[[quoteright:221:[[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/snoopy_typewriter.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:221:[[FantasticallyIndifferent It's not that impressive. He has to hunt-and-peck.]]]]

->'''Guiv:''' What are you, a philosopher bird?\\
'''Turul:''' Just an old bird. In a thousand years, you are wise too.
-->-- ''ComicBook/PrinceOfPersiaTheGraphicNovel''

In RealLife (some) animals are quite intelligent, but in certain media and literature they can do many astonishing things you don't usually see animals do and, might or might not, be smarter than the human characters.

Intellectual Animals can range from being {{Nearly Normal Animal}}s, to being {{Civilized Animal}}s, to being full-blown {{Funny Animal}}s. Some can actually talk freely with humans.

The character doesn't have to be a specific animal, merely be [[BeastFable animal-like]] (four-legged carnivores are popular) and clearly not human (a NatureSpirit, a god, et cetera). They are more likely to be an imposing animal than [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter something cute]]. To reduce the sense of cartoonishness inherent in this idea, the Intellectual Animal may speak [[{{Telepathy}} without moving their mouth]] and/or talk in a normal, serious voice.

In fact, this character tends to be a little cynical about humans or may even have [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters outright contempt for most of humankind]]. The rest of the cast may have to earn their respect. If they do prove themselves they might choose to befriend the human, even going so far as becoming an equal partner and SapientSteed or {{Mentor}}. Often, they will be [[SmartAnimalAverageHuman much smarter than the human they accompany]].

Do not confuse this character type for the TeamPet or the {{Mascot}}. They will not enjoy the comparison.

The [[PollyWantsAMicrophone Talking Birds]] are a subtrope. Compare {{Nearly Normal Animal}}s, {{Funny Animal}}s, {{Uplifted Animal}}s and {{Civilized Animal}}s. See also TalkingAnimal.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Every Pokémon in ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', ever.
** Particularly the Rocket trio's Meowth, who originally learned to talk to impress a female Meowth (it didn't work).
** Additionally, ''Pokémon'' had a Slowking that could also talk in human speech, though in its case it was because of [[BrilliantButLazy the actual high intelligence level inherent in all Slowking.]]
*** Mewtwo fits this trope even more closely, being extremely intelligent, telepathic and not particularly friendly.
*** Following in Mewtwo's footsteps, most of the legendary Pokemon that appear in the movies are able to speak telepathically, be they psychic-type or not.
*** It even applies to non-legendary Pokémon featured in movies, with Lucario, Zorua, and [[spoiler:Ash's Pikachu]] all being able to speak in their respective movies, the former two with telepathy.
* The wolves from ''Anime/WolfsRain'' are definitely smart and intimidating. Kiba and Tsume are also quite contemptuous of humans (Kiba tends to kill ''lots'' of them). They usually communicate telepathically, but when they take on their human disguises it's interpreted as actual speech. Many of the other animals are telepathic as well.
* Nyanko-sensei/Madara from ''Manga/NatsumesBookOfFriends''.
* Zafira of ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'', especially from the third season and up, where, [[AllThereInTheManual according to the]] [[FourthWallMailSlot Megami Sound Stages]], less restrictive military rules for animals in the [[TheFederation TSAB]] means that he's never seen out of his wolf form while on duty.
* Mao from ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' is an animal-possessing Contractor who has lost his original body some time ago and now uses a black cat as his default form. [[spoiler:The black cat body dies at the end of the first season, so he switches to a squirrel during the second season.]]
* Ein of ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' is a "data dog", apparently some sort of genetically-engineered [[WetwareCPU biological supercomputer]], with considerable if not [[SuperIntelligence superhuman intelligence]]. Although his abilities to use this intelligence is limited by his body (most obviously, he can't talk), he's been known to utilize keyboards, play shogi, and hack into websites. The episode "[[Recap/CowboyBebopSession17MushroomSamba Mushroom Samba]]" shows him holding a conversation with a cow, in which he is quite articulate.
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' shows us that developing a Stand gives an animal human-level intelligence. From Part 3 alone, we have the Boston Terrier Iggy (the Fool), Forever the orangutan (Strength), and Dio's pet falcon, Pet Shop (Horus).
* Chi from ''Manga/ChisSweetHome'', although she's pretty low on the intellect scale, essentially being a cat toddler. Other older pets are smarter.
* From ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'', Cameroon's lion cub Kokolo, a Glasgow University Fine Arts graduate according to ''Manga/{{Hetaween 2011}}''. [[spoiler: Who designs and apparently makes his "master" a Halloween costume with his own hands, er, "paws".]]
* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Tony Tony Chopper, once a normal reindeer, ate the Hito Hito no Mi devil fruit and became a talking animal with humanesque forms. Then he trained to become a doctor. By the time he joined the Straw Hat Pirates at age 15, he was a physician able to mix medicine, perform surgery, and [[HarmlessFreezing thaw and resuscitate frozen people]] in an age where normal technology is about the level of the Renaissance. He's [[CombatMedic not a bad fighter, either]].
** Animals in general tend to be far smarter and more human-like than you'd credit them for. The News Coos (seagulls) fly around the world delivering newspapers (and taking payment), the Kung-Fu Dugongs have an established society, and an otter and a vulture form the frighteningly competent and ironically named Baroque Works team known as "The Unluckies".
* It isn't clear how smart all of the animals from ''WebAnimation/MoriNoAndo'' are but the turtle appears to be able to read kanji and the fish can speak English.
* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Nezu, the Principal of U.A., is [[CartoonCreature some sort of furry mammal]] that has manifested a [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Quirk]] giving him SuperIntelligence, and apparently the ability to talk.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Norbert Sykes' god, Myrtle, from ''ComicBook/TheBadger''. Could be an imaginary friend, since [[NotSoImaginaryFriend only the hero ever sees her]]. The line "God is a badger named Myrtle!" will always be one of this contributor's favourites.
* Although technically human, Beast from the various incarnations of the ''Comicbook/XMen'' certainly evokes the same imagery.
* Kitty Pryde's dragon Lockheed from ''ComicBook/XMen''. Cosmo the dog from ''ComicBook/{{Nova}}''. [[ComicBook/MoonGirlAndDevilDinosaur Devil Dinosaur]] is pretty bright.
* Prackspoor, Lord Arux's pet from ''ComicBook/{{Lucifer}}''.
* The Beaver from Creator/SethGreen's ''Freshmen''. Essentially a take on the X-men's Beast. Except as a tiny fuzzy animal who has an obsession with building dams.
* [[Creator/DCComics Detective Chimp]]. Gorilla Grodd, ''especially'' in ''Franchise/{{Justice League|of America}}.'' In UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}}, ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'s horse Comet was actually a [[Myth/GreekMythology centaur]] who had fallen victim to a ForcedTransformation. And [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] [[HeroicDog Krypto]] had full human intelligence for no real reason except that it was more fun that way (and hey, he's an ''alien'' dog, so why not?).
** Also [[MemeticBadass Rex the Wonder Dog]], who once [[RememberWhenYouBlewUpASun nuked a T. rex]], was a fully qualified intellectual ''long'' before the Fountain of Youth gave him the ability to talk. Hell, by that point he had already had a successful career as a newspaper photographer.
* Barnabas, Destruction (later Delirium)'s dog in ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989''.
* In ''ComicBook/PrinceOfPersiaTheGraphicNovel'', Guiv is followed around by a peacock named Turul who claims to be a thousand years old.
* Earthling, Joe's cat in ''ComicBook/KingCity'' doesn't talk, but he does complicated-looking mathematical equations in his spare time.
* ComicBook/LuckyLuke's horse, Jolly Jumper, is shown to be smart enough to ''beat his owner at chess'', and Luke claims that his horse beat him at ''dice'' only because he cheated.
* ''ComicBook/KatieTheCatsitter'' has Katie babysitting the many cats of a CrazyCatLady, all of whom are super skilled at many different things from welding to building inventions, and good at helping fight crime.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'': Snoopy. He's probably one of the smartest characters in the cast, although most of said intelligence is spent dreaming up his flights of fantasy. He's certainly one of the most intellectual.
* Hobbes from ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes''. Assuming he is a tiger and not stuffed toy.
%%* ''ComicStrip/FootrotFlats'': The dog.
* In ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'', there's the titular character, as well as his fellow cats, the mice, and the spiders, all of whom seem to have more wits about them than Garfield's human owner.
%%* ''ComicStrip/ThePerishers'': Old Boot.
* The sea urchin from ''ComicStrip/{{Conchy}}'', who spends his days making philosophical musings about life at the bottom of a tidal pool.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'':
** Bolt, Mittens, Rhino, and the various animal OCs all have a love of culture and the arts. While the three main characters enjoy a wide variety of media, Bolt prefers visual art, Mittens prefers music, and Rhino retains preference for anything that shows up on the television.
