Can You Give Your Fursona to Someone after You Die?

Hello Papabear! 

I've been following your advice column since I discovered it late last month. Having said that, I feel confident that you could tackle my micro-issue at your leisure.

My question to you: What happens to your fursona/fursonae when you die? I am considering passing them on to other responsible persons (or just one person) to enjoy, role play, fursuit, etc. so that they don't go to the grave/afterlife with me. Is my suggestion even feasible or practiced in the furry fandom?

Either way, thank you for spending your time on me. I'm kinda new to the fandom so I really appreciate your advice.

From Texas with love,
Skyote

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Hi, Skyote, and Welcome to the Fandom,

What a fun question, and thanks for posing it. The answer depends on what your fursona means to you. For some furries, it is just a name they go by when they are hanging with their fellow furries; for others, it is much more personal. Grubbs Grizzly is my alter ego and very much a part of me and who I am. Therefore, when I die, that fursona goes with me in spirit. (Oh, sure, someone else could take up the name Grubbs Grizzly, but it won’t be the same.) However, I can’t pack up my fursuit and take it to the Other Side with me, so I am leaving that in my will (if it’s still wearable 100 years from now LOL).

If you wish to pass along your fursona(s) identity(ies) to a friend after you go like you might a used silver tea set you inherited, you can certainly do that, but I don’t know why anyone would take it. True furries like to have their own fursonas. Half the fun of being a furry is creating a unique personality that you can assume as your own. I, personally, would feel weird calling myself Skyote, for instance, because Skyote is not me, he’s you.

And I know some furries have multiple fursonas. Each probably expresses a different aspect of themselves, or they just like playing different roles. They might be more attached to one or two of those fursonas and a few others are just personalities they slip into once in a while. But, again, it’s the same thing as when someone just has one fursona.

Being a furry is not like being a Trekkie, where you might decide to dress up as Lieutenant Worf or Spock or a Borg to go to a Star Trek convention. This is one reason I enjoy being a furry so much! I’m not going to show up at Califur or some other con and run into myself because no one but me is Grubbs Grizzly.

To conclude, yes, it is “feasible” to give your fursona to someone after you die (which I hope is a very long way off for you), but I don’t know why you would do that. Let your friends come up with their own fursonas. Can you take your fursona with you? In spirit, sure! The physical accoutrements, like all physical things, will be left behind.

Live Long and Prosper,

Papabear