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{{quote|''"Why did they go away, do you think? If there ever were such things."<br />
"Who knows? Times change. Would you call this age a good one for unicorns?"<br />
"No, but I wonder if any man before us ever thought his time a good time for unicorns."''|''[[The Last Unicorn (
{{quote|There was green aligators, and long-necked geese<br />
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** They're also so pure that they faint at the smell of blood, even their own. So they have a special servant monster who acts as a bodyguard/parent/older sibling. Its complicated since the monster in question is born literally ''minutes'' before the kirin, and yet immediately knows the name of its charge.
* In ''[[Sugar Sugar Rune]]'', the "final exam" is to fetch a unicorn horn. The unicorn takes on the form of a white-haired boy to test Chocolat and Vanilla with trickster methodology.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!
** The card game itself has [http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Thunder_Unicorn their] [http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Voltic_Bicorn trump] [http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Lightning_Tricorn cards], and [http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Sunlight_Unicorn Sunlight Unicorn], used by Ruka.
* The symbolism of the Unicorn is milked for all its worth in [[Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn]]. The eponymous Mobile Suit is white and carries possibility to right the wrongs of Universal Century. Its pilot is a [[The Messiah|naive and idealistic]] teenager. On the other hand, it is also ''[[Super-Powered Evil Side|vicious]]'', being a [[Super Prototype]] {{spoiler|which goes on automatic destroy mode when it detects a New Type pilot nearby}}.
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== Film ==
* ''[[The Last Unicorn (
* In ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'' Peter is shown riding a unicorn into battle, a detail that did not occur in the book. (Unicorn-riding comes later, see Literature below.)
* Ridley Scott's ''[[Legend (
* In the director's cut of ''[[Blade Runner]]'' (also not coincidentally a Ridley Scott film), Deckard has a dream of a unicorn, then receives an origami unicorn from Edward James Olmos: Symbolism, and a hint that {{spoiler|Deckerd is himself a replicant.}}
* ''[[Forbidden Planet]]'' explicitly relates to Altaira and a docile tiger to the legendary virgin and unicorn.
* A unicorn can be seen among various mythical creatures (the others being a dragon and a gryphon) that were mocking the animals that were boarding [[The Bible|Noah's Ark]] in [[Fantasia
* In ''[[The Cabin in
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* [[Piers Anthony]]'s ''[[Apprentice Adept]]'' series heavily features unicorns. He goes for the "horse with a horn" image, but his unicorns can [[Voluntary Shapeshifter|shapeshift]] into human and other forms, play music on their horns (accompanied by hoofbeats), dissipate body heat by breathing fire, perform crazy acrobatics, and are magic-resistant to the point where if a herd of them stand in a circle, no spells can be cast within.
** Stile talks with a male unicorn (who's in human form at the moment) about various things, such as unicorn stallions not being able to breed unless they're in charge of the herd. Stile then brings up the myth of if a [[Virgin Power|beautiful virgin sits out in the forest, a unicorn will come up and lay his head in her lap]]; the unicorn laughs and says it wouldn't be his ''head'' he'd try to put in her lap. ([[Author Appeal|Dammit, Piers]].)
* Another series by Piers Anthony, ''[[
* [[Peter S. Beagle]]'s ''[[The Last Unicorn (
* Also by [[Peter S. Beagle]], "Professor Gottesman and the Indian Rhinoceros" where the talking rhinoceros maintains it is a unicorn. The professor, of course, says it's merely a talking rhinoceros.
* In the third book of Holly Black's ''[[The Spiderwick Chronicles]]'', the siblings come across a unicorn that is portrayed in the illustrations as a strange goat-like creature. It grants Mallory a vision of one of its fellows being hunted in the typical way (lured by a young girl). When animal-lover Simon acts peeved that the unicorn seems more interested in Mallory than himself, she points out that it's because she's a girl.
* ''Summer Knight'', the fourth in [[Jim Butcher]]'s ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', features a creepy, almost H.R. Giger-esque entity Harry believes is a Unseelie unicorn that's so aggressive, it could give Pliny's unicorn a run for its money.
