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{{trope}}
[[File:rsz_yuruyuri111_1404.jpg|link=Yuru-Yuri
{{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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== Anime & Manga ==
* {{spoiler|The Unicorn Banshee}} from [[Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn]] has a lion motif
* Usagi Tsukino from ''[[
* From ''[[
** Also life and death, {{spoiler|to reflect her undead nature}}.
** 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 swan--an "Ugly Duckling" reference that has not been lost on the fandom.
* In ''[[
** [[Master Swordsman|Dracule Mihawk]]: the Hawk, having sharp, narrow eyes, similar to those of a hawk.
** [[Hot Amazon|Boa Hancock]]: the Snake, being beautiful and vain. She also resides on an island where serpents are the pet of choice.
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* 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.
* Metamorphic insects show up throughout ''[[This Ugly Yet Beautiful World]]'', foreshadowing Hikari's ultimate purpose.
* In ''[[
* ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'' is full of animal motifs: Kenshin is the Dragon, Sano the Rooster, Saitou the Wolf, and Enishi the Tiger. It also makes an extended joke concerning women's face shapes: in Japan, women are considered to be Tanuki ("raccoon-dog", round and open features, implying naivete) or Kitsune ("fox", long and narrow, implying mischief). When Saitou meets Misao for the first time, he has an [[Imagine Spot]]: If Kaoru = Tanuki and Megumi = Kitsune, then Misao = Itachi (weasel). Misao was ''not'' pleased.
* Ikki from ''[[
* The witches from ''[[Soul Eater]]'': not only do their motifs tie in with their outer appearances and powers, but a good deal of them have tie-in ''names'' as well:
** [[Magnificent Bastard|Medusa]], for snakes.
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** Yoruichi can ''turn'' into a black cat.
** Coyote Starrk is wolf-themed, specifically, lone-wolf themed. Appropriately, he has the unique power of being able to split his soul into companion beings, including a large pack of very dangerous wolves.
** Harribel is [[Everything's Even Worse
** Ulquiorra is bat-themed to go with his darkness, void and despair themes. His resurreccion has led to fandom-wide Batman jokes.
** Nnoitra Jiruga is Praying Mantis themed. Predatory, capable of being stealthy and underhanded or a whirlwind of brute force. Also, a lot of emphasis is made on the fact that he's not as strong as a certain female teammate and one of his resurreccion tricks is to produce multiple arms (four initially, with two extra hidden for ambush purposes to bring his total to a very six).
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** Loly is centipede-themed.
** Pesche is stag beetle themed, to an extent where it's made a joke of in the manga. He's mistaken for an ant and he gets very indignant.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'', there's an animal motif on two points where Misawa and Judai clash. The artwork depicts a dragon coming from Judai, and a tiger coming from Misawa. This is a reference to tigers and dragons represented by Yin and Yang in Taoism. Dragon was Yang, and Yang went with rushing headlong into things on instinct, which is how Judai does everything. The tiger was Yin, going with thinking and planning, which Misawa does even with things like batting in baseball.
** For extra giggle points, Misawa eventually falls in love with Taniya, a tiger woman, and Juudai with Yubel, who was transformed into a dragon to protect him.
* ''[[Hajime no Ippo]]'' uses this trope quite a lot. Ippo is a gazelle, Sendo a tiger, Vorg a wolf, Date a lion, Woli a monkey, Kimura a dragonfish... Notably, Takamura, despite being the 2nd main character, does not have a clear motif. He could be a hawk (his name reflects it and he wears a hawk costume for world title fights), a bear (won against one and has worn his fur) or a rhinoceros beetle (wore such a costume and his ''[[
* The creator of ''Descendants of Darkness'' has often drawn the two main characters with animal traits, both in the manga and in extra art. For Happy-go-lucky, often childish, always energetic and loyal Tsuzuki, it's a puppy. This visual is used enough in the manga and anime that fans often reference Tsuzuki as going into "Puppy-mode". For the quiet, loner, bookish, easily angered, defensive and Tsundere Hisoka, it's a cat. While this isn't used nearly as much as the Puppy-Tsuzuki visual, it's no less apt.