** Taken to its most extreme level in "The Imaginary Letters." One of the TV star dogs Bolt meets at a TV-Con is Zaui, who is shown watching a question-and-answer TV quiz program (likely ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}''), where he blurts out all the correct answers as the show airs. Ironically, the character Zaui plays on his TV show is that of a notably dumb pooch.
* ''Fanfic/TheresNoRuleThatSaysAWolfCantBeAJedi'': Swift is a giant wolf, easily large enough for an adult human to ride, and became a Jedi Initiate at just one year old (though his species is mature at that age). Nonetheless, he acquires a reputation as quite a philosopher, and even accidentally provides therapy counselling to Anakin Skywalker.
* ''Fanfic/ThisBites'' takes the concept of smart animals prevalent in canon, and adds a character with the ability to give them their own voice. The result is that approximately every animal showing up in the story has a mind, voice and personality to express themselves with, from the News Coo wanting to break into journalism, to the unending ''Old Spice'' references made by the South Birds. To say nothing of the ones who end up joining the crew - add "ability to hold their own in a fight" and "government-issued pirate bounty" to the list.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
%%* ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'': The animal gods.
* ''WesternAnimation/GlistenAndTheMerryMission'': The reindeer are shown to be more technologically advanced than the elves who refuse to modernize as their introductory scene has them using computers to monitor the weather.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSwordInTheStone'': Archimedes the Educated Owl, Merlin's companion, is as studied as his friend and serves as one of Arthur's teacher.
* Gromit from the ''WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit'' shorts and film is [[SmartAnimalAverageHuman much smarter]] than his BunglingInventor owner.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'': Remy is a rat and a skilled gourmet chef.
* ''WesternAnimation/WatershipDown'': In the film adaptation, the main group of rabbits are more intelligent than normal rabbits but they're still rabbits. All but two or three of them don't quite understand things like how some objects are able to sit on top of water and not sink and cars and tractors appear to be monsters that run along roads.
** Blackberry is considered the most intelligent of the group and consistently offers good advice to Hazel's plans. It was he who recognized the significance of the boat during the escape from Efrafa and reminded Hazel earlier of their success using a board to ferry Pipkin and Fiver across a river to escape a dog.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'', a group of rats and a pair of mice are scientifically enhanced to have human-level intelligence. Oddly enough, the family of one of the enhanced mice seem perfectly intelligent themselves, even though it's a rather important plot point that they were ''not'' enhanced above normal mice (it's possible the children were supposed to have [[LamarckWasRight inherited]] some of their father's intellect, but the wife is discriminated against by the rats for being a normal animal). The movie also features a crow who, while not especially smart, is capable of human-level conversation with mice, and an owl who gives life-saving advice.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRoadToElDorado'': Altivo the horse. When Miguel asks him to fetch a prybar so that he and Tulio can try to break loose, Altivo does one better and steals the keys.
* The dinosaurs from ''WesternAnimation/TheGoodDinosaur'' have developed human-like intelligence and the trappings of civilization; Arlo's family are subsistence farmers who grow corn and keep chicken-like birds, while Butch the ''Tyrannosaurus'' and his kin herd cattle.
* From the ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' films:
** The rhino-like Kikanalo turn out to be quite intelligent once Nokama realizes her [[MaskOfPower mask power]] lets her communicate with them. They can understand speech, have a sharp wit, help out the heroes on their quest, and while they don't mind others using them as steeds, they only do so if they're treated as equals. Though they sill behave like destructive, rampaging beasts if they don't have anyone to interact with.
** Keetongu is a sage-like [[OurCryptidsAreDifferent cryptid]] who hands out moral advice, has a strong sense of honor and can say basic words. His categorization as an "animal" is mostly relative -- in ''Bionicle'', animals are called Rahi, which just means "not us", a name given to any creature created by the Makuta race. Rahi can be mindless and bestial or fully sentient, and Keetongu lands on the latter end of the spectrum.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/GeorgeOfTheJungle'': Ape, as in the cartoon, is without a doubt the most intelligent of the main cast (also, he's voiced by Creator/JohnCleese to make him even funnier).
* Blood from ''Film/ABoyAndHisDog''. ''Definitely'' smarter than his partner Vic.
* Franchise/{{Godzilla}} and most of his {{Kaiju}} friends, although their intelligence varies from one film/adaptation to another. On average, Goji-san himself seems to have human or near-human intelligence.
%%* ''Film/TheRealMacaw'': Mac.
