Line #34 Main/ExpressiveEars


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10
11	->'''Judy Hopps:''' I'm fine.\
12	'''Bonnie Hopps:''' You are not fine, your ears are droopy.
13	-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}''
14
15	ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: A character's ears are used to express their emotions.
16
17	An animation convention, similar to CartoonyEyes or DisembodiedEyebrows.
18
19	Unlike its cousin tropes, ExpressiveHair (in most cases) and ExpressiveMask, this trope actually leans toward being realistic because this is one way many animals in RealLife communicate their feelings. This obviously doesn't apply to human ears, though, so it's guaranteed all of the characters who use this trope are NotQuiteHuman. In many animated series, characters that have ears on top of their heads will often sport hats or helmets that allow them to stick through (barring FridgeLogic of not being able to hear otherwise). This trope is probably part of the reason why.
20
21	Compare UnusualEars.
22
23	----
24	!! Examples:
25
26	[[foldercontrol]]
27
28	[[folder:Advertising]]
29	* The grizzly bear in Safe Auto's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQMbaO7RlMQ "Switch and Save"]] grizzly ads has them.
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
33	* Elves and other long-eared folk, or even folk with anything approximating long ears, in anime often have expressive ears. It's rare for a long-eared character ''not'' to have Expressive Ears.
34	* Any of the elves from ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon''. Marcille in particular.
35	* Culumon on ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' has rather large ears that somehow retract when he's sad, scared, or lonely. In contrast, they pop out when he's happy.
36	* A variant in early anime film ''Anime/MomotarosSeaEagles''. A rabbit signalman on the aircraft carrier doesn't need semaphore flags, because he can signal with his ears!
37	* Aisha Clan-Clan in ''Manga/OutlawStar'' has large ears that twitch when she hears something interesting or gets excited and droop when she's sad, as appropriate for a CatGirl.
38	* Many Pokémon in ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' have expressive ears, including Pikachu and Meowth, which they use to communicate to others of what they're feeling.
39	* Deedlit from ''Literature/RecordOfLodossWar'' is an elf with very long, tapered PointyEars, and in the anime adaptations, she frequently wiggles them to express stronger emotions.
40	* Lulla has these on ''Anime/SuzysZooDaisukiWitzy''. She's a stuffed rabbit, but all of the stuffed characters on the series generally behave fully anthropomorphically.
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
44	* ''Animation/NoonboryAndTheSuper7'':
45	** Sometimes, Jetybory's ears fall into this; flapping (and allowing her to fly) when she's excited, and twisting when she hears something bad.
46	** There is a variation with Totobory; the head leaves he uses as taste receptors also move around in different ways depending on his emotions, such as drooping down when he is sad and sticking straight up to indicate surprise.
47	[[/folder]]
48
49	[[folder:Comic Books]]
50	* In ''ComicBook/{{Blacksad}}'', characters' ears will go back when they are threatened (or are being threatening), they'll droop when they are sad, and perk up when excited. The creators [[ShownTheirWork know their animal mannerisms]].
51	* Kill Wolfhead in ''ComicBook/TheIncal''.
52	* In ''ComicBook/ToothAndClaw'', similar to the ''Blacksad'' example above, the [[FunnyAnimal anthropomorphic animal]] characters' ears react in accordance with their real-life counterparts.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
56	* Dogbert from ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' has ears that fly up sometimes.
57	* ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} will sometimes lay his ears back when he's angry, when he's frightened, or when he's groggy in the morning and [[MustHaveCaffeine hasn't had his coffee yet]].
58	* In ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'', Snoopy's ears rise when he is startled or receives good news. In one strip from The50s, Schroeder was listening to music on the radio, and Snoopy made a square with his ears.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Fan Works]]
62	* In ''Fanfic/IntergalacticIllness'', Lala's ears droop when she's sick, but they perk up when excited about the buffet the girls give her.
63	* In ''Fanfic/IveGotYourBack'', [[VideoGame/Splatoon2 Pearl]]'s ears twitch and move around at the slightest stimulation. She's not proud of them, but Marina is fascinated by them.
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
67	* Fievel in ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'', whose ears go down when he's sad and up when he's alert. There's also a couple of scenes in which he shifts them around to try to listen for his father's violin. They're forced down whenever he wears his iconic hat though.
68	* When Queen Elinor in ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'' is turned into a bear, she gains a lovely pair of expressive ears. Which is rather helpful, as she can no longer speak intelligibly, instead making various bear noises when she tries.
