So I talked with some of my friends, to see if any of them had imaginary friends when they were younger (or even if they still have them today), and the range of answers I got was pretty wide. When I sorted it all out, it seemed that having an imaginary friend could encompass more than just a make believe, invisible buddy.

Here's what I was able to break it down into:

Created Figures
This is the basic type of imaginary friend I stated above. Basically, it's when you need something more to interact with then what's around you, so you use your imagination to create an ideal friend.

These created figures can be any form: Human, animal, insect, monster, some hybrid form. Pretty much anything you can come up with.

Normally, this type of imaginary friend takes on traits that it's creator would ideally like to see in themselves. Shy people may create an outgoing friend or the friend's looks may reflect what the creator desires.

Jake is a great representation of this type of friend. Being an invisible, human form friend, he represents to me the strong, levelheadedness that I need when I'm facing a stressful situation.

Another example would be talking to stuffed animals or other inanimate objects. Say you were having a tea party with Mr. Snugglekins the stuffed bunny, Fluffywuggums the stuffed bear, and Sugarpuss the stuffed cat. But what Sugarpuss doesn't know is that Mr. Snugglekins and Fluffywuggums have been having a dirty affair behind his back for months. In this instance you are giving the inanimate objects personalities and essentially making them friends, even if they are doing horrible things to one another!

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Pre-existent Figures
This type occurs when the creator's imaginary friend is a character that was previously created by another source.

Say for example, you're six years old and you've declared that Rainbow Bright is your official BFF. That would be a having a pre-existent figure as an imaginary friend. Rainbow Bright isn't really there with you, nor does she really exist, (SPOILER ALERT!) but going on imaginary journeys with her can still count her as your imaginary friend.

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Self Insertion
Kinda similar to the last one, and it pretty much has to go hand in hand with it. Self insertion means creating a unique character for yourself to act as, and inserting that character into the plot of a pre-existing story line.

I'll give you a great example that my friend Liz told me. She used to watch the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when she was little. And who didn't! And like everyone (or at least everyone SHOULD have) she pretended she was friends with the Ninja Turtles.

If we stopped right there, it would be simply pre-existent imaginary friending..... BUT THERE'S MORE!!

Liz would pretend that she was Shredder's wife! (I'm sorry I think that's so great. Hahahaha. Ok back to the post.) So, since Liz invented a character for her to pretend to be while she was pretending to play with the Ninja Turtles, she was inserting herself into their pre-existing world.

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Self Talk
This would be the most common form, I would think, for adults. Though I don't think many people would think just talking to yourself to be a form of imaginary friend, essentially that's all it is to begin with.