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* In ''WebVideo/Dimension20'', during the ''A Starstruck Odyssey'' campaign the crew adopts Aurora Nebbins, a 20-foot-long blue amphibious predator covered in spikes with [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily too many teeth for them all to fit in her mouth]], which everyone refers to as a dog.
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* In the past, hedgehogs were known as "urchins". Therefore, sea urchin meant "sea hedgehog", even though the only similarity between them is their spines. The term has only become more confusing over time, as the word "urchin" has fallen out of use for the mammal[[note]]it may ne slightly better-known as a literary word for a Dickensian orphan - which are ''also'' probably named after the hedgehog, during a period in which they were regarded as mischievous fairies or goblins[[/note]], leading some to wonder why we call them sea urchins when there are no land urchins to compare them to.

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* In the past, hedgehogs were known as "urchins". Therefore, sea urchin meant "sea hedgehog", even though the only similarity between them is their spines. The term has only become more confusing over time, as the word "urchin" has fallen out of use for the mammal[[note]]it may ne be slightly better-known as a literary word for a Dickensian orphan - which are ''also'' probably named after the hedgehog, during a period in which they were regarded as mischievous fairies or goblins[[/note]], leading some to wonder why we call them sea urchins when there are no land urchins to compare them to.
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* In Spanish, this combined with CallARabbitASmeerp in spectacular fashion for the names of the turkey and the peacock. The term ''pavo'' in Old Spanish originally referred to peacocks, directly inherited from the Latin ''pavo'' for that bird. After the Spanish arrived in the New World, however, they started calling the indigenous turkeys by the name ''pavo'', to the point where ''pavo'' usually meant "turkey," not "peacock." As a result, Spanish-speakers started using the term ''pavo real'' (''real'' meaning "royal") for peacocks, probably for its "royal" blue color and rarity.

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* In Spanish, this combined with CallARabbitASmeerp in spectacular fashion for the names of the turkey and the peacock. The term ''pavo'' in Old Spanish originally referred to peacocks, directly inherited from the Latin ''pavo'' for that bird. After the Spanish arrived in the New World, however, they started calling the indigenous turkeys by the name ''pavo'', to the point where ''pavo'' usually meant "turkey," not "peacock." As a result, Spanish-speakers started using the term ''pavo real'' (''real'' meaning "royal") for peacocks, probably for its "royal" blue color and rarity. To add to the confusion, the bird is also often called by an indigenous name in much of Spanish-speaking Latin America, especially when distinguishing between the living bird and its meat; for instance, in most of Mexico, the live bird is called a ''guajolote'' (from a Nahuatl word for the animal) while the meat is called ''pavo''. (A bit like how in English "pig" and "cow" are from Anglo-Saxon Old English while "pork" and "beef" are from Norman Old French.)
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* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'':

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* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'':''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1'':
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** The ghost dog in ''VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon'' is also similarly shaped to Poochy, including the lack of ears. It seems that dogs in the Mushroom Kingdom are ear-less animals.

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** The ghost dog Polterpup in ''VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon'' is also similarly shaped to Poochy, including the lack of ears. It seems that dogs in the Mushroom Kingdom are ear-less animals.
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* ''Film/{{Godmothered}}'': Agnes has a magic spell that makes her face appear on a grandfather clock. She calls it [=FaceTime=]. {{Downplayed}}, since the real [=FaceTime=] serves a similar function.
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* ''VideoGame/Pikmin2001'': Captain Olimar crash lands on a strange world and comes up with names -- common ''and'' scientific -- for many of the plants and animals. A whole family of creatures get christened "[[http://www.pikminwiki.com/Red_Bulborb Bulborbs]]" because Olimar thinks they look like his ''pet dog'', Bulbie. To clarify, it's not so much that ''these'' smeerps are being called rabbits: it's that the ones on his own planet are. We see space dogs in person in ''VideoGame/Pikmin4'', and they are indeed insect-sized WaddlingHead creatures with 2 limbs and antennae-like tails, although they exhibit many canine behaviors.

