Kintypes, Gender and other Musings

Table of Contents

• What am I?
• What is a kintype?
• Kintypes and gender
• What is a shift?
• Footnotes

Folk frequently ask me questions about therianthropy, about what it means to be a therian, what a “kintype” is, what “shifting” implies, and other such questions. Unfortunately, it is impossible – for me – to give a general answer that applies to everyone, as I believe this to be something that is often deeply personal, and the exact definition of these terms can vary depending on whom you ask.

Nevertheless, I wish to answer these questions for myself and explain what it means for me to be a therian, how my gender identity is tied to my different kintypes, and more. But please do not use this text as the “definitive” definition (this sounds rather silly, but I hope you understand what I am trying to say) of anything; this is just my personal experience, and others’ experiences will vary – and that is completely fine! We all experience things in our own unique ways, and I think that is very beautiful.

What am I?

I am a therian and polykin (I have heard the term polytherian too), which means¹ that I identify not only with but as a whole bunch of animals! The majority of these are fictional kintypes, with the majority of those being various Pokémon. Unfortunately, I do not have any nice reference sheets for any of my kintypes except for the bateleur eagle yet, but I am hoping to at least get a few headshots and profile pictures of my different kintypes so that I can switch between them on social media or Discord!

My list of kintypes is probably going to change / update down the line, so if you really are very interested in this, you probably should check back later at some point! The following is a list of all my current kintypes, with questioning² ones underlined. If I use certain pronouns in addition to it/its or if I prefer being referred to as a certain genderⁱ when I have a certain shift, you will find that information in the last column. Additionally, my kintypes may themselves have different forms with some being purely feral or anthro and some having both forms.

You may always refer to me as either of these kintypes regardless of my current profile picture. When it comes to pronouns, however, I would generally recommend using either just it/they or copying what I am currently referring to myself asⁱ.

What is a kintype?

What exactly a kintype is probably depends on whom you ask; one thing I should clarify, however (because it appears as though some folk get these mixed up from time to time), is that having different kintypes / being polykin does not necessarily imply that each kintype is a different headmate. It is very much possible for that to be the case, but just because someone has several kintypes does not mean that they are automatically plural. Therefore, despite identifying as a bunch of different animals, each one of them is still me and not another person. But this may very well be different for others, and that is totally okay!

However, for me (emphasis on the me), a kintype is an animal that I feel a very strong connection toward. Not only that, I feel as though that animal is me; when I look at depictions of said animal, I feel as though I were looking at myself, perhaps in a strange sort of mirror which can show one’s true self. This connection can manifest in different ways and this is also going to be a very personal experience and you will get vastly different answers depending on whom you ask. For me, there definitely is a certain spiritual aspect to it, though I have yet to find a decent way to describe it.

A kintype is not a character that I “play,” and it is as much part of me as anything else that is part of me. A kintype is, therefore, different from a character one might play in an RPG – at least to me! In such a game, you may decide to portray yourself a certain way and perhaps you may even portray yourself using your kintype; but frequently, the character you play in an RPG is less actually you and, well, simply a character you are deciding to portray yourself as in the context of said game. You may identify and portray yourself as being “Sir Galahad” in the context or narrative of the game, but you (probably!) do not consider yourself to be said character outside of the game’s context³.

And thus, a kintype, for me, is just something that I inherently am, no matter where I am or what I am doing. If I see a depiction of my kintype in media or elsewhere, I do not feel like I am looking at something else; I really do feel as though I am looking at myself. When I see a Zeraora, I do not feel, “Wow, a Zeraora!” but rather, “Wow, me!”.

Kintypes and gender

I have written a blog post on my site before about the manners in which I prefer people refer to me, but I figured out that things are, perhaps, not quite as easy as they appear – which, I guess, I should have figured, as things rarely ever are easy as they appear at first glance. While I generally refer to myself simply as non-binary, I have done a bit of research and found terms such as “kindigender” or “kindifluid” or “kingender”⁴, and while I have not officially adopted any of these for myself, I feel as though they do describe my situation quite adequately.

I generally prefer being referred to as neither male nor female, especially when the person I am talking to does not see me as an animal – and, let’s be frank, the vast majority of people I encounter in my day-to-day life do not see me as one. Therefore, my preferred pronouns also tend to be either it/its or, if you are, for whatever reason, uncomfortable using that set of pronouns, I am also fine with they/them, even if I very much prefer it/its. However, my gender identity can shift depending on my current shift, and I often also use he/him or she/her depending on my current shift alongside it/they.

I would, therefore, recommend and very much prefer you refer to me using it/its (or they/them) publicly, but if you are talking to me in private and overhear me use either he or she (or something else) to refer to myself, you are welcome to copy that – and I would actually very much like it if you did that too! Nevertheless, I know it can be a bit difficult having to switch up pronouns all the time, and if you are uncomfortable with it or believe you’ll have trouble with it, using it/they is never wrong.

Aside from that, I often refer to myself in the third person or by using my kintypes’ species as a sort of third-person pronoun. An example of that would be my saying something like the following examples:

• “Vaporeon is going to bed now, she is very tired.”
• “Bird is going to make some food.”
• “Cuga has to go to work again *annoyed growl*”
• “It is drinking some tea.”

I try not doing it too often, especially when talking to someone I do not know very well, because I am very well aware of it being perhaps rather unusual or confusing if you are unused to it. But I definitely do do it, and it may sometimes simply “slip out,” so to speak, (this is especially true with my Pokémon kintypes, where, if I have a Pokémon shift, I can often have a bit of an urge to just say my own species name).

The reason for my preferring a different gender depending on my current shift is a bit difficult to explain exactly. I believe a large part of it is that terms such as “male” and “female” – when used to refer to humans – have a certain societal “expectations” surrounding them.

What is a shift?

As someone with multiple kintypes, it is very common for me to experience varying levels of “I am this particular animal right now” and this feeling of “I am [kintype]” is what I would describe as a shift. However, just because I might currently have a Luxray shift does not mean I am no longer also a Bateleur, if that makes sense. The intensity of a particular shift is what makes the difference, however. My current Luxray shift may, for example, be so strong that I feel very much like Luxray at this moment even if I still would consider myself a Bateleur at the same time.

Things such as my gender identify change depending on the particular shift (as mentioned above) as well as a few other aspects of myself (a big Miraidon might act a bit more confidently than, perhaps, a Vaporeon that is a bit smaller). For me in particular, it is very easy to shift from one kintype to another even though I do, at times, have a week or several weeks with a more persistent shift; but often, simply seeing a picture or drawing of one of my kintypes that I really like is enough to shift me to that kintype even if perhaps only ever so slightly at times.

Shifts can take varying forms and can be of varying intensity. Different types of shifts include mental or physical ones. A physical shift for me is a shift which makes me feel more like I currently actually have the body of the kintype I am shifted to at a given moment, such as making me feel as though I actually have a snout or a tail or paws. A mental shift is a shift where I actually start feeling more like my kintype mentally. This can be both fun and a bit disorienting at times, especially when I have to concentrate on work! Mental shifts, for me, include things such as my starting to growl or make other kinds of noises that my kintype would also make - and when it comes to Pokémon shifts, I end up often saying my own name over and over almost impulsively (though I generally don’t get mentally shifted quite that extremely unless I actually want to).

Footnotes