History Main / WhatMeasureIsANonCute

* In Italy there was a scandal where the presenter of a TV show about cooking gave a recipe in which the main ingredient was cat meat. After a media kerfuffle the presenter was fired, eliciting responses of "Oh, so it's okay to eat chicken, rabbit, and beef, but cats are off-limits?"

* Berserker from ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' is reminiscent of Goliath from the ''Gargoyles''. If you can get past his lead-grey complexion, odd elbow protrusions, mismatched set of [[RedEyesTakeWarning blood red]] and [[SupernaturalGoldEyes glowing gold]] eyes, and frighteningly ''huge'' size, he's really handsome. Indeed, he's the demigod Herakles from Greek myth, who was quite popular with the ladies ''and'' [[EvenTheGuysWantHim the guys]]. But he's not as pretty as the other manly warrior-{{Bishonen}} of the game, and except for a brief time in one scenario, he's always under a mental compulsion that reduces him to a constantly growling and bellowing monster. A pity, considering who they got to voice him in TheAnimeOfTheGame. Then again, [[PetTheDog he does have those moments with Ilya...]]

* In ''Webcomic/AlienDice'' the main dice are cute cuddly talking animals. However enemy dice which Lexx kills/almost kills show up they tend to be big scary mute reptilian creatures. Remember that the dice are all considerably smarter than normal animals, and that they have no more choice about fighting than the Bishonen main character.

** Because of his pterosaur-like features (his clawed wings and, more obviously, his humongous beak), Brooklyn is sometimes treated as the ugliest in the show, especially by humans who get outright scared. Being [[NobleDemon horned and red]] doesn't help. [[{{Bishonen}} In the fanbase, however...]]

* As the examples above have shown, sea life in general suffers from this fairly regularly, despite having many fans and activist supporting them. This is not so much due to animosity, but because it is essentially a whole other world outside the Animal Kingdom we have on land. Most of it isn't known or understood by outsiders of Marine Biology, which is why the general layman view of sea life ranges from cool, to exotic, to downright creepy. While it's not so bad to the point of being regarded as AcceptableTargets like insects and other invertebrates on land, this is why you can find much apathy from goverments, institutions and even everyday folk about the abuse and mass slaughter of fish and other sea life. It’s telling that whales and other sea mammals are the main exception—[[MostWritersAreHuman they remind us of ourselves]] in a way that, say, fish don’t, so they elicit far more sympathy.

* Inverted horribly in ''WebOriginal/HamstersParadise'' with the Harmsters: a species of adorable, bipedal hamster-descendants resembling long-tailed, chubby-faced [[Film/StarWarsReturnOfTheJedi Ewoks]]. They are also a murderous, warmongering AlwaysChaoticEvil race that revels in bloodshed and actively delights in the suffering of others, to the point that some later species essentially become [[ANaziByAnyOtherName fluffy rodent Nazis.]] This trope is flipped on its head with the Splintsters: an UglyCute race of trunked, kangaroo-elephant-like sapients who were primitive and peaceful, but were cruelly exterminated by the Harmsters.

The UncannyValley is somewhat related, as it was born from the scientific study of this trope. It is a supertrope of NoCartoonFish. It often cross-pollinates with BeautyEqualsGoodness, AnimalStereotypes, CarnivoreConfusion, and WhatMeasureIsANonHuman. See also UglyCute, BatOutOfHell, BugWar, OminousOwl, ReptilesAreAbhorrent, YouDirtyRat, and AlwaysChaoticEvil. Contrast DarkIsNotEvil, LightIsNotGood, and GrotesqueCute. Also contrast FluffyTamer and FriendToBugs for people with unconventional opinions on what animals qualify as cute or lovable. This trope also applies to humans and is often the deciding factor of who gets to be the FaceOfTheBand. This trope is pervasive enough that the KillerRabbit and some of the [[CatsAreMean Bad Kitties]] exist to subvert it. Time period and location seem to affect public opinion of mustelids, as shown by the contrasting tropes WeaselMascot and WickedWeasel.

