980's. He then ventured into the sci-fi and fantasy fields, doing comedy events at conventions during the 1990's. As a member of the furry fandom, he is generally well-liked for his humor, his somewhat liberal view on the world and his quest to spread the "truth".

2's alter-ego/avatar is a gryphon, his name allegedly coming to him in a dream about the creature. He regularly attends furry conventions and occasionally performs stand up there. He often jokes that he wants to build a furry army with which to take over the world.

2 currently resides in Arkansas, USA, in a social collective of fellow furry fans/artists ("furs"), known as the North Arkansas Regional Furry Association. (more...)
Second Life furry logo

Launched in 2003 by Linden Lab, Second Life is an online virtual world consisting of hundreds of interconnected large-scale areas populated by interactive avatars. Some view Second Life as a metaverse, while others consider it to be more a graphical MUCK. At any time around 3,000 to 8,000 of its 235,000 users may be logged in. Users may choose to take any form they can create or purchase. The "main grid" is restricted to those 18 or over, though a teen version is also available.

FurNation Worlds Luxor

Second Life is funded through a combination of account subscriptions and "tier" (a form of land value tax). Users have the option to own or rent land parcels in a variety of sizes. Each user can create their own objects, but the majority rely on objects created and sold or given away by others. Business in the game's virtual currency (exchangeable for real-world funds) is encouraged, and content vendors have sprung up to meet demand. The major form of short-distance transportation is flight, while transportation between areas is typically performed through teleportation; both abilities are innate.

Furs dancing at the Luxor

The furry fandom has a major presence in Second Life, with multiple areas devoted to providing accommodation, entertainment and creative services specifically for furries, including body parts for avatars, accessories, vehicles, toys, pose balls for avatar animation, and scripts. The two largest are FurNation Worlds and those linked to Fox Valley, although Luskwood (the oldest, and home to Luskwood Creatures) retains regular traffic, along with its offshoot Taco. The Lost Furest is also a well-visited area, known for its Lost Creatures and relaxing atmosphere. A babyfur sanctuary is maintained at Cub Central, and Rainbow Tiger hosts a popular dance club and mall. Themes range from the pedestrian to the bizarre, although trees are common.

Luxury treehouse apartments, formerly available in The Forest
Until recently The Forest was one of the oldest continually-occupied furry haunts, second only to Luskwood and with a larger resident population, but a recent admin disagreement with island owner Anshe Chung resulted in the relocation of its content to a new island, Serenity Woods, amid much drama. (more... - Second Life website)
Gallery #45, cover by The Brothers Grinn

Gallery was a publication for cartoonists and illustrators, a significant proportion of which had contents that were anthropomorphic or funny animal in nature, which ran quarterly from the fall of 1989 to the winter of 2004 (issues #0 through #50). Gallery was 8.5x11" and printed in black and white; most issues were between 200 and 300 pages with 25-32 artists contributing. It was described by its creator Richard Chandler as "a cross between an APA and a fanzine."

When Richard Chandler was first getting started in furry fandom, he became aware of two APAs, Rowrbrazzle and its predecessor, Vootie, but was not able to locate any copies to view because they were only available to members; Vootie had ceased publication before Rowrbrazzle began, and the waiting list to join the latter was estimated at three years. While Richard hadn't seen either APA, he had seen copies of some of the artwork inside them and was very impressed. Lacking drawing skills and not wanting to wait to join, he decided to start his own fanzine in the fall of 1989, making it open to subscribers, and the first APA that paid royalties.

Gallery had three classes of members - Member Artists, Contributors, and Subscribers. Members were those artists who had been Contributors for at least one of the past three issues. Unlike Subscribers, they received the publication at cost, and without paying royalties. Anyone who was able to demonstrate the talent to express themselves artistically was welcome to try out for admission as a Member Artist, whether professional or amateur. Although many of the artists were furry fans, there was never a requirement for furry art, nor a theme.

Like in an APA, Member Artists were invited based upon the art sent in for review. Richard Chandler stated he looked for things like anatomy, varying line weight, balance, shadows, textures, backgrounds. He also preferred character interaction and pictures that seemed to tell a story, especially comic strips, and considered a good sense of humor to be a plus. Contributions of which 50% had been previously published, or simultaneously submitted to other publications were disallowed, except for limited, members-only publications such as Rowrbrazzle.

Gallery's rules became a model for other APA/'zines like Huzzah and Yarf!, and helped keep the friendly atmosphere of "give and take" from an APA in a publicly accessible fanzine. When he discontinued publication, Richard stated he was having trouble finding fresh talent and people willing to buy new issues, due in part to easy self-publication and the availability of free artwork on the Internet, and his own inability to attend conventions to sell them. (more...)
A "typical furry fan" from Shawn Keller's Horrifying Look at the Furries

The furry subculture receives significant stereotyping. Furries are often portrayed as overweight gay/bisexual zoophiles with an interest in plush toys, who wear fursuits to hide their ugliness and lack of social skils. Some of these stereotypes have more than a grain of truth to them; a larger than average proportion of furry fans are openly gay, bisexual, lesbian, or transsexual. Others fail to hold up under closer scrutiny - even at conventions, only 10-15% of fans are likely to have brought a fursuit, and the vast majority have no interest in their pets as sex objects.

Furry fandom member demographics have traditionally mixed with the worlds of science fiction, fantasy, computing, and video gaming. The stereotype of the furry fan bears a close resemblance to that of the nerd and/or geek: a hairy, overweight male, often unwashed, and living in his parents' basement while surfing for pornography on the Internet. Ironically, many of those perpetuating the stereotype match this description.

Of course, the image of a social furry fan who has mostly mainstream, unremarkable interests and hobbies is not as titillating to sensationalism seekers, or groups like Something Awful. No matter how many furries there are who would fit the picture of the typical and less controversial, there remain those who take part in less common activities, exhibit outrageous or unwise behavior, or provide a relatively rare fit with the most extreme stereotypes. These have often been singled out and held up as the symbol of furry fandom.

There are also stereotypes within furry fandom itself. Many are specific to its internal culture; these are often based on the favored species of a given individual, especially among those fans who have a personal furry or who role-play frequently. For example, male foxes are often seen as gay, overly sexualized, and not very bright, while dragons are portrayed as arrogant, pretentious, and followers of wonky mysticism - and if female, they are fangirls of Anne McCaffrey's Pern. (more...)

The Lining is a gay, but straight-friendly, bar in Tapestries MUCK. Founded by Banner in October 1996, the bar was originally focused on BDSM, but, like its host, has diversified over time. The oldest parts of the bar - the two bars and a bathroom - are based on a bar of the same name in Floral Park, New York later replaced by a church.

In 1996 there were few places to go and hang out on Tapestries. At the time, the plaza tended to be overly crowded and was drawing a fair amount of twinks and obnoxious bashers of many people's personal preferences. The Lining was created as a place where such people could be easily removed.

