Unicorn: Difference between revisions

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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 (Literaturenovel)|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! 5 Ds5D's]]'' introduced Team Unicorn, a trio of D-Wheelers who use Unicorn-motif decks to unbelievably ''awesome'' effect. To drive the point home: Their ''first'' duelist not only defeated, but ''completely wiped the floor with'', both Jack and Aki ''on his own'', and only a last-second moment of ''[[Too Dumb to Live|utter stupidity]]'' cost them the match. (Namely, Jean declaring an attack on Yusei, allowing a combo that took him out, when Yusei's deck had already been depleted; simply ''ending his turn'' would have clinched the victory.)
** 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 (Filmanimation)|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 (Filmfilm)|Legend]]''. The [[Big Bad]] shows just how evil he is by ordering a unicorn's horn to be cut off, which causes the world to freeze over.
* 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 (Disney)|''Fantasia 2000'']], and presumably drowned in the flood.
* In ''[[The Cabin in Thethe Woods]]'' {{spoiler|a Unicorn is one of the hundreds of creatures stored under the facility to potentially be set upon the heroes. It's eventually seen stabbing a man with its horn}}. [[Fridge Brilliance]] will remind us that it makes perfect sense since only a [[Final Girl|virgin female]] can tame one.
 
 
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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, ''[[Xanth (Literature)|Xanth]]'', has a female character who can summon any kind of horse. However, after she [[You Know What I Mean|gets to know]] her husband, she can no longer summon unicorns.
* [[Peter S. Beagle]]'s ''[[The Last Unicorn (Literaturenovel)|The Last Unicorn]]''. They do not really look like horned horses (they have cloven feet, lion-tails, and (possibly?) deep blue eyes), and they are [[Immortality|immortal]]. One side effect of the title character's presence on her home is that it is somewhat protected from the effects of the passage of time.
* 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 (Literaturenovel)|Stardust]]'' contains a unicorn. They, like Yvaine, are the Moon's children.
* 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 ''[[The Obsidian Trilogy (Literature)|The Obsidian Trilogy]]'' with James Mallory, in which unicorns are pony-sized, cloven-hooved, silky-furred, not quite like any other animal, and almost every one of them is a [[Deadpan Snarker]]. They have to adjust themselves to be in the vicinity of nonvirgins, and [[Our Demons Are Different|demons]] can't abide their touch. The protagonist summons one to carry him to safety, and they're bound together for a year and a day. The unicorn will castrate him if he breaks his vow of chastity within that time, and the conditions are somewhat more stringent than merely being celibate.
* In [[CSC. LewisS. (Creator)Lewis|CS Lewis]]' ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'', unicorns are otherwise normal white horses with tricolor horns. They also speak, and it's mentioned at one point that they have slightly sloping backs, whereas horses' backs are flat, which makes them harder to sit on. They only allow people to ride them as a sign of great respect or in emergencies. King Tirian's best friend in ''[[The Last Battle]]'' is a unicorn named Jewel.
* [[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 (Literature)/Guards Guards|Guards Guards]]'', a group of professional monster hunters are conversing about their previous successes. One talks about the difficulty of capturing unicorns and the need to use virgins, followed by an old joke:
{{quote| I thought they were quite rare these days<br />
Yep and the unicorns are hard to find too }}
* ''[[Harry Potter (Literaturenovel)|Harry Potter]]'' unicorns are just about the least threatening thing you'll find in the Forbidden Forest. The foals are golden, but they turn silver when they're about two. They're described as being 'pure', and to kill one and drink its blood will save your life from anything, but the act is so evil that you are doomed to 'a half life... a cursed life.' Unknown what that actually meant. Unicorn parts have other uses without the drawback as they don't require killing unicorn to get them. For example, the hairs are used for wand cores, as well as rope. You can also apparently chisel off part of the horn and leave it alive, as there are no qualms about using unicorn horn in potions.
** 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 PIP.I.]]'' universe unicorns are carnivorous pack hunters who are smart enough to breed and train hunting dogs.
* 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.
* [[Bruce Coville (Creator)|Bruce Coville]]'s ''[[The Unicorn Chronicles|Unicorn Chronicles]]'' series, of course. The [[Virgin Power]] part is never explicitly mentioned, but unicorns are still instinctively drawn to "maidens".
* [[James Thurber]]'s ''[[The Unicorn in Thethe Garden]]''
* 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 (Literature)|Through the Looking Glass]]'', Alice meets the Lion and the Unicorn -- [[Mother Goose|fighting for the crown]].
{{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 [[ProsperosProspero's Daughter]] trilogy, the Lady Miranda serves is a unicorn, Miranda keeps unicorn pets, and one historical band of evil-doers hunted unicorns.
* 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 -Boiled Wonderland and Thethe End of Thethe World]]. The "Hard-Boiled Wonderland" segments has the protagonist encounter a unicorn skull, while "The End of the World" segments has the protagonist read old dreams from a unicorn skull. There are also unicorn-like creatures that reside outside the Town.
* The unicorns from [[Return to Neverend]] are the guardians of Neverend. They have the ability to [[Playing Withwith Fire|conjure/control fire]], and one doesn't need to [[Virgin Power|be a virgin]] in order to ride one (although [[Chivalrous Pervert|Sage]] seemed awfully happy to meet one).
 
