otherkin

nonstandard plural otherkins · alternative Otherkin

1. One who believes their soul, essence, or identity is non-human.

   It appears that many otherkin are unaware of what makes them different. They just know they are not normal humans.

   2000, Cara Des'tai, “The Internet goes mythic”, in Fate

   5 more examples

   A close friend of mine turned out to be otherkin as well, and I added her to the group so she could discover who she is.

   2014, James Vaughan, When Death Calls, →ISBN

   You’ve already told Tumblr that you are definitely, really a wolf with wings; you’ve argued in favor of Otherkin rights and awareness; you’ve become a leader of the Otherkin community.

   2015 January 12, Jess Zimmerman, “The internet is fertile ground for the mosaic of allegiances out of which teens build identity”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   In addition to the otherkin identify as animals, there are some who identify as mythical creatures, like dragons, fairies, or vampires; fictionkin, who identify as fictional characters, frequently from anime series or videogames; weatherkin, like Marco, who identify as weather systems; conceptkin, who identify as abstract concepts; spacekin, who identify as celestial bodies; and several other even more obscure categories (musickin, timeperiodkin—the list goes on).

   2016 August 4, Callie Beusman, “'I Look at a Cloud and I See It as Me': The People Who Identify As Objects”, in Broadly

   One does not conjure up new categories of being lightly, but Laycock does not hesitate and also introduces the concept of ‘otherkins’, “individuals who identify as ‘not entirely human’.” Otherkins have an unorthodox “framework of metaphysical beliefs,” Laycock says, “If it were orthodox they would not be other-kin.”

   2019, David Cohen, “The Vampire Develops, Academic Studies and the Poet Flees the Bailiffs”, in The Psychology of Vampires (The Psychology of Everything), Abingdon, Oxon; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN

   The page stretched for thousands of entries by users named Starkin and Faefolk411 and NosferatuReborn, their avatars drawn from luridly-rendered fantasy paintings or sketches of people with horns or hooves or wings. “You ever heard of otherkins? They’re people who identify as part animal or spirit. They claim to be dragons, vampires, elves, that sort of thing.”

   2019, Justin Joschko, “Someone Who Likes the Ramones”, in Whitetooth Falls, Carbondale, Ill.: JournalStone Publishing, →ISBN, page 57

   Synonyms: otherkind

nonstandard plural Otherkins

1. Alternative letter-case form of otherkin.

   Not the Otherkins. They’re pretty cool. This is a sub-culture of the Otherkins. Some of the human-puppies have started a new group in Exeter.

   2024 March 25, Virginia King, chapter 27, in A Deadly Concoction (Tiggy Jones Mystery Series; 3), Celestial Hedgehog, →ISBN

   4 more examples

   Some elves claim to be allergic to iron and other products of encroaching modernity, while one breed of Otherkin—dragons in human bodies—insist that having no allergies is a sign of Otherness.

   2001 February 13, Nick Mamatas, “Elven Like Me”, in The Village Voice, →ISSN, archived from the original on 16 May 2015

   The living Otherkin are a loosely affiliated group of mostly young people who believe themselves to be magical and spiritual creatures: elves, werewolves, dragons, fairies, angels, hobbits.

   2005 October 4, Christine Wicker, Not in Kansas Anymore: A Curious Tale of How Magic is Transforming America, 1st edition, New York: HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 240

   Another is that I myself identify as Otherkin—a wolf therianthrope, to be exact—and I find this particular subculture to be absolutely fascinating.

   2007 April 20, Lupa, A Field Guide to Otherkin, 1st edition, Stafford: Megalithica Books, →ISBN, page 18

   In an archaically bound volume, Gibson explores the affirmation of the Otherkin community (who identify as partially or wholly animal) through the collation of visuals from mainstream culture, including Instagram filters and computer game clips.

   2020 September 16, Hannah Clugston, “Soft Bodies review – tech simulations of life's squishy stuff”, in The Guardian, →ISSN