Over the years the bar has expanded with a hottub section, pool, a rooftop bar, and several other attractions. The Lining contains many firsts for Tapestries, several of which have been copied repeatedly (like the non-consent room). It remains one of the most popular places on the MUCK, with over fifty people present on busy nights.

The bar is adult-themed, like the MUCK, and the owner/builder takes great pains to see that things run well, having hired a manager and several bouncers to deal with things when he can not be present. Discrimination against anyone due to their sexual preference is not tolerated, and various monitoring systems are in place to facilitate this. (more...)
Sam Starfall

Sam Starfall is an alien character in the webcomic Freefall. The captain of the Savage Chicken and a freelance con artist, Sam has aspirations to become as infamous a thief as Bruno the Bandit, although he already has quite a reputation with a wide range of restaurants and other establishments.

Sam's true physical form has never actually been seen. He claims to be of a race of sentient squid-like beings, and wears a humanoid environmental suit complete with an animatronic face which he controls with his "cute little facial tentacles."

Despite his constant trickery and self-serving tendencies, Sam cannot be considered evil, possibly because he lacks the mental capacity. Some of his most daring exploits have been for things he was simply too lazy to buy. Sam has exhibited a Huckleberry Finn-like insistence on pulling off crimes the "proper way," due in part to his huge ego, which also makes him oblivious to the fact that his own ship's computer has it in for him.

Since the arrival of his ship's engineer, Florence Ambrose, Sam has at times been foiled by her unerring honesty, although he certainly appreciates her hard work in getting his ship in working order. (more...)
Trouble, image by Ironbadger.

Trouble's Tales (also known as Tanj's Tales) is a space-opera furotica series that has lasted over thirty stories, inspiring art and 'spinoff' stories. Kittiara is the author of the series, although she has collaborated with a co-author on a handful of the stories. The series began in 1997, and the most recent story and "final episode" was posted on 12 July 2005.

At the beginning of the series, the titular Trouble and the rest of the crew of a tramp freighter are railroaded by a corrupt government, with Trouble herself being sold to the Elysium Academy, a facility for training sex slaves. After enduring a long, harrowing and erotic ordeal, Trouble completes her training and is sold to her new master.

Although Trouble is technically a slave, her new master has given her a considerable amount of freedom - enough that, if she wished it, she could easily sell everyone out to the government for a hefty reward. However, she actually falls in love with her master, and forms deep relationships with the rest of her crewmates. One of the core themes of Trouble's Tales is the development of trust among core members of the team.

Many artists, including JonwI, Ironbadger, and Paul Pinewood, have drawn characters and scenes from the story. A few authors, including SMWolf, have written fan fiction using characters from Trouble's Tales. (more...)

Note: This featured article was an April Fools joke. See the complete front page for that day.

Sibe

Sibe is a noted community member and appreciator of furry art. Joining the furry fandom in mid-1998, Sibe quickly became a regular on the alt.lifestyle.furry and alt.fan.furry newsgroups after attending his first Conifur.

Sibe has done more for the distribution of high-quality furry art than even the most prolific of furry artists. His dedication to the unrestricted publication of works by so many talents has brought him a measure of admiration from some, though he remains curiously less-favoured by the artists themselves.

Sibe specialised in salacious and tantalizing depictions of the anthropomorphic form, made available from his distribution center, #yiffnetbeats, and later via BitTorrent.

Sibe is also renowned as a public speaker. His last public engagement was at Conifur 2004, but his biggest audience has always been on FurryMUCK Tapestries LiveJournal GreatestJournal.

Things have taken a turn for the worse for Sibe, after being laid low by a horde of rabbits. He is currently adjusting to life with his new peers.
somewolf

somewolf is a typical inhabitant of the eastern european woodlands. He has been seen on two legs and on four, likes to eat chinese food, writes poetry, and howls a lot. He is always on the search for a good dream.

somewolf is one of the organizers of HerbstCon and an active staff member of Eurofurence, where he is responsible for con-site security. He is also an active staff member of Mephit Mini Con as "Wolf in Charge". He denies persistent rumours of membership in the F.I.A.

Born as the son of a gypsy mother, somewolf grew up almost as any other kid and attended a regular school, subsequently gaining several diplomas in both technical and non-technical areas. Starting in the early 90s, somewolf became a trainer of so-called "problem horses", even running his own training stables together with a friend in northern Germany. He also worked as an engineer for a european oil company and as a volunteer fire fighter, later becoming a fire chief.

In 1999, after founding the German Wolf Association [1], somewolf moved to Minnesota, where he lived for almost three years and assisted with research and testing for the DoD. He also became involved in the International Wolf Center efforts to educate the public about wolves by running live wolf events, and worked as a staff member of Wolf Park with Lynn Rogers and David Mech, where he met furries like Jessica Willard and Uncle Kage.

Returning to Germany in 2002, somewolf lectured for the GWA, traveled the country and tried to get back into a "real" job. During this time he became a staff member of Eurofurence and FurCon e.V. He lived and worked for almost one and a half years at a tiger sanctuary south of Berlin (the Tigerranch), but decided to look for something with more of a future and is currently travelling again. (more...)

FurryFaire is an online anthropomorphic MUCK focusing on role-playing in a world of knights and fantasy. The original server was founded on 26 May 1996 by Chetar, Mystique, Duelist, and Shiamat. From 2002 to late 2004, FurryFaire suffered a long period of downtime, languishing with very few active players, but it reopened on a new server in 2005 under the control of Tashiro and Snowpony.

FurryFaire is set in the mythical land of Kith Kanaan. Kith Kanaan is divided into a number of nations, each with a specific theme associated with them. The central region, and the primary role-playing area, is called the Shire Lands.

Across the land of Kith Kanaan various religions are embedded into the culture and many groups, both covert and open, espouse philosophies and training devoted to particular causes, including the Peacekeepers, Midnight Mage's Guild and the Crimson Paw. (more...)
The Luxor on Prime

FurNation Worlds is a group of six islands in Second Life. Primarily maintained by Nexxus and other members of FurNation, it contains public areas for furs to socialize, two sandboxes for building, a Skymall that allow vendors to sell their wares and Club Fur, a virtual nightclub.

Initially much of the funds for expansion of the island came from referral and dwell time bonuses. These have since dried up, and so alternative forms of income were and are being explored. Island tier fees are reportedly covered half by rental fees and Skymall income, and half by donations. Because these islands are currently one of the focal points for furry activity in Second Life, lag on the islands can be fairly high.

FurNation Worlds Skymall
Prime's central feature is the Luxor, a pyrimidal structure adjacent to the FurNation Worlds welcome center in which nightly dances and events are held. Its basement used to hold the FurNation Prime shopping area until it was moved to the Skymall on Alpha, which consists of five levels of shops, many selling mature content. FurNation Alpha also contains the gallery (which includes some well-known artists such as Wookiee and FoxxFire) and some land plots available for rent. (more...)
Cover to Zu #15, featuring Felicia

Charles "Chuck" P. A. Melville is a furry author and artist. He was a guest of honor at ConFurence III, and at Conifur 2003. From 1998-2004, he also served on Conifur's staff as head of the convention’s dealers den. Over the years he has contributed to several APAs and fanzines, including Ink Spots, Q, Gallery, Ever-Changing Palace, and Tales of the Tai-Pan Universe.

