How much of "you" in in your 'sona?

[ShiroXIX]

TL; DR - Is your persona just YOU with animal qualities, a character you wish to be, only the best parts of your personality, or a completely unrelated OC?

One of the things I've been noticing as I'm trying to make my first fursona is that he/she always ends up having a personality different from mine. Personally I have four personas I tote around:

Andrew - A slightly more confident version of myself. Basically this is who I am most of the time, or rather, who I became post-gender-identity choice.
Shiro - Who I am online most of the time. Shiro has a slight bite to him and gets pretty emotional. He's got a wider range of emotions than I do and isn't afraid to look like a weaboo and be a bit of a spaz. He's who I am at conventions.
Sardonis - A personality usually reserved for MMOs or games simply because he's unrealistic. Sardonis is every suave quality I have rolled into one. He flirts with everyone, woos the ladies and is really fun to be.
Amelia - for when I put on my lady face and act like a proper young woman for work/relatives. My "birth self" if you will.

Basically, I have this character and I'm not sure if he should be ALL of me with all of my personalities in tact or if I should assign one to him and create three more. I'd like to see Sardonis as an avian and Amelia as a feline. I think this fennec/satyr idea I have may just fall to Shiro or Andrew, but I was wondering what most people do.

Is your fursona you or does he encompass only the parts of you that you love most? Is he a completely separate OC that is nothing more than a character you play? Or is he just a personality-vacant avatar?

Thanks for reading, I look forward to the responses.

[Gibby]

I used to have a single fursona, but I started not being certain about what I wanted to do with it. Then I created multiple characters.

Each character I have has a part of me, be they big or small, but they are emphasised hugely, and some, twisted. Put them all together, and you have me. c:

[Zenia]

My fursona is just me in anthro form. Although, I am bigger IRL. I am not "playing a character."

[Furryjones]

My fursona is just my traits in an anthro body, goes by the name of Jonesy and he encompasses all of what I am.

[Ruethel]

My fursona personality-wise is pretty much like myself, with some traits I would like to have also sprinkled in there. He also contains many of my negative traits as well, so I wouldn't say he holds only my best traits.

[d.batty]

Yup my fursona is 100% me in anthro batty awesomeness.

[badlands]

mines a twisted and exaggerated version of myself.

[Unsilenced]

I made my fursona with some of my "worst" traits, I guess because they're more interesting. He's more-or-less my "id," though he is capable of processing information and what could hesitantly be referred to as "decisions." He has some redeeming traits and a nigh-unbreakable will, but I don't envy him.

Making a character that "is" you is kind of difficult because, generally speaking, people are more complex than fictional characters. Characters act on the author's interpretation of their tendencies and traits, while people have to actively make choices. Basing a character on "what would I do?" then often becomes more of a question of "what would I want me to do?" rather than an accurate prediction of one's own actions.

[Kit H. Ruppell]

Kit shares my height (at the top of the skull), weight, rough age, eye color, and most of my personality/views.

[Lucky-WanderBear]

I have two.Daniel Grizzly: He's more me than I'd like to admit.Blizzard: He's a bit more responsible than I am.Clokwerx: He's just every bad quality I have and a few I don't in one big, bad wolf.Howl: He's a goofball pervert. I'm a goofball nerd who laughs at perverts, but could never be a real one.Only Daniel Grizzly shares my height, age, weight, and favorite foods and such. Blizzard is taller than I am at 6'11''. Clokwerx is 9'3'' and has power over time. Howl is 5'2''.

[ShiroXIX]

Making a character that "is" you is kind of difficult because, generally speaking, people are more complex than fictional characters. Characters act on the author's interpretation of their tendencies and traits, while people have to actively make choices. Basing a character on "what would I do?" then often becomes more of a question of "what would I want me to do?" rather than an accurate prediction of one's own actions.

Well yeah, but creating an avatar isn't hard. You don't need to prescribe a personality to a drawn image. You can just choose to have an image represent you and I guess that has me rephrase the question to: Is your fursona a character or an avatar? -- but that's almost a whole other thread/poll. On the matter of complexity, however, it depends on the writer. I have a few characters that I know function better than I do, a few characters that genuinely have opinions I disagree with and often act outside of my hand and "write themselves". Honestly, I know that even if I SAY the fursona I have drawn is just an avatar, he'll eventually grow a personality of his own and act regardless of what was intended.

[XoPachi]

A lot actually. Just me as an angry hornet with fat eyebrows. I included my favorite attire to represent me. My Jake the Dog hat, what would be my black DoDonPachi "WARNING" tee (which fits very well because it has a hexagonal pattern like inner hornet hives) if I could draw better, my Gurren Lagann drill necklace, and these black pants I love to wear. I tried to give him my personality, just tweaked to be a little more fitting for a hornet...mad all the damn time.

