History Main / FurryLens

* ''Literature/TheBerenstainBears'' fit this to a T. The characters may be literal bears and their last names may be bear-related words and puns, but they are functionally human so don't behave like bears.
* ''Literature/GaspardAndLisa'' and their family members may be dogs, but are functionally human, so don't behave like dogs. They interact with other dogs the way humans interact with dogs.

* In TomorrowsPioneers, co-hosts, althought dressed as funny animals, don't show any animal traits, are human-sized, refer to themselves as humans, and even have fully human parents.

Some works have characters who are humans, but are drawn as various other animal species. Some works have characters who are the animal species they are drawn as, but are contextually human.

** Humorously, the author does address the issues that arise when this trope meets FurryConfusion. At one point the Jewish protagonist-- drawn as a mouse-- visits a friend who owns several pet cats. In the comic, anthropomorphic cats represent ''Nazis'', which leads Spiegelman to write "Can I mention this, or does it just louse up my metaphor?" At another point, the protagonist visits his therapist, and one panel shows a picture of a non-anthropomorphic cat; the picture has a label next to it saying, "Framed portrait of pet cat - really!"

[[folder:Music Videos]]
* The video for Music/DaftPunk's "Da Funk" shows an anthropomorphic dog walking around UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity with a boom box playing the song. He has a number of small adventures, but no one seems to acknowledge that he's an anthropomorphic dog.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Acknowledged In-Universe in ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}''. Anyone entering the Nightmare will see themselves as human and everyone else as sheep.
* The "Ape Town" mutator in ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRogue'' causes all [=NPC=]s to look like gorillas. It has no effect on gameplay; the only people who act like gorillas are the ones who were gorillas before, being kept in cages by the "human" gorillas.

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* The characters of ''Webcomic/{{Lackadaisy}}'' are portrayed as anthropomorphic cats, but (at least in the canon strips) act exactly like prohibition-era humans. The non-canon strips have an occasional FurryReminder, like Rocky claiming he had to shave Freckle's face to see his freckle, and the characters being confused what Tracy J. Butler's AuthorAvatar (depicted as a cartoony human) actually is. Tracy J. Butler also made drawings of how the characters would look like as humans - which is presumably their actual appearance.
* ''Webcomic/{{Precocious}}'' creator Christopher Paulson claims that he thinks of the characters as humans when writing the scripts. Though occasionally, a FurryReminder might be used for a one-off joke.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* The furry writer's podcast [[http://fangsandfonts.com/ "Fangs and Fonts"]] refers to this type of fiction as "zipperback", with the implication that the characters might as well be humans in fursuits.

* The "Ape Town" mutator in ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRogue'' causes all [=NPC=]s to look like gorillas. It has no effect on gameplay, the only people who act like gorillas are the ones who were gorillas before, being kept in cages by the "human" gorillas.

* The "Ape Town" mutator in ''VideoGame/StretsOfRogue'' causes all [=NPC=]s to look like gorillas. It has no effect on gameplay, the only people who act like gorillas are the ones who were gorillas before, being kept in cages by the "human" gorillas.

* In ''Anime/OddTaxi'', the final episode reveals that [[spoiler:all the characters are actually humans, but [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness the main character Odokawa and thus the aduience sees them as animals]] because of his “visual agnosia” brain condition. This is hinted at, such as when his doctor laughs at being called a gorilla and a passenger is confused when he refers to a member of [[IdolSinger Mystery Kiss]] as a calico cat]].

* In ''Anime/OddTaxi'', the final episode reveals that [[spoiler:all the characters are actually humans, but the main character Odokawa sees a WorldOfFunnyAnimals, himself being a walrus, and thus so do we, because of his “visual agnosia” brain condition. For example, when he refers to one of the members of [[IdolSinger Mystery Kiss]] as the calico cat she's drawn as, his passenger asks him what the hell he's talking about]].

Sub-trope to StylizedForTheViewer and AmbiguouslyHuman. Compare and contrast FurryDenial, which can invoke this, but it is (usually; see the Disney examples below) non-overlapping since it ''directly acknowledges'' that the characters are animals. Contrast WorldOfFunnyAnimals, where the whole cast ''really are'' anthropomorphic animals. See also BeastMan, which is about taking an Earth animal and using it as inspiration for another species. Compare MusicalWorldHypothesis.

* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'': The plot hinges on Della Duck not having seeing her sons since laying those three eggs, which hinges on the fact that they are ducks. Such a plot would never happen with human characters.

[[folder:Music Video]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/NightInTheWoods'': Though WordOfGod says that the characters are anthropomorphic animals that [[CallASmeerpARabbit call each other humans,]] they might as well be actual humans plot-wise, considering all of the FurryConfusion and general lack of a FurryReminder.
[[/folder]]

** Humorously, the author does address the issues that arise when this trope meets FurryConfusion. At one point the Jewish protagonist-- drawn as a mouse-- visits a friend who owns several pet cats. In the comic, anthropomorphic cats represent ''Nazis'', which leads Spiegelman to write "Can I mention this, or does it just louse up my metaphor?"