* [[Alan Dean Foster]]'s [[Spellsinger]] series has a minor subversion: although the male unicorn character is drawn to human virgins and somewhat protective of them, he's both gay ''and'' mainly interested in other equines (although he implies that he'd make an exception for Mudge the otter), so attempting to distract him with virgin human females simply doesn't work.
* [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[Stardust (
* In Alan Garner's book ''Elidor'' the four children are instructed to track down the unicorn Findhorn.
* [[A Man Is Not a Virgin|Prince Rupert's unicorn steed]], Breeze, was captured when young and [[Made a Slave|sold as a slave]]. He's freed by Rupert about halfway through [[Simon R. Green]]'s ''Blue Moon Rising'', but opts to stay with his human friend to fight the demonic invaders.
* In P.C. Hodgell's ''[[Chronicles of the Kencyrath]]'', rathorns (pronounced ''rath-orn'', not ''rat-horn'') are somewhat unicorn-like, in that they are horned equines. However, they are carnivorous, with fangs and sharp dew-claws, and ivory armor that covers their head, neck, chest and forelegs. Their eyes are red, and they are very violent and vicious, to the degree of being notorious for man-eating.
* In [[Mercedes Lackey]]'s ''[[Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms]]'' series, unicorns are beautiful creatures attracted to virgins of the opposite sex. They've also got the brains and personality of a rather annoying lap dog. They're also very protective of virgins.
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*** And then a ''male'' unicorn shows up, intent on protecting the ghost, because she's a virgin female, after all....
** In [[Andre Norton]] and Mercedes Lackey's ''[[The Halfblood Chronicles]]'' series: "[[Call a Pegasus A Hippogryph|Alicorns]]" are ferocious predators that were created to be war steeds but were too stupid and aggressive to use. So of course, their [[The Fair Folk|creators]] released them into the wild. A pair of elves on the run find that the one who can make small modifications to animals can also make them rideable, but they're not to be trusted.
** Lackey co-wrote ''[[
* In [[
* [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s series "Acorna" is a sci-fi take. A trio of asteroid miners find a [[Petting Zoo People|Petting Zoo Unicorn Person]] baby in an escape pod; she goes from a baby with a vocabulary of three words to an adolescent in the space of two years. Much is made of how attractive she is. Her horn purifies water and air and heals wounds, she is an obligatory vegetarian, and it turns out she's an alien. Much later, reunited with her people, it turns out that they are descended from the last unicorns from Earth and the [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien]] race that rescued them.
** There is the interesting detail that unicorn people on their replacement homeworld have patterned skins with different colors, and being born in space or spending a certain amount of time offworld leads to being bleached silver-white.
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* Meredith Ann Pierce's ''[[The Firebringer Trilogy]]'', which has unicorns as protagonists, is ''made'' of this trope. The unicorns as a species have considered themselves at war with [[Giant Flyer|gryphons]] and wyverns for the past four centuries. Their society is rigidly controlled, and it is believed that any unicorn who leaves or is exiled will turn into a horse. This turns out {{spoiler|not to be true, of course...in fact, it's revealed that drinking from a magical pond will change a horse into a unicorn.}}
* On the ''[[Discworld]]'', unicorns, like the fairies, adhere to the more classical myths of vicious supernatural creatures (though they are still subject to [[Virgin Power]]). As in [[Real Life]], people have misremembered unicorns and fairies as cutesy magical pals for little girls.
** In ''[[Discworld
{{quote| I thought they were quite rare these days<br />
Yep and the unicorns are hard to find too }}
* ''[[Harry Potter (
** It should also be noted that unicorn blood was silver, resembling [[Alien Blood|mercury]].
** And that they tend to like girls more than boys
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* In ''Dragonrouge'' or ''Kesrick'' (I don't recall which one) Mandicardo and Calypgia encounter a monocerous (unicorn) that adheres to Pliny the Elder's description: it's very rhinocerous-looking. It's still tameable by a virgin, though.
* In ''Grailblazers'' by [[Tom Holt]], the heroes at one point have to find a unicorn in order to use it as bait to capture a virgin. It turns out that modern unicorns are scruffy and unpleasant feral critters.
