Furry, Explained with Finn the Panther

[LEGACY] Who are Fursuit Handlers and Why They're Essential for Fursuiting

• Finn the Panther • Episode 25

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In this week's episode, we explain who fursuit handlers are! Preforming in a fursuit can be a magical experience for onlookers and the performer inside the suit alike. But it can be a challenging endeavor, especially for those new to the craft. While they may look cute, fursuits are incredibly impractical, and make even the most basic of tasks difficult for the performer inside. So in this episode, we take a look at what could possibly be a fursuiter's best friend: their handler! We explore what these handlers do and how they end up being so helpful, and go over their overall impact and why they're essential for anyone who preform in fursuit!

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Welcome to Furry, Explained! I’m Finn, a big black cat from the internet, and Furry, Explained is my show about furries, and their culture. Now, I don’t know if you agree with me on this, but, at least recently, on this show, things have kinda been all over the place.
I mean we’ve talked about things like coming out as a furry, different species stereotypes, why tipping an artist matters, and all sorts of other abstract ideas regarding the furry fandom. And don’t get me wrong, it’s been a lot of fun, especially since I’ve been learning just as much as you have about all of those topics, and it’s one of the reasons why I like branching out to covering more nuanced topics like the ones just stated. And trust me, that’s not going away; at the end of the day there’s only a finite number of strict definitions that can be explained, and in my opinion, discussing deeper topics like that in the fandom is what makes this show fun and unique in many ways. But, we’re not out of definitions to go over just yet. In fact, we still have a good amount of runway left until we should be concerned about running out. So, I thought, for the next few weeks, we sorta get back to the basics if you will. We’ll pick a topic, explain its definition in detail, and then put it into context of why it’s important to the furry fandom as a whole. Also, I haven’t talked about fursuits in a while, and I feel like if anything, that’s still a topic that we have yet to explore as deeply as we can. So, for the next three weeks, we’re going to talk more about things regarding fursuits and fursuiters! And today, we’re going to start with one of the most understated pieces that help put together a great fursuit performance. Yes, in this episode, we’re going to explain who fursuit handlers are! You may have heard about them in passing, but we'll not only go over exactly who they are, but what their actual role is in conjunction with a fursuiter. We’ll also discuss why they’re considered to be so essential to have for really any fursuit performer, but especially ones that are new to the craft! Ooh it feels good to get back to the basics of what this show is all about. You can’t spell fundamentals without fun, can ya? But anyways, welcome to Furry, Explained, and we’ll get started right here!

