View source for Owl Be Damned

{{trope}}
[[File:lechku.jpg|link=Okami|frame|Check your nightmares at the door.]]

{{quote|''"If you were an alien abductee, you might have memories of seeing owls in the city, or owls on the subway, or owls sitting outside your apartment window, or owls sitting INSIDE your apartment window, wearing space clothes and preparing a rectal probe."''|'''John Hodgman''', ''[[More Information Than You Require]]'' }}

{{quote|{{smallcaps|The Owls Are Not What They Seem}}|''[[Twin Peaks]]''}}

Owls are, to put it bluntly, [[Nightmare Fuel|creepy]]. They just are. Perhaps it's because most of them are nocturnal or that they eat cute little mice or that they can spin their heads all the way around. It could be those (relatively) gigantic, piercing eyes. Or perhaps it's the sounds they make at night (except for the beating of their wings which are so soft and fluffy you'll never hear a thing. Bad news for rodents), in the dark, when you're in [[The Lost Woods]].

It doesn't really matter ''why'' they are creepy, they just are. Owls have long been viewed as harbingers of disease, death, destruction, and bad luck. To the Hopi, they were a symbol of evil sorcery; to the Romans, they were funerary birds, signaling ill will in the daytime (unless you were collecting their eggs, in which case they signaled a [[Hideous Hangover Cure]]); and the [[Aztec Mythology|Aztec]] [[The Grim Reaper|god of death]], Mictlantecuhtli, was often portrayed with owls. [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] also had a thing for them.

So remember: if you ever see an owl, clutch your Tootsie Roll Pops tightly and run in the other direction.

Owls are, of course, also [https://web.archive.org/web/20100226012722/http://www.theonion.com/content/node/35819 assholes].

On the other hand, owl was a symbol of Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom, and generally one of the most human-friendly of the Olympians. Thus as long as it's not just there to scare you, the owl can be a symbol of wisdom. This of course may lead to the softer version of the trope that owls tend to be pompously intellectual and annoying.

To many, owls seem like cats [[Recycled in Space|as birds]]. Whether this makes them [[Cute Kitten|better]] or [[Cats Are Mean|worse]] is up to you.

Also, [http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/Owls/ everyone is fond of owls], as the hit count and comments on [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G1PFLuTrgM Lovely Owl Molla] demonstrate. Possibly because an owl's face superficially resembles a human face, with the beak where a human nose would be. How this is relevant, God only knows.

See also [[Feathered Fiend]] for other types of creepy, creepy birds. Contrast [[The Owl-Knowing One]].

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[One Piece]]'', every member of CP 9 has an animal motif, and the creepiest one is definitely Fukurou who has a similar appearance to an owl. Among other things, his mouth has a zipper on it that he has to unzip if he wants to talk.
* There is yet another Fukurou among the assassin group Trinity Raven in ''[[Fairy Tail]]'', who is also noticeably creepy. He has a man's body but an owl's head (also [[Improbable Weapon User|two missiles on his back with the word "JUSTICE" printed on it]]), and one of his abilities is to swallow his opponents whole and use their magic until they digest fully.
** Worth noting in both cases is that "Fukurou" is Japanese for "owl."
* The ''[[Wolf's Rain]]'' anime series had a creepy owl that made appearances at times, most likely as a symbol for death.
** Being voiced by the same guy behind [[Azumanga Daioh|Chiyo's dad]] tends to work as [[Nightmare Retardant]] though.
*** Well, I can see your logic if you were watching the dub, but if you mean ''[[Norio Wakamoto|subbed...]]''
* In the zoo chapter of ''[[Yotsubato]]'', Yotsuba is utterly terrified of the owl. She ends up trying to scare it (so that it stops staring at her)... and then it spreads its wings and hoots. Cut to her hiding behind her dad's legs.
* In ''[[Cyborg 009]]'', a mother owl and her babies actually live in an abandoned castle in Germany where Albert/004 fights a robot with his same looks and powers.  {{spoiler|During the fight, the nest gets knocked off its site and out of reflex 004 shields the owls with his own body... [[Spanner in the Works|which saves his life]], as the robot couldn't predict his ''human'' reaction and its programmed strategies are all screwed.}}
* In ''[[So Ra No Wo To]]'', an owl is both the unit's pet, Shuko, and their insignia. Shuko is a Northern White-faced Owl, the "evil transformer owl" with its own entry in the Real Life folder below.
* {{spoiler|Kouichi}} from ''[[Nabari no Ou]]'' is actually an owl with a human heart. His partially transformed form after being shot in the heart is more than a [http://www.mangareader.net/683-33512-20/nabari-no-ou/chapter-37.html little creepy].
* [[Magnificent Bastard|Mukuro]] from ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'' has a Snowy Owl as his box animal. Not so creepy until you see it with his red/blue heterochromia. Unsurprisingly, (and [[Your Mileage May Vary|unoriginally]], in some people's opinion) the owl is named Mukurou.
** Though the name might come from the fact that the Owl was the body Mukurou used for an extended period of time (and thus, was in fact Mukurou) before he got his own body back. That and the box technically belongs to Chrome, not Mukuro.
* A recurring motif in ''[[Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine]]'', with normal ones appearing in the opening, as well as more nightmarish humanoid ones appearing in a flashback of Fujiko's.