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* ''VideoGame/Pikmin2001'': Captain Olimar crash lands on a strange world and comes up with names -- common ''and'' scientific -- for many of the plants and animals. A whole family of creatures get christened "[[http://www.pikminwiki.com/Red_Bulborb com/Bulborb Bulborbs]]" because Olimar thinks they look like his ''pet dog'', Bulbie. To clarify, it's not so much that ''these'' smeerps are being called rabbits: it's that the ones on his own planet are. We see space dogs in person in ''VideoGame/Pikmin4'', and they are indeed insect-sized WaddlingHead creatures with 2 limbs and antennae-like tails, although they exhibit many canine behaviors.
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* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' as a whole is an example when you look at it closely. They might be roughly equine-shaped, but giving the moniker of "ponies" to creatures that are sapient, multicolored, with magical tattoos gained at puberty... it's a stretch once everything is taken into consideration. This is perhaps more pronounced with G3.5 and G4 ponies, who as many horse lovers can tell you, only ''barely'' resembles anything equine. FIM "ponies" in particular, are pretty alien (from Earth perspective) and don't really resemble anything here. They have some catlike head/facial features and body language, but they don't otherwise resemble cats either, so they can only be called their own unique alien species. Amusingly (at least for FIM), this makes the MLP name an ArtifactTitle. They don't belong to anyone, they aren't little, and they aren't ponies (by the Earth definition). They don't even [[TranslationConvention speak English]], but their own language called Ponish.

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* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' as a whole is an example when you look at it closely. They might be roughly equine-shaped, but giving the moniker of "ponies" to creatures that are sapient, multicolored, with magical tattoos gained at puberty... it's a stretch once everything is taken into consideration. This is perhaps more pronounced with G3.5 and G4 later ponies, who as many horse lovers can tell you, only ''barely'' resembles anything equine. FIM "ponies" equine, as any horse lover can tell you. ''FIM'' and G5 "ponies", in particular, are pretty alien (from an Earth perspective) and don't really resemble anything here. They have some catlike head/facial features and body language, but they don't otherwise resemble cats either, so they can only be called their own unique alien species. Amusingly (at least for FIM), these series), this makes the MLP ''My Little Pony'' name an ArtifactTitle. They don't belong to anyone, they aren't little, and they aren't ponies (by the Earth definition). They don't even [[TranslationConvention speak English]], but their own language called Ponish.
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* The narrator for the Creator/IainBanks novella ''The State of the Art'' speaks in Marain, but for our benefit her drone provides the English translation published. She quotes one character as saying "...I have an aircraft, a launch, the choice of mount from a large stable of ''aphores*'', even the use of what would be called a spaceship...". The translator adds a footnote saying [[subscript:*I thought the phonetic equivalent was better than something strained like "horsoid" -- The Drone]]

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* The narrator for the Creator/IainBanks novella ''The State of the Art'' speaks in Marain, but for our benefit her drone provides the English translation published. She quotes one character as saying "...I have an aircraft, a launch, the choice of mount from a large stable of ''aphores*'', ''aphores'', even the use of what would be called a spaceship...". The translator adds a footnote saying [[subscript:*I "I thought the phonetic equivalent was better than something strained like "horsoid" -- The Drone]]"horsoid."
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* Other than being simply labeled "Bugs" as a {{Fantastic Slur}} towards the chitinous alien invaders and their various castes in ''Film/StarshipTroopers'', their official label is "Arachnid". This is confusing as it is never shown if they have any sort of relation to Earth's arthropods despite the superficial resemblance. And even then, they look more like ''beetles'' than spiders, especially the Warriors and the Tankers.

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* ''Film/StarshipTroopers'': Other than being simply labeled "Bugs" as a {{Fantastic Slur}} FantasticSlur towards the chitinous alien invaders and their various castes in ''Film/StarshipTroopers'', castes, their official label is "Arachnid". This is confusing as it is never shown if they have any sort of relation to Earth's arthropods despite the superficial resemblance. And even then, they look more like ''beetles'' than spiders, especially the Warriors and the Tankers.
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** The Tiger isn't a tiger. It's a wolf. And even then, it's not even a normal wolf -- it has blue fur, a fluffy mane, and horns. Cue much confusion for the players. For the record, the name is a translation error. The original name ''sounded'' a great deal like "tiger" and so it stuck. If translated right, the name (Taiga) would even reference its [[AnIcePerson ice abilities]].
** Speaking of Japanese names, Hare the rabbit monster is called Ham in Japanese (like a hamster, even though it clearly is not).