[[caption-width-right:269: [[EarthShatteringKaboom That's fair.]]\\

** ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' returns both the Dinobots, who are (mostly) happy to just be left alone, as well as Blackarachnia, who is a pretty cruel little spider (though since she is also the DarkChick of the Decepticons, she at least get the benefit of a sad {{backstory}}).

** Played straight in [[https://pbfcomics.com/comics/executive-decision/ "Executive Decision".]] where the leader of a race of aliens has to choose which planet between Earth and Planet Pupulon should be destroyed. After looking at photos of Pupulon, revealing their dominant lifeforms are {{Precious Pupp|y}}ies, Earth is immediately shown to have been blown up.

** Lampshaded and parodied in [[https://pbfcomics.com/comics/scorpy-the-forest-friend/ "Scorpy the Forest Friend".]] . Scorpy, a FunnyAnimal scorpion, is drawn just as cuddly as the other forest animals, but is also the only animal to retain their real life counterpart's deadliness, much to the poor guy's dismay.

** Lampshaded and parodied in [[https://pbfcomics.com/comics/scorpy-the-forest-friend/ this]] strip.
** Played straight in [[https://pbfcomics.com/comics/executive-decision/ this]] one, much to the detriment of Earth.

* [[https://web.archive.org/web/20120530015105/http://www.bogleech.com/comics/comic123-biodiverse.htm This comic]] from ''Website/{{Bogleech}}'' demonstrates this concerning oil spills. Most of the panels show various odd-looking, but endearing deep-sea creatures living their lives before oil starts to seep into the panels. When the ocean is finally completely tainted by the oil, the news report at the end only focuses on the dolphins affected.

* [[https://web.archive.org/web/20120530015105/http://www.bogleech.com/comics/comic123-biodiverse.htm This comic]] from ''Website/{{Bogleech}}'' demonstrates this concerning oil spills.

* Inverted in ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'' here: [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2393#comic]].

* In the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' series, there are good (or at least mercenary) uncute animals to play as, such as a hawk, a crocodile, and a bat. The non-anthro characters are a different story...

* The title character in ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' exploits this, acting as disgusting and standoffish as humans expect a big, ugly Ogre should. In truth, Shrek has a good heart, and this behavior is really because he just wants to be left alone. He explains that he'd be much happier if the stereotype didn't exist in the first place. The trope is then further played with by Fiona, who is the conventional vision of beauty...but in her "cursed" ogress form Shrek finds her beautiful, and she's happy to stay that way because he loves her and thinks she's beautiful no matter how she looks. (And [[CuteMonsterGirl she is still pretty cute after her transformation]].)

The heroes, on the other hand, will be cute or cool animals like [[PreciousPuppy doggies]] and [[CuteKitten kitties]] and bunnies and duckies and turtles and froggies and ladybugs and bees and ants and [[SillySimian monkeys]] and {{friendly playful dolphin}}s and Reticulated Chipmunks and you see where we're going with this right?

* Averted in the ''Literature/{{Lensmen}}'' universe, in which three of human Lensman Kim Kinnison's most stalwart companions are a many-limbed flying lizard with eyes on stalks, a tentacle monster, and an extradimensional EldritchAbomination; while one of the most repugnant and unpleasant beings he's ever had to deal with is physically indistinguishable from human.

* Averted in the ''Literature/{{Lensmen}}'' universe, in which three of human Lensman Kim Kinnison's most stalwart companions are a many-limbed flying lizard with eyes on stalks, a tentacle monster, and an extradimensional EldritchAbomination; while one of the most repugnant beings he's ever had to deal with is literally indistinguishable from human.

* ''LightNovel/IveBeenKillingSlimesFor300YearsAndMaxedOutMyLevel'': {{Exaggerated|Trope}}. Eno and the witches are dead-set on capturing a mandragora and [[HumanResources grinding it up for medicine]], never mind that it's an intelligent PlantPerson, but they give up the moment they see that the mandragora is a CuteMonsterGirl.

