Talking Animal: Difference between revisions

 

A '''Talking Animal''' is different from:

* A [[Funny Animal]]: who has more than half, most, or almost all of the mannerisms of a human being, but still have the basic body shape of their species.

* A [[Petting Zoo People|Petting Zoo Person]]: who is an animal that has almost all, if not all, of the mannerisms of a human being and actually has a human body frame.

 

 

 

Since these are otherwise normal animals who are able to talk, the issues of [[Furry Confusion]] don't usually come up. The issue of [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?]], however, is far more likely to affect a Talking Animal than a Funny Animal. That said, Talking Animals are likely to voice just [[Humans Are the Real Monsters|what they think about humans]]...

Fun fact: As ridiculous as it sounds, there are some books like ''Charlotte's Web'' that were banned in some areas of the U.S. because they had talking animals in them.

 

 

Compare [[Animal Talk]]. Contrast [[Pantomime Animal]].

 

{{examples}}

* Many GEICO commercials have a talking gecko with a British accent, who also serves as a mascot for GEICO.

* A 2000s commercial for Connect Four has a group of animals watching a boy and girl playing the game and bragging them to do it again.

* Many cereal mascots, like Toucan Sam, the Honeynut Cheerios Bee, and the Trix Rabbit; guys like Sugar Bear and Tony the Tiger cross over into [[Funny Animal]]s.

 

* ''[[Kimba the White Lion]]'', anyone? Not to mention that they literally all speak to ''humans''! And they learn the dub language in like 5 seconds!

* Meowth of the Team Rocket trio from ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]''. The anime shows through [[Flash Back|flashbacks]] just how hard it was for him to learn to say something other than "Meowth", which other members of his species say. One could consider Meowth some manner of prodigy, as he is also capable of translating [[Animal Talk|"Pokémon"]] to human language from species of Pokémon other than his own.

** In the Pokemon universe, all Pokemon can understand each other. So it isn't anything special on Meowth's part when he translates from Pokemon to human language because, as a Pokemon, he automatically understands what any other Pokemon is saying, regardless of species. It is shown many times, for example, one Pokemon of one species trying to convince another Pokemon of a different species that these humans are friends and those humans are bad and things like that.

** Bizarrely, only one character (a random trainer) is ever shown to be impressed by Meowth's ability to speak like a human and even tried to capture Meowth.

* Chopper from ''[[One Piece]]''. He's a reindeer that can not only talk to humans, but other animals as well. Of course, this is because he had eaten a devil's fruit which gives him this ability. There's also Pappug, a starfish who learned to talk ''because of a pun'' related to the pronunciation of "I'm a human" (''hito desu'') and "starfish" (''hitode''). Trafalgar Law also has talking polar bear, Bepo, on his crew, though we're not sure what his deal is yet. Recently, a talking lion named Pekoms has been introduced, but how he is able to talk is as much of a mystery as with Bepo.

* The entire cast of ''[[Mori no Ando]]'', considering they know which words humans would use and what words animals would use.

* ''[[Naruto]]'' has multiple animals, such as toads, dogs, and giant slug just to name a few. Most but not all of them are [[Summon Magic|summons]].

* Tama from ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler]]'', who can only ''aspire'' to the importance of being a mascot. He only talks to Hayate, and is only occasionally bipedal.

* In ''[[Wild Fangs]]'', Gido is a sentient talking furball.

 

* In the German comic ''[[Rudi]]'', apparently ants and slugs not only are this, but are also organized like a fascist state and actively planning to bring down human society. Especially, eat all their food. In other words, not only [[Humans Are the Real Monsters|Humans Are Bastards]] in this comic.

* [[Shazam|Captain Marvel's]] buddy, Talky Tawny the Tiger.

* [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Detective Chimp]] in [[The DCU]] can actually communicate with all animals, but according to him humans are the best conversationalists.

 

* The [https://web.archive.org/web/20170618020621/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/goosegirl/index.html Goose Girl]'s horse Falada—even after its head is chopped off.

