History Main / InstantMessengerPigeon

* In the first and second ''Franchise/StarOcean'' game for the SNES, party members could learn to use messenger pigeons to deliver a shopping list and required money to a store. No matter where the party was, the bird would always return with the requested items, whether the party was in a forest, in a cave, or in another dimension! Foiled if you are missing the appropriate perk/attribute/etc. Have a different character send the bird if this happens. The second game had it as well.

* Parodied in ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights''. When the Merry Men get some info in Nottingham, they wonder how to get it to Sherwood Forest. One of them then says, "We'll [[{{Pun}} fox it to them]]!" Followed by them attaching the message to a fox, which oddly ran off making dolphin sounds.
The parody is on "We'll fax it to them!", as fax machines were enormously popular then. The dolphin warbling is possibly a fax modem parody too.

* The parody is on "We'll fax it to them!", as fax machines were enormously popular then. The dolphin warbling is possibly a fax modem parody too.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'' episode "Hercules and the Techno Greeks", when Hercules is appointed the defender of Abacus Valley, he gets a little bird that will seek him out and attract his attention whenever the valley needs defending, which he calls his beeper.

* The Goodfeathers spend some time as one of these in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}''. Turns out they're not that good at it. Oddly, a German fighter pilot was able to try to shoot them down. They eventually make it to the destination after at one point figuring that walking would be safer. [[spoiler:They're too late with the message, anyway.]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'': TheEmpire uses pigeons as weapons (like a messenger but with bombs), however if there is a change, it will completely miss its target or just go right back to its master… TruthInTelevision: the Russians used this little trick in the CrimeanWar, training pigeons to associate men in red coats with food, then attaching a grenade to them and releasing them near British regiments.

* Related: In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', Agatha tries to send out several little propeller clanks to send a message to someone, and three of them are destroyed before ever making it off the castle grounds by one of the Geisterdamen's many albino beasties. One escapes, but we have yet to know if it ever made successfully made contact with anyone. Given the level of miss-communication between the two sides, probably not. Also, the tiny clanks were smart enough to take orders and make escape plans.

* One episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' has Pidgey being used this way. This is somewhat more believable, since Pokémon are considerably more intelligent than real birds (most of them understand, but [[PokemonSpeak cannot speak]], human langauges).

* One episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' has Pidgey being used this way.

* Creator/GeorgeRRMartin's ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' has ravens; though they can only reach established outposts like Riverrun or Castle Black, they're still uncannily quick and unerring about it. Martin has admitted the ravens are a product of RuleOfCool. (RealLife ravens are very smart birds, mind, but pigeons have them beat on directions.) Slightly subverted in that messenger ravens are shot down regularly by everyone, including people who just want to eat them. It's also hinted that the ravens suffer from the same single-destination limitations as real-life messenger pigeons. There are in-universe claims that the modern messenger ravens are the result of the loss of magical knowledge; when the practice started they relayed the messages verbally.

* Averted in James Clavell's Literature/AsianSaga novel ''Shōgun'': A ''daimyo'' will send several pigeons at once to ensure that a message gets through, and a rival ''daimyo'' will try to intercept them with archers or specially-trained hawks.

* Averted in James Clavell's Literature/AsianSaga novel ''Shōgun'': ''Daimyo'' will send several pigeons at once to ensure that a message gets through, and rival ''daimyo'' will try to intercept them with archers or specially-trained hawks.

----

[[quoteright:350:[[Manga/{{magico}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4818de17aad02ff14863c7d227519b5a.png]]]]

* Creator/GeorgeRRMartin's ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' has ravens; though they can only reach established outposts like Riverrun or Castle Black, they're still uncannily quick and unerring about it. Martin has admitted the ravens are a product of RuleOfCool. (RealLife ravens are very smart birds, mind, but pigeons have them beat on directions.) Slightly subverted in that messenger ravens are shot down regularly by everyone, including people who just want to eat them. It's also hinted that the ravens suffer from the same single-destination limitations as real-life messenger pigeons.