Chuck self-published Champion Of Katara in 1986, first becoming involved with furry fandom upon joining Rowrbrazzle in 1987. In 1991 he moved from Rochester, NY to Seattle, WA, becoming a part of MU Press, first as co-editor (and co-creator) of The Furkindred: A Shared World with Edd Vick, and then from 1993–1997 as editor of MU’s anthropomorphic books, such as Zu, Cyberkitties, Fangs of K'aath and Corus. He also wrote and/or drew several short stories for some of the titles.

Chuck was nominated several times for an Ursa Major Award; first in 2002 for best illustration – the cover of Wild Kingdom #13 – and once in 2003 for best short story – "Riding The Lady" in Tales Of The Tai-Pan #33. Success came in 2004 when two of his self-published novelettes were nominated for best short story – "Felicia And The Dreaded Book Of Un" and "Felicia And The Tailcutter’s Curse" – the latter of which finally won. Felicia, a supporting character from the Champion of Katara stories, was previously the protagonist of a long-running serial in Rowrbrazzle, subsequently collected in MU Press's graphic novel Felicia: Melari's Wish.
Anthrocon logo

Anthrocon is the world's largest furry convention, averaging an attendance of over 2000 in recent years. It is usually held each July in Pennsylvania.

Founded in 1997, Anthrocon itself was an offshoot of the furry Halloween parties held by Aloyen Youngblood; when attendance pushed triple digits, he decided to book a hotel, and organized it as a convention in 1997 with the aid of local friends Points, Rigel and others.

In 1999 the chairmanship of the convention was transferred to Dr. Samuel Conway by Points, and they formally organized the group as Anthrocon Inc. and moved it to the more cosmopolitan Philadelphia area. Its first venue was the Hilton Valley Forge, but due to rapidly increasing membership numbers it was forced to relocate to the larger Adams Mark Hotel in 2001.

Attendance continued to grow: Membership in 2003 was announced as 1,949; by 2004 it was 2,406, making it by far the largest furry convention at that time. Attendance in 2005 dropped slightly to 2,373, due in part to higher parking fees, a different and unfamiliar hotel, and possibly Hurricane Dennis's effect on the southern United States.

In 2005, Anthrocon announced that they would be moving to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the 2006 convention. Due to scheduling issues, the convention had to temporarily leave its normal July timeslot, and instead will be held between June 15-18 in 2006. The 2007 convention was held in July.

Since 1997, the Anthrocon Charity Auction has raised more than $56,000 for animal-related charities. Security for the convention has been provided by the Dorsai Irregulars since 2002.
Yerf

Yerf was probably the world's best known all-ages furry art archive from 1996 to the mid-2000s. From December 2004 to mid-January 2006 it was down as a result of a disk crash, and it is now preserved only as an archive.

Yerf was founded in 1996 by Rat as the Squeeky Clean Furry Archive, hosted on Rat.org. At that time it was little more than an FTP server. By 1998 Rat wanted the site to have it's own domain. He chose Yerf because being (at that time) a generic term for "the sound that foxes make", the name could stay the same no matter what direction the site took.

When Rat moved to California, he was no longer able to keep his server up, and so it moved to Tugrik's purrsia.com server in late September 1998. On 10 July 1998, Rat handed over front end administration of the site to Scotty Arsenault - it had previously been run in part by Jedd Marten. In late 2001 Scotty handed administration and the server over to Dingofox.

The SCFA was always distinguished by a strong focus on art for all ages. Around the time it was rebranded as Yerf, new policies were introduced concerning the quality of artwork. Over time, these quality standards for new accounts got stricter, to a point where even reasonably good artists might face several rejections. This resulted in many frustrated artists, and a few competing sites, but also increased Yerf's popularity with fans of quality art.

Previous members were grandfathered in, which became a cause of complaint for applicants who felt that artwork by these members was worse than theirs. A more valid complaint was the speed of application processing, due in part to the time required to review and the limited pool of reviewers.

On 27 December 2004, Yerf's hard disk signalled a failure. Initial hopes for a quick fix were soon dashed, and eventually it became clear that all of the data had been lost. Worse, the hard disk contained the only copy of the Yerf archive software.

As of 11 November 2005, most of the art from the original archive was reposted in a "read only" database. As of 24 November 2005 the new gallery was placed online. On 20 January 2006, the site was declared officially open, if not complete; but as of 2012, only the Yerf Historical Archive remains online.
Doug Winger

Doug Winger (also known as JustDoug) is a well-known artist in the furry fandom whose trademark is hyper-endowed herm characters. Though he is best known for his depictions of hyper-endowment, it is also worth noting the attention to detail that goes into the artwork, and, just as importantly, the humour.

Doug is also known for his quick wit and love of word play; the unofficial unit of squickage, the milliWinger, is named after him, as is the term Wingerized.

A rumor suggested that Doug was an animator for the acclaimed Nickelodeon cartoon series Spongebob Squarepants. This rumor is incorrect, but he has worked as an offsite freelance animation background artist for the same company for Dora the Explorer and Angry Beavers.

Doug plays himself as a human character on FurryMUCK, where he often spends time in the Herm Haven (a place whose very existence can be partially credited to him). One of his most famous furry characters, Pandora Pup, is also a regular resident at the Haven, but she/shi is not played by Doug.

Doug presently resides in Santa Ana, California, USA, with fellow artists Steve Martin and Bob Guthrie.
Mowgli with Grey Brother

Mowgli is a fictional feral child character created by Rudyard Kipling. His first appearance was in the 1893 short story In the Rukh where he appears as an adult. This was shortly followed by Mowgli's Brothers, which became the first of three Mowgli stories in The Jungle Book. Five more stories about Mowgli appeared in The Second Jungle Book (1895). Pamela Jekel's The Third Jungle Book (1992) is a collection of new Mowgli stories in a fairly accurate pastiche of Kipling's style.

There have been several film, radio and television adaptations of The Jungle Book, nearly always concentrating on Mowgli's adventures, but almost invariably changing the story until Kipling might not have recognised the result. This is especially true of the Disney cartoon version, made in 1967, which uses the names and basic appearances of Kipling's characters but changes almost everything else.

In most of the film and television adaptations the Mow of Mowgli is pronounced to rhyme with go, although according to Kipling it should rhyme with cow. Modern adaptations always depict Mowgli wearing a loincloth or similar garment. In the original stories he is always naked except while living with humans.
The Vixen Vending Machine, WCOTP-style

The Vixen Vending Machine first made its appearence on FurryMUCK in 1996, created by Coyote Seven (Mer'rark). It was a gag device built around the Temporary Random Morph program, which allowed for objects to be created that transformed the user (in this case always a vixen) for a few hours.

