Line #53 Main/HeliCritter


1	%%
2	%%
3	%% The examples have been alphabetized. Please put any new example in its proper place in the folder rather than at the end.
4	%%
5	%%
6	%% Image replaced per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1303829309095129000
7	%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.
8	%%
9	[[quoteright:300:[[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chopchopchopchop_6019.jpg]]]]
10	[[caption-width-right:300:When he's not pursuing the Red Baron, Snoopy does search and rescue missions.]]
11
12	->''"Gasp! My theory was true! Spike ''can'' fly! FLY DOG! FLY!"''
13	-->-- '''Rob''', ''WebAnimation/{{Siblings}}'', "Dog Daze of Boredom"
14
15	This is a creature that flies (or, in some cases, swims) using an organic propeller instead of wings. Though [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagellum some bacterial life forms]] in RealLife really do move this way, it is impossible in more complex organisms, because such a structure requires at least two separate parts and there'd be no way for their nerves, veins, ''et cetera'' to make it from one to the other. It does tend to show up in [[SpeculativeFiction fiction]], though, largely due to the RuleOfCool and because [[SpectacularSpinning spinning is spectacular.]]
16
17	Often a subtrope of BizarreAlienLocomotion, always a SubTrope of InstantFlightJustAddSpinning See also HelicopterHair, EarWings.
18	----
19	!!Examples:
20	%% No human examples, please, unless they wear animal costumes. They go to HelicopterHair.
21
22	[[foldercontrol]]
23
24	[[folder:Advertising]]
25	* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n-91HzOsQg this commercial]] for Energizer batteries, the Energizer Bunny uses his ears to hover.
26	* In a few old Advertising/MetLife ads, [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} Snoopy]] flies using his ears as helicopter blades (as depicted in the page image).
27	[[/folder]]
28
29	[[folder:Animation]]
30	* ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'': A variant occurs in the first episode of ''Ultimate Battle: The Next Generation'', in that Wolffy spins his tail to propel himself across a void that he and Weslie are brought to and float in.
31	* In ''Animation/PleasantGoatFunClass: Animals & Plants'' episode 1, Wolffy thinks elephants can spin their trunks to fly in the air. Weslie tells him that elephants can't do that.
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
35	* Mocchi of ''Anime/DearS'' does this in omake with its ears.
36	* In ''Anime/DiGiCharat'', Rabi~en~Rose uses the ears of her bunny costume to fly.
37	* In ''Anime/DigimonFusion'', Taiki turns [[CanisMajor Dorulumon]] into one of these by [[FusionDance DigiXrossing]] him with Starmon and the Pickmons, which turns the drill on Dorulumon's tail into a propeller. On one hand, it saves them from a fall of thousands of feet. On the other hand, it leaves Dorulumon hanging in the air by his rump, much to his embarrassment.
38	* Angoramon of ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame'' can fly by spinning his long ears. He can also whip up whirlwinds with them.
39	* Goku does this early in ''Manga/DragonBall'' a few times by spinning his tail. (Before he can fly by using his ki, naturally.)
40	* ''Manga/{{Kinnikuman}}'': Sneagator's frill-necked lizard form allows him to fly by spinning the neck frill like a propeller. He also uses it like a buzzsaw.
41	* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Sasaki can fly by spinning the frills of his half-triceratops form like a propeller. [[HowIsThatEvenPossible When called on it,]] Sasaki insists that [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum this is something a triceratops can do.]]
42	* Funnily enough, [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/File:Flying_Buizel.png at least one Buizel somewhat copies Tails' flight method]] in the ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', complete with identical aerial posture and helicopter-tails.
43	* In the GrandFinale of ''Anime/SamuraiPizzaCats'', The Big Cheese is seen using his tail as a helicoptor propeller.
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Comic Books]]
47	* FrancoBelgianComics example: ''[[http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Flagada Le Flagada]]'', created by Charles Degotte. A weird yellow bird who flies not through wings but with his rotor-like tail.
