Kintypes

What a kintype is

The word kintype does for otherkin what theriotype does for therians: it names what the person identifies as. It is recognized and not chosen, it is lasting, and it may be held alongside other kintypes or alongside a theriotype.

One caution belongs at the start. The beings named below come from many cultures, and each culture describes them differently. A dragon in one tradition is a rain-bringing river lord; in another it is a hoard-guarding terror. An otherkin's kintype is seldom a copy of any single source. People generally say that the old stories are the nearest available description of what they are, in the way that a map is the nearest available description of a country.

Dragons

Dragons have been among the most common kintypes since the beginning, and had their own online meeting places from the early 1990s. Those who identify as dragons most often speak of wings, a tail and a long neck felt as phantom limbs; of a sense of great size compressed into a small frame; of a strong attachment to territory and to things carefully kept; and of a patient, long-sighted way of thinking. Some relate to the serpentine, water-loving dragons of the east, some to the winged dragons of western legend, and many to neither exactly.

Elves

Elves are the oldest kintype in the community's history, since it was among self-described elves that the first letters and lists circulated. Elven otherkin commonly describe an affinity with old woodland and with made things of quiet beauty, a feeling of being out of step with the hurry of the age, and a sense of belonging to a people more than to a place. The elves they describe owe something to northern European tradition and something to later literature, and they are usually the first to say so.

Fae and the fair folk

Under this heading come the many beings of faery tradition: the people of the mounds, sprites, and spirits of wood, hill and water. Fae otherkin often describe a mercurial temper, a strong feeling for bargains and courtesies, and a bond with particular kinds of place, such as thresholds, wells or thorn trees. Because faery belief is still a living part of several cultures, thoughtful fae otherkin take care to learn those traditions from their own tellers and to speak of them with respect.

Celestial and infernal beings

Some otherkin identify as angels, as demons, or as other beings from the spiritual orders described by the world's religions. These kintypes need particular tact, since they touch on what many people hold sacred. Those who bear them tend to describe a sense of purpose or of service, an awareness of wings or of light, and a feeling of having come from somewhere set apart. They do not, as a rule, claim any authority on religious matters.

Mythic beasts

Gryphons, unicorns, phoenixes, winged horses, sea serpents and many-tailed foxes all appear as kintypes. Because these are animals of a kind, some who identify as them prefer to call themselves therians, and use the word theriomythic. Others use otherkin. The choice follows which community a person feels more at home in, and neither is incorrect.

Other kin

The list does not end there. Otherkin have identified as merfolk and other water beings, as satyrs and fauns, as giants, as spirits of weather and of place, and as beings for which there is no ready name. A separate term, fictionkin, is used by those whose identity is found in a specific work of fiction. Kintypes without many fellows can be lonelier to hold, and the community at its best makes room for them.

How a kintype is recognized

The method differs little from the one described for theriotypes, with one added difficulty: there is no living animal to study, only stories that disagree. The following habits serve well.

• Start from experience. Record what you actually feel, in plain language, before reaching for a name. Body sense, longings, reflexes, recurring images.
• Read the sources themselves. Go to the myths and folktales, from more than one culture, and not only to modern fantasy that borrows from them.
• Notice what does not fit. The parts of a legend that leave you cold are as informative as the parts that ring true.
• Be modest about memory. Impressions of another life can be vivid and precious. They cannot be checked, and they are best held as personal meaning.
• Take your time. A kintype that is real will still be there after a year of careful doubt.

A word on respect

Many of the beings named on this page belong to living traditions, and some are venerated. Identifying as such a being is a personal matter, but it does not make anyone a spokesperson for the culture the being comes from. The otherkin who are best regarded are generally those who learn widely, credit their sources, and listen when people from those cultures speak.