History Main / WhatMeasureIsANonCute

** Probably the reason they have Rufus eating junk-food is because the diet of real Naked Mole Rats consists of their own feaces.

* Similarly, an episode of ''ThunderCats'' featured a cop and a criminal: one was a sinister, brutal-looking reptilian, the other a shiny gold, fragile-looking robot in white robes. Guess who's who!
** It wasn't a reptilian, actually, but something even "creepier" by most standards; a hairy scorpion-man, complete with pincers, a tail and chelicerae! "Cute" sidekick Snarf actually failed to appreciate the lesson in the end.

** And just in case the "don't judge anyone just by the way they look" message didn't sink in, the TV series gives us the episode "Fugitive Flowers". In it, [[GranolaGirl Hippie-Chick Pony]] Posey is (''way'' too) easily convinced by a group of cute little talking flowers that the giant, scary crab monsters following them are evil. Go figure, the talking flowers soon reveal their [[OneWingedAngel terrifying true forms]] and wreck havoc on the Ponyland ecosystem -- they're basically gigantic weeds that happen to have pretty flowers. The crab monsters were actually {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s hoping to stop them.

** [[FridgeLogic Why would you want to eat cats anyway? Or hunt them?]] [[Dwarf Fortress, I mean, once they start]] [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean going]] [[ExplosiveBreeder they'll never stop,]] [[TooMuchInformation but I would imagine that cat mean is wierdly stringy and unsuited for cooking.]]

** [[FridgeLogic Why would you want to eat cats anyway? Or hunt them?]] [[Dwarf Fortress, I mean, once they start]] [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean going]] [[ExplosiveBreeder they'll never stop,]] [[TooMuchInformation but I would imagine that cat mean is wierdly stringy and unsuited for cooking.

*** And that you couldn't make out the cat's ''[[NightmareFuel severed head dropping into the car.]]''

->''"You'd almost feel bad about killing them if they weren't so @#!*% ugly."''

Humans, being [[HumansAreBastards as prejudiced as we are]], tend to only like certain animals. Oh, how our dog smiles and plays! Oh, how our cat rolls on the rug asking for a tummy rub! Oh, how pretty the Mute Swan is as he glides across the pond! Oh, how the Coelacanth... um... @#!*% that thing's boring. It's pretty ugly too.

This trope is TruthInTelevision and a major problem in wildlife preservation, with animals that appeal to humans termed ''charismatic megafauna''. It doesn't matter if, like the aforementioned Coelocanth, you've survived @#!*% near everything else the world can throw at you; if you aren't generally thought of as cute by most people, you're in serious trouble. Few people really care about ugly or unpopular animals, regardless of their ecological importance.

** To be fair, the [[KidWithTheRemoteControl Kid]] ''[[KidWithTheRemoteControl Was]]'' [[KidWithTheRemoteControl The Remote Control]] for said KillSat, and [[DrivenToSuicide called that strike on herself]] when she [[TomatoInTheMirror found that out]]. Considering the blast sank an entire floating arcology, the Sabers really couldn't do much about it other than get the @#!*% out of the firing line.

* This is apparently the [[CluelessAesop Aesop]] we are supposed to get out of watching ''[[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/5300-garbage-pail-kids The Garbage Pail Kids Movie]]''. Unfortunately, watching the movie kind of makes you want to punch the next non-cute you see right in the face. The eponymous Garbage Pail Kids are basically sociopaths. One @#!*% himself frequently for comedic effect, another is [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent an anthropomorphic alligator]] (presumably a carnivore too), and another is riddled with infectious disease and projectile pukes. More so, they seem to simply do whatever they want with no regard for others, are generally quite insulting and violent (one of them starts a ''bar fight'') and their only skill is making clothes... [[RandomEventsPlot for some reason]]. The Old Mentor character likens them to [[SealedEvilInACan the horrors unleashed by Pandora's Box]] and they're close to personifications of the Seven Deadly Sins. But more so, the whole thing kind of reaches an extreme BrokenAesop when one realizes that the heroes just want to put them back into a tiny garbage pail... but are willing to break them out of prison and give them pep talks about how being ugly as sin and violent to boot is a-ok.

