…it is stranger than you can imagine. And this is never more true than on this wacky series of tubes we call the Interweb.
Exhibit One: I give you….Otherkin.
Otherkin is a subculture made up of people who describe themselves as being non-human or having a connection to a mythical archetype in some way, usually believing themselves to be mythological or legendary creatures. The word is a neologism primarily used by members of that subculture, and is somewhat fluid in definition, and in its broadest sense includes those who consider themselves to be animals, aliens, extradimensional beings, and any other non-human entities.
These are people who believe that they are dragons, werewolves, and elves.
Yes, really.
No, I’m not joking.
You want even wackier? Ok…you asked for it: Otakin!
A sort of crossbreed between fans of anime and otherkin, Otakin believe that they are actually the reincarnation of an anime (or occasionally game) character and that the worlds depicted in popular animes such as evangelion and games like final fantasy exist in another dimension. Unlike their otherkin counterparts, otakin are relatively rare and tend to limit their activities to obscure message boards and livejournal communities. >>from the Urban Dictionary
Otakin (sometimes Otakukin) believe that they have the souls of fictional characters, usually from Japanese anime. Let me say this again, slowly: They believe that they contain within them the souls of cartoon characters.
*boggle*
The obvious question seems to be: Why those particular sets of things? That is, why is there a group of people who believe they have within them the soul of elves, but not, oh…trolls? Or Goblins? Why are Otakin just anime based, and there’s no one running around believing they are the “reincarnated” soul of Woody Woodpecker? I’m not saying this is any more rational than believing, oh…that there’s an invisible man in the sky who watches everything I do…but on the “weird” meter, this one goes to 11.
Oh, and just for you, dear readers…one last special site that involves both dragons AND invisible men in the sky.