== Art ==
* Goya's etching ''[[wikipedia:The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters|The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters]] (El sueño de la razón produce monstruos)'' depicts the artist's nightmares as owls and [[Bat Out of Hell|bats]].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130806155448/http://www.billdavenport.com/owls/owls1.html Macrame owls] were [[Nightmare Fuel]] to some of us who were little kids in [[The Seventies]].
* Art scholars believe the owls in Hieronymous Bosch' paintings represent madness.

== Card Games ==
* In the Alara block of [[Magic: The Gathering]], strixes are kept as pets in the bio-mechanical realm of Esper. As the name might suggest to any Latin scholars, they're [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=175015 venomous] or [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=175021 parasitic] evil clockwork owls.
* [[Winnie the Pooh]]'s Owl appears in the [[Kingdom Hearts]] Collectible Card Game. Seeing how the game focuses a lot on Magic/Friends(Summons, in the first game, which ran on magic), such as Simba, Tinkerbell, Bambi, etc, playing an Owl card can cause a lot of grief, as he prevents them from being played. He can also be played at any time, and is a pain to get rid of.

== Comic Books ==
* A recent{{when}} horror comic (I forgot the title){{Verify}} had a short story called "[[Incredibly Lame Pun|Hooters]]" where evil owls killed buxom women on a camping trip.
* In ''[[Usagi Yojimbo]]'', the comic reflects the Japanese idea that the Owl is a symbol of death. In one story, Usagi and Gen spot one perched near a hut. When they looked inside and found their old friend, Zato-Ino, in a hut and gravely wounded, that bird was a bad omen. However, they are able to successfully treat the pig and Gen spitefully goes out to taunt the bird and drive it away. Later the Owl is diving for a cute little lizard, but the little guy is saved by an attacking Tokage who tackles the Owl and eats it.
* In ''[[Hellboy]]: The Corpse'', when the [[The Fair Folk|Fairy King]] makes his first appearance, he has an owl perched on his arm.
** ''[[BPRD]] 1946'' and ''1947'' feature a vampire count who shapeshifts into an owl. Sometimes he does it to make murdering Nazis easier and sometimes he does it to get around faster. It's just his thing.
* In the [[Marvel Universe]], there's a villain named The Owl, who's primarily a member of [[Daredevil]]'s [[Rogues Gallery]].
** In the [[DC Universe]], Owlman is the [[Evil Counterpart]] of Batman in the Crime Syndicate's [[Mirror Universe]].
*** The reason why he was so named is because owls prey on bats.
*** Another Batman example is the villainous organisation The Court of Owls introduced in Scott Snyder's run on Batman Volume 2. They're a clandestine society who have apparently secretly controlled Gotham for centuries, and the "owls prey on bats" imagery has been played up for all it's worth.
* Macduff, a wooden doll in form of an owl that formerly was the pet of Gepetto, recently{{when}} joined ''[[Jack Frost]]'' in his adventures.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150403021804/http://fancoredaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/mouse_guard.jpg This cover] from ''[[Mouse Guard]]''. The scene itself is even more brutal and awsome.
* Averted thoroughly in the comic ''[[Owly]]'': the title owl is a [[Friend to All Living Things]] and the comic is sweet as can be.

