The vast realm of Faery has many facets and intricacies. So many that would take years to cover all the faces Faery has to show. Faeries have many similarities to humans and many differences, as well. These similarities and differences change from faery to faery and are mainly in the areas of character, appearances, and society.

The character of faeries is difficult to classify as there are supposedly "good" faeries and "evil" faeries, but there are also the in-between faeries—the ones that are found in the "gray" area. The faeries that are said to be all good are typically found in modern stories or stories altered in the Victorian era. They are most obvious in Disney stories like "Peter Pan," "Sleeping Beauty," and "Cinderella." However, in folklore, faeries are usually not all good or all bad. For example, a brownie may take favor to a person and help them with chores. The same brownie may take insult from a person and create havoc in the person’s life, perhaps ruining a business or marriage that was previously doing well. With faeries, it usually would not be wise to label a faery as specifically good or bad; rather treat them all with respect and stay away from those which are known to hold harmful intentions to humans like the Leanan Sidhe or Ban-Sidhe (Banshee).

This capability for good and bad in faeries reflects the capability for good and bad in humans. Both races are able to make decisions on whether they wish to cause harm or to help others. The difference in these capabilities is in how they think about the choices. The way humans are raised usually, but not always, influences their behavior. Some faeries are influenced by upbringing and others are just the way they are by nature.

Another area that has both similarities and differences is appearance. The different races each have a different appearance, more so that the different human races. Where human races differ mainly by skin color and minorly by features and height, faeries differ remarkably by features, height, and skin color. Faeries range from small to large, short to tall, beautiful to ugly (though that is by human standards), and exotic to normal (again, by human standards). Some faeries could blend in with humans easily, others would blend in with other animals, and still others would not match with any creatures on the world we live in. It is rumored, though not proven, that faeries may be found in all colors of the rainbow and some colors that are not on the rainbow.

With all these differences, it would be difficult to guess on the social structure of faeries. Would they be racist, like humans? Or from all the differences, would they live together in peace without racial distinction? Many stories portray the faeries as a society structured with a king and/or queen on the top, the nobles in the middle, and the rest of the society on the bottom. However, this is seen sometimes with a different ruler for each race and other times one ruler for all the races. A common structure when most races are under the same ruler, is a faerie race divided by character into light and dark with the "gray" faeries on both sides. The most common name for these societies are the Seelie Court (good) and the Unseelie Court (bad). There is also a theory of no rulers, just rules that are understood and followed.

Different authors will portray their own view on how faeries look, act and live, but common views are often found between authors in different countries as well as in different time periods. The faeries have survived in literature with very few changes over centuries of human life. What could that mean? Most views and portrayals change over time, yet the faeries retain their identity. This is one of the most convincing pieces of evidence for the existence of faeries. They appear to be as immortal in literature as they are theorized to be in life.