Sub-trope to StylizedForTheViewer. Compare and contrast FurryDenial, which can invoke this, but it is (usually; see the Disney examples below) non-overlapping since it ''directly acknowledges'' that the characters are animals. Contrast WorldOfFunnyAnimals, where the whole cast ''really are'' anthropomorphic animals. See also BeastMan, which is about taking an Earth animal and using it as inspiration for another species. Compare MusicalWorldHypothesis.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zags]] this trope. The original books and the earlier seasons of the TV series stated or at least implied that the characters are animals, albeit functionally human for all intents and purposes. However, as the TV series went on, most of these {{Furry Reminder}}s were phased out. This is most obvious in the episode where Arthur and his friends watch the self-parody "Andy and Co." and point out all the FridgeLogic inherent in a FunnyAnimal series. Much like in ''The Life And Times Of Scrooge [=McDuck=]'' mentioned above, historical figures and racial profiling (i.e The Brain is described as being African-American in-universe, but he doesn't appear as such to the audience, being a bear) match those of the real world, further suggesting the characters see themselves as humans.
** The spinoff ''WesternAnimation/PostcardsFromBuster'' leaned heavily on the "furry lens" interpretation, as all of the locations Buster visited were shown in live-action, with humans--presumably as they would appear to the audience if they were within the show.

* This may or may not also be the case with ''Anime/{{Aggretsuko}}'' as the show is not consistent about it. Most of the characters have PunnyNames based on their species and it occasionally has {{Furry Reminder}}s for gags (more often in the TBS shorts and rarely in the Netflix series), but none of these ever affect the plot and characters rarely acknowledge that they are not human. One of the few times in the Netflix series that a character is acknowledged as not being human, it is a video game character, who is a Unicorn.

* According to Creator/{{Sanrio}}, this is what ''Franchise/HelloKitty'' is. Many fans disagree, however, preferring to see her as a cat.

* Strongly implied to be the case in ''Anime/OddTaxi''. The eighth episode suggests that [[spoiler:all the characters are actually humans, but mysterious main character Odokawa sees a WorldOfFunnyAnimals, himself being a walrus, and thus so do we. When he refers to one of the members of [[IdolSinger Mystery Kiss]] as the calico cat she's drawn as, his passenger asks him what the hell he's talking about]].

Sub-trope to StylizedForTheViewer. Compare and contrast FurryDenial, which can invoke this, but it is (usually; see the Disney examples below) non-overlapping since it ''directly acknowledges'' that the characters are animals. Contrast WorldOfFunnyAnimals, where the whole cast ''really are'' anthropomorphic animals. See also BeastMan, which is about taking an Earth animal and using it as inspiration for another species. Compare MusicalWorldHypotesis.

Sub-trope to StylizedForTheViewer. Compare and contrast FurryDenial, which can invoke this, but it is (usually; see the Disney examples below) non-overlapping since it ''directly acknowledges'' that the characters are animals. Contrast WorldOfFunnyAnimals, where the whole cast ''really are'' anthropomorphic animals. See also BeastMan, which is about taking an Earth animal and using it as inspiration for another species.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zags]] this trope. The original books and the earlier seasons of the TV series stated or at least implied that the characters are animals, albeit functionally human for all intents and purposes. However, as the TV series went on, most of these {{Furry Reminder}}s were phased out. This is most obvious in the episode where Arthur and his friends watch the self-parody "Andy and Co." and point out all the FridgeLogic inherent in a FunnyAnimal series. Much like in ''The Life And Times Of Scrooge [=McDuck=]'' mentioned above, historical figures and racial profiling match those of the real world, further suggesting the characters see themselves as humans.

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* Averted hard in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'': The plot hinges on Della Duck not having seeing her sons since laying those three eggs, which hinges on the fact that they are ducks. Such a plot would never happen with human characters.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zags]] this trope. The original books and the earlier seasons of the TV series stated or at least implied that the characters are animals, albeit functionally human. However, as the TV series went on, even these {{Furry Reminder}}s were phased out. This is most obvious in the episode where Arthur and his friends watch the self-parody "Andy and Co." and point out all the FridgeLogic inherent in a FunnyAnimal series. Much like in ''The Life And Times Of Scrooge [=McDuck=]'' mentioned above, historical figures and racial profiling match those of the real world, further suggesting the characters see themselves as humans.
** The spinoff ''WesternAnimation/PostcardsFromBuster'' leaned heavily on the "furry lens" interpretation, as all of the locations Buster visited were shown in live-action, with humans--presumably, as they would appear to the audience if they were within the show.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' may or may not qualify. The original books and the earlier seasons of the TV series stated or at least implied that the characters are animals, albeit functionally human. However, as the TV series went on, even these {{Furry Reminder}}s were phased out. This is most obvious in the episode where Arthur and his friends watch the self-parody "Andy and Co." and point out all the FridgeLogic inherent in a FunnyAnimal series. Much like in ''The Life And Times Of Scrooge [=McDuck=]'' mentioned above, historical figures and racial profiling match those of the real world, further suggesting the characters see themselves as humans.

* This may or may not also be the case with ''Anime/{{Aggretsuko}}'' as the show is not consistent about it. Most of the characters have PunnyNames based on their species and the show occasionally has {{FurryReminder}}s for gags (more often in the TBS shorts and rarely in the Netflix series), but none of these ever affect the plot and characters rarely acknowledge that they are not human. One of the few times in the Netflix series that a character is acknowledged as not being human, it is a video game character, who is a Unicorn.

* This may or may not also be the case with ''Anime/{{Aggretsuko}}'' as the show is not consistent about it. Most of the characters have PunnyNames based on their species and the show occasionally has FurryReminders (more often in the TBS shorts and rarely in the Netflix series), but none of these ever affect the plot and characters rarely acknowledge that they are not human. One of the few times in the Netflix series that a character is acknowledged as not being human, it is a video game character, who is a Unicorn.