Ravens and Crows: Difference between revisions

* In ''[[Rango]]'', a crow named [[Meaningful Name|Wounded Bird]] is a parody of the [[Magical Native American]] characters that appear in [[Spaghetti Western|Spaghetti Westerns]]; however, he helps the title character on several occasions and is shown positively.

* Like in the book, ravens and crows are generally an ill omen in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''. The "crebain from Dunland" that Legolas sees near the Misty Mountains are implied to be servants of Saruman.

* The evil queen Ravenna in ''[[Snow White and the Huntsman]]'' uses a corvid motif, and is able to transform into a flock of ravens at will, while her minions change into a murder of crows when killed. However, some [[One for Sorrow, Two For Joy|magpies]] serve as Snow White's friends and allies.

* The witch in ''[[Brave]]'' has a raven or crow as a familiar.

* Mat from the ''[[Wheel of Time]]'' series is based on Odin and acquires a ring with ravens on it late in the series. He also has a [[Blade on a Stick]] with an inscription referencing "Thought" and "Memory", the names of Odin's two ravens. In the 11th book he even {{spoiler|becomes the Prince of Ravens through marriage}}. The Dark One uses ravens as spies, and at one point early in the series a huge flock of them is shown patrolling a forest, swarming and completely stripping the flesh from anything that breaks from the cover of the trees.

* [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[Alice in Wonderland|Through the Looking Glass]]'' invokes one from [[Nursery Rhyme]], and then it shows up to stop the fight in truth.

They quite forgot their quarrel.'' }}

** Speaking of Lewis Carroll: "Why is a raven like a writing-desk?" There is [[Riddle for the Ages|no real answer]] but Lewis Carroll himself suggested: "Because it can produce a few notes, though they are very flat; and it is ''nevar'' put with the wrong end in front!"

* [[Dan Abnett]]'s ''Ravenor'' and ''Ravenor Returned'' have the sheen birds, mechanical birds that were created to live in a city where the pollution would kill most unprotected wildlife. {{spoiler|They work for the Unkindness, controlled by heretics to perform assassinations almost like a force of nature, using their collective sharp-edges wings to strip victims down to their bloody bones.}}

* Ravens are a constant motif in the books of Elaine Cunningham. In the ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' novels they are everywhere, from Liriel's representation in a prophetic vision (and later nickname) to a named character. Shopscat, a [[Cool Pet|pet raven]] of Curious Past shop (''Thornhold''), is able to say several meaningful phrases and has discouraged many a thief with his sharp beak.

* In ''[[The Dark Is Rising]]'', rooks (a corvid relative) are the agents of the Dark and appear at various points either as spies, harbingers of doom, actual receptacles of evil (the attack on the church on Christmas comes to mind), or simply to look ominous. There is some confusion as to whether they are genuinely wicked or merely misled and controlled by the villains; most of the time they seem rather mindless, and never do they cause any outright harm, but Merriman later says that they "chose to aid the Dark" or words to that effect, a choice they regretted when the Wild Hunt harried them to the ends of the earth. In any event, after book two the rooks are never shown to cause any problems again, whether they were freed from [[Mind Control]] or simply learned their lessons and decided to stay neutral from then on.

* Crows appear in "[[A Series of Unfortunate Events|The Vile Village]]". The town is called VFD which stands for "Village of [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Fowl]] Devotees". They've infested the town, a la ''[[The Birds]]'', but no one seems to mind.

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]''

'''Homer Simpson''': ''It's a murder, honey. A group of crows is called a murder.'' }}

** A crow call is often heard in [[Establishing Shot|establishing shots]] of the Springfield nuclear plant, perhaps as a sign of the ominous doings that often occur therein.