*** [[HollywoodAtheist Does that mean I'm allowed to call Spiritual @#!*% ?]]

** In fact, I'm tempted to call "total subversion" in the case of Relicanth. Rock Head+ Head Smash (+ Baton Pass)= insane amounts of @#!*% KICKING!
** This may be why "Amity Square", in ''Diamond and Pearl'', seem so darned out of place. Not only was this the first time we, as the player, were specifically told that only certain Pokemon are "cute" in a situation played totally straight, many of the cute ones such as Mew, Togepi, Cubone, Pichu, smoochum, Eevee, and Marril aren't on that list! If you happen to think your Bulbasaur or Mudkip is way more adorable than 'proto-FetishFuel bunny' and 'creepy kidnapper balloon', you're apparently a weirdo. (Granted, the news that the Park was designed around the pre-existing character sprites relieves the sting a ''little''...) It's also lampshaded by [[NightmareFetishist a guy near the entrance who complains about the discrimination against his Gyarados and Steelix]] -- two huge menacing snakelike creatures. And it's parodied to @#!*% and back [[http://scuttle.mirror.waffleimages.com/data/files/4a/4ad5d05dd87042838840c2ca60013dfcb6400785.jpg in this comic]].

* Lampshaded and parodied to @#!*% and back in [[http://pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF152-Scorpy_the_Forest_Friend.gif this]] ''PerryBibleFellowship'' strip.

* Averted to @#!*% and back by ''[[AvatarAdventures Avatar Adventure's]]'' Slouch. Slouch is a [[http://beachchairscientist.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/blobfish1.jpg blobfish]]. ...Yeeaahh.

*** The case of Inferno is especially {{Wall Banger}}y. He was said to have a "Maximal body" the first time he was seen. The body in question? A ''Fire Ant''. First off, the arachnids all start off as Predacons. Six legs good, eight legs bad, apparently. Secondly, Fire Ants ''are'' [[NightmareFuel scary]] in RealLife. The @#!*% ?

* ''[[MyGymPartnersAMonkey My Gym Partner's a Monkey]]'' plays with this trope endlessly. The staff includes a warthog, a chameleon, a goldfish, a baboon, a pixie frog and an elephant, all of whom have personalities that vary wildly with their appearances; the snake is friendly, helpful ''and'' a member of the main cast (one notable episode had him apparently fighting with a mongoose, only to be revealed that they were just playing tag); the (spider) monkey is the resident {{ @#!*% }}; and the human, instead of being a [[HumansAreBastards @#!*% ]], is just trying to survive amongst the insanity. The shark, however, ''is'' the school bully, but like most bullies in recent fiction, he's a coward who hides his insecurities behind violence

* ''{{Futurama}}: Into the Wild Green Yonder'' zigzagged the @#!*% out of this one. Early in the episode, the Wongs' urban developments threaten to eliminate a species of leech. Leela rescues one, which immediately starts attacking her and trying to drain her blood. She fights it off, nearly kills it, then resuscitates it before the cycle repeats itself. Eventually she ends up caging it, the apparent lesson being that just because an endangered species is ugly and hostile doesn't mean it should be exterminated. Then, mere minutes before the ending it turns out that [[spoiler: this species of leech is the most recent manifestation of an AlwaysChaoticEvil race bent on exterminating other species.]]

* The {{South Park}} episode "Whale @#!*% " concerns Stan's attempts to stop the Japanese from killing dolphins and whales. In typical South Park fashion, it is revealed the Japanese believe those species are responsible for the atomic bombing. After Stan makes them think chickens and cows are the real culprits, the Japanese go after them. Everyone watches approvingly.

->''"You'd almost feel bad about killing them if they weren't so damn ugly."''

Humans, being [[HumansAreBastards as prejudiced as we are]], tend to only like certain animals. Oh, how our dog smiles and plays! Oh, how our cat rolls on the rug asking for a tummy rub! Oh, how pretty the Mute Swan is as he glides across the pond! Oh, how the Coelacanth... um... damn that thing's boring. It's pretty ugly too.

This trope is TruthInTelevision and a major problem in wildlife preservation, with animals that appeal to humans termed ''charismatic megafauna''. It doesn't matter if, like the aforementioned Coelocanth, you've survived damn near everything else the world can throw at you; if you aren't generally thought of as cute by most people, you're in serious trouble. Few people really care about ugly or unpopular animals, regardless of their ecological importance.

** To be fair, the [[KidWithTheRemoteControl Kid]] ''[[KidWithTheRemoteControl Was]]'' [[KidWithTheRemoteControl The Remote Control]] for said KillSat, and [[DrivenToSuicide called that strike on herself]] when she [[TomatoInTheMirror found that out]]. Considering the blast sank an entire floating arcology, the Sabers really couldn't do much about it other than get the hell out of the firing line.