[Unsilenced]

Once you make an image, it's hard to stop from ascribing it some personality. I'm not really sure why people even try. Why would you need something else to be you? Might as well make it interesting. My character started as an avatar too, but any time I drew him I had to make choices. What was he doing? How was he posed? Why? I guess I could have just dressed him up like I normally dress and had him act like I would have, but that seemed... boring.

Characters usually act in the way we expect others to act, having relatively direct motivations for their actions. They do x because they are y. This is much more direct than one's own motivations, which one might not even be aware of. People do a lot of things "just because," which comes off poorly in fictional characters. Truly realistic characters would often seem random and poorly-written. Truth is stranger than fiction and all that.

[Lunar]

My fursona is kind of who I wish I was. Cuter and more adorably clumsy.

[Dreaming]

TL; DR - Is your persona just YOU with animal qualities, a character you wish to be, only the best parts of your personality, or a completely unrelated OC?

My first fursona essentially was, and it was a mess of things. Then I sort of went crazy with the Adopt Multiple Fursonas thing, and gave them all a trait of mine. So essentially, they all share something with me, but non of them actually resemble me.

[xcliber]

I've asked myself this a few times in wondering how I came up with all my OCs and how they connect to me. I have about 5 main OCs that generally represent either different parts of myself, things I wish I could be, or people I wish I had around me.

Cobalt, my main sona, reflects my own inner thoughts. He finds himself seeking answers and fulfillment in his life much the way I do. His traits include most of my negative ones, often finding himself depressed, dwelling heavily on his past, and having a tendency to let little things get to him. He's shy and timid. Unlike me, however despite his self-worth issues, he has a heart of gold. He's strong and courageous and won't hesitate to protect those close to him (but perhaps that's also because he values other peoples lives more than his own).
Ember, on the other hand, is a mix of what I wish I could be along with over-exaggerations of my good personal qualities, plus a few polar opposites of myself. She's extremely gifted intellectually, active, outspoken, the person that everyone seems to love and go to for help and advice, and always standing up for what she believes in.

[Percy]

Some of my traits are included in my fursona, but he's otherwise not TOO similar to myself. He's certainly more social than my real self, and his appearance differs from the way I actually look (minus the fur, of course).

[ShiroXIX]

Why would you need something else to be you?
Truly realistic characters would often seem random and poorly-written. Truth is stranger than fiction and all that.

This fandom has a lot of emphasis on being someone else or hiding behind a mask. There are a lot of people who want others to know the character rather than themselves. Me, I'd like you to know both. Love my 'sona, he likes the attention, but I'm just your average Joe.

I have, last I counted, 70ish OCs. Most of them are from role plays, novels, short stories, etc. and very few are just "art fodder" as I like to call it. I have characters that range from "main character in an anime" material to "couldn't even get cast as an extra". Again, it depends on the writer. Justin is very realistic. He has opinions, is quiet, has a few interests, but all in all he's very background. He is a believable person but nobody would ever be interested in a book about him. --though I'm not sure how this fits in with the conversation. I guess we're talking about the differences between a character and a human being because I asked "is your character you", so I'll repeat:

Some characters (read: fursonas) are simply avatars the person uses to look unique while some are characters the wearer chooses to step into. I'm simply wondering what is more popular. So far it seems people are like me: choosing parts of them that they like and using the character to live vicariously though.

[Saliva]

I've yet to see one person look anything like their fursona. It's fucking pathetic.

[Anubite]

Mines just me as a jackal, nothing crazy or anything, just a way to identify myself with the fandom. Nothing i wish to be or anything like that as i am perfectly happy with who i am. I play D and D if i want to be someone else.

[Onnes]

I've yet to see one person look anything like their fursona. It's fucking pathetic.

Well it would be pretty hard to make yourself actually look like a demented man-fox hybrid.

[Saliva]

Well it would be pretty hard to make yourself actually look like a demented man-fox hybrid.

Not really.

The problem is that, besides ridiculous fur colors and super powers, most artists in the fandom seem to limit their characters to a total of ten facial expressions.

[ShiroXIX]

Not really.

The problem is that, besides ridiculous fur colors and super powers, most artists in the fandom seem to limit their characters to a total of ten facial expressions.

10? I'm counting 3.

[yubhom]

My fursona pretty much is me with animal traits, but has a little bit more, collectedness? to him. I tend to be a lot more scatterbrained than I make my fursona. He is the me I want to be.

[Saliva]

10? I'm counting 3.

Please don't make me contradict you. It makes me look like an ass, and that's terrible.