Saturday, October 30, 2010

Borderline Little Bit Beastlies, Modern Anthros, or Hyper-Furries (17.5-30%)

Hyper-furry, which is the intermediate level between furry and animal attribute human, is an animal with extreme human features.  They have a completely human body and at least mostly human face, but has the animal's ears, nose, bill, or beak, and tail (if the species or character has one), skin, fur, feather, or scale coloring and markings.  Sometimes, they just have human skin, but still have the animal's markings and coloring.  The nose can either look completely like the animal's nose or look part like the animal's nose and part like a human nose.  Unlike furries, they don't have much of the animal's muzzle.  Their hands and feet may either feature pawpads and/or claws of varying degrees or bare palms and/or fingernails and toenails.  Their feet can be more animal-like or more human-like in basic shape.  Bird gijinka can have digitigrade bird feet like real birds or plantigrade feet like humans, but the legs are completely humanoid.  I like to call hyper-furries, uncanny valley furries because they tend to fall into what is called "uncanny valley."  

They wear clothes just like a human would but the type of clothes varies with each setting and culture.  In "modern" or science fiction settings and cultures, they will wear modern-day attire, while in fantasy or "native" settings and cultures, they might wear only a loincloth and jewelry, or even forego clothing entirely. 
  

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Examples

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Furry or Humanoid Animal (30-62.5%)

A furry, or petting zoo person, is an animal with a fully anthropomorphic body.  Their body is basically an animal's head, tail (if the species or character has one), skin, fur, feather, or scale coloring and pattern, and even feet stuck on a furry (feathered in the case of birds and scaly in the case of reptiles) human body. Their feet can be either digitgrade, unguligrade (standing on a hoof), or plantigrade and can be more animal-like or more human-like in basic shape.  Their feet and hands can feature either feature pawpads and/or claws of varying degrees or bare palms and/or fingernails and toenails.  They usually have humanlike breasts.


Furries nearly always think and act completely like human beings, but some can either live and/or be like civilized animals or like funny animals to some degree.  They wear clothes just like a human would but the type of clothes varies with each setting and culture.  In "modern" or science fiction settings and cultures, they will wear modern-day attire, while in fantasy or "native" settings and cultures, they might wear only a loincloth and jewelry, or even forego clothing entirely. 

The term furry can either refer just to a humanoid mammal or to any kind of anthropomorphic animal.  A humanoid bird is called an avian, and a humanoid reptile is called a scaly.


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Examples


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Examples On The Verge of Being Gijinka


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Animal Attribute Human or Kemonomimi

Animal attribute humans, animal attribute people, or kemonomimi, are normal people, but with animal characteristics.  The most common of example of this level is a normal human, but with the ears and tail of the respective animal species (a.k.a. the 10% variety).  Some may have additional features, such as abilities, claws, paws, horns, fangs, and instincts, but they are otherwise completely human.

Since they are basically ordinary humans, but with animal adornments, they wear clothes just like a normal human would.  The type of clothes varies with each setting and culture.  In "modern" or science fiction settings and cultures, they will wear modern-day attire, while in fantasy or "native" settings and cultures, they might wear only a loincloth and jewelry, or even forego clothing entirely. 

Here are the different types of Kemonomimi:

Inumimi: means "dog-ears" in Japanese; doggirl, dogboy, or dogperson
Kitsunemimi: means "fox-ears" in Japanese; foxgirl, foxboy, or foxperson

Nekomimi: means "cat-ears" in Japanese; catgirl, catboy, or catperson
Nezumimi or Nezumi-mimi: means "rat-ears" or "mouse-ears" in Japanese; mousegirl, mouseboy, mouseperson, or ratgirl, ratboy, or ratperson
Usagimimi: means "rabbit-ears" in Japanese; bunnygirl, bunnyboy, bunnyperson, or rabbitgirl, rabbitboy, or rabbitperson

Of all kemonomimi, catgirls (or nekomimi) are the most common examples.


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Examples

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Saturday, October 23, 2010

Degrees of Anthropomorphism in Animals

Here are the different degrees of anthropomorphism.

Level 0: Normal Animal: completely non-anthropomorphic and thinks and acts completely like the actual animal species he/she/it happens to be; very often intelligent, but not portrayed in the same way as Intellectual Animal intelligence
Examples: general consensus of real life

Level 1: Intellectual Animal: usually completely non-anthropomorphic but clearly has thought processes; may talk to each other, but humans won't understand them unless they can understand animal language or if it can be learned; largely to pretty much thinks and acts like the actual animal species he/she/it happens to be; can walk and run on two legs*; can be both two legged and four legged*** or almost always be quadrupedal
Examples: the Watership Down cast, Blue from Blue's Clues, Pluto, the animals in Lady and the Tramp, and the animals in Krypto the Super Dog

Examples that overlap with Levels 3 (civilized animals) and/or 4 (funny animals): Snoopy from Peanuts, Garfield, Perry the Platypus from Phineas and Ferb, and Gromit from Wallace and Gromit

Level 2: Talking Animal: can talk and be understood by humans; can walk and run on two legs*, but usually completely non-anthropomorphic and largely to pretty much thinks and acts like the actual animal species he/she/it happens to be; can be both two legged and four legged*** or almost always be quadrupedal; can either be speech impaired or not
Examples: Scooby Doo, Martha from Martha Speaks, Paco from Maya And Miguel, The Cat from Coraline, and Alex the African Grey Parrot (real life example)

