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While I was browsing the furry character reference thread, I noticed that an increasing quantity of posts focused on closed species. In order to prevent the subject matter from overriding the thread, I decided that the Closed Species community warranted a thread of its own.
Closed Species are fictional species that require artists to pay to create and/or use characters of that species. Common among furries, they have become notorious for typically being unoriginal eyesores, the exorbitant prices their creators charge for them, and the drama that pervades these communities, with frequent slapfights over characters looking similar to pay-to-use species. Closed Species are typically found on Deviantart, a breeding ground for lolcows, though they can be found on other social media sites with a large presence of artists as well.
Some of the more infamous closed species include...
Closed Species are also known for the high prices they may fetch. For example, one user payed $1500 in an auction for a character of the Mignyan species, which are basically overdesigned catgirls/boys.
Thanks to Chao Garden for originally finding this
Another species that fetches a high price tag are the Shadowmonsters, incredibly overdesigned Gaia Online/Gacha Life characters whose costs tend to start at $1,200.
There's also been reports of the above-mentioned Primagens selling for upwards of $1,200, while Scarfoxes tend to fetch anywhere between $700 to $1,200.
Now you may be wondering, "What's stopping me from making my own faun with stockings or cyborg fluffy dragon? Can't I just slap a different label on it?". Well, you're right. Closed Species are not protected by copyright; at most, creators can file trademarks on the species' name and traits, as is the case with Sushi Dogs. Even then, one can still design their own fluffy food dog, you just can't call it a Sushi Dog. In fact, there's a bit of a cottage industry of off-brand closed species (archive), often with generic names:
A "Furmeleon", a poor man's Chimereon.
"Jelligoos", which are a rip-off of Gastrosnaps.
"Curlydogs", which are totally not cinnadogs. In fact, the original version of this species were almost identical to cinnadogs:
However, they gotta enforce those $1000+ price tags somehow. If you dare to make your own angelic dragon, then be prepared for a shitstorm of social shaming. Many of the artists that produce major closed species are well-known among their ilk, and if they catch you drawing something even remotely similar to their donut steel fluffy foxes, then they will "blacklist" you, get their cult to tear you a new one, and tell their artist buddies to not draw anything for you.
If you want to hunt down other closed species, simply search "Closed Species" on a site with a large artist presence. Deviantart, Inkbunny, Fur Affinity and toyhou.se are good hunting grounds especially.
Have fun
Closed Species are fictional species that require artists to pay to create and/or use characters of that species. Common among furries, they have become notorious for typically being unoriginal eyesores, the exorbitant prices their creators charge for them, and the drama that pervades these communities, with frequent slapfights over characters looking similar to pay-to-use species. Closed Species are typically found on Deviantart, a breeding ground for lolcows, though they can be found on other social media sites with a large presence of artists as well.
Some of the more infamous closed species include...
Dainties are essentially satyrs, but with stockings that are part of their skin.
Dainties are often used by detractors of Closed Species as an example of the unoriginality that pervades the community. The creator of Dainties, Pajuxi, has become notorious for their controlling nature over their species, namely with their strictness over designs (they only allow 3 hairstyles/eye colors). Pajuxi is also known for hiding any criticism that pops up on her page, rendering her comment sections into personal hugboxes.
Dainties are often used by detractors of Closed Species as an example of the unoriginality that pervades the community. The creator of Dainties, Pajuxi, has become notorious for their controlling nature over their species, namely with their strictness over designs (they only allow 3 hairstyles/eye colors). Pajuxi is also known for hiding any criticism that pops up on her page, rendering her comment sections into personal hugboxes.
Scarfoxes are stylized fox-like dolls with scarves for arms, hence the name.
The species is notable for the rabidness of its community, as they claim that any character with scarf-arms is a ripoff of Scarfoxes, despite the concept existing long before the species. Among the most notable examples of this is the drama surrounding Edgar, a border collie with scarf-arms. The artist, broken-aviator, was banned from the Scarfox group without warning and subsequently faced harassment from the mods.
The species is notable for the rabidness of its community, as they claim that any character with scarf-arms is a ripoff of Scarfoxes, despite the concept existing long before the species. Among the most notable examples of this is the drama surrounding Edgar, a border collie with scarf-arms. The artist, broken-aviator, was banned from the Scarfox group without warning and subsequently faced harassment from the mods.
Primagens are vaguely draconic cyborg furries. They are considered a premium version of the similar, free-to-use Protogen species, as while they cost money to use they don't have as many design restrictions (i.e. Primagens can have feral forms and electronic ears while Protogens can't).
