Giant Flyer: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[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''', ''[[Lord of the Rings|The Return of the King]]''}}

Note that Giant Flyers can be either literally gigantic or just relatively large compared to the other characters. Compare [[Our Dragons Are Different]], [[Dragon Rider]], [[Winged Humanoid]], [[Space Whale]], [[Feathered Fiend]], [[Ptero-Soarer]] and [[Living Ship]]. See also [[Giant Swimmer|Giant Swimmers]].

 

* In ''[[Great Mazinger]]'' -one of the ''[[Mazinger Z]]'' sequels-, one entire division of the army of[[Robeast|Robeasts]] were giant birds.

* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]!'' Slifer The Sky Dragon, The Winged Dragon of Ra, and many others.

 

 

* ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' has several, with the largest one so far being the [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=121155 Marit Lage], a [[Sealed Evil in a Can]] [[Eldritch Abomination]] capable of killing a player in a single hit.

** Second prize is [[Eldritch Abomination]] [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=193452 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn], which is known as the "Flying Spaghetti Monster" and has a habit of ending games the second it appears.

 

 

* The Roc in ''1,001 [[Arabian Nights]]'' doesn't menace the hero of the story, but she is big enough to carry off an elephant.

 

 

* As mentioned [[Ptero-Soarer|elsewhere]], large Pterosaurs fill this role in damn near every movie they appear in:

** ''[[King Kong]]''

 

 

* The Cliff-Ghasts of ''[[His Dark Materials]]''.

** In the book ''The Amber Spyglass'' there's a mention of enemy soldiers riding a giant bird, later falling to their deaths due to a laser beam from the Intention Craft.

 

 

* ''[[Torchwood]]'' has its own pet pterosaur cum watch-flyer called Myfanwy.

* Subverted by ''[[Primeval]]'', in S1 in which the Pteranodon is explicitly stated to be a fish-eater and achieves no casualties other than an accidental injury, and the [[Monster of the Week]] is actually a swarm of smaller, flying pterosaurs who prefer [[Death of a Thousand Cuts]] to carrying the food off.

 

 

* More than a few flying [[Our Dragons Are Different|dragons]] get cast in this role; Wyverns, in particular, swoop down on many a hero in folklore.

* Griffins in general, [[Older Than Feudalism|going back]] to [[Classical Mythology]].

 

 

* The Wyvern Heartless in ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]''.

** The Dustflier from ''[[Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days|Kingdom Hearts 358 Days Over 2]]'' is basically an upgraded, [[That One Boss|really hard]] version. And it's even bigger.

 

 

* "[[Ansem Retort|Ride, my]] [[Final Fantasy X|world-killing god whale!]] [[Ansem Retort|Ride into battle!]]"

 

 

* Lord Dragon, Glaserwyrm, and Draco, from the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'', were all honest-to-God dragons. Glaserwyrm was simply a monster to be beaten down. Lord Dragon was a dragon who turned into a man to act like a superhero, while Draco was a man who turned into a full-blown dragon and fought crime as a superhero.

 

 

* Flying [[Plant Aliens|plant creatures]](!) called "Swoopers" in the ''[[Star Trek: The Animated Series]]'' episode "The Infinite Vulcan". There are also Flyers in other episodes (such as "The Eye of the Beholder") who are said to be different species but use the same character models.

* Parodied hilariously in ''[[Korgoth of Barbaria]]'', where the giant fearsome flying predators are... pigeons. Granted, they are [[Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever|pigeons the size of a T. rex]] but still...

 

 

* The "Birds of the Master" in the ''Valerian'' album named after them.

 

 

* 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.

 

 

* 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]].

 

 

* Flying monkeys from ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]''. Though it should be mentioned that, in the book, the Monkeys are merely flying predators who were enslaved by the Wicked Witch of the West via a magic hat which may be used to summon the monkeys three times. {{spoiler|Dorothy gains the rights to this hat after killing the Witch, and the Monkeys aid her and her friends three times. Dorothy then handed the hat off to the Good Witch of the South, who declared she would use her three to get Dorothy's friends back home. She then gives the hat to the King of the Monkeys so no one else could use it, effectively freeing the monkeys.}}

* 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.

 

 

* [[Stargate SG-1|SG-1]] once faced a dragon, in their final season. Vala named it Darryl.

 

 

* The Tyranid Harridan in ''[[Warhammer 40000]]''. 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...

 

 

* Ridley in ''[[Metroid]]'', although he's not really a servant of the Mother Brain (he's the leader of the Space Pirate army who ally with the Mother Brain).

** ''[[Metroid Prime]] 2: Echoes'' also features the giant moth Chykka.

 

 

* ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' has the Bulldog Dragon. It's basically what you'd get if you combined a bulldog, a bat, and a goat while making it the size of a small car and reptilian.

 

 

* In ''[[Code Lyoko]]'', the Frelions and flying Mantas are XANA's aerial fight force. The Frelions are [[Goddamned Bats]] of the swarm kind, and the Mantas are occasionally used as steeds (most notably William's Black Manta).

 

 

* Birdramon from ''[[Digimon Adventure]]'' was ridiculously large compared to the rest of the cast; large enough that several of the chosen could ride ''on her feet''. Other Giant Flyers include Zhuqiaomon from ''[[Digimon Tamers]]'', Qinglongmon from ''[[Digimon Aventure Zero Two]]'', and Imperialdramon. Imperialdramon, furthermore, had two different forms: one was [[Anthropomorphic Shift|humanoid]] and used mainly for combat (called "Fighter Mode"), while the other was a quadruped with a domed glass-like shield on its back which it could carry passengers in.

