History Main / PlayfulOtter

* Episode 2 of the ''[[Anime/KemonoFriends Kemono Friends]]'' anime gives us Small-clawed Otter, who employs this trope in full. She's an otter, she plays with everything she can get her hands on, tries to find the fun in everything they're doing, among other things that make her a full-blown otter.

-->''"Killing Bites is much tougher than I figured. At least it lived up to the promise of a live all-you-can-eat buffet. I imagine my subscriber count has exploded by now. *makes a SillyMeGesture* Somehow, [[CatchPhrase this is very Meshiuma TV~!]]"''

->''"What are you?"''
->''"I'm an otter."''
->''"And what do you do?"''
->''"I swim around on my back and do cute little human things with my hands."''
->''"You're free to go."''

* Sylas in ''VideoGame/{{Armello}}'' is an inversion of the archetype. In a game that is already easy to describe as "''Literature/GameOfThrones'' but with [[FunnyAnimal cartoon animals]] instead", Sylas the otter has by far [[DisproportionateRetribution the]] [[DoomedHometown darkest]] [[ForcedToWatch backstory]], which has left him as a hollow, hateful husk motivated solely by [[{{Revenge}} a desire to murder the one responsible for his cruel fate]].

When used in fiction, otter characters are usually FunPersonified. They are usually depicted as playful, energetic, kind-hearted, optimistic and laid-back, sometimes even mischievous. Otters spend a lot of time in water, so expect them to be good swimmers, who love to have fun in water. Sometimes this overlaps with SurferDude (but otters are usually much more clever, rarely TheDitz). Often there can be a playful antagonism with beavers such as the boistrous otters getting in the way of the workaholic rodents engaged in their usual serious labors.

* ''Literature/TheWindInTheWillows'': Otter is probably the TropeCodifier, always willing to lend a hand and always friendly except if you screw over his friends as a rabbit found out when he was braving the wildwood. The only other character to brave the wildwood is Badger.
* In the ''Literature/WinnieThePooh'' book ''Return to the Hundred Acre Wood'', the only new character is an otter named Lottie, who was described in a preview article as "feisty".
* ''The Treasure Tree'' is the name of a book showing the four personality distinctions of (roughly) Leader, Scientist, People Person, and Fun Guy. These are shown with the animals of, respectively, Lion, Beaver, Golden Retriever, and Otter.

* In Hector Hugh Munroe (aka "Creator/{{Saki}}")'s short story, "Laura," the merry-hell-raising heroine is reincarnated as an otter, and continues to raise merry hell.
* The Mad House of Otter in ''Literature/TheBookOfTheDunCow'' are careless, sloppy enemies of the fierce but courageous weasels.
* Otter of the ''Literature/{{Franklin}}'' books and AnimatedAdaptation is shown as being this.
* In the Norwegian children's book series ''Samson & Roberto,'' in which the cast is comprised of {{Funny Animal}}s, one of the main characters is a female otter named Olli, who works as the resident repairwoman -- at least when she's not fooling around and acting hyper and silly just for the hell of it. [[GeniusDitz She is a supreme repairwoman, though.]]
* The absolutely adorable (and mischievous) fenlings of ''Literature/TheBelgariad''.
* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' Hermione learns her patronus takes this form when she manages to produce a corporeal one and it happily bounds around the room.
* The protagonists of ''Literature/EmmetOttersJugBandChristmas'' are of course, otters, who are playful and kind-hearted folks, and sing really well to boot. The Creator/JimHenson puppet adaptation is a Christmas special with a huge following.

* Marlene from ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'', the spin-off TV series of the Creator/DreamWorksAnimation ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'', is the token girl character to go alongside the four male penguins.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animalympics}}'' features among its athletes a SurferDude otter named Dean Wilson. [[http://otterfershyuure.ytmnd.com/ Fer shyuuuure!]]

* In ''[[VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon Spyro: A Hero's Tail]]'' Spyro meets an otter SurferDude who needs his help to refill a drained pond with water so he can surf again.

* Marlene from ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'', the spin-off TV series of the Creator/DreamWorksAnimation ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'', is TheChick to the four male penguins.

