History Main / AnimalMotifs

[[folder:Film]]

* The last shot of ''TheDeparted'', a movie about a pair of moles within the Boston Mob and the Mass. "Staties" hunting each other, features a rat scurrying across a balcony
** Spoofed on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' which did a parody of this movie. As the rat scurries by at the end, Ralph pops up and tells the audience, "The rat represents obviousness!"
* ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' also has a bird motif, associating Norman Bates' female victims with the birds he stuffs. He comments that Marion Crane (note the surname), from Phoenix, Arizona, eats like a bird shortly before killing her. In the finale we learn that he has preserved the corpse of his mother with his taxidermy skills.
** There are many, many different references to the bird motif throughout the film. Try to find them all!

* ''GhostDogTheWayOfSamurai'' has this, but only a few animals show up more than once.

* In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', the Joker makes some references about dogs and their loyalty. Bonus points for reinforcing his ideals on actual dogs, starving them and gaining their loyalty that way.
* Many of the characters in ''Film/BladeRunner'' are associated with an animal, including all of the (confirmed) Replicants. Roy Batty, in fact, has two.
* From ''Film/SherlockHolmes'', a crow is always seen whenever Blackwood is about to kill someone. So at the end, [[spoiler: when Blackwood [[KarmicDeath really does die for real]], it flies away. The crow turns out to be nothing more than a normal crow.]]

* In ''Film/EverAfter'', when preparing for the masque, Marguerite is dressed as a peacock, beautiful and vain. Compared to her sister, Jacqueline, who is kind and sweet, is dressed as a horse. The brief conversation they had before leaving also reflected Jacqueline's situation. She complained that she always wanted to be the peacock (someone beautiful and admired like her sister), in which her mother then told her a horse is still a noble creature. In the end, she chooses to help Danielle and falls in love with the captain, living happily in the castle with her stepsister, unlike her mother and sister.
* Original ''Film/{{Piranha}}'' has a sea life motif.
* ''TheHowling'' is filled with wolf motifs.
* JamesCameron [[WordOfGod has stated]] that he used a butterfly motif on Rose in ''Film/{{Titanic}}''. Most evident in the (in)famous "I'm flying!" scene.
* Jafar, the villain of ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'', was actually given a snake motif: his hat and robes resemble the hood and body of a cobra, he has vaguely serpentine eyes, teeth resembling a venomous snake's fangs, a constant tendency to flick out his tongue while speaking, he always carries a cobra-headed staff with him all the time, and at the end of the film, [[OneWingedAngel he even]] [[ScaledUp turns into one.]]
* ''Film/BramStokersDracula'' has the obvious bat, rat and wolf associations for the titular character, but there's also a snake motif for Lucy: her first appearance has her wearing an evening gown with snake embroidering and a hairdo resembling coiled snakes, the nightgown she wears when attacked by Dracula resembles a snake's belly, and her wedding/funeral dress was inspired by frill-necked lizards.
* ''Film/MirrorMirror'' has the Queen dressed as a vain peacock during the thematic ball. In contrast, Snow White is a swan and Prince Alcott is a rabbit.
* ''Film/TheWolverine'': Next to the Wolverine, we also have the Viper, and their animalistic nature is often alluded to.

** So does [[WrestlingRickySteamboat Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat]].

* Some characters from ''Franchise/DotHack'' are associated with animals. For example, Atoli[[hottip:* :"atori"/brambling]] from ''G.U.'', who also happens to love small birds.