Both species have faced criticism for the arbitrary restrictions imposed on their designs, even among the Primagens. If you made an "illegal" Prima/Protogen, then the creator, cool.koinu (aka malice-risu on FA) would blacklist you and then use their connections to ensure that other artists would refuse to draw your character. There was a trend in which artists rebelled against the creator's rules, and made Protogens that broke the design rules (i.e. giving Protogens wings and electronic ears).
Both species have faced criticism for the arbitrary restrictions imposed on their designs, even among the Primagens. If you made an "illegal" Prima/Protogen, then the creator, cool.koinu (aka malice-risu on FA) would blacklist you and then use their connections to ensure that other artists would refuse to draw your character. There was a trend in which artists rebelled against the creator's rules, and made Protogens that broke the design rules (i.e. giving Protogens wings and electronic ears).
Bagbeans are a monkey-like race that inhabit the world of Griffia, the setting of an action RPG that nobody cares about.
Despite the seemingly innocuous veneer of the community, it is mired in endless drama thanks to griffsnuff's hilariously incompetent leadership. For example, in late 2018 there was an uproar over some changes made to the RPG, such as (to my understanding) the changes to events resulting in members losing their prizes and benefits from previous events. Additionally, the mods' deflection of criticism in the replies was also criticized. This lead to many Bagbeans members leaving the community. Just a few months later, another update which removed a core feature of the RPG was released, once again receiving harsh backlash due to in part the rashness of griffsnuff's decision. A petition was even created to reverse the change, though it seems as though it was unsuccessful.
Apart from her incompetence as a leader, griffsnuff is also a bit of a lolcow herself. She's essentially admitted to being proud of her status as a womanchild. At one point, she was a fox otherkin, and (unsuccessfully) tried to create another branch of otherkin known as "momentians", which were basically people who felt like an animal for five minutes at a time. She also used her popularity to sell a literal rock with wings for $50.
Despite the seemingly innocuous veneer of the community, it is mired in endless drama thanks to griffsnuff's hilariously incompetent leadership. For example, in late 2018 there was an uproar over some changes made to the RPG, such as (to my understanding) the changes to events resulting in members losing their prizes and benefits from previous events. Additionally, the mods' deflection of criticism in the replies was also criticized. This lead to many Bagbeans members leaving the community. Just a few months later, another update which removed a core feature of the RPG was released, once again receiving harsh backlash due to in part the rashness of griffsnuff's decision. A petition was even created to reverse the change, though it seems as though it was unsuccessful.
Apart from her incompetence as a leader, griffsnuff is also a bit of a lolcow herself. She's essentially admitted to being proud of her status as a womanchild. At one point, she was a fox otherkin, and (unsuccessfully) tried to create another branch of otherkin known as "momentians", which were basically people who felt like an animal for five minutes at a time. She also used her popularity to sell a literal rock with wings for $50.
Dutch Angel Dragons: Among the more infamous closed species, Dutch Angel Dragons are pretty much just fluffy dragons with an angelic motif. There is an immense amount of drama over the species's strict guidelines (i.e. no muzzle rings and you can't sexualize them, though nobody ever listens to the latter). which are designed to make sure that the original dutchie (Telephone) remains as unique as possible, as well as the roleplays that involve them. They have their own thread.
Sushi Dogs/Sooshes: Fluffy dogs often combined with food. The creator has filed an actual trademark for the species. I'm not joking.
Gembuns: Literally just humans with rabbit ears that have gems in them.
SoulFoxes - Foxes with wispy soul tails.
Chloria: Flowery fox boys whose name sounds like a disease.
Sushi Dogs/Sooshes: Fluffy dogs often combined with food. The creator has filed an actual trademark for the species. I'm not joking.
Gembuns: Literally just humans with rabbit ears that have gems in them.
SoulFoxes - Foxes with wispy soul tails.
Chloria: Flowery fox boys whose name sounds like a disease.
Closed Species are also known for the high prices they may fetch. For example, one user payed $1500 in an auction for a character of the Mignyan species, which are basically overdesigned catgirls/boys.
Thanks to Chao Garden for originally finding this
Now you may be wondering, "What's stopping me from making my own faun with stockings or cyborg fluffy dragon? Can't I just slap a different label on it?". Well, you're right. Closed Species are not protected by copyright; at most, creators can file trademarks on the species' name and traits, as is the case with Sushi Dogs. Even then, one can still design their own fluffy food dog, you just can't call it a Sushi Dog. In fact, there's a bit of a cottage industry of off-brand closed species (archive), often with generic names:
A "Furmeleon", a poor man's Chimereon.
"Jelligoos", which are a rip-off of Gastrosnaps.
"Curlydogs", which are totally not cinnadogs. In fact, the original version of this species were almost identical to cinnadogs:
If you want to hunt down other closed species, simply search "Closed Species" on a site with a large artist presence. Deviantart, Inkbunny, Fur Affinity and toyhou.se are good hunting grounds especially.
Have fun
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