History Main / AnimalThemedFightingStyle

*** The "Sleeping Tiger" style uses powerful strikes and smooth motions, favoring ambushes and a first-strike approach, just like the tiger it is named after. It is a rare and challenging style, requiring lots of strength and agility to properly master it.

*** The "Tiger Claw" discipline makes use of short slashing weapons (including actual claws) and emphasizes jumping on the enemy, close contact combat and bloodlust. Several of its maneuvers are also named after ferocious animals, such as the wolf, wolverine, mongoose, bear or girallon.

** [[spoiler:When Zuko and Aang sought out the original firebending masters near the end of the Hundred Year War, they were brought to the last two surviving dragons, who taught them an ancient firebending form called "The Dancing Dragon."]]

* ''Film/TheBatman2022'': Selina's fighting style is based on a cat, fitting her AnimalMotif. [[https://www.indiewire.com/2021/12/batman-zoe-kravitz-cat-fights-catwoman-1234687228/ Zoe Kravitz even watched footage of cats and lions fighting, and integrated their movements into her character's fight scenes.]]

** ''Film/TheKarateKid1984'': The Crane Kick is the move Daniel uses to defeat Johnny in the tournament. It consists of balancing on one leg, while lifting the other and spreading the arms similar to how a crane spreads its wings.
** ''Film/TheKarateKid2010'': Inverted and played straight. Han takes Dre to a Taoist temple in the Wudang Mountains where Dre witnesses a woman making a cobra reflect her movements. In the climax, Dre uses the woman's snake stance to defeat Cheng.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsThirdEdition'': The ''Tome of Battle – Book of Nine Swords'' introduces nine martial disciplines with poetic names, two of them invoking animals:
** The "Tiger Claw" discipline makes use of short slashing weapons (including actual claws) and emphasizes jumping on the enemy, close contact combat and bloodlust. Several of its maneuvers are also named after ferocious animals, such as the wolf, wolverine, mongoose, bear or girallon.
** The "White Raven" discipline, on the other hand, favors cooperation and group tactics, like a flock of ravens.

** S-Class hero Watchdog Man attacks and defends on all fours while wearing a costume resembling his namesake. He is also the first hero to thoroughly trounce Garou, though circumstances prevent him from finishing the villain off.

SubTrope of AnimalMotifs. Can potentially overlap with AnimalisticAbilities if the fighting style is a [[SupernaturalMartialArts superhuman martial art]] that also grants animal-like abilities or if the animal-like power allows the opponent to create a fighting style based on the animal source.

* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':

** [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Wild Leona]] has a fighting style based on feline moves instead of ninjutsu[[note]]Team Ikari's fighting style is called Heidern style assassination techniques. Heidern and Leona use a ninjutsu based style while Ralf and Clark use a wrestling based style.[[/note]], running like a cat and using her nails to scratch her opponent instead of [[SpontaneousWeaponCreation forming energy blades]] like normally does.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'': Gau learned to fight by copying the attack patterns and special attacks of the monsters and animals that migrated to Veldt.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': Pugilists and Monks fight with various techniques relying on rotating through three combat "forms" -- raptor, coeurl, and opo-opo.

** Sie Kensou is trained in the dragon style of Kung Fu.
** [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Wild Leona]] has a fighting style that is based on feline moves instead of ninjitsu[[note]]Team Ikari's fighting style is called Heidern style assassination techniques. Heidern and Leona use a ninjitsu based style while Ralf and Clark use a wrestling based style.[[/note]], running like a cat and using her nails to scratch her opponent instead of [[SpontaneousWeaponCreation forming energy blades]] like she used to.

* ''Manga/{{Vagabond}}'': Sasaki Kojir&#333 uses the "Swallow Cut" technique his real life counterpart was known for. See the RealLife folder below.

* Japan: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasaki_Kojir%C5%8D Sasaki Kojiro]] was a famed swordsman during the Azuchi–Momoyama and early Edo periods. His SignatureMove was the ''Tsubame Gaeshi'' ("Turning Swallow Cut"), named for how it mimicked the motion of a swallow's tail during flight.

* ''Film/TheKarateKid2010'': Inverted and played straight. Han takes Dre to a Taoist temple in the Wudang Mountains where Dre witnesses a woman making a cobra reflect her movements. In the climax, Dre uses the woman's snake stance to defeat Cheng.

** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hung_Ga Hung Ga]] has roots in the Five Animals. One of it's disciplines is the Tiger Crane Style.

* ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'': The [[VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroes second game]] introduces Spider-Man, whose movements are based on a spider.

* ''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':

** T. Hawk is trained in the Thunderfoot martial arts style, in which he mimics movements of various animals and an interesting point is that his battle stance resembles a hawk hunting its prey.

* ''[[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom Marvel vs Capcom series]]'': In the [[VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroes second game]], we were introduced to Spider-Man, whose movements are based on a spider.

* ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters''
** Sie Kensou is trained in the dragon style of Kung Fu.
** [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Wild Leona]] has a fighting style that is based on feline moves instead of ninjitsu[[note]]Team Ikari's fighting style is called Heidern style assassination techniques. Heidern and Leona use a ninjitsu based style while Ralf and Clark use a wrestling based style.[[/note]], using her nails instead of using them in the form of blades like she used to and she runs like a cat.

** ''Series/PowerRangersMegaforce'': In "Spirit of the Tiger", Jake and Emma receive martial arts lessons from Jake the Jungle Fury Red Ranger. After learning to get in touch with their animal spirits, Jake and Emma take on and defeat the MonsterOfTheWeek using animal-like martial arts moves.

* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_stance horse stance]] is a common posture in Asian martial arts which takes [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin its name from the position assumed when riding a horse.]] It is most commonly used for practicing punches or to strengthen the legs and back.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu_Jow_Pai Fu Jow Pai]] is based on Tiger Kung Fu.

** The aforementioned Five Animals and Northern Praying Mantis styles.