48	* Flagada makes a couple of cameos in ''ComicBook/GastonLagaffe'', as a disguise (which doesn't fly) or a fancy desk fan (which ''does'' fly, and [[RunningGag wrecks De Mesmaeker's contracts]]).
49	* A story arc in Creator/{{Marvel\|Comics}}'s ''ComicBook/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters1977'' features an alien monster called Rhiahn that could spin its three tails like a helicopter rotor and fly.
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
53	* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'':
54	** Garfield unintentionally does this to ''himself'', while winding a leg too much preparing for another literal KickTheDog gag with Odie.
55	** He also has wound up Odie's ears like an airplane propelled on occasion. In a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome, his flight ends as his ears unwind.
56	* Snoopy from ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' is sometimes seen using his ears as a propeller. One particular strip has a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome when after utilizing this ability, Snoopy has an abrupt crash landing due to his ears becoming too tangled up from the spinning.
57	-->'''Linus:''' That's the first time in my life I've seen a whirlydog!\
58	'''Lucy:''' Whirlybird -- not whirlydog!\
59	''[Snoopy zooms by; Lucy looks shocked]''\
60	'''Linus:''' I think if I had ''meant'' whirlybird, I would have ''said'' whirlybird!
61	* ''ComicStrip/TheWackyAdventuresOfPedro'' has one storyline in which an overdose of PowerUpFood causes Pedro's ears to stretch and rotate like helicopter blades.
62	[[/folder]]
63
64	[[folder:Fan Works]]
65	* In the fanfic ''Fanfic/TailsOfTheOldRepublic'', a crossover[=/=]FusionFic between ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' and ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', Tails the fox has two tails like in the games and other media he regularly features in, and he can [[{{Flight}} fly]] with them, [[BewareMyStingerTail fight]] with them, and even [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe shield]] himself with them. In here, he has two basic flight modes: a general-purpose "helicopter mode" that has great versatility and a top speed of about 200 MPH, and a much faster and energy-intensive "turbofan mode" (similar to a jet engine) that can propel him up to 600 MPH or higher.
66	[[/folder]]
67
68	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
69	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Hoodwinked}}'', Japeth survives when the mine cart he and Red rode off the end of a broken track by using a set of his [[SwissArmyAppendage interchangeable horns]] to do this -- one with rotors. Red's reaction to seeing this is a disbelieving, "What?"
70	* In Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Robin Hood\|1973}}'', Sir Hiss floats by using [[AllBalloonsHaveHelium a bag of air around his head]] and his tail as a propeller.
71	[[/folder]]
72
73	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
74	* The fan lizard from Creator/JamesCameron' ''Film/{{Avatar}}''. The lizard spins with its fan, so it is slightly more plausible than some other examples.
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder:Literature]]
78	* Two creatures are seen in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' that use wheels. Actual, biological wheels, that are part of their body. They are owned by [[BigBad Visser Three]], and each of them could split into two creatures, one wheeled, one flying. They were like organic [[TheEighties '80s]] action figure accessories. The unlikeliness of such creatures [[LampshadeHanging does not pass without mention.]]
79	* The Billywig, a magic insect from Australia, as detailed in ''Literature/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem'', a {{defictionaliz\|ation}}ed textbook from ''Literature/HarryPotter''.
80	* The biological impossibility of ''wheels'' is [[{{Reconstruction}} reconstructed]] in ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'', where the wheel are giant seed pods from tree that grow around the animals in question.
81	* ''Literature/KarlssonOnTheRoof'' by Swedish author Astrid Lingren, about a male person of [[VagueAge indeterminate age]] with a propeller on his back and a button on his stomach to turn it on.
82	%%* In ''Literature/KobitosZukan'' the Greenwing Kobitos do this. %%Needs elaboration!
83	* One of Keith Laumer's ''Literature/{{Retief}}'' novels is all about a planet where basically every living creature has spinning parts as basic anatomy. Flying creatures all have propellers, swimming creatures all have turbines, and land-dwellers all have wheels.
