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Animal Motifs: Difference between revisions
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* In ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'', Aion is often associated with birds, particularly an eagle that is his familiar. He often sends his eagle ahead of him to communicate with others or make his presence known. He also refers to Chrono as "my bird who can't fly", and even goes as far as to describe a character falling into his trap as a "turkey flying into the oven basted and ready to cook."
* [[School Shock]] has [[Super Soldier]] [[Cyborg|Cyborgs]] named Vanguards. They are themed on bees, praying mantises, ants, moths and spiders.
* [[Sibling Yin-Yang|Black and White]] from ''[[Tekkon Kinkreet]]'' are collectively referred to as 'the cats,' and White is often seen wearing hats or hoods that mimic animal looks.
* The animals in ''[[Pet Shop of Horrors]]'' are usually connected to both their owner's "fatal flaw" and a possible means of redemption. The man who deceived his new bride gets a highly possessive (and [[I'm a Humanitarian|hungry]]) mermaid; the selfish drifter gets a sweet little kitten to soften his nature.
* Metamorphic insects show up throughout ''[[This Ugly Yet Beautiful World]]'', foreshadowing Hikari's ultimate purpose.
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** While [[Big Badass Wolf|Free]] is male and not necessarily a witch, he does have a multitude of magical powers and has a wolf motif.
** {{spoiler|Another male non-witch character, [[The Collector|Eibon/Noah]], }}can be presumed to have a worm motif{{spoiler|, since "worm" is in his chanting and since he used one to bite an enemy to pieces. The fact that he wields a book, specifies it as a ([[Badass Bookworm|badass?]]) "[[No Pun Intended|bookworm]]".}}
* In ''[[Berserk]]'', Griffith is closely associated with the hawk; besides the name of the group of his followers, The Band Of The Hawks, his helmet is vaguely similar to that of a bird of prey, he often wears a cape (symbolising the wings), and is even called [[Light Is Not Good|"The Hawk of Light"]]. {{spoiler|Eventually, once he becomes a member of the Gondhand, his demonic form Femto resembles a red hawk with bat like traits.}} His counter part, [[Dark Is Not Evil|Guts]], however, is more closely associated with [[Big Badass Wolf|wolves]], most notably by his [[Enemy Within|"inner beast"]] Guts is also known as "The Dark Hawk", to counter Griffith.
* [[Naruto]] Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha are odd cases of having ''two'' [[Animal Motifs]] each. First are ones which [[Generation Xerox|they "inherited" from their teachers]] (which are really too blatant in their cases to even count as motifs) and the second are ones unique to them. Naruto has [[Frogs and Toads|toads]] and foxes (resemblance to a fox, a prankster but [[I Gave My Word|always keeps his promises]]), while Sasuke has snakes and hawks (what he names his team, an illusion he uses is represented with feathers pierces the person, {{spoiler|he learned to summon a hawk}}, ''[[Anime Hair|his hair]]'').
** Also, Itachi has a raven motif-thing going on, which is interesting if you consider that Sasuke's motif is the hawk...
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** Rangiku is cat themed. She takes the seductress route with her cat themes being [[All There in the Manual|officially]] the sexiest woman in the entire Gotei 13 and is also an example of [[The Tease]]. Her zanpakutou behaves like volcanic ash, conviently tying in to the concept of a slashing cat.
** Yumichika is peacock-themed to such an extent that, as well as having the vanity and obsession with beauty, he's also got the less well-known folklore traits of being extremely watchful (he tends to sense reiatsu when others don't or even as fast as captains), but he also has the ability to "bind" evil, as well as having rejuvenation abilities - powers also associated with the peacock which is why the peacock overlaps the phoenix in mythology.
** Yoruichi can ''turn'' into a black cat.
** Coyote Starrk is wolf-themed, specifically, lone-wolf themed. Appropriately, he has the unique power of being able to split his soul into companion beings, including a large pack of very dangerous wolves.
