Sapient Steed: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:Lukeandhorse 3548.jpg|link=Lucky Luke|frame]]

 

{{quote|''Those old war horses never shut up.''|cite='''[https://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=321 Tom Siddell]'''|source=''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]''}}

 

 

Useful because it justifies/averts [[Automaton Horses]], as well as providing sage advice, companionship, and enabling some really cool stunts.

 

== [[Film]] ==

* Donkey briefly in ''[[Shrek]] 2''. Otherwise he isn't actually a steed.

* Cyril Proudbottom from ''[[The Wind in the Willows]]'' segment of ''[[The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad]]''.

* Inverted in ''[[Belgariad]]'' with Hettar, a Horse Lord, capable of speaking to horses and understanding them in return. Since it's not tied to a specific mount, he can do it with any horse he happens to be riding.

** Garion also figures out how to do it, though the horse he tries it on is young, and not too bright, so it doesn't work too well.

** Binky, Death's Horse might be up to this level, but it's never actually stated just 'how much' more intelligent he is than normal. He doesn't talk, though.

* In ''[[Inheritance Cycle|Eragon]]'', dragon-riders can talk to their dragons. Dragons can also talk to other people if they connect to that persons mind.

* In [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[The Dark Side of the Sun]]'', some of the [[Mechanical Horse]]s are Class 5 robots, making them human for all intents and purposes.

* Anna and her descendants in Leo Frankowski's ''Conrad Stargard'' series are guessed to be about as intelligent as a 6-8 year old. Within the books, it's indicated that they might even be smarter than that, but have been hiding their abilities since they're essentially genetically engineered slaves.

* The titular alien dragons of the ''[[Dragonriders of Pern]]'' series are telepathic and intelligent. They can speak to other dragons, firelizards (their genetic precursors), their own riders, and the very rare humans with greater telepathic potential who can communicate with ''all'' dragons. One difference in dragon and human mentality is that dragons don't have a very strong grasp of the past or the future and mostly live in the here and now.

* The [[Our Centaurs Are Different|Titanides]] of the ''[[Gaea Trilogy]]'' do not mind being ridden. Especially when the alternative is checking their speed on behalf of the [[Puny Earthlings|slowpoke humans]].

* The Skybax in ''[[Dinotopia]]'', although you have to either speak their language to communicate, or have a translator Protoceratops around.(with the exception of Windchaser, who did speak human.) And a ton of other dinosaurs in the series as well.

* Used a few times in ''[[Animorphs]]'', when Cassie morphs horse. Once, she's in horse morph with Tobias in Hork-Bajir morph on her back.

 

* In the 1998 ''[[Merlin (TV miniseries)|Merlin-1998]]'' miniseries, Merlin has a horse named Sir Rupert. He can talk. This is not explained in the show itself, but if you [[All There in the Manual|read the novelization]] it'll tell you why.

* ''[[Mister Ed]]'' is a horse, of course.

== [[Video Games]] ==

*''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'':

** In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess]]'', Midna treats Link like this whenever he is a wolf, making ''him'' the Sapient Steed - though [[Heroic Mime|not really of the most talkative kind]].

*** While she doesn't have much to say, Epona is also able to speak to Link, but only ''while'' he is a wolf.

* [[A Dog Named "Dog"|Yoshi]] of the ''[[Super Mario (franchise)|Super Mario]]'' series. In his first appearance, he can speak and seeks out Mario as an ally. Later appearances alternately depict him and the Yoshi race with a distinct language that the main Yoshi translates or a shared common language. They've also been shown to have some culture, and build shelters as well as monuments.

* In the backstory of ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' games, there's a type of Khajiit that's basically a tiger somewhere between a horse and an elephant in size. They're just as intelligent as the other Khajiit, but they're used as steeds in battle.

* In ''[[NetHack]]'', centaurs are among the eligible steed candidates - they're actually solid choices too, with the ability to wield weapon and wear any armor that isn't boots, though the main drawback is their low HP cap.

 

* In ''[[UNA Frontiers]]'', there are Shiratz, an ancient alien probe built to look like a convincing horse, and the G.E.M.'s - a subspecies of genetically modified Morgan horses about as intelligent as dolphins or gorillas in general. Some of them have "high talent", i.e., psychic abilities to boot.

* Charismatic Seaweed, who is Eva's special [[Cool Horse|Paladin Mount]] in ''[[Our Little Adventure]]''.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* Thirty/Thirty from ''[[Bravestarr]]'' who is not just sapient, but bipedal when he wants to be.

* Twinkle the Marvel Horse from ''[[Dave the Barbarian]]''.

* Starlite from ''[[Rainbow Brite]]''.

* ''[[Wildfire]]'', from the '80s cartoon of the same name, was a massive black talking horse whose life's mission was to protect Princess Sarah until she grew up sufficiently to get her magical kingdom back.

* [[She-Ra: Princess of Power|She-Ra]]'s horse Spirit, who could transform (with She-Ra's help) into her flying, talking unicorn Swift Wind. One episode revealed that the planet of Etheria was home to an entire ''island'' of talking winged unicorns.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Funny Animal Tropes]]

[[Category:Animal Tropes]]

[[Category:Pet and Animal Companion Tropes]]

[[Category:Cool Horse]]

[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]

[[Category:This Index Has a Mind of Its Own]]