So, who exactly are fursuit handlers?
Well, if you look at the term at face value, it’s actually very telling as to who they are and what they do.
Because, in essence, fursuit handlers… well… handle fursuiters. But let’s break that down into a little more detail. On the outside, fursuiting looks like a fun, frivolous activity where people run around and be merry in animal costumes. And to a certain extent that is true, but it’s not nearly as easy as it sounds.
Fursuiting is a very involved activity that can almost be considered a full-body workout. According to many suitors, having a fursuit on is essentially like wearing a carpet, a heavy, furry, hot carpet. And performing in a heavy hot carpet can be both physically and mentally demanding. Additionally, because the costumes are so detailed, they often sacrifice general practicality to further improve the illusion that someone is actually a large anthropomorphic version of their favorite animal. This is mainly seen in things like fursuit paws not being useful for holding onto things, turning doorknobs, or doing basically anything useful, except for giving great hugs of course. And this is especially true for fursuit heads; in most suit heads, the actual visibility out of the eyes is extremely limited, to the point where you basically have no peripheral vision to work with, which, especially for an extended period of time, can be a jarring experience. It’s analogous to driving a car down the street, but with no mirrors on the side of each door or in the middle of the roof, right before the top of the windshield. We might not notice it, but we subconsciously check our car mirrors constantly while driving, and having those views being taken away from us would completely change and drastically lower the safety of how we drive. We would have to swivel our head back and forth constantly to see if there’s anyone in our blind spot, all of which takes away from looking at the most important part of the road: what’s in right front of us. In fact, you get a small sample of this idea if you’ve ever driven with a full backseat or trunk that ends up blocking the view out of your back window. If you’ve ever had that view obstructed, and therefore making the mirror in front of you that points back there useless, it takes a while to get your bearings and get used to seeing if there’s any cars behind only using the mirrors on the side. But if you take away all of those mirrors, driving at any reasonable speed becomes next to impossible to do safely. Which at this point means I have to say the obligatory phrase: please don’t try that at home.
While that was rather… hyperbolic example, that kinda is what fursuiting is like. With your hands and peripheral vision rendered basically useless, the basic function of just navigating the world around you can become just as attention-grabbing as actually interacting with people and performing in a suit, which is a skill that can take a lot of practice for some. It is at this point where fursuit handlers come in: they basically help supplement the lack of vision, general motor skills, and any other activities that are hard to do in a suit for the suiter themselves! They are basically the support staff for the performer in question, taking care of the basics so the fursuiter can focus on being the best performer they can be.
And while fursuit handler is the more general term, there are technically two different identifiers for a fursuit handler depending on the context. The first, and most common type of handler is referred to as a spotter. A spotter is a fursuit handler that does things more akin to what I was just describing. Spotters help the suiter navigate the world around them by doing things like walking with them around places like a con floor, helping them up and down stairs, into and out of elevators, through crowds of people, and through any other obstacles the world may present to them. They also help ensure the person inside the suit is still in good shape throughout their time in suit. Interacting with others in a fursuit for any extended period of time is physically demanding, and one of the primary responsibilities of a handler is to ensure that the performer stays well fed and especially well hydrated. Fursuit spotters can also help carry things for the suiter, including their phone, ID, and other essential belongings that need to be near the performer at all times. Spotters can also do a lot of little things as well to help make fursuiting that much more enjoyable. This could be things like setting up or even taking pictures of the suiter while they’re performing, talking on behalf of the suiter if they choose to perform in silence, and help monitor the behavior of people around the performer and stepping in to prevent a bad situation from potentially occurring. All of that, in essence, is what a fursuit spotter does, but there’s another type of fursuit handler as well that is just as important. These are called fursuit wranglers, which basically act as spotters for a multitude of suitors at the same time. You’ll typically see fursuit wranglers at places like conventions, where they help direct and assist a large group of people in suit to all do something together. Typically, this is for things like the fursuit parade, a group photo, or getting everyone properly aligned for a fursuit game, but they are basically in charge of herding a large group of fluffy animal costume performers as efficiently as possible. And while you’ll definitely hear more about fursuit spotters, as they are usually the default assumption when you mention handlers, at the end of the day fursuit handlers of all types help make the experience of performing in fursuit as enjoyable as possible.