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** The Tiger isn't a tiger. It's tiger, it's a wolf. And wolf, and even then, it's not even a normal wolf -- it has blue fur, a fluffy mane, and horns. Cue much confusion for the players. For the record, the name is a translation error. The Its original name ''sounded'' is Ryger, which ''sounds'' a great deal like "tiger" and so it stuck. If translated right, the name (Taiga) would even reference its [[AnIcePerson ice abilities]].
stuck.
** Speaking of Japanese names, Hare the rabbit monster is called Ham in Japanese (like Japanese, like a hamster, even though it clearly is not).not. Supposedly, its original design was much closer to a hamster.
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* ''VideoGame/{{Wobbledogs}}'': The wobbledogs themselves resemble dogs only aesthetically, and [[BodyHorror even that is somewhat variable]]. They hatch from what appear to be bird-like eggs, pupate multiple times in their lives, leave behind a "core" when they die that can extend the lifespans of other Wobbledogs, and develop mutations based on the combination of gut flora and bacteria they pick up from various substances they eat.
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* ''VideoGame/Pikmin2001'': Captain Olimar crash lands on a strange world and comes up with names -- common ''and'' scientific -- for many of the plants and animals. A whole family of creatures get christened "[[http://www.pikminwiki.com/Red_Bulborb Bulborbs]]" because Olimar thinks they look like his ''pet dog'', Bulbie. To clarify, it's not so much that ''these'' smeerps are being called rabbits: it's that the ones on his own planet are.

to:

* ''VideoGame/Pikmin2001'': Captain Olimar crash lands on a strange world and comes up with names -- common ''and'' scientific -- for many of the plants and animals. A whole family of creatures get christened "[[http://www.pikminwiki.com/Red_Bulborb Bulborbs]]" because Olimar thinks they look like his ''pet dog'', Bulbie. To clarify, it's not so much that ''these'' smeerps are being called rabbits: it's that the ones on his own planet are. We see space dogs in person in ''VideoGame/Pikmin4'', and they are indeed insect-sized WaddlingHead creatures with 2 limbs and antennae-like tails, although they exhibit many canine behaviors.

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* ''VideoGame/BattleBlockTheater'': The "sharks" in the game more resemble a cross between a clown and a green penguin (in gameplay when they eat players, they are immediately pooped out in an egg). Strangely, at the end, when [[spoiler:one of the sharks puts on a pair of pants, it turns into a more recognizable shark shape.]]



* "Flint stones" in ''VideoGame/{{Clonk}}'' are spherical, bright red, and explode when they hit a solid surface.
* ''Videogame/{{Cubivore}}'s'' pigs, bears and birds are nothing like the animals we know, especially not the birds.
* Sea Maggots in ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' look like mutant snails. Oddly, the game also has enemies called Maggots which look like real-life maggots, albeit much larger.
* One of the bosses of ''VideoGame/DemonsCrest'' is a giant blue snail named Holothurion. A holothurian is a sea cucumber.



* In ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'', pretty much all animals in the setting function under this. Dogs look like pitbulls with crocodilian heads, whales have tentacles, rats travel in swarms like bugs, and that's not even getting into the bizarre things living over on Pandyssia. WordOfGod noted that the design team wanted the animals to look identifiable but subtly alien, like an animalistic version of UncannyValley.