[[/folder]]

* Kylie in ''Literature/Windfall'' has her moments, though the trope is more often reserved for her younger cousins.

[[folder:Otter ... er, Other]]
* Otters are used to aid fishers in some parts of Bangladesh; they chase fish into nets.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epUk3T2Kfno Otters holding hands.]]
* The editors at Slate think that [[http://www.slate.com/blogs/wild_things/2013/10/28/sea_otter_dolphin_and_penguin_behavior_your_favorite_animals_are_jerks.html otters are jerks.]] They might be somewhat correct; otters are territorial creatures, and attacks do happen on rare occasion. 42 otter attacks on humans have been recorded in UsefulNotes/{{Florida}} since 1875, with one confirmed death. There was a well-publicized attack of a person by a swarm of otters in UsefulNotes/{{Singapore}} in 2021, but they suspected another person accidentally stepped on one of the otter's tails while running.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* Episode 2 of the [[Anime/KemonoFriends Kemono Friends anime]] gives us Small-clawed Otter, who employs this trope in full. She's an otter, she plays with everything she can get her hands on, tries to find the fun in everything they're doing, among other things that make her a full-blown otter.

* ''TableTopGame/MagicTheGathering'': [[https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Lutri%2C+the+Spellchaser Lutri, The Spellchaser]] is a hybrid between an otter and an [[ElementalEmbodiment elemental]] - if that seems like an odd combination to you, welcome to [[MixAndMatchCritters Ikoria]]. It has the otter's classic playful and mischievous streak, combined with a fascination with magic and the ability to duplicate any spell it can "catch." The fact that it will only become your [[BondCreature Companion]] if you have no more than one of any card in your deck, however, implies that it's easily bored and will only forge an eludha bond with a similarly spontaneous mage. It immediately became the most popular of all fifteen Companion creatures before it was even released, but that might have less to do with it's cuteness than the fact that it's abilities make it a GameBreaker in [[https://magic.wizards.com/en/content/commander-format Commander format]]; Lutri actually holds the distinct honor of being the first creature banned from a format before it was acutally released.

[[folder:Film - Animated]]

[[folder:Film - Live-Action]]

* ''Radio/CabinPressure'': As per the AlphabeticalThemeNaming of each episode, [[DeadpanSnarker Douglas]], [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex Martin]] and [[TheDitz Arthur]] find themselves visiting Ottery St. Mary, and, as per the Running Gag, start playing games to entertain themselves- namely, trying to work out how many otters they could use to fill up their plane. That said, the "playful" aspect is played with in a story Douglas makes up to impress Arthur: he claims that the Saint Mary the eponymous town is named after was consumed alive by wild otters, but in the more modern, family-friendly artistic depictions, the otters are just gathering around her feet lovingly.

[[folder: Otter ... er, Other]]

[[folder: Card Games]]

[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFqeWTfVi3I Also, they sound like squeaky toys.]]

* The editors at Slate think that [[http://www.slate.com/blogs/wild_things/2013/10/28/sea_otter_dolphin_and_penguin_behavior_your_favorite_animals_are_jerks.html otters are jerks.]]
They might be somewhat correct; otters are territorial creatures, and attacks do happen on rare occasion. 42 otter attacks on humans have been recorded in UsefulNotes/{{Florida}} since 1875, with one confirmed death. There was a well-publicized attack of a person by a swarm of otters in UsefulNotes/{{Singapore}} in 2021, but they suspected another person accidentally stepped on one of the otter's tails while running.

* In Japanese folklore, otters are capable of shapeshifting and performing other tricks to play pranks on humans, much like {{Kitsune}} and {{Tanuki}}.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Franklin}}'' there is a female otter named Otter, who is friends with Franklin. She is voiced by Marieve Herington of Danganronpa and Love Love fame.

Compare SweetSeal, WarmHeartedWalrus and WeaselMascot.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Franklin'' there is a female otter named Otter, who is friends with Franklin. She is voiced by Marieve Herington of Danganronpa and Love Love fame.