While they may not be as praised or talked about as the suitors themselves, fursuit handlers are the unsung heroes of the whole art of fursuiting in general. They are the ones in the background of a performance, and can be helpful for experienced fursuiters, and are almost essential for new ones.
Which may seem like a strong statement to make, since if you look at pictures of conventions or meet-ups or any other places with a bunch of suiters, you probably won’t see a bunch of little attendants near the people in suit themselves. And even still, it’s not uncommon to see fursuiters walking around convention floors with no one around, and there are a number of furs you have suits that do all sorts of impressive feats, like dance, act, or play games, all without the help of a handler. So I think it’s fair to ask the question: are fursuit handlers really that essential?
Well, I think that’s coming at it from the wrong view, in fact, let’s switch perspective to the fursuit handler themself. If you think about it, being a handler is not an easy task, and takes up a considerable amount of effort, almost as much as the person who is performing in fursuit in the first place.
And it makes sense, handlers have a lot of things to keep track of when taking care of someone in suit to make sure they can focus on being their best. They are in charge of making sure the suiter is well fed and properly hydrated, two things that are essential to making sure the individual in suit can perform safely. For silent suitors, they quite literally speak on their behalf, and relay information from not only people asking for hugs and pictures, but for activities like buying things at the dealers’ den as well. And even for audible suiters, talking through a suit can make voices sound muffled anyway, and handlers can help with easing general communication as well. And even though you might not see a lot of them in pictures of fursuiters, that’s partly because handlers are the one’s actually taking those photos and videos in the first place, allowing the suiter and their suit to be shown off in all of its glory.
In addition, in many cases, handlers aren’t just the support staff for a suiter, but also their bodyguard as well. Let’s face it, people are… let’s call them unpredictable, and the last thing that someone in suit needs is to get into an altercation with someone that they can barely even see. A handler can help mediate between a suiter and someone who’s acting more unruly and can also do things like clear a crowded path for a suiter to walk through, acting as their side and back mirrors, if you will.
And to be honest, that’s only a small sample of what handlers have to do, and even to do  all of that requires a number of soft skills in order to do them properly as well. Primary of which is good communication skills! Having good communication between a handler and a suiter is essential. Things like having a schedule of what they both want to do and making sure that enough water and snacks are packed before they set out on their adventure, to knowing if either of the two have any medical or physical conditions they should look out for and take into consideration, is vital to both sides having a good time. Handlers also have to be rather confident around others, especially strangers, and not be afraid to be assertive if someone or a group of people is bothering the person in suit in any way, since they are rather limited in what they can do or say to stop whatever is happening from continuing.
They also should be rather keen on body language because, let’s be honest, we can all overestimate our limits sometimes. We might say we are good to continue a strenuous activity, but our body may be telling us the opposite. The same goes for fursuiting, and if that is the case for a performer, the handler needs to know what to look for to let the person in suit know that their mind may be telling them yes, but their body is telling them know. There’s also a bunch of other smaller things like knowing their way around the convention or hotel space, so if the suiter needs to make a quick exit, they can do so safely.
Handlers also have a prime opportunity to take mental notes on what and what not to do in a suit so the next time they get an opportunity to suit themselves, they can take their experience as a handler and translate it into having a better time while they perform in suit. And because it’s such a hands-on job, handlers are typically compensated for their work. This usually translates to things like the suiter buying them dinner or something at the dealer’s den or giving them a deep discount on the hotel room cost if they’re splitting a room. But it could also result in something like a swap in roles, where for the next time they both go out, the handler becomes the suiter, and the previous suiter becomes the new handler. And at the end of the day, just like fursuiting itself, fursuit handling should be a lot of fun! You get to be a big fluffy animal costumer’s personal assistant, and you can buy into that role as much as you want, even to the point where you dress up and act like your full-time job is being a bodyguard for a celebrity.
So, are fursuit handlers essential? Well based on all of the things that they have to do and remember, all the soft and hard skills that they need, and the fact that there’s entire convention panels dedicated to how to be a good fursuit handler, I’d say they’re just as woven into the fabric of what makes fursuiting magical as the fursuiter themselves. At the end of the day, they make fursuiting a lot easier for the person in the suit and are entrusted with their overall wellbeing. They are pretty much mandatory for new suiters, as they act as the eyes and ears, or mirrors, for someone new to the potentially disorientating activity of moving about in a fursuit. And even for experienced fursuiters, having one makes their lives a whole lot easier, allowing them to focus on bringing joy and an overall good time to the rest of the general public wanting to interact with them. Sure, it can be done alone, and has been on many occasions. But to ensure that they have a fun time while staying safe, fursuiters will almost always request the assistance of a fursuit handler.

Alright, that concludes this episode of Furry, Explained! Thank you so much for turning in and listening, I still hope you enjoyed it and maybe learned something new today. As always if you want to continue the conversation about fursuit handlers, or have any other feedback for the show, you can find and follow me on Twitter! I’m @FinnThePanther, and a link to my Twitter is down in the show notes, along with some other resources about handlers that you should definitely check out. As always, if you like the show and want to support it, the best way to do that is to follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts! If you’re on iTunes or Apple Podcasts, make sure to give the show a rating and a review as well. You can also just tell people about the show, and if they don’t know where to start looking, you can point them to our two little corners of the internet: furry-explained.com or pod.link/furryexplaiend.
But anyways thank you so much for doing so and we’ll be back next week for another episode of Furry, Explained, but until then, stay wild out there. Peace!