* [[Negima|Satsuki Yotsuba]] [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v09/c073/11.html is commonly drawn with a Koala behind her] and is the only [[Loads and Loads of Characters|one]] drawn quite [[Only Six Faces|different]] clearly inspired by a Koala.
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** Haz and Gil's ''Nanto Soyoken'' style is the "Twin Hawk Fist"
** The only exceptions to this theme are the Golan Colonel's ''Nanto Muonken'' style ("Silent Fist") and the knife jugglers Beji and Giji's ''Nanto Sozanken'' style ("Twin Kill Fist"), as well as most of the anime-only styles from filler episodes. However, most of the styles from the ''Gaiden'' spin-offs follow the avian theme.
* In ''[[
** When Shinjyo uses his Peacock/Phoenix Wing boost, the fire in a shape of the fiery bird comes out of the booster's nozzles.
* In the first anime of [[Fullmetal Alchemist]] after joining the military, he is constantly taunted and mentioned as being its "dog". After defecting when his brother becomes the philosopher's stone, he voices to his commander, Mustang, that he is now a stray.
** The manga and second anime use the "dog of the military" motif as well, mostly as a derogatory nickname given to state alchemists by people who believe alchemists should not be involved in state affairs.
* In ''[[Spirited Away]]'', all the characters from the spirit world are actually animal spirits, according to the [[Word of God]]. [[Deadpan Snarker|Lin]] is a weasel. [[Jerk
* In ''[[
** As an added note, there's [[Fan Nickname|Usarisu]]. After a drawing on [[Word of God|the author's blog]] of Chibirisu (the little kid version of England) with bunny ears, the trend spread of drawing little England with the ears became quite popular among fans.
* In ''[[Shigurui]]'' Kogan Iwamoto and after him Gennosuke Fujiki symbolise the Tiger while Seigen Irako symbolises the Dragon.
* Most of the superheros in ''[[Tiger and Bunny]]'' have an animal motif. Kotetsu is a tiger, Antonio an ox, Nathan a phoenix, Pao-Lin a dragon, and Barnaby has the honor of being frequently alluded to a [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|rabbit]]. He is not amused by this.
* In ''[[Blue Exorcist
** On the other side of the spectrum, Mamushi Hojo is incredibly snake-like. She is very sharp tongued, condescending, and slippery like one; her name means pit viper; she even has the slitted snake-pupils for God's sake!
* [[Slam Dunk]] uses this trope pretty frequently in combination with chibi. Centers that are big and ugly are nicknamed some variation of "gorilla" (Gori, Bald Gori, Ape King), while someone whose annoyingly energetic is called a monkey (Redheaded Monkey, Wild Monkey). Similarly, Shohoku is often portrayed as a team full of monkeys who follow a Gorilla, with the exception of Rukawa whose called a fox.
* In the original ''[[Mahou Tsukai
* ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'' has Monta with an uncanny appearance to a monkey. Patrick "Panther" Spencer is known to be one of the fastest people in the world. [[Blood Knight]] [[The Berserker|berserker]] Gaou is comparable to a Tyrannosaurus with the way he "devours" anyone who stands in his way. Rui has the appearance of a chamelion.
* In ''Kodomo No Jikan'' (manga only) Kuro is occasionally drawn as a black cat (and in both anime and manga she often sports/sprouts cat ears) and Mimi is drawn as a white rabbit. Also, Aoki compares the cat he had been feeding to Rin. When it scratched him, she justified it by saying that it [[Notice This|might have been abused.]]
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== Comic Books ==
* Spiders appear as a motif in ''[[Marvel 1602]]'', usually around Peter Parquagh. Given who his [[Spider
** Many [[Spider
* Not much needs to be said about [[Batman]].