* This is apparently the [[CluelessAesop Aesop]] we are supposed to get out of watching ''[[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/5300-garbage-pail-kids The Garbage Pail Kids Movie]]''. Unfortunately, watching the movie kind of makes you want to punch the next non-cute you see right in the face. The eponymous Garbage Pail Kids are basically sociopaths. One pisses himself frequently for comedic effect, another is [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent an anthropomorphic alligator]] (presumably a carnivore too), and another is riddled with infectious disease and projectile pukes. More so, they seem to simply do whatever they want with no regard for others, are generally quite insulting and violent (one of them starts a ''bar fight'') and their only skill is making clothes... [[RandomEventsPlot for some reason]]. The Old Mentor character likens them to [[SealedEvilInACan the horrors unleashed by Pandora's Box]] and they're close to personifications of the Seven Deadly Sins. But more so, the whole thing kind of reaches an extreme BrokenAesop when one realizes that the heroes just want to put them back into a tiny garbage pail... but are willing to break them out of prison and give them pep talks about how being ugly as sin and violent to boot is a-ok.

*** [[HollywoodAtheist Does that mean I'm allowed to call Spiritual Bullshit?]]

** In fact, I'm tempted to call "total subversion" in the case of Relicanth. Rock Head+ Head Smash (+ Baton Pass)= insane amounts of ASS KICKING!
** This may be why "Amity Square", in ''Diamond and Pearl'', seem so darned out of place. Not only was this the first time we, as the player, were specifically told that only certain Pokemon are "cute" in a situation played totally straight, many of the cute ones such as Mew, Togepi, Cubone, Pichu, smoochum, Eevee, and Marril aren't on that list! If you happen to think your Bulbasaur or Mudkip is way more adorable than 'proto-FetishFuel bunny' and 'creepy kidnapper balloon', you're apparently a weirdo. (Granted, the news that the Park was designed around the pre-existing character sprites relieves the sting a ''little''...) It's also lampshaded by [[NightmareFetishist a guy near the entrance who complains about the discrimination against his Gyarados and Steelix]] -- two huge menacing snakelike creatures. And it's parodied to hell and back [[http://scuttle.mirror.waffleimages.com/data/files/4a/4ad5d05dd87042838840c2ca60013dfcb6400785.jpg in this comic]].

* Lampshaded and parodied to hell and back in [[http://pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF152-Scorpy_the_Forest_Friend.gif this]] ''PerryBibleFellowship'' strip.

* Averted to hell and back by ''[[AvatarAdventures Avatar Adventure's]]'' Slouch. Slouch is a [[http://beachchairscientist.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/blobfish1.jpg blobfish]]. ...Yeeaahh.

*** The case of Inferno is especially {{Wall Banger}}y. He was said to have a "Maximal body" the first time he was seen. The body in question? A ''Fire Ant''. First off, the arachnids all start off as Predacons. Six legs good, eight legs bad, apparently. Secondly, Fire Ants ''are'' [[NightmareFuel scary]] in RealLife. The hell?

* ''[[MyGymPartnersAMonkey My Gym Partner's a Monkey]]'' plays with this trope endlessly. The staff includes a warthog, a chameleon, a goldfish, a baboon, a pixie frog and an elephant, all of whom have personalities that vary wildly with their appearances; the snake is friendly, helpful ''and'' a member of the main cast (one notable episode had him apparently fighting with a mongoose, only to be revealed that they were just playing tag); the (spider) monkey is the resident {{Jerkass}}; and the human, instead of being a [[HumansAreBastards bastard]], is just trying to survive amongst the insanity. The shark, however, ''is'' the school bully, but like most bullies in recent fiction, he's a coward who hides his insecurities behind violence

* ''{{Futurama}}: Into the Wild Green Yonder'' zigzagged the hell out of this one. Early in the episode, the Wongs' urban developments threaten to eliminate a species of leech. Leela rescues one, which immediately starts attacking her and trying to drain her blood. She fights it off, nearly kills it, then resuscitates it before the cycle repeats itself. Eventually she ends up caging it, the apparent lesson being that just because an endangered species is ugly and hostile doesn't mean it should be exterminated. Then, mere minutes before the ending it turns out that [[spoiler: this species of leech is the most recent manifestation of an AlwaysChaoticEvil race bent on exterminating other species.]]

* The {{South Park}} episode "Whale Whores" concerns Stan's attempts to stop the Japanese from killing dolphins and whales. In typical South Park fashion, it is revealed the Japanese believe those species are responsible for the atomic bombing. After Stan makes them think chickens and cows are the real culprits, the Japanese go after them. Everyone watches approvingly.

It should be noted that which animals get to be considered cute/cool or the opposite [[ValuesDissonance tends to vary by culture]]. Just as an example, in general foxes are cute in America, mean in some parts of Europe and MagnificentBastard types in others, magical tricksters in Japan, and AxeCrazy evil in Korea. Another factor may be the animal's size and/or place in human society. For example, both Mice and Rats can be cute, but they can get a bad rap because they're commonly household pests. Even then, the tiny Mice are likely to be portrayed more positively than the larger Rats. (Possibly justified, as rats are more likely to bite, though they make more trainable pets. Please note that rodents can and do eat meat.) Consequently; if a Cat is chasing Mice, the Cat is often portrayed as the villain, but a Cat chasing ''rats'' is usually the hero. Whatever the case may be, if you happen to think any of the animals in the "Designated Villains" list ''are'' cute and/or cool, you are a weirdo in the eyes of the Pop Culture Gods.

