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Feathered Fiend: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Birds attack 2071.jpg|link=The Birds|frame|Nature re-establishes the pecking order.]]
{{quote|''"Birds [...] are the last of the dinosaurs. Tiny velociraptors with wings. Devouring defenseless wiggly things and, and nuts, and fish, and, and other birds. They get the early worms. And have you ever watched a chicken eat? They may look innocent, but birds are, well, they're vicious."''
|'''Spider''', ''[[Anansi Boys]]'', by [[Neil Gaiman]]}}
▲{{quote|''"Birds [...] are the last of the dinosaurs. Tiny velociraptors with wings. Devouring defenseless wiggly things and, and nuts, and fish, and, and other birds. They get the early worms. And have you ever watched a chicken eat? They may look innocent, but birds are, well, they're vicious."''|'''Spider''', ''[[Anansi Boys]]'', by [[Neil Gaiman]]}}
{{quote|'''Leliana''': But a bird is a creature of grace, and beauty! They open their mouths and they sing!
'''Shale''': The bard hears music. I hear a wail of banshees that boils my blood.
'''Leliana''': But... what about a nightingale? Or a swan?
'''Shale''': They are not pigeons, it is true. Still? Evil beasts of the sky.
|''[[Dragon Age]]''}}
Everybody knows that birds are some of the least scary animals ever, right? After all, they're small, they're pretty, they sing, [[Killer Rabbit|they have sharp claws and pointy beaks]], [[Zerg Rush|they fly around in huge flocks]], [[Nausea Fuel|they hang out in battlefields and pick the flesh off of the corpses]]...
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* '''Type A''' - [[Exclusively Evil]]. Much like [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent|snakes]] and [[Bat Out of Hell|bats]], corvids ([[Ravens and Crows]]) and vultures are almost always portrayed as creepy (if not outright evil) due to their [[Carnivore Confusion|association with death]]. [[Owl Be Damned|Owls]] also tend to fit this bill when they're not being the [[Animal Stereotypes|wise old owl]] because of their nocturnal habits, historical association with [[Black Magic|witchcraft]], and fondness for eating [[What Measure Is a Non-Cute?|cute animals]]. Other raptors tend to get a more flattering portrayal due to the fact that they're [[Big Badass Bird of Prey|Big Badass Birds Of Prey]], although they occasionally fit the role of bad guys in cases of [[Carnivore Confusion|Carnivores Are Mean]].
* '''Type B''' - [[Zerg Rush]]. Smaller birds that attack people in huge flocks. These ones are especially fond of [[Eye Scream|pecking people's eyes out]], and sometimes overlap with Type A.
* '''Type C''' - [[Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever|Monster Bird]]. Usually a [[Giant Flyer]] (preferably a raptor) that carries people off in its talons for [[To Serve Man|dinner]]. Flightless [
* '''Type D''' - [[Killer Rabbit|Parodies and Subversions]]. Much like other [[What Measure Is a Non-Cute?|cute]] and [[Not So Harmless|seemingly harmless]] animals, some birds are portrayed as evil or dangerous to subvert common expectations. Killer [[Nobody Here but Us Chickens|chickens]] and villainous [[Morally-Ambiguous Ducktorate|ducks]] are probably the most popular variation. When this one is played completely straight, it frequently results in [[Narm]].
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{{examples}}
▲== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[Wolf's Rain]]'': While looking for a way out of the Forest of Death, the wolves get freaked out by a creepy talking owl that might be a ghost. One of its cryptic pronouncements ''does'' does turn out to be a clue to the escape route, though.
** Confirmed. {{spoiler|After the gang discover the bones stripped bare by the bugs, if you watch the next shot of the owl you can see the trees through it as it flies away.}}
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* Some of the Dark One's servants in [[Wheel of Time]] can use crows as spies and messengers, and occasionally use huge flocks of crows to attack people. Crows are regularly included in scenes to give the impression that characters are being watched.
* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s "A Witch Shall Be Born", [[Conan the Barbarian]] is crucified, but the villain carefully explains that the vultures will kill him first.