** Harribel is [[Everything's Even Worse with Sharks|shark-themed]]. Dignified and terrifying, she comes with obligatory water powers.
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* 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.
* ''[[Hajime no Ippo]]'' uses this trope quite a lot. Ippo is a gazelle, Sendo a tiger, Vorg a wolf, Date a lion, Woli a monkey, Kimura a dragonfish... Notably, Takamura, despite being the 2nd main character, does not have a clear motif. He could be a hawk (his name reflects it and he wears a hawk costume for world title fights), a bear (won against one and has worn his fur) or a rhinoceros beetle (wore such a costume and his ''[[K-On!]]'' manga appears to have a thing for turtles and tortoises. For one, there are the statues on the school staircases, based on the fable of the tortoise and the hare. In the opening of the first season, the girls are seen hopping over stones in a river, some of which are turtle-shaped (both are from [[Real Place Background|real locations]], by the way). Ui owns a large turtle plushie. And then there's Ton-chan, a turtle living in an aquarium in the club room.
* The creator of ''Descendants of Darkness'' has often drawn the two main characters with animal traits, both in the manga and in extra art. For Happy-go-lucky, often childish, always energetic and loyal Tsuzuki, it's a puppy. This visual is used enough in the manga and anime that fans often reference Tsuzuki as going into "Puppy-mode". For the quiet, loner, bookish, easily angered, defensive and Tsundere Hisoka, it's a cat. While this isn't used nearly as much as the Puppy-Tsuzuki visual, it's no less apt.
* [[Negima|Satsuki Yotsuba]] [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v09/c073/11.html is commonly drawn with a Koala behind her] and is the only [[Loads and Loads of Characters|one]] drawn quite [[Only Six Faces|different]] clearly inspired by a Koala.
* In ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]'', during comedic moments, Sousuke's animal motif is a cute (albeit irritable looking) little dog. A more plot significant one for him, though, is a tiger (referring to the fact that he's the "son of Bdakshon's Tiger," being called "Tiger" by Gauron in the English dub, as well as his adopting a pet tiger that he loves). On the other hand, Gauron's animal motif can be seen as a dragon, derived from his name "Gauron" (meaning "nine dragons" in Chinese). Symbolism is rampant when one considers the antagonizing, spark-filled relationship between the tiger and dragon in Asian culture. In fact, the [[Tiger Versus Dragon]] trope page describes their relationship perfectly.
* The various martial arts of the ''Nanto Seiken'' school in ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'' are named after birds.
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* ''[[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 ==
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== Film ==
* The last shot of ''The Departed'', a movie about a pair of moles within the Boston Mob and the Mass. "Staties" hunting each other, features a rat scurrying across a balcony
** Spoofed on ''[[The Simpsons]]'' which did a parody of this movie. As the rat scurries by at the end, Ralph pops up and tells the audience, "The rat represents obviousness!"
* ''[[Psycho]]'' also has a bird motif, associating Norman Bates' female victims with the birds he stuffs. He comments that Marion Crane (note the surname), from Phoenix, Arizona, eats like a bird shortly before killing her. In the finale we learn that he has preserved the corpse of his mother with his taxidermy skills.
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* [[The Bible]] is full of animal analogies. Lions, doves, sheep and cattle are especially prominent: Jesus himself was regularly compared to lambs, lions and, in later Christianity, [[Mythical Motifs|unicorns.]]
* ''[[The Iliad]]'' is heavy with animal similes when describing characters' emotions and actions.
* Many of the noble houses in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' have animals on their coats of arms, and are commonly referred to by these animals as well as showing an awareness of how they are 'supposed' to act to fit the animal characteristics; the series has a lot of fun with the possible symbolism. For example, the grim, grey, and cold-dwelling Starks have a direwolf on their arms, while the blonde, vain, and aggressive Lannisters have a lion. Littlefinger deliberately chooses the small, bright, and <s>harmless</s>cunning thief, the jaybird, for his arms to appear nonthreatening. Crows seem to act as the motif for the series as a whole, symbolizing war, ill omen, and death.