== Film ==
* The appearance of Jareth, the goblin king, in ''[[Labyrinth]]'' (and his departure at the end) involved his becoming an owl... actually, ''Labyrinth'''s entire opening shot is a (for the time) impressive CG sequence of said owl flying around the opening credit shots and eventually becoming a real owl with a carefully executed editing sweep shot into the first scene.
* The movie ''[[The Adventures of Milo and Otis]]'', a story about a lost kitten and a puppy, has a scene in the treetops at nighttime where the kitten talks with a horned owl with glowing eyes who pops out of nowhere. Though he is friendly, he is, needless to say, quite terrifying for younger children.
* The Owls in ''[[I Know Who Killed Me]]''. [[Faux Symbolism|They don't mean anything]], nor are they particularly foreboding. They're just there.
* Disney's ''[[Alice in Wonderland (Disney film)|Alice in Wonderland]]''. While traveling through a spooky forest Alice encounters an owl with a neck like an accordion that makes music as it flies.
* The [[Nightmare Fuel|rather intense]] [[Body Horror|Owl-to-human]] [[Transformation Trauma]] in the Russian film version of ''[[Night Watch]]''.
* Although he's ultimately friendly, the ancient owl in ''[[The Secret of NIMH]]'' is [[Nightmare Fuel|intensely scary]].
* Let's not forget ''[[The Fourth Kind]]'' where the owls are actually {{spoiler|aliens coming to abduct you}}
* ''[[Blade Runner]]'' features an owl in relation to [[Animal Motif|Tyrell]].

