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{{trope}}
[[File:cheburashka.jpg|link=Cheburashka|frame|We're guessing... Koala Monkey?
{{quote|Am I a mouse, a dog, or a bear? All you need to know is that... I'm the principal!!
|Nezu|[[My Hero Academia]]}}
▲Nonhuman drawn or animated characters of ambiguous species.
There are several cartoon characters who are certainly not human. However, they are also clearly not any species of readily identifiable animal either. Some of them appear to be [[Mix-and-Match Critters]]. They don't really have a species, they're just... [[Generic Cuteness|cute]].
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Not to be confused with [[Informed Species]], where the character ''is'' supposed to be a specific animal, but doesn't look like that animal.
Many are either [[Ridiculously Cute Critter
You may be able to [[Powerup Mount|ride them]] [[Problem Sleuth|like a mechanical bull]].
{{examples}}
== [[Advertising]] ==▼
▲== Advertising ==
* One of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvNyqU5DArw&feature=player_detailpage#t=17s the Sci-fi Channel's ads] featured a woman playing with her [[Ridiculously Cute Critter|pet]]. Said pet—presumably extraterrestrial—had a vaguely Chihuahua-like overall appearance, large batlike ears, huge expressive eyes, an extremely long striped tufted tail, and a long forked tongue that it used to daintily touch the tongue of its owner.
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Plue from ''[[Rave Master]]''/''Groove Adventure Rave''. He's something like a snowman crossed with a dog. The theme song identifies him as a "carrot-nosed" dog. You ''know'' it was [[This Is Your Premise on Drugs|thought up when the creators were high]] if even ''they'' don't know what he is.
** In ''[[Fairy Tail]]'', a series by the same author that takes place in a different world, Plue is the [[Gratuitous Latin|Canis Minor]] [[Western Zodiac|Zodiac]] summon. What this means is debatable, since ''nobody'' but himself and the summon system believes he's a dog, and he doesn't even trigger the caniphobia of the
* Chiyo's dad in ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]'', who looks like an elongated, vaguely anthropomorphic cat, most likely pulled from an in-show plush toy by Sakaki's cuteness-obsessed mind.
* Played with in ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'', Chu-Chu the monkey resembles a cartoon mouse but seems otherwise like a regular monkey, so fans assume he's some kind of marmoset/tariser/lemur thing, despite not looking quite like that either. Utena rightly points out [[Fun With Pronouns|ChuuChuu]] as a name would make him sound too much like a mouse.
* Viral the beastman in ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]''. While the Beastmen generals have much more recognisable [[Animal Motifs]] (gorilla, scorpion, peacock/owl, armadillo), he looks like a human with shark teeth and paws.
** He's called "A shark with cat genetics". So I assume he's some sort of [[Mix and Match Critter]].
* Many ''[[Digimon]]'' are cleary examples of this trope in action. There's some who look like [http://jbchost.com.br/henshin/imgmat/2009/08/10_digimon_5.jpg animals or plants]{{Dead link}}, there's some who look like [http://i38.tinypic.com/2lia79z.jpg humans], some who look like [http://www.majhost.com/gallery/IppoDigimon/image/imperiomaquinas.jpg objects or machines]{{Dead link}} and we have stuff like [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_zVgnlumM0qM/S70WMlRuiII/AAAAAAAABIY/fVK1pFso2gI/korosuno.jpg these.]
* Kyubey from ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' has a tail like a ferret or fox, but a head more like that of a cat, only with an extra pair of ears. According to [[Word of God]], he was designed without any real animal in mind.
* Yusuke's spirit beast in ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'', [http://images.wikia.com/yuyuhakusho/images/2/2d/Puu.jpg Puu].
* Q-chan from ''[[Pet Shop of Horrors]]'' is some sort of rabbit-devil creature with a cream-coloured pear-shaped body and rabbit ears, little white horns, black bat wings, a black devil tail, and black duck feet. [[Unusually Uninteresting Sight|No-one ever really asks what he is.]]
* Ryo-Ohki from the various series in the ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]'' franchise appears to be a rabbit-cat hybrid, meowing and devouring carrots; the fandom in fact routinely refers to her as a "cabbit". She has a pass, though, in that she's an genetically-engineered organism that's ''also a starship''. And a four-year-old girl. And a suit of powered armor. Depending on the continuity.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
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** Well, Grimer started out as an expy of Grima Wormtongue from "Lord of the Rings", so...magically corrupted human?
* [[The Smurfs]] are close to being an [[Ur Example]].
== [[Eastern Animation]] ==
* [[Cheburashka]] from Russian cartoons, pictured above. He appears to be part teddy bear, part koala, and part monkey. Cheburashka is the name of his species they agreed on. Originally his name was translated into English as "Topple". Cheburashka, according to the book is "a funny little creature, unknown to science, who lives in the tropical forest". Some people say that he reminds lorids.