84	* Creator/AlanDeanFoster likes this trope, having flying reptilians with organic helicopter blades instead of wings show up in both the ''Literature/{{Spellsinger}}'' novels (where it could be plausible because AWizardDidIt) and as alien creatures on several planets in the ''Literature/HumanxCommowealth'' (where it is decidedly less plausible).
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
88	* In the ''Series/RoundTheTwist'' episode "The Whirling Derfish", Bronson swallows a rare whirling derfish and discovers he now has the ability to swim incredibly fast by using his penis as a propeller.
89	* ''Series/UltramanLeo'' has a MonsterOfTheWeek called Kendoros who takes the form of a living artichoke with arms and legs, and also blade-like leaves on its top which allows it to hover and fly.
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Toys]]
93	* ''Toys/StarMonsters'': The petals on Oray's head look like a propeller. Oray ''tries'' to use them to fly, to no avail.
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	[[folder:Video Games]]
97	* In ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfLomax'', the plume of Lomax's helmet can work like this if you have the proper ability.
98	* Some of the small ones can be seen in the background of Wii version in ''VideoGame/ABoyAndHisBlob'' on Blob's home planet.
99	* In ''VideoGame/AnimalJam'', the bunny's "play" animation has it jumping into the air and helicoptering with its ears.
100	* ''VideoGame/BeaconOfHope'' has an appliance variation: [[AnimateInanimateObject Desk lamp Beacon]] can [[NotQuiteFlight hover]] by spinning his power cord like a propeller.
101	* Possibly the trope namers are flying Critters from ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' which move that way.
102	* ''VideoGame/ClawsOfFurry'': Robodog can achieve flight by spinning his ears like helicopter blades.
103	* Conker the squirrel uses his tail this way in ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'', in the move he dubbed "[[BuffySpeak Helicoptery Tail Thingy]]".
104	* ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'':
105	** Dixie Kong from ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' uses her ponytail as a propeller.
106	** Tiny Kong from ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'' uses her pigtails as a propeller.
107	** The giant bees from Videogame/DonkeyKongJungleBeat, whose wings twirl around their "torsos". Ironically, the Helibirds are ''not'' examples.
108	* ''VideoGame/EarthwormJim'':
109	** Earthworm Jim is able to do this with his... upper body, or whatever would be roughly equivalent to that on a cartoon worm. In the sequel, the manual jokes that due to back strain, he can't do this anymore, and instead he uses Snot to glide.
110	** Evil the Cat can also do this with his tail in the second game to attack you from above.
111	* ''VideoGame/{{Fishgun}}'', where all your enemies are anthropomorphic fruits, have sentient flying cherries who use their stalks as organic rotors to fly around.
112	* The rabbits in the ''VideoGame/JazzJackrabbit'' games would use their ears as a propeller to float.
113	* The Ice Dragon from ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2'' uses its tail as a propeller to fly.
114	* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
115	** Peahats, a species of monstrous plants, fly by twirling their leaves like helicopter blades. ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'' introduces the marine Seahats, which do the same with a ring of fins.
116	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'': The Deku Scrubs use flowers this way. Link himself gains this power when he transforms into one.
117	* ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'': Rocket Raccoon can use his tail to hover for a short time.
118	* ''VideoGame/MetalSlug 6'' has an Invader alien called the Smasher, it resembles a crab-like thing that spins its legs like a helicopter to fly before inflating itself to smash down on you.
119	* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterPortable3rd'' has the Duramboros, which can launch themselves into the air simply though spinning using their heavy tails. If in [[TurnsRed rage mode]], they only need one swing to launch themselves into the air. ''[[VideoGame/MonsterHunter3Tri Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate]]'' adds the Rust Duramboros, a pink-colored subspecies that retains the main ability of its standard cousin.
