I think it's more representational of me as a person, appearances aside.

I envy the lot of folks that have fur/personas.
Could never really do one of myself for some reason.

I've never been able to settle on a 'sona in the 10~ years I've been a furry but I keep coming back to certain designs. I feel like I've gotten close once or twice but I've mostly given up on having the "perfect" fursona. Generally now I just switch between designs that catch my eye.

That being said, I do think I had a perfect match a few years ago, which was an idealistic version of myself, but sold the character design because I needed money. I regret it a lot.

My fursona pretty much is my inner self. How I feel, how I would like to be at times. She's the partz of me that is dealing with alot of shit. Unfortunately, not really close to my realy self body-type wise. I want to be thin / muscular, but I'm a little more on the chubby side. Other than that, we have close to the same eyecolor, wear the same eyeliner and have similar hair :D (Just that I can't get dreads cause my hair is too straigt ;w;)

Personally? PW doesn't have a set body type. If I'm having a particularly dysphoric day, PW's gonna be a different shape than my biological self, though for the most part ey look like me. That's the beauty of having a fictional persona. Things don't have to be the same 100% of the time.

My fursona has stayed basically the same since 2004 or 2005, whenever I made her up. I forget! She's always been Darkmoon. Darkmoon has always been my age. The only things that have changed is that I arbitrarily picked wolf mix, and later decided coyote fit her better, and after meeting my partner I added jackal to the muttmix. her ears and tail have gotten steadily bigger since I first drew her, and I added a marking to her lower jaw. Her piercings and tattoos are the only part of her that I ever idealized, and over time I've caught up with her on the piercings and some of the tattoos. I use her as a palette to experiment with my own irl appearance, but I don't idealize her body, occupation, personality, or any of that. I don't even give her male genitals (tmi but here I go anyway....) because even though I hate what's between my legs, I don't feel comfortable with what feels like a less-than-honest portrayal of myself either. I prefer to show my flaws. I've always felt people who show themselves honestly through their fursonas are really brave and I've always preferred seeing that honesty to an idealized representation (not that I dislike idealized characters, it's just I feel I can connect more with someone in the community if they are more true to how they are, if that makes sense).

I guess you could consider my divine form to be idealized somewhat. She has characteristics of all my corresponding animals and is taller, has a long neck, and has pretty kickass hair. Her personality is more idealized, or rather focused, than my own, but she's also meant to be a representation of my soul fully realized as opposed to an everyday representation.

I handled it with different ones, two are close to my physical self, but also have my personality, just split in the extremes (Kee and Dot). Then along the way I added another to represent the ideal self (Raja). That way I don't have to feel stuck with a character that doesn't feel adequate at the moment. Kee and Dot are not 100% myself, but the important things I think, are there :)
The nice thing about all this being fictional is that you don't have to settle, my 'sona started as a pink and lime cat-equine with an unicorn horn stuck on there, so... You know, they evolve. If you feel the need to make branching ones, do it! If you want them to b more fantastical because you're feeling like you need something different than the physical you? Nothing wrong with that, and same goes the opposite way.

for simplicities sake i'll say that atarashi is my fursona (i have more than one personal character and i don't actually see any of them AS me, but whatever x3) - she doesn't physically represent me in anyway at all, literally or ideally! she mentally does. everything i love. big fluffy cats, with big ears, rainbows, long tails, etc. i literally made her because i was (/am >.>) obsessed with lisa frank. to go deeper her wingalings - good vs evil, her elements are earth and water. her stitches and bugs. everything about her may seem really butchered and disjointed to people on the outside like omg this is just a stupid sparkle cat. but literally everything about her is there for a reason.

i think part of the reason i don't get into physical representation because i don't have connections to "fursonas" that way. i see them as characters that represent things i like not AS me. if that makes sense. so none of my characters represent me in that aspect at all. and having multiple personal characters allows me to get lots of different kinds of art, which is what i really love. i love seeing artists interpret my characters into "real" things. like i can only imagine stuff or write, seeing visual representation is awesome. that's what i like the most about having several characters that are close to me.

My character represents me through and through, but it's come a long way from where it started. It's evolved with me, I suppose. It started out as a female kemonomimi tiger, then became a very dark-colored female anthro tiger with a ton of piercings and pyrokinetic abilities, then an almost-neon colored female tiger with (rather childish, imo) tattoos and pyrokinetic abilities, then a more neotenic looking pastel-colored female tiger (and lost the pyrokinesis, as that and the dark coloring were split off into another character), then lost the breasts, then became a robot/doll/android that looked biological, then became agender/transgender with different gender chassis, and now has become the visibly robotic masculine agender critter of today. All of these additions and subtractions have come along with my self-discovery and development as a person. Sometimes Farore has been a little slow to catch up (genderwise, for example, or in terms of build as I got heavier IRL) but has always more or less matched up with me. Every bit of its design represents something important for me. So yeah, I definitely prefer a fursona that's close to my real self :)

sometimes they do represent me more physically, other times more mentally.

