Animal Stereotypes: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}{{Needs Image}}

 

Want an easy way to show that your character is loyal? Make him a dog! Want your female member to come off as graceful, but don't know how to show it? Make her a cat!

 

{{examples}}

* ''Monkey'' D. Luffy in ''[[One Piece]]''. Also, "Cat Burglar Nami" - which is everyone who knows Nami comparing her to a cat that's ultimately kind when it suits her but mostly selfish. This is played up a lot at first and then dropped as the story goes on.

** Oda compares a lot of his characters to animals. Zoro is apparently a shark. Sanji most resembles a duck, Franky is a bull, Robin a crane, Brook a horse.

* The [[Petting Zoo People]] [[Familiar]]s in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]''. Of the two canine familiars, Arf is loyal to a fault to her master Fate like a faithful dog, while Zafira is the [[The Quiet One|strong and silent type]] like a majestic wolf. Meanwhile, the Lieze [[Catgirl]] sisters showed both cat aspects, being playful towards Chrono and Yuuno on one hand while {{spoiler|[[Break the Cutie|absolutely breaking Hayate]] [[Cats Are Mean|on the other]]}}.

* ''[[Bleach]]''; several characters in the show practically reek of animal stereotypes. First up is [[The Dragon|Gin Ichimaru]], aka [[Fan Nickname|Fox Face]] (just do a Google Image search on his name and you will see why). He is definitely tricky, confident and pragmatic; and we could probably throw in sexy. Next up is, Yoruichi Shihōin who is compared to a black cat; hell she can even turn into a black cat! Then we have [[Evil Counterpart|Grimmjow]] [[Blood Knight|Jaegerjaquez]] who is compared to a panther. He is definitely a [[Evil Is Sexy|sleek]], [[Evil Is Cool|powerful killing machine]] who a couple of episodes after he is introduced decides to play a game of soccer and uses Ichigo Kurosaki's [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown|body as the ball]]. To seal the deal though, Grimmjow's sword is named ''Pantera'' and when he changes into his superpowered demonic form his appearance becomes decidedly more feline. Hell, almost all of the Espada seem to follow this trope- Starrk is a wolf (his aspect of death is loneliness) and Starrk {{spoiler|''split himself in two due to his loneliness''- hence his fraccion Lilinette is actually part of him}} , Ulquiorra is a bat (Despair), etc.

* ''[[Naruto]]'': Naruto is possessed by a what is essentially a kitsune and is played as a trickster early on and has fox like physical traits; subverted when we actually meet the fox himself... He'd sooner rip your face off than play pranks.

 

* Read through the ''[[Elf Quest]]'' Gatherum and and you'll find that the main characters (at least Cutter, Skywise, Leetah, and Rayek) were designed with animals in mind (bantam, fox, cat, and snake). The bantam is pretty unusual when people talk characters, especially for a protagonist, but in this case it relays Cutter as confident, frank and open, as well as being a ruler. Savah even refers to Cutter as a fighting cockerel at one point. And as Rayek has never been ''merely'' a villain, even the persona of a snake isn't wholly negative.

* Plenty of ''[[X-Men]]'', from Wolverine to Kitty, Toad, Sabretooth, Beak, Angel or The Cuckoos.

* In ''[[Blacksad]]'' all characters are anthropomorphic animals whose roles and personalities are mostly reflected on their animal traits (ex: nearly all the policemen are canid).

* [[Batman]] has a few. Besides the Bat himself,we have Catwoman, the Penguin, Killer Croc, and probably a few more.

 

* ''[[Doctor Dolittle]]'': In the film version, during the song "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-V7oua1EVs Like Animals]", Dolittle bristles at the animal stereotypes.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

*** Ravenclaw, house of the intelligent and wise has the eagle for some reason

** Also, the "[[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|noble]], but vain braggart" stereotype is very much played straight with James Potter's Animagus form, a stag. Averted with Harry, however.

** He also doesn't really know how to spell. Even his own name is "Wol". Interestingly, some of the other characters have been found to be capable of spelling their own names.

*** His ability to write comes and goes for the Disney version, [[Depending on the Writer]], who is slightly more genuinely wisdomic, though similarly keeps with the idea of being [[Cloudcuckoolander|rather brainless]] in reality for the most part.

