Glossary entry
Alterhuman
A broad, opt-in umbrella word for people whose identity sits outside the usual idea of being human, including therians, otherkin, fictionkin and the otherhearted.
In depth
Alterhuman is the widest word in common use. It was coined within the community in 2014 to give one calm, neutral name to a family of experiences that had grown up in separate rooms: therians, otherkin, fictionkin, the otherhearted, and others whose sense of self departs from the everyday human template. It describes an alternative way of being human, or of being something beside human, without ranking those ways against each other.
The word is opt-in. Nobody is alterhuman because somebody else says so, and a person who is a therian may or may not want the wider label. Its usefulness is practical: it lets people with different experiences share a table, and it gives newcomers a place to stand while they work out which narrower word, if any, belongs to them.
In practice
- A person who is certain their identity is not simply human, but who has not yet worked out whether therian or otherkin fits, may describe themselves as alterhuman in the meantime.
- A gathering open to therians, otherkin and the otherhearted alike may call itself an alterhuman gathering so that nobody has to wonder whether they are welcome.
- A long-standing wolf therian may never use the word at all, and that is equally in keeping with how the term works.
Common questions
Is alterhuman the same as otherkin?
No. Otherkin is one identity under the umbrella. Alterhuman is the umbrella itself, and it also shelters experiences that are not otherkin, such as feeling a strong kinship with a creature without identifying as it.
Does the word replace therian or otherkin?
No. The older words are still the precise ones. Alterhuman is used when breadth is more helpful than precision.
Related terms
Read further. The guide to the alterhuman umbrella sets these identities side by side.