* [[Played for Laughs]] in [http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3155/3330408877_99ec3e1fe3.jpg this strip] by ''[[Quino]]''.
* Psychic operatives in ''[[Casanova (
== Fan Fic ==
* ''[[
* In [[X
** Sharks are [[Memetic Badass|notorious]] aquatic predators; Erik is a [[Badass]], a [[Nazi Hunter|hunter {of Nazis}]], and first meets Charles when they're both in the water. Rats are small, cute (to those who like them), clever, and associated with science; Charles is a [[Badass Bookworm]] professor of genetics and his actor is both [[Pretty Boy|rather pretty]] and a bit on the short side.
* [[
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* The last shot of ''The Departed'', a movie about a pair of moles within the Boston Mob and the Mass. "Staties" hunting each other, features a rat scurrying across a balcony
** Spoofed on ''[[The Simpsons]]'' which did a parody of this movie. As the rat scurries by at the end, Ralph pops up and tells the audience, "The rat represents obviousness!"
* ''[[
** There are many, many different references to the bird motif throughout the film. Try to find them all!
* ''[[On the Waterfront]]'' has a bird motif. There are many references to birds that mirror the various human interactions in the plot.
* In ''Rebecca,'' the animal favoured by the nameless heroine is the lap-dog, Jasper. Rebecca, however, is regularly mentioned in conjunction with horses. The second Mrs. de Winter is meek, mild and childish, always eager to please and desperate for her husband's approval, to the point where she is almost pathetic. Rebecca, however, is wild and dangerous and too powerful for Max De Winter to keep control of - especially since the horses mentioned alongside her are crazy with pain, as Rebecca whips them into a frenzy.
* ''[[Ghost Dog the Way of Samurai]]'' has this, but only a few animals show up more than once.
* At one point in ''[[Star Trek (
* In ''[[The Dark Knight]]'', the Joker makes some references about dogs and their loyalty. Bonus points for reinforcing his ideals on actual dogs, starving them and gaining their loyalty that way.
* Many of the characters in ''[[
* From ''[[Sherlock Holmes (
* In the opening credits of the 1939 film version of ''[[The Women]]'' has each major character represented by an animal, which dissolves into the face of the actress. (It should be noted that, as with the human characters, all animals in the movie were female.)
* In ''[[Ever After (
* Original ''[[
* ''[[The Howling]]'' is filled with wolf motifs.
* [[James Cameron]] [[Word of God|has stated]] that he used a butterfly motif on Rose in ''[[
* Jafar, the villain of ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', was actually given a snake motif: his hat and robes resemble the hood and body of a cobra, he has vaguely serpentine eyes, teeth resembling a venomous snake's fangs, a constant tendency to flick out his tongue while speaking, he always carries a cobra-headed staff with him all the time, and at the end of the film, [[One-Winged Angel|he even]] [[Scaled Up|turns into one.]]
* ''[[Bram
== Literature ==
* [[
* ''[[
* Many of the noble houses in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' have animals on their coats of arms, and are commonly referred to by these animals as well as showing an awareness of how they are 'supposed' to act to fit the animal characteristics; the series has a lot of fun with the possible symbolism. For example, the grim, grey, and cold-dwelling Starks have a direwolf on their arms, while the blonde, vain, and aggressive Lannisters have a lion. Littlefinger deliberately chooses the small, bright, and <s>harmless</s>cunning thief, the jaybird, for his arms to appear nonthreatening. Crows seem to act as the motif for the series as a whole, symbolizing war, ill omen, and death.
** To top it off many characters are refered to by animal nicknames based off their traits. Like Sansa Stark is called "little bird" (okay maybe by one guy) for her ability to repeat "Pretty words". Also, Sandor is often called dog or The Hound.
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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 (
** 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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** Also, for all that Snape's patronus is a {{spoiler|doe in honour of Lily}}, he is often associated with bats, something which is [[Dark Is Not Evil|dark and 'evil']] but also misunderstood and associated with witchcraft.