69	* The Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon uses the trope a lot, especially for rabbits (''WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}}'') and elephants (''WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'').
70	** All the animals in ''WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}}'', Bambi and Thumper in particular.
71	** The Beast has these in ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast''.
72	** Kenai and Koda have them in ''WesternAnimation/BrotherBear''.
73	** Stitch from ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch''.
74	** ''Franchise/TheLionKing'':
75	*** In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', when Mufasa says that he has to teach Simba a lesson, he crouches down and pins his ears back, frowning. When Mufasa calls his name to call him over, he winces and his ears pin back even further.
76	*** It's also used in [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing2019 the remake]]. While it's more subtle than typical examples, given the nature of the film, ears do indicate emotions and moods in certain cases, including the lions.
77	** ''WesternAnimation/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'': Roo does it when he's sad. Piglet can do it, too. In ''WesternAnimation/MyFriendsTiggerAndPooh'', there's also Holly, a young reindeer.
78	** Human example: Dopey from ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs''.
79	** ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'':
80	*** Judy, who is a rabbit, has ears that go down when she's sad or annoyed while staying straight up when she's happy. The same can be seen with the other animals. The supplementary book ''Zootopia: The Essential Guide'' notes that Judy's mother, Bonnie, can always tell if her children feel bad by the way their ears droop.
81	*** Nick the fox's ears droop a little if he's nervous, as seen when in when he gets caught loitering in Mr. Big's car.
82	* Horton in ''WesternAnimation/HortonHearsAWho2008'' Sour Kangaroo displays this as well, when the animals of Nool isolated her.
83	* Toothless in ''Franchise/HowToTrainYourDragon'' has ear-like projections that serve the same function.
84	* Most ears in ''Franchise/KungFuPanda'' are quite expressive, but especially Shifu's, perhaps because his are the size of small satellite dishes; they twitch when he's irritated and lie flat on his head when he's afraid or upset.
85	* Rémy of ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'', has this in spades, even though his behaviors and mannerisms are slowly becoming more human.
86	* Unsurprisingly, a good portion of the animal characters in ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretLifeOfPets'' have them, given that even though we see them speaking to each other and doing human-like things, they still often behave like real pets.
87	* The title character of ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'' has green ears that go downwards when he's unhappy and perk upwards if excited.
88	* ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'': When Meilin Lee is in her red panda form, you can tell her general emotional state (happy, sad, angry, scared, etc.) just by watching her ears. Her eyebrows occasionally get in on the action too.
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
92	* Na'vi in ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' are another example.
93	* In ''Film/AChumpAtOxford'', Stan Laurel [[IdentityAmnesia in his persona as Lord Paddington]] is able to wiggle his ears whenever he gets mad. It's still a pretty convincing effect, by the way.
94	* ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'': When Luke manages to lift the X-Wing fighter partly out of the swamp, Yoda's ears rise slightly in awe. When Luke fails to lift it all the way out, Yoda's ears droop down.
95	* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'': In ''Film/GodzillaVSMechagodzilla'' and ''Film/GodzillaFinalWars'', King Seesar's ears perk up whenever he's excited or surprised.
96	* Sloth from ''Film/TheGoonies'' can wiggle his ears.
97	* ''Franchise/{{Gremlins}}'': The Gremlins and Mogwai have very large, expressive ears that are often used to display their mood, like pulling their ears back when startled. They can also swivel them in any direction to better detect sounds, so it's difficult to sneak up on them.
98	* In ''Film/{{Hop}}'', E.B.'s ears are very expressive. His dad's, not so much, perhaps as a distinction between the two.
99	* Alfalfa of ''Film/TheLittleRascals''.
100	* In ''Film/PeterRabbit'', all of the rabbits have these.
101	* Barf the mog from ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}''.
102	* ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'': Roger Rabbit's ears are all over the place.
103	[[/folder]]
104
105	[[folder:Literature]]
106	* In the ''Literature/AnimalAnticsAToZ'' picture books, Jeremy Jackrabbit has these. Possibly other characters too.
107	* Eo from ''Literature/{{Argo}}'' has unusually expressive ears for an android.
108	* All Catians in ''Literature/CatPlanetCuties'' have this as well as expressive tails. They do things like perk up when excited and droop down when sad or disappointed.