* ''Film/TheBalladOfBusterScruggs'': The chapter "Meal Ticket" has Gallus Mathematicus, a chicken that can supposedly do simple sums. It's never clear whether the chicken is actually performing arithmetic or if it's some sort of trick.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Many animals in the Creator/TamoraPierce ''[[Literature/TortallUniverse Wild Magic]]'' series, but especially the Badger God.
** Leads to a Chekhov's Skill when Zek the monkey realizes how keys work.
* Most of the animals in Creator/RudyardKipling's original ''Jungle Books'' are cynical about human nature. The WildChild Mowgli naturally shares their attitude, leading to friction when he tries to return to human society.
* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'':
** [[KingOfBeasts Aslan the Lion]] is the God of the world of Narnia. Intellectual Animal does not even begin to describe him, as knows just about everything that is there to know.
** Narnia has lots of non-divine ''mortal'' talking animals as well, who make a strong distinction between themselves and the regular, nonsentient sort of animals. Although not all of them are particularly intellectual.
* Quite a few in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': with the magic and [[TheoryOfNarrativeCausality narrativum]] and all:
** Gaspode, the Wonder Dog, the World's Only Harmonica-Playing Dog (tuppence), What A Good Dog, Saved The World Once You Know.
** The Librarian, who technically ''used'' to be human before being turned into an orangutan and found he rather enjoyed it. He's not only quite possibly the most intelligent living thing in all of Ankh-Morpork, but he's also [[GeniusBruiser capable of grabbing a grown man by his ankles, turning him upside down and bashing his head into the pavement.]]
** Quoth the Raven, one of [[GrimReaper Death's]] companions.
** From the Tiffany Aching books, the toad who used to be a lawyer (and now [[spoiler: lawyers for the Feegles]])
** And the [[Literature/TheAmazingMauriceAndHisEducatedRodents Amazing Maurice and his rodent friends]].
*** Who follow in the tradition of ''Literature/MrsFrisbyAndTheRatsOfNimh'', complete with a ShoutOut to the latter rodents' aspiration to found their own civilization in Thorn Valley.
** The rats of Ankh-Morpork, especially those living in the Patrician's Palace, have an almost-human intellect as a result of all the magical books and rubbish from the Unseen University they nibble on. When Vimes is thrown into the Patrician's prison in ''Literature/GuardsGuards'' he discovers the Patrician is teaching them about the finer details of diplomacy and statecraft in return for small favours.
** Averted in ''Literature/{{Sourcery}}'', where what Rincewind took to be a highly cultured talking snake turned out to be an extremely thin man sitting behind the snake.
* ''Literature/{{Firekeeper}}'' has these in truckloads, considering that basically every wild animal comes in a smart variety.
* Feral in ''Literature/SoonIWillBeInvincible'' is a tiger-man so animal-like that he walks on all fours when in private and has back problems from standing on two feet in public.
* Aargh, from ''Literature/TheDragonKnight'' series by Creator/GordonRDickson is a giant wolf and good friend of the protagonist, though in general he tends to have little use for anybody.
* Louise Searl's short story ''Sharazad'', featured in ''Literature/TheDreamEatersAndOtherStories'', is about bipedal lions, hyenas and African wild dogs with human-level intelligence. They evolved naturally after humanity's extinction.
* Creator/MercedesLackey's ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' series features a handful of non-humanoid creatures with humanoid-level intelligence, though most aren't any more gruff or cynical than what you'd expect of humans:
** The ''kyree'', wolf-like {{telepath|y}}s with a strong oral (mental?) history.
** [[OurGryphonsAreDifferent Gryphons]], who are almost universally cheerful, vain, and entirely self-assured. Gryphons were created by a mage in the earliest parts of the series timeline, and as far as the gryphons are concerned, they're an improvement on sentient life as a whole.
** The ''dyheli'', deer creatures with PsychicPowers, a strong herd mentality, and the fuzzy concept of free will that you get when you mash the first two together. Probably the most powerful minds in the series; in one novel, a ''dyheli'' herd leader repeatedly displays the ability to ignore mental shields in order to get concepts across. They allow the [[MagicalNativeAmerican Tayledras]] to [[SapientSteed ride them]] as equal partners.
** There's also the [[CoolHorse Companions]] and the Firecats, although they're less cool animals and more spirits in useful form or proxies of their deity, respectively.
* It still remains unclear whether Creator/JonathanSwift meant the Houyhnhnms of ''Literature/GulliversTravels'' to be taken seriously in their cynical, anti-human perspective. (Inverted in the Yahoos with which they share their island, who are unintelligent humans, or perhaps very humanlike apes.)