** Piglet subverts it for the most part, being a [[Neat Freak]] and [[Extreme Doormat|extremely docile]]. Rabbit is [[Know-Nothing Know-It-All|pretentious]] and stuck up. Eeyore plays the donkey trope straight (though his Disney incarnation is far more recessive and mellow). Roo is a hyperactive joey (albeit partly due to Tigger's influence) however Kanga is calmer and closer to Earth (especially in the Disney adaptions).

** Reepicheep and his fellow talking mice avert their Animal Stereotypes ''hard''.

* The Daemons of ''[[His Dark Materials]]''. The series starts out in a world where people's souls take the form of [[Talking Animal]]s (called "dæmons", the dæmons of adults take the form of a specific animal that represents that person's personality in some symbolic way (although the symbolism can sometimes be very esoteric).

* Brian Jacques' ''[[Redwall]]'' series takes this trope and runs with it.

* Somewhat averted in ''[[Watership Down]]''. in which the rabbits are far from cute and cuddly, and generally act fairly realistically, although the do venerate a mythological [[Rascally Rabbit|Br'er Rabbit-like trickster figure.]]

* ''[[Firekeeper]]'' from the series of the same name. She was a [[Wild Child]] raised by wolves, so the fact that she identifies as a wolf who happened to be unfortunate enough to get born as a human makes sense.

* Many of the noble houses in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' have animals as part of their heraldry and show a certain awareness of how they are supposed to act because of this. An extract from an upcoming novel has a member of House Lannister, whose sigil is a Lion, make a comment about his Lion like nature and the man in question (a foreigner) wonders at how strange those in Westeros are, that they put a dragon, lion or stag on a breastplate and immediately start calling themselves such and trying to fulfill what they think that means they should act like. House Frey's prominent members on the other hand are often described by others as looking and acting like weasels

** Similarly, Hunter is frequently compared to a lioness (sleek, tawny, and deadly), and the Marquis de Carabas quite consciously chose Puss in Boots for his totem.

* ''[[Charlotte's Web]]'' showcases how the deceptive female spider's archetype can use her guile for good: manipulating humans with "miraculous" spider webs to spare the life of Some Pig.

* ''[[Animal Farm]]'' intentionally uses this trope, but with an interesting twist: the animal characters not only symbolize traits but political figures in the Soviet Union. Hilariously, Stalin is a pig.

* [[C. J. Cherryh]]'s ''Chanur'' series uses a range of [[Animal Stereotype]] aliens. The Maheno'sat are obviously chimps, the Kif seem to combine elements of rat and snake, and the Hani are lions - but realistically portrayed: their social structure is built around co-operative groups of females who keep a few pampered males around purely as studs. Cheryh hammers the point home by naming the Hani ship ''The Pride of Chanur''. To be fair, the books also include some [[Starfish Aliens|mind-bendingly alien aliens]], though mostly in the background.

* ''The Wind In the Willows''. Somewhat subverted here, however; the badger and mole stereotypes hold fairly true, but Rat is definitely a good guy (with the caveat that he's actually a water vole, not a true rat).

* Dog Soldiers in ''[[Black Dogs]]'' are exceptionally loyal and trustworthy, while the anthropomorphic giant ground sloth is slow and patient and the weasel/ferret character is bloodthirsty and cunning.

* While [[The Bible]] has a very famous evil snake in the serpent that seduced Eve into eating the fruit, in Christian theology the serpent may also be a symbol of salvation (Numbers 21:8-9).

 

* Sylar from ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' had an overwhelming cockroach theme around him, likely to signify his ambition to evolve, and, as revealed in season 1 finale, {{spoiler|to survive, as seen by the very final shot of the first volume, which showed a trail of blood leading from where his corpse was last seen into the sewer, with a cockroach wriggling his antennae to the camera.}}

** The cockroach wasn't meant to represent Sylar, it was meant to symbolize evolution in general.

 

== [[Music]] ==

 

* Br'er Rabbit makes the [[Trickster Rabbit]] stereotype [[Older Than Radio]] at the very least. Going even further, his character originates in folkloric African stories told way before colonial time. Of course, he ''used'' to be a ''spider'' (viz. Anansi), not a bunny.

* Coyote and Raven are the Trickster spirits in the lore of some Native American nations.

* [[Animal Motifs]] of all kinds are common for totemic and heraldric purposes and are to many to name.