120	* ''VideoGame/Mother3'': The Really Flying Mouse enemy is a {{Cyborg}} mouse that has had a propeller and a jetpack grafted onto it by the Pigmasks.
121	* ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'':
122	** Onions, the Pikmin's living nests, fly by means of flowers on their tops that rotate like helicopter blades.
123	** ''VideoGame/HeyPikmin'': Coppellers and Muggonflies have flower-like growths on their backs that rotate around their axes, allowing them to fly.
124	* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
125	** Hoppip and Skiploom fly by spinning a pair leaves and a flower, respectively. Their evolution Jumpluff instead floats using dandelion puffs.
126	** An aquatic Pokémon named Buizel. It doesn't fly, however, but uses its tails as a propeller in water. Though it can create a stream of water to "fly" through when using Aqua Jet. This also applies to its evolved form, Floatzel. Barraskewda, from Sword and Shield, is based on a torpedo and also has a propellor-like tail.
127	** An unlicensed game for the SNES lets you play as a Chikorita [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woE7zZj4nIk who can fly using the leaf on its head]].
128	** The Aqua Breed variety of Paldean Tauros uses its three tails as a boat propeller when it swims.
129	* ''VideoGame/{{Purple}}'': [[UndergroundMonkey Light-blue slimes]] have propellers that pop out when they leap.
130	* ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'': One of the abilities that Rayman gains in the first game and keeps (averting the BagOfSpilling) in the later ones.
131	%%* ''VideoGame/ShirenTheWanderer'': The Flying Fowl family of enemies have these.
132	* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
133	** Miles "Tails" Prower, the young fox friend of Sonic, uses his two tails to fly and hover like a helicopter.
134	** Cream the Rabbit, as well. While she usually flies by [[EarWings flapping them]], in ''VideoGame/SonicChronicles'', she twirls her ears like a helicopter when performing a certain POW move, much like the page image above.
135	* ''VideoGame/SpiralKnights'': The snipes (small, spherical bird-like creatures) move by twirling their wings around their midsection.
136	* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
137	** The Mario Bros themselves are also able to float slowly to the ground if they manage to get spinning fast enough. And in the Galaxy games, they actually manage to imitate helicopters with their arms as the blades, somehow spinning their bodies while their head remains stationary.
138	** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'' features a green parrot-like enemy that flies using four spinning blades around its neck. A plant enemy has a similar feature at its underside.
139	* ''VideoGame/SuperMarisaLand'': In ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarisaLand'', Marisa using the Reisen suit gains limited flight from spinning her bunny ears. It's more of a double jump technique but because it can be used to reverse a fall it's technically flight.
140	* Pom's Pilot Pup in ''VideoGame/ThemsFightinHerds'' flies by spinning its tail.
141	* Kaze in ''VideoGame/KazeAndTheWildMasks'' can hover by spinning her huge ears like helicopter blades.
142	[[/folder]]
143
144	[[folder:Web Animation]]
145	* In WebAnimation/SilverQuill's "After the Fact: Amending Fences", upon seeing Pinkie Pie using her tail to fly (see the example in Western Animation below), the hippogriff gets envious -- part of a running gag about him taking a very long time to get a flying animation. So Silver Quill tries to copy Pinkie by spinning his own tail, but has no control over it and is sent flying backward.
146	[[/folder]]
147
148	[[folder:Webcomics]]
149	* An ''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie'' strip uses this as a theoretical explanation for the burning question of ''how the hell [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Doduo]] can learn fly''. [[https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/whirlybird Answer]]: by spinning its two heads (and necks).
150	* ''Webcomic/TheMansionOfE'' has Helipaths, tentacled creatures who fly using this method.
151	[[/folder]]
152
153	[[folder:Western Animation]]
154	* ''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': A couple of the spirits in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' have propellers.
155	* Marlon the mynah bird from ''WesternAnimation/TheBradyKids'' would fly by spinning his tail feathers like a rotor.
