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Feathered Fiend: Difference between revisions
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Wait, what?
Monstrous birds aren't that ridiculous, if you think about it. After all, they're the dinosaurs that ''[[Badass|survived]]''. As mentioned above, even the cutest birds have pointy beaks and claws, and some birds (such as starlings) fly in flocks of thousands, making them seem like [[Horde of Alien Locusts|hordes of avian locusts]]. Many of them are voracious predators, and airborne to boot - just imagine if they were [[Giant Flyer|big enough]] to swoop down on ''humans'' and carry them off. (It might be worth noting that the extinct [[Giant Flyer|Haast's eagle]] could have occasionally preyed on humans, although it wouldn't have been able to carry them. The [
[[Feathered Fiend|Feathered Fiends]] can be divided into four catagories:
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* '''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 Fifty Foot Whatever|Monster Bird]]. Usually a [[Giant Flyer]] (preferably a raptor) that carries people off in its talons for [[To Serve Man|dinner]]. Flightless [http://www.paleocene.com/copyright/images/paleocene_phororhacos_giant_terror_bird_400x587.jpg terror birds] are also popular in prehistoric and [[Lost World]] settings. And a [[Kidnapping Bird of Prey]] like an eagle, condor or vulture will - against all laws of physics- pick up a small dog or child and fly it to their nest.
* '''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
Note that this is [[Truth in Television]], as some birds such as cassowaries and swans can be [[Killer Rabbit|surprisingly vicious]] and [[Lethal Joke Character|even outright dangerous]], while others can be indirectly dangerous by carrying diseases like bird flu and psittacosis. (To say nothing of extinct killer avians like the aforementioned Haast's eagles and terror birds, or dino-birds like ''[[Stock Dinosaurs|Deinonychus]]''.)
See also [[Giant Flyer]], [[Killer Rabbit]], and [[Morally
{{examples}}
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* There's a children's book called "SQUAAAAWK" in which, if you open a magical book, you allow the [[Giant Flyer|Roc]] magically bound inside to get out and terrorize your town.
* The later ''[[Animorphs (Literature)|Animorphs]]'' books have several instances of flocks of homicidal bird-morphed controllers attacking the protagonists.
** And the natural version: Tobias hates crows because they mob hawks. And eagles-a group made Rachel slam into a tree and [[Trauma
* In ''[[Redwall]]'', birds are generally on the side of good, if often wild and untamed. There are exceptions, however--an army of rooks led by a raven attacks Redwall in ''Mattimeo'' and St. Ninian's is home to vicious jackdaws in ''Pearls of Lutra''. And, of course, there's the heron of ''Martin the Warrior'', the Warden. "I am the law!" * GULP*
** Swans are (somewhat justifiably) treated as giant monsters in one book, where the heroes trick some henchmen into getting close to a swan's nest. Death ensues.
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* While ''Walking With Beasts'' focused mostly on prehistoric mammals, the horse-munching ''Gastornis'' in the first episode was one of the scariest animals on the show. Although a bit of [[Badass Decay]] occurs when {{spoiler|its unhatched chick is eaten by giant ants}}. Also of note are the ''Phorusrhacos'' in another episode, though they don't present any real threat to the ''Smilodon'' we're following. Because nothing - except climate change and {{spoiler|the giant ground sloth ''Megatherium''}} - present much threat to a ''Smilodon''.
** ''[[Walking With Dinosaurs]]'' had ''Iberomesornis'' that were portrayed as type B. In spite of their small size they chased off a [[Giant Flyer|giant pterosaur]].
** Another [[Speculative Documentary]], ''[[The Future Is Wild]]'', had a deadly flightless caracara called the Carakiller, an obvious [
* In an episode of ''[[Myth Busters]]'', when Adam is placing his hand in a pen of baby ducks, Jamie joked "Don't be fooled, these are actually quite deadly."
* In the ''[[The Suite Life of Zack and Cody|Suite Life on Deck]]'' episode "Mean Chicks", Cody deprives a seagull of a french fry Zack attempted to feed it, and spends the rest of the episode trying to escape the bird's wrath.
* In the ''[[
* The titular character of the Avengers episode "The Winged Avenger". A cartoonist who disguises himself as his own bird of prey-like comic superhero and lacerates [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Corrupt Corporate Executives]] to death, using magnetized boots to climb walls.
* The ''[[Tales From the Crypt (TV)|Tales From the Crypt]]'' episode "Carrion Death" has the protagonist, a con attempting to escape through the desert, being stalked by a hungry vulture who eventually makes a meal out of him... while he's still alive.
