Animal Jingoism: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Sometimes, different species, such as cats and dogs, are written so that they have a built-in and unquestioned animosity for no other reason than that they are stereotypically considered to be adversaries. A dog that doesn't chase cats will be considered 'weird', even if they were raised together from birth. On the other hand, those same dogs will almost never chase after mice unless provoked.

** [[Tiger Versus Dragon]] is an old animal rivalry motif in Eastern countries as they are seen as the most [[Badass]] of all beast.

 

* The dogs of ''[[Garfield]]'' (minus Odie) enjoy this, and he's asked them why on more than one occasion. They never come up with an answer.

** Garfield also subverts this trope by befriending a mouse named Floyd (and letting him bring other mice over for house parties), much to Jon's annoyance.

* Subverted in George Herriman's comic strip, ''[[Krazy Kat]],'' as noted under [[Cats Are Mean]].

* According to Stephen Notley's comic strip, ''[[Bob the Angry Flower]]'', robots and bears are natural enemies. This makes as much sense as anything else in ''Bob the Angry Flower.''

** The trope is [[Subverted Trope|subverted]] in ''Captain Carrot and the Final Arc''; the ''real'' murderer is revealed to be Alley's magically created [[Evil Twin]], and the true Alley vows to resurrect Little Cheese.

*** Interestingly, the story of Little Cheese' murder by Alley Kat Abra was apparently written under [[Executive Meddling|editorial fiat]]- Scott Shaw! (yes, the exclamation point is part of his name), the creator of the characters, when encountered at a Con, said that he was strongly opposed to the story idea, but pretty much told he had to do it anyway. The 'evil twin' retcon was his just revenge upon those editors after they'd gotten the boot.

* French noir-style [[Funny Animal]] (well, not really funny, it's mostly dead-serious)) comic [[Blacksad]] has a rather dark twist on this in its second tome, ''Arctic Nation''- the eponymous organisation is that world's equivalent to the KKK and paramilitary neo-nazi groups, only made up of white-furred or feathered anthropomorphic animals who hate dark brown- and black-colored animals, even if basically the same species. There's also a less-seen Black Panthers equivalent for good measure.

 

* The film ''[[Cats and Dogs]]'' had unwaveringly heroic dogs constantly defending humanity from [[Exclusively Evil|unchangingly evil]] cats throughout recorded history.

** Averted somewhat in the sequel, which features a cat agency dedicated to protecting humanity.

* Averted in ''[[Milo and Otis]]'', a story about a cat and a pug dog who are friends. Though it is kind of seen as an [[Odd Friendship]] by other animals.

 

== Literature ==

* Averted in the ''A Cricket In Times Square'' series by George Selden, which features a mouse (Tucker) and a cat (Harry) who are best friends. A flashback book even averts [[Cats Are Mean]] by having Harry be the one to initiate the friendship in the first place. A later book even has the pair adopting an orphan puppy.

** The ancient enmity between rats and humans is also subverted. Between rats and terriers, not so.

* Explained in an African folk tale. According to the story, Cat and Dog were once great friends and did many friendly things together. But then came hard times and Cat and Dog had to go their separate ways. Dog wandered off and Cat found a human family to shack up with. Dog eventually went to Cat and begged to be allowed in so he could get a decent meal. Cat took pity and directed Dog to his owner's brother, but not before extracting a promise that Dog not come back. Dog kept his promise for a while, but eventually either forgot or judged that circumstances rendered the promise moot, and shambled on back to see Cat. Cat was pissed, to say the least. So dogs aren't chasing cats because they hate cats-they want to be friends again, and cats still refuse to forgive.

* Often appears in books by Dick King-Smith. Sheep and dogs in ''The Sheep-Pig'' (filmed as ''[[Babe]]'') are both convinced the other is irredeemably stupid, and sheep also refer to dogs as 'wolves', refusing to believe they have truly changed their nature. ''Martin's Mice'' is about a cat who hates the idea of killing and eating mice and eventually attempts to keep them as pets. The more conventional cats vs. dogs one shows up in ''Ace'', with the [[Deadpan Snarker]] cat a more sympathetic character than the snobbish dog (who believes that being a corgi grants her [[British Royal Family|some kind of royal status]]).

