otherkin

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, in the sense “different kind of, other kinds of”; current sense dates from 1990–95; variant of original otherkind (coined in the magazine Elfkind Digest and modeled on elfinkind “race of elves”); other + kin

There is a long history of humans identifying in some way with animals, mythological creatures, or other non-human entities. But the otherkin subculture as it exists now has its origin in the 1990s. From the 1970s on, a subculture of people who identified as elves had been growing. In the 1990s, this group began to refer to people who identified as mythological creatures other than elves as "otherkind." Otherkin soon cropped up as a variant and became the more popular term. The otherkin community later found many homes online, including forums and social media websites. Today, the term otherkin has expanded to cover not only mythological creatures, but also animals (a subcommunity called therian ), fictional characters ( fictkin ), and other, more abstract concepts. Some people feel the basis of their otherkin identity is spiritual, such as reincarnation or cross-dimensional travel. Others feel that it is psychological in nature. Many nonbinary or genderqueer otherkin have a gender that is related to their otherkin identity, and some use nounself pronouns to express this connection.