* Both played straight and averted in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''; while crows are viewed as an ill omen, and a malicious variety called "crebain" serve Saruman as spies and messengers, ravens are noted to be dwarf-friends. And the Eagles are downright [[Always Lawful Good]].
* In the ''[[Warrior Cats]]'' series, ordinary birds of prey such as hawks, eagles, and owls. [[Justified Trope|Justified]], since they're ''cats'', after all, and the birds are very large to them - large enough to carry off a kit, or, with an eagle at least, a full-grown cat.
* The Pure Ones,St. Aggie's owls and hagsfiends of [[Guarduans Of Ga'Hoole]]
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* The Kroot of ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'', while not feathered anymore, are a sentient humanoid race descended from avians. They have a mane of quills instead of hair or feathers, but retain their ancestors' slender yet powerful build, language of clicks and whistles, sharp vision, and beaks. The Kroot are notable for [[Cannibal Clan|consuming the flesh of defeated enemies]] in search of specific [[Cannibalism Superpower|evolutionary upgrades]] - [[Memetic Mutation|in the 41st millennium]], [[In Soviet Russia, Trope Mocks You|chicken eats you!]]
** Also, the greater daemon of [[The Chessmaster|Tzeentch]] is a [http://kofler.dot.at/40k/units/Tzeentch_Greater_Daemon_Lord_of_Change_3.jpg giant bird monster] called the Lord of Change. Also, while followers of Chaos [[Evil Makes You Monstrous|will invariably start to mutate]], [[Black Crusade|according to some materials]], those who follow Tzeentch specifically tend to develop avian traits ([[Body Horror|emphasis on "tend"]]).
* The Black planeswalkers of ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' have a fairly decent selection of Type A birds, from [
** White has also some [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=129753 hawks] [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=121244 and] [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=26284 griffins], and when [[Light Is Not Good]] few of them seem very nice...
*** [https://web.archive.org/web/20130526072535/http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Kirtar Lieutenant Kirtar] is one particular example of a White aligned feathered fiend.
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* In ''[[Gamma World]]'', there are a few including the [[Nobody Here but Us Chickens|Gallus Gallus]], chickens that were being bred for meat, but after the apocalypse the computer breeding them screwed up and now they're sentient and humanoid. There's also the Carrin, cruel psychic vulture people with nasty quills.
* Speaking of nasty bird poeple, the word "[[Yu-Gi-Oh Card Game|Blackwings]]" comes to mind.
* [[Mortasheen|Morta]][http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen.htm sheen] has several, although, they [http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/cockatross.htm are] [http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/phlegmbrane.htm usually] [http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/veezil.htm quite] [https://web.archive.org/web/20140102031643/http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/wendiguin.htm odd].
** And don't forget the [http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/depraven.htm RAPECROW!!!] (Alright, it's called Depraven, but the idea is there).
* ''[[GURPS]] Technomancer'', of course, has the magic-using penguin socialist collective of Antarctica, transformed by a Hellstorm into a vicious hivemind that has driven human scientists from the continent and is building up for the next clash.
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** Which, from the point of view of a ''bug'' are probably the equivalent of Godzilla.
* And Disney's ''[[Atlantis: The Lost Empire]]'' had Pyreflies. "These guys are kinda cute when they aren't setting off blazing infernos!"
* Peter Griffin from ''[[Family Guy]]'' occasionally gets into epic battles with a [[Nobody Here but Us Chickens|
* The ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' version of the Penguin had a collection of deadly birds ranging from poison-billed hummingbirds to trained attack-cassowaries.
* Buzz Buzzard from the [[Woody Woodpecker]] cartoons was usually shown as genuinley evil and sinister, as opposed to Woody who was just an obnoxious [[Screwy Squirrel]] type.
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* In [[Scooby Doo Mystery Inc]], there is the [[Evil Genius]] parrot, Professor Pericles.
* Laserbeak from ''[[Transformers]]''.
* Vultureman from ''[[ThunderCats (1985 series)|ThunderCats]]'', a mutant with - as his name implied - a vulture's head on his otherwise-human body. While he had no ability to fly, he was the [[Evil Genius]] (and often [[Only Sane Man]]) among the bad guys, building high-tech weaponry and vehicles.
== Real Life ==
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