Ever since the moment players first set foot into the hollows of New Eridu back in 2024, one thing has become impossible to ignore — Zenless Zone Zero loves its furry characters. While Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail sprinkled a few anthros here and there, ZZZ went all in. By 2026, with multiple faction rosters expanded through regular updates, that initial furry quartet has become a full-blown hallmark of the game’s identity. But how did a squad of beastly fighters, fluffy maids, and feline hackers end up feeling so essential to this post-apocalyptic urban fantasy? The answer lies in a creative process that was anything but conventional.
The starting lineup was already raising eyebrows. From Belobog Heavy Industries stomped Ben Bigger, a massive brown bear who doubles as a walking fortress. Victoria Housekeeping Co. introduced Von Lycaon, a refined wolf butler whose suit stays immaculate even in the heat of combat.
Then came Nekomiya Mana, the cat-eared hacker of the Cunning Hares, whose mischievous grin perfectly matched her faction’s quirky name. Meanwhile, Section 6’s Hoshimi Miyabi turned heads with a pair of long, pitch-black ears that seemed to defy explanation. Were these just cosmetic flourishes? Nope. The game was clearly signaling that anthropomorphic characters would be woven deep into every corner of its world.
The roster didn’t stop there. During the unforgettable ZZZ 1.0 livestream, developers teased an upcoming foxy male agent from the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team — a dashing figure that sent the community into a frenzy. All of this raised a big question: Why are furries so central to Zenless Zone Zero? Isn’t a post-apocalyptic city already crowded enough without mixing animal traits into the gene pool?
Producer Zhenyu Li shed light on this during an exclusive media panel shortly after the game’s launch. Instead of starting with a rigid plan to include furries, the dev team simply let creativity run wild during the early concept phase. They drafted dozens of character ideas — some fully human, others not. Ben the bear and a range of robot designs were among those early doodles, but originally they were never intended to make it into the final roster. They were just experiments.
So what changed? The team found these concepts “very interesting and very fun,” Zhenyu explained. That spark of excitement was impossible to ignore. The designers realized they didn’t have to choose between a cohesive aesthetic and outlandish character designs — they could do both. By carefully sculpting each non-human agent to fit the game’s urban-chic, streetwear-infused art direction, they turned what might have been a chaotic mix into something effortlessly stylish. A wolf in a tailored three-piece suit? Why not. A bear operating heavy machinery? Absolutely.
But the decision wasn’t solely art-driven. The creatives at HoYoverse also trusted their audience. They believed that ZZZ players would embrace these unconventional personas just as warmly as the development team did. And honestly, who could resist a gentle giant like Ben or the stoic loyalty of Von Lycaon? The community reaction proved them right — fan art flooded social media, and furry agents consistently rank among the most popular picks in player surveys.
It’s worth remembering that, even in 2026, human characters still make up the majority of the ZZZ lineup. Miayabi’s ambiguous animal traits, for example, sit on a spectrum that doesn’t pigeonhole anyone strictly into “furry” or “human.” This subtlety is part of the charm. The post-apocalyptic New Eridu bustles with Proxy siblings Belle and Wise, street-savvy fighters, and corporate suits — yet right beside them you’ll find a dapper wolf dusting shelves and a bear crushing hollows. It’s a melting pot that mirrors the game’s core philosophy of breaking stereotypes.
Zhenyu emphasized that the team never aimed to make furry characters the dominant species; they simply refused to exclude them just because a post-apocalyptic setting might suggest gritty, all-human survival stories. In their version of the future, diversity doesn’t mean forcing everyone into the same mold. It means letting a bear be a tank, a wolf be a butler, and a cat be a master hacker — all while the city keeps running.
Looking back from 2026, it’s clear that this open-minded approach paid off big time. Every major faction update — whether it’s the Sons of Calydon or deep-cut Section 6 recruits — now comes with speculation about what fuzzy (or scaly) friend might drop next. The foxy investigator teased years ago eventually became a fan favorite, cementing the pattern. It’s hard to imagine ZZZ without its furries now. Would the Cunning Hares feel as roguishly endearing without Nekomiya’s feline sass? Would Belobog Heavy Industries hit as hard without Ben’s ursine roar? The answer is a resounding no.
The lesson here? Sometimes the best designs are the ones that were never part of the plan. By staying open to fun and trusting their instincts, HoYoverse crafted a world where a bear, a wolf, a cat, and a fox can feel like home. And that, perhaps more than any other design choice, is why players keep coming back — not just for the fast-paced combat, but for a pack they’ve grown to love.