** To top it off many characters are refered to by animal nicknames based off their traits. Like Sansa Stark is called "little bird" (okay maybe by one guy) for her ability to repeat "Pretty words". Also, Sandor is often called dog or The Hound.
** The Starks, Targaryens, and Dothraki have a closer relationship with their animal sigils (direwolf, dragon, and horse, respectively) than most [[But You Screw One Goat!|(not like that)]]. The Stark children all get direwolf companions early in the first book. The Targaryens rode dragons to war, {{spoiler|and some of them seem to have a resistance to heat}}. The Dothraki, of course, consider horses essential to their nomadic lifestyle.
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* Literally used in ''[[His Dark Materials]]'' where your daemon's form (an animal) represents yourself and is part of your soul. Since children have not yet truly defined who they are in life, their daemons can shape shift until they mature.
* ''[[Tortall Universe|The Song of The Lioness]]'' book series features a female knight called Alanna, called "The Lioness" thanks to her courage and tenacity.
* There are the protective spirits brought forth by the Patronus Charm in ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' -- Harry's Patronus is a stag, which is the animal his father could turn into, Ron Weasley has a terrier, and dotty but quick-thinking Luna Lovegood has a hare. The Patronus of {{spoiler|Severus Snape}} turns out to have a critical symbolic significance recognized even by characters in the scene. Dolores Umbridge, who fills her office with adorable kittens and has a cat Patronus, presents an atypical symbolic association for felines; the cute kittens and sleek cat Patronus (which we see only in a scene where it magically shields Umbridge against the consequences of her own ongoing miscarriage of justice) represent cloying, false sweetness, politeness masking lethal intention, and near-pathological self-justification.
** Ginny's Patronus is a horse, Mr. Weasley's is a weasel (unusual for a "good" character), [[Author Avatar|Hermione's]] is a playful otter (J.K. Rowling's favorite animal), Irish Seamus Finnegan's is a fox, stolid Ernie Macmillan's is a boar, pretty Cho Chang's is a swan. All the Animagi in the series (wizards who can turn into animals) seem to have the same animal form as their Patronus.
** Minerva McGonagall has a cat Patronus and transforms into a cat, so it's likely that there are [[Alternate Character Interpretation|alternate ways to interpret]] the Patronuses based on the witch or wizard's personality.
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** Animagi can also serve as a character motif. James was a stag, representing a strong animal which is wild but also overly prideful. Sirius is a dog; something clever and also devotedly loyal. Peter was {{spoiler|a rat, specifically Ron's pet rat scabbers. This could be interpreted positively as being dexterous and clever, but also as being mistrustful and well...rat-like.}}
** Also, for all that Snape's patronus is a {{spoiler|doe in honour of Lily}}, he is often associated with bats, something which is [[Dark Is Not Evil|dark and 'evil']] but also misunderstood and associated with witchcraft.
** Entire groups of people can also take on the animal motif of their house, but to a lesser extent. Gryffindor has a lion, showing bravery. Hufflepuff a badger, signifying plain-ness, but also hard workers. Ravenclaw has an eagle, for intelligence and knowledge. Snakes are the symbol of Slytherin, and associated with evil, but also traits such as intelligence and ambition.
* The [[Animorphs]] all have signature animals they often turn into, particularly in battle. For example, Marco, the team clown, typically transforms into a gorilla, which is big, bulky, but still capable of delicate manipulations with opposable thumbs; [[The Hero]], Jake, is a tiger; [[Blood Knight]] Rachel is a [[Everything's Worse with Bears|grizzly bear]]; Tobias is a hawk (self-sufficient and needs lots of space); [[Team Mom]] Cassie is a wolf.
** And [[Sixth Ranger Traitor|David]] is [[Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves|a rat]]. [[Shout-Out|For all his rage, he is still just a rat in a]] [[Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion|bottle.]]