* In the ''[[Garrett
* The Theodore Sturgeon short story ''The Silken-Swift'' plays with this: there are two women in the story -- one is spiritually and physically virginal, and the other is a physical virgin but a total bitch. {{spoiler|The total bitch torments and temporarily blinds the male protagonist. The other, nice woman comes upon him and he -- thinking this is the bitch -- rapes her.}} Guess who the unicorn approaches.
* [[
* [[James Thurber]]'s ''[[The Unicorn in
* One other way to catch a unicorn is known, through ''[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/bravetailor/ The Brave Little Tailor]'': stand between the unicorn and a good stolid tree. When it goes to stab you through, jump aside. With its horn stuck deep in the tree, it won't be able to kill you.
* The Forestmaster in ''[[Dragonlance]]'' turns out to be a unicorn; she speaks to the party, provides them with food and instructs several pegasi to serve as temporary mounts for them, and appears to be at least somewhat aware of the ultimate fate of at least one person there.
* [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[Alice in Wonderland
{{quote| "This is a child!" Haigha replied eagerly, coming in front of Alice to introduce her, and spreading out both his hands toward her in an Anglo-Saxon attitude. "We only found it to-day. It's as large as life, and twice as natural!"<br />
"I always thought they were fabulous monsters!" said the Unicorn. "Is it alive?"<br />
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Alice could not help her lips curling up into a smile as she began: "Do you know, I always thought Unicorns were fabulous monsters, too! I never saw one alive before!"<br />
"Well, now that we have seen each other," said the Unicorn, "if you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you. Is that a bargain?" }}
* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's [[
* In [[Jasper Fforde]]'s ''[[Thursday Next|Well of Lost Plots]]'', Perkins complains of how many unicorns careless writers of fantasy produce
{{quote| ''A unicorn isn't for page twenty-six, it's for eternity.''}}
* [[Hard
* The unicorns from [[Return to Neverend]] are the guardians of Neverend. They have the ability to [[Playing
== Live Action TV ==
* In BBC's ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'', one episode, "The Labyrinth of Gedref", has Prince Arthur hunting down and killing a unicorn. Although at first praised by Camelot (where the law and common belief is that all magic is evil and dangerous), his act [[Disproportionate Retribution|causes the kingdom to be cursed]], unless Arthur can prove he's pure of heart. {{spoiler|He is, of course, he's the future [[King Arthur]]}}.
* In the miniseries ''[[The Voyage Of The Unicorn]]'', the crew of ''The Unicorn'' must find the real thing, in order to use its tears to restore to life a fellow shipmate who has been turned to stone. In an interesting variation, the unicorn is portrayed as black with a gold horn, although the only two characters who ever ride it are young (and therefore presumably virgin) girls.
* ''[[Scrubs]]'': J.D.'s girlishness is emphasised by his drawing of a unicorn on his journal in the episode "''My Unicorn''"
{{quote| '''J.D.:''' It's not a unicorn. It's a horse with a sword on its head that protects my hopes and dreams.}}
* [[Doctor Who|The Doctor]], Jamie and Zoe encounter a unicorn in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S6 E2 The Mind Robber|The Mind Robber]]". It attacks them on sight.
* The Elders from [[
* In an episode of "[[Ally McBeal]]'' she defends a client who was fired for claiming to have seen a unicorn. During the episode it's revealed that she saw one as a child also at the end she sees one. [[Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane|It's implied that unlike most of her visions this one might be real.]]
* An episode of the original ''[[Battlestar Galactica Classic]]'' had unicorns being used as mounts. No indication was given as to whether or not they were sapient.
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== Music ==
* In the video for Ke$ha's "Blow" unicorns are [[Petting Zoo People|bipedal, wear clothes]] bleed rainbows when shot and, since they're hanging with Ke$ha apparently have no hangups about the state of one's virginity.
* Also apparently with no hangups about virginity is the [[Cool Horse|incredibly badass-looking black unicorn]] ridden by [[Voltaire (
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== Tabletop Games ==
* A creature type that's mostly under the domain of White in ''[[Magic:
** However, [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=3561 Zebra Unicorn] is White/Green, and [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=205111 Prized Unicorn] is pure Green.