Weeburd is the best example i have; sometimes when i draw her anthro she goes all fattyfats like me but most of the time she is a regular lil birb-thing.

I also use a kakapo because fat ground parrot whose best defense is to FREEZE.

I have a fursona for my fun-loving goofy side, and a persona for my anger, stress and anxiety. I don't really know what you mean about comparing appearances to the creator; even if you made something that looked like you others can view it differently. We all see through different eyes, just create what makes you feel comfortable and free to manipulate how you like. It's an extension of yourself no matter what it looks like.

I actually don't have a fursona. I have my characters, who I sometimes feel akin to or desire to be, but I don't really have a character that I feel represents me completely.

Though, Rêve is probably the one I feel most frequently. And his form is definitely more of a desire than a representation :p

I'm working on that, though. And maybe I should make a 'sona that more closely matches me. :x

Apparently I am in the same boat xD

My sona has always been pretty much exactly me, just in an animal form. The only major differences between us are our physical sex characteristics and they have an actual alter personality, but those things reflect how I feel inside so technically it's still like me (oh also they are aesthetically pleasing and I am not). I always took it that fursonas were supposed to be a representation of yourself. Personally I think when fursonas are made to be idealistic rather than realistic, it's leaning a lot more towards being a form of escapism, and to be honest it looks kind of silly when people have super-amazing-magical-strong-fit-etc sonas when in reality they are just an average (or sub-average) person. I mean creativity is great and all, but most sonas I've seen aren't creative at all, they are just people trying to fit in or look cool, or trying too hard to be unique and special. When it comes to the species I chose for my sona, they started off as just being an owl because I think owls reflect my high regard for wisdom and intelligence (and this is before I became a bird enthusiast). Later on I mixed in two songbirds, partly because they are both some of my favorite birds that I have seen commonly my whole life, and partly because I felt their personalities had similar traits to my own. I'll admit I probably was trying a little too hard trying to have a unique sona (even early on I was sick and tired of seeing wolves and foxes everywhere), but in reality I've never been one to fit in to any sort of group, so it makes sense for my sona to be different than everyone else's as well. But I feel that their design is nice now and it reflects me pretty darn well.

I really don't like the idea of sonas of any kind. Though I am finding that I need one so people stop miss naming my other characters.

I want my online name to be Nakoo, but which ever character is my icon gets miss named nakoo. It bothers me to no end because I like my characters to be separate entities to me.

I have two, one is Castella (the blue feline) and another is nameless, semi-new and a tory feline. Castella is just fun, she's not really me except the part about being shy when it comes to singing. I can't sing, no way would I get on stage in front of others, and I'd never be popular. The torty, while undeveloped, is going to be a face I will hide behind on my FB account that I created to keep the pagan side hidden. The character that does come fairly close to being me, that I use here, would be Anuacyl. While some parts of her are ideal (such as her place of residence) a lot of her came from fact, when I fully developed her I was working as a PCA in home-health. She is the character that if I were to use in a role-play, would behave how I personally would behave in a certain situation, though she's not really a fursona. I hope this helps you out...

As far as personality goes, Inanna IS me. All the bitchiness, arrogance, passion, anger, sweetness, unconditional love for friends, and so on, that I display, is exactly the same as hers is. Whether that's good or not depends on each person's individual point of view, I suppose.

As far as looks go, she's essentially everything I'm not. The most notable exceptions to this rule are the hair and eye color. Though my RL hair is much darker now than hers, my hair's natural color was originally a very dark red.

I cycled fursonas a lot trying to find one that was...me. My first fursona, Khameleon, was a disjointed shapeshifting kitsune design. Everything I was obsessed with at the time just kinda was thrown in there, but she seemed more like a character to me than me. Then I developed Tiberion, this was halfway through high school. The only guy I ever had a crush on in my highschool moved away. Tiberion was a very male character. At first I thought maybe I picked male because I was just a huge tomboy, now I realize its genderfluidity. He was again a fox, but this time the design was less soft. Spiked tail, tentacles and a faux hawk. I knew what everything stood for, but it was very idealistic. Tiberion was tall and pretty athletic/muscular in build. I am short and thin with little muscle. He had a faux hawk, a haircut I'll never be able to pull off. He stuck around for about a year.