The machine, which could supposedly vend vixens as one might vend soda or candy, took one penny (a unit of MUCK currency). The user was then supposed to select one of the buttons on the machine and push it. The machine "vended" a vixen by changing the user into one for a short period of time. The machine failed to work if the user was already a vixen, though sometimes it would fail for no reason at all, a feature meant to frustrate the hapless.

The Vixen Vending Machine became famous (or infamous) when its creator left it sitting out in the West Corner of The Park, and then logged out for the night. No one bothered to sweep the object back home. Instead, furries kept having fun using it (and spamming the park with its use and transformation messages) well into the night and into the next day.

Jim Groat, creator of the West Corner of The Park comic strip, was alerted to this gag device by Sean Malloy. He has since used it as a basis for an ongoing gag in his strip. His version is different, however. If the user is a fox, then the machine attacks the victim, through any of a number of methods. The Vixen Vending Machine caught the attention of other furry artists, including Conna Stevenson of Yerf, who drew a small comic about it.
_ _ |/ | | ___ ______ | | _ .' _ '. _______ \ _ '. ___ | |/ / | |_//_ .' _ _ '. ___ | |_| | .' _ '. | < '._____| | / | | \ | .' _ '. ___ | __.' | |_| | |_|\_\ ___ |_| |_| |_| | |_| | | '. | | '.___.' .' '. '.___.' | |'. | |_| / _ \ |_| |_| |---(_)---| \ / '.___.' _ _ |~| |~| | | | | | | | | ___ | | __| | | | | | | .' _ '. |~/~~\ | | .' _ | \ \/ \/ / | |_| | | /~~' | | | |_| | \_/~\_/ '.___.' |_| |_| '.___.'

Pokémon World MUCK (commonly PokéWorld MUCK) is a multiuser text-based roleplaying/socialization game, in the same vein as FurryMUCK and other furry MUCKs. While not itself a furry MUCK, it welcomes furries playing Pokémon characters. It resides at faefox.org, port 6969.

The theme of PokéWorld MUCK is that of wild, non-morphic but varyingly sentient, and fully anthropomorphic Pokémon (Pokémorphs) existing in a world divided up into 6 continents. Each has an overall theme, serving as the "homeland" of some of the varied 17 types of Pokémon.

While most of the MUCK's roleplaying is done by freeform roleplay, and combat is not required, there is a fully coded combat system that supports most Pokémon attacks. XP (experience points) are awarded by roleplaying in the presence of three or more active players and in votes received by these players for good, quality roleplaying. Character generation is fairly simple, with copious instruction and assistance from wizards and helpstaff available to new players.
SonicBlu, hard at work

SonicBlu portrays a dinosaur character online, and considers himself a performer, singer, songwriter, author, columnist, voice actor and radio broadcaster, with a future outlook on live acting. He is currently looking towards a regular acting career.

At conventions, SonicBlu is most likely seen performing the stage of variety shows and/or masquerades. He is also a horror writer, known in a few places inside and outside the furry subculture. He heads the Furry Writers of Ohio (FWO), and also records furry and non-furry parodies of popular music. SonicBlu's albums are available for purchase at any convention he attends.

Due to a back injury, SonicBlu is no longer able to work any job which requires lifting, bending, stooping, standing, or sitting still for prolonged periods of time, and thus makes his living on his many endeavors. He lives in Columbus, Ohio.
Leo (Kimba} and Lea (Kitty)

Kimba the White Lion (ジャングル大帝, or Jungle Emperor Leo) is a anime based on the epic manga Jungle Tatei. The show was produced in Japan, where it was known as Jungle Emperor.

The story and characters of Kimba were created by Dr. Osamu Tezuka, adapted from his own manga which was first published in 1950. Jungle Emperor / Kimba the White Lion was made in 1965 as a joint production between Tezuka's Mushi Productions and NBC Enterprises. This is the series that has become famous worldwide.

Kimba is often described as leading the way for modern anime. In spite of the show's chronological age it is still far ahead of most modern anime in its use of the medium. Tezuka exploited the possibilities of animation with superb imagination and storytelling skills. The stylized characters can express their emotions, motives, and intentions in an instant. Color itself was used in wonderful and powerful ways.

Kimba has been the subject of controversy in recent years. When The Lion King was released, people noted similarities in the plot to that of Kimba The White Lion, making people claim Disney stole from Tezuka's anime. It is reasonably certain that Kimba was at least a strong influence on the team.

The music was written by Isao Tomita, who has written music for a large number of movies and shows, and gained worldwide fame in the 1970s with his analog synthesizer performances.

The series was produced by Fred Ladd who also dubbed Sailor Moon, Speed Racer, Gigantor (Tetsujin-28) and Astro Boy.
Midwest FurFest

Midwest FurFest is a furry convention based in Chicago, Illinois which has been running as a separate entity since 2000. 1066 people attended in 2005. The convention will next be held on 17-19 November 2006.

Midwest FurFest started as the furry track for Duckon, a Chicago-based science fiction convention. The furry track started at Duckon 3 in 1994 and grew larger each year - it was estimated that by Duckon 8 (1999) between one-quarter and one-third of the attendees were there for it.

The track ran into problems because it was running out of room to expand without costing other parts of Duckon. It was decided that the best course of action was to spin off into a new convention, to take place in November of 2000 on the weekend before Thanksgiving. The parting was amicable, and Duckon lent a good bit of expertise and manpower to help make the first year of Midwest FurFest a success.

Past and present members of the board include: Robert King, Aureth, Takaza J. Wolf, Duncan da Husky, Moryssa, Firewing, Tiresta, Steven Calica, Linnaeus, Crim Ferret, Mirko, puma and Hartree Fox.

Guests of Honor at MFF have been:
2000: Robert and Margaret Carspecken, Rapid T. Rabbit, Derrick Dasenbrock
2001: Mary Hanson-Roberts, Jessica Willard, Matt McCullar
2002: Ursula Husted, Ysengrin Werewolf, David Simpson
2003: Thomas Dye, M.C.A. Hogarth, Devious Bruin
2004: Ursula Vernon, Scribblefox, David Gilbert

2005: Gene Breshears, Tincrash, Kenket
Portrait of a kirru

Kirrus are one of the alien furry species in the Furscape MUCK.

Kirrus vaguely resemble a large squirrel, with pointed snout, large bushy tail and tufted ears. They have soft fur, ranging in colour from grey to green, with light grey or white accents. The large green eyes are of an alien shape. Hands and feet have five fingers each, with the first and fifth opposable, facilitating both climbing in trees and doing precision work. They can use all four paws as "hands" if needed, but are capable of bipedal walking as well. Whiskers are present near the nose-tip and above the eyes. With this body shape, they are best adapted to an arboreal environment.

Chemical receptors embedded in the skin of the insides of hands and feet enable the Kirrus to sense substances present in and on the ground. Living in serial monogamy, Kirru parents raise their child (or children, up to three) together, until the young reach the age of ten, when they are considered adults. Both genders have a pouch in the lower abdominal region, used to carry their children until they are about a year old.