109	* Canim (giant wolfmen) have this in ''Literature/CodexAlera''. They quiver when the Canim in question is amused and the 'tell' that a Canim has been [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Taken]] by the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Vord]] is that their ears don't look right (with Alerans, the tell is that there's something wrong with their eyes).
110	* This [[http://edelweiss.abovethetreeline.com/ProductDetailPage.aspx?sequence=88&group=catalog&mailingID=0&mailingGroupID=0&catalogID=908248&org=&sku=1484722108 Disney picture book]] called ''Disney Bunnies: All Ears'' makes special point of this in relation to the ears of Thumper from ''WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}}''. In fact, the book can basically be described as "Expressive Ears: the interactive version", as the text describes various moods of Thumper and indicates for the reader to move the fuzzy ears attached to the top of the book to match those moods.
111	-->''The bee didn't stay and play. When I am sad, my ears are sad, too. Can you make them lie back?''
112	%%* All the feas in ''Literature/DestinedToLead''.
113	* In ''Literature/FireEngineByMistake'', factory foreman Mr. Billings can wiggle his ears, but does not like anyone seeing him doing it at work.
114	* Maia, the elf/goblin emperor of ''Literature/TheGoblinEmperor'', keeps his ears (which would stick out horizontally, if the cover illustration can be believed) down so as to appear calm and in control. He also pays attention to his posture and his breathing. He is (at least provisionally,) Emperor of the Elves, who value self-control and dignity.
115	* Hopper, the grumpy bunny of the ''Grumpy Bunny'' books, has these. The narrative text even notes that they perk up when he hears the name of his crush, [[TeacherStudentRomance Lillac]], the music teacher.
116	* The ears of the fey in ''Literature/HeraldsofRhimn'' contribute to their emotional expressions. Meparik admits that he has trouble reading human emotions since their ears are "useless".
117	* ''Literature/TheLaundryFiles'': In ''The Nightmare Stacks'', 'Cassie' decides to [[ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself drop her glamor]] when going to meet the parents of Alex Schwartz (she's worried they might be powerful sorcerers who see past it). Fortunately, the parents are quite mundane and far too distracted by Alex's sister marrying a transgender boy/girlfriend to pay much attention to Alex's quirky cosplaying girlfriend, but Alex's sister wants to know if her cosplay ears are a Japanese invention that responds to brainwaves, because they keep moving according to her mood. Alex on the other hand finally tumbles to what should have been obvious all along, glamor or no.
118	* Seen on the title character in the ''Literature/LlamaLlama'' picture books. Netflix's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdfdWeaBxFY trailer]] for the animated show depicts him dropping ears, pinned back against head, when Mama Llama announces a shopping trip.
119	%%* Bibwit Harte from ''Literature/TheLookingGlassWars''.
120	* Lampshaded in ''Literature/{{Prolecto}}'' -- the succubi wonder how people got along WITHOUT expressive ears!
121	* The orcs in ''Literature/TheSorceresssOrc'' have this kind of ears. Their ears are often the only sign that they are angry, as they pride themselves on superior self-control (and would also not be well-advised to display any anger towards humans, due to FantasticRacism against orcs).
122	* Holo from ''Literature/SpiceAndWolf'', whose ears twitch when she hears something interesting and sag when she is feeling sad.
123	%%* The Huanni in the ''Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse''.
124	* ''Franchise/StarWars'': The ''Literature/RevengeOfTheSith'' novelization makes several references to Master Yoda's ears moving in tune with his moods. "He curled his ears at Anakin." While this novel is now part of ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'', the [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse canon novel]] ''Literature/DarkDisciple'' also references Yoda using his ears to express his moods.
125	* The Hrdani in ''Literature/TheWarGods'' series have large, fox-like ears. These are frequently described as twitching comically, or standing to attention, or going back with fury, or otherwise demonstrating the owner's emotions.
126	* Ogier in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime''. Lampshaded several times by Perrin after he becomes a wolf-brother -- in his POV, he mentions his ears trying to lay back in emotional high-stress moments.
127	[[/folder]]
128
129	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
130	* ''Series/TheMandalorian'': The Child, an infant from the same species as [[Franchise/StarWars Yoda]], has wide ears that communicate his mood. They're upright when he's happy and droop if he gets sad or scared.
131	* ''Series/SpittingImage'': Prince Charles' puppet was able to wiggle his ears separately.