** Entire groups of people can also take on the animal motif of their house, but to a lesser extent. Gryffindor has a lion, showing bravery. Hufflepuff a badger, signifying plain-ness, but also hard workers. Ravenclaw has an eagle, for intelligence and knowledge. Snakes are the symbol of Slytherin, and associated with evil, but also traits such as intelligence and ambition.
* The [[
** And [[Sixth Ranger Traitor|David]] is [[Rewarded
* ''[[
** A very similar [[John Steinbeck
* [[
* ''[[
* An in-universe example: In ''[[Dragaera]]'', each of the [[Numerological Motif|17]] Great Houses is named after an animal. However, since a lot of those animals aren't from Earth, the similarities between [[Planet of Hats|the personality traits of the House]] and the traits of the animal are much better understood by the characters than by us.
* In ''[[Stardust (
* From ''[[Western Animation]]//[[Coraline]]'', the Other Mother is especially given imagery of a {{spoiler|spider}}. Particularly her real form and not to mention how her kind is known to {{spoiler|eat their offspring}}.
** Bugs are everywhere in the film as well. The Other Mother added them to the Other World because she thought Coraline liked bugs.
* Each chapter of [[The Darksword Trilogy]] starts with a small, symbolic illustration. Joram is represented as a [[The Frog Prince
* ''[[The Hunger Games (
* ''[[In Death]]'' series: Roarke has been compared to a wolf in ''Ceremony In Death'', ''Vengeance In Death'', and ''Promises In Death''. ''Promises In Death'' actually had Eve and several women discussing the men in their lives and comparing them to animals. Nadine got a turtle of a man. Trina got a snake of a man. Mira got an owl of a man. Peabody got a puppy of a man. Mavis got a bear of a man. Louise got a cheetah of a man. Nadine theorizes that Roarke is a panther, but Eve ends up saying "Wolf," and Mira points out that when wolves mate, it's for life.
* In the ''[[Belgariad]]'', each of the gods has a totemic animal: Belar's is a bear, Torak's is a dragon, Chaldan's is a bull, Issa's is a snake, Nedra's is a lion, Mara's is a bat, and Aldur's is an owl. Each god, and his chosen race of people, take on the personality characteristics of their animal, and in some cases go beyond: Barak turns into a bear when a certain condition is met; Salmissra is transformed into a serpent as punishment for her particular meddling; Torak's successor transforms into a dragon on occasion in an effort to impede the party; and the female sorcerers under Aldur's tutelage prefer the form of the owl for themselves (the males prefer the wolf). The sorcerers also wear an amulet each bearing the image of their chosen form.
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* Most [[Kamen Rider|Kamen Riders]] have an insect or arachnid theme; in some series it's obvious (such as ''[[Kamen Rider Kabuto|Kabuto]]'', where the characters' [[Transformation Trinket|Transformation Trinkets]] '''are''' their theme creature) while others are less so.
* ''[[Power Rangers]]'' and ''[[Super Sentai]]'' use animal themes often. This is most obvious with the mecha.
* In ''[[
* In [[The League of Gentlemen]], Tubbs & Edward have porcine features, live in filth, and Tubbs even breast-feeds a piglet in one scene. Also, Harvey Denton is obsessed with & raises toads, and his appearance and household reflect this.
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** And of course, there's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JMeKSjBYQY Dragon Dragon.]
* The [[Chris Benoit|Rabid Wolverine]].
* When the current [[Masked Luchador]] [[Rey Mysterio, Jr.]] began his wrestling career he used the name "Colibri," which is Spanish for "hummingbird." It's fitting for someone so [[Fragile Speedster|agile and small]].
** Not to mention that [[wikipedia:Huitzilopochtli|Huitzilopochtli]] (aka [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|The Left-Handed Hummingbird Wizard]]) was the patron god of Tenochtitlan.