* ''[[The Grapes of Wrath]]'' has in its third chapter a tortoise trying to cross a road and getting run over by a truck. In the fourth chapter, we meet Jim Casey, who's described as having a "long head" and a "beaked" nose.
** A very similar [[John Steinbeck|Steinbeck]] example occurs in ''[[Of Mice and Men]]''. Lennie and Candy's dog are described in very similar terms: both have "pale...eyes" and dragging feet. {{spoiler|Both succumb to [[Death by Newbery Medal]] via [[Shoot the Dog]]}}.
* [[Jorge Luis Borges]] writes a tiger somewhere into many of his stories.
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** Bauerschwein are Pig or Boarlike
** Daemonfeuer are similar to Dragons
** Blutbaden are Wolflike.
** Fuchsbau are foxlike.
** The exception so far have been Hexenbiests (eyeless hag-like creatures) and Siegbarstes (ogres).
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* [[The Sixties|1960s]] Portuguese [[The Beautiful Game|soccer]] player Eusebio was also known as "The Black Panther" because of his speed, his powerful strike, and [[Token Black|the fact that he was black]].
** Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin was "The Black Spider" for its impressive saves and an all-black uniform.
* Quite a few national soccer teams have animals on the logo (France has a rooster, England has three lions), or as a nickname (Brazil are the "Little Canary team", Nigeria the "Super Eagles", Cameroon "The Indomitable Lions").
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* Squall Leonhart of ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' has - as indicated by the name - a lion motif, one so omnipresent that he and Rinoa actually have an ingame conversation about it.
** In Squall's case, the lion symbolism is at odds with his apparent personality, and {{spoiler|serves as a signal that there's more to him than meets the eye. Although he's spent years cultivating an angsty loner persona, once he starts to confront his issues it becomes increasingly clear that he's actually a natural leader who cares deeply about his friends.}} Appropriately, one of the songs that plays during the final boss fight is titled "Maybe I'm a Lion."
** In ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]: Advent Children'', Cloud has a very strong wolf symbolism going on. Not only is there a wolf head in his shoulder pad but his motorbike is named ''Fenrir'' and he's being followed by a shaggy old wolf that mourns in the places he most strongly associates with personal failure. You have three guesses which kind of wolf this is painting him as.
*** The wolf works well for Cloud as more than just a 'lone wolf'. When fighting Bahamut Sin, Cloud gets up to Bahamut through the assistance of his friends, working together as a 'pack' to take down their prey.
** ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'' continues Squall's lion motif, though as painted by the villains this time. They seem to make a habit of referring to at least a few of the protagonists as though they were animals, such as calling [[Final Fantasy V|Bartz]] a mouse, and [[Final Fantasy IX|Zidane]] a monkey.
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** One of the developer's logs available online also mentions that the signature hood and cloak were designed to create the silhouette of a bird of prey during dramatic leaps.
** There's also the shape of the robes and hood: the tip of the hood resembles an eagle's head, and the below the waist the robes separate to resemble feathers.
*** The final level of ''[[Assassin's Creed Revelations]]'' finally just says "to hell with subtlety" - Ezio goes ''parasailing'' behind a charging carriage, and dispatches mooks by dive-bombing them and slicing their necks with his twin blades.
* In ''[[
** It has other meanings behind it as well. The Adam-producing slug is seen as Rapture's current state (the caterpillar), with the butterfly being the Utopia that Rapture is destined to become through Lamb's cult.
* Some characters from ''[[.hack]]'' are associated with animals. For example, Atoli<ref>"atori"/brambling</ref> from ''G.U.'', who also happens to love small birds.
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** And in the PC-98 exclusive ''Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream'', [[Cute Ghost Girl|Kana Anaberal]] has an association with birds, evident in her spellcard Soul Bird... and lampshaded by [[Cloudcuckoolander|Kotohime]], who asks in her victory quote if Kana is a birdkeeper.
* Most of the AI lords in ''[[Stronghold]]'' have animal nicknames with personalities to match.