132	* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
133	** Parodies and spoofs often give this attribute to Spock: [[http://bp2.blogger.com/_mpOAS-HxaQU/RueGSsnLhFI/AAAAAAAAASA/UePcV_Q-1Ns/s1600-h/heineken-spock.jpg this advert for lager, for example.]]
134	** In ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', the antennae of the Andorians function similarly.
135	* ''Series/SweetTooth'': Being half deer, Gus' ears rarely stop moving. In one episode, he had stop twitching and swiveling them in order to fool people into thinking he's wearing an AnimalEaredHeadband. It doesn't work very well.
136	[[/folder]]
137
138	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
139	* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', a number of monster races have this, depending on how much focus the writer puts on them other than "kill them and take their stuff". Goblinoids are a common example.
140	* ''TabletopGame/Space1889'': Martian ears express their mood.
141	* In ''The TabletopGame/{{Traveller}} Adventure'', Vargr (bipedal wolf) characters are shown as having Expressive Ears, including flattening the ears against the skull when afraid.
142	[[/folder]]
143
144	[[folder:Video Games]]
145	* Laharl and Etna's ears from ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'' change with their mood.
146	* At one point in ''VideoGame/FairyFencerF'', Lola offers the party Dorfa brand bunny ears, which you can wiggle using your brainwaves. As it turns out, [[spoiler:Ethel]] already owns a pair.
147	* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
148	** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', some emotes for the [[CatFolk Miqo'te]] have them move their ears in a similar fashion to cats, twitching slightly when pleased and folding back when downtrodden or scared.
149	** Red XIII possesses these in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRebirth'' and they are particularly notable during the ending of the Cave of the Gi sequence in Cosmo Canyon.
150	* ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'': Glottis' small ears wiggle when he's excited, scared or he has an idea.
151	* The Asura in ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'' even ''shrug'' with their ears.
152	* In ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion3'', Luigi's ears droop when low on health.
153	* In ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'', Cornelius, the Pooka Prince, has these in his pooka form. Possibly other pooka as well, though it's only ever really seen with him.
154	* ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'': Some Pokémon species have their ears change position in their portraits to indicate their mood. For example, Eevee's portraits usually have its ears held up, but they droop down when it's sad or in pain.
155	* QP in ''VideoGame/QPShooting'' has this trait, being a [[LittleBitBeastly dog-girl]] and all. They'll droop whenever she's feeling down, as shown in ''Dangerous!!''.
156	* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' likes to make use of this trope. [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2002 The first game]] in particular features a lot of ear movement, as Ratchet is essentially the Lombax equivalent of a moody teenager; later games tone it down, though his ears will still droop if he's low on health or otherwise in a particularly negative mood.
157	* ''VideoGame/RemiLoreLostGirlInTheLandsOfLore'': Lore's ears are located in the top corners of his front cover. They droop down when he's unhappy.
158	* In ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'', Rouge the Bat's ears droop slightly as she trails off from telling Omega, who's on a mission to destroy all other Eggman robots, that [[spoiler:Shadow is one of them]].
159	* In ''VideoGame/StarFoxAssault'', after [[spoiler:Tricky]] casually suggests Fox to come with Krystal to his home for a honeymoon, his ears take some time to wiggle in shock when he realizes what he just said.
160	* Raven's ears in ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' wiggle when he lies.
161	* In ''VideoGame/{{Utawarerumono}}'', the people have expressive tails as well as expressive ears.
162	* Blood Elves, Night Elves, and Trolls in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' do this with the emote system: if they're sad or scared, their ears will droop, and when they cast spells in general, their ears wiggle along with the casting animation.
163	* In ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'', [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2 Nia]] and [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3 Mio]] have their [[CatGirl cat-like ears]] change with their faces.
164	[[/folder]]
165
166	[[folder:Web Animation]]
167	* Cuddles of ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' is sometimes seen with these.
168	* Inugami Korone of ''WebAnimation/{{Hololive}}'' is a dog person and has rigged her model to move her ears when she's surprised.
169	* [[LittleBitBeastly Faunus]] in ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' who have animal ears as their animal trait do this.
170	[[/folder]]
171
172	[[folder:Webcomics]]
173	* ''Webcomic/Aurora2019'': One of the main characters, Alinua, is an [[OurElvesAreDifferent elf]] whose pointy ears droop or lift depending on her emotional state.
174	* Frequent for any long-eared characters appearing in ''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie''.
175	* ''Webcomic/BeyondTheEnd'': Roman and Cain both have these, with their ears drooping and perking up with their emotions.
