Protogen

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About

A Protogen is a fictional, open species of furry created by Fur Affinity user Malice-Risu notable for being part-organic-part-machine. They are an extension of the closed Primagen species created by the same user, with common and uncommon Protogen's being open to creation and more affordable in auction than Primagens. Protogen's are notably desirable in the furry community and a popular subject of memes.

Origin

Primagen

The Primagen^[1] is the precursor to the Protogen.^[2] It is a closed species invented by Fur Affinity user Malice-Risu (@CoolKoinu on Twitter)^[5] on March 29th, 2015, meaning nobody else is allowed to make variants of the species, only commission them from the user or buy them at auction. According to Primagen lore, the species is about 70 percent artificial and 30 percent organic and comes from another universe, depicted as a raptor-like cyborg in most reference sheets with digital visors over their faces (shown below).

Primagen's became highly desirable among furries due to their rarity, with auctions sometimes going as high as $1,200.^[3]

Protogen

On April 8th, 2017, Malice-Risu invented the "Protogen" species, an extension of the Primagen which is notably less artificial, being about 40 percent artificial vs. 60 percent organic. This gives them a more animal-like appearance over Primagen's, which features more tech. Protogen's are an open species, meaning anyone can make a Protogen variant as long as they avoid making "rare varieties" of the species. Risu provided a Protogen reference sheet to help users create their own (shown below, click to enlarge).

Members of the furry community often criticize the creator of Protogens for the strict rules surrounding their creation and what separates a rare Protogen from a common or uncommon one. If a user shares a Protogen with a rare asset, they run the risk of being blacklisted by the creator, making their variant unofficial.^[8]

Spread

On October 16th, 2018, furry YouTuber^[4] BetaEtaDelota posted a video describing the species, garnering over 363,000 views in three years (shown below).

A Fur Affinity^[6]^[7] search for the term "protogen" shows over 18,600 original submissions, including a number of auctions for various Protogens and Protogen bases, and posts showing off custom Protogens (examples shown below, left and right).

On July 20th, 2020, YouTuber Jting-F posted a video showcasing a Protogen helmet for a fursuit, garnering over 1.8 million views in 11 months (shown below).

Illegal Protogens

In revolt to users being blacklisted for creating Protogens featuring "rare" assets, many members of the fandom began creating purposefully and ironically "illegal Protogens" and sharing them to troll the creator of the species (examples shown below, posted to /r/furry_irl^[9] and /r/Furry^[10] in January and February 2019).

On October 17th, 2020, YouTuber BetaEtaDelota reacted to various Protogen memes, garnering over 276,000 views in eight months (shown below).

Protogens are also the subject of more general memes referencing their species' traits and furry culture in general (examples from /r/Furry_irl^[11]^[12] 2021 shown below).