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[[File:Flyer2.jpg|link=Shadow of the Colossus|frame|[[In Soviet Russia, Trope Mocks You|In the Forbidden Land, mountain flies over you]]!]]
{{quote|''... it was a winged creature: if bird, then greater than all other birds, and it was naked, and neither quill nor feather did it bear, and its vast pinions were as webs of hide between horned fingers; and it stank. A creature of [[The Dark Times|an older world]], maybe it was...''
|'''[[J. R. R. Tolkien]]''', ''[[The Lord of the Rings|The Return of the King]]''}}
Large flying creatures are a staple of [[Speculative Fiction|Fantastic Fiction]]. This trope comes in a few distinct flavors:
Most '''Giant
Some Giant Flyers actually are recruits of the [[Big Bad]]. In ''[[The Tough Guide to Fantasyland]]'', [[Diana Wynne Jones]] calls this variety "[[Good Wings, Evil Wings|Leathery Winged]] Avians" (never mind the fact that many of them are [[Good Wings, Evil Wings|feathery winged]]).
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{{examples}}
==Examples of Large Flying Predators==
=== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ===
* In ''[[Great Mazinger]]'' -one of the ''[[Mazinger Z]]'' sequels-, one entire division of the army of[[Robeast]]s were giant birds.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]!'' Slifer The Sky Dragon, The Winged Dragon of Ra, and many others.
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== Examples of Leathery Winged Avians ==
===
* The "Birds of the Master" in the ''[[Valerian]]'' album named after them.
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* Gyaos of the ''[[Gamera]]'' series.
* The Fell Beasts used as mounts by the Ringwraiths in [[The Lord of the Rings]]. While they are more vaguely described in the books, here they are portrayed as large, leathery-winged and scaled, with two legs, long necks and blunt, snakelike heads. They are used by the Ringwaiths almost like reconnaissance planes while patrolling the lands around Mordor, but are taken directly into battle at Osgiliath, Mina Tirith and The Black Gate.
=== Gamebooks ===▼
* The Zlanbeasts and Kraan from the ''[[Lone Wolf]]'' series; ugly reptilian creatures with leathery wings serving the [[Evil Overlord|Darklords]] as flying mounts from them and their various troops. The Grand Master series also features the Lavas, dragon-like monsters in direct service of [[Big Bad|the god Naar]].▼
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* The ''[http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/123 Pellucidar]'' novels by [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]] just cut to the chase and make the winged Mahar the [[Big Bad]]; they further feature the savage Thipdars.
* The Rooks controlled by the Dark in ''[[The Dark Is Rising]]'' straddle the line between this and the flying predator subtrope.
* In ''[[
* The Fell Beasts of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.
** ''[[Bored of the Rings]]'' parodies this by having the Black Riders fly killer pelicans.
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=== Tabletop Games ===
▲==== Gamebooks ====
▲* The Zlanbeasts and Kraan from the ''[[Lone Wolf]]'' series; ugly reptilian creatures with leathery wings serving the [[Evil Overlord|Darklords]] as flying mounts from them and their various troops. The Grand Master series also features the Lavas, dragon-like monsters in direct service of [[Big Bad|the god Naar]].
==== Tabletop RPG ====
* In the ''[[Iron Kingdoms]]'' world, any of the spawn of [[Our Dragons Are Different|Ever]][[Cosmic Horror|blight]] that happen to have wings. They all have chitinous plates where their eyes should be, but make up for it by having an prodigious number of sharp teeth, as well as a variety of other natural weapons such as claws and blight-breath. The Angelius has itself no less than six wings.▼
==== Wargames ====
* The Tyranid Harridan in ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]''. A huge winged monstrosity with razor sharp claws, pointy teeth and acid-shooting "bio cannons". Often carries around flocks of Gargoyles, smaller flying Tyranids.
** Quite a few other varieties of Tyranid come in winged strains, and then there are most of Tzeentch's demons...
* A lot of [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]] Fantasy Battles armies have access to one or more of these.
▲* In the ''[[Iron Kingdoms]]'' world, any of the spawn of [[Our Dragons Are Different|Ever]][[Cosmic Horror|blight]] that happen to have wings. They all have chitinous plates where their eyes should be, but make up for it by having an prodigious number of sharp teeth, as well as a variety of other natural weapons such as claws and blight-breath. The Angelius has itself no less than six wings.
=== Video Games ===
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== Examples of Normal-Sized Flyers ==
===
* Orville and Wilbur in ''[[The Rescuers]]''.
* Jeremy in ''[[The Secret of NIMH]]''.
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=== Literature ===
* ''[[Discworld]]'' example: Constable Buggy Swires of the City Watch; a gnome who maintains a squad of (semi)trained pigeons (and a turkey vulture in ''[[
** Predating Buggy Swires is The Death of Rats riding Quoth the Raven and the (semi)trained pigeons (see ''[[
** One of the Nac Mac Feegle in ''[[
* ... the titular characters in ''The Minnipins''. They're tiny gnomes who ride upon birds. Of course, they happen to know a huge Mute Swan who can carry their new human friend.
* Long before he wrote it into Discworld, Pratchett gave geese to the Floridian Gnomes in ''Wings'', the last part of the [[Nomes Trilogy]].
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== Other Examples ==
=== Anime
* The adult dragons from ''[[Narutaru]]''. They can also be as [[Our Dragons Are Different|bizarre]] as the flying colossus in the example picture above.
* The Fly Card of ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura]]'', which took the form of a giant bird before Sakura sealed it in the first episode.
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===
* The Flying Whales in ''[[Battle for Terra]]''.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Dragon Tropes]]
[[Category:Just in Time Tropes]]
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[[Category:Tropes On a Plane]]
[[Category:Flying Tropes]]
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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