Level 3: Civilized Animal or Rabbits in Waistcoats: usually thinks and acts partly like a human and partly like the species he/she/it happens to be, even if he/she/it can't speak; can either think and act more like a human or more like she/he/its respective species; can wear clothes, can live in houses, and are often depicted walking and running on two legs*, but have largely to completely non-humanoid, or feral-type bodies** and occupy their species natural role in the ecosystem; can be both two legged and four legged*** or almost always be bipedal*; may either live on the fringes of human society or not; intermediate level between Talking Animal and Funny Animal
Examples: Peter Rabbit, the Redwall books, Little BearMrs. Frisby and The Rats of NIMH, Alvin and The Chipmunks and The Chippettes in the two live-action movies, and The White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland (The Disney animated version of him is on the verge of being a Level 4.)
Examples on the verge of being Level 4s (funny animals): Franklin, Daffy Duck, and the animals in The Wind in The Willows beside Mr. Toad

Level 4: Funny Animal: often to nearly always thinks and acts like a human being, even if she/he/it can't speak; usually lives in a house and often wears clothes; could be replaced with a human and the plot would be largely to nearly identical, but still have at least something of the physique of the actual animal species (in other words, a largely to completely non-humanoid body**), even when wearing clothes and walking and running on two legs*; can be both two legged and four legged*** or almost always be bipedal*; seldomly has humanlike breasts
Examples: Porky Pig from Looney Tunes, Brian Griffin from Family Guy, SpongeBob SquarePants, Mr. Toad, and Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck
Examples on the verge of being Level 5s (semi-furries): Goofy, Dudley Puppy from T.U.F.F. Puppy, and Babs Bunny from Tiny Toon Adventures


Level 5: Semi-Furry or Semi-Humanoid Animal (62.5-77.5%): mostly to nearly always thinks and acts like a human being, even if she/he/it can't speak; basically an animal's head, tail (if the species or character has one), skin, fur, feather, or scale coloring and pattern, and feet stuck on a furry (feathered in the case of birds and scaly in the case of reptiles) mostly to completely human-from-the-waist-up body that has mostly to completely nonhumanoid legs; could be mostly to completely humanoid from the waist down with or without humanoid arms instead; usually feature pawpads and/or claws of varying degrees but can feature bare palms and/or fingernails; feet can be either digitgrade, unguligrade (standing on a hoof), or plantigrade; feet are usually more animal-like but can be more human-like in basic shape; sometimes to somewhat frequently has humanlike breasts; intermediate level between Funny Animal and Furry
Examples: Arnold The Pit Bull from Tiny Toon Adventures, Rebecca Cunningham from Tale Spin, and Gadget from Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers

Examples on the verge of being Level 6s (furries): Cleo from Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats

Level 6: Furry, Humanoid Animal, Jujin, or Kemono (30-62.5%): nearly always thinks and acts completely like a human being, even if she/he/it can't speak; basically an animal's head, tail (if the species or character has one), skin, fur, feather, or scale coloring and pattern, and even feet stuck on a furry (feathered in the case of birds and scaly in the case of reptiles) human body; may either feature pawpads and/or claws of varying degrees or bare palms and/or fingernails; feet can be either digitgrade, unguligrade (standing on a hoof), or plantigrade; feet can be more animal-like or more human-like in basic shape; usually has humanlike breasts
Examples: Minerva Mink from Animaniacs, the Star Fox cast, Rouge The Bat and Sally Acorn, most of the anthropomorphic animals from Arthur, and Kitty Katswell from T.U.F.F. Puppy

Level 7: Animaloid Human, Animal Person, Petting Zoo Person, or Gijinka (17.5-30%): has a completely human body and at least mostly human face, but has the animal's ears, nose, bill, or beak, and tail (if the species or character has one), skin, fur, feather, or scale coloring and markings; sometimes just have human skin, but still have the animal's markings and coloring; may either feature pawpads and/or claws of varying degrees or bare palms and/or fingernails; birds can have digitigrade bird feet like real birds or plantigrade feet like humans, but the legs are basically human legs; feet can be more animal-like or more human-like in basic shape; intermediate level between Furry and Animal Attribute Human
Examples: Buster Baxter's parents and a few of the other anthropomorphic animals from Arthur, and Alvin and The Chipmunks and The Chippettes in the cartoons

Level 8: Animal Attribute Human, Animal Attribute Person, or Kemonomimi (17.5% or less): a person with animal characteristics most often the ears and tail of the respective animal species (a.k.a. the 10% variety); some may have additional features, such as abilities, claws, paws, horns, fangs, and instincts, but otherwise completely human; catgirls (or nekomimi) are the most common examples 
Examples: Son Goku from Dragonball, Inugami Kotarou from Negima, Wolf from 10th Kingdom, and Pinocchio when he has donkey ears and a donkey tail (He's still a puppet then, but...)



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Notes

* Note that all birds and all other theropod dinosaurs are supposed to walk on two legs, so bipedalism isn't indicative of anthropomorphism for them at all whatsoever.
** The term "feral" refers to any animal character who is largely to completely non-humanoid in general and has a largely to completely non-humanoid body, whether they stand on two legs* or not.  Ferals range from Level 0 (normal animals) all the way to Level 4 (funny animals), but usually refer to Levels 0 (normal animals), 1 (intellectual animals) , and 2 (talking animals) that prefer to stand on all fours*.
*** Many Intellectual Animals (Level 1) and Talking Animals (Level 2), and Civilized Animals (Level 3), and Funny Animals (Level 4), even Semi-Furries (Level 5), are designed to at least theoretically be just as much bipedal as quadrupedal*, and vice versa.  Some prefer to be on two legs*, some prefer to be on four legs*, and some are just as comfortable both ways.

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Terms for Anthropomorphic Animals in Manga and Anime

Gijinka: "humanoid, personification, or anthropomorphic" in Japanese
Jujin: "therianthrope" in Japanese
Kemono: "beast" in Japanese
Kemonomimi: "animal ears" in Japanese
Nekomimi: "cat ears" in Japanese

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