* Most countries have an animal they use as a symbol for the nation as a whole. The United States have their bald eagle, while Russia has [[BearsAreBadNews the bear]], the United Kingdom the scrappy but lovable bulldog (officially it's actually the Lion but the bulldog characterisation stuck), India has the tiger, Thailand has the elephant, Israel the Lions of Judah, Italy inherited the wolf from Ancient Rome (Italy would actually have both wolf and eagle, but the heavy use of eagle symbologism by Fascism caused most Italian to 'forget' the eagle) and China has its whiskered dragon. Other countries apparently had to take whatever animal mascots were left over: Canada has the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HmgemMkfKA mighty beaver]], Spain has the black bull [[hottip:*:(although this is a rather recent development, from a set of countryside ads for sherry (!) - there's more information on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_bull the other wiki]], while France is unofficially associated with the Gallic rooster. Empires with great reach or which were viewed as secular and religious authorities often adopt the double-headed eagle: the Byzantine Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, the old Russian Empire, the [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Imperium of Man]], etc.
** Actually, Judah has the [[CaptainObvious Lion of Judah]]; each of the tribes has its own animal motif. However, due to the loss of the Ten Tribes[[hottip:*:Reuben, Simeon, Naftali, Issachar, Asher, Dan, Zebulun, Gad, Ephraim, and Menasheh]], most modern Jews descend from the tribe of Judah. Hence the term "Judah-ism", or Judaism.

* Haruka has the dolphin as his motif as he has a toy dolphin in his home bathroom and Nagisa compares to him as one.
* Nagisa's is the penguin, and he even has them printed in his underwear.
* Rin is often compared to a shark, due to his competitive nature and has the teeth of a shark.
* Rei's motif is the butterfly, as it is also his preferred swimming stroke.

* * ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' deliberately uses bees to represent Sherlock's relationships with people and tortoises as a metaphor to his friendship with Watson.

* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' deliberately uses bees to represent Sherlock's relationships with people and tortoises as a metaphor to his friendship with Watson.

* The ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' fandom loves to turn John Watson into a hedgehog and Sherlock Holmes into an otter. The proper name for this idea is Otterlock.

* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' has John Watson being compared to a hedgehog and Sherlock Holmes being compared to an otter.

* ''FanFic/JewelOfDarkness'': DoctorFate has a vision of the future at the beginning of the second arc, which begins with a cat and a bird fighting in the shadow of a tiger. WordOfGod has confirmed that they represent Terra, Midnight, and Slade, respectfully.

** [[WhiteHairedPrettyGirl Eruka]], for frogs.

* The music video of [[{{PSY}} Gangnam Style]] has horses in it, most likely [[RuleOfFunny because it's funny]].

* One of [[DwayneJohnson The Rock's]] many, many nicknames is "The Brahma Bull."

** "American Dragon" BryanDanielson, one of the few non-Japanese to ever win that honor.
** So does Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat.

* The [[ChrisBenoit Rabid Wolverine]].

* Early on his career ChrisJericho had a number of lion-based names and nicknames, which fit well with his long blond hair. He hasn't gone by any of those names in years, even since before he [[ImportantHaircut cut his mane short]]...but his version of the springboard moonsault is still called the [[TheArtifact "Lionsault"]].

* [[JakeRoberts Jake "The Snake" Roberts]] was named such for his serpentine movements, [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent generally villainous nature]] and tendency to bring live snakes to the ring to frighten his opponent.
** StoneColdSteveAustin's nickname "The Rattlesnake" emphasized his untrustworthy temperament and habit of [[NinetiesAntiHero striking out at anyone, friend or foe, with little reason]].
** RandyOrton's recent nickname "The Viper" refers both to the speed with which he can strike with his FinishingMove and his callous disregard for others.
* Since she came to {{TNA}} Tara has taken after JakeRoberts and started bringing a tarantula to the ring.
* The RingOfHonor tag team of Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards call themselves [[BigBadassWolf "The American Wolves,"]] referencing their ferocity and team mentality.

Animals are used to depict characters more often than they describe themes. Even in the real world, describing a person by comparing them to an animal is a good way to convey your opinion of them: phrases such as "lion-hearted," "eagle-eyed," or "[[YouDirtyRat doity rat]]" are popular to the point of cliche. Therefore, many AnimalMotifs are also CharacterizationTropes. The wimp who spends his time watching the tigers at the zoo will most likely be stronger than you think. As for the girl doodling big black spiders [[BlackWidow with suspicious red hourglasses on their underbellies]]... well, think twice before accepting her invitation to "coffee."