156	* ''WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts'':
157	** WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck uses his tail as a propeller in "Alpine Climbers".
158	** As with a seagull seen in the ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'' short "Mickey and the Seagull".
159	* Muttley from ''WesternAnimation/DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines'' sometimes uses his tail as a propeller.
160	* Finder (Experiment 158) from ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries'' can use his ears to fly like a helicopter in order to help others find things.
161	* DJ Catnip from "WesternAnimation/GabbysDollhouse" often uses his legs to propel himself. Apparently all elastic kitties can do it because his cousin DJ Comet often does it too.
162	* Jargonaise from ''WesternAnimation/TheLingoShow'' spins the feathers on top of her head like a propeller as her method of flight.
163	* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'':
164	** The short "Go Fly a Kit" is about a kitten who was raised by an eagle and learns to fly by spinning its tail. The epilogue shows the kitten as an adult cat with kittens who fly the same way.
165	** WesternAnimation/BugsBunny sometimes uses his ears as a propeller.
166	*** In "Lighter Than Hare", he uses his ears as helicopter propellers to get away from an outer space version of WesternAnimation/YosemiteSam.
167	*** Not always voluntarily, though, as in "WesternAnimation/BunnyHugged" where the Crusher wounds up his ears and sends him flying around.
168	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
169	** In the very first episode, "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon Mare in the Moon]]", upon seeing Rarity for the first time, Spike spins the tip of his dragon tail, although using it only as propeller: the actual lift is provided by LoveFloats.
170	** In the episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E6TheCutiePox The Cutie Pox]]", Apple Bloom gets herself airborne with her tail. It's a lesser example in that she doesn't do it just with her tail, but by spinning a hula hoop at high speed.
171	** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E12AmendingFences Amending Fences]]", Pinkie is shortly seen flying by spinning her tail. This being Pinkie Pie, the only surprising thing about it is that she hadn't done it sooner.
172	* ''WesternAnimation/NateIsLate'': In episode "The Tree People", most of the younger tree sprites can fly thanks to the pair of leaves atop their heads turning like a rotor.
173	* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': Hooty can fly in his "Porta-Hooty" form by stretching and angling his neck and whirling his head around. He can carry at least one person with him.
174	* The title character of ''Animation/TheRabbitWithTheCheckeredEars'' can spin said checkered ears like a propeller to fly to the aid of the human cast, as they are longer than the rest of its body.
175	* ''WesternAnimation/RazzberryJazzberryJam'': The Alien Castanets can somehow fly by [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rjj08.png looking upwards, opening their mouths 180 degrees and spinning]].
176	* In at least one episode of ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'', it's shown that Sunspot can move his ears like a propeller to fly.
177	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Ralph Wiggum's ImaginaryFriend uses his tail (in some unspecified manner) to fly.
178	* ''WesternAnimation/AThousandAndOneAmericas'': Near the end of the twenty-fourth episode, Lon shows a Nazca priest about how airplanes work (since those didn't exist yet during the pre-Columbian era in RealLife) by flapping his long ears to fly near the ceiling of the temple where they are. He even expends his front paws sideways to further similate the shape of the airplanes. Hilariously, due to his distraction he clashes against a wall.
179	[[/folder]]
180
181	[[folder:Real Life]]
182	* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samara_(fruit) Samaras]] are a kind of fruit whose "wings" can resemble the propeller of a helicopter, especially with the case of the Maple family of trees. [[NotQuiteFlight While they don't "fly" per se]], the twirling of their wings allows them to stay airborne for longer, and thus get carried further from their parent when blown by wind.
183	* On the microscopic scale, this is how the flagella of bacteria function. The flagellum is a whip-like structure that rotates freely from the rest of the bacterium, propelling it through water or other liquids.
184	* Many small insects such as bees fly this way, by spinning their wings around in a circle instead of flapping them up and down like birds do. The spinning generates a small wind that provides them lift.
185	[[/folder]]

Context Main / HeliCritter