What is a WereWolf? What is a Shifter? What is a Therianthrope? What is a Furry? What is a Symp?

What is a WereWolf? Well, there is a saying: "ask 10 werewolves what a werewolf is and you'll get 11 different answers"

My personal opinion as to the definition of a Werewolf is something like: "A Werewolf is a human who holds within (in their heart, mind, soul, nature, or whatever) them an undeniable (can't be suppressed completely for long) potential for becoming a Wolf. This potential may or may not someday manifest in a mental shift and may or may not someday manifest in a physical shift." I'm not completely sure whether that definition is satisfactory to me.

But, most of the rest of The WereWolf HandBook is absorbed with answering that question, so I suggest you read it. WARNING: The WereWolf handbook only represents my view of WereWolves, plus some odd ideas I have picked up from all over, do not take it too seriously.

What is a Shifter? Well, there are WereWolves, WereJaguars, WereFoxes, WereRavens, and Lots of other WereSomethings. A Shifter is the politically correct term for WereThingies of all kinds (even those who don't Shift in any way). Since very few WereThingies can actually physically shift, and most people tend to define a WereSomething as a physical shifter, many WereThingies prefer the term Shifter because it can apply to either a mental shifter or physical shifter. But other WereThingies prefer the term Were-(their animal kind) because they do not Shift mentally or Physically, and thus the term Shifter is confusing. Were is another generic term for any sort of WereSomething, even though, technically, it's meaning in Old English is "man", it has come to be seen as indicating "shifter" because it is never seen anymore in our language except attatched to the name of some animal as an indication of a person who shifts into that animal.

What is a Therianthrope? Therio means beast and thrope (from anthropos) means man (as in humankind, indicating either male or female). A therianthrope is a shifter. It is another generic term for all sorts of WereSomethings. Some Shifters use the word Theiomorph and prefer it. However Therianthrope, and it's cousin term Lycanthrope (Wolf Man) are commonly used by the psychiatric world as terms for people who think they are animals or who think they can turn into animals. Therefore it has a taint of the unacceptable about it for people who consider their beliefs perhaps eccentric, but no more deserving of the label "crazy" than a Christian (or any other major religion) would deserve the label "crazy" for believeing things that science knows "can't happen". So many Shifters don't use it to refer to themselves, but many others do. It's a matter of how one personally feels about the word.

What is a Furry? A Furry is someone who really likes animals and identifies with them and is very interested in anthromorphized animals. An anthromorphized animal is one given human characteristics, such as Bugs Bunny. Bugs looks like a rabbit, sort of, he has some rabbit mental/behavioral characteristics, yet he talks, walks on two legs, and engages in human behavior. Saturday morning cartoons are full of anthromorphized animals. Most Furrys are into Furry artwork of all kinds, such as the artwork found here. Most Furrys identify strongly with anthromorphized animals and some of them want to become an animal or an anthromorphized animal. Many of them hang out at FurryMuck (a Muck at Furry.org 8888, via telenet) to role-play their fantasys. So what is the difference between a Furry and a Shifter? For Shifters, it is a way of life that subtly pervades all they do and is often deeply spiritual. For a Shifter, it is REAL in one way or another, it is not a hobby/obsession only, but something much more. Of, course many Shifters also fit the definition of a Furry, and some Furrys are Shifters who haven't realized it yet, but they are very different things. The FurryMuck HomePage is here. However, some suspect that many Furrys might be Shifters "in the closet", and many Shifters have told me that FurryMuck and the world of Furrys has attracted many Shifters. I met one Shifter on FurryMuck and we talked a bit. The Shifter said they prefered enviornments like FurryMuck where they could just role-play their desires without endless "theory-battles" and power struggles about what it might mean. To find out more about Furrydom, go here.

What is a Symp? A Symp is a Sympathiser. They are people who, while not Shifters themselves, understand them deeply and are interested in them. Sympathizers often have an empathy with animals, and their interest in Shifting is easily sparked. Yet they themselves do not want to become Shifters or Animals, even though they often have a mild interest in becoming a Shifter themselves. Shifters and Shifting and Animals are great interests to them, but it is NOT their way of life, they are perfectly happy without trying to become Shifters, especially when they see how much work it can take. And yes, Symps who are Non-Shifters can have Totem Animal(s).

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