* Frith and the Black Rabbit of Inlé, the rabbit gods from ''Literature/WatershipDown''.
* The Dragon Horse in ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest.'' (Monkey himself seems really too humanoid to count.)
* Smaug the [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragon,]][[note]]dragons were portrayed almost universally as dumb animals until ''The Hobbit''[[/note]] the giant eagles, the ravens, and Bilbo's thrush in ''Literature/TheHobbit'' and ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings.''
* Creator/PoulAnderson's novel ''Brain Wave'', where Something sends the IQ's of every animal on Earth soaring, including Humankinds, resulting in TheSingularity.
* Einstein, a [[UpliftedAnimal modified]] Golden Retriever, in ''Literature/{{Watchers}}'', by Creator/DeanKoontz. He loves to read, plays a good game of Scrabble, and has fun teasing his humans.
* The Bunyip in Creator/NaomiNovik's ''[[Literature/{{Temeraire}} Tongues of Serpents]]'', a race of landgators adapted to living underground who set complex traps, communicate between communities and understand the concept of trade/bribery.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' invokes this by way of the Wolfsbane Potion, which allows [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves]] who drink it to keep their mind in a human state.
* The Treecats of ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' are fully sentient, have a civilization spanning most of their home world, history (via recorded memories) dating back thousands of years, and as of book 7 have started colonizing other planets.
* ''Literature/{{Dinotopia}}'' is an entire island populated by this kind of character. In particular, Bix ''hates'' it when anyone calls her their NonHumanSidekick.
* Dr. Dillamond (a goat) in ''Literature/{{Wicked}}''. Gregory Maguire's Oz is populated by numerous {{Funny Animal}}s, but Dr. Dillamond is the only one who appears as a named character, and is most definitely intellectual.
* Harry's temple dog Mouse from ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' has at least human-level (though likely even higher) intelligence. [[ObfuscatingStupidity Though he tends to hide it most of the time]].
* ''Literature/MoongobbleAndMe'': More than a few, starting in book 1 with Moongobble's partner Urk the toad, who's fully capable of speaking like a human. It's implied that his magical nature is the cause, since Edward notes that most animals he's met don't speak unless they're magic in some way, and in book 2, he's surprised to meet some animals who can speak but don't have obvious magic.
* ''Literature/TheEndOfTheRaven'' is narrated by Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's cat, and considering this poem perfectly mimics Poe's ''Literature/TheRaven'', that's quite impressive.
* The cat Shamisen in ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'' asks how the rest of the cast know that he is really conversing with them and not making random sounds at random times that just happen to sound like language that fits in with their own speech, and generally talks philosophically (as long as he talks).
* ''Literature/KingCrow'': The crow is not [[CleverCrows simply clever]], but smart as a human.
* ''Literature/HarrysMad'': Madison[=/=]Mad (an African Gray Parrot) is fully capable of understanding and fluently speaking English. He chalks it up to having been 'raised' by a professor of linguistics.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Mr. Ed the talking horse from ''Series/MisterEd''.
* Jeb from ''Series/VRTroopers'' is the dog of [[TheHero Ryan Steele]] who gains intelligence and the ability to speak after an accident in a lab.
* A running joke with Comet the Wonder Horse from Series/TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr. In one episode, Comet ''cracks a safe''.
* Gerald the Gorilla from ''Series/NotTheNineOClockNews''.
[[/folder]]

%%[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
%%[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/BunniesAndBurrows'': Zig-zagged with the rabbit characters. On the one hand, they have organized societies with roles like [[TheBard Storytellers]] and [[PsychicPowers Seers]]. On the other, they're quite dim compared to humans: concepts like writing and numbers larger than four are forever beyond their grasp.
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
** Any animal bonded as a {{Familiar}} by a wizard gains a significant intelligence boost. Past middle levels, familiars get significantly smarter than the average human.
** The ''Awaken'' spell can permanently turn an animal into this. Some take it well, others... less so. Since no druid wants to deal with a genius [[SavageWolf dire wolf]] wizard who blames them for taking it away from its pack, it's not often used.