* Many (if not all) of the dragonets that appear in the [[Manga]]/[[Anime]] ''[[Narutaru]]'' can fly and carry their owners with (or even ''inside'') them.

 

 

* The giant hawks flown by the Chosen Eight in ''[[Elf Quest]]''.

* Several comic book characters ride flying horses; Valkyrie, Black Knight, Dreadknight, Shining Knight, basically a lot of knights.

 

 

* George does a pegasus and a dragon in ''[[With Strings Attached]]'', always acting as a Deus Ex Machina Airline for Ringo and, usually, someone else (As'taris and the Hunter). Of course, he becomes many smaller kinds of flyers as well.

 

 

* Pegasus in ''Clash of the Titans''.

* Marahute in ''[[The Rescuers]] Down Under''.

 

 

* The Itikars, giant birds used as steeds by the Vassagonians in the ''[[Lone Wolf]]'' series. Lone Wolf also "borrows" a Zlanbeast on a few occasions to travel through enemy territory.

 

 

* Gwaihir and the other Eagles in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.

** Gwahno in ''[[Bored of the Rings]]'' is the Sub[[Trope Namer]].

 

 

* Pegasus may be the Ur-example.

 

 

* Flammie, from the ''[[Seiken Densetsu]]''/''Mana'' series, a giant... [[Our Dragons Are Different|dragony-thing]] the heroes used as [[Global Airship|transportation]].

* Parodied in ''[[The Halfblood Chronicles]]''. One of the heroic Dragons gives a ride to a character who has just joined with the heroes. They both come away from the experience saying that it had to be the most uncomfortable way to travel imaginable.

 

 

* The giant birds in ''[http://www.alpha-shade.com/ Alpha Shade]''.

* One of Aylee's many forms in ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' is a fifty-foot tall flying dragon.

 

 

* Various Pegasi in the ''[[My Little Pony]]'' series.

* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender|"Appa, yip-yip!"]]''

* Sky Lynx on [[Transformers Generation 1]] qualifies as this (on top of being a [[Big Damn Hero]] ).

 

* Orville and Wilbur in ''[[The Rescuers]]''.

* Jeremy in ''[[The Secret of NIMH]]''.

 

 

* ''[[Discworld]]'' example: Constable Buggy Swires of the City Watch; a gnome who maintains a squad of (semi)trained pigeons (and a turkey vulture in ''[[Discworld/Monstrous Regiment|Monstrous Regiment]]'').

** Predating Buggy Swires is The Death of Rats riding Quoth the Raven and the (semi)trained pigeons (see ''[[Discworld/Soul Music|Soul Music]]'' which happens two years before ''[[Discworld/Jingo|Jingo]]'').

 

 

* 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.

 

 

* The Flying Whales in ''[[Battle for Terra]]''.

 

 

* The titular creature in ''[[Leviathan]]'' fits the other trope name: [[Air Whale]].

* [[Tamora Pierce]] can go here because hers are varied and hard to categorize. She has traditional dragons and griffins; kudarung, which are traditional winged horses except that they come in widely varied sizes, making some of them Pocket-sized Flyers; hurroks, clawed, predatory "horse-hawks" with batlike wings; and Stormwings, which are [[Winged Humanoid|half human, half giant sharp-metal-feathered bird]], and aren't evil but do take natural pleasure in human suffering. They're all immortal unless killed (except possibly the kudarung, which aren't specifically identified as immortals and might not be, since they didn't enter the human world under the same circumstances as the immortals we know).

 

 

* In the AD&D Dark Sun setting, "Cloud Rays" akin to enourmos flying manta rays appear as an extremely dangerous monster.

 

 

* Gukko and Nivawk in ''[[Bionicle]]''. (Both giant cyborg birds used as transport.)

 

 

* The flying Colossi from ''[[Shadow of the Colossus]]''.

* All of the above are very, very possible in ''[[Spore]]'', due to the existence of Epic Creatures. Flying epic creatures in particular are somewhat more deadly than regular ones, especially ones with higher levels of flight, because they can move much more silently and quickly than normal ones.

 

 

* ''[[George the Dragon]]'' features a large green dragon who has the habit of swooping down from the sky to humiliate humans in sadistic games of [http://www.drunkduck.com/George_the_Dragon/index.php?p=554295 tag].

* Hibachi the [[Dinosaurs Are Dragons|Dragon]] in the webcomic ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]]''.

 

 

* The alien [http://davesrightmind.deviantart.com/art/Cloud-Grazer-157715056 Cloud Grazers].

* Also, [http://abiogenisis.deviantart.com/art/The-Shadow-of-the-Sun-58459821?q=&qo= these creatures] from another alien planet with microgravity.

 

 

* [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|''Skywhales'' features skywhales]]. [[Call a Smeerp a Rabbit|Though they look more like long-necked manta rays.]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVmKhNG6S3o Youtube]

* ''[[The Herculoids]]''. Zok the dragon, who can fire [[Frickin' Laser Beams|laser beams]] [[Eye Beams|from its eyes]] and tail.

 

 

* The species of Pterosaur known as [[wikipedia:Quetzalcoatlus northropi|Quetzalcoatlus]] (where "quetzalcoatl" is Aztec for "feathered snake" and was the name of a major god) had a wingspan of 12 metres and was pretty damn tall (see the wikipedia article).

** The most commonly adapted Pterosaur, Pteranodon, was also pretty large as well, with an average wingspan of 7-10 metres (not quite as big as Quetzalcoatlus but still).