* Early on his career [[Chris Jericho]] had a number of lion-based names and nicknames, which fit well with his long blond hair. He hasn't gone by any of those names in years, even since before he [[Important Haircut|cut his mane short]]...but his version of the springboard moonsault is still called the [[The Artifact|"Lionsault"]].
* In Japan and Japanese-influenced promotions, up-and-coming wrestlers are called "young lions."
* [[Spell My Name
* [[Jake Roberts|Jake "The Snake" Roberts]] was named such for his serpentine movements, [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent|generally villainous nature]] and tendency to bring live snakes to the ring to frighten his opponent.
** [[Stone Cold Steve Austin]]'s nickname "The Rattlesnake" emphasized his untrustworthy temperament and habit of [[Nineties Anti-Hero|striking out at anyone, friend or foe, with little reason]].
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* Many, many [[Game Cube]] games contain references to dolphins. The dolphin motif is a [[Development Gag]] to the [[Game Cube]]'s codename in development: the Dolphin, and its GPU is called "[[Flipper]]".
** Olimar's ship in ''[[Pikmin]]'' is called the ''Dolphin''.
** ''[[
* [[Bayonetta]] has a distinct butterfly motif, largely due to her patron demon.
* Squall Leonhart of ''[[
** In Squall's case, the lion symbolism is at odds with his apparent personality, and {{spoiler|serves as a signal that there's more to him than meets the eye. Although he's spent years cultivating an angsty loner persona, once he starts to confront his issues it becomes increasingly clear that he's actually a natural leader who cares deeply about his friends.}} Appropriately, one of the songs that plays during the final boss fight is titled "Maybe I'm a Lion."
** In ''[[
*** The wolf works well for Cloud as more than just a 'lone wolf'. When fighting Bahamut Sin, Cloud gets up to Bahamut through the assistance of his friends, working together as a 'pack' to take down their prey.
** ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'' continues Squall's lion motif, though as painted by the villains this time. They seem to make a habit of referring to at least a few of the protagonists as though they were animals, such as calling [[Final Fantasy V
*** Of course, Zidane being referred to as a monkey is hardly out of the ordinary, given that has a monkey tail and was implied to be an actual [[Petting Zoo People|monkey-person]] for most of the game leading up to the big [[The Reveal|reveal]].
** Gabranth in ''[[
* Most of the Animal-themed Code names in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' match their owners in terms of personality, though some (like Mantis) are less obvious than others. Notable for that the Snake isn't automatically "evil".
** Sniper Wolf psychologically fixates on a specific "prey" target (and marks them) and is famous for working alone, never with a spotter, fitting the 'lone wolf' stereotype. In-universe, she was given her name because she is Kurdish.
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** The Boss is also associated with snakes. She mentions snakes multiple times in her speeches, one slides out of her body after her death, and she gives the player snakeskin camouflage as a reward for defeating her.
** The Fear is spider-themed, fighting with rope traps, and with spider venom as a weapon.
* ''[[Super Mario Bros.|Mario Power Tennis: Advance Tour]]'' included a cat-and-mouse theme in one doubles partnership, with Paula (who was tiny, had a ponytail that could be seen from the front, with a huge, puffy bow over her head and rosy cheeks) and Whisker (taller, slicked-up cat-ear style hairdo and a prominent, muzzle-like nose). Why, exactly, is unclear, unless it was a parody, as they're the best of friends.
* Travis Touchdown, main character of ''[[No More Heroes]]'' has a number of tiger motifs- his [[Super Mode|Dark Side Mode]] meter is a pixellated tiger walking across the screen, a number of his clothing options have tiger designs, his motorcycle is named the "Schpeltiger", his ultimate sword has a 'Tiger' kanji on its hilt, and one of his final wrestling moves is the Tiger Suplex.
** Some of the bosses also have motifs to match, such as [[Worthy Opponent|Ryuji]] and the [[Tiger Versus Dragon|dragon]], and Alice as a scorpion. {{spoiler|Jasper as the bat, as well}}.