 

* The [[Disney Animated Canon]] has more examples that you can shake a stick at. At many times it tries to maintain a semi-realism with animals being able to talk to humans. For example, it would seem logical that mermaids would be able to communicate with other living beings in the ocean or that a human raised by animals would understand the animal language. A couple of unusual exceptions to this rule were used in ''[[Cinderella (Disney film)|Cinderella]]'' where Cinderella and the mice were able to communicate with each other in English [[A Wizard Did It|without real explanation for it]] and in ''[[The Rescuers]]'' films, where children were able to communicate with multiple species of animals (often donning clothing).

** At the end of ''[[The Rescuers]]'', when Penny is being interviewed by the TV reporter, she tells him that she talks to Bernard and Bianca. The reporter is surprised. It can be chalked up to that in the Disney world, kids can understand/communicate with animals, but adults can't. Also, let's not forget the array of wild animals Cody could talk to in ''[[The Rescuers Down Under]]'': kangaroos, wombats, mice, lizards...

** [[Running Gag|SQUIRREL!]]

* Prince Charming thinks that he is going nuts when he sees the talking mice and sentient bluebirds in ''[[Cinderella (Disney film)|Cinderella III: A Twist In Time.]]''

 

* [[What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?|Not For Kids]] example: Grouchy old warhound Blood in ''[[A Boy and His Dog]]''.

* The agents in the Disney movie ''[[G-Force]]'' talk, though they use a device to translate animal speech. {{spoiler|Though they are at first led to believe that they are genetically engineered to have higher intelligence and special skills, they discover that they are actually ordinary animals with special training. This implies that all animals can speak with a translator}}.

* Subverted in ''[[Enchanted]]''. Sure, all the animals in fairy-tale land Andalasia can talk (and sing), but once Pip the Chipmunk is transported to the real world, he loses his ability to speak, and instead communicates using equally-improbable gesticulating, miming and (more probable) chipmunk sounds.

 

== Jokes ==

* "A [insert Talking Animal of your choice] walks into a bar..."

 

* Total, the little black Scottie from the ''[[Maximum Ride]]'' books.

* In ''[[His Dark Materials]]'', arctic foxes can speak some small amounts of english, as can the "armored bears".

* A lot of [[Diana Wynne Jones]]' stuff. Mini the elephant from ''[[The Magids]]''' Merlin conspiracy and Sirius from ''[[Dogsbody]]'' spring to mind.

* The Devil's entourage in the [[Soviet Russia Ukraine and So On|Soviet]]-era Russian novel ''[[The Master and Margarita]]'' includes an enormous walking, talking, chess-playing cat named Behemoth.

* ''[[Discworld]]'': Gaspode the Wonder Dog... although he's sneaky about it, because [[Weirdness Censor|everyone knows dogs can't talk]].

* Grimya, from Louise Cooper's ''[[Indigo]]'' series, is a [[Big Badass Wolf|sentient mutant wolf]] who usually poses as the heroine's guard dog. She's telepathic (at least where the heroine is concerned), and can also speak out loud (albeit in a raspy growl, and with significant effort). {{spoiler|When she's first introduced, she's [[Blessed with Suck|ashamed of her abilities]]; [[Offing the Offspring|her mother tried to kill her]], and [[Burn the Witch|humans tend to mistake her for a demon]]}}.

* In [[John C. Wright]]'s ''[[Chronicles of Chaos|The Orphans of Chaos]]'', the dog Lelaps.

* One of the hallmarks of [[C. S. Lewis|CS Lewis]]'s ''[[Narnia]]''. Note that Talking Animals are specific creatures and differentiated from ordinary, non-talking animals, which can still be eaten or used for labor.

* [[Peter S. Beagle]]'s ''A Fine And Private Place'' features a talking raven.

* In [[Peter S. Beagle]]'s ''Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros'', the rhinoceros talks. It also maintains that it is a unicorn.

* The Cat in ''[[Coraline (novel)|Coraline]]'', which can speak in the Other Mother's World.

* In ''[[Charlotte's Web]]'' there is Wilbur, Charlotte and Templeton. As well as quite a few others.

* The novels about "A Dog Called Himself" by Kenneth and Adrian Bird. Himself has been taught to speak by a cruel circus owner, and after escaping takes up with an Irish tinker with whom he has a series of adventures. The dog's unusual name comes from what the tinker exclaimed on hearing the dog speak: "It was as if himself were talking!"