Can overlap with BlackComedyPetDeath if "non-cutes" are killed for laughs.

*** Dragonborn (a [=PCs=] LizardFolk) are Always LawfulGood ProudWarriorRace guys and are the meanest looking of the PC races.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' has Bangaa and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' adds the Seeq. Both perfectly valid, playable races. The little personality your Bangaa shows seem to be those of a ProudWarriorRace. NPC Bangaa, likewise, include degenerate bandits, honorable duelists, duty-driven templars (not the [[KnightTemplar Knight]] variety), jailers...and a mailman. Seeq are still greedy and selfish, but not always excessively so--one is even DaEditor.

* In the creator commentary for ''Videogame/TombRaiderAnniversary'', it is noted that there was an attempt to "make the animals much more vicious this time around, so you didn't feel so bad about killing them" compared to how the ones in ''Videogame/TombRaider1'' "weren't very mean looking, which made killing them even, even worse" (with the game's original creator downright calling the ursine enemy "teddy bear").

** 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. Then the talking flowers soon reveal their [[OneWingedAngel terrifying true forms]] and wreak havoc on the Ponyland ecosystem - they're gigantic, invasive weeds that happen to look pretty. The crab monsters were actually ProudWarriorRace guys hoping to stop them.

** Then we have Demona, who evokes some outright Satanic imagery (her name is '''Demon'''a, for one), and yet is drawn in such a way as to evoke every {{fanservice}} trope imaginable from {{Stripperiffic}} and BareYourMidriff, to LegFocus and HeroesWantRedheads (used to be Goliah's wife) and so on. EvilIsSexy even if you're a giant lizard-bat-thing.

* Inverted with the subject of feathered dinosaurs; some of the [[FanDumb less pleasant paleonuts]] tend to devolve into cries of "science ruined dinosaurs!" when the topic is brought up and act as though being covered in fluffy feathers would somehow make ''UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex'' a complete wuss, despite [[KingOfTheDinosaurs it still having teeth like steak-knives, a biteforce stronger than any land animal in history, a tendency to eat triceratopses by ripping their heads off and possibly cannibalizing each other]].[[note]]Plus, it seems like these people have never seen a bird of prey. They're covered in feathers, but would you call them a wuss?[[/note]] It's probably cold comfort that in 2020 it was discovered ''T. rex'' was not feathered after all, due to its size and gigantothermy making such insulation unlikely, though it was the exception rather than the rule and most large predatory theropods, including other tyrannosaur species like ''Yutyrannus'', indeed sported feathers.

* Another obscure animated feature that gets {{Anvilicious}} about this is ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTheAmericanRabbit''. [[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 eponymous hero ''insists'' that "there are sure to be nice jackals out there", which seems to be an anti-stereotyping [[AnAesop aesop]]. Too bad it's {{Broken|Aesop}} -- we never ever '''meet''' any nice jackals. Every single jackal that we see in the movie is part of the biker gang.

** "Fun with Veal" revolves around the boys getting into a standoff with the FBI to stop a bunch of calves from being slaughtered. While the episode still mocks vegetarians --not eating meat causes Stan to starting turning into a literal vagina-- it surprisingly never calls attention to the fact that they're only going to such lengths to save the calves because they're considered cuter than adult cattle (which none of them particularly care about).

* There's a company that makes [[EverythingsBetterWithPlushies plushie cuddly]] viruses and bacteria, including such charmers as the common cold, the Black Death, and syphilis. Ah yes, [[http://www.giantmicrobes.com/uk/ there it is.]] One shivers to think of toddlers sleeping with these.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1550 SCP-1550 ("Dr. Wondertainment's Custom-Pets™")]]. Despite their hideous appearance, they're quite harmless, hence their "Safe" classification.