* In the third edition of ''[[
** Other unicorn-like monsters from past editions include the powerful ki-rin of Oriental legend, and the al mi'raj.
** The list of alternate mounts for Paladins in "Defenders of the Faith" says only female Paladins can ride unicorns - this doesn't turn up in later editions.
** The [[Tier
* [[Ravenloft]] has only shadow unicorns -- evil hybrids of unicorn and nightmare -- in its forests. [[Fanon]] claims they're the offspring of Addar, a unicorn who became corrupted out of pride.
* Both subverted and played straight in ''[[Warhammer]] Fantasy'', the Unicorns in the Wood Elf army book are cruel forest spirits but Bretonians and High Elves have been shown using more familiar Unicorns.
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* Several Final Fantasy games (V, VI, Tactics Advance, Tactics A2, the Chocobo series, and the spinoff-of-a-spinoff Crystal Defenders) features a [[Summon Magic|Unicorn summon]] that remove negative status effects from the party.
** Ixion in ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' games is usually presented as an evil-looking unicorn with a single antler-like horn. (Not always, though - in Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy XII: Revanant Wings, it's just an evil-looking horse, without a horn)
** ''[[
* In the ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' series, Falcoknights ride winged unicorns, although that could conceivably be part of the pegasus' armor.
** Which actually makes quite a bit of sense, since [[Fridge Brilliance|it effectively turns the pegasus into a living projectile]].
* In ''[[King's Quest IV the Perils of Rosella]]'', the lead character must capture a unicorn for an evil sorceress. She must first obtain one of {{spoiler|Cupid's arrows and a bridle}} to tame it, but the fact that she's a maiden is the only reason she can ride it.
** There's an interesting portrayal of a unicorn in ''[[King's Quest: Mask of Eternity
* ''[[Nethack]]'' has unicorns of the standard horse variety, though they come in lawful, neutral, and chaotic forms. They also have a few extra quirks, like teleporting around, granting [[Luck Stat|luck]] when given gems, and a unique sacrificing system.
* In ''[[Overlord]]'', one of the enemies you have to kill are the bloodthirsty Unicorns. It was eating a dead corpse when you find it, so no regrets.
** Regrets? Those are for people who are not [[Villain Protagonist|The Overlord]]!
** Gnarl, your [[Voice
{{quote| ''Gnarl:'' Unicorns! Overrated pit-ponies!}}
* Rapidash from ''[[Pokémon]]'' is a unicorn ''[[Incendiary Exponent|on fire]]'' . Upon evolving from Ponyta, it gains access to a number of horn-based moves.
** Blitzle and Zebstrika are electric unicorn zebras.
** Keldeo, a Water/Fighting type legendary Pokémon. Who also appears to be [[The Three Musketeers (
* Sigfried in ''[[Suikoden II]]'', who you can only recruit by bringing a maiden before him.
** His reaction to the resident [[Miss Yo Yo Knickers]] and the [[Our Vampires Are Different|Maidenly Vampire]] is hilarious.
* ''[[
** It also follows the old only lets virgin women near it rule. Leading to a funny scene where Raine notes she shouldn't bother trying to go near it, and [[The Stoic|Kratos]] doubts [[Stripperiffic|Sheena]] can. She can.
*** Of course, given that Raine is hydrophobic and we don't really know much about her past, it's hard to say for sure whether she said that because she really isn't a pure maiden or if she was afraid to cross to the middle of the lake to meet the unicorn (or both).
** A unicorn also appears in ''[[
* A unicorn named Lasher (of the horned horse type) is featured in ''[[Ultima VII]]'' and it has some interesting dialog. Because his herd leader refused the summoning of a wizard who in retaliation placed the Curse of Chastity upon them, making them unable to stand the presence of non-virgins. Lasher for one has had it with being used to ruin the reputations of women.
* In the ''[[Wild Arms]]'' series, the Guardian of Life, Odoryuk, is usually portrayed as a unicorn (except for ''[[
* [[Robot Unicorn Attack]] seems to be a take of 'Unicorns are Agressive', yet also throws in a heaping helping of Girliness.
* Unicorns are part of the fauna in good lands in [[Dwarf Fortress]], and are occasionally ridden by elves. Their horns pack a mean punch if you get in a fight, but goods and food made from [[Organ Drops|their remains]] can fetch a very nice price.