* Pretty much every animal ''except'' Toto that makes the trip to [[Land of Oz|Oz]] can talk there. {{spoiler|Toto can as well, he's just quiet}}.

* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s ''[[Iron Shadows in the Moon|Shadows in The Moonlight]]'', [[Conan the Barbarian]] and Olivia realize that things are bad from a talking parrot:

{{quote|''Abruptly the bird spread its flaming wings and, soaring from its perch, cried out harshly: "Yagkoolan yok tha, xuthalla!" and with a wild screech of horribly human laughter, rushed away through the trees to vanish in the opalescent shadows.''}}

* In ''[[The Icemark Chronicles|The Cry of The Icemark]]'' there are giant talking snow leopards.

* ''[[Animal Farm]]''

* All of the prehistoric animals on [[Dinotopia]] have their own languages. Some of them even speak human languages.

* The titular Snails in ''[[Of Snail Slime]]'', often times to an annoying degree due to their loud, squeaky voices.

* In ''[[If You Give a Mouse a Cookie]]'', the eponymous mouse spends the entire book speaking to demand a variety of things.

* Rats in ''[[Septimus Heap]]'' have the ability of talking. This leads to the establishment of the Message Rat Service.

* In ''[[Who Cut the Cheese?]]'' by Stilton Jarlsberg, a rat driving a [[Surprisingly Functional Toys|tiny sports car]] shouts words at Ho. Later, once Ho arrives at the CheesyUniverse depot, other rats brag about the various [[Take a Third Option|third options]] they used to get there. All rats, including the rats Snitch and Scamper from the opening, are later discovered to be talking.

 

* [[Mister Ed]], of course.

* Princess [[Fantaghiro]]'s horse.

* Many [[Toku]] have talking dogs. ''[[Denshi Sentai Denziman]]'' for instance has IC.

* Muffy the mouse from ''[[Today's Special]]''. Lived in a mousehole (although she upgrades it a bit later), but on speaking terms with the rest of the staff—the security system considered a disaster damaging her home a bad thing, for one.

* ''[[Wishbone]]'', from the show of the same name. Though in the stories he imagines himself in, no one sees his character as a dog.

* Darwin the dolphin in ''[[SeaQuest DSV]]'' is able to talk due to a translation machine Lucas has built. That doesn't make him any easier to understand, though.

 

* In an odd case, Snoopy from ''[[Peanuts]]'' is a Talking Animal who doesn't (usually) talk. Despite this, he's certainly one of the most verbose and eloquent of the characters, verbalizing his thoughts via balloons. His pal Woodstock might surpass him except that we don't know what Woodstock says exactly.

** Though despite said eloquence, he [[Running Gag|can't write to save his life]].

* In a strip of ''[[The Far Side]]'', a scientist invents a canine-to-English translator, only to discover that every bark simply translates to the word "hey".

 

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* Giant eagles and owls are able to speak in most editions of [[Dungeons and Dragons]], presumably as a [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' and ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]''. Also, raven familiars have speech as their unique ability, and the 3rd edition spell ''Awakening'' can convert normal animals into this trope.

 

* ''[[Bionicle]]'' has a few, such as Tahtorak.

 

* Blanca, from ''[[Shadow Hearts]]: Covenant'', is a wolf who occasionally shows himself to be at least as smart as the main cast, plus a fair bit more savvy. Like Snoopy, he doesn't actually talk—except in a sidequest of his where he converses with other wolves.

* Not just ''[[Exile]] III'' but most of Spiderweb Software's games feature feature giant talking spiders. ''Exile III'' (and its remake ''[[Avernum]] 3'') also include giant talking ''cockroaches''.

* There are a few in the ''[[Quest for Glory]]'' series of adventure games. There's Fenris, talking rat and familiar to the wizard Erasmus, a fox who gives you some advice in the first game, and Manu the monkey in the third game.

* [[Weasel Mascot|Daxter]] and [[Polly Wants a Microphone|Pecker]] in the ''[[Jak and Daxter]]'' series, in addition to {{spoiler|the rest of the [[Precursors]]}}.

 

* And The Cheat from ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' is probably one of the smartest characters in the cast, but is a vaguely feline/rodent critter who is shaped like a wedge of cheese (or maybe an anvil) and speaks in an incomprehensible language of his own.