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** A strange case, but [[Anti-Hero|Ragna]] is often compared to an "underdog". Hazama calls him an "adorable little puppy of a man", and Platinum compares him to a stray dog.
** There's also [[Ms. Fanservice|Makoto]], who's [[Animal Motif]] is [[Everythings Nuttier With Squirrels|glaringly obvious]].
* The high-ranking [[Shinigami|Reapers]] in ''[[
** Higashizawa: Ovis Cantus, the Ram - brutal power head-on, but blindly following orders (what is a ram but a male sheep, after all?).
** Minamimoto: Leo Cantus, the Lion - vicious claws backed by an unending drive to rule.
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** Kitaniji: Anguis Cantus, the Snake - hidden in plain sight, coiling around his victims who don't see until too late that they're caught. {{spoiler|After stealing Joshua's power, he becomes Draco Cantus, the Dragon, pure, desperate power.}}
** {{spoiler|Hanekoma: Panthera Cantus, the Panther - a quiet hunter, much stronger than he appears.}}
* ''[[
** One of the developer's logs available online also mentions that the signature hood and cloak were designed to create the silhouette of a bird of prey during dramatic leaps.
** There's also the shape of the robes and hood: the tip of the hood resembles an eagle's head, and the below the waist the robes separate to resemble feathers.
*** The final level of ''[[
* In ''[[
** It has other meanings behind it as well. The Adam-producing slug is seen as Rapture's current state (the caterpillar), with the butterfly being the Utopia that Rapture is destined to become through Lamb's cult.
* Some characters from ''[[.hack]]'' are associated with animals. For example, Atoli<ref>"atori"/brambling</ref> from ''G.U.'', who also happens to love small birds.
* Many ''[[
** [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|Fujiwara no Mokou]] is associated with the phoenix because of her immortality and her fire powers.
** [[Physical God|Goddess]] Suwako Moriya has an association with frogs. After defeating Suwako and taking over her shrine and worshippers, Kanako Yasaka adopted snakes as her symbol. Their shared shrine maiden Sanae Kochiya has a frog hairclip and a white snake in her hair.
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** And in the PC-98 exclusive ''Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream'', [[Cute Ghost Girl|Kana Anaberal]] has an association with birds, evident in her spellcard Soul Bird... and lampshaded by [[Cloudcuckoolander|Kotohime]], who asks in her victory quote if Kana is a birdkeeper.
* Most of the AI lords in ''[[Stronghold]]'' have animal nicknames with personalities to match.
* The noble chicken is a recurring motif in ''[[
* Many of the chapters in the ''[[Rule of Rose]]'' involve animal motifs, such as 'The Bird of Happiness' and 'The Goat Sisters'. Even ones that don't often have an animal associated with them; 'Rag Princess' has pigs, for example. All these animals manifest as pseudo-humanoid enemies during the game, and seem to be inspired by animals kept in the orphanage.
* ''[[Advance Wars]]: Days of Ruin/Dark Conflict'' has the 12th Independent Legion, which uses a wolf as their symbol. In the US version their unit is nicknamed "Brenner's Wolves" after their leader, and Brenner's [[Leitmotif]] in the EU version (where he is called O'Brian) is named "Indomitable Wolf". Like a wolf pack, the Legion is very loyal to one another and work much like [[The Drifter]], wandering from place to place as they're needed.
* Philemon of ''[[Persona (
* Deliberately invoked by the faculty of [[Wizarding School|Iris Academy]] in ''[[Magical Diary]]''. All students are sorted into one of six houses based on their gender and personality traits. Horses, Butterflies and Snakes for girls. Wolves, Falcons and Toads for boys.
* In ''[[
* Ganondorf from the ''Zelda'' series has always had a pig/boar motif. He transforms into a boar-like creature called "Ganon" at some point in a lot of the games he appears in.
** Also, in ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
* Split ships in the ''[[X Universe]]'' series are named for terrestrial predators, mainly reptiles (e.g. Python, Mamba). Boron ships are named for aquatic organisms (Octopus, Shark). Teladi ships are named for birds (Harrier, Phoenix).
