Animal Motifs: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"Ah, the Animal Kingdom offers many useful ideas!"''|'''Dr. Otto Octavius''', ''[[Western Animation/The Spectacular Spider-Man|The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'', "The Invisible Hand"}}
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This animal isn't around to be [[Pet the Dog|petted]] or [[Kick the Dog|kicked]], or [[Right-Hand-Cat|to assist in taking over the world...]] well, it might be, but only as a side job. The real purpose of these animals is that of most motifs: they're there to underline a theme, or make a statement about a certain character. They might not even be physically present at all. The "animal" might be the name of a football team, a charm on a bracelet, or an ornament on the mantelpiece.
Animals are used to depict characters more often than they describe themes. Even in the real world, describing a person by comparing them to an animal is a good way to convey your opinion of them: phrases such as "lion-hearted," "eagle-eyed," or "<s>dirty</s> [[You Dirty Rat|doity rat]]" are popular to the point of cliche. Therefore, many
Animals, like [[Flower Motifs|flowers]], are a motif that tends to be gendered. Men are usually compared to animals that are clearly predatory: wolves, lions, and bears, for example. Women generally get the cute and fluffy animals as motifs, such as bunnies and suchlike. However, women have historically had a strong association with the cat which, while cuddly and furry, is also a predator. Cats are therefore a common motif for female characters, but one aspect of the feline mystique will most likely be emphasized over the
In the world of fiction, someone who doesn't like animals at all is either a nasty piece of work or obsessively clean and germ-phobic. "Animal hater" is quite a strong term though, so to dilute the "hard-heartedness" of this character, expect to see one particular animal that they just can't resist.
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** And fate, of course.
** And Watanuki is often represented by Foxes and/or birds.
* Being an anime about ballet and fairy tales that was heavily influenced by ''[[Swan Lake]]'', ''[[Princess Tutu]]'' has several of these, along with references to [[Animal Stereotypes]]. In particular, Princess Tutu is heavily associated with swans (as is Mytho in his true, princely form), the girl that transforms into her is named Ahiru ("duck") and is really a duck disguised as a human, the villain is a Raven and thus crows are associated with evil and the bad guys, and Princess Kraehe ("crow" in German) is associated both with crows (obviously) and black swans. The opening intro goes as far as to show Ahiru in her duck form flying into the sky as she transforms into a beautiful
* In ''[[One Piece]]'', the original Seven Warlords of the Sea have an animal in their names and can often identify with the animal's characteristics:
** [[Master Swordsman|Dracule Mihawk]]: the Hawk, having sharp, narrow eyes, similar to those of a hawk.
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* [[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]] takes this concept to the logical conclusion. It is easier to list the amount of characters who don't have an animal associated with them. That number is 0.
* In ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'', Aion is often associated with birds, particularly an eagle that is his familiar. He often sends his eagle ahead of him to communicate with others or make his presence known. He also refers to Chrono as "my bird who can't fly", and even goes as far as to describe a character falling into his trap as a "turkey flying into the oven basted and ready to cook."
* [[School Shock]] has [[Super Soldier]] [[Cyborg
* [[Sibling Yin-Yang|Black and White]] from ''[[Tekkon Kinkreet]]'' are collectively referred to as 'the cats,' and White is often seen wearing hats or hoods that mimic animal looks.
* The animals in ''[[Pet Shop of Horrors]]'' are usually connected to both their owner's "fatal flaw" and a possible means of redemption. The man who deceived his new bride gets a highly possessive (and [[I'm a Humanitarian|hungry]]) mermaid; the selfish drifter gets a sweet little kitten to soften his nature.
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** {{spoiler|Another male non-witch character, [[The Collector|Eibon/Noah]], }}can be presumed to have a worm motif{{spoiler|, since "worm" is in his chanting and since he used one to bite an enemy to pieces. The fact that he wields a book, specifies it as a ([[Badass Bookworm|badass?]]) "[[No Pun Intended|bookworm]]".}}
* In ''[[Berserk]]'', Griffith is closely associated with the hawk; besides the name of the group of his followers, The Band Of The Hawks, his helmet is vaguely similar to that of a bird of prey, he often wears a cape (symbolising the wings), and is even called [[Light Is Not Good|"The Hawk of Light"]]. {{spoiler|Eventually, once he becomes a member of the Gondhand, his demonic form Femto resembles a red hawk with bat like traits.}} His counter part, [[Dark Is Not Evil|Guts]], however, is more closely associated with [[Big Badass Wolf|wolves]], most notably by his [[Enemy Within|"inner beast"]] Guts is also known as "The Dark Hawk", to counter Griffith.