* Another obscure animated feature that gets {{Anvilicious}} about this is "The Adventures of the American Rabbit". [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Predictably]], the hero and most of his buddies are cute rabbits. Other good guys include cuddly little bear cubs, pudgy little farm animals like sheep and piggies, big snuggly [[BoisterousBruiser Toblerone]]-ish moose and gorillas, and {{Squee}}-worthy ducklings and [[EverythingsBetterWithPenguins penguins]]. The bad guys are a [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels biker gang]] [[CarnivoreConfusion made up of jackals]] and they are led by a [[GiantFlyer big, scary condor]]. The uncomfortable part comes when the titular hero ''insists'' that "there are sure to be nice jackals out there", which seems to be an anti-stereotyping {{Aesop}}. Too bad it's [[BrokenAesop broken]] -- we never ever '''meet''' any nice jackals. Every single jackal in the world of the movie is part of the biker gang.

This trope is TruthInTelevision and a major problem in wildlife preservation, with animals that appeal to humans termed ''charismatic megafauna''. It doesn't matter if, like the aforementioned Coelocanth, you've survived damn near everything else the world can throw at you; if you aren't generally thought of as cute by most people, you're in serious trouble. Too few people really care about ugly or unpopular animals, regardless of their ecological importance.

* Most of ''TokyoMewMew'' is composed of pretty and/or cute animals. Retasu, the shy {{meganekko}} of the group, subverts this ''a little'' by being a [[DolphinsDolphinsEverywhere Porpoise-Girl]]. Sure, dolphins are often considered cute, but this nonetheless shocks her [[{{Catgirl}} cute cat]], [[WingedHumanoid cute parakeet]], [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys cute monkey]], and [[BigBadAssWolf awesome wolf]] teammates. That said, unlike the rest of the PettingZooPeople, Mew Lettuce looks ''nothing'' like a porpoise. At most she turns into [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent a mermaid. With antennae]]. SoYeah.

**** For the record, all the Predacons that were added as the show went along were Maximal protoforms reprogrammed to be evil. But the ''type'' of animal they scanned for their beast form was sure to align with the trope. SoYeah.

* PETA is arguably this. A woman who was once a loyal member completely lost faith in the organization when she snapped some pictures of the reptiles in the pet shop she worked in after she saw that they weren't being cared for properly. Instead of helping for the reptile's cause, PETA sent her back an email that said something like this: "Reptiles are not cute, people would feel bad if it was a bunny though. Do you have any bunnys? [[MoralEventHorizon Perhaps you can deny it food and neglect it. Then you can take some pictures of them looking bad.]]"

This trope is TruthInTelevision and a major problem in wildlife preservation, with animals that appeal to humans termed ''charismatic megafauna''. It doesn't matter if, like the aforementioned Coelocanth, you've survived damn near everything else the world can throw at you; if you aren't generally thought of as cute by most people, you're in serious trouble. Too few people really care about ugly or unpopular animals, regardless of their ecological importance and their value as living thing per se. If the Coelacanth will disappear it will mean 400 million years of evolution wiped out in an istant, remember that.

Humans, being [[HumansAreBastards as prejudiced as we are]], tend to only like certain animals. Oh, how our dog smiles and plays! Oh, how our cat rolls on the rug asking for a tummy rub! Oh, how pretty the Mute Swan is as he glides across the pond! Oh, how the Coelacanth... um... damn that thing's boring. It's pretty butt-ugly too.

This trope is TruthInTelevision and a major problem in wildlife preservation, with animals that appeal to humans termed ''charismatic megafauna''. It doesn't matter if, like the aforementioned Coelocanth, you've survived damn near everything else the world can throw at you; if you aren't generally thought of as cute by most people, you're in serious trouble. Nobody seems to care about ugly or unpopular animals, regardless of their ecological importance.

Sadly, some fiction goes even further, casting only cute, cuddly, and cool animals - ugly and unpopular animals tend to be non anthropomorphic or outright absent.

Unfortunately, this trope is TruthInTelevision and a major problem in wildlife preservation, euphemistically termed ''charismatic megafauna''. It doesn't matter if, like the aforementioned Coelocanth, you've survived damn near everything else the world can throw at you; if you aren't generally thought of as cute by most people, you're in serious trouble. Nobody seems to care about ugly or unpopular animals who are just as important to the ecosystem. You don't see the Coelacanth as the World Wildlife Fund mascot, do you?

-->Jimmy Carr, Quite Interesting