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* [[Punny Name|Chew]][[Incredibly Lame Pun|nicorns]] are symbols of rarity in [[Viva Pinata]], as they are very rare in the game. They don't represent any kind of purity since they don't get along and will fight other horse-like pinatas.
* The main character and [[Big Bad]] of ''Pryzm Chapter One: The Dark Unicorn'' are both unicorns. Instead of working with some [[Virgin Power|Virgin Powered]] maiden, however, Pryzm has to [[Wunza Plot|work together]] with Karrok, a sarcastic old troll mage.
* You meet unicorns in both ''[[
* In [[Terraria]] the Hallow biome spawns unicorns. They are your traditional horse-with-a-horn variety and are invariably hostile. Killing them for their horns is the only purpose they seem to have.
== Webcomics ==
* ''[[
* ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]]'' posits that cryptozoological creatures like to hang out together, so unicorns are the pets and steeds of [[Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti|Bigfeet]]. Since Bigfeet leave big obvious footprints, but unicorns leave none, they make the perfect mounts for a race that wants to [[Hidden Elf Village|remain hidden]]. The strip has also established that unicorns purr. The most notable unicorn in the strip is the giant mutant [[Kaiju]] unicorn [http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20090428.html Unigar.]
* Belkar of ''[[
** They also encountered a ''real'' unicorn in one of the book-only strips. Haley tried to pass herself off as a "maiden of virtue," and the unicorn fell over laughing.
* In ''[[
** According to the unicorn, it was the closest approximation of his magnificence when he came to our world. <s>It is yet to be seen how much of that is true.</s> [http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/15p65 Good lord, was that ever an understatement.]
*** It should be noted that the Sparklelord was the Radical Land's [[Lord of the Rings|Sauron]] equivalent.
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* As ''[[The Perry Bible Fellowship]]'' shows us, one must never mock [http://pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF103-Nice_Shirt.gif Unicorn Power].
* ''[[Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]]'' similarly implies unicorns are best left alone [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=653#comic\].
* ''Any'' creature can be a unicorn in the world of ''[[
* [http://mountaincomics.com/2010/05/31/mountain-time-174/ Mountain Time's unicorn] runs a mystical bar that specializes in Windex-based drinks.
* ''[[Exiern]]'': [http://www.exiern.com/?p=9 Don't summon one] by accident if you are an evil sorcerer. The unicorn's purity is able to defeat evil magic, and a tiara made of it's hair will thwart any attempts at mind control. It also only allows protagonist, Tiffany, ride it and gets quite angry when [[Really Gets Around|Peonie]] tries. No one appears to have explained why this is to Tiffany, given her temper it is probably for the best.
* ''[[Dork Tower]]'' [http://www.dorktower.com/2006/04/21/comics-archive-775/ in alliance with a penumbra hulk]
* A book-only expansion to ''[[
* ''[[
* A unicorn is the second-most main character in the Go Comics strip ''[[
== Web Original ==
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== Western Animation ==
* Uni, the [[Team Pet]] from ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (
* ''[[The Unicorn in
* On a ''[[Robot Chicken]]'' episode, The Nerd is visted by a Unicorn, who invites him on a "adventure" and makes some rather unusual requests. Of course the Nerd never suspects a thing.
* A staple pony type in the ''[[My Little Pony]]'' franchise. The exact rules for how their powers work change from one incarnation of the franchise to the next.
** In the first series, all unicorns had a special power or unique magic trick in addition to limited teleportation called "winking," which may have been a reference to [[
** In the [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
* In ''[[Regular Show]]'', unicorns are punky/gothy [[Ambiguously Gay]] party animals who use "bro" like punctuation and are attracted by the scent of [[Ho Yay|Dude Time cologne]]. The only way to get rid of them when they've overstayed their welcome is to put them in a flying car and blow it up.
* Buttercup from ''[[Toy Story|Toy Story 3]]''.
* Twinkles the Terrible on ''[[Jimmy Two
* Subverted in ''[[Camp Lazlo]]''. Lazlo manages to call a llama to camp and, in an effort to get rid of it, sticks an ice cream cone on its head and calls it a unicorn. Somehow, the Squirrel Scouts believe it.
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