While omnivores by their teeth and digestive system, most Kirrus are vegetarians. They eat wild plants, as well as ones grown on their farms. They are well adapted to the plants growing on Jalan; their meals mostly consist of salads with fruit juices and wild spices and are usually not cooked.

Kirrus are social beings, forming families and living in groups of at least 20 members in small villages, to large cities. They prefer living in forests, and their villages and cities are usually a dense forest with treehouses that are hard to reach for non-arboreal species.

Despite being covered with fur, Kirrus wear clothes, notably trousers (with opening for the tail) and protective clothing. Heads, hands, feet and tail almost always remain uncovered, unless protection from hazards is required, and the pouch normally remains accessible.
Zoocrew issue1.jpg

Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew is a DC Comics comic book property about a team of funny animal superheroes called the Zoo Crew. It was published from 1982 to 1983, and was created by Roy Thomas and Scott Shaw!.

Although the series, which was the last original funny animal property created by DC Comics, proved short-lived, lasting only 20 issues, it is still fondly remembered in furry fandom, and the characters still appear occasionally in cameos in the DC Universe.
A prancing skiltaire

The Skiltaire (or Skiltare) are a species of alien (not originating on Earth) intelligent weasel-like animals. They were created by Mark Merlino in the late 1970s as a non-human sentient species for a series of science fiction stories. Skiltaire have been depicted by numerous artists, and were selected as mascots of the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization and Mark's home, The Prancing Skiltaire. Noted skiltaire include Theta and Fanta.

Skiltaire vary in size, depending on sub-species and gender, but on average have a body length of 1 yard, not including a 1/2 yard tail. Body weight range is 60 to 120 lbs for an adult. They closely resemble Earth mustelids (weasels) and occur in two body-types. The aquatic type looks like a large otter, with a short, broad muzzle, small, rounded ears and a thick, tapering tail. The arboreal type resembles a marten, with a more fox-like face (though the muzzle is short), and a brush tail.

The fur of skiltaire can be any color, although aquatics tend to be limited to gray, brown, light blue, tan, or cream. They often have a single wide or multiple thinner stripes that run up their back, from tail-tip to the top of their head, and darker paws (boots) and ear-tips. The stripes can be any color, and are usually much darker or more intense.

An obvious characteristic on all skiltaire is a pair of 10 inch (25 cm) antennae which grow from just above the eyebrow. The antennae are the detector part of the animal's natural electrostatic field sense ability. The body of a skiltaire has electrogenerative tissue below the skin and insulated from the internal organs, much like an electric eel.

Skiltaire are natural tele-empaths, and use this ability to communicate with other skiltaire, other aliens with similar abilities, and to aid in hunting. They are also true carnivores and hunt live prey, though their diet includes much variety. Most modern skiltaire are hunter-gatherers, with some farming common in larger tribes.

Artists who have produced a body of work featuring skiltaire include Mark Merlino, Ken Pick, Ken Sample and Michael Sherman. They are also one of the popular fur-fan-created races for online role-playing (MUDs and other MU*s). Skiltaire were one of the 10 sentient species in the SF/FRP game Other Suns, published in 1983.

Kitsune is, literally, Japanese for fox. However, in English usage, kitsune usually refers to the magical fox-spirit, which a fox can become. There is also a character named Kitsune in the comic Usagi Yojimbo.

In Japanese mythology, a fox who lives long enough and gains so much knowledge reaches an enlightened state, the Eastern sense of the 'fox spirit'. These supernatural beings serve as the cultural trickster, akin to Loki, Coyote, Eris, and many others; their stories both guide humankind along a proper moral path and explain the mechanics of the physical world.

Some kitsune were said to serve Inari (jovial, rotund god of rice) and guard his shrines, while others were wild and may have been either benevolent or malicious, depending on the particular story they played a role in. Some reward the honest, pious, hardworking or poor. Others manipulate powerful leaders to evil, and still others are given to arson, murder, and rape. Above all they seem to take pleasure in teaching humility, delivering hubris to the proud, greedy and powerful.

Kitsune are rated in power by the number of tails they have. Very young kitsune have one tail; the most powerful mortal kitsune (kyubi) have nine tails.

A fair proportion of furries have chosen kitsune as their personas; in some roleplaying spheres, kitsune match or outnumber normal foxes. Kitsune are popular for being aged, enlightened, yet energetic and adventurous (and for being foxlike, but more unique and exotic than foxes). They're also attractive for their gender/shapeshifting powers.
Furry Weekend Atlanta

Furry Weekend Atlanta, often abbreviated simply as FWA, is a regional furry convention held in Atlanta around Valentine's Day. The convention started in 2004, and next occurs 17-19 February 2006.

Furry Weekend Atlanta was the logical outgrowth of furry gathering held for years in Atlanta at the homes of various furs. Over the years, as more and more furs showed up in the metro Atlanta area, the gatherings became larger and larger. The idea of holding a furry convention was first raised in 2001 and then again in 2003. As the result of several planning sessions held in August of 2003, a concrete plan emerged to hold a convention in February of 2004.

270 people attended the first Furry Weekend Atlanta held in 2004, and 500 people from 32 states and three foreign countries attended the convention in 2005. Past guests of honor have included LatinVixen (2004), Jessie T. Wolf (2005), and Fel (2005). The 2006 convention will feature Atlanta local Bill Holbrook and Matt Burt.

Furry Weekend Atlanta attendees donated almost $3,000 to the Ellijay Wildlife Rehabilitation Sanctuary in 2005. The convention's current Executive Committee consists of Tiger Paw, Kiran Lightpaw, Flain Falcon, Four The Bear, and Lors.
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Critters #1

Critters was a furry anthology comic book published by Fantagraphics Books from 1985 to 1990 under the editorship of Kim Thompson.

Prior to Furrlough and Genus, this series was the longest running furry anthology comic book series. Furthermore, it served as the flagship title of Fantagraphics' line of furry series in the 1980s, featuring such works as , Usagi Yojimbo, Birthright and Cutey Bunny
The three issues of Furtherance

Furtherance was a fanzine with three issues released between 1989 and 1991. Unlike most furry publications, which focus on delivering primary art and stories, Furtherance focused on secondary news, criticism and articles about other primary publications. It was the first such furry review zine.

The fanzine was produced by the Philadelphia-based Funny Animal Anti-Defamation League. Ray Rooney published the zine and co-edited with Luke Menichelli, who also did the design. Jonathan Cunningham, Mitch Marmel and Bill Thomas assisted with text entry and picture research.

Issues were US letter-sized, each roughly 40 pages, slim enough to be bound comic-style with a stapled spine. Covers were on colored paper, but both the covers and the interior pages were printed in black and white.
furry.ca

furry.ca is a community site for Canadian furries. Founded by Benjamin on December 8, 2000, it provides forums, resources, a list of mailing lists, events listings and a personal directory for its members.