== Literature ==
* Subverted with the owl from the ''[[Winnie the Pooh]]'' books.
* In Mervyn Peake's ''[[Titus Groan]]'', Lord Sepulchrave  {{spoiler|is driven mad by the destruction of his library, starts believing he is 'The Death Owl' and eventually commits suicide by allowing himself to be eaten by owls.}} [[Nightmare Fuel]], much?
* Henry David Thoreau wrote in ''Walden'': "I rejoice that there are owls. Let them do the idiotic and maniacal hooting for men. It is a sound admirably suited to swamps and twilight woods which no day illustrates, suggesting a vast and underdeveloped nature which men have not recognized. They represent the stark twilight and unsatisfied thoughts which all [men] have."
* [[Neil Gaiman]]: "Daughter of Owls," wherein a baby girl foundling is superstitiously thought to be, yes, born of owls and thus the townfolk will not raise her, only giving her food.
* In ''Bless Me Ultima'', owls are a sign that a bruja (or evil witch) is around. It seems to be the same concept as Western witches' familiars, but I'm not terribly familiar with the mythology surrounding brujeria.
** Of course, it's also a subversion, as the main owl in the story is connected to ''Ultima herself'', who is a curandera rather than a bruja (playing on the Latino Catholic stereotype of indigenous healers being witches). {{spoiler|In fact, when the owl is killed, Ultima dies not long after as a consequence}}.
* As explained in the above quote, owls are symbols that you've been abducted by aliens in ''[[More Information Than You Require]]''.
** The book also contains instructions on how to cook an owl. One of the steps is to remove their [[Clockwork Creature|clockwork innards]].
* In ''[[The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness]]'', {{spoiler|[[Big Bad]] Eostra}} was once the mage of the Eagle Owl clan, so eagle owls are considered creepy bad omens. Other kinds of owls are cool, though.
* Owls are pretty nasty in Kenneth Oppel's ''Silverwing'' series, where their job is to keep bats from seeing the sun, and kill those that do - even going so far as to burn down an entire colony of females and children to take their revenge. Nothing compared to the ''real'' villains of the series: giant cannibal bats that worship an evil human-sacrifice-accepting god. In the later books, the owls get increasingly sympathetic.
* Stephen Bauer's fantasy novel ''Satyrday'' centers on the attempts of the protagonists - an orphaned boy, the satyr who raised him, a fox-spirit, and a sympathetic raven - to combat a malevolent owl and his plot to kidnap the Moon (who is a character in her own right). The owl is tyrannical and very cruel, a prime example of this trope.
* At one point in [[The Bible]], [[Iron Woobie|Job]] complains that in the extremity of his misfortune, he has become "a brother to dragons and a companion to owls." Though some translations render it as "a companion to ostriches," which somehow reads as slightly less eerie.
* In Jincy Willet's short story "Justine Laughs at Death," an extended parallel is drawn between the [[Serial Killer]] (and [[Complete Monster|rapist and torturer]]) Ripley and an owl he sees outside his window, with the owl's menace and predatory nature initially reminding Ripley comfortingly of himself (once the metaphor is extended, it gets... less comforting).
* [[Parodied Trope|Parodied]] in [[James Thurber]]'s comic essay [https://web.archive.org/web/20100611011147/http://mmi.tudelft.nl/~bart/leesvoer/owl.html "There's An Owl In My Room"], which is mostly about pigeons and how ''un''-sinister (or poignant, for that matter) they are, but it does refer to the sinister nature of owls as a contrast:
{{quote|You could dress up a pigeon in a tiny suit of evening clothes and put a tiny silk hat on his head and a tiny gold-headed cane under his wing and send him walking into my room at night. It would make no impression on me. I would not shout, "Good God Almighty, the birds are in charge!" But you could send an owl into my room, dressed only in the feathers it was born with, and no monkey business, and I would pull the covers over my head and scream.}}
* In the story "The Ghost Car" in Chris Woodyard's book ''Haunted Ohio II'', the deaths of a certain family's members are heralded by a number of owls that fly away one by one until none are left. This occurs after a man muffled in a coat knocks on the family's door before vanishing. This happens on winter nights for two years in a row. When the knock comes on the third year, the family does not open the door, at which the knocker chuckles and says, "Soon no one will occupy this farm but the owls."
* [[George Eliot]] complains about a clumsy attempt to invoke this in ''[[Silly Novels by Lady Novelists]]'':
{{quote|she falls into this mediaeval vein of description (the italics are ours): "The banner ''unfurled it'' at the sound, and shook its guardian wing above, while the startled owl ''flapped her in'' the ivy; the firmament looking down through her 'argus eyes,'-}}
* [[Discworld]] makes fun of this trope (As it does virtually every trope in existence). The Epebian goddess of wisdom was ''supposed'' to have an owl as her signature animal. Unfortunately, due to her church hiring a sculptor who wasn't very good at doing birds for her statue, she ended up with a penguin.
* Subverted in the [[Young Adult]] novel ''[[Hoot]]''. While burrowing owls are tiny and adorable, their existence on a construction site spells doom for the pancake house that is supposed to be built on it.
* Completely averted in Katherine Lasky's [[Guardians of Ga'Hoole|The Guardians of Ga'Hoole]], where the cast consists almost entirely of owls, the odd snake and seagull aside. That is, averted as long as you're talking about the protagonists; their enemies, The Pure Ones, [[Religion of Evil|can be a pretty nasty bunch]].
* Justified in ''[[Tales from Dimwood Forest|Poppy]]'', since most of the cast are mice. However the mice and the owl, Mr. Ocax, have an odd relationship in which the mice are forced to pretend that Mr. Ocax is their kindly ruler/landlord.
* Spooky owls crop up a lot in [[Paul Cornell]]'s [[Virgin New Adventures]].
* In the ''[[Warrior Cats]]'' series, owls are often thought of as ill omens. Justified, since an owl seems quite large to a cat, and owls have been known to carry off kits. However, ThunderClan does occasionally look for owls at night, because if it's windy and they're having trouble scenting prey, they can follow an owl and find prey that way.
* ''Coyote Blue'' by Christopher Moore has an owl. Not a major plot point, but a running sidearc.
* Subverted by Harry Potter's Hedwig.
* In [[Gene Stratton Porter]]'s ''[[Freckles]]'', one trial facing Freckles in his job is being caught on the train and hearing the unnerving hooting.
{{quote|''Night closed in. The Limberlost stirred gently, then shook herself, growled, and awoke around him.
There seemed to be a great owl hooting from every hollow tree, and a little one screeching from every knothole. '' }}