176	* In ''Webcomic/CommanderKitty'', it's to be expected in a [[WorldOfFunnyAnimals Galaxy of Funny Animals]], and pretty much embodied by MoodSwinger Zenith and her [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2011/06/26/bedside-manners/ long, rabbit]]-[[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2011/08/28/process-of-elimination/ like ears.]]
177	* In ''Webcomic/{{Concession}}'', Clive's ears hang down, while [[SplitPersonality his alternate personality]] Ernest's ears stick up.
178	* ''Webcomic/CornerAlley13'' demonstrates this [[http://corneralley.comicgenesis.com/d/20040519.html regarding elves.]]
179	* Members of species X from ''Webcomic/DNATheWebcomic'' have very large ears that can show their emotions.
180	* ''Webcomic/{{Dregs}}'': Coney's fake rabbit ears droop when he's unhappy.
181	* In ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'', the elven races have expressive ears, as seen in [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?id=638 the first and third panel.]]
182	* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', when Sarah is experimenting with furry morphs, her cat ears [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2012-11-02 reflect her mood by drooping and even wiggling.]]
183	* Florence from ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'', although sometimes it can be hard to tell if she changes angles between scenes.
184	* Common among appropriately equipped characters in ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell''. Kevin (a rabbit) and several fennec fox characters, most notably Fiona, have been seen using their ears for semaphore. Kevin can also use his to make shapes like hearts or Teletubby top-of-head shapes.
185	* Marena from ''Webcomic/KeychainOfCreation'' has very expressive fox ears as part of her [[GlamourFailure Tell]].
186	* ''Webcomic/{{Lackadaisy}}'' is a webcomic where the creator received several awards based off the expressions of her anthropomorphic cats.
187	* The angels in ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}'', particularly Rumisiel.
188	* ''Webcomic/OutOfPlacers'': Yinglets have very large 'rabitish' ears and show the standard pattern of upright ears when alert or cheery, pinned back when scared or angry, et cetera.
189	* Many characters in ''Webcomic/{{Precocious}}'', but of the main characters Autumn's "mood ears" are the most versatile.
190	* In ''Webcomic/PrezleekComics'', Prez's Helm of Neitiznot serves this function, with the wing attachments drooping when he's nervous or annoyed.
191	* ''Webcomic/{{Roommates}}'': [[Theatre/{{Cats}} Misto]] (he is a cat or CatFolk) and [[Film/{{Labyrinth}} Jareth]] (he is a member of TheFairFolk in this fanwork, but it's not clear yet if this is a family trait or not).
192	* ''Webcomic/RubyQuest'': As she's an anthro rabbit, Ruby's ears droop whenever she's shocked or upset.
193	* In ''Webcomic/{{Tinyraygun}}'', both Nepta and her alien "pet" Doppler have long and expressive ears that show their mood.
194	* ''Webcomic/TheWhiteboard'': Especially applies to species with large triangular ears: foxes, lynxes, dogs, to lesser degree raccoons and housecats; lagomorphs too, but their ears prove somewhat unwieldy. Swampy and Sandy are prime examples as foxes with most screen time.
195	* In ''Webcomic/YokokasQuest'', Yokoka in cat form is especially emotive, with her ears changing along with her expression almost every other panel. Many of the other animal characters follow suit to a lesser degree, as do Yokoka and Mao in their [[CatGirl cat person]] forms.
196	[[/folder]]
197
198	[[folder:Western Animation]]
199	* ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatiansTheSeries'': The dogs' ears droop when they are upset about something.
200	* Everyone in the Watterson family (except Darwin) has these in ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball''.
201	* Yakko Wakko and Dot from ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' raise their ears when listening to something, they droop when they're sad, they also point straight up when they are aroused, shocked, or frightened.
202	* Sometimes seen with Buster in ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}''. {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}d in the teaser of "Arthur's New Glasses", in which his ears are in a continuously droopy state and Muffy thinks that he's sad, but he keeps insisting there's nothing wrong.
203	* In ''WesternAnimation/BabarAndTheAdventuresOfBadou'', Jake the fox kit has these -- in particular, his ears will pin all the way back when he's scared.
204	* A few characters in ''WesternAnimation/BluesClues'' and ''WesternAnimation/BluesCluesAndYou'' have these, particularly Blue herself.
205	* DependingOnTheArtist, all of the characters in ''WesternAnimation/{{Bluey}}'' have these.