Prior to it's creation, Benjamin had been running a Canadian furry themed web ring, IM listing, and the toronto-furry home page for the Toronto Furry list. Since this time, the creation of furry.ca itself has expanded to include a banner exchange and message board. The IM listing was later closed down in favor of the citizens listing built directly into the furry.ca site design itself. Merchandise related to the site is also available through CafePress.

furry.ca's message boards also have subforums exclusively devoted to the Feral! and Howloween conventions.

The Transformation Story Archive (TSA) is a website that archives stories that feature a personal physical transformation, or feature its aftermath. It is the nucleus of a small community of amateur writers and fans of transformation stories. The website was founded in 1995 by Thomas Hassan of Austria, who has since passed on the duties of maintenance to others, including JT Skunk, Jon Sleeper and XoYo.

The archive has a high proportion of transgender and furry wish-fulfillment stories because they were the most numerous at the time of its creation. Its stated goal is to become the premier Internet archive of transformation-themed fiction, and a showcase for amateur authors. It does not accept fanfiction.

Spawned from and by the members (and run by Kristina Tracer and Jessie Tracer) is TFNet, an IRC network for chat and story discussion. It is a counterpart to TSA-Talk, the long-running TSA mailing list.
Omaha the Cat Dancer

Omaha The Cat Dancer was a highly acclaimed and controversial furry comic book created and drawn by Reed Waller and predominantly written by Kate Worley. Its first episode was published in Vootie #8 as the response to Taral Wayne's question to Waller: "why isn't there more sex in funny animals?"

Featuring the adventures of Omaha (her last name is never given), a feline exotic dancer, and her lover Chuck Tabey, this comic was one of the first major furry series to introduce a furry subgenre called "slice of life", in which the furry nature of the characters is mostly a cosmetic artistic style for realistic stories anchored in contemporary human society. The furry nature is usually restricted to animals' heads, fur colour, and tails.
The White Rabbit is the most likely progenitor of the term Rabbits in Waistcoats
Rabbits in Waistcoats is a semi-derogatory term used to describe a genre of anthropomorphic stories with civilized animals, relatively normal looking beasts that talk and wear clothing, yet at the same time live in their animal ecosystems (albeit in houses) and are subject to predation.

A typical children's story, especially from British children's literature, is full of mice wearing dresses and throwing parties, while still having to avoid cats. The genre may also involves gentle tales of animal villages from a simpler and more innocent time, with mild adventure, though many of the more mature members of the genre can be downright dark and frightening.

Examples of the genre include The Adventures of Peter Rabbit, Redwall, The Welkin Weasels and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.
The American Journal of Anthropomorphics, vol. #4

The American Journal of Anthropomorphics was a series of furry art books edited by Darrell Benvenuto and published by his Med Systems Company, with four issues released between 1993 and 1997. The front and back covers were printed in color; interior art was black-and-white.

The mainstay of the series were its artist sections, typically a half dozen pages each of illustrations by various artists. The intent of the Journal was to present furry artists in as professional a light as possible, and for it to be used as a talent catalogue for publishers seeking artists in the field of anthropomorphics or funny animals.
Greenreaper angel.jpg

Yipe! Someone mentioned the Uncyclopedia on Slashdot, and as it's hosted on the same servers as WikiFur, we've taken quite a pounding!

No featured article for today - I'd suggest you batten down the hatches and come back once it's dropped off the front page. See you tomorrow! --GreenReaper
ConFurence

ConFurence was the first and (to date) longest running annual furry convention in existence. Initially headed up by two SoCal furs, Mark Merlino (convention chairman) and Rod O'Riley (programming), control was transferred to Darrel Exline after ConFurence 10. Starting in 1989 as a test-run called ConFurence 0, it was usually held at the end of January in various venues around southern California.

ConFurence ran for a further fourteen years, reaching its zenith in 1998 (ConFurence 9) with over 1200 attendees. Attendance dropped sharply after this, due in varying parts to a schedule change, overly-optimisitc hotel contracts, competition from Further Confusion, and the dot-com bust. It ended with ConFurence 2003 and was succeeded by Califur in 2004.
Meet The Feebles
Meet The Feebles (1989) is a black comedy film by director Peter Jackson. It features Jim Henson-esque puppets in a perverse comic satire. Like Henson's Muppets, the Feebles are animal-figured puppets (though some were people in suits) assembled together as members of a theater troupe. However, whereas Henson's Muppets characterize positivity, naïve folly, and innocence in humanity, the Feebles present negativity, vice, and other misanthropic characteristics.
Dragons
Dragons are as wide and diverse a mythological species as one could ask for, rich in lore, appearance, form, color, and nature. Though not all dragons have scales or are even entirely reptillian, they are generally classified as scalie or herp within the furry fandom. The dragon has become one of the more popular choices as a fantasy avatar or fursona due to its diversity and adaptability to anthropomorphic characterization,.
The Wotch
The Wotch is a webcomic that has been running from 2002. While not explicitly furry in nature, the comic has included various anthropomorphic characters, due to its many transformation plots. Because its storyline so frequently changes the major chraracters (both in species and in gender), many major non-anthro characters have later been made into anthro characters. This has included cats, mice, dragons, pokémorphs, werewolves, and other sorts of anthropomorphic animals.
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Check out the links below, and see how you can help WikiFur gain high-quality content worthy of the front page!

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Autumn Vixen poses in her fursuit.

Fursuits are animal costumes used to adopt an anthropomorphic persona, usually in the context of the furry fandom. These costumes vary from simple designs made in an evening, to complex creations with fully articulated faces, tails, and bodies that run in the thousands of dollars. Fursuit makers can charge hundreds of dollars for a commissioned suit.

Most conventions include a "fursuit social" somewhere in their schedule of events, where dozens of fursuiters all get in costume to do some sort of social event, such as fursuit bowling or a fursuit parade through the con grounds. Additionally, at conventions, there is often a 'fursuit lounge' where fursuiters can relax half-in and half-out of suit out of sight of the normal hustle and bustle, repair damaged suits, and trade tips on fursuit construction and wear.
Gaming Guardians

Gaming Guardians is a webcomic that debuted 7 May 2000 and was created by Graveyard Greg and Andrew Babb. It has had several spin-offs, including two other comics and a role-playing communnity. The current artist on the strip is The Webtroll.

The comic's premise comes from the belief that every time a role-playing game is run, an alternate reality (or "system") is created. Most of the time, these systems run their course, but sometimes they are unduly influenced by outside forces (overtly or otherwise). That's where Graveyard Greg and his team, the Gaming Guardians, step in to set things right.