* ''VideoGame/EccoTheDolphin: Defender of the Future'' has a mild example in a couple of the alternate future "dolphin" species that take more cues from beaked whales than dolphins. The Clan seem to be nonspecific beaked whales, with tusks and generally beaked whale-y body plans, while the Movers are dead ringers for Cuvier's beaked whales. At least they're still cetaceans!
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** The series has numerous examples when it comes to the series' FantasyMetals. Ebony is a real life type of wood. Quicksilver is another name for real life mercury. Corundum is a real life type of crystal. Glass is...well, real life glass. In this universe, all function as metals which can be formed into ingots and used to forge weapons/armor.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', mammoths have two pairs of tusks (it stands out, as the other two almost-but-not-quite-Earth animals have Smeerpy names).
* ''VideoGame/EndlessSky'': In one of the missions, a lizard breeder named Alphonse asks you to deliver an exotic lizard to one of his clients. If you agree, he proceeds to load the three-ton reptile into your ship's cargo hold.
* In ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'' most of the monsters are named after real life animals, so you have chubby green Hares, white and purple Mantises with pink wings, Largeants that look more like spiders with a skull for a face, Sloths that more closely resemble a gorilla, and so on...
* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series has "centaurs", the embodiment of BodyHorror. They have human heads and torsos, after a fashion. They also have six legs (all of which look like human arms), a second canine head (in ''VideoGame/Fallout1'' and ''VideoGame/Fallout2''), three tentacle-like tongues (in ''[[VideoGame/Fallout3 3]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas New Vegas]]''), and no visible horse-like traits.



* ''VideoGame/FreezeME'' has one sidequest where you must round up a farmer's pet "guinea pigs." Said guinea pigs are blue, have bulging eyes, and look like actual pigs [[WaddlingHead without arms or legs.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Gift|2001}}'': The Dogs resemble four-legged spider-like creatures with large heads and blank black faces rather than actual animals. Also the Cosmonauts are penguin- or frog-like creatures with green scarves and antennae on their heads.
* ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'' has winged lizard creatures with long tails that it calls "bats". The use of this trope is even stranger because in the previous game there were called "incubi".



* ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'''s Flukemons and Flukefeys look nothing like parasitic flukes, and are closest to annelid worms, particularly leeches.



* The Wind Fish in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'' is actually a flying whale (which are mammals, not fish). It's eventually lampshaded by the game itself.
--> ''THE WIND FISH IN NAME ONLY, FOR IT IS NEITHER''



* ''VideoGame/LindaCube'': The game is set on the distant planet of Neo Kenya and tasks the player with rescuing various animal species before the planet gets hit by an asteriod. The animals are mostly given names based on Earth animals, but have only a vague resemblance to their Earth counterparts.



* ''VideoGame/Metroid1'': Polyps and Dragons have a superficial resemblance to what those words are meant to describe at best, although at least Dragons do resemble seahorses.



* In ''VideoGame/TheNeverhood'', there is one moment when the protagonist finds a music box. Upon examination, it plays first three bars from "Pop Goes the Weasel". Then the box stops playing... and a weasel appears right behind the protagonist, accompanied with the fourth bar. Said "weasel" is a freakish green crustacean-like mess of pincers; all official information sources refer to it by this name.
* ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'': Alfyn's final boss, the "Ogre Eagle", is a griffon.