 

* [[Magical Native American]]s come with their "Guardian Spirits" in ''[[Deadlands]]'' (and its daughter games). The personalities of these spirits are described in terms of actual Native American/First Nations Animal Stereotypes, and if the canon shamans are any indication, the spirits are drawn to humans who have personalities similar to their own, making for easy [[Animal Motifs]] in [[Player Character]]s.

 

* Each of the ''[[Purr Tenders]]'' disguised themselves as an animal that somehow matched their personality. Hop-purr, for instance, was [[Standardized Leader|generically cute and cuddly]], but smart enough to come up with the whole deception in the first place. Romp-purr was a playful, sport-loving [[Tomboy]], and pretended to be a dog, while [[Shrinking Violet]] Scamp-purr chose to be a mouse. Perhaps the oddest of the lot was Flop-purr, whose disguise and personality seemed to be based on ''[[Looney Tunes|Daffy Duck]]''.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

** Kana Anaberal from the PC-98 exclusive ''Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream'' is a [[Cute Ghost Girl]] with a faint [[Animal Motif|bird motif]], and is tragic, fitting the "bird with broken wings" aspect.

** Genji the turtle, Reimu's [[Horse of a Different Color|trusty steed]] in the PC-98 games, is old, wise, and a tad snarky. [[I Believe I Can Fly|He's also flight-capable]].

* ''[[Solatorobo]]'' has the Caninu and [[Catfolk|Felineko]] races. Caninu are described as loyal, friendly, good at physical labor, and like eating [[Stock Femur Bone|hard foods]]. Felineko are described as fiercely independent, quite aggressive, moody, calculating, and agile. One stereotype that only applies in-universe is the Caninu's proficiency for technology contrasted by the Felineko's proficiency for magic.

* ''[[Hatoful Boyfriend]]'':

** The three white fantails, a fancy breed, in the game are all stuck-up and narcissistic to varying degrees - Sakuya is a racist aristocrat, Yuuya is a [[Tuxedo and Martini]] spy and Oko San acts like a slightly spoiled pet bird.

** The Chukar Partridge, Shuu, is a creepy doctor, since the bird has red-rimmed eyes that look like glasses and a call that (after the 'chu-KAR' which gave it its name) sounds like a creepy 'ho ho ho' chuckle.

*** In Punjabi legend, the Chukar is a symbol of eternal, unrequited love due to belief that it constantly gazes at the Moon. Shuu's motivation in the BBL route is {{spoiler|his unrequited love for the rock dove, Ryouji, which leads him to playing a [[Xanatos Gambit]] in order to make humans extinct.}}

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* ''[[The Dawn Chapel]]'' features a short story, ''The Apex Predator'', wherein a proud lion is presented with a series of affronts to his dignity, none of which are handled gracefully.

* ''[[Homestuck]]'' features twelve characters, the trolls, all of which have a theme animal. When the troll is a match for their theme animal, it's usually played straight, as with the eternally angry Karkat, who's theme animal is a crab, but on the other hand, Tavros is a general subversion of his bull, being shy, slow-tempered, and generally harmless, as opposed to bold, easily-angered, and intimidating.

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* As well as being the source of a [[Punny Name]], the use of dogs in ''[[Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds]]'' reinforces the Musketeers' virtue of loyalty. The villain Milady, a cat, exhibits feline cunning.

* Almost everyone in ''[[Kaeloo]]''. [[Cats Are Mean|Mr. Cat]] is Smileyland's resident jerk, [[Nutty Squirrel|Stumpy the squirrel]] is hyperactive and [[The Ditz|a bit dim]] and [[Cloudcuckoolander|Kaeloo]] the frog seems to be in constant bliss and is [[No Sense of Personal Space|smotheringly]] "friendly". [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] with Quack-Quack and Bad Kaeloo as Quack-Quack is a diaper-wearing genius [[Speech-Impaired Animal|incapable of speech]] and [[Hulking Out|Bad Kaeloo]] is a monstrous [[Gender-Inverted Trope|she-toad]] with [[Dumb Muscle|little obvious intelligence]] and a horrific mean streak.

* ''[[Get Muggsy]]'' plays raccoon, opossum and beaver straight, but averts most of the spider stereotypes.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Older Than Radio]]

[[Category:Stock Characters]]

[[Category:Animal Tropes]]