== Live-Action TV ==
* Owls in ''[[Twin Peaks]]'' are supposed to be the eyes of BOB and/or the Black Lodge, but their significance is never really explained. Then again, neither is anything else of consequence to the series' overall plot.
* John Oliver once noted on ''[[Mock the Week]]'' that owls can kill tigers, because they have the high ground.
* ''[[The Colbert Report]]'': Owls are on notice. Colbert refuses to talk about it, saying "they know what they did". Possibly something to do with [[Dungeons & Dragons|Owl]][[Everything's Worse with Bears|bears]]?
* ''[[The Fast Show]]'': WITH AN OWL!
* ''[[Tales from the Crypt]]'' had an episode with a man who gets the auditory system of an owl.

== [[Music Videos]] ==
* Watch the video for Outkast's "Ms. Jackson" and you may remember that owl forever.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD6VgRUE1y0 "The Owl"] by I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YVZX7IfG6A This] parody of the [[Black Eyed Peas]]' "I Gotta Feeling."

== Mythology ==
* Original references to vampires turning into flying creatures had them become owls, not bats.
* The Cahuilla Indian [[The Grim Reaper|god of death]], Muut, was represented by an owl.
* The demon Andras, is a man with the head and wings of an owl.
* There's the saying ''Cuando el tecolote canta, el indio muere'' (when owl hoots, an American Indian dies).
** Most Native cultures in Mexico and the American Southwest consider owls ill-omened—many of them believed hearing an owl hoot is an omen of death. Though Old Man Owl occasionally does some good in Navajo legends, most owls one might meet are probably shape-shifted ghosts”the related Apache tribe wear owl feathers to keep ghosts away. Even when Old Man Owl does his good deed, it's creepy, considering what he says when given a deer-liver as thanks: "[[Nightmare Fuel|Turn your back]], my grandchild, I allow nobody to see me feed."
** Owls also were the symbol of Mictlantehuatl, god of death and ruler of the Underworld in [[Aztec Mythology]].
* In some parts of Medieval Europe, it's thought only owls could abide the presence of ghosts, so an owl nesting near a house is a sign that it's haunted.
* On the one hand, owls are considered a death omen in Japanese mythology. On the other, they're also considered to be [[Truth in Television|really stupid.]]
* Stolas/Stolos, a demon and prince of hell in the ''Ars Goetia'', is represented as an owl. Also an example of [[The Owl-Knowing One]] since he is presented as a tutor, albeit one who teaches poisons and other demonic knowledge.

== Tabletop Games ==
* There is a creature in [[Dungeons & Dragons]] called a spellweaver, which is a humanoid with six arms and the head of a barn owl. It's generally benevolent, but it doesn't talk, and [[Uncanny Valley|it looks kind of creepy]].
** 3.5 Monster Manual also describes a giant owl, which is a subversion as it is usually Neutral Good. The evergreen Owl''[[Everything Is Worse With Bears|bear]]'' on the other hand...
** Subverted with the grim, a 2nd Edition good-aligned monster that often took the form of an owl. It hung around cursed graveyards and other creepy locales, but did so to help keep evil forces from ''escaping'' such places.
* [[Vampire: The Requiem]] (and its historical setting, "Requiem for Rome") has the Strix: strange, ghostly owl-like beings who may be responsible for, among other things, the fall of the Roman Empire, and the creation, followed by subsequent destruction, of an entire Clan of vampires. They possess corpses, and [[Grand Theft Me|sleeping vampires]], and walk about causing mischief. Needless to say, they're the bad guys and the boogeymen. They're also based on an actual Roman myth.
** They also appear in the ''[[Hunter: The Vigil]]'' sourcebook on taking on vampires. They make a guy murder his girlfriend so they can ride the corpse.
* From [[Exalted]], [[The Chessmaster|Meticulous Owl]], [[Nightmare Fuel|Endless-Faced Spite]]. He gets ''bonuses'' for hiding in plain sight.
** Also [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Lilith]], a traumatized, horrifically powerful owl-totemed Lunar martial-arts master.
* In ''[[Bunnies and Burrows]],'' owls are seen as something along the lines of dragons for their formidable wisdom and awesome rabbit-killing abilities.
* The owl-like Goetic demon Stolas appears in [[Age of Aquarius]] Second Edition, in a piece of narrative text about [[Mad Scientist|the Utopists]]. [[Played for Laughs]] in that they summon him only to pick a feather from his tail, turning him comically angry.

