Ravens and Crows: Difference between revisions

Corvids suffer from a strange sort of form of the [[Conservation of Ninjitsu]]. A single crow will probably be intelligent (and, if one of the bad guys, will also take an unnerving interest in the heroes). On the other hand, a whole murder of crows/congress of ravens will just be [[Zerg Rush|mindless animals possibly under control of something or someone external]]. Of course, [[One for Sorrow, Two For Joy|the significance of various numbers of corvids]] is the subject of some [[Older Than Feudalism]] superstitions. Sometimes corvids are shown more-or-less positively (although ravens are usually (but not always) more likely to be heroic characters than crows), and in this case their traditional characteristics are [[Dark Is Not Evil|portrayed in a better light]]. Heroic ravens are often wise or intelligent characters, while crows tend to be friendly tricksters or [[Plucky Comic Relief]].

 

 

Crows and ravens tend to fall under the [[Trickster Archetype]]. [[What Measure Is a Non-Cute?]] is a matter of [[Your Mileage May Vary|some disagreement.]] For more creepy birds, see [[Feathered Fiend]], but also see the note on scavengers in [[Carnivore Confusion]]. See [[One for Sorrow, Two For Joy]] for magpies, closely related both in [[Real Life]] and in tropes. For black feathers used as symbolism, see [[Feather Motif]].

 

 

 

* Uchiha Itachi in ''[[Naruto]]'' uses crows as part of his genjutsu.

** Not to mention the infamous [[Fan Nickname|"Murder of Crows"]] jutsu, which is officially named the "Scattering One Thousand Crows Technique." It is, basically, what the official title suggests. Its user, Aoba Yamashiro, is said by fans to have scared two members of Akatsuki into running away with this technique, though it's more likely that there were reinforcements arriving and they were going to leave soon anyway. There are also a variety of other crow-related techniques used by various characters, and one of Kankuro's puppets is called "Crow."

 

== Ballads ==

* [[Child Ballad]] 26 "[http://www.bartleby.com/40/12.html The Three Ravens]" features three ravens discussing dinner. They mention a dead knight, but his body is being protected by his hawk and his hounds, and his true love comes to bury him and die of grief. It has a much more cynical variant, "[http://www.bartleby.com/40/13.html The Twa Corbies]", where the ravens instead discuss how the dead knight's hawk, hound, and lady have all deserted him, so they can eat his corpse.

 

* Another [[Neil Gaiman]] example: Matthew in ''[[The Sandman]]''.

** Somewhat of a subversion of the usual, though, as Matthew is friendly, not a trickster (though a bit of a wise guy), pleasant and the most loyal guy in the Dreaming.

 

== Fairy Tales ==

* In "[http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/038.htm The Grateful Beasts]", Ferko, [[Family-Unfriendly Violence|blinded and crippled]] [[Cain and Abel|by his brothers]], rests under what he thinks is a tree; it's a gallows. Two crows talk on it, and he hears how he can cure himself.

 

* [[Alexandra Quick]] plays with this. The wizarding world plays it straight by associating ravens and crows with dark wizards and witches. Alexandra picks a raven as a familar, both to screw with people's expectations of her and to say bullocks to the conventions. Said familar, Charlie, subverts the trope. Jury's still out on whether Abraham Thorn's association with them is a subversion or a straight example.

* In the fanfic ''[[Dark Secrets]]'', Evil![[Ron the Death Eater|Ron]] uses a raven to spy on [[Mary Sue|Jaiden Spencer]] and [[Draco in Leather Pants|Draco Malfoy]] for him.

 

== Film ==

* James O'Barr's ''[[The Crow]]'', both the film and the graphic novel version, has the bird as a kind of guide and familiar to the undead avenger protagonist. In the film version, if the crow dies the avenger becomes mortal again, but doesn't lose his other powers.

* Jake from ''[[The Shawshank Redemption]]''.

** In a deleted scene we learn that he lost his eye [[Eye Scream|because a crow pecked it out]].

* The eponymous bird in [[Roger Corman]]'s ''The Raven'' is a [[Baleful Polymorph|involuntarily shape-shifted]] wizard.

** However, a less malevolent raven appears with a student at the end of the last film, suggesting that wizards keep them as pets.