When I went back to dA after going on a hiatus(forgot I had an account really) I ended up making Angelic, a not so idealistic version of me. Her anthro body type was directly based on mine at the time. She was a therapsid, but like Ti, she didn't stick around long. I ended up at first going back to a character I'd had and used as my face online in Furcadia for years, Dark Aura. She soon became my (once again) shapeshifting fursona. She got a design overhaul and ended up as a biologically sexless deer. I was coming to terms with being asexual and genderfluid and she represented part of that. A short time after accepting her and her new design as my fursona, Cross came into existence on Lupinar. He was everything I usually was. I say he represents my bad side, but he's evolved to just be...me. At first his design was stripe and spotted green, aqua, yellow and black hard to replicate mess. I soon started becoming disjointed with it and change it to what it is now.

Cross and Dark in body-type are me. Cross is a less idealistic version of me personality wise. He is everything about me that makes me the person I am. Though I hardly draw it, he's the personality that struggles with depression, ADHD and all my medical flaws. He is partially deaf in one ear and can barely see worth a damn. Dark (who has fallen into secondary roles) is the me I think I want to be. My perfect me. I'm okay with my body so she doesn't have anything idealistic there. But the way she acts, sweet, calm, collected and poised. Confident and without the mental issues that drive me crazy. The everything I want to be but can't. She falls to secondary roles because even though I connect to her, I don't know how to be her. I know how to be Cross. I am Cross and Cross is the truest representation of me I've had in a sona.

I've had... let's see, four fursonas total since 2001? Dumb middle school sona and dumb high school sona don't really count for the purpose of this question, though. They didn't have much thought put into them other than "animal person with hair".

I did the idealistic fursona thing for about a year. Guess it depends on what kind of ideals you put into your character, but in my case it wasn't something I could ever actually attain, so it just made me feel like garbage to hide behind that all the time. I made a new fursona that pretty much looks exactly like me irl, and I'm a lot happier and that's what I use most of the time... but once in a while when the mood strikes ideal-sona will take over the avatar box for a while. >_> I just use one or the other depending on how I feel and it seems to be working out for me!

TL;DR don't feel like you have to settle on just one fursona forever. It's totally okay to change, or to have multiple sonas that represent different things. or just make them a shapeshifter that can literally be anything lol

I was a squirrel for many years, but it was less because I felt it fit me personally, and more because that was the RP character I used more. She became a personal mascot that evolved as I got older, but in a way, she didn't really represent -ME- truly. She was physically more fit and stronger, and personality wise, was way more outgoing and brave. I suppose she embodied the kind of person I thought I wanted to be, since those were qualities I admired in others and wished I could also have.

I went through some interesting/hard/dramatic times between changing from squirrel to (many others leading up to) who/what I am now. I feel that my current state (FELINE!) actually fits me. Personality, mannerisms, quirks, and flaws, I think I'm getting closer to 'truth' verses an 'ideal'. Being honest with myself has been a journey!

Physically, my current character's body type is my own, give or take some padding or rolls here and there. I'm currently in the beginning stages of reclaiming my own physical strength from various injuries and illnesses that have made me sedentary for the last 7-8 years. I'm actually kind of looking forward to my 'sona changing with me. Drawing her anew with progress feels like something of a mental reward to myself. It's less about weight loss to me and more about life and strength gain, and since this incarnation of my 'sona is meant to be more like me than any other attempt before, she'll be evolving as well.

vOv

When I first started drawing I had a typical wolf sona (who could shapeshift). But I was much more insecure when I was young and she was very idealised. I had a crocodile sona at some point but in the end couldn't seem to pick something that I felt represented me very well, and that aspect felt important to me? So I dropped the idea of having one for a looong time.

Recently though, I drew a grub which I like to think of as sort of a personal character, maybe not quite a 'sona as it isn't extremely anthropomorphic, but something like it? I liked the idea of having a hercules beetle larvae, as they are big and squishy (I am quite heavy myself) but when they grow up they become majestic beetles that are very strong. I myself would like to become muscular, that would make me happy even if I still looked chubby (as I know not all athletic/fit people look that certain chiseled/ideal way), just knowing I held power inside me would make me happier. I need to start exercising a lot more often for that to happen though haha~

Even though it's not a very human-looking character, I guess mostly in the idea of it rather than appearance, mine is probably closer to my real self rather than being idealised?? hmm ovo

It's a little bit of both, I think. My 'sona has the same height, weight, and pudgy belly - but at the same time has idealized attributes such as a flat chest and other masculine features I wish I could have. I like to have it about half so I'm connected to it both because it shares the same stuff with my real self while also showcasing my ideal self, or "real" self.

