Feral (fandom)
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name(s): | Feral, feral animal, feral furry, quadruped |
| Abbreviation(s): | |
| Scope/Focus: | fictional animals (with relatively realistic body shapes) |
| Date(s): | ???-present |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
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A Feral is a fictional animal with very little physical anthropomorphism. They may speak, but generally do not walk on two legs or have fingers, except where that species' real life equivalent does so. The feral fandom is sometimes considered part of the furry fandom, while others see it as totally different or only overlapping.
The feral fandom produces some unique types of fanworks, such as Animash and Quadsuits. Fans also create fursonas, OCs, RPs, animation, fanart and fanfic.
Ferals and quadrupeds may often be interchangeable when speaking, but they are two different things. Feral furries are more true to real animals. Someone can, in fact, have a fursona that doesn't speak nor walk bipedal, and still identify as a furry. Ferals can also walk on twos, but have the mind of an animal, similar to traditional werewolves. A quadruped is a type of furry that simply walks on all fours like a natural animal, and it may speak like a human. Essentially, a feral can be a quadruped, but not all quadrupeds are ferals.
Fandom
Vidding
Animash is a form of fanwork unique to the feral fandom. Animashers make edited videos using clips of animated feral characters, which are set to music or occasionally other audio (such as movie trailers or Vine skits). The clips are taken primarily from movies like Balto and The Lion King.
Multi-Animator Projects, known as MAPs, are common in some feral fandoms, especially Warrior Cats. They are collaborative projects set to songs or other audio where several animators each draw one or more segments independently from one another, after which the segments are assembled into one video with frequent changes in art style.
Quadsuits
Quadsuits are a form of fursuit where the wearer’s arms function as front legs. Stilts are used to keep the limbs even.
Quadsuits are often made for the commissioner’s fursona, or may be based on a pre-existing character.
Example Fandoms
Some notable fandoms falling under the feral umbrella include:
- Balto
- Disney films like Bambi, Oliver & Company and The Lion King
- All Dogs Go to Heaven
- Felidae
- Ice Age
- Ginga Nagareboshi Gin
- Jungle Emperor Leo
- My Little Pony
- Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
- The Plague Dogs
- Watership Down
- Warrior Cats
Crossover fanworks between these are common.
Controversy
With Furry Fandom
"Feral discourse" is a common topic in the wider furry community, with some looking down on feral characters or creators. This has caused resentment among those who like more realistic-looking animals in cartoons, books and other forms of art.
One thread on the Furaffinity forums asked for opinions on feral characters leading to a plethora of response of varied degree. Some members also disagreed on the definition of a feral furry, though the majority agreed that a feral was just a furry that walked on four legs, regardless of level of intelligence. Many of the responses were fine with SFW furry art, while others believed NSFW feral art was acceptable as long as it didn't replicate real animals. For example, for member Ovidia Dragoness fantasy animals like gryphons and dragons of human intelligence were considered "stretching the concept of zoophilia." Other replies throughout the thread also referenced being fine with dragon feral art, but not other kinds of feral art, with at least one member disagreeing. The thread discussion would turn into discourse around page three. Some opinions from the thread are below.[1]
I've got no problem with them, unless they're being drawn by obvious zoophiles in hyper-realistic, more-than-a-little-suspicious scenarios (that could be inspired by actual events)Kit H. Ruppell[1]
Hold up, wait a minute...if feral characters and anthro characters live in the same universe and if both of them can intelligently communicate with eachother but anthros domesticate ferals as pets and livestock then how do you explain that? Also, I don't recommend doing feral NSFW. I'm not gonna say if it's "right" or "wrong" because it's not my place to tell you what is right or wrong. I just don't recommend doing it because it's not gonna be good for your reputation in case a situation occurs where people could use that against you.TheCynicalViet[1]
Honestly, anything nsfw resembling animals bipedal or "feral" can be argued, at least to an outsider, simply because they are sexual depictions of non-humans, and people will view both as strange just for the very nature of the non-human characteristics portion. I just don't see the big leap from anthro to feral in terms of unacceptability, unless the character in question at least lacks the characteristic of anthropomorphic intelligibility. The only thing I can say is, it's just weirder, other than that they are identical in territory, especially when people put anatomically correct animal characteristics on their characters, so yeah, I think people within the fandom have little room for arguing compared to the people outside.MetalWolfBruh [2]
Outside of Furry Fandom
Outside of Furry Fandom, controversy over ferals is much that same as the general controversy of Furry Fandom.
References
- ^ a b c Opinion on feral characters, Furaffinity Forum. Dec 14, 2019 (Accessed 6/7/2022)
- ^ Opinion on feral characters, furaffinity forum, page 5. Dec 24, 2019 (Accessed 6/7/2022)