== Theatre ==
* In [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]'s ''[[The Mikado]]'', the [[Abhorrent Admirer]] Katisha is described as an "ill-omened owl" at one point.

== Video Games ==
* The owl (Kaepora Gaebora) in ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' series is a good guy, but still quite creepy in some portrayals. He is ''seen'' as being "evil", with "evil" being used as a synonym for annoying, even in his more tame appearances, due to his tendency to be a trifle... long winded. You see, he usually says things that are blatantly obvious and take quite some time to scroll past, and you can't skip them. In fact, trying to skip his speeches can make it take ''longer''. Hoot! Do you want me to repeat this?
{{quote|'''Yes'''
No }}
** And when his head spins around so it's upside-down, his facial markings look like a second face. Seriously, who gives a good character [[Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory|two]] [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|faces]]?
** [[Catch Phrase|"The Owl is watching! Hoot!"]]
** The owl guide in ''Link's Awakening'' is also quite creepy, as he knowingly sends Link to effectively  {{spoiler|destroy the world in which the owl himself and all of Link's new friends live.}}
* Lechku (pictured) and Nechku from ''[[Okami]]'' count, even though, technically, they're not real owls, but they're [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|demonic clockwork owls]]. With [[Nice Hat]]s. [[Widget Series|In feudal Japan.]]
* Owls are considered creepy enough for them to be a recurring enemy in ''[[Castlevania]]'', sometimes accompanied by an Owl Knight.
** Poor dude gets pissed off if you kill his bird (and vice versa).
** Stolas from the ''[[Ars Goetia]]'' also appears. He doesn't attack on his own, but summons various other monsters.
* Clockwerk, the [[Big Bad]] for the first [[Sly Cooper]] game. Though he's technically a giant robot owl.
** According to Sly's in-game speculation, he was probably a regular owl who gradually replaced all of his body parts with robotic ones.
*** This was pretty much confirmed for true when he shows up.
{{quote|Sly Cooper, you have escaped my gas chamber and destroyed my death ray. Remarkable, you Coopers always find a way to beat me.}}
* [[World of Warcraft]] players flying in the Skettis area can testify to the truth of this trope. Gods all blast those [http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=23051 Monstrous Kaliris...].
* [[Ragnarok Online]] brings us an [https://web.archive.org/web/20150627012754/http://roempire.com/database/?page=monsters&act=view&mid=1320 Owl Duke] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20150627012702/http://roempire.com/database/?page=monsters&act=view&mid=1295 Owl Baron]. They are walking, aristocratically clothed demonic owls that attack you with lighting. And Baron also [[Mook Maker|summons]] [[Flunky Boss|a bunch of Dukes]].<ref>Yes, Gravity [[Did Not Do the Research]] on that one. [[wikipedia:Peerage|Baron is the lowest rank, while the Duke is the highest.]]</ref>
* Olcadan from the [[Soul Series]] is a man with the head and feet of an owl, and is [[Multi Melee Master|adept in various weapon styles]].
* [[Omnicidal Maniac|Setsuna]] of ''[[Last Blade]]'' has an owl as a pet.
* In ''[[Nintendo Wars|Advance Wars: Days of Ruin]]'', the symbol for military research company IDS (and thus, by extension [[Big Bad|Caulder/Stolos]]) is an owl. His European/Japanese name is a reference to the Ars Goetia demon (see Mythology).
* The [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]'' has a robot owl familiar/pet/something.
* Sometimes they warn you for [[King's Quest V|POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOISONOUS]] [[Memetic Mutation|SNAAKES]].
* Hoothoot and Noctowl from ''[[Pokémon]]'' straddle the fine line between this and [[The Owl-Knowing One]]. For one thing, they aren't Dark/Flying type (That was reserved for [[Ravens and Crows|the Murkrow line]]). However, they CAN learn a lot of good Psychic-type moves, may have as an ability either Insomnia (prevents sleep) or Keen Eye (prevents lowering of accuracy), and have two immunities. Tl;dr, Ghost-types beware!
* [[Blow You Away|Storm]] Owl from ''[[Mega Man X|Mega Man X4]]'', who is the commander of Repliforce's Air Force.
* The iPad/Mac game ''Lechuza'' seems to hinge on this trope, doing its best to illustrate owls as evil. (Considering the game was fodder for [[Retsupurae]], your mileage may vary on how well this was pulled off.)
* Skowl the Startling from ''[[Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze]]'' is a member of [[Horny Vikings|the Snowmads]], and is the boss of Autumn Heights. Not only does he look intimidating, but [[Evil Sounds Deep|he sounds intimidating]] as well!