Of course my 'sona seems to be changing all over the place lately and I think it's because I'm dealing with some self-loathing and gender dysphoria. It kinda sucks but at the same time is nice not to stick to one specific [unchanging] thing.

Semi representational semi idealistic in nature.
Though my character kind of came in fully formed and stuck. Only recently have I developed a really active alternate sona, but both are pretty accurate to how I look at the world.

I went through about 7 or 8 characters before truly settling with my current sona. I started out with a wolf, then dragons, then back to wolves, then another dragon, a fox, and finally the fougar. I decided on Krimzen as my sona about 7 years ago now, and the only thing that's changed about her is gaining a little weight as I did xD

I've always loved canines, but never really felt entirely in touch or one with wolves or other dogs, nor with reptiles, birds, equines, felines, etc. But then came the random convergence of the fox and cougar, two animals with traits I admire, adaptability, independence, strength, cunning, and so on. She has my body type, give or take some rolls here and there. Her personality is the same as what I think is my own, only slightly outgoing, loving, humorous, easily entertained and I'd think overall friendly, but still with my own non ideal traits, inverted, little social stamina, obsessive and very sensitive, quick to judge and able to keep long lived grudges.

I have other characters, but she's always very much been almost entirely representative of my actual self. owo

Well... Not only have a switched a lot... But now I'm planning on creating two more plus the one I already have. But let me get a little more in depth. (and also say that I'm not a fur... but I like the idea of animal personas, and thus why I go with fursonas, and less with outright personas any more)

So my original persona was a girl, originally created for... Final Fantasy VII I think? Her name was Fayde, but she was just supposed to represent an idolized me.

Then I had my first fursona, which was also female. I think her name was Fayerrow or something, she was a dragon/snowleopard mix. She didn't looked like me, she was more or less idolized as well.

Then I had a genderswapping character (at this point I was opening up about being genderqueer, where as before I hid it) named... Well Fayde or Feyd depending on the gender. But he/she was a ferret, and generally I drew him/her as a kemonomimi instead of a fursona.

Then we come to my current... Also named Fayde. Haha... :| One has to realize that this is the same Fayde I started with from when I was 11. Just, that she's been upgraded over time. :| She is a dragon/black snow leopard/fennec fox/phoenix mix. What a mess. Haha. But she mostly looks like what I do in real life. Other than her weight. Her weight is idealized, and something I would like to aim for eventually. Healthy, but not flabby like I am. She was also, originally, supposed to be able to transform to be any sex combination (to go along with the fact that I am genderqueer and genderfluid)... But she never really got past being a female version of me.

So now we come to the fact that I feel the need to create two more sonas to compliment my current one. lol And that's mostly for accepting all parts of myself. My plans mostly consist of making a completely male fursona, being a fox/raven or crow mix, but also another idealized variant of me. And another that will be a moth... But will either come in the variety of male upper half, female lower half, or vise verse. And will be chubby as heck, like me. So I can fully come to terms with myself, and my genderqueer-ness and gender fluidity.

And there you go. I've wall of texted you. 8U

But, honestly, I don't think there's anything wrong with flopping around? Sometimes it takes a while to get that perfect design to represent yourself.. And clearly even I haven't found mine. 8|

D started out a bit more ideal when she was a blanc de hotot rabbit. She was cool, had more interesting clothes than me, was generally more fun and all that. Her body type wasn't really idealized most of the time, I kind of drew her more cartoonish back then. The main thing with her was that she was just cooler than I was. There was not an established universe for her, she just drifted in and out of fandom universes, heckling other characters with her wit.

Flash forward a bit to a breed change to a more vague brown rabbit, her body was more idealized. She had strong, muscular legs, and all the other nice things that women are supposed to have. She wasn't a zombie, so she just had pretty red eyes for no reason and was still cooler than me. I often drew her just being awesome, posing in different ways, and wearing cool clothes. I didn't really have much ambition, I just kind of floated through life.

Bring it up to the current version, her body isn't the same as mine, but it's also not an idea. It features more of my self image (and self loathing) than previous incarnations. This version of D has been cut open and emptied. She's asymmetric, and much less pleasant. It's really hard to show her as a see her in my head, with more bags under her eyes, worn out fur, and skin that's lost it's elasticity.

I actually started out with one furso which eventually turned out to be an idealistic future self for me. I still have the character lurking in my head, but I also gave harder thought to actually making a self and persevering in keeping it in line with myself. What probably helped with focusing was also making a foil to my first character--an unidealistic personality--and remembering to keep in between the two.