Feather Fingers: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Also known as wingers. [[As You Know|You may have noticed]] that many non-primate animals [[Captain Obvious|have extremely un-humanlike limbs]]. They may have wings, they may have fins, they may have claws like a lobster or long grappling hooks like a sloth.

{{examples}}

'''Note:''' This is such a [[Universal Trope]] that, instead of listing every single cartoon animal in the world, we will instead list notable exceptions and subversions.

=== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ===

* Subverted with Tama the tiger in ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler]]''. Despite [[Rule of Funny|apparently being a certified boiler engineer]], Tama clearly has extreme difficulty in manipulating controls of any kind, or holding things without shredding them.

* Big Eggo, an ostrich, the original cover star from ''[[The Beano]]'' used this trope to try and appear more human. It didn't work, and the character was later replaced by a more human bear.

 

* The owls in ''[[Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole]]'' use their feet rather than their wings to manipulate objects.

* ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'' has mixed uses of this trope. Ducks and geese are able to use their feathers like fingers, but Crane (the, well, crane) has realistic wings and uses his feet and beak to move objects.

** De Brunoff's later stories, as well as the TV and film tie-ins take this a step further. Quadrupeds living along side the elephants, such as Lord Rataxes and the other rhinoceroses have hands with fingers. Since Rataxes' troops are typically [[Card-Carrying Villain|Card Carrying Villains]], they will often have claw-like hands. This is also true of hippos in Babar's world.

 

* The Tenga Warriors in ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' actually have clawed hands at the ends of their wings.

 

** Another had several snakes wanting to let another snake in, but being not quite sure in how to work the doorknob. (Don't ask [[Fridge Logic|how the other snakes got inside in the first place...]])

 

 

* A rather unusual subversion takes place in the videogame ''[[Godzilla]]: Unleashed''. Both [[Our Dragons Are Different|King Ghidorah]] and [[We Can Rebuild Him|Mecha-King Ghidorah]], who both just happen to be three-headed dragons, use two of their heads/mouths as arms/hands to pick things up. Likewise, [[Giant Flyer|Rodan]] just picks things up with his talons.

** Then again, this is in line with some of the films, in which Ghidora's heads are essentially hand puppets.

* Another very strange example is ''[[The Lion King]]'' level of ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]''. As mentioned elsewhere, it is a perfect storm of [[Furry Confusion]]. Not least because we finally get to see what [[Donald Duck]] looks like as a non-Anthropomorphic bird; he has functioning wings, can fly, and carries his staff in his claws. Usually he has [http://i36.tinypic.com/30ur9rm.png very human-like hands]. Likewise, when Sora becomes a non-Anthro lion ([[Lions and Tigers and Humans, Oh My!|it is a long story]]), he carries the Keyblade in his teeth. In the "opening the next path" cutscene, Sora holds the Keyblade with his suddenly-prehensile tail in order to aim at the target.

** And then on the subject of the actual movie, the trope is played around with. Rafiki being a monkey, he does have real hands. Zazu sometimes gestures with his wings, which sometimes become hand-like, but at least he doesn't pick anything up with them. The lions use their dewclaws as thumbs, sometimes using them as hands. This is most obvious with Scar, as seen when he's tormenting a mouse (he even raises his pinky!) and in his [[Villain Song]]. Timon the meerkat is a bit odd. Meerkats in real life have very long, black claws at the ends of their stubby beige paws, so the animators gave Timon perfectly humanoid hands with black fingers to represent these. He pretty much always walks upright; from the waist up he uses his hands like a human would, both grasping and gesturing often.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Funny Animal Anatomy]]

[[Category:Avian Tropes]]

[[Category:Fine Feathered Tropes]]

[[Category:Animal Anthropomorphism Tropes]]