* Almost nothing in ''VideoGame/RainWorld'' is the animal it's named after, whether formally or colloquially.
** It's easiest to start with the one ''exception:'' lizards. While they resemble salamanders more than lizards and have unusual capabilities, they are still lizard-shaped.
** The "slugcats" comprising the player characters resemble rodents, and most frequently get compared to them. WordOfGod says they are neither furry nor slimy; they are naked.
** "Vultures" are floating black boulders with seemingly ornamental, tentacle-like wings, and no other limbs. They move mainly by gaseous propulsion, and while their faces are relatively bird-like, they wear individualized masks, apparently made of carbon fiber. "King vultures" additionally have a pair of retractable, laser-sighted harpoons they launch to spear prey.
** "Miros birds", named after the birds painted by Joan Miró (Fig [[https://www.joan-miro.net/images/paintings/le-coq.jpg 1]], [[https://www.wikiart.org/en/joan-miro/not_detected_227981 2]]), look like completely wingless ratites (e.g. emus, maybe kiwis), but all black, without feathers, constantly snapping scissor-like metallic beaks, and glowing yellow eyes, which flash rainbow when the "birds" are blinded.
** "Centipedes" are symmetric, having a head at each end. They kill prey by attaching both heads to it, and running a strong electric current through it. They can only see fully out of one head at a time, and they can only see motion.
** "Spiders" never spin webs or have venomous fangs; they are solitary hunters, who capture prey by pouncing. Their backs have a number of tube-like growths coming off of them. "Spitter spiders" additionally spit leech-like sacs filled slow-acting paralytic venom, which drain into you if they hit you.
** "Leeches" do not suck your blood; they simply attach to you in great numbers. Their weight pulls you to the bottom of water, and you drown. [[spoiler:This was retconned somewhat by jungle leeches in ''Downpour''; those do in fact suck away your food pips]].
** "Kelp" is a single amphibious, omnivorous tentacle coated with what seem like dry, rustling vines. It captures prey by grabbing them with its very tip, and then drawing them into its den. They hunt entirely by sound.
** Pole "plants" (also known as pole mimics) behave very similarly, with the difference being how they initially capture prey: they imitate poles, and any prey that tries to touch them will become stuck to them, and will be drawn into their dens to get eaten.
** "Daddy long legs" are based in design on [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/HeLa-IV.jpg epithelial cancer cells]], being composed of fleshy, blob-like growths and extruding long, stringy tentacles to capture prey, which is drawn into the central mass to be slurped up.
** Not even "fruits" are named honestly; they are apparently the pupae of an unknown bug. (They are also indestructible and invulnerable except by eating.)
** ''Downpour'' gives us [[spoiler:"gooieducks", which are odd, crunchy fruits, named after a kind of real life clam]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Rakuen}}'', the "cats" in Morizora's Foreset are purple, vaguely humanoid creatures. This is perfectly normal to the residents of the forest, but the Boy, who is from the real world where cats are plain old cats, becomes bewildered upon learning this.
* Murfy from the ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'' series. [[WordOfGod Officially speaking,]] he's a greenbottle fly. However, his design goes to such CartoonCreature extremes (he only has four limbs instead of six, for example, seems to have skin instead of an exoskeleton, and to say nothing of his huge and perpetually grinning mouth) that he's more often taken for some kind of flying frog than a fly.



* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' has the protective warriors of the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado who don Western-looking garb and weapons. Despite this, they're called "Samurai". It makes a slight amount of sense when you consider that [[spoiler:Mikado was built on top of Tokyo]].



* ''Videogame/SunlessSkies:''
** "Locomotives" only sort-of look like locomotives, don't move on rails, don't have wheels, and cross outer space rather than land, but since locomotives is what they initially came from, and SteamPunk is in full swing, then locomotives is what they'll be.
** Due to a lack of cardinal directions in space, London got fairly lost when it came to coordinates. Due to the influence North (as in the direction) had on their development, they decided to start fixing things by picking a star that seemed fixed in the sky, calling it North and going from there.
** Worlebury-Juxta-Mare has to heavily depend on this to sell itself, and it seems to work. To a Londoner eager to visit the beach, "sand" means "jumble of ground rock and glass and wormy tendrils", a heavily corrosive roiling mist can well qualify as "sea", and the definition of "fish" can be happily stretched to include [[StarfishAliens things that you should never even try calling fish]]. And the less you ask about [[BodyHorror the donkeys for the donkey rides]], the better. Londoners really do miss UsefulNotes/TheGreatBritishSeaside, and they ''will'' keep going to the beach even if they have to call ''[[EldritchLocation that]]'' a beach.







* ''VideoGame/ZenoClash'' contains "wrathbirds" and "squirrels". The squirrels are very similar to real squirrels, but the wrathbirds that look nothing like a bird, and share the elongated ears and large rear paws of a rabbit.






