== [[Literature]] ==
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* The main character of [[Jungledyret Hugo]] (which was originally a children's book, and then a movie)
* Several [[The Muppet Show|Muppets]], most notably the [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|"Anything" and "Whatnot" Muppets]]. There are also specific characters, like Scooter, Beauregard, and Gonzo the Great,
▲== [[Live Action TV]] ==
▲* Several [[The Muppet Show|Muppets]], most notably the [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|"Anything" and "Whatnot" Muppets]]. There are also specific characters, like Scooter, Beauregard, and Gonzo the Great, who was revealed to be an {{spoiler|alien}} in ''[[Muppets from Space]]''. Gonzo was defined as a "Weirdo" in ''[[Muppet Babies]]'', and a ".... whatever" in most of his other appearances. Kermit once described him as [[Dissimile|"sort of like a chicken, but not really."]]
** In [[Jim Henson]]'s early 1950s shows, ''all'' the puppets were fairly abstract. Even Kermit (one of his earliest characters) was only declared to be a frog in the mid-60s, and only consistently one following his role as [[The Narrator]] of ''[[The Frog Prince]]'' in 1971.
** ''[[Sesame Street]]'''s Anythings are kind of like cartoon humans. ''[[The Muppet Show]]''{{'}}s Whatnots tended to look like [[Fraggle Rock|Fraggles]].
** Fraggles themselves, as well as Doozers and Gorgs. And all the other weird stuff that lives down there.
== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==▼
* ''[[Krazy Kat]]''. (S)he even fits the [[Ambiguous Gender]] Trope. (S)he may be the inspiration for Yakko, Wakko, and Dot from ''[[Animaniacs]]'', and Mooch from [[Mutts]].
* Mooch from ''[[Mutts]]'' [[media:mooch.gif|looks rather like]] [[media:
* [[wikipedia:Eugene the Jeep|Eugene the Jeep]] from ''[[Popeye]]'' comics looks like a dog sized, yellow, spotted, ambiguous looking cat-thing with a big, lightbulb-looking nose. Meanwhile, the animated cartoons define him as some sort of dog.
== [[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], [[Myth and Legend]] ==
* The god Set in ancient Egyptian religion has the head of a unknown and mysterious creature that resembles a composite of an aardvark, a donkey, and a jackal. Modern Egyptologists usually refer to it as the "Set animal", "Typhonic beast", or "sha".
** A few theorize that the head isn't an aardvark, but rather some species of gar or other pointy-faced carnivorous fish; whatever they are, they were the ones that ate Osiris' willie when Set cut him up and threw him in the Nile. It can't just be a fish, though, since statues show it as some sort of emaciated hyena-looking thing.
▲== Newspaper Comics ==
▲* ''[[Krazy Kat]]''. (S)he even fits the [[Ambiguous Gender]] Trope. (S)he may be the inspiration for Yakko, Wakko, and Dot from ''[[Animaniacs]]'', and Mooch from [[Mutts]].
▲* Mooch from ''[[Mutts]]'' [[media:mooch.gif|looks rather like]] [[media:untitled_1.png|Yakko Warner]] from ''[[Animaniacs]]'', except with smaller, more pointed ears, a bigger nose, and without the cheek tufts and tan colored pants. The resemblance would be even more noticeable if Mooch were drawn in the same style Yakko is drawn, or if Yakko were drawn in the same style Mooch is drawn.
▲* [[wikipedia:Eugene the Jeep|Eugene the Jeep]] from ''[[Popeye]]'' comics looks like a dog sized, yellow, spotted, ambiguous looking cat-thing with a big, lightbulb-looking nose. Meanwhile, the animated cartoons define him as some sort of dog.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* There are a few of these in ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]''. Most of the characters are recognizably some kind of established Mushroom Kingdom creature, but some, such as the Glitz Pit security guards, just look like bizarre anthropomorpic ''things''.
* If you'd never heard or seen [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] before, you probably wouldn't be able to tell that he's a hedgehog just by looking at him. Same goes with Amy, [[Base Breaker|Shadow]], and [[The Scrappy|Silver]] who are also hedgehogs. Knuckles is an echidna, but it wouldn't be too hard to mistake him for a "hedgehog".
** Not to mention the Chao. Small blue creatures with teardrop shaped heads, a connection to an ancient deity, and the ability to evolve based on what animals are around them.
* [[Kirby]].
* Gen An from ''[[Samurai Shodown]]''.