* Manga/{{Naruto}} Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha are odd cases of having ''two'' AnimalMotifs each. First are ones which [[GenerationXerox they "inherited" from their teachers]] (which are really too blatant in their cases to even count as motifs) and the second are ones unique to them. Naruto has [[FrogsAndToads toads]] and foxes (resemblance to a fox, a prankster but [[IGaveMyWord always keeps his promises]]), while Sasuke has snakes and hawks (what he names his team, an illusion he uses is represented with feathers pierces the person, [[spoiler:he learned to summon a hawk]], ''[[AnimeHair his hair]]'').

** There's also [[MsFanservice Makoto]], who's AnimalMotif is [[EverythingsNuttierWithSquirrels glaringly obvious]].

* Not much needs to be said about {{Batman}}.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', the original Seven Warlords of the Sea have an animal in their names and can often identify with the animal's characteristics:
** [[MasterSwordsman Dracule Mihawk]]: the Hawk, having sharp, narrow eyes, similar to those of a hawk.
** [[DefrostingIceQueen Boa Hancock]]: the Snake, being [[ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful beautiful]] and [[JerkassFacade vain]]. She also resides on an island where serpents are the pet of choice.
** [[BearsAreBadNews Bartholomew Kuma]]: the Bear, appearing to be frightening and extremely large.
** [[PeoplePuppets Donquixote Doflamingo]]: the Flamingo, wearing a pink, flamboyant clothes and walking like a flamingo.
** [[LivingShadow Gecko Moria]]: the Gecko, his clothing resembling a gecko.
*** Alternatively, the Bat, given his general shadow theme, and that his name is very close to, or at least contains, the Japanese word for bat (koumori).
** [[MagnificentBastard Crocodile]]: the Crocodile, keeping monstrous crocodiles as pets and having a scar that resembles a crocodile's smile
** [[FishPeople Jimbei]]: the Shark, being a whale shark fishman.

* ''FanFic/JewelOfDarkness'': Comicbook/DoctorFate has a vision of the future at the beginning of the second arc, which begins with a cat and a bird fighting in the shadow of a tiger. WordOfGod has confirmed that they represent Terra, Midnight, and Slade, respectfully.

* ''InDeath'' series: Roarke has been compared to a wolf in ''Ceremony In Death'', ''Vengeance In Death'', and ''Promises In Death''. ''Promises In Death'' actually had Eve and several women discussing the men in their lives and comparing them to animals. Nadine got a turtle of a man. Trina got a snake of a man. Mira got an owl of a man. Peabody got a puppy of a man. Mavis got a bear of a man. Louise got a cheetah of a man. Nadine theorizes that Roarke is a panther, but Eve ends up saying "Wolf," and Mira points out that when wolves mate, it's for life.
* In the ''{{Belgariad}}'', each of the gods has a totemic animal: Belar's is a bear, Torak's is a dragon, Chaldan's is a bull, Issa's is a snake, Nedra's is a lion, Mara's is a bat, and Aldur's is an owl. Each god, and his chosen race of people, take on the personality characteristics of their animal, and in some cases go beyond: Barak turns into a bear when a certain condition is met; Salmissra is transformed into a serpent as punishment for her particular meddling; Torak's successor transforms into a dragon on occasion in an effort to impede the party; and the female sorcerers under Aldur's tutelage prefer the form of the owl for themselves (the males prefer the wolf). The sorcerers also wear an amulet each bearing the image of their chosen form.

* Most of the CirqueDuSoleil shows directed by Franco Dragone from ''Saltimbanco'' through ''La Nouba'' invoke bird imagery, usually through one or more characters and their costume(s).

** Sharks are [[MemeticBadass notorious]] aquatic predators; Erik is a {{Badass}}, a [[NaziHunter hunter {of Nazis}]], and first meets Charles when they're both in the water. Rats are small, cute (to those who like them), clever, and associated with science; Charles is a BadassBookworm professor of genetics and his actor is both [[PrettyBoy rather pretty]] and a bit on the short side.