While the webcomic is not specifically a furry comic (unlike some of Greg's other work, such as Furry! and Carpe Diem), furry characters and systems pop up all the time.
Funday Pawpet Show
The Funday PawPet Show is a weekly Internet broadcast featuring the puppetry talents of several Florida Furs, including show founder Randy "Yappy" Fox. Shown on Sundays from 7:00pm to 11:00pm EST/EDT, it has an unusal level of participation, in that the audience can log onto the Pawpet IRC server and join channel #pawpet to chat with the performers during the show. The show includes videos from other puppetry groups. Over 250 episodes have been broadcast, and the crew also performs live shows at various conventions around the country.
Freefall

Freefall is a popular webcomic written and drawn by Mark Stanley and hosted at Purrsia. It is a humorous science fiction story detailing the misadventures of the starship Savage Chicken and its crew: Sam Starfall, a lovable alien con artist; Helix, a childlike robot; and Florence Ambrose, a genetically engineered "Bowman's Wolf" (i. e. an anthropomorphic canine).

Stanley began writing and drawing the strip on March 30, 1998 as a feature for the occasional furry zine, Yarf!, with the intent of telling the actual story behind the characters. The comic is updated three times a week, and it celebrated its thousandth strip in August 2004. It is in black and white, but the first 388 strips are also available in fan-colored versions. Some characters from Freefall also appear at the Cross Time Cafe.
Something Awful grenade

Something Awful is an internet community owned and operated by Richard "Lowtax" Kyanka. Among its users are stereotypical forum members with a somewhat higher sense of collective intelligence and pretentiousness than the average forum grouping. It ranges from adults to teens, talented artists to talented writers, and also very avid gamers.

However, among these users lurks a minority dark-side which has gotten the website its reputation in the furry fandom, with constant ridicule of the furry community, including trolling -- sometimes organized -- and harassment of users themselves in places such as LiveJournal, message boards, and various furry websites. Many Goons take it upon themselves to invade these when they are linked on or off the forums, including WikiFur itself.
Ursa Major Awards

The Ursa Major Awards are intended to be the furry fandom equivalent to the science fiction fandom's Hugo awards, for outstanding achievement in anthropomorphic and furry arts. The awards were first presented in 2001 at ConFurence 12. With the demise of ConFurence in 2003, it was decided that the awards would be presented at as many furry conventions as possible. To that end, the UMA's were presented at C-ACE in 2004 and at Anthrocon in 2005.

Winners include Usagi Yojimbo, Yarf!, Ozy and Millie, Star Fox, Kevin and Kell, Faux Pas, Gary the Rat and Best in Show, and works by Kacey Miyagami and Dark Natasha.
PafCon, a fictional furry convention
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is a popular television crime drama on CBS in the United States. The original series is set in Las Vegas, Nevada. Episode 6 of season 4, Fur and Loathing, had characters Gil Grissom and Catherine Willows investigating the murder of a raccoon fursuiter and following the trail to a fictional furry convention called PafCon. The writers for CSI reportedly collaborated with several of the SoCalFurs in the creation of this episode, which is probably why the furry fandom was not portrayed as badly as it could have been - still, it suggested furry conventions were little much more than sex orgies, showcasing a private furpile during one scene. Several SoCalFurs are actually in the episode in the opening scene of PafCon, including AlohaWolf.
Lola of Badly Drawn Kitties
Badly Drawn Kitties (BDK) in an online furry web comic, which as the title suggests, features cats and is, in theory, badly drawn; however, the artist himself admits it is not as badly drawn as it once was. The comic was created by Mat Sherer, and stars a couple of anthropomorphic cats named Lucy and Lydia, who share an apartment in the fictional country of New Talia, a small island nation off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Sex plays a major role in many strips, whether it is actually occuring, implied, or the subject of a joke. There is nudity in the comic, but due to the simplistic art it is not very graphic.
An image of GreenReaper, the site founder

Furry art or anthro art (a misnomer, as anthro means "human") is a phrase sometimes used to describe artwork depicting anthropomorphic animal characters. A person who creates furry art is called a furry artist. Usually furry art is created with furry fandom as the main audience, though some works that could be described as "furry art" are intended for a larger, more mainstream audience.

The most basic and pervasive idiom of furry art is the depiction of humanoid figures with animal traits: heads, tails, ears, fur, and so on. Another popular theme in furry art is in the transformation of people to animals and vice versa, as in werewolves or other mythical creatures, or in science fiction devices, such as the use of genetic engineering.
Feral!
Camp Feral! is a furry convention held every year in the wilderness of Ontario, Canada, currently at Algonquin Provincial Park. It is a smaller convention than most, usually attracting between 80 to 120 attendees, and includes workshops and camp-related activities. Feral! has been running since 1998, and is often referred to as being the "uncon" due to the vast differences it holds when compared to hotel-oriented furry events. Guests and well-known furs who have attended Feral! in the past include Nexxus, Silfur, Cataroo, MelSkunk, Benjamin, Uncle Kage, Jessica Willard, Krahnos and Roxikat.
The Napping Cat icon
The Napping Cat's Dream is a forum-based role-playing community which has grown from one forum dedicated to the Master Zen-Dao Meow webcomic, to having its own server and thirteen distinct forums. The forum began as the Mystical Messageboard in January 2000. In February 2001 it moved to The Nice, expanded to thirteen forums in March 2002, and moved to its current site in April 2003. Master Zen-Dao Meow features anthropomorphic characters; not surprisingly, furry characters make up a sizable portion of the Dream's population, as well. However, there are many human characters (as well as other types of fantasy beings) amongst the Dream's denizens.
The Genesis version of Brutal.

Brutal: Paws of Fury was a fighting game containing anthropomorphic characters published by GameTek in 1994. It was published for the Genesis, PC, Sega CD, and SNES. An enhanced version, Brutal Unleased, was made for the Sega 32X in 1995; in 2002, a fan remake, Brutal Remix, was released.

The Brutal storyline was typically banal for its time: Under the watchful eyes of the malicious Dali Lama, twelve (and later fourteen) fighters came to the simply-named Brutal Island to battle for fame, prize money, and recognition.
Benjamin, the liger
Benjamin is a life-long artist (including animal and anthropomorphic themes) and graphic web designer. He founded and continues to administrate furry.ca, serves as a Wizard on Sociopolitical Ramifications, maintains his own furry artwork gallery named StripeyManey, administrates several related web sites... and, of course, is a liger. He has also been involved with FurryFaire, Camp Feral and Furtopia at one time or another.
Star Fox
Star Fox is a series of video games started by Nintendo in 1993. The original Star Fox was hailed as a marvel of graphics technology at the time, although it took a while for the game to really take off as people dived into its unique world. Sequels (most notably Star Fox 64) took advantage of the series' popularity, and were viewed as a benchmark against which other games were judged. Star Fox features many anthropomorphic characters, including Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, Slippy Toad, Peppy Hare and Krystal Fox. The series as a whole is very successful, continuing to draw an avid fan base from most Nintendo gamers to this day.
Miss Mab, a lead character in DMFA
Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures (or DMFA) is a furry web comic by Amber Panyko. It updates three times a week, normally on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and has been running since 1999. The comic is partially based on the online game Furcadia. Initially featuring Daniel Ti'Fiona and Miss Mab, the cast of the comic soon expanded, including both Amber's friends on Furcadia and characters of her own creation.
GURPS Werewolf: the Apocalypse.

