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Xavier Ho

(Spaxe)

Furry Characters

The Wild Side:

in Games

Illustration: @gato_iberico on Twitter

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Preface

This talk is based on my research in the past year, and is a work-in-progress.

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Xavier Ho

xavier.ho@monash.edu

The Wild Side: Furry Characters in Games

Illustration: @textorita on Twitter

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Fursuits

The Furry Community

Photography: Ouka

Photography: Spaxe

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“You get to choose whether everyone’s just furry or if furries and humans exist alongside each other. … When everyone’s furry, [you can] make a lot more choices about what to include from this world.”

Kyell Gold (2022). “How ‘Real’ Is Your Furry Real World?”.

“We want our world … to be filled with cool creatures doing cool things, so Tamian can launch themselves through trees, Lutren can do the same underwater, the Canid are burly berserkers with razor-sharp teeth and a killer instinct.”

Alex Kain (2012). Beyond the Western Deep.

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Xavier Ho

xavier.ho@monash.edu

The Wild Side: Furry Characters in Games

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Alex Kain, Rachel Bennett� and Jerome Jacinto

Beyond the Western Deep

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KO_OP

Goodbye Volcano High

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Animal power

Furry Characters in Games

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Xavier Ho

xavier.ho@monash.edu

  • Do cool things that are natural for the animal species.
  • Inspire narratives from more-than-human points of view.
  • Provide an allegorical framework that reflects real world culture.
  • Celebrate animal qualities and nature in the world.

Illustration: Rainer Ciar

The Wild Side: Furry Characters in Games

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Ash Coyote

The Fandom (Documentary)

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Demographic

Furry Community

0

10

20

30

Straight or heterosexual

Lesibian, gay, or homosexual

Bisexual

Pansexual

Asexual

Something else

I don’t know

5

15

25

% of sample

Sexual Orientation in the Furry Fandom

International Anthropomorphic Research Project (IARP), 2020. Furscience.

28.8%

10.1%

23.4%

16.5%

5.8%

10.5%

4.9%

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Xavier Ho

xavier.ho@monash.edu

  • Straight people in the minority
  • Highly neurodivergent
  • Visual-driven
  • Very inclusive and welcoming
  • About 25% to 33% are trans, nonbinary, or genderqueer
  • 60% are cisgender male
  • Passionate about furry

The Wild Side: Furry Characters in Games

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“Armello is a complicated game with lots of ins-and-outs, and getting someone into the act of playing is as difficult as it is with any other board game. It takes wikis, advice, and guides to make that work. … [The] welcoming spirit to the furry community [is] a bedrock …. [Furries] had created a safe space so that as many people as possible could be introduced to the game at a level they can enjoy.”

Cameron Kunzelman (2016) quoting Trent Kusters, Armello.

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Maxi Molina

The Hayseed Knight

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Your turn

Furry Characters in Your Game

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The Wild Side: Furry Characters in Games

Xavier Ho

xavier.ho@monash.edu

  • What are the qualities, nature, instincts, or primal desires of your characters?
  • What is the Super Cool Thing your characters can naturally do?
  • What story do you want to tell with your characters?
  • What commercial, indie, fandom, or non-game stuff with furries inspire you to make your game?

Illustration: Armando Leiva

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Woot!

That’s all, folks!

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Xavier Ho

xavier.ho@monash.edu

Xavier Ho�xavier.ho@monash.edu��@xavier_ho on Twitter�@jtg.design on Bluesky

​

Pspspspsp: Are you making a furry game? I’m working on a furry games paper. Come talk to me!

Illustration: Rainer Ciar

The Wild Side: Furry Characters in Games