206	* In ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsAndCousins'', Lottie's elephant ears fold inwards towards her head when she's upset or bashful about something. If happy or excited, they expand all the way out or even perk back a bit.
207	* In ''WesternAnimation/ChipAndPotato'', Chip's ears will droop when sad.
208	* As portrayed in ''WesternAnimation/DCSuperheroGirls2019'', Batgirl has these both on her costume's cowl and in the bat-themed hoodie she wears as Barbara Gordon.
209	* ''WesternAnimation/DocMcStuffins'': These are seen on Pickles the bunny in "Bunny Blues" and on the toy bear doctor Tundra in "[=McStuffins=] School of Medicine". Also, Stuffy, a stuffed dragon, has these antenna-like things that can get rather droopy when he's sad about something. These are also seen on the Karate Kangaroos, Angus and Sydney.
210	* Rayla from the ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'' is able to move her ears, though on a far less drastic scale than most other examples. At the end of the episode "Heroes and Masterminds", if one looks closely at Rayla as she is watching Callum explain her bravery and good heart to Nyx, one can see her ears lower in bewilderment (and possibly humbleness) just a tiny bit.
211	* ''WesternAnimation/ElinorWondersWhy'':
212	** In "Colorful and Tasty", Ari's ears droop when Elinor tells him that he can't have a cupcake because they're supposed to be selling them to their friends.
213	** {{Discussed\|Trope}} in "No Need to Shout". Upon hearing that Elinor has lost her voice from practicing a song too much, Mr. Dog's ears droop. Olive points it out, asking if he's sad for Elinor. He says that his ears do show how he's feeling and that he doesn't feel sad, but he does understand how he feels because dogs are very empathetic. Olive says that everyone knows how he's feeling because they see his tail and his ears.
214	* The titular character of ''WesternAnimation/FETCHWithRuffRuffman'' has his ears go up when he's excited or his ears droop when he's sad or nervous.
215	* Rabbit from ''Literature/{{Franklin}}'' will generally droop his ears when he's sad about something. Snail also these little ear-stalks that will droop when he's sad. Fox can do it too, though it is nearly as noticeable or common. Moose as well, though he's only seen in one episode of the TV show and a smattering of the original books.
216	* The Nutbrown Hares in ''Literature/GuessHowMuchILoveYou: The Adventures of Little Nutbrown Hare'' both express emotions through their ears, though it's generally much more noticeable with Little Nutbrown Hare, whose moods, as a youngster, shift much more frequently. Some of the other characters can do it, too. In later episodes, Little Field Mouse is sufficiently sensitive to Little Nutbrown Hare's moods and ears that he's able to tell when Little Nutbrown Hare is getting a good idea just by watching his ears.
217	* In ''WesternAnimation/GuessWithJess'', Jess has these, as well as several of his friends.
218	* Orko from ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'' has been shown to have his ears droop down when sad.
219	* In the Amazon animated series of ''Literature/IfYouGiveAMouseACookie'', Mouse's ears are very expressive of his moods, particularly dropping about halfway when sad or bothered by something, but perking back up when he's excited or happy.
220	* Jay Jay from ''WesternAnimation/JayJayTheJetPlane''; when excited his wings rise upward; when he's sad his wings droop.
221	* Dinky, a fully anthropomorphic elephant in ''WesternAnimation/JoJosCircus'', has these.
222	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': Sometimes when Mr. Cat is annoyed, one of his ears may move down. When he is sad, both ears may move flat against his head. Almost any time he has an OhCrap moment, both of his ears move all the way down.
223	* The bunny Mim-Mim has these in ''WesternAnimation/KateAndMimMim'' when in his anthropomorphic form in Mimiloo.
224	* ''WesternAnimation/LeapFrog'': In the ''Scout and Friends'' videos, Penny certainly has them. Possibly some of the others as well.
225	* Though not common in ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard'', these are occasionally seen on characters where it is appropriate from a real-life animal sense, such as Dhahabu the zebra in "The Golden Zebra".
226	* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': WesternAnimation/BugsBunny's ears do this, as do [[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner Wile E. Coyote]]'s ears.
227	* In ''Literature/MaxAndRuby'', these are most likely to be seen on Max.
228	* Moose A. Moose, former mascot of Creator/NickJr and seen in the shorts ''WesternAnimation/MooseAndZee'', doesn't actually have visible ears, but has antlers sticking out of where the ears would be that function in the exact same way. It can be seen in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kzUFqxGnoo this promo]] in which he realizes he doesn't know what sound a hedgehog makes.