** The Cheat has little problem speaking English when making his own cartoons, doing pretty decent impressions of everyone in the show. (Pretty decent for a The Cheat. For a regular person, not so much.)

** The [[Show Within a Show]] ''Cheat Commandoes'' features (supposedly) the same species as The Cheat who can speak fluent English.

 

* In [[Holiday Wars]], Ground Hog's Day is personified as a talking animal, which can be seen [http://www.holiday-wars.com/blog/2010/09/18/episode-63/ in this episode.]

* Kiki and Bun-bun from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' are halfway between this and [[Funny Animal]]. Both display the instincts of their respective species; for example, Kiki, being a ferret, is prone to hide shiny objects and mess behind the couch and Bun-bun, being a rabbit, is prone to chewing on things in his environment. However, both also often act like people, although in Bun-bun's case, it's a rather sociopathic person.

* Sniper Wolf's pet wolf, Berthold, from the ''[[Metal Gear]]'' fan webcomic ''[[The Last Days of Foxhound]]'' doesn't actually speak, but is a telepath somewhat more intelligent than the human cast. He has spoken to Liquid, Octopus, and Raven and has a varying degree of disdain for any human who isn't Wolf. He [[Brought Down to Normal|got his brain fried after being electrocuted while trying to stop Gray Fox]] and seems to behave like a normal wolf towards the end of the comic as a result.

* In ''[[The KAMics]]'' the Penguins would qualify, although only other penguins, and the reader, can understand them.

* ''[[Saijiki Stories|Autumnside]]'' has a talking wolf, as well as a few talking pumpkins.

* Coleman, the tiny blue polar bear from ''[[Sore Thumbs]]'', albeit with a speech impediment.

* Woo from ''[[Sandra and Woo]]'' is a talking raccoon. All the animals, including Woo's friends Shadow (a fox) and Sid (a squirrel) [[Animal Talk|speak the same language]], but only Woo is able to communicate with humans. He's not talking to anyone but his owner Sandra, though, since he is afraid of ending up in a laboratory otherwise.

* Kieri from ''[[Slightly Damned]]'' can speak while in the form of a snow bunny. It could be because she's an angel, it could be because it's a partly botched curse, or it could just be magic.

* Wizard/Sorcerer familiars can talk to people in ''[[Our Little Adventure]]''. The two so far are Angelika's rat familiar Norveg, and Simonicus' (so far unnamed) cat familiar.

* Krosp from ''[[Girl Genius]]'', a [[Cats Are Snarkers|sarcastic cat]]-based [[Frankenstein's Monster|construct]].

* ''[[Question Duck]]'' Except for the duck, it seems to be a normal universe.

* Poe from [http://nekothekitty.smackjeeves.com/Neko the Kitty]{{Dead link}}. None of the other cats can speak with the human cast.

* In ''[[Sinfest]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20140209164656/http://sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3605 a more realistic strip turns Squidley] from a [[Funny Animal]] to a talking one.

* ''[[Wizard School]]'' has Goatsie, a talking goat who is Graham's familiar and is obsessed with eating shoes.

 

* Dusty from ''[[Sailor Nothing]]'' is another example of a talking cat helping out a magical girl. Although he can talk and can give people powers, he was initially just a normal cat.

* Rufus, from ''[[Gaia Online]]/zOMG'', is Ian's pet cat... who for reasons that are never adequately explained, can talk. He's smart enough to run a store, but prolonged absence from his owner seems to have an adverse effect on him. (He even starts using [[LOL Speak]] instead of English.)

* From the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'', Rex the Wonder Dog is a mutant [[wikipedia:American Mastiff|American Mastiff]] whose "mutation" has granted him human-level intelligence and the ability to speak like a human. [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|He uses these powers to fight crime as a member of New York City's "Crimebusters"]].

 

** [[Daffy Duck]] sometimes acts like a Talking Animal, especially in the earlier cartoons where he's being hunted by [[Porky Pig]]. His transition to a [[Funny Animal]] in later cartoons is probably due to [[Anthropomorphic Shift]].

** [[Sylvester Cat and Tweety Bird]] are Talking Animals. Note, however, that while the audience can understand, Granny doesn't seem to know they can talk... so maybe it's just [[Animal Talk]].

