I’m currently reading a set of short stories, Wild Passions, all based around anthropomorphic heroes. In other words heroes who are mainly human but who either have animal characteristics or that of alien species. To be honest, I wasn’t 100% sure I would enjoy this type of story, mainly because some of the other stories I’ve read with these types of heroes haven’t really been my cup of tea. On the whole, though, these have been great stories and I’ve surprised myself with how much I’ve liked them.
This got me thinking about anthropomorphism in m/m romance and what it is about it that makes me initially leery of reading. Some of it is obviously due to my previous experience of reading books which I’ve not enjoyed, but that can’t wholly be it.
My first book I read with an anthropomorphic hero was Details of the Hunt by Laura Baumbach. The story is a sort of Alien meets Pirates of the Carribean hybrid and I liked it on the whole, except that the alien hero was just a little too, well, alien for me. He wasn’t human enough and I found his tough grey skin and facial features a little off putting. This was the same with another book I read recently, Draconian Measures by JC Owen. I liked the character of Graitaan, who looks like an upright dragon, but the sex scenes between him and the other hero were too much like making love to a lizard for me to feel completely comfortable with them.
Having thought through my feelings for anthromorphic heroes, I’ve come to realisation that there’s a bit of a line for me between liking them and not, and I think that line depends on the ratio of human to non-human characteristics. There has to be certain human traits the hero must have in his appearence otherwise the balance is tipped too far towards the beast, rather than the man. So what sort of features do anthropomorphic heroes have which sets them apart from humans?
1. Skin verses scales/fur – I don’t mind if a hero has some furry or scaley bits but I would rather this be mixed in with parts that are definitely skin. Thinking about it further, it’s not fur that bothers me too much, but scaly skin or tough hide like a Rhino or elephant.
2. Head shape – one of the things which put me off about the JC Owen’s story was that the hero has a muzzle, not a flat face like humans. I get a bit grossed out by the kissing scenes if there’s a muzzle involved as it’s too animal like for me.
3. Tales/pointy ears – This is one thing that does work for me in these types of stories. For example, I’ve enjoyed a few kitsune stories where the heroes have the ears and tales of a fox or Neko stories where the hero has the ears and tail of a cat. In fact, I have to admit that I find tails a bit sexy 
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4. Extra body parts – This is one for the aliens really. I don’t really mind if my heroes have extra body parts, although I do tend to roll my eyes if the extra part turns out to be another cock .
So, having rambled on enough now, I’ve come to the conclusion that stories with anthropomorphic heroes can work for me, given the right balance of animal/human features, especially if the author has created a sympathetic and three dimensional hero and not used the anthropomorphism as a gimmick. I’m not sure I’ll actively seek out stories like this to read, but won’t be put off if I come across one from time to time.
But what do you think? Are there some features of anthropomorphism which put you off? Do you like stories like this, or is it just one step too close to furries for your taste? Do you have some recommendations of books with anthropomorphic heroes which you could recommend as a good book for people to try who are interested? Leave a comment and let’s see how much we agree or disagree on this topic.
Hmm. I think muzzles are problematic. And I have to agree on the whole scaley/leathery skin thing. But I haven’t read many (any??) stories with either muzzles or scaley/leathery skin – I wonder if it’s because I tend to avoid scifi?
That’s quite possible, Chris. It’s mostly the aliens with scaley/leather skin, although the JC Owens book was a fantasy.
You should read Elizabeth Amber. Her heroes have two peens and usually the women have at least one. Check out the book Raine for a great OMGWTFBBQ reading experience.
You know, KB, I think I may just give those a miss
. Morgan Hawke’s ‘Star’ series also has alien heroes with two peens. It just made me snigger which I don’t think was really the author’s intention 
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I’m still a traditional minded reader. One peen on a hero is good enough for me.
I would say I mostly agree with you. I did like Details of the Hunt though, even if he had those little sentient tentacles around his penis. At least he only had one. LOL I watch a lot of sci-fi on TV (Star Trek, etc.) and while there are lots of aliens, they always have humanoid bodies which I think I need. If the hero had 7 arms and a no legs or something weird (or more than one penis) it just seems too “out there” for me.
I agree, I think a non-humanoid face would be off-putting and throw me too much into the bestiality realm. I know in Concubine by Jill Knowles the demon-ish hero had patches of scales, but mostly was normal skin. He also had reptilian eyes, with slit pupils. I’m okay with the cat eyes or other animal eyes as long as they have human traits like eye lids and lashes.
Tails and ears are okay and make me think of manga. I think besides a few kitsune stories mostly set in Asia I’ve read, the only stories I’ve followed with some anthropomorphic heroes are the Body Shop stories by Misa Izanaki. They aren’t all kitsune or other creatures (also vamps, humans and humans with body mods to emulate anthropomorphic characters), and I’ve liked how it’s done.
I would definitely stay away from the ones KB mentioned. Not my cup of tea.
The tentacles did make me roll my eyes a bit, it was the way that they had a mind of their own
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I don’t mind patches of scales, or difference in eye shape or type. I think it’s a balance of whether the hero looks too much like an animal in which case I don’t find that particularly sexy.
I was okay with Details of the Hunt, though the love scenes were tough to picture in my head. I had considered reading Draconian Measures until I read the word muzzle in a review. That just isn’t something I think I could get past. I am okay with a little scales and maybe a little fur but I still want both people to appear more human then not in any romance I read. I know there are some m/m’s out there were the characters are basically upright and talking animals, and they have been wonderfully reviewed but their just not for me.
Hi Amanda
It’s the sex scenes that get to me too. If I can’t work out what’s happening because of the body shape of the hero, it puts me off a little and I can’t get into the scene.
I haven’t read those books where the characters are basically animals. I know they’ve been well received but, like you, it’s not for me.
*lol*
. But I think it could be taken as tongue in cheek. Or should that be tentacle in …?
I think I wrote a tentacle flashfic once, in the distant past
I’m with you, in that I don’t always enjoy human/non-human. They can be written really well, just not my cuppa. It feels too much of an imbalance to me, too. Shifter stories are on the edge of that for me, depends on the author’s skill as to whether the human/creature interaction works for me. Though I never had any problem with Jourdan Lane’s Soulmates series, where as far as I remember, some of the sex with werewolves was pretty close to native
! I like different humanoid races meeting up though – the ones that spring to mind are Bloodraven (PL Nunn) and What Worse Place Can I Beg… (Syd McGinley). And I know those stories aren’t other people’s cuppa 
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Hi Clare
Tentacle sex sounds fun
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Shifter stories work for me as long as they stay in their human form during sex, otherwise I get a bit squicked out.
I’ve had Bloodraven in my TBR pile for yonks. I really must read that.