229	* Used with Rabbit and possibly Mouse as well in ''WesternAnimation/MyFriendRabbit''.
230	* The ponies of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' have these.
231	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Olivia}}'', certainly Olivia has these; her ears noticeably droop when she's upset about something. All of the other characters are anthropomorphic pigs too, but it doesn't really seem to be very noticeable with them, possibly because of Olivia being the lead.
232	* In ''WesternAnimation/PegPlusCat'', Cat has them; they can get quite droopy when he's sad about something.
233	* In ''WesternAnimation/PeterRabbit'', this is seen on occasion. In "The Tale of the Angry Cat", when Peter tells Cottontail that it's way too dangerous for him to catapult her into Mr. [=McGregor=]'s garden, her ears droop straight down and she cries.
234	* WesternAnimation/PlutoThePup has expressive ears. WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}}, however, seems to have lost that ability.
235	* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'':
236	** Catra's long feline ears move around to reflect her emotional state.
237	** Hordak's long bat-like ears droop during moments of physical pain or sadness.
238	* In the ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeriesS1E14TheSlaverWeapon The Slaver Weapon]]", the Kzinti ([[CatFolk cat-like humanoid aliens]]) lay their ears back when angry.
239	* In ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'', Garazeb Orrelios has them. Likely a trait of the Lasat species. Cikatro Vizago has them too.
240	* In the 2003 ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake'' series, Honey Pie Pony has these, and the other fillies. Pupcake has them too.
241	* Beast Boy from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' has pointy ears that flip downward when he's upset.
242	* Timothy has these in ''WesternAnimation/TimothyGoesToSchool''. His ears can pin all the way down (which isn't too much since they're pretty short) when he's really sad about something. Yoko exhibits this too and possibly some of the other characters as well.
243	* In ''WesternAnimation/ToddWorld'', Sophie has no ears, but two large pigtails in the position where the ears would be and which essentially serve the same function.
244	* ''WesternAnimation/TootAndPuddle'' has an unusual type -- if Toot's ears wiggle, it may mean that snow is on the way. Also, most of the pigs, and possibly other characters are shown demonstrating it more normally in the special ''I'll Be Home for Christmas''.
245	* Seen on the characters, all anthropomorphic cats, of ''TOTO'' (''This One and That One''), a short-form series presented on-demand on Kabillion on some U.S. cable/satellite providers. The series can also be watched officially and for free on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KTj08WBYd-E YouTube.]]
246	* ''WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit'': Next to his eyes, Gromit's ears are his most expressive feature. It's also seen on some of the characters in the Creator/AardmanAnimations productions ''WesternAnimation/ShaunTheSheep'' and ''WesternAnimation/TimmyTime''.
247	* Occasionally seen on the Piplings, the main characters of ''Waybuloo'', a preschool-targeted series aired on [=CBeebies=] in the United Kingdom and Creator/TreehouseTV in Canada.
248	* Skip the rabbit in ''WesternAnimation/WildAnimalBabyExplorers'' has ears that he can droop and move about. It's sort of {{lampshade\|Hanging}}d when the characters are observing real horses and he notes that they can move their ears, just like he can.
249	* Zou the zebra has these in ''WesternAnimation/{{Zou}}''. Possibly the other characters too, as they're all zebras.
250	[[/folder]]
251
252	[[folder:Real Life]]
253	* Ear movements and positioning can be key in reading the body language of dogs, rabbits, horses and cats. Possibly other animals as well. Humans have the same muscles -- a group called the auriculares -- around the ear lobes that other mammals do, but they're vestigial, and normally too weak to move the ear as obviously as in other mammals, though some people are able to move their ears freely, most likely through a combination of genetics and training of the muscles.
254	* Dumbo Octopi don't have ears, but they are named for fins that ''look'' like the famous elephant's ears, and not only do they use these fins for locomotion but also to express state of mind.
255	* Apparently, Japanese inventors [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w06zvM2x_lw have managed to replicate these in real life.]] These have apparently become a rather popular product for cosplay.
256	* Some people wiggle their ears when they wiggle their eyebrows, meaning if they're expressing an emotion with their eyes it might also show up in the ears. Much less extreme than other examples, though.
257	[[/folder]]

Context Main / ExpressiveEars