*** Only applies in the animation—in comics, the Road Runner can be as eloquent as any of the other characters.

* Walter Lantz's [[Woody Woodpecker]] and many of funny animals.

* Many of the characters in the [[Hanna-Barbera]] stable.

* ''[[American Dad]]'', in the same universe as Family Guy, has Klaus and Reginald. Klaus is a german olympic skiier whose brain was put into the body of a goldfish, and Reginald is a homeless man whose...brain was put into the body of a koala. Both are seen openly talking to/interacting with people outside the CIA/Smith family (Klaus interacts directly with Jeff, and Reginald and Hayley have gone out together in various public places), and neither are ever reacted to as an oddity.

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

* In the 2003 series of ''[[Strawberry Shortcake]]'', Custard (a cat) and Honey Pie Pony can talk, while the rest of the animals cannot. Also Papaya Parrot and Raven, although they're one-shot characters (but Raven appears again in the European-release-only second ''Strawberry Shortcake'' GBA game).

** He actually was hit by exactly that in one episode, though he spoke prior to it.

** In ''A Sitch in Time'', Rufus' descendants are shown to be muscular, articulate, hyperintelligent mole rats.

* While it isn't clear if the animals in ''[[Christmas Special|Christopher The Christmas Tree]]'' can talk to humans or only to each other, there is an owl who can't 'talk' and can only hoot.

* Dukey of ''[[Johnny Test]]'' was a normal dog until he got experimented on by the Test Twins. Then, he can talk and seems to be smarter than Johnny. He hides the fact that he can talk from everyone except Johnny and the twins since 1) he will get experimented on by the Government and 2) Johnny and the Twins will get in a lot of trouble if their parents find out.

* Nearly every animal, including the title character herself in the Christmas special ''[[Olive the Other Reindeer]]''. Most are just treated like average people.

{{quote|'''Homer''': You know, I have been meaning to take a spiritual journey, and I would... ''(the coyote is chewing his pant leg)'' Hey! Knock it off! ''(kicks him)''

'''Coyote''': ''(sheepishly)'' Sorry. I am a coyote. }}

* ''[[Fishtronaut]]'': Almost the entire cast is made of talking animals, lead by the title character, followed by Zeek and other fishes, and all animals in the park. Humans are minority, there.

* ''[[Ni Hao, Kai-Lan]]'' is filled with these.

* A few show up on ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'', among all the [[Funny Animal]]s.

* ''[[Rocky and Bullwinkle]]''.

* Newton, the newt from ''[[Ned's Newt]]'', is usually a normal newt but transforms into a six-foot-tall blue humanoid freak whenever he eats some special "Zippo" food—and yes, he then he speaks and gains the ability to shapeshift. He's still a newt though, and this sometimes comes up.

* Fran the squirrel from ''[[Higgly Town Heroes]]''

* [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin| The Talking Dog]] was a [[Recurring Character]] in ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]''. Unfortunately, while he could talk, he tended to be a poor conversationalist, making a lot of blunt, abrasive, and even insulting remarks (whether intentional or not, it's hard to say). In the appropriately-named episode "Shut the Pup Up" where he was featured exclusively and the Girls had to keep him as a guest, it didn't take them long to wish he'd just ''stop'' talking.

* Zigzagged with Monroe in ''[[The Life and Times of Juniper Lee]]''. He can talk (with a Scottish accent), but only other magical beings (who are [[Invisible to Normals]]) can understand him. [[Muggles]] perceive his speech as ordinary barking. June has commented that this is the only reason her friends love him so much, seeing as they can't hear his rudeness and general bad attitude.

 

* [[Tomato in the Mirror|Humans]].

* [[wikipedia:Gef|Gef the Talking Mongoose]]. Assuming he was real and not a hoax, the jury is still out as to whether he was in fact an animal that could talk, a poltergeist, or a cryptid.

* [[wikipedia:Talking animal|And some other examples on Wikipedia]].

* [[wikipedia:Great ape language#Primate use of sign language|Several apes]], mostly chimpanzees, have been taught how to use American Sign Language, including, but not limited to, Washoe, Loulis, Nim, and Koko.

 

{{reflist}}