* In ''[[Escape Velocity|EV Nova]]'', the Federation fighters are the Viper (interceptor) and Anaconda (fighter-bomber). The Aurorans use the Firebird and Phoenix (overlap with [[Mythical Motifs]]). The Polaris name most of their ships after animals.
* The Four Great Knights of Gwyn in ''[[
* Yuri Lowell from ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]'' has a wolf motif, with his name literally meaning "little wolf", many of his artes having "wolf" in their names, and some of his artes like Lone Wolf Charge projecting a [[Animal Battle Aura|wolf-shaped battle aura]].
** To a lesser degree, Tison has a snake motif, having some artes that are named after snakes, projecting snake-shaped battle auras, and also looking somewhat snake-like with his fangs and golden eyes.
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== Visual Novels ==
* ''[[
** Don't forget Fujimura Taiga! Or actually, do, because she [[Berserk Button|really doesn't like being compared to a tiger]]. One would think that she would stop wearing the yellow striped shirt and take the tiger strap off her shinai if that were the case, but... well, logic has never been her strong point.
* [[
* In ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro
* Kazuko in ''[[Maji
== Webcomics ==
* ''[[
** Antimony is associated with [[Big Badass Wolf|Wolves]]. She carries a stuffed wolf doll around with her, and she's named after an element that the alchemists of old associated with the wolf. Others often find her hard to approach. And she keeps running into supernatural canines.
** Kat has decorated a few of her possessions with cartoon felines. Also, not to be [[Captain Obvious]], but her name is Kat. And she has an unhealthy obsession with birds.
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** Zimmy is associated with insects and spiders. She was first introduced beneath a sign that read ([[Bilingual Bonus|in Greek]]) "Danger: insects", and her anger tends to be visualized by symbolic swarms of bugs. When she gets energetic, she likes to pass time by hunting spiders in the library.
*** {{spoiler|After Jack is accidentally transported to Zimmy's bizarre mental [[Dark World]], his astral body gains a spider image on its face. The two hairs on his forehead look an awful lot like spider fangs, too.}}
* ''[[
** There's a minor character named Catalina [[Meaningful Name|Bobcat]], whose character design and choice of hairstyle (along with her personality) does make her seem rather catlike. [[Word of God]] states that this was intentional and that no, she cannot transform into a cat.
** Grace has a much more obvious squirrel theme, but this makes sense: thanks to [[Bizarre Alien Biology]] and [[Lego Genetics]], she's actually literally part-squirrel.
* ''[[Sister Claire]]'' is absolutely ''obsessed'' with cats, even beyond the obvious fact that one is the [[Big Bad]]. Claire herself is a [[Friend to All Living Things]] who loves playing with the local strays, her room is decorated with cat posters and dolls, the chapel has banned all cats, and of course {{spoiler|Sister Catherine}} seems to be [[Ambiguously Human|a bit too connected to the animals...]]
* ''[[The Beast Legion]]'' universe involves characters who literally transform into powerful beasts with Awesome powers.
* In ''[[
* Several of the trolls in ''[[
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[
* ''[[Mummies Alive]]'': Each mummy has an animal motif for their [[Powered Armour]] - falcon (Ja-Kal), cat (Nefertina), ram (Armon) and snake (Rath). [[Big Bad]] [[Meaningful Name|Scarab]] also has one in his (much less friendly-looking) transformed state.
* Zuko from ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* Megatron in ''[[Transformers Prime]]'' has rather shark-like facial features, which fits into his powerful, bloodthirsty and frightening character.
* The main characters of [[
** Mike: Mutt (dog)
** Julie: 9 Lives (cat)
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== Real Life ==
* 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
** 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>, most modern Jews descend from the tribe of Judah. Hence the term "Judah-ism", or Judaism. Or "Jew" and derivatives thereof, for that matter.
* 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.
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