* In the new ''[[Sherlock Holmes (film)|Sherlock Holmes]]'', Lord Blackwood, whose father notes at one point has been followed by death his entire life, is also followed by a rather sinister black bird.

 

== Literature ==

* Subverted in [[Peter S. Beagle]]'s ''A Fine And Private Place''; a raven helps and cares for the protagonist, Jonathan Rebeck, who lives in a graveyard, giving him food and, later, news.

* In [[J. R. R. Tolkien|JRR Tolkien]]'s works, crows are generally in the [[Exclusively Evil|Forces of Evil]]. (Also note Theoden's unflattering epithet for Gandalf, "Stormcrow.") [[Talking Animal|Ravens, on the other hand]], are friendly and intelligent, exceptionally long-lived, and [[Binding Ancient Treaty|allied with the dwarves]]; they helped Bilbo and company in ''[[The Hobbit]]''.

* In ''[[Sea of Trolls]]'', {{spoiler|the Bard}} is magically changed into a crow, is nicknamed Bold Heart, and becomes the [[Team Pet]] until he changes back at the end of the book.

 

* The eponymous host of the children's fantasy game show, ''[[Raven]]'' (who is actually a metamorph rather than a bona fide bird), is a subversion of the norm in terms of personality - he's a pretty nice guy, who's probably supposed to be more [[Stern Teacher]] and [[Mr. Exposition]] than anything else. He was also, apparently, an [[Backstory|immortal Celtic warlord]] which fits the trope somewhat closer.

* In ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'', Data dreams of a raven who leads him to Dr. Soong, who built him.

 

== Mythology ==

* [[Norse Mythology|Odin]] had two ravens as companions. Their names, Hugin and Munin, suggest that they are his literal Thought and Memory. He sends them out all over the world each day to reconnoiter, and then they sit on his shoulders and tell him what they have seen.

** [[Valkyries]] were shown to be more fearsome and frightening in many earlier depictions, often decorated with crow-related features (such as crow feather cloaks or even feathery black wings). These were possibly inspired by sights of various scavenger birds feeding on corpses after large battles. Later as the Norse Mythology began to be swallowed up by Christians, the Valkyries were [[Our Angels Are Different|overlapped with the more benevolent, similarly serving Angels]]. Nowadays they're almost always depicted as being [[Winged Humanoid|beautiful human-like creatures with feathery white wings]] but the older depictions are popular again.

 

== Opera ==

* In [[Richard Wagner]]'s ''[[Der Ring Des Nibelungen|Götterdämmerung]]'', Siegfried is killed while he's looking at Wotan's ravens flying overhead.

 

== Poetry ==

* [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s ''[[The Raven (poem)|The Raven]]''. Which, incidentally, has a lot to answer for in how the genus has been portrayed since. People tend to miss the fact that the eponymous bird isn't evil, per se, just [[Tear Jerker|a reminder of the narrator's lost love]].

 

== Professional Wrestling ==

 

== Religion ==

* In [[The Bible]], ravens get several mentions, mostly in the Old Testament:

** A raven was one of the first birds released from Noah's Ark. Unlike the doves, the raven remained in the wilderness until the land dried up enough.

 

== Sports ==

* The Baltimore Ravens of the NFL. As stated in the film ''[[Finding Forrester]]'', they're the only team with literary roots. Unsurprisingly, instead of just one mascot, they have a trio—named Edgar, Allan, and Poe.

* The Adelaide Crows in [[Australian Rules Football]] - ironic, considering that Adelaide is the capital of South Australia, whose inhabitants are nicknamed "croweaters".

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* The RPG ''[[Exalted]]'' has a [[Call a Rabbit a Smeerp]] variation of the raven called a "raiton" that almost always means trouble if you hear their cries; they live in [[Mordor|death-tainted areas]] called Shadowlands and are generally the picture of ominousness.

* In ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' two [[Space Marine]] Chapters named themselves after ravens: the Raven Guard, noted for their use of tactics rather than straight brute force, and the [[Blood Ravens]], who value and seek out knowledge.

** There's also a spell called "Blood Crow Strike," which creates energy blasts in the shape of fiery crows. Perhaps predictably, it has the evil descriptor.

