**Note: As the most common species of kin is Wolf, all examples are given as being Wolves.  These classifications apply to all non-celestial kin.  While all of these types of kin can exist for each species, information on them is rare so the titles other species have for these classifications are unknown or possible nonexistent.**



Katagari
Also known as "Katagiri," "Kotangiri," and "Lykos."
Katagari are wolf spirits which have the ability to take on human form.  They are born as living, physical wolves, but with their spiritual knowledge.  They are sent by higher forces to serve a purpose akin to guardian angels.  They are typically much more embracing of their animal side than their human side, but are tempered by spiritual knowledge and guidance which in turn makes them very non-aggressive.  However, when called upon to take violent action they will do so with ruthless efficiency.


In both human and wolf form they are identifiable by means of eye color, which is always somewhat off and incredibly sharp, and in wolf form they can be identified by having fur which seems impossibly dark.


Katagari can have offspring while in human form and are a likely cause of many cases of Therianthropy.


Lycos
Lycos are, or more probably were the half-breeds of myth.  Very little is known about the Lycos.  They were the man-wolf hybrids often described in myth.  They were wolves that were slightly larger than average which could stand upright and walk much like a human, had paws which had long, nimble "toes" which could be used like fingers on a hand, and the had the ability to speak and understand human languages.  That they could understand human languages and manipulate human technology not only shows that they had a level of intelligence comperable to the human mind, but also indicates that they very probably had a connection to humans.  After all, every human has the mental capacity to learn French, but only those in a situation to learn French actually know it.  This may mean that Lycos were once humans, once lived in harmony with humans, or that they had the ability to disguise themselves as humans.


As prosecution of  "Satanic activity," "witches," and "sorcerers" increased the number of Lycos reports (both possitive and negative) dropped in number until they seemingly vanished, indicating that they most probably were exterminated in many places.  However, reports of them in the Americas began to drop dramatically when Europeans arrived and began expanding but before they had a chance to begin "purifying" the land of witchcraft and the like, suggesting that the Lycos may have gone into hiding in some regions, thus escaping the wrath of man.


That they have not been found in modern times suggests that if they did indeed survive they may have since gone extinct or are at the very least very few in number.  They are possible explanations for sightings of werewolves, other monsters, or even Big Foot.


Werewolves

There are two types of Werewolves; Lycans, who are well adjusted and connect very well to their human side; and Dark Weres, which are weres who, during the Awakening, are consumed by their animal side.


Lycans

Lycans are physical humans who go through the Awakening and dormant animal traits then rise up within them.  They live most of their life after the Awakening as being purely human, but will sometimes shift on some level, such as the mental or physical level.  These shifts are naturally triggered by things by a Lycan can learn to control the shifting, both to repress it and to trigger it on command.  In some cases Lycans are diagnosed with the mental disease Lycanthropy or other illnesses of the mind.  They are not sick and they are not confused.  Because of this many suppress their inner wolf for much of the time and, some what irronically, that can lead to mental disorders such as multiple personalities, depression, insomnia, and accute anxiety. 


Dark Weres

Dark Weres are, like Lycans, humans who go through the Awakening.  Unlike Lycans, Dark Weres find themselves consumed by their animal side.  This is most often caused by already existing mental disorders, most specifically those which cause emotional problems.  Depression, Bi-polar disorder, and Sociopathy are the most common causes of the Awakening going so badly.  Dark Weres very rarely control their shifts and those that do are typically more dangerous as their decisions are influenced by an emotionally unsound human mind and a malformed animal spirit.  They are run very directly by untamed emotion and are therefore prone to lashing out when angry, stealing when they want something, hurting themselves when sad, etc., and are therefore genuinly in need of both spiritual and psychological help.  Both sad and irronic is that a Dark Were is much less likely to be diagnosed with a problem than a Lycan.  It is unknown if a Dark Were can be cured and turned into a Lycan; all reports heard thus far have ended with the Dark Were either committing suicide, being impressioned, or being heavily sedated.


Therianthropes
Also known as "Therians"
Therianthropes are humans who have a mental and spiritual connection with an animal spirit.  Other than that there is much variation among them.  Some are born with an awakened animal consciousness, some awaken slowly over the course of years, and some awaken comparatively abruptly as Werewolves do.  Some Therianthropes are, in fact, Werewolves.  Not all are Werewovles though as not all shift.  Some have a constant animal awareness which shifts very little, and some have an animal spirit but no animal awareness to speak of.  Because Therianthropes are both possible descendants of Katagari