 
== 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 [[Charmed (TV)|Charmed]] gave Wyatt a unicorn for his first birthday. The horn is supposedly made up entirely of solid magic, which comes in very useful when the sisters lose their powers.
* 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 (Musicband)|Voltaire]] on the cover of the album "Riding a Black Unicorn Down the Side of an Erupting Volcano While Drinking from a Chalice Filled with the Laughter of Small Children" (and yes, that's the full title).
 
 
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== Tabletop Games ==
* A creature type that's mostly under the domain of White in ''[[Magic: theThe Gathering]]''.
** 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 ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (Tabletop Game)|Dungeons and Dragons]]'', unicorns are intelligent, have magical powers (including the trademark ability to teleport once per day anywhere within their forest home) and the males have a goat-like beard and a very long mane. Celestial Chargers are unicorns from the Celestial Realms that have the power of [[Religion Is Magic|clerics]].
** 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 -Induced Scrappy|Healer]] class trades all of the armor, weapons, and combat spells of the cleric for (arguably) improved healing ability and a unicorn companion.
* [[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)
** ''[[Chrono Cross (Video Game)|Chrono Cross]]'' also features a rare Unicorn summon that increases the party's Magic Defense.
* 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 (Video Game)|King's Quest Mask of Eternity]]'', in which Connor comes across an ugly creature at a pond. It turns out that it's a unicorn, only it has lost its beauty and power along with the removal of its horn.
* ''[[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 Withwith an Internet Connection]], [[Lampshade Hanging|hangs a lampshade]] on their frequency in fantasy works.
{{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 (Literaturenovel)|the Fourth Musketeer]].
* 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.
* ''[[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia]]'' features a horse-type unicorn with a few variations; it's telepathic, its horn can cure death, it can give up its horn at the cost of its life, and when a unicorn dies, a new one is born.
** 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 ''[[Tales of Phantasia (Video Game)|Tales of Phantasia]]'', which takes place 4000 years after Symphonia.
* 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 ''[[Wild Arms 4 (Video Game)|Wild Arms 4]]'' where he took the appearance of a snake)
* [[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 ''[[Fantasy Quest (Video Game)|Fantasy Quest]]'' games, luring them with carrots.
* 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 ==
* ''[[Drow TalesDrowtales]]'' also has [http://frost-indri.deviantart.com/art/Holy-Lance-Mount-DesignSketch-23677027 odd unicorns.]
* ''[[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 ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|The Order of the Stick]]'' once stuck a boot on his forehead and ''claimed'' to be a unicorn when he was disoriented by a spell.
** 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 ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja (Webcomic)|The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'', a unicorn has seemingly been transformed into a motorcycle with seemingly magical abilities.
** 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 ''[[Axe Cop (Webcomic)|Axe Cop]]'' simply by obtaining a unicorn horn. Yes, that includes humans. And avocados.
* [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 ''[[Digger (Webcomic)|Digger]]'' tells us the story of a sculpter "commissioned" by a mad emperor, who had a forehead deformity and believed himself to be part-unicorn, to create statues of unicorns and nothing else. The artist came to hate unicorns, and dreamed of creating {{spoiler|a perfect statue of the god Ganesh}}, which he accomplished after the emperor tried to eat poison and died. The epitaph on his tombstone reads, "There are no unicorns in Heaven."
* ''[[Tales of the Questor (Webcomic)|Tales of the Questor]]'' sports a rather... ''prosaic'' [http://www.rhjunior.com/totq/00590.html version].
* A unicorn is the second-most main character in the Go Comics strip ''[[Heavenly Nostrils (Webcomic)|Heavenly Nostrils]]''. "Medieval style" with a lion tail and cloven hooves, also capable of speech (and somewhat sarcastic), has a [[Weirdness Censor|'''Shield of Boringness''']], and can grant wishes, albeit only "realistic" ones like being a little girl's best friend.
 
== Web Original ==
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== Western Animation ==
* Uni, the [[Team Pet]] from ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (Animationanimation)|Dungeons and Dragons]]'' had the teleportation power of D&D unicorns (see above), but was too young to travel more than a few feet with it. She communicated in goat-like bleats, understood human language, and was smart enough to operate Presto's hat in a pinch.
* ''[[The Unicorn in Thethe Garden]]''
* 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 [[Dungeons and Dragons (Tabletop Game)|Dungeons and Dragons]].<ref>Hasbro owns both franchises.</ref>
** In the [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|fourth incarnation]], they have all have their unique trick in addition to some basic magic like levitation, the extent of which depends on their personal skill and dedication. Twilight Sparkle, the primary heroine, is a student of magic who's [[The Gift|special talent]] is magic, allowing her to learn any unicorn magic she sees. Most unicorns have vastly less power and versatility.
* 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 -Shoes]]'', who just happens to be an [[Omnicidal Maniac]] that [[Cuteness Proximity|no one takes seriously]].
* 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.