** The paladin's and the oracle of nature's bonded mounts start with an intelligence of 6, which is equivalent to a low-level familiar. A halfling who chooses the Caretaker racial trait can increase it further to 8, which is just below the average human intelligence. As Intelligence is one of the few dump stats for a Paladin, this can amusingly result in a paladin who's horse is smarter than they are.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Summerland}}'': While the Call eventually degrades human intellect into an animalistic state, it seems to have the opposite effect on non-human animals, and many of the Sea of Leaves' wildlife is becoming noticeably cunning and aware. Many have developed the ability to use complex tools, plan for the future or even speak, but their motivations and thought processes are usually profoundly alien and difficult to predict or understand.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* In ''Theatre/OrpheusAPoeticDrama'', Orpheus gains musical inspiration and advice on what to do from the animals, who respect the cycle of life and advise him to appeal to Persephone for Eurydice's soul.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Red XIII, aka Nanaki, from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is perhaps the prime example of this in video games. Red is especially weird; not only is he smart for an "animal", he's probably the smartest member of your party. Even weirder is when it's revealed that, adjusting for his species' lifespan, Red is a teenager, making him a sort of TeenGenius on top of being an Intellectual Animal.
* In ''VideoGame/ShadowHeartsCovenant'' all wolves are apparently very smart, and one of them, Blanca, is a party member. In fact, when he fights some wolves as {{Duel Boss}}es, their pre-battle dialogue is fully translated from AnimalTalk and voiced by humans, such as Creator/ShuichiIkeda for Blanca himself.
* Amaterasu and the Satome Canine Warriors in ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}''
* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2: Mask of the Betrayer'': Okku the bear. StatisticallySpeaking, his intelligence is below average -- although seeing as the average intelligence of a bear is a whopping 2, that shouldn't count too much against him.
%%* ''VideoGame/{{Lunar}}''
%%** Nall from ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar''.
%%** And Ruby from ''VideoGame/LunarEternalBlue''.
* ''VideoGame/Persona3'': Koromaru, who's a dog (an albino Shiba Inu, to be exact). While he can't talk, he's smarter than Junpei, capable of detecting shadows, is great with a knife, and [[OurSoulsAreDifferent is capable of summoning a Persona]].
* ''VideoGame/MinionMasters'': Despite looking like a beast, the Elder Beast is fully sentient.
* ''VideoGame/Mother3'':
** Boney fits this pretty well, although he is a charming chocolate labrador as opposed to something more intimidating. Despite this, he occasionally speaks with the party (how he does this is never explained) and blends human-level intelligence with animal instincts, taking offense to an NPC suggesting his use as bait for a raging monster one moment, and dropping everything to chase after insects the next.
** PSI-users can communicate with animals using telepathy, although Lucas could do this even before his powers awakened.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'': Repede, to the point of acting more human than dog at times. He is pretty much an expy of Blanca.
* ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
** The mabari hounds from ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' are described as having almost-human intelligence, and legend even tells that they're "smart enough to speak, but wise enough not to". You can recruit a mabari into your party, and he occasionally "converses" with your other party members while you wander around.
** Hawke in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' can also have a mabari, and can come upon him playing cards with Varric at their manor. Apparently the dog is quite good.
--->'''Varric''': You know, you play diamondback better than my cousin Vidar. You wag your tail whenever you have a good hand, though. Might want to watch that.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'': Kaepora Gaebora the expository owl, who reappears in a couple other games from the series.
* VideoGame/{{Seaman}} is capable of posing some very thought-provoking questions to the player. Granted, it's all reliant on what Vivarium and Sega had already programmed into the game, but it discusses a much wider range of topics than one would expect from a VirtualPet.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Overcooked}},'' Kevin appears to be an ordinary dog in a world where {{Funny Animal}}s exist, and he can only say "BARK." But not only does he know how to fly a helicopter, he's generally the StraightMan to the goofy Onion King.
* Hanpan the Wind Mouse from ''VideoGame/WildArms1'' is by far the smartest member of your party and provides both exposition on things the human characters would not know as well as some well-deserved snark when someone does something stupid. The anime ''Twilight Venom'' and ''VideoGame/WildArmsMillionMemories'' imply this to be true of all Wind Mice, and justify this by revealing they can live for thousands of years.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/DreamCatcher'' has Arashi the horse. He will wait for you to say please.
* ''WebComic/GirlGenius'': [[CatsAreSuperior Krosp I, emperor of all cats]], was altered through {{Mad Scien|tist}}ce to become one of these.
* Thomas Kemper (the cat) from ''WebComic/PennyArcade'' may qualify, while he is never shown doing anything out of the ordinary it is mentioned that he has some sort of Microsoft Professional Certification and he may or may not have designed an industrial laser and possibly a time machine.
* Artie of ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}'' is this and then some. Superhuman intelligence, an excellent classical education and a boundless love of alfalfa all in one gerbil-sized packet.
