Therians: the humans who identify as animals

Humans are living out their animal instincts through the therian movement. A small online subculture, those who identify as therians claim to have a nonhuman identity — one they embrace in their everyday lives. The movement has gained traction on social media, leading to demonization and ridicule. Experts warn against openly rejecting the culture, as doing so could cause harm.

The animal within

A therian is a person who “identifies as a nonhuman animal on an integral, personal level,” said the Therian Guide website. Many also adopt animal-like behaviors or characteristics or “identify as something animalistic which may not have existed on earth.” The trend has been most popular in Uruguay and Argentina but has been expanding to other parts of Latin America.

The term “therian” is a shortening of the Greek term “therianthrope,” meaning half-human, half-animal. The word began to “circulate in the 1990s on internet forums,” said Euronews. It “grew discreetly, almost clandestinely, through mailing lists and websites of the pre-Facebook era.” However, with the rise of social media, the community has become more public on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. “The therian phenomenon is a perfect example of how algorithms and social media, with a mixture of political interest and morbid curiosity, can fabricate a news story out of thin air,” Adrián Juste, an analyst at the Al Descubierto think tank in Spain, said to El País.

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The existence of therianthropy has been attributed to a variety of causes. Some claim it comes from “reincarnation or misplaced souls,” said the therian guide website. Others point to “scientific or psychological reasons such as imprinting, an innate predisposition” or “abnormalities in neurological wiring.” Those who are therians “will know it,” with a “feeling of ‘this is what I am.’”

Predator and prey

The growing exposure and growth of therians have led to backlash and judgment. The community’s increasing popularity has landed it in the “hands of the far right” and is fueling “algorithms that reward scandal,” said El País. Similar to an “attack against trans people, against LGBTQ+ people,” the assault on therians is “reinforcing the narrative about the decadence of modern society," when “going against human nature or the designs of God ultimately leads us to decadence,” Juste said. In the U.S., this would-be decadence manifested as a false claim that children were using litter boxes at school.

The therian movement is mostly popular among adolescents and young adults, as it “may be a response to experiences of alienation, low self-esteem or a search for community,” according to some critics, said Al Día. Labeling the phenomenon as a “dangerous new trend” could “reinforce feelings of otherness or isolation among those who already feel marginalized,” while “ignoring it entirely would mean dismissing an experience that feels deeply meaningful to a segment of young people.”

The attraction to therianthropy is not inherently a harmful thing. “If the experience does not affect a young person’s ability to form relationships, attend school or maintain healthy routines,” said Al Día, “there is no reason to automatically pathologize it.”