History of Otherkin

The otherkin subculture grew out of the elven online communities of the early-to-mid-1990s. 

The oldest Internet resource for otherkin is the Elfinkind Digest, a mailing list started in 1990 by a student at the University of Kentucky for "elves and interested observers".

Also in the early 1990s, newsgroups such as alt.horror.werewolves and alt.fan.dragons on Usenet, which were initially created for fans of these creatures in the context of fantasy and horror literature and films, also developed followings of individuals who identified as mythological beings.

On 6 February 1995, a document titled the "Elven Nation Manifesto" was posted to Usenet, including the group’s alt.pagan and alt.magick.  On Usenet itself, the document was considered to be either a troll or an attempt to frame an innocent party. However, enough people contacted the original author of the Elven Nation post in good faith for a planned mailing list to spin off from it.