%%* ''Webcomic/AGirlAndHerFed'': Mr. Speedy the koala.
* The imperial cats from ''Webcomic/AlphaShade''. They seem to vary from between being house-cat sized to big cat sized. They have psionic powers that are significantly in excess of any humans we've seen.
%%* ''Webcomic/TheLastDaysOfFoxhound'': Berthold.
* ''Webcomic/ElvenLacryment'': Xanther seems to be the lead character's psychiatrist.
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': Blackwing the raven is intelligent enough to offer advice and insight to his master, Vaarsuvius. Justified in that he's the {{Familiar}} of a powerful wizard, so by ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' rules he's likely smarter than most humans.
%%* ''Webcomic/WapsiSquare'': Dietzel.
* ''Webcomic/SandraAndWoo'': Most animals are intelligent enough to have their own cultures, social more and societies. The fox Shadow might be the most prominent example, since he's for example able to come up with a rhyming [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/2009/07/02/0073-summer-by-the-lakeside/ carnivorous anthem]]. Woo, on the other hand, attempted at least [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/2010/09/27/0203-healthy-cookies-part-1/ subliminal]] [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/2010/09/30/0204-healthy-cookies-part-2/ cookie acquisition]].
* ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure'': Any wizard/sorcerer familiars. Angelika's got a rat named [[MeaningfulName Norveg]] and Simonicus has a cat named [[IronicName Ebony]].
%%* ''Webcomic/PrinceOfCats'': Hazel, and many other cats.
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[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''Blog/HamstersParadise'': The Calliducyonidae genus is made up of two separate of sapient, canine-like species, the tall, omnivorous northhounds and the stocky, carnivorous southhounds. In terms of appearance, they could be easily be mistaken of Earth canine or the other dog-like lycanines they share their planet with. Interestingly enough, both species actually view ''themselves'' as intellectual animals, seeing themselves as just another kind of animal that can reason and speak rather than something distinct from the natural world like humans might. This is due to the presence of other lycanines that greatly resemble them and range in intelligence from clever animal to semi-sapient near person.
* The ''Website/SCPFoundation'' has a few of these under its watch. [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1156 SCP-1156]] is a talking coach horse named Wellington who can somehow summon clothes onto his body. [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1867 SCP-1867]] is a telepathic sea slug who claims to be a ninteenth-century explorer and naturalist named Theodore Thomas Blackwood, and has a vault full of unknown-to-science specimens to back his claims. [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1845 SCP-1845]] is a kingdom of animals based on a feudalistic European model, led by a dynastic line of foxes, whose inhabitants can't talk, but can read, write, and make tools such as musical instruments, canoes, and rosaries.
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[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Klaus, the Smith family's goldfish on ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', fits this. Of course, Klaus isn't just a goldfish; he used to be an East German Olympic ski-jumper until his brainwaves were switched with that of a goldfish in the 1986 Winter Olympics (which did not exist) by the CIA to prevent him from winning the gold medal. He also has a rather overt... "fascination" with Mrs. Smith. Paging Troy [=McClure=], line one Mr. [=McClure=]...
* Many animals in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', but most notably Appa, the badger moles, [[spoiler: the dragons, and the Giant Lion Turtle]]. Not to mention animal ''spirits'' like Wan Shi Tong the knowledge owl.
* A ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' episode was all about a gorilla being turned into this when his DNA was spliced with a human's.
* In the kids' show ''WesternAnimation/BluesClues'', the titular dog Blue. Despite being a puppy (and mentally a child) Blue is probably one of the most intelligent characters in the series, even though she occasionally has the same limitations as a child and/or a pet. In fact, the reason she was in the world the series takes place in (the Storybook World) was because she felt out of place in the world where she was born, as she was an animal that acted like a human being instead of a common puppy, like the other dogs of her farm.
* In one of ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'''s {{Cutaway Gag}}s, it's revealed that raptors are this.
* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo''.
* The mammoths in ''WesternAnimation/{{Cro}}'' are actually smarter than most of the human characters they share screentime with. Although since most of them are neanderthals, this is hardly surprising.
* Brian from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' [[DelusionsOfEloquence tries to be this]] but [[KnowNothingKnowItAll all he really has going for him is being able to talk]]. Later seasons made it a regular gag to have him try to put on airs of being an intellectual only to be [[PaperTiger immediately deflated]] by whoever's around listening to him ramble.
* In ''WesternAnimation/FlipTheFrog'' every character that is not a FunnyAnimal or AnimateInanimateObject, is this.