** There are at least two sorts of psychopomp (the servants of Pharasma, ''another'' [[True Neutral]] [[Dark Is Not Evil|death goddess]]) that look, or can look, corvid: The huge, powerful yamarajes appear part raven and part dragon, and the tiny nosoi often resemble crows.

 

== Theme Parks ==

* A raven shows up multiple times in ''[[The Haunted Mansion]]''. [[What Could Have Been|Originally]], it was going to be the ride's narrator, a role that eventually went to [[The Voice|The Ghost Host]].

* In Dollywood, a ride called the Mystery Mine features ravens throughout the ride, appearing most prominently at the ride's steepest hill and drop.

 

== Video Games ==

* Vulcan Raven from [[Metal Gear Solid]].

** And his successor, Raging Raven, who actually looks vaguely like a raven.

** ''[[Dark Souls]]'', the [[Spiritual Successor]] to ''[[Demon's Souls]]'' features a giant crow who is able to transport the player character between the Undead Asylum and Firelink Shrine.

* The [[Armored Core]] [[The Verse|'verse]] has [[Private Military Contractor|Ravens, managed by the Raven's Nest.]] And like a flock of Ravens, they're hired by any [[Mega Corp]] that can afford them to cause collateral damage [[Western Terrorists|(even terrorists can hire you to test out their new gear)]]. And guess what? Your [[Villain Protagonist|character]] [[Crapsack World|WORKS for these guys!]]

 

== Web Comics ==

* In ''[[No Rest for The Wicked (webcomic)|No Rest for The Wicked]]'', as they dig up [[Cool Gate|the door]], crows slowly accumulate, until it is opened, and [http://www.forthewicked.net/archive/04-49.html they rush in.]

* [[Order of the Stick]]: V's familiar. [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0674.html When V remembers that.]

* [[Squid Row]]: In [http://squidrowcomics.com/?p=1702 this] comic, the characters see a wild raven and discuss [[Charles Dickens]] and [[Edgar Allan Poe]].

* [[Memoria (2010 webcomic)|Memoria]]: Lampshaded and then played straight in [http://memoria.valice.net/?p=228 this] comic. A raven is seen in the park, adding to the creepy atmosphere. The main characters comment on its being there, and aren't especially frightened by it at first. Then, of course, things [[It Got Worse|get worse]], and they are attacked by an [[Zerg Rush|entire flock]] of ravens.

* [[Tamuran]]: In [http://www.tamurancomic.com/?p=182 this] comic a [[Deadpan Snarker|sarcastic]] raven named Talather acts as a guide to Nashua.

* [[Archipelago]]: The [[Big Bad]] of this comic is The Great Raven, an ancient spirit, fearfully clever, terribly powerful, [[Sealed Evil in a Can|trapped beneath the Earth with a magic seal.]]

** Also present is Raven, who used to be a spiritual handservant for The Great Raven. He's also clever, but he went through a series of events that shook his world [[Heel Face Turn|and made him switch loyalties.]]

* ''[[Homestuck]]'': Dave Strider's apartment block is surrounded by quite a large crow population; one crow dares to invade his room and gets run through with one of Dave's katanas in an inventory mishap, but not before making off with his copies of Sburb. It's later prototyped into Dave's [[Spirit Advisor|sprite]], giving enemies in Sburb wings and a sword through the chest.

 

== Web Original ==

* [[Big Bad|Mumm-ra]] from ''[[Thundercats 2011]]'' often turns into a crow in order to [[Hidden in Plain Sight|hide in plain sight]] or get around.

* Raven in ''[[Gargoyles]]'' is a more malevolent version of the Native American trickster figure, capable of changing himself into a human or gargoyle-like form.

 

== Real Life ==

* Do visit [http://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/crowfaq.htm the Big Crow F.A.Q.], which maintains that fictional corvids are boring compared to their [[Real Life]] counterparts. You can also watch [http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/joshua_klein_on_the_intelligence_of_crows.html Joshua Klein] talk about the intelligence of these birds, and how he got some to use a vending machine.

** Indeed, researchers have recently discovered that the Corvidae, especially crows, ravens and magpies are the most intelligent species of birds, and are actually comparable to chimps in creative thinking, although their cooperation skills don't quite match up (but are still considerable).