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* [[Half-Human Hybrid|Harpies]], which are usually portrayed as vulture like.
** Sirens also originally were depicted as birdlike rather than mermaid-like.
** Quite few other [[Mix
* One of Hercules' tasks was to kill the Stymphalian birds, which had sharp, metallic feathers and a taste for human flesh.
* Cockatrices were said to have been born of the [[Mister Seahorse|egg of a rooster]] and incubated by a toad or snake. A lizard-like bird (or vice versa), it has the power to [[Taken for Granite|turn people into stone with its gaze.]]
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* Mystia Lorelei of the ''[[Touhou Project]]'' qualifies on one angle, being a night sparrow youkai who hunts humans and can strike them blind with her singing. However, she also averts this trope, as [[The Chew Toy]] of many a poultry joke in both canon and fanon.
** Likewise, Utsuho Reiuji is a Hell raven who went [[Ax Crazy]] [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|upon recieving]] [[I Love Nuclear Power|nuclear powers]], but is indicated to have since returned to her usual [[The Ditz|birdbrain]] personality.
* There's two in ''[[Donkey Kong Country Returns]]'', [[Punny Name|Savory Stu]] and [[Shout
* Archeops from ''[[Pokémon Black and White]]'' has beastly attack and good speed. Unfortunately, it's a [[Glass Cannon]], and its attack and Special Attack are halved if its health gets below half.
** Braviary (based from a bald eagle and using a misplaced hawk scream) is capable of carrying away cars.
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== Real Life ==
* [[Swans
* Roosters have spurs on their legs. Roosters are apparently territorial. There is a reason why Cockfighting used to be so common. Of course, some [[Complete Monster|Complete Monsters]] would replace their natural spurs with razors.
* The vampire finch (''Geospiza difficilis septentrionalis'') is known for pecking at other birds and giant tortoises until it draws blood, and then drinking it.
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* A lot of birds are very protective of their nests. While their protective instinct is entirely understandable, getting swooped at by alternately furious and desperate parents and helpers for walking near the wrong tree is alarming.
** Seagulls are likable when it's not the nesting season. When it is, seagulls turn into ''divebombing feathered fiends from hell.''
* The [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|aptly named]] [
** Also, ''Gastornis'', which filled a similar role somewhat earlier than the terror birds.
* The [
* [http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/12/flying_steamer_ducks.php Steamer ducks]. They attack and kill other waterfowl for ''no clear reason''.
* [http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/09/great_tits_murderous_rapacious.php Great tits] prey on hibernating bats by ''ripping their heads off''. These birds are definitely ''not'' just seed and insect eaters.
** They [http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/03/passerine_birds_fight_dirty.php fight viciously amongst themselves], too.
*** [http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/birds-rondeau-park-pod/ On the subject of bird fights...]
* Whether or not they count as birds is up to you, but the predatory [
** They were also very tenacious when defending their nests (which was probably [http://theropoda.blogspot.com/2008/12/big-mama-un-beauty-daddy-varricchio-et.html done by the] [[Papa Wolf|males]], by the way). It appears that they would even try to shield their eggs ''from a sandstorm'', as many oviraptorid fossils are found crouching over their nests.
** There's this new theory about how dromaeosaurids went about "preparing" their prey: They used their sickle claws to pin their prey down while flapping their wings for balance. Now put yourself in the prey's shoes: You're lying on your back with raptor claws hooked in your skin, and huge wings flapping in your face, while a raptor eats your guts out. [[Jurassic Park|The point is... you are alive when they start to eat you.]]
* An ostrich once nearly killed [[Johnny Cash]] by gutting him with a kick (he was running a farm of them at the time).
* There are stories - unconfirmed - of massive eagles carrying off dogs and even in one case a small child (who survived, was found in the mountains miles from where she disappeared, and is the source of the story).
** There ''are'' [http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/10/when_eagles_go_bad_yet_again.php verified accounts] of eagles [[Big Badass Bird of Prey|killing deer and young cattle]], however. (Not carrying off, but killing, certainly.) Eagles also appear to have preyed on the young of [[To Serve Man|early hominids]] (e.g.: our ancestors). In fact, the [
*** African Crowned Eagles have been known to launch predatory attacks on children (Up to seven years old!). Also, skulls of human infants have been found in African Crowned Eagle nests. This is also the same species of eagle that killed our hominid ancestors as mentioned by the troper above, and because of their fiercesness and fondness for primate meat they are known as the "leopards of the air" by certain African peoples.
* [
* ''[
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGehBKqot3Y Pelicans.]
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[[Category:Index of Fictional Creatures]]
[[Category:Feathered Fiend]]
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