The Alleged Steed: Difference between revisions

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[One Piece]]'': Doc Q's horse, "Stronger."

 

== Comic Books ==

* ''[[Asterix]]'': [[Honest John's Dealership|An extremely sharp-smiling horse dealer]] sells Asterix is sold an awesome shiny black [[Cool Horse]]. Then it rains and the paint peels off, revealing it's a beaten down pale horse which faints a few panels later.

* Wit's horse in ''[[Kajko I Kokosz]]'' is a bit of a subversion. He sure looks the part and is cowardly enough to climb trees when threatened. However, since his master is a [[Warrior Poet]] with dreams of heroism and little common sense, having a steed that actively avoids danger is actually a large asset most of the time.

 

* ''[[Shrek]]'': [[Lampshaded]] with Donkey.

* [[Aladdin (Disney film)|"A horse with two rear ends!"]]

* [[Buster Keaton]] worked with a few:

** The deaf, denture-wearing horse in ''[[Cops (film)|Cops]]''.

 

== Literature ==

* ''[[Don Quixote]]'': Rocinante, the noble steed of Don Quixote, has achieved [[Trope Namer]] status in the Spanish language.

* In ''[[The Three Musketeers (novel)|The Three Musketeers]]'', d'Artagnan is introduced riding a yellow horse (later named Buttercup) so old and funny-looking that it is mocked by Rochefort, thus establishing the enmity between the characters. The resemblance of d'Artganan and Buttercup to Don Quixote and Rocinante is [[Lampshaded]] by the author.

** The Saw-horse in ''[[The Marvelous Land of Oz]]'', who has no joints in his legs and, at first at least, has no ears and can't follow directions, starts out as this. Later, he is revealed to be completely tireless and the fastest ride in Oz.

** Jim the Cab Horse is one of these before he came to Oz.

* In Douglas Hill's ''Blade of the Poisoner'' and ''Master of Fiends'', Scythe's horse Hob is a subversion, as he's a stealth [[Cool Horse]].

* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', Bill the pony is expected to be this. While he's not ''quite'' a [[Cool Horse]], he's no Alleged Steed either.

* In ''[[Cerberon]]'', Thedrik's old mule is half blind, unreliable, and cranky. He still chooses her over a good horse when given the chance.

 

* ''[[The Adventures of Brisco County Jr]]'': In "Crystal Hawks", Brisco is separated from Comet the Wonderhorse and has to buy a temporary replacement horse. Problem is, he's only got thirty dollars in his pocket. The resultant horse is so slow, stubborn, and dumb that Lord Bowler calls it a lemon when he sees it.

* An episode of ''[[Bottom]]'' revolves around [[A Simple Plan]] to raise £500 to place a bet at long odds on a three-legged blind horse called Sad Ken, after the bookie tricks them into thinking it's a dead cert. His performance is about as good as you'd expect, and the commentator informs us that they've had to shoot him [[Refuge in Audacity|(and his jockey).]]

 

== Music ==

* "Feetlebaum" from [[Spike Jones]]' version of "The William Tell Overture", which was rendered on kitchen implements and used a horse race as a background. {{spoiler|He wins the race, and also manages to win ''the Indy 500'' in a later rendition of "Dance of the Hours".}}

 

== Oral Tradition ==

* [[Russian Mythology and Tales|Russian]] hero of [[The Fool]] archetype is the youngest of three brothers who [[Will|inherits]] [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|The Horsie-Hunchie]] and was laughed at and dismissed for one more reason. It turns out not only Horsie [[Sapient Steed|can give a good advice]], but having him compete with normal steeds in running jumps is like [[Game Breaker|bringing a grasshopper to cockroach racing]]. Whether he and/or the hero will [[The Makeover|look better]] later or whether he gets wings varies in different versions.

* [[Celtic Mythology|The hero Conn-Eda]] recieves a 'shaggy pony' from an old druid to bring him to fairy-land. The horse not only successfully does so, once they reach the outskirts of the fairies' city, [[Sapient Steed|it tells him]] that the only way for him to get in safely is for him to kill the pony, skin it, and wear its skin over his head until he gets inside the city. [[Tear Jerker|He does so.]]

 

* ''[[Seinfeld]]'': Jerry Seinfeld had a bit about horseback riding: the "U-shaped" horses he usually gets have names like "Almost Dead" and "Glue Stick."

 

* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' adventure T1 "Village of Hommlet." If the [[PC]]s aren't careful when buying from the traders they can end up with a couple of "swaybacked, potbellied, spavined old plugs" pretending to be draft horses. The horses are 50% likely to stop every turn to rest, and if pushed by hard riding or carrying a heavy load they have a 50% chance of dying ''every 10 minutes''.

 

* The horse Petruchio rides to his wedding in ''[[The Taming of the Shrew]]'' takes this trope [[Up to Eleven]], apparently. Unfortunately, this being a stage show, we never actually get to see it.

{{quote|'''Biondello:''' ... his horse hipped with an old mothy saddle and stirrups of no kindred, besides possessed with the glanders and like to mose in the chine, troubled with the lampass, infected with the fashions, full of wingdalls, sped with spavins, rayed with yellows, past cure of the fives, stark spoiled with the staggers, begnawn with the bots, swayed in the back and shoulder-shotten, near-legged before and with a half-checked bit and a headstall of sheeps leather, which, being restrained to keep him from stumbling, hath been often burst, and now repaired with knots ...}}

* In ''[[Mount & Blade]]: Warband'', you generally start with the worst horse in the game, unless you take very specific choices during character creation (which requires your character be female), then you start with the fastest of the fragile speedsters worth bothering with (the only faster horse is stupidly expensive if it is ever generated at all).

* In ''[[Red Dead Redemption]]'', the cheapest horses (as well as the easier ones to unlock in multiplayer) are diseased, weak, and tend to be very slow. You can also find donkeys in Mexico, which look healthier but move even slower.

 

== Web Animation ==

* ''[[The Real Legend]] of Zelda'': The web animation series casts Epona as a small, overweight donkey, much to Link's disappointment.

 

== Web Comics ==

* ''[[Here Comes the Grump]]'': Grump's klutzy dragon. [[Rule of Funny|Only when it's funny]], though—when the Grump needs to catch up with Dawn and Terry to keep the plot moving, Dragon has no difficulty overtaking their [[Cool Airship]].

* In one episode of [[Goof Troop]] Pete wins a horse like this in a card game. He manages to turn it to his advantage by entering it into a race and betting against it. Unfortunately said horse is one of said stealth [[Cool Horse|cool horses]] once it's broken shoe is fixed, and Pete ends up with a [[Springtime for Hitler]] on his hands.

 

== Real Life ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]

[[Category:Equine and Equestrian Tropes]]

[[Category:The Alleged Index]]