Line #44 Main/FlyingPostman


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5	%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
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11	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/PostmanPat https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pat-chopper2_3772.jpg]]]]
12
13	->''"He's Parakarry, a Paratroopa who delivers letters. He's got some problems. It must be nice to have wings. He can fly anywhere. All postmen should have wings."''
14	-->-- '''Goombario''', ''VideoGame/PaperMario64''
15
16	If you've got a world populated by multiple different sapient species, and that world has a postal service, chances are the mail delivery will be handled by a species capable of flight. If the postmen themselves aren't flight-capable but use mounts that are, that's this trope, too.
17
18	This trope practically [[JustifiedTrope justifies]] itself; after all, if you need to task someone with mail delivery, why not pick someone who can fly over all the ground hazards and easily land at each mailbox?
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20	Particularly common in OceanPunk and WorldInTheSky settings, since the lack of land magnifies the advantages of flight.
21
22	Can be a form of MundaneUtility. Compare an InstantMessengerPigeon, which is not officially a sapient species but often gets the message there as efficiently as if it was. If you're comparing this trope to FlyingDutchman, you're probably reading too quickly. Some {{courier}} companies deliver letters or packages by mail.
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24	----
25	!!Examples:
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27	[[foldercontrol]]
28
29	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
30	* In ''Manga/{{Aria}}'', Woody is an airbike courier. This series also has the land-based, or should we say canal-based Mr Mailman as well.
31	* The namesake of ''Anime/KikisDeliveryService'' is a variant, where Kiki is a witch who makes deliveries via FlyingBroomstick.
32	* ''Anime/LastExile'' Claus and Lavie are vanship pilots and work as couriers.
33	* The ''Anime/LoveLiveSunshine'' fantasy spin-off ''Anime/YohaneTheParhelionSunshineInTheMirror'' portrays You Watanabe as an air messenger who glides across the land for deliveries after being shot out of a canon.
34	* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', newspapers are delivered by trained seagulls all over the world, due to the huge amount of oceans and islands. Furthermore, we later see that the Revolutionary Army seems to use large crows to deliver messages, and the World Government has been seen sending messenger bats to people.
35	* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' has Delibird's Delivery Service and Pelipper's Post Office. Other than being from two different regions, think of Delibird's Delivery Service as more akin to UPS while Pelipper's is your standard postal service. Another episode had a "Carrier Pidgey Express" parcel delivery service.
36	* In Chapter 16 of ''Manga/RockmanSan'', [[VideoGame/MegaMan5 Gyro Man]] alongside other flying robots are shown to have started an aerial delivery service whose main selling point is delivering packages right to their clients windows, although he's run into several problems such as getting mistaken for a burgler, tricked into delivering illegal goods, flying over a military base by accident (getting shot down in the process) and being chased by foreign aerial defense after flying over their regions without permission before he set a delivery boundary.
37	* One of the Miyazaki-directed episodes of ''Anime/SherlockHound'' centered around Moriarty trying to sabotage a fledgling cross-Channel air post service.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Comic Books]]
41	* In one ''ComicBook/DonaldDuck'' comic by Creator/CarlBarks, Donald works as a postman in a rather extreme environment, with extremely muddy roads, people living on mountainsides, and one house located ''on the underside of a cliff''. He eventually buys a mini-helicopter to lighten the load, but things go wrong when an eagle attacks him to get at a package of meat he's transporting.
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
45	* In ''ComicStrip/{{Shoe}}'' (a world populated by semi-anthropomorphic birds), Loon is a mail and general delivery flier.
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Fan Works]]
49	* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' of Creator/AAPessimal:
50	** The Air Mail has largely been a monopoly of Klatch and its (now) civilian-orientated force of magic carpets -- which now offer an unparalleled passenger and airmail service linking the major cities of the entire Disc. It has not been lost on Lord Vetinari that the Klatchians made a kind offer to ferry the diplomatic bags of Embassies to and from their home capitals -- for a modest fee and a promise the diplomatic secrets will not be intercepted or tampered with while in transit.
51	** Vetinari's riposte was to offer the growing [[{{Pegasus}} Pegasus Service]] as Ankh-Morpork's airmail equivalent. This is working. However, the Ankh-Morpork Post Office absolutely ''insists'' that if the Pegasus Service pilots, all Air Witches, are to be used to deliver mail, then they ''must'' also pass the ordeal known as The Postman's Walk. Hilarity ensues.