* The noble chicken is a recurring motif in ''[[Fable III]]'', representing a spirit that is unfortunately frequently taken advantaged of, yet yearns for freedom.
* Many of the chapters in the ''[[Rule of Rose]]'' involve animal motifs, such as 'The Bird of Happiness' and 'The Goat Sisters'. Even ones that don't often have an animal associated with them; 'Rag Princess' has pigs, for example. All these animals manifest as pseudo-humanoid enemies during the game, and seem to be inspired by animals kept in the orphanage.
* ''[[Advance Wars]]: Days of Ruin/Dark Conflict'' has the 12th Independent Legion, which uses a wolf as their symbol. In the US version their unit is nicknamed "Brenner's Wolves" after their leader, and Brenner's [[Leitmotif]] in the EU version (where he is called O'Brian) is named "Indomitable Wolf". Like a wolf pack, the Legion is very loyal to one another and work much like [[The Drifter]], wandering from place to place as they're needed.
* Philemon of ''[[Persona (video game)|Persona]]'' is ''really'' big on [[Butterfly of Death and Rebirth]], to the point [[Word of God]] says he's ''all'' the butterflies seen in the third and fourth games.
* Deliberately invoked by the faculty of [[Wizarding School|Iris Academy]] in ''[[Magical Diary]]''. All students are sorted into one of six houses based on their gender and personality traits. Horses, Butterflies and Snakes for girls. Wolves, Falcons and Toads for boys.
* In ''[[Mother 3]]'', Porky Minch takes his unfortunate name and [[Fat Bastard]] status and has the audacity to turn ''it'' into an animal motif, theming his entire empire and the Pigmask Army after pigs.
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* Split ships in the ''[[X Universe]]'' series are named for terrestrial predators, mainly reptiles (e.g. Python, Mamba). Boron ships are named for aquatic organisms (Octopus, Shark). Teladi ships are named for birds (Harrier, Phoenix).
* In ''[[Escape Velocity|EV Nova]]'', the Federation fighters are the Viper (interceptor) and Anaconda (fighter-bomber). The Aurorans use the Firebird and Phoenix (overlap with [[Mythical Motifs]]). The Polaris name most of their ships after animals.
* The Four Great Knights of Gwyn in ''[[Dark Souls]]'' each have their own unique animal theme.
* 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.
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== Webcomics ==
* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' has several animals associated with particular characters:
** Antimony is associated with [[Big Badass Wolf|Wolves]]. She carries a stuffed wolf doll around with her, and she's named after an element that the alchemists of old associated with the wolf. Others often find her hard to approach. And she keeps running into supernatural canines.
** Kat has decorated a few of her possessions with cartoon felines. Also, not to be [[Captain Obvious]], but her name is Kat. And she has an unhealthy obsession with birds.
** Alistair was associated with birds. Besides the obvious connection, both his room at the Court and his old home had artwork of birds on the wall. Since his departure, Kat had developed an interest in birds (perhaps too much of an interest).
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Moral Orel]]'' has a blue bird appearing in key shots throughout the two-parter "Nature."
* ''[[Mummies Alive]]'': Each mummy has an animal motif for their [[Powered Armour]] - falcon (Ja-Kal), cat (Nefertina), ram (Armon) and snake (Rath). [[Big Bad]] [[Meaningful Name|Scarab]] also has one in his (much less friendly-looking) transformed state.
* Zuko from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' had an animal motif in the theme of dragons, creatures associated with [[Elemental Powers|fire]]. However, his motifs were of two dragons, one blue and one red, representing the dual aspect of his nature. The dragons also refer to his Uncle Iroh, the Dragon of the West {{spoiler|who protected the last of the dragons, from whom Zuko and Aang later learn the true source of Fire Bending from.}}
* ''[[Thundercats]]''
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* 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 40000|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.
* Australia's Coat of Arms features a Kangaroo and an Emu, two fearsome, Australia-only animals that can't walk/jump/run backwards. Seriously. That's why they picked them.
** 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.
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