== Web Comics ==
* ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' used owls as a [[Running Gag]]. Moperville North high school has [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2002-06-24 a mural] warning "Read, or the Owl will Eat You". A [http://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/?date=2004-07-03 big owl] appears as [[RTFM]] enforcer in [[Jumanji|Goonmanji]] arc out of continuity. Then in a guest comic the owls make good on their threat, devouring an Analfabets Anonymous meeting (well, not really, but [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2006-10-06 close 'nuff]).
** Subverted with Hedge, whose dramatic moments are always ruined by owls getting in the way.
* Muut (see Mythology, above) shows up in ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'', but here he's an [[Half-Human Hybrid|owl-man]].
* ''[[Lucid TV]]'': Being full of owls [https://web.archive.org/web/20120505160516/http://lucid-tv.com/075.jpg is a serious medical condition].
* ''[[Digger]]'': Considering owls' reputation as a death omen, having your elder healer named "Owl Caller" isn't a good sign.
* Owls show up fairly often in ''[[Happle Tea]]''. The author, Scott Maynard, has stated that he's obsessed with them.
* ''[[Thistil Mistil Kistil]]'' [http://tmkcomic.depleti.com/comic/ch02-pg12/ One of Loki's forms]
* Space Owls show up twice as of April 2012 in ''[[Questionable Content]]''. They knock people unconscious, at least according to Faye, who is telling the story to cover up her own handiwork. However, it's not to be evil or creepy.

== Web Original ==
* [[Mortasheen]]'s [http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/bemzuul.htm Bemzull] [[Memetic Mutation|is watching you masturbate.]]
* [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/o-rly The O RLY?] [[Memetic Mutation|owl.]]
* "Fake Science" blog: "[http://fakescience.tumblr.com/post/19960430087/whats-a-nocturnal-animal you can't escape owls, even when you sleep]".