* In ''WesternAnimation/GeorgeOfTheJungle'', Ape (a gorilla, to be precise) is probably the smartest member of the cast.
* Shipwreck's talking parrot Polly from ''Franchise/GIJoe'' seems to possess human intelligence, or darn close to it.
* Perry the Platypus/Agent P along with the other animal secret agents from ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''.
* Mr. Peabody from ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle''.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** Spoofed in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E3GuessWhosComingToCriticizeDinner Guess Who's Coming To Criticize Dinner]]" when Homer became a food critic and was writing a review. Due to a fight couldn't turn to Lisa for help, so he started asking the family dog for advice.
--->'''Homer''': "And the bread was really..." Come on, help me out here.\\
'''Santa's Little Helper''': Ruff!\\
'''Homer''': Rough? I don't know... you've been pitching that all night.\\
'''Santa's Little Helper''': Chewy?\\
'''Homer''': Chewy! That's inspired!
** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E15DeepSpaceHomer Deep Space Homer]]"
--->'''Scientist''': People, we're in danger of losing our funding. America isn't interested in space exploration any more.\\
'''Assistant''': Maybe we should finally tell them the big secret: that [[ApesInSpace all the chimps we sent into space]] came back super-intelligent.\\
'''Chimp''': No, I don't think we'll be telling them ''that''.
* In the episode "Sleepy Time", Gary the Snail from ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' is revealed to be quite intelligent through his dream self.
* Monsieur Mallah from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003''. He's a gorilla, he talks and plays chess.
* Corneil from ''WesternAnimation/WatchMyChops''.
* In ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' there is a T-Rex that ''appears'' to be this. Though Clay points out that she doesn't actually seem to be all that smart, and [[LampshadeHanging people simply assume she is because she has a British accent]].
* The animals in ''WesternAnimation/MikeLuAndOg'', in contrast to the human inhabitants of the island.
* {{Gadget|eerGenius}} [[WrenchWench Hackwrench]] of ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' is one of the FunnyAnimal variety. She's a mouse with a demonstrably higher IQ than...well, pretty much ''everyone'' on the show, human and animal alike. However unlike most examples she never lords this over anyone (even unintentionally) and she's good-natured and kind to a (literal) fault. [[BewareTheNiceOnes Usually]].
* Brain from ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'' displays a great deal more situational awareness and common sense than the titular character, whom he must constantly protect from harm.
* In ''WesternAnimation/DanVs'' "The Dinosaur", the T-Rex endears herself to Dan by demonstrating an appreciation for television, a love of fast food, and general misanthropy. She's also intelligent enough to be [[spoiler:enraged when Dan finally gets her back for wrecking his car by sending her the repair bill.]]
* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E9SliceOfLife Slice of Life]]" reveals that [[GenkiGirl Pinkie Pie's]] pet alligator, Gummy, is one of these, as he gives a lengthy ([[StrawNihilist and depressing]]) internal monologue contemplating the nature of his existence.
* ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'' has Iago, a very witty and smart talking parrot. Abu the monkey is also smart, but can't talk.
* Tracy from ''WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters''. Downplayed in the live-action series, though: Tracy is a genius, but only when compared to Spenser and Kong. It's more pronounced in the animated series, wherein Tracy is seen building HomemadeInventions and maintaining/repairing the Ghostbusters' gear.
* Rufus, Ron’s pet naked mole rat, in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' has helped Kim and Ron escape from traps that they got caught in, built a few gagdets, and occasionally speaks.
* The animal companions Cringer and Spirit from ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse'' and ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower'' are both of at least human level intelligence, at least enough in Cringer's case that he's rendered immune to Beast Man's telepathic control. This makes them far more useful in the alternate identities of Battle Cat and Swiftwind.
* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': Exposure to the magic of the Sword of Protection ramped up this incarnation of Swiftwind's intelligence, allowing him to talk and even understand (in his own way) such concepts as freedom. He's still a bit simpleminded, but that has helped Adora with her own problems since he's unencumbered by preconceived ideas.
* Brain of ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'', a genetically-altered EvilGenius lab mouse who's constantly developing schemes to take over the world. They [[StatusQuoIsGod always fail]] due to his own oversight, arrogance, bad luck, etc., but he's nonetheless highly knowledgeable, and particularly adept at inventing mechanical devices.
* The ''WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons'' short "A Dog and His Boy" is about a boy named Truman Clock whose pet dog is highly intelligent and capable of speech.
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