Animal Motifs: Difference between revisions

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Humans have always been fascinated by animals. Love them or hate them, they usually provoke a strong reaction in people, from the [[Jerkass]] who [[Pet the Dog|turns to mush when confronted by a playful puppy]] to the tough guy who [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?|freaks out when he encounters something slithery.]] Most mythologies feature animals in starring roles; some belief systems feature animals as guides, oracles, or totems representing certain qualities or certain people.

* {{spoiler|The Unicorn Banshee}} from [[Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn]] has a lion motif

* Usagi Tsukino from ''[[Sailor Moon]]''. Even her name means "rabbit", and [[Odango|her hair]] is meant to mirror the ears of one. This relates back to the astrological motif as well, from the Japanese myth of [[wikipedia:Moon rabbit|the rabbit on the moon.]] Chibi-Usa is designed to look even more like a rabbit, with her pinkish eyes and bunny ear-shaped [[Odango]].

** Also life and death, {{spoiler|to reflect her undead nature}}.

** And fate, of course.

*** Franky: Rhinocerous

*** Brook: Swallow

*** Spandam is a Panda.

*** Rob Lucci is a leopard.

* In ''[[Lucky Star]]'', the characters themselves start wondering about which animal motif suits them best. Joking unflappable otaku Konata gets a fox, cute and innocent Tsukasa a puppy, soft-mannered and peaceful Miyuki a sheep (although Konata would quip that she's more suited to a cow due to her...[[Gag Boobs|ahem... bust size]])... and resident [[Tsundere]] and [[Straight Man]] Kagami is to her endless shame given a bunny (due to her underlying emotionality and her tendency to hide it from the world, and, apparently, because her ponytails look like rabbit ears according to Konata).

* ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'' is full of animal motifs: Kenshin is the Dragon, Sano the Rooster, Saitou the Wolf, and Enishi the Tiger. It also makes an extended joke concerning women's face shapes: in Japan, women are considered to be Tanuki ("raccoon-dog", round and open features, implying naivete) or Kitsune ("fox", long and narrow, implying mischief). When Saitou meets Misao for the first time, he has an [[Imagine Spot]]: If Kaoru = Tanuki and Megumi = Kitsune, then Misao = Itachi (weasel). Misao was ''not'' pleased.

* Ikki from ''[[Air Gear]]'' is often compared to a crow, both by other characters and through imagery.

* The witches from ''[[Soul Eater]]'': not only do their motifs tie in with their outer appearances and powers, but a good deal of them have tie-in ''names'' as well:

** Loly is centipede-themed.

** Pesche is stag beetle themed, to an extent where it's made a joke of in the manga. He's mistaken for an ant and he gets very indignant.

* In ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'', there's an animal motif on two points where Misawa and Judai clash. The artwork depicts a dragon coming from Judai, and a tiger coming from Misawa. This is a reference to tigers and dragons represented by Yin and Yang in Taoism. Dragon was Yang, and Yang went with rushing headlong into things on instinct, which is how Judai does everything. The tiger was Yin, going with thinking and planning, which Misawa does even with things like batting in baseball.

** For extra giggle points, Misawa eventually falls in love with Taniya, a tiger woman, and Juudai with Yubel, who was transformed into a dragon to protect him.

* ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'' has Monta with an uncanny appearance to a monkey. Patrick "Panther" Spencer is known to be one of the fastest people in the world. [[Blood Knight]] [[The Berserker|berserker]] Gaou is comparable to a Tyrannosaurus with the way he "devours" anyone who stands in his way. Rui has the appearance of a chamelion.

* In ''Kodomo No Jikan'' (manga only) Kuro is occasionally drawn as a black cat (and in both anime and manga she often sports/sprouts cat ears) and Mimi is drawn as a white rabbit. Also, Aoki compares the cat he had been feeding to Rin. When it scratched him, she justified it by saying that it [[Notice This|might have been abused.]]

 

== Art ==

* Yuri Lowell from ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]'' has a wolf motif, with his name literally meaning "little wolf", many of his artes having "wolf" in their names, and some of his artes like Lone Wolf Charge projecting a [[Animal Battle Aura|wolf-shaped battle aura]].

** To a lesser degree, Tison has a snake motif, having some artes that are named after snakes, projecting snake-shaped battle auras, and also looking somewhat snake-like with his fangs and golden eyes.

 

== Visual Novels ==

* Most countries have an animal they use as a symbol for the nation as a whole. The United States have their bald eagle, of course, while Russia has [[Everything's Worse with Bears|the bear]], the United Kingdom the scrappy but lovable bulldog (officially it's actually the Lion but the bulldog characterisation stuck), India has the tiger, Thailand has the elephant, Israel the Lions of Judah and China has its whiskered dragon. Other countries apparently had to take whatever animal mascots were left over: Canada has the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HmgemMkfKA mighty beaver], Spain has the black bull, while France is unofficially associated with the Gallic rooster. Empires with great reach or which were viewed as secular and religious authorities often adopt the double-headed eagle: the Byzantine Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, the old Russian Empire, the [[Warhammer 40,000|Imperium of Man]], etc.

** Actually, Judah has the [[Captain Obvious|Lion of Judah]]; each of the tribes has its own animal motif. However, due to the loss of the Ten Tribes,<ref>Reuben, Simeon, Naftali, Issachar, Asher, Dan, Zebulun, Gad, Ephraim, and Menasheh</ref> most modern Jews descend from the tribe of Judah. Hence the term "Judah-ism", or Judaism. Or "Jew" and derivatives thereof, for that matter.

** Not to mention said animals are [[Killer Rabbit|more dangerous than they look]].

** Not to mention that these two animals are popular barbecue options that can be purchased at supermarkets & butcher shops. Yes, friends. Australia may be the only country in the world that regularly devours BOTH its national symbols.

* Continental officer Francis Marion was known as the "Swamp Fox" in the American Revolution because he could disappear into the South Carolina swamps like an elusive fox.

* Similarly there was Erwin Rommel, the "Desert Fox" of Germany in [[WW 2]].

* Scotch-Irish regiments in the [[American Revolution]] used the rattlesnake as a symbol of defiance.

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