* In ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'' most of the monsters are named after real life animals, so you have chubby green Hares, white and purple Mantises with pink wings, Largeants that look more like spiders with a skull for a face, Sloths that more closely resemble a gorilla, and so on...
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** The series has numerous examples when it comes to the series' FantasyMetals. Ebony is a real life type of wood. Quicksilver is another name for real life mercury. Corundum is a real life type of crystal. Glass is...well, real life glass. In this universe, all function as metals which can be formed into ingots and used to forge weapons/armor.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', mammoths have two pairs of tusks (it stands out, as the other two almost-but-not-quite-Earth animals have Smeerpy names).
* Murfy from the ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'' series. [[WordOfGod Officially speaking,]] he's a greenbottle fly. However, his design goes to such CartoonCreature extremes (he only has four limbs instead of six, for example, seems to have skin instead of an exoskeleton, and to say nothing of his huge and perpetually grinning mouth) that he's more often taken for some kind of flying frog than a fly.
* "Flint stones" in ''VideoGame/{{Clonk}}'' are spherical, bright red, and explode when they hit a solid surface.
* The Wind Fish in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'' is actually a flying whale (which are mammals, not fish). It's eventually lampshaded by the game itself.
--> ''THE WIND FISH IN NAME ONLY, FOR IT IS NEITHER''
* ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'' has winged lizard creatures with long tails that it calls "bats". The use of this trope is even stranger because in the previous game there were called "incubi".
* ''Videogame/{{Cubivore}}'s'' pigs, bears and birds are nothing like the animals we know, especially not the birds.
* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' has the protective warriors of the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado who don Western-looking garb and weapons. Despite this, they're called "Samurai". It makes a slight amount of sense when you consider that [[spoiler:Mikado was built on top of Tokyo]].
* ''VideoGame/FreezeME'' has one sidequest where you must round up a farmer's pet "guinea pigs." Said guinea pigs are blue, have bulging eyes, and look like actual pigs [[WaddlingHead without arms or legs.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'', pretty much all animals in the setting function under this. Dogs look like pitbulls with crocodilian heads, whales have tentacles, rats travel in swarms like bugs, and that's not even getting into the bizarre things living over on Pandyssia. WordOfGod noted that the design team wanted the animals to look identifiable but subtly alien, like an animalistic version of UncannyValley.
* In ''VideoGame/TheNeverhood'', there is one moment when the protagonist finds a music box. Upon examination, it plays first three bars from "Pop Goes the Weasel". Then the box stops playing... and a weasel appears right behind the protagonist, accompanied with the fourth bar. Said "weasel" is a freakish green crustacean-like mess of pincers; all official information sources refer to it by this name.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series has "centaurs", the embodiment of BodyHorror. They have human heads and torsos, after a fashion. They also have six legs (all of which look like human arms), a second canine head (in ''VideoGame/Fallout1'' and ''VideoGame/Fallout2''), three tentacle-like tongues (in ''[[VideoGame/Fallout3 3]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas New Vegas]]''), and no visible horse-like traits.
* ''Videogame/SunlessSkies:''
** "Locomotives" only sort-of look like locomotives, don't move on rails, don't have wheels, and cross outer space rather than land, but since locomotives is what they initially came from, and SteamPunk is in full swing, then locomotives is what they'll be.
** Due to a lack of cardinal directions in space, London got fairly lost when it came to coordinates. Due to the influence North (as in the direction) had on their development, they decided to start fixing things by picking a star that seemed fixed in the sky, calling it North and going from there.
** Worlebury-Juxta-Mare has to heavily depend on this to sell itself, and it seems to work. To a Londoner eager to visit the beach, "sand" means "jumble of ground rock and glass and wormy tendrils", a heavily corrosive roiling mist can well qualify as "sea", and the definition of "fish" can be happily stretched to include [[StarfishAliens things that you should never even try calling fish]]. And the less you ask about [[BodyHorror the donkeys for the donkey rides]], the better. Londoners really do miss UsefulNotes/TheGreatBritishSeaside, and they ''will'' keep going to the beach even if they have to call ''[[EldritchLocation that]]'' a beach.
* Sea Maggots in ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' look like mutant snails. Oddly, the game also has enemies called Maggots which look like real-life maggots, albeit much larger.
* ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'''s Flukemons and Flukefeys look nothing like parasitic flukes, and are closest to annelid worms, particularly leeches.
