Find Your Wild Side

Therianthropy — from the Greek θηρίον (therion, "beast") and ἄνθρωπος (anthropos, "human") — is a deep, intrinsic identification with a non-human animal. People who experience therianthropy, known as therians, feel a profound psychological and spiritual connection to their animal identity, called a theriotype.

The concept of human-animal connection spans millennia of human culture, from ancient Egyptian animal-headed deities and Native American spirit animals to Norse berserkers and Japanese kitsune folklore. The modern therian community emerged in the mid-1990s on early internet forums, making it one of the oldest identity-based communities on the internet.

Academic researchers, including anthropologists and psychologists, have studied therianthropy as a form of non-human identity. Studies characterize it as a stable, deeply felt identification — distinct from clinical conditions — with therians reporting consistent animal identities over many years.