Werewolf: the Apocalypse (or W:tA) was a roleplaying game published by White Wolf up to 2005. In it, players play members of the Garou, a race of wolves who, despite being decimated from generations of internal struggles, have become aware that the apocalypse is approaching. The roleplaying game could be called the "lifestyler's RPG," in that its major themes include striking a balance between one's human and animal sides, struggling to find friends and live despite a heavy secret, and searching to find a group to call family. It has had many spinoffs, including Werewolf: the Wild West,

Dark Ages: Werewolf and GURPS Werewolf: the Apocalypse (pictured)
Astolpho, as portrayed by Balaa.
Astolpho is both a babyfur illustrator and a fictional character created by rootdown. He is most frequently depicted as a humanoid lion cub wearing a collar with an oversized jinglebell and a diaper, though is also occasionally represented as an adult lion wearing carousel riding gear. He multiplies when he comes in contact with water, dies when exposed to direct sunlight, and should never, ever be fed after midnight. Astolpho's name is taken from the poem Orlando Furioso, by Renaissance writer Ludovico Ariosto.
Burned Furs
The Burned Furs were founded in 1998 by Squee Rat. The movement was composed of people who felt that they had been "burned" by their association with certain aspects of furry fandom, and who wished to actively do something about it. Their formation and existence was the cause of many disputes over the exact nature of their beliefs, the Burned Furs being accused of intolerance and wanting to impose their subjective vision on the rest of the fandom. Many of these disputes occurred the newsgroups alt.fan.furry and alt.lifestyle.furry. They were opposed by a group called the Freezing Furs; two more movements, Nonaligned Furs and Furry Peace, were created in reaction to the resulting conflict.
Tapestries MUCK
Tapestries MUCK (known as Tapestries or Taps for short) is an adults-only MUCK popular within the furry fandom, operational since 1991. The overall theme is a world of role-playing anthropomorphic characters with significant BDSM undertones. Characters may have consensual TinySex freely in the public areas of the game world; non-consensual acts are usually restricted to designated areas or private rooms. As of 2002, Tapestries became the largest and most populated online game dedicated to the fandom, surpassing FurryMUCK with a peak of 870 simultaneously connected users; it now averages around 820 per night. It is operated by WhiteFire.
The Prancing Skiltaire
The Prancing Skiltaire is the given name of a private residence in Orange County, California, owned by Mark Merlino. It is host to a group of furries that share their common interests in the furry fandom, and also have been host to a variety of public events in the past years: annual holiday get-togethers, ConFurence and Califur staff meetings, Filking concerts, and more recently, has taken over the previous role of monthly parties that were hosted by the wildly popular Rick's Cafe' Terrestrienne. The 5 bedroom house is known for its primarily furry-themed decor, with original and re-created animation cells of past furry movies, Japanese and Chinese manga, original artwork by various furry artists and a large collection of plushies, memorabilia, collectables, and statuettes.
Babyfurs in a Nutshell. Art by LoupGarou, character by Rieva
A babyfur is a member of the furry fandom who is also an Adult Baby and/or Diaper Lover, or is otherwise involved in infantilism. There are many different types of furs in the babyfur community, each focusing on different aspects and roles. Like furry in general, babyfur culture involves a good amount of role-playing, both online and in the real world. Role playing babyfurs will most often take on the role of a furry character in their infancy or childhood. A sexual subset of this type of roleplaying is known as ageplay (see Wikipedia). Common roleplaying themes include "cute" clothing (onesies, footy pajamas, overalls, diapers) and a child's environment such as a nursery or day care center, complete with cribs, high chairs and babyish decor. A few babyfurs lucky enough to afford the privacy and devotion will set up adult nurseries to role play as children in real life.
_____ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ , SM / ' ' ) ) ) ' ) / / ) ' ) / ,-/-, . . __ __ __ , / / / / / / /-< (_/ (_/_/ (_/ (_/ (_/ / ' (_ (__/ (__/ / ) / '
FurryMUCK is the oldest and largest anthropomorphic MUCK still in operation. It is popular among the furry community, although also used by others, and is owned/operated by Furry Enterprises, a collective organization of its wizards and admins. In general, all public areas of FurryMUCK are officially PG-13, although conversation has a habit of straying into more mature topics. Private areas and areas specified for the purpose may have a higher rating. At its center is the West Corner of the Park, which is also the name of a popular comic set in and on the topic of FurryMUCK.
nothingkat.com
nothingkat.com is a website which parodies and comments on the furry fandom from a jaded insider's point of view, mixing down-to-earth commentary with a little bit of poking fun. Starting in 2003 with both furry and non-furry topics, it developed to focus mostly on broad sections of the fandom. Later that year, arguments over an article it published about FurNation caused nothingkat.com to be shut down; an agreement was subsequently reached with the owners. Little has been done to advertise this site, and it is usually found through personal references.
A couple of Caitians on the 'prowl' (art by Neverwench)
Caitians are a fictional species first featured in Star Trek: The Animated Series. Modeled after African lions, Caitians stand bipedal on digitigrade feet. They also have excelllent hearing and night vision, although their facial structure and vocal biology make it difficult for them to speak english properly. Their feline appearance includes a mane and tail which match their lion counterparts. M'ress, the Caitian officer in the series, remained popular for years after the end of the show, and with her cat-like voice paterns and her anthropomorphic features represents one of the first furry characters shown on TV, one that was neither a person with cat ears, nor a talking cat.
Verix
Verix is a furry goon and WikiFur administrator whose fursona is an anthropomorphic gray housecat. He has been known to spread Communist sedition on LiveJournal, Tapestries and Second Life, as well as maintaining a thread entitled The Fur Scare on Something Awful. Verix also draws propaganda, most recently covering Fur Affinity, and has satirised furries, Otherkin and people in general.
World Tree primes; top to bottom, left to right: Zi Ri, Khtsoyis, Gormoror, Herethroy, Orren, Cani, Sleeth and Rassimel
World Tree is a role-playing game of species and civilization, set on a gigantic tree where several types of mostly-anthropomorphic beings (or primes) are the norm, and magic is all-pervasive. Created by Bard Bloom and Victoria Borah Bloom, it was acclaimed for its depth of story and quality of artwork, being nominated for Best Anthrompomorphic Game and Best Anthropomorphic Publsihed Illustration in the 2001 Ursa Major Awards.
Ninja High School, issue 72
Ninja High School is a comic series created by Ben Dunn and published by Antarctic Press. It centers on the misadventures of Jeremy Feeple, a 16 year-old boy attenting Quagmire High School, and Asrial, the Salusian princess ordered to marry him. Shortly after Asrial lands, they get caught up in a whirlwind of comic mischief, fighting, and plots by local villans to take over the planet. The comic currently totals over 129 issues, as well as two mini-series (Ninja High School V2 and Quagmire USA) and Furry Ninja High School, a two-issue parody.