Thing is, furries can be any species at all regardless of the archtype traits, or their own traits. You won't find that all furries that are equine are herd-type folks, nor that all the feline furries are aloof.

You can find such archtypical behavior in the Therian crowd, who make up a part of furry, it isn't black and white either. So I would say that your friend just entering the fandom should note that even though we play our personas as having archetypes (part of the time), that doesn't mean that we ourselves are governed by how our characters behave. People are still people even if they pretend to be foxes and wolves.

Granted, but there are certain types of furries who are more likely to embody the archetypes of their chosen species, than others. I mean, how often have you met a fox (or vixen) who didn't very shortly make you think of "Foxyfluffs"?

I have also met people who elect an animal completely opposite of their own inate selves, hoping to change or improve this way. I've also met some therians with quite a different totem animal from what they wanted to be or would elect to be, which is a source of considerable stress until the person learns to recognize why that's the case. Not all people who play foxes do so well. Sure, I've met some bubbly vixens in my day. But I've also met one or two wolves that made me blink and ask them if they were kidding. And yes, I've seen a few people who changed their characters at the same frequency that they changed their socks.

There's no hard and fast rule. And counting on a persons character as a base knowledge of what that person is like is a quick road to disappointment.

True. But at least aside from those who specifically choose an animal that would be their complete opposite, usually the animal someone chooses, does at least say SOMEthing about them. Some may tend to be like certain aspects of the animal in question, while someone else may resemble other aspects. Take raccoons, for instance...one furry may be mischievous, while another might swipe your snacks, and yet another might be just generally devious.
And yes, you might find someone who, as a raccoon, acts completely like, say, some type of bird. But most raccoons are going to mirror SOME aspects of how we tend to perceive them, accurate or not.

And then there's always those like  jugularjaguar, or as he goes by in fursuit, Calamity Cougar.


*facepaw*