* Several of the potential students in ''[[Magicians Quest Mysterious Times]]/Enchanted Folk and the School of Wizardry'' don't have any readily identifiable species. While many of them are based on [[Funny Animal|animals]] (or plants, or [[Animate Inanimate Object|inanimate objects]]), some of them are just... ''things.'' Good examples include the "cupcake girls" (human-ish yet not all that human girls with cupcakes/ice cream/''something'' on their heads), Matthew the cat/dog/bear critter, and Matt the... the... err, alien? It's not very clear.
* Many characters from ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'' are either [[Humanoid Animals|people with various animal parts or anthro-animalesque creatures]].
** [[Final Fantasy|Moogles]] in general. Yeah, you [[Final Fantasy XI|look after my place]] and [[Final Fantasy VI|help save the world]], but seriously, what the hell are you guys? <ref>A Japanese pun -- ''mogura'' (mole) + ''koumori'' (bat) = moguri.</ref>
* Many ''[[Pokémon]]'' are viewed as this, but a lot can be traced back to at least one real life species. Nevertheless, it has the king of this trope, Eevee. Thanks to an [[Unstable Genetic Code]], it has ''seven'' evolutions, and all of them are as indeterminate as it is. [[Word of God]] says the original Eevee is inspired by a fox; probably [[wikipedia:Fennec fox|a Fennec]]
** Let's not forget Entei, Raikou, and Suicune, the legendary beasts.
** Ampharos is another example. Its earlier forms are clearly based on sheep, but what is the final one? A telephone pole? A tiger? A lightning rod? A boombox? A giraffe with stripes and an anklosaur-like tail that glows for some reason?
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* The Unndergrounders in ''[[Mr. Driller]]'', they're some kind of round, blue creatures with small arms and feet, and huge eyes; there's no way to tell what the hell are those things.
* The titular hero of the [[Sega Saturn]] game ''[[Bug!]]!''. Besides being a [[Four-Legged Insect]], he doesn't seem to be based off any real-life bug- he's a green bug with the head of a praying mantis, the body of a grasshopper, and the stinger of a bee.
* What are the "[[Fan Nickname|ghosts]]" in ''[[Pac-Man]]''? Are they living creatures made of flesh or ghosts?
* Many ''[[Monster Rancher]]'' characters fit the bill. Many are based off plants, inanimate objects, mythological creatures, and animals (albeit rather loosely with most examples).
* Nobody can figure out what kind of animal ''[[Ardy Lightfoot]]'' is supposed to be, although "fox cat" is the best guess.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Angela from ''[[Punch an Pie]]'' owns a cat...dog...''thing'' that acts like a cat but looks like a [[Mix-and-Match Critters]].
* Keith, and Basitins in general, from ''[[
* Molly and Snookums from ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]].''
== [[Web Original]] ==
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** Not quite- they're actually based on Mab, a [[Catgirl]].
* Vatsy the catlike character of [[Vatsy and Bruno]] is a borderline case.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Nergal from ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
* The Warners in ''[[Animaniacs]]''. Although often referred to as "puppy-children," they insist that they aren't puppies. They even have a song about it. The page quote is what starts the Warners singing about what they are. In case you're wondering, they're {{spoiler|cute!}} ''Animaniacs'' [[Word of God|creator Tom Ruegger confirmed in an interview that their species is]] ''[[Canis Latinicus|Cartoonus characterus]]''.
** During the production process, they started out as ducks. But everyone thought they looked too much like three miniature versions of Plucky Duck from ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]''. So they added noses, doggy ears, and kitty cat tails.
* Bosko and Honey from ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'', who were antecedents to the Warners of ''[[Animaniacs]]''. He's a living blot of ink as shown in his premier "Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid", and was vague enough that the creators were asked, at least once, what he was supposed to be. [[media:11.jpg|They look like either dogs, cats, or rabbits.]]
** The ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' redesign came about because the [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Hold_Anything.jpg original design]{{Dead link}} of Bosko and Honey owed a great deal to [[Uncle Tomfoolery|blackface caricature]]
* Most of the characters in ''[[Arthur (animation)|Arthur]]'' are borderline cases; you have to take [[Word of God|Marc Brown's word for it]] what specific species they are meant to be. Really, can anyone tell, at first glance, that Arthur is an Aardvark? In the first books he ''did'' [http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0316111937.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg look like an aardvark], but then [[Art Evolution]] happened. The cartoon uses the newer and more well known style, of course.
* [[Goofy]] could be accused of this. To quote ''[[Stand by Me]]'': "If [[Mickey Mouse|Mickey's a mouse]], [[Donald Duck|Donald's a duck]] and Pluto's a dog, [[Furry Confusion|what does that make Goofy?]]" Goofy's name was originally Dippy Dawg, so "anthropomorphic dog" (as opposed to a pet dog like [[Pluto the Pup]]) is probably correct.