* [[Naruto]] Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha are odd cases of having ''two''
** Also, Itachi has a raven motif-thing going on, which is interesting if you consider that Sasuke's motif is the hawk...
** The rest of the Konoha clans save for the Senju have their own, too: Hyuuga- birds, Inuzuka- dogs, Yamanaka- boars, Nara- deer, Akamichi- butterflies, Sarutobi- monkeys, {{spoiler|Uzumaki- foxes}}.
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* Literally used in ''[[His Dark Materials]]'' where your daemon's form (an animal) represents yourself and is part of your soul. Since children have not yet truly defined who they are in life, their daemons can shape shift until they mature.
* ''[[Tortall Universe|The Song of The Lioness]]'' book series features a female knight called Alanna, called "The Lioness" thanks to her courage and tenacity.
* There are the protective spirits brought forth by the Patronus Charm in ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]''
** Ginny's Patronus is a horse, Mr. Weasley's is a weasel (unusual for a "good" character), [[Author Avatar|Hermione's]] is a playful otter (J.K. Rowling's favorite animal), Irish Seamus Finnegan's is a fox, stolid Ernie Macmillan's is a boar, pretty Cho Chang's is a swan. All the Animagi in the series (wizards who can turn into animals) seem to have the same animal form as their Patronus.
** Minerva McGonagall has a cat Patronus and transforms into a cat, so it's likely that there are [[Alternate Character Interpretation|alternate ways to interpret]] the Patronuses based on the witch or wizard's personality.
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** The exception so far have been Hexenbiests (eyeless hag-like creatures) and Siegbarstes (ogres).
* [[Kings]] seems to have a new one every episode, from butterflies to pigeons to deer.
* Most [[Kamen Rider
* ''[[Power Rangers]]'' and ''[[Super Sentai]]'' use animal themes often. This is most obvious with the mecha.
* In ''[[Criminal Minds]]'', Gideon loves birds and is associated with them. When his successor Rossi debuts, the first thing he does is shoot a bird, to indicate that he's nothing like Gideon.
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* ''[[Silverhawks]]''
* Megatron in ''[[Transformers Prime]]'' has rather shark-like facial features, which fits into his powerful, bloodthirsty and frightening character.
* The main characters of [[Motorcity]] all have [[Cool Car
** Mike: Mutt (dog)
** Julie: 9 Lives (cat)
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* Toyotomi Hideyoshi's nickname was "Monkey" (Saru), allegedly given by Oda Nobunaga because of his facial resemblance to a monkey. This recognition directly contributed to the popular image of Toyotomi Hideyoshi being a monkey styled person, both in appearance and mode of behaviour
* Most countries have an animal they use as a symbol for the nation as a whole. The United States have their bald eagle, of course, while Russia has [[Everything's Worse with Bears|the bear]], the United Kingdom the scrappy but lovable bulldog (officially it's actually the Lion but the bulldog characterisation stuck), India has the tiger, Thailand has the elephant, Israel the Lions of Judah and China has its whiskered dragon. Other countries apparently had to take whatever animal mascots were left over: Canada has the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HmgemMkfKA mighty beaver], Spain has the black bull, while France is unofficially associated with the Gallic rooster. Empires with great reach or which were viewed as secular and religious authorities often adopt the double-headed eagle: the Byzantine Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, the old Russian Empire, the [[Warhammer 40000|Imperium of Man]], etc.
** Actually, Judah has the [[Captain Obvious|Lion of Judah]]; each of the tribes has its own animal motif. However, due to the loss of the Ten Tribes,<ref>Reuben, Simeon, Naftali, Issachar, Asher, Dan, Zebulun, Gad, Ephraim, and Menasheh</ref>
* Australia's Coat of Arms features a Kangaroo and an Emu, two fearsome, Australia-only animals that can't walk/jump/run backwards. Seriously. That's why they picked them.
** Not to mention said animals are [[Killer Rabbit|more dangerous than they look]].
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* Continental officer Francis Marion was known as the "Swamp Fox" in the American Revolution because he could disappear into the South Carolina swamps like an elusive fox.
* Similarly there was Erwin Rommel, the "Desert Fox" of Germany in [[WW 2]].
* Some [[Goth
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