== Western Animation ==
* The creepy opening sequence in the ''[[Peanuts]]'' [[Halloween Special]] ''[[It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown]]'' features an owl hooting into the camera just before the commercial break.
* In the ''[[Freakazoid!]]'' episode "[[Candle Jack]]," the first instance of "Scream-o-vision" occurs when an owl appears in the frame and hoots at the audience.
* In ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', the Knowledge Spirit, Won Shi Tong, who combines the inherent creepiness of a giant talking owl with the ability to stretch his neck like some sort of feathery snake. Brrr....
** He wasn't all that creepy until he started chasing after the heroes.
** Of note is that the standard owls in this universe really are cats as birds; one was used to aid in the creepy atmosphere of ''The Puppetmaster''
* The freaking terrifying owl that attacks the furlings in ''[[Once Upon a Forest]]''.
* The 1960s-era secret agent spoof ''[[Cool McCool]]'' had a villain named The Owl, seen in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz95oL4iHRQ the opening credits].
* ''[[Rupert and the Frog Song]]''. The evil, glowing-eyed white barn owl swooping down towards the viewer with a shriek is certified [[Nightmare Fuel]]. Can be seen circa 4'25 here [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUiDQ5PtyKI\].
* Averted in a [[Merrie Melodies]] classic, "[[I Love to Singa]]". "I love to sing-a/about the moon-a/and the June-a and the spring-a/I love to sing-a..."
* The Grand Duke of Owls (voiced by [[Christopher Plummer]]) and his henchmen from ''[[Rock-a-Doodle]]'' are all owls motivated by their aversion to sunlight. Their goal is to permanently blot out the sun and devour the protagonists and their friends. The [[Big Bad]] even plays an [[Ominous Pipe Organ]] and gets a [[Deranged Animation|bizarre]] [[One-Winged Angel]] sequence.
* An owl appears during [[The Legend of Sleepy Hollow|the Headless Horseman's]] introductory sequence from ''[[The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad]]''.
* An owl in the famous Silly Symphony ''The Skeleton Dance'' managed to scare ''[[Badass|a freaking]] [[Dem Bones|skeleton]]'' out of his lack-of-skin. (Though the skeleton DID pull himself together and [[Crowning Moment of Funny|knock the owl's feathers off with his own skull]].)
* He has been mentioned already under Comics, but the Owlman of [[Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths]] takes it [[Up to Eleven]] by being {{spoiler|an [[Omnicidal Maniac]] who thinks the only action that would have any meaning would be to destroy every single Earth there is in the multiverse.}}
* Subverted by Owlowiscious in [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]. Spike feels that way about him for supposedly stealing his place as "Twilight Sparkle's number 1 assistant" (he also thinks Owlowiscious' 180 degrees head rotation looks creepy). However otherwise Owlowiscious falls pretty squarely into [[The Owl-Knowing One]].
* Subverted in ''[[Franklin]]''. Mr. Owl is their teacher, and he is always kind and helpful...and though intelligent, never pompously so.
* In ''[[Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness]]'', we learn that the owl Feng Huang, formerly the most powerful member of the previous Furious Five, was corrupted by her power, and turned evil.

== Real Life ==
* Owls are suspected as the source for several reported ghost hauntings or sightings of aliens.
* The [[Ancient Conspiracy|"Bohemian Grove"]] [[The Omniscient Council of Vagueness|secret society]] that pops up in many New World Order [[Paranoia Fuel|conspiracy theories]] apparently worships the owl goddess Lily.
** Or the owl god Molech (according to tinfoil hatter Alex Jones), never mind that Molech is supposed to be a man with the head of a bull, not an owl.
* OwlCam, which caused the creation of some very unsettling GIFs on [[Something Awful]]. One of them featured four or five young barn owls - one crouched low and weaving from side to side, one breathing rapidly, and one ''gulping down a rodent half its own size''. One Goon found [[Nightmare Fuel]] in the fact that the barn owls resembled the equally creepy masked Jabber Wockeez dance crew.
* Assuming the clip hasn't been taken down, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAz1L8DlvBM this] slow-motion footage is probably the last thing a mouse ever sees. To get the shot, they hung a piece of bait under the camera.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-GFZ4bdSiQ One kind of owl] actually makes itself look ''more evil'' to scare off predators. Has this trope been [[Lampshaded]] by nature itself?
** All owls try to invoke this trope as a self-defense mechanism, fluffing themselves up to make them seem bigger and more intimidating, similar to a cat. That particular owl, however, [[Body Horror|seems to have taken things to the next level.]]
** The owl in the video seems to be attempting camouflage rather than intimidation. It's thinning itself out and closing its eyes so that its bark-colored plumage is the only thing visible, and to drive it home it makes a very visible effort to keep the most effective parts of its camouflage pointed directly at the threat.
*** Well, in the second transformation it does. The first, with the puffed feathers and spread wings, still qualifies.
* The [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4206031.stm Eurasian eagle owl], a.k.a. [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|killer owls]], inadvertently introduced into Scotland about five years ago. They can wind up three feet tall, and have been known to carry off dogs and ''small sheep''.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YvyXu7coXA Never] piss off the barn owls.
* Much of the mythology regarding owls as omens of death could have its roots in the fact that they would frequently appear in old times when someone was ill. If a vigil was kept at night there would be lights burning, the light would attract insects, the insects would attract mice and the mice would attract owls.
* "[https://ktla.com/2015/12/25/louisiana-police-officer-crashes-after-owl-flies-into-patrol-car/ A police officer in Louisiana recently crashed his patrol car while on-duty after an owl flew into his unit and attacked him, according to the Covington Police Department.]"

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[[Memetic Mutation|O RLY?]]

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