History Main / BigBadassBirdOfPrey

Eagles, being one of the largest groups of raptor, and having associations with {{Eagleland}}, are usually seen as the Biggest and most Badass of the bunch and carry connotations of power and regality in addition to the usual traits of bird of prey. Hawks and falcons have slightly different associations from eagles, stemming in part from the sport of falconry. They are less likely to be depicted as majestic, more likely to be used as symbols of aggression. Contrasting with the image of freedom Big Badass Birds Of Prey typically carry, they may even have association with the idea of servility. A falcon trained to hunt for its falconer would be an example of the power of a Big Badass Bird Of Prey being more controlled and restrained, for instance. Even the idea of the dissolution of servitude is played with in [[TheSecondComing some works]] to represent unrestrained chaos and anarchy. Owls may be considered Big Badass Birds Of Prey at times, but they also have a [[OwlBeDamned trope of their own]] that overlaps with doom and foreboding of RavensAndCrows and another trope on top of that, which represents them as [[TheOwlKnowingOne a font of knowledge]].

* When Tsuburaya Productions wants to torment their [[{{Ultraman}} flagship character]], they create bird [[{{Kaiju}} monsters]]. Some of the most vicious were the Guts Aliens from ''Series/UltraSeven''.

* LarryNiven's short story ''[[Literature/KnownSpace Safe at Any Speed]]'' features an alien bird of prey large enough to swallow a flying car whole. Naturally, the people on that planet call it "the Roc".

* Creator/MercedesLackey is very fond of birds in general, but particularly raptors. She even has a whole culture of people with avian BondCreatures called the Hawkbrothers, although some of them have corvids or something more exotic.

* High Elves and Wood Elves in WarhammerFantasy have access to Giant Eagles, both as their own unit and as mounts for their Lords and Heroes. High Elves also got in a recent update [[CrazyAwesome a flying chariot pulled by a giant eagle.]]

[[Folder: Tabletop Games]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* The Greek play ''Theatre/{{Agamemnon}}'' makes use of quite a bit of bird symbolism.

** Some of the owls qualify, like Hedwig. Draco's eagle owl is big, but doesn't show up often enough to be badass.

Eagles, being one of the largest groups of raptor, and having associations with {{Eagleland}}, are usually seen as the Biggest and most Badass of the bunch and carry connotations of power and regality in addition to the usual traits of bird of prey. Hawks and falcons have slightly different associations from eagles, stemming in part from the sport of falconry. They are less likely to be depicted as majestic, more likely to be used as symbols of aggression. Contrasting with the image of freedom BigBadassBirdsOfPrey typically carry, they may even have association with the idea of servility. A falcon trained to hunt for its falconer would be an example of the power of a BigBadassBirdOfPrey being more controlled and restrained, for instance. Even the idea of the dissolution of servitude is played with in [[TheSecondComing some works]] to represent unrestrained chaos and anarchy. Owls may be considered BigBadassBirdsOfPrey at times, but they also have a [[OwlBeDamned trope of their own]] that overlaps with doom and foreboding of RavensAndCrows and another trope on top of that, which represents them as [[TheOwlKnowingOne a font of knowledge]].

Oftentimes creators will go out of their way to make the BigBadassBirdOfPrey even more {{Badass}} somehow. Usually this is by giving them attributes from [[SomewhereAnOrnithologistIsCrying another bird of prey]], with the most common variant being to have the bird in question make the majestic and frightening scream of a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33DWqRyAAUw&feature=related red tailed hawk]] regardless of species. Another less-common variant of this is to give a smaller and less-impressive bird of prey the body of an eagle. In other cases the BigBadassBirdOfPrey will be given traits not common to any bird, such as the ability to [[ThePhoenix set itself on fire]], create lightning and thunder with their wings, or carry off whole elephants, which are abilities that are specific to ThePhoenix, thunderbirds, The Roc, respectively. The last has no relationship to wrestler DwayneJohnson.

Non-symbolic invocations of this trope may rate as SomewhereAnOrnithologistIsCrying, as when ordinary eagles are depicted [[VerticalKidnapping carrying off infants]] in older works. (See KidnappingBirdOfPrey) There's also a tendency to depict the most powerful BigBadassBirdOfPrey in a given work as male, despite female raptors having been known to be substantially larger than their mates for centuries.

** The Fifth Colossus is also modelled after a BigBadassBirdOfPrey.

** BW Silverbolt stands out as being equal parts [[BigBadassBirdOfPrey eagle]] and [[BigBadassWolf wolf]].

Eagles, being one of the largest groups of raptor, and having associations with EagleLand, are usually seen as the Biggest and most Badass of the bunch and carry connotations of power and regality in addition to the usual traits of bird of prey. Hawks and falcons have slightly different associations from eagles, stemming in part from the sport of falconry. They are less likely to be depicted as majestic, more likely to be used as symbols of aggression. Contrasting with the image of freedom BigBadassBirdsOfPrey typically carry, they may even have association with the idea of servility. A falcon trained to hunt for its falconer would be an example of the power of a BigBadassBirdOfPrey being more controlled and restrained, for instance. Even the idea of the dissolution of servitude is played with in [[TheSecondComing some works]] to represent unrestrained chaos and anarchy. Owls may be considered BigBadassBirdsOfPrey at times, but they also have a [[OwlBeDamned trope of their own]] that overlaps with doom and foreboding of RavensAndCrows and another trope on top of that, which represents them as [[TheOwlKnowingOne a font of knowledge]].

The ultimate TropeMaker is Imperial Rome, which used the eagle as a symbol. This means this trope is OlderThanFeudalism. Its associations with Rome lead to its widespread use in medieval Europe to evoke the glories of the former Byzantine Empire, which eventually evolved into the modern trope. The falcon was also the symbol of Horus, one of the main [[EgyptianMythology Egyptian gods]]. The trope also developed separately in other cultures, such as the Aztec and the indigenous people from the Pacific Northwest in North America. Nowadays they're used as symbols in India, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, Serbia, Armenia, Germany and of course [[EagleLand America]].

* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Eagle Philippine Eagle]], one of the largest birds of prey in South East Asia and one of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_symbols_of_the_Philippines national symbols of the country]] (possibly influenced by the [[EagleLand USA]].

* LarryNiven's short story ''Safe at Any Speed'' features an alien bird of prey large enough to swallow a flying car whole. Naturally, the people on that planet call it "the Roc".

* Jontom from the ''Spellsinger'' series once encountered an army of TalkingAnimal Big Badass Birds Of Prey, led and indoctrinated by a giant eagle (actually the Nazi emblem's eagle brought to life).

* ''Webcomic/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory'': The match between BarackObama and MittRomney features a massive bald eagle, the symbol of the United States Of America. Is it on Obama's side? Romney's? [[spoiler:Nope! It's Abraham Lincoln, looking like he's fresh out of his match with Chuck Norris in Season One, dropping in to give both competitors a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.]]

* Quite a few AnimalMecha from ''SuperSentai''[=/=]''PowerRangers''. Notably ''ChoujinSentaiJetman'' uses aircraft mecha modeled after birds.

* When Tsuburaya Productions wants to torment their [[{{Ultraman}} flagship character]], they create bird [[{{Kaiju}} monsters]]. Some of the most vicious were the Guts Aliens from ''UltraSeven''.

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* The head Hun has one for a pet in ''Disney/{{Mulan}}''

* The griffins in ''Fanfic/AceCombatTheEquestrianWar'', naturally.

* David, Roland's hawk, in Stephen King's ''TheDarkTower''.

** Golden Eagles are so badass, that the Mongols regularly use them to hunt wolves!

* MercedesLackey is very fond of birds in general, but particularly raptors. She even has a whole culture of people with avian BondCreatures called the Hawkbrothers, although some of them have corvids or something more exotic.