* ''VideoGame/Metroid1'': Polyps and Dragons have a superficial resemblance to what those words are meant to describe at best, although at least Dragons do resemble seahorses.
* ''VideoGame/{{Gift|2001}}'': The Dogs resemble four-legged spider-like creatures with large heads and blank black faces rather than actual animals. Also the Cosmonauts are penguin- or frog-like creatures with green scarves and antennae on their heads.
* ''VideoGame/EccoTheDolphin: Defender of the Future'' has a mild example in a couple of the alternate future "dolphin" species that take more cues from beaked whales than dolphins. The Clan seem to be nonspecific beaked whales, with tusks and generally beaked whale-y body plans, while the Movers are dead ringers for Cuvier's beaked whales. At least they're still cetaceans!
* One of the bosses of ''VideoGame/DemonsCrest'' is a giant blue snail named Holothurion. A holothurian is a sea cucumber.
* ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'': Alfyn's final boss, the "Ogre Eagle", is a griffon.
* ''VideoGame/LindaCube'': The game is set on the distant planet of Neo Kenya and tasks the player with rescuing various animal species before the planet gets hit by an asteriod. The animals are mostly given names based on Earth animals, but have only a vague resemblance to their Earth counterparts.
* ''VideoGame/EndlessSky'': In one of the missions, a lizard breeder named Alphonse asks you to deliver an exotic lizard to one of his clients. If you agree, he proceeds to load the three-ton reptile into your ship's cargo hold.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Rakuen}}'', the "cats" in Morizora's Foreset are purple, vaguely humanoid creatures. This is perfectly normal to the residents of the forest, but the Boy, who is from the real world where cats are plain old cats, becomes bewildered upon learning this.
* ''VideoGame/BattleBlockTheater'': The "sharks" in the game more resemble a cross between a clown and a green penguin (in gameplay when they eat players, they are immediately pooped out in an egg). Strangely, at the end, when [[spoiler:one of the sharks puts on a pair of pants, it turns into a more recognizable shark shape.]]
* Almost nothing in ''VideoGame/RainWorld'' is the animal it's named after, whether formally or colloquially.
** It's easiest to start with the one ''exception:'' lizards. While they resemble salamanders more than lizards and have unusual capabilities, they are still lizard-shaped.
** The "slugcats" comprising the player characters resemble rodents, and most frequently get compared to them. WordOfGod says they are neither furry nor slimy; they are naked.
** "Vultures" are floating black boulders with seemingly ornamental, tentacle-like wings, and no other limbs. They move mainly by gaseous propulsion, and while their faces are relatively bird-like, they wear individualized masks, apparently made of carbon fiber. "King vultures" additionally have a pair of retractable, laser-sighted harpoons they launch to spear prey.
** "Miros birds", named after the birds painted by Joan Miró (Fig [[https://www.joan-miro.net/images/paintings/le-coq.jpg 1]], [[https://www.wikiart.org/en/joan-miro/not_detected_227981 2]]), look like completely wingless ratites (e.g. emus, maybe kiwis), but all black, without feathers, constantly snapping scissor-like metallic beaks, and glowing yellow eyes, which flash rainbow when the "birds" are blinded.
** "Centipedes" are symmetric, having a head at each end. They kill prey by attaching both heads to it, and running a strong electric current through it. They can only see fully out of one head at a time, and they can only see motion.
** "Spiders" never spin webs or have venomous fangs; they are solitary hunters, who capture prey by pouncing. Their backs have a number of tube-like growths coming off of them. "Spitter spiders" additionally spit leech-like sacs filled slow-acting paralytic venom, which drain into you if they hit you.
** "Leeches" do not suck your blood; they simply attach to you in great numbers. Their weight pulls you to the bottom of water, and you drown. [[spoiler:This was retconned somewhat by jungle leeches in ''Downpour''; those do in fact suck away your food pips]].
** "Kelp" is a single amphibious, omnivorous tentacle coated with what seem like dry, rustling vines. It captures prey by grabbing them with its very tip, and then drawing them into its den. They hunt entirely by sound.
** Pole "plants" (also known as pole mimics) behave very similarly, with the difference being how they initially capture prey: they imitate poles, and any prey that tries to touch them will become stuck to them, and will be drawn into their dens to get eaten.
** "Daddy long legs" are based in design on [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/HeLa-IV.jpg epithelial cancer cells]], being composed of fleshy, blob-like growths and extruding long, stringy tentacles to capture prey, which is drawn into the central mass to be slurped up.
** Not even "fruits" are named honestly; they are apparently the pupae of an unknown bug. (They are also indestructible and invulnerable except by eating.)
** ''Downpour'' gives us [[spoiler:"gooieducks", which are odd, crunchy fruits, named after a kind of real life clam]].