52	* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fandom is overwhelmingly in agreement that the [[EnsembleDarkhorse fan-favorite]] background pegasus Derpy Hooves is Ponyville's mailmare. If we tried to list every fanfic portraying her in this role, we'd be here all day. Many of these predate her appearances in the series that explicitly show her to be a mailmare.
53	* ''Fanfic/Plan7Of9FromOuterSpace''. Our heroes have their luggage delivered to Antarctica by rocket mail, but a targeting error means it wipes out half of Melbourne instead.
54	-->"I knew I shouldn't have packed that plutonium-powered toothbrush!"
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
58	* In ''WesternAnimation/The3LittlePigsTheMovie'', the postman who brings Feeno and Felix their mail is a stork.
59	* ''WesternAnimation/BaltoIIIWingsOfChange'' is centered around a race between a dogsled teak led by Balto's son Kodi and a biplane to determine which one would be the superior solution for delivering mail (taking place when the use of airplanes to deliver mail was just beginning).
60	* ''WesternAnimation/SaludosAmigos'': ''Pedro'' is about a small anthropomorphic airplane from an airport near Santiago, Chile, engaging in his first flight to retrieve air mail from Mendoza, with disastrous consequences. He manages to safely return to the airfield with the mail, which happens to be a single postcard.
61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
64	* ''Film/MoonriseKingdom'': Because the island setting of has no roads, mail has to be flown in by plane.
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Literature]]
68	* In Creator/AnneMccaffrey's ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'' books, fire-lizards deliver messages, although unless the distance is very short, they teleport rather than 'flying straight'. When not fighting thread, dragonriders deliver messages, cargo, and/or passengers as necessary.
69	* In ''Cold Copper Tears'' of the ''Literature/GarrettPI'' series, a description of the multi-species crowd in a [=TunFaire=] neighborhood includes a mention of a winged pixie messenger.
70	* In the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series, owls are used to deliver mail. The Ministry of Magic uses enchanted paper airplanes for internal memos (although [[Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem MACUSA]] uses origami mice instead).
71	* ''Literature/RocketShipGalileo'' by Creator/RobertAHeinlein. The RetroRocket the protagonists modify for a TripToTheMoonPlot was previously used for carrying international mail.
72	* ''The Secret of the Ninth Planet'', a 1959 scifi novel by Donald Allen Wollheim. While on an expedition in the Andes mountains, the protagonists receive a special delivery by missile post. The missile, radio-guided from a Moon base, flies overhead and detaches its message-carrying nosecone which then floats down to them by parachute.
73	* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', maesters use ravens to deliver messages back and forth. In particular, the Wall will send a white raven south to signify the beginning of [[EndlessWinter winter]] - [[spoiler:this occurs at the end of ''Literature/ADanceWithDragons'']].
74	* A variation in ''The Spoilers'' by Desmond Bagley where part of the plot involves modifying a torpedo so it can carry smuggling cargo instead of a warhead.
75	* A bird postman (postbird?) is the second animal (Mudge is the first) Jon-Tom meets, back at the beginning of the ''Literature/{{Spellsinger}}'' series.
76	* In the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' it's mentioned that in rural areas of Barrayar, mail is distributed by lightflyer (small plane) pilots who deliver the post to regional drop locations. They replaced horsemen who used to deliver the mail to the various individual's actual homes (Though Count Piotyr was deliberately slowing down the transition so that all his couriers - many of whom were former cavalry officers who served under him through multiple wars - would qualify to retire with full pensions before being laid off).
77	* A short story by Creator/RudyardKipling, "[[http://wondersmith.com/scifi/mail.htm With the Night Mail]]", chronicles the adventures of a transatlantic mail airship.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
81	* ''Series/DoctorWho'' has a non-flying example. '[[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E7Kerblam Kerblam!]]" use teleporting delivery robots to drop off their parcels. One teleports inside the TARDIS to deliver the Doctor a fez. And a DistressCall [[HelpHelpTrappedInTitleFactory printed on the packing slip]] that sets off the plot.
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Myth & Religion]]
85	* Hermes, the [[Myth/GreekMythology Greek]] messenger god, has winged shoes and a winged helmet.
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder:Roleplay]]
89	* ''Roleplay/ThereIsNoGATEWeDidNotFightThere'': For the marching cohorts of the armies of Rhavenfell (and possibly the rest of the Empire), messages are carried via ravens. Couriers for actual mail in the Empire proper can be handled by anyone, but the use of Harpies, who can fly, is slowly growing more popular in Rhavenfell due to their alliance with the humans.