** The characters in ''[[DuckTales (1987)]]'' [[Dogfaces|who look like humans but have black noses, dog muzzles, and dog ears]]. Since they include the Beagle Boys, they're presumably the same kind of anthropomorphic dog-thing as Goofy. They've become fairly common in the Disney anthropomorphic world.
** Roxanne from ''[[A Goofy Movie]]'' pretty much looks like [[Little Bit Beastly|a human with a dog nose and muzzle]].
* Standard portrayal of [[Pete]], [[media:pjfb8.gif|Junior, and PJ]] from [[Classic Disney Shorts]] and ''[[Goof Troop]]'' is that of a cat. In ''[[Goof Troop]]'', ''[[A Goofy Movie]]'', and ''An Extremely Gooy Movie'', [[Pete]] and PJ seem to be portrayed as [[Dogfaces]], but are considered cats even in that show and those movies.
** Originally (before he was pitted against Mickey Mouse in 1928), Pete was depicted as a nondescript [[wikipedia:American black bear|American black bear]]. In the early days when he was pitted against Mickey, he was a black cat with a white face, a modest looking chin, and a tail. Now he is depicted as an ambiguous looking cat without a tail, a flesh colored muzzle, and a ''really'' big chin.
*** The ''[[Mickey Mouse Clubhouse]]'' version of Pete looks reasonably like the cat, but the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' "present day" version of Pete, though still a cat, looks more like a French Bulldog.
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* The main character in ''[[Chowder]]'' is, according to [[Word of God]], part cat, part rabbit, and part bear. Most of the other characters count too. Panini looks like a rabbit with [[Cute Little Fangs|some cat bits]].
** The show lampshades this trope from time to time, such as Chowder making a scene as a distraction, demanding that people "label him" as the appropriate animal.
* Uniqua from ''[[The Backyardigans]]''. Nobody knows ''what'' she's supposed to be. [[Word of God]] says that Uniqua is "her own unique species".
* The eponymous ''[[Fat Dog Mendoza]]'' doesn't look very dog-like. He's orange, with a spherical body, four stubby legs, a long flexible tail and a vaguely human face that covers half the front of his body.
* Everyone in ''[[Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!]]'', but it's easy to guess which species each one is based upon.
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* Wooldoor Sockbat from ''[[Drawn Together]]'' is described by the narrator in the first episode as a "[[Small Annoying Creature|highly annoying]] underwater whatsit". He's more of a parody of this type of character in general and [[SpongeBob SquarePants]] specifically.
* Kuma, the [[Team Pet]] on ''[[Pole Position (animation)|Pole Position]].'' He's eventually revealed to have been [[Mix-and-Match Critters|bioengineered]].
* [[Humf]], the titular character from the cartoon series of the same name. Looks like a purple carnivorous lamb, but really, what exactly is he? The creators call him a furry purple thing, which is what he's referred as being in the show. One of his friends, Wallace, is equally ambiguous in design (resembling a [[Waddling Head]]). At least his other friend, Loon, looks like a pink peacock.
* Rare non-animal example: Percy of ''[[Thomas the Tank Engine]]''. While most other characters are based on real locomotive classes, Percy is a heavily hybridized mix of several other steam engine designs.
** Another non-animal example would be ''[[Cars]]''' Lightning
* Ralph in ''[[Twice Upon a Time (1983 film)|Twice Upon a Time]]'' is an "[[Voluntary Shapeshifting|All Purpose Animal]]". His [[Shapeshifter Default Form]] is a generically cute little animal of... some sort. With nerd glasses.
* Gideon from Disney's ''[[Pinocchio (Disney film)|Pinocchio]]'' is clearly a cat, but what type of cat (domestic or lynx) is uncertain. [[media:
** Bobcats (which have similar cheek tufts) had bred with housecats, so Gideon might be a Lynx/Housecat mix.
* The Snarfs from ''[[Thundercats]]'' are a species of intelligent cat-like creatures that are native to the planet Thundera.
** Cat-like creatures, or chibi-[[The Hobbit (novel)|Smaug]]?
* [[Bravestarr]]'s jurisdiction, the planet New Texas, is inhabited by little things called Prairie People...basically Snarfs with cowboy clothes.
* Peri from ''[[Spliced]]''. Even [[In a World]] of [[Mix-and-Match Critters]], they've not explained just what Peri is. He looks kind of like some sort of cat/rodent thing with tentacles for legs. Fuzzy Snuggums' species is never revealed, either.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]
[[Category:Animal Tropes]]
[[Category:Cartoon Characters]]
▲[[Category:Cartoon Creature]]
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