History Main / ThemedCursor

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}} has a squid-shaped cursor that bobs up and down.

* The emulator Nesticle became infamous for the cursor being a chopped off hand with blood dripping from the wrist.

* The old NintendoEntertainmentSystem emulator [=NESticle=] turns your cursor into a bleeding, severed hand.

[[caption-width-right:238:Genuine WorldWar2 era cursors.]]

* Software packs filled with gimmicky cursors among other window dressings were popular in the Windows 3.1 era. Some of these had "animated" cursors that didn't work like you're thinking, but instead caused the cursor to dart around the screen at varying speeds, making it nearly unusable. '''[[SarcasmMode Fun.]]'''

** In ''Mario & Wario'', it's Wanda the Fairy, the player character.

** Your cursor is also the player character in ''BubbleGhost''.

** In the ''{{Creatures}}'' series, the cursor is known as the Hand--it is, in fact, shaped like a hand. It's actually treated as its own separate entity in the game, and you can name it, and even have Creatures interact with it!

** The hand in ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper'' work like those in ''VideoGame/BlackAndWhite'' and ''{{Creatures}}''. Though more so, the hand can, in fact, possess said creatures and become their minds. The ''Dungeon Keeper'' series example would be one of the most extreme examples of this trope.
** In {{Anachronox}} your cursor is in world, but still arrow like, but is in fact Fatima, your [[spoiler: dead secretary brought back to life in a]] Life Cursor.

* In ''UsefulNotes/MSPaint'' and such programs your cursor is simply whatever tool you have selected.
* JewelQuest 3 has a cursor that looks sort of like a gold fountain pen nib.
* The Flash Game Hedgehog Launch has an equipment upgrade screen as well as the playing field for hedgehog-launching. The upgrade screen is trying to look like an ancient black and green monochrome computer screen and uses -- a primitive-looking green arrow. (Imagine if a Speak And Spell had an arrow cursor.)

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' fangame ''MariAri'', the cursor is one of Alice's dolls.

* ''{{Kanon}}'' has a blue feather, referring to the theme of wings in the game, and ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'' a branch, referring to the tree on the title screen.

* The old NintendoEntertainmentSystem emulator [=NESticle=] turns your cursor into a bleeding, severed hand.
* Software packs filled with gimmicky cursors among other window dressings were popular in the Windows 3.1 era. Some of these had "animated" cursors that didn't work like you're thinking, but instead caused the cursor to dart around the screen at varying speeds, making it nearly unusable. '''[[SarcasmMode Fun.]]'''

* In "VideoGame/VirtualVillagers 5: New Believers", as in all the VV games, the cursor is turned into a hand. The villagers ''worship'' the "giant flying hand in the sky" (that is, the player).

* In ''MarioPaint'', the cursor is shaped like Mario's glove.
* In ''MSPaint'' and such programs your cursor is simply whatever tool you have selected.

* ''Sburb'' from ''{{Homestuck}}'' has a cursor shaped like its logo.

* In the ''WarCraft'' (RTS) series the cursor is the hand of whatever race you're currently playing as. [[StopPokingMe Some characters are quite aware of the fact that they are being poked by a hand.]]
--> '''Priest (Warcraft III)''': [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory I have been chosen]] by [[MediumAwareness the big metal hand in the sky]]!
* In ''CommandAndConquer'', when you have a unit selected, your cursor becomes a sonar-like pattern when hovering over passable terrain, a "no" symbol when over impassable terrain and a crosshair when over enemies. The first ''Red Alert'' subtly alters the crosshair design to indicate whether your unit is already in range of its target or not (which obviously only works if only a single unit is selected).
* ''StarCraft'' has... some fiddly scifi thing... for its "click me, I'm selectable" cursor. And the standard arrow is green with a dash of TronLines.

** Myst IV takes it even further. Not only is the cursor actually your hand, you can use it to interact with things that are ordinarily useless by tapping on them to hear the sound they make. Also, some objects can't be touched (usually due to high voltage), causing the cursor to recoil and the screen to shake (since the orientation of the screen is pretty much tied to where the hand is at).

--> '''Priest (Warcraft III)''': [[Film/ToyStory I have been chosen]] by [[MediumAwareness the big metal hand in the sky]]!

* For some reason, the battle cursor in ''Mother 3'' is a feather pen...

* ''The {{QuestForGlory}} games have fairly generic cursor icons for actions like Walk, Look, Use, etc....except for the fourth game in the series, which takes place in a DarkerAndEdgier setting than the others, rife with undead and EldritchAbominations. In {{QuestForGloryIV}}, the Look icon is a disembodied eyeball, the Use icon is a severed, zombified hand, and the Talk icon is a mouth with vampire fangs.

** The hand in ''DungeonKeeper'' work like those in ''VideoGame/BlackAndWhite'' and ''{{Creatures}}''. Though more so, the hand can, in fact, possess said creatures and become their minds. The ''Dungeon Keeper'' series example would be one of the most extreme examples of this trope.

* ''{{Kanon}}'' has a blue feather, referring to the theme of wings in the game, and ''{{Clannad}}'' a branch, referring to the tree on the title screen.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/WW2_Cursor_Theme.jpg
[[caption-width:238:Genuine WorldWar2 era cursors.]]