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
93	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': As psychic activity such as telepathy is forbidden in Commorragh and regular mail is too easily intercepted, the most reliable form of Dark Eldar communication is the Scourges; denizens artificially modified into {{Winged Humanoid}}s. Their importance to Dark Eldar society gives them the closest thing to DiplomaticImmunity one has in the WretchedHive which is Commorragh, provided they can survive the operation and avoid the harrowing flight from the laboratories where they're augmented to the spires where the Scourges roost.
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	[[folder:Toys]]
97	* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'': Venom Flyers were used to deliver messages between the Brotherhood of Makuta and the Dark Hunters.
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Video Games]]
101	* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'': Pete the pelican delivers the mail from the Post Office, which is also run by pelicans. In ''[[VideoGame/AnimalCrossingWildWorld Wild World]]'', he can be seen and even [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential shot down]] mid-flight. While none of the pelicans appears in ''[[VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewHorizons New Horizons]]'', postcards can instead be air-mailed to other players through the airport, run by [[DoofyDodo dodos]].
102	* ''VideoGame/LegendOfMana'': A pelican is responsible for mail delivery, and figures into several sidequests.
103	* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
104	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'': The Rito people of Dragon Roost Island, who are birdlike and can turn their arms into airworthy wings at will, run the Great Sea's mail center.
105	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'': The non-Rito postman you meet is also winged, somewhat inexplicably.
106	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'': Zelda's Loftwing delivers a letter to Link in the opening sequence.
107	* ''VideoGame/PaperMario'': The postal service is run by Paratroopas, the franchise's most common {{Airborne Mook}}s. You get one of them as a partner in the first game.
108	* ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' has Pelipper (a pelican Pokemon) delivering the mail in each game.
109	* ''VideoGame/{{Solatorobo}}'': Some sidequests make you the mailman (with a unique flyer), though it plays out more like a racecourse.
110	* In ''VideoGame/{{Temtem}}'', the post office in Uhuru uses the bird-like Paharo line to make most of their deliveries.
111	[[/folder]]
112
113	[[folder:Webcomics]]
114	* In ''Webcomic/SplittingImage'', dragons deliver food and products, as their size and wings allow them to travel the FloatingContinent with ease.
115	[[/folder]]
116
117	[[folder:Western Animation]]
118	* ''WesternAnimation/TheBackyardigans'': One episode crosses this trope with DragonRider by casting the protagonists as dragon-riding mail carriers.
119	* ''WesternAnimation/MiddlemostPost'': Parker is a postman, and being a cloud, they can of course float.
120	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
121	** An unnamed mail pegasus has a brief appearance in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E7WonderboltsAcademy Wonderbolts Academy]]".
122	** Similarly, MemeticBystander Derpy Hooves (a pegasus) has been shown to be a postal worker in several episodes.
123	** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E9TheFaultInOurCutieMarks The Fault in Our Cutie Marks]]" introduces Gabby, a griffon who works for the postal service flying mail between Equestria and Griffonstone.
124	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'': The Postman has a pedal-powered flying bicycle he used to deliver messages to the ninja while their base was a flying pirate ship. He doesn't seem to use it in any other situation.
125	* ''WesternAnimation/PostmanPat'': PAT 3 is the helicopter used by Pat Clifton while working at the Special Delivery Service in Pencaster. As seen in the picture at the top of the page, there’s even a seat for Jess the black-and-white cat!
126	* The ''[[WesternAnimation/Rugrats2021 Rugrats]]'' reboot has Daxton with the delivery service Duffy who zips about from place-to-place using a propeller to deliver packages, seemingly at speeds matching [[TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot plot]]. Presumably other Duffy deliverers travel the same way, but we only ever see Daxton.
127	[[/folder]]
128
129	[[folder:Real Life]]
130	* Carrier pigeons can be seen as a [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] example.
131	* Amazon.com may soon be using cargo-carrying unmanned aerial vehicles to drop off packages for its customers.
132	* One of the first (some would say ''the'' first) civilian uses of airplanes was carrying mail from city to city. This was at its peak in the 1920s and 1930s; it declined due to companies scamming the government due to poor oversight, and a large number of military airmen dying in plane crashes in poor winter weather when the US Army tried to take over all air mail responsibilities while lacking in sufficient experience in night time and winter operations, as well as poorly equipped aircraft and insufficient manning due to Great Depression-related budget cuts.
133	* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_mail Rocket mail]] has unfortunately been [[AwesomeButImpractical more effective as a publicity stunt]] than an economical means of mail delivery.
134	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / FlyingPostman