to:

\n\n\n\n* ''VideoGame/ZenoClash'' contains "wrathbirds" and "squirrels". "squirrels." The squirrels are very similar to real squirrels, but the wrathbirds that look nothing like a bird, and share the elongated ears and large rear paws of a rabbit.






















* In ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'' most of the monsters are named after real life animals, so you have chubby green Hares, white and purple Mantises with pink wings, Largeants that look more like spiders with a skull for a face, Sloths that more closely resemble a gorilla, and so on...
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** The series has numerous examples when it comes to the series' FantasyMetals. Ebony is a real life type of wood. Quicksilver is another name for real life mercury. Corundum is a real life type of crystal. Glass is...well, real life glass. In this universe, all function as metals which can be formed into ingots and used to forge weapons/armor.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', mammoths have two pairs of tusks (it stands out, as the other two almost-but-not-quite-Earth animals have Smeerpy names).
* Murfy from the ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'' series. [[WordOfGod Officially speaking,]] he's a greenbottle fly. However, his design goes to such CartoonCreature extremes (he only has four limbs instead of six, for example, seems to have skin instead of an exoskeleton, and to say nothing of his huge and perpetually grinning mouth) that he's more often taken for some kind of flying frog than a fly.
* "Flint stones" in ''VideoGame/{{Clonk}}'' are spherical, bright red, and explode when they hit a solid surface.
* The Wind Fish in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'' is actually a flying whale (which are mammals, not fish). It's eventually lampshaded by the game itself.
--> ''THE WIND FISH IN NAME ONLY, FOR IT IS NEITHER''
* ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'' has winged lizard creatures with long tails that it calls "bats". The use of this trope is even stranger because in the previous game there were called "incubi".
* ''Videogame/{{Cubivore}}'s'' pigs, bears and birds are nothing like the animals we know, especially not the birds.
* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' has the protective warriors of the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado who don Western-looking garb and weapons. Despite this, they're called "Samurai". It makes a slight amount of sense when you consider that [[spoiler:Mikado was built on top of Tokyo]].
* ''VideoGame/FreezeME'' has one sidequest where you must round up a farmer's pet "guinea pigs." Said guinea pigs are blue, have bulging eyes, and look like actual pigs [[WaddlingHead without arms or legs.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'', pretty much all animals in the setting function under this. Dogs look like pitbulls with crocodilian heads, whales have tentacles, rats travel in swarms like bugs, and that's not even getting into the bizarre things living over on Pandyssia. WordOfGod noted that the design team wanted the animals to look identifiable but subtly alien, like an animalistic version of UncannyValley.
* In ''VideoGame/TheNeverhood'', there is one moment when the protagonist finds a music box. Upon examination, it plays first three bars from "Pop Goes the Weasel". Then the box stops playing... and a weasel appears right behind the protagonist, accompanied with the fourth bar. Said "weasel" is a freakish green crustacean-like mess of pincers; all official information sources refer to it by this name.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series has "centaurs", the embodiment of BodyHorror. They have human heads and torsos, after a fashion. They also have six legs (all of which look like human arms), a second canine head (in ''VideoGame/Fallout1'' and ''VideoGame/Fallout2''), three tentacle-like tongues (in ''[[VideoGame/Fallout3 3]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas New