History Main / HonorableElephant

* Brother Warth in the ''GreenLantern'' series is a member of [[HopeSpringsEternal the Blue Lantern Corps.]], hand picked by its leader.

[[folder:Religion and Mythology]]
* Played entirely straight in Hindu Mythology, with elephants often symbolizing wisdom, grace, power and kingliness. Eight divine elephants carry the world on their backs, and a white four-tusked elephant is the mount of the storm god Indra. The elephant-headed god Ganesha, one of the most popular gods in Hinduism, removes obstacles and gives people good luck, as well as protecting children.
** And in another Indian example, this time from Buddhism. The Buddha was an honorable elephant in several of his previous lives, and the popularity of white elephants in Thailand has to do with Buddha taking the form of a six-tusked white elephant.
* A likely candidate for Behemoth, a biblical creature mentioned in ''Literature/BookOfJob'' is the now extinct giant Syrian Elephant. Described or presented to Job by God as a means of showing the limits of man's power against God's nature, Behemoth is described as the most powerful land animal on the planet. In particular the wording used to describe it's greatness imply might beyond the physical but also in intelligence; echoing this trope further. It's also noted to be so big it has to use trees for shade and has giant horns or tusks it can gore its rival the Leviathan with in battle, most certainly a beast that shouldn't be trifled with. But it peacefully spends it days in the fields and swamps, eating grass as the smaller beasts play around it, showing it's a relatively a GentleGiant herbivore if left in peace.
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* Not a anthromorphized example, but ''Series/PrehistoricPark'' features Martha the mammoth.

** Though an outcast from the African elephant herd, [[spoiler:it is Martha who stands up to Matilda, a young T. rex, when Matilda targets the matriarch's calf]].

* Elephants are not really as noble-hearted as you might think from such intelligent organisms; adolescents have been known to kill rhinos and other animals for amusement.[[labelnote:Note]]Though it's now believed that such behaviors often stem from orphaned teenage gangs of elephants who have grown up without guidance from older elephants,esentially the pachyderm version of juvenile delinquents. It's become more common as poaching of elder, bigger-tusked elephants has increased.[[/labelnote]] There are even claims that elephants occasionally indulge in necrophilia both with members of their species and with other creatures. On the other hand, they are social animals and do have something similar to human empathy.

* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', elephants (including the [[PettingZooPeople loxodon]]) are usually Green or White, the colours most invocative of honour. Still, as LightIsNotGood, the loxodon of Mirrodin were brute bigots [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity incapable of acknowledging moral complexity.]]

* A likely candidate for Behemoth, a biblical creature mentioned in ''Literature/BookOfJob'' is the now extinct Syrian Elephant. Behemoth is described as the most powerful land animal on the planet and shouldn't be trifled with, but is relatively a GentleGiant herbivore if left alone.

* Inverted by elephant ice cream vendor Jerry Jumbeaux Jr in ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'', a [[FantasticRacism racist jerk]] who refuses service to Nick simply because he's a fox.

* The title character in ''Disney/{{Dumbo}}'' is playful but never malicious. The Matriarch plays the trope more straight: "We elephants have always walked with dignity."
** The Matriarch would be a subversion because she ostracizes Dumbo for his big ears.

[[folder: Eastern European Animation]]

[[folder: Video Games]]

Compare GenialGiraffe, another friendly animal that is often seen together with elephants.

* [[Manga/OnePiece Jack "the Drought"]], who possesses the ability to transform into a massive wholly mammoth, is a major inversion, as he is a destructive brute who razes countries to the ground to complete his goals.

* Subverted for Rumsshi, the God Of Destruction for Universe 10 in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' whom despite being an elephant, is shown to be a lazy JerkassGods not to mention being an UngratefulBastard who refused to acknowledge that Beerus and Goku saved him from being indirectly killed by Zamasu.

* Inverted in the [[Creator/{{Syfy}} Sci Fi Channel]] [[Film/SyfyOriginalMovie movie]] "Mammoth". Scientists reconstituted a mammoth from DNA. It CameBackWrong and went on a murderous rampage.

* Elephants are not really as noble-hearted as you might think from such intelligent organisms; adolescents have been known to kill rhinos and other animals for amusement. There are even claims that elephants occasionally indulge in necrophilia both with members of their species and with other creatures. On the other hand, they are social animals and do have something similar to human empathy.

* In ''MagicTheGathering'', elephants (including the [[PettingZooPeople loxodon]]) are usually Green or White, the colours most invocative of honour. Still, as LightIsNotGood, the loxodon of Mirrodin were brute bigots [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity incapable of acknowledging moral complexity.]]

* In ''Series/{{Primeval}}'', a Columbian mammoth [[SummonBiggerFish saves James Lester from a Future Predator]] in one episode. At the beginning of the episode he'd been making jokes about selling the mammoth for ivory. At the end of the episode, [[CrowningMomentofHeartwarming he brings it treats]] and cements his status as a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.

* Bill Peet's ''The Ant and the Elephant''.

* Not a anthromorphized example, but ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_Park Prehistoric Park]]'' features Martha the mammoth.

* In the Disney short ''[[SillySymphonies Elmer Elephant]]'', the title character is a heroic anthropomorphic elephant who saves his LoveInterest Tilly Tiger from a fire.

* In ''Literature/{{Babar}}'', the elephants live in TheKingdom, while the rhinoceroses seem to be a military dictatorship ruled by an InsaneAdmiral.

* In ''Anime/TheJungleBook'' Hathi the elephant like its book counterpart is the temperate but righteous leader and lawgiver of the jungle.

* Elephants are not really as noble-hearted as you might think from such intelligent organisms; adolescents have been known to kill rhinos and other animals for amusement. There are even claims that elephants occasionally indulge in necrophilia both with members of their species and with other creatures. On the other hand, they are social animals.

* Elephants are not really as noble-hearted as you might think from such intelligent organisms, adolescents have been known to kill rhinos and other animals for amusement, and there are even claims that they occasionally indulge in necrophilia both with members of their species and with other creatures.

* Joseph Merrick was nicknamed the "Elephant Man" due to his disfigurement, but he was a very kind and honorable person albeit the mistreatment he often suffered from society.

* Strong Sad from ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', who isn't fully an elephant but has elephant feet which he calls "soolnds". They prevent him from being able to jump, which is true with elephants in real life.

* The United States Republican Party has an elephant as the mascot, perhaps to invoke an image of stability.
** Actually this is an aversion. The elephant symbol comes from a political comic comparing Republicans to Elephants that had gotten fat and corrupt off of said corruption (back then, elephants were seen as taking too much resources and doing too little to justify such an expense). Democrats similarly were being ridiculed by the donkey for being stubborn and stupid, but since those animal traits are still associated with donkeys in modern times so it's easier to see the satire. Unusually, these days the [[InsultBackfire adopting of both animals positive traits]] are better seen with Republicans, through this trope than Democrats (at the time, Democrats countered that the Donkey was useful to farmers, which was once their base).

* ''Benjamin Blümchen'', the hero of the eponymous GermanLanguage audio drama series for kids, is a [[TalkingAnimal talking elephant]] with a strong sense of justice and a GentleGiant personality.

* Subverted for Rumsshi in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' whom despite being an elephant, is shown to be a lazy JerkassGods not to mention being an UngratefulBastard who refused to acknowledge that Beerus and Goku saved him from being indirectly killed by Zamasu.