* In [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s ''The Cat That Walks By Itself'', the dog declares that it will chase cats, and the story ends with the statement that this is why dogs chase cats.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* In ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' 3.5, this was completely averted with the [[Furry Fandom|guardinals]]. Thanks to the nature of these celestials as warriors devoted to the highest good ([[Neutral Good|and only good]]), none of the various species ever (or [[Worthy Opponent|rarely]] [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|ever]]) come into conflict, not even such "traditional" enemies as cats and dogs. One of the clearest representations of this is described in the ''Book of Exalted Deeds'' with Talisid and the Five Companions: not only does [[Modest Royalty|Talisid]] consider all of the companions his closest friends, acting more like an epic adventuring company [[True Companions|"bound by fierce devotion that puts mere family loyalty to shame"]], but [[Big Badass Wolf|Duke Kharash]], the lupinal guardinal, is given the moniker of "Talisid's Shadow" because he is "the closest companion to Talisid, sharing the Celestial Lion's passion for the hunt as well as his love for the untamed wilderness. [[Heterosexual Life Partners|The two are nigh inseparable]]..." Let the [[Ho Yay]] commence.

 

* You will often see foxes and wolves paired as rivals; this goes back to the "beast epics" of Reynard the Fox, which featured Reynard and his rivalry between the wolf Isengrin. For a more modern example, well, how about, "Can't let you do that, [[Star Fox (series)|StarFox!]]"

** In one educational [[Sierra]] textgame (Apple II era), wolves ''eat'' foxes.

** There's also Heatmor (anteater) and Durant (ant). One attacks the other for food, the other retaliates in self-defence.

 

* Half the jokes in ''[[Kevin and Kell]]'' rely on this, or subvert it.

* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' features Reynardine and Ysengrin, the fox and wolf of legend. While neither of them can really claim to be those animals anymore, Ysengrin was very upset to see Reynardine take the form of a wolf.

* In ''[[Poharex]]'', the dinosaurs have a mortal emnity with the Rakair, a species of evolved rauisuchians. They also hate humans, though to a lesser extent.

* In ''[[Homestuck]]'', {{spoiler|Jade}} can't help but growl and bark at Jaspersprite when he starts meowing, because the latter is a cat, and the former, through a very complex series of events, has the instincts of a dog.

 

* The cat/dog rivalry is inverted in [http://reynardnoir.wordpress.com/ Reynard Noir], where Cassandra Cat and the technically canid Slylock Fox have an on again/off again romance. However, speciesm is fairly rampant amongst the population as a whole, especially in the case of predator vs. prey species or humans vs. nonhuman. Sayings such as 'blind as a bat' are even regarded as speciest slurs.

 

== Western Animation ==

* Parodied in ''[[Rocko's Modern Life]]'':

** Heffer's grandpa hates wallabies. The good news is, his eyesight isn't so good and he mistakes Rocko for a beaver. The bad news is, he's not too keen on beavers either. Cats and turtles are said to be mutual enemies, without much explanation, in the episode "The Big Question"/"The Big Answer." This rivalry exists [[Rule of Drama|solely for the purpose of creating tension]] leading up to the marriage of recurring characters Filburt (a turtle) and Dr. Hutchinson (a cat).

* The [[Lion King]] features a lion/hyena rivalry, which actually reflects the reality of the African savannahs, to a certain extent.

** Though The Lion King inverts it, based on the old misunderstanding of their interactions. Newer research suggests that its the Hyenas who do the hunting and the Lions who muscle them away from their kills. Even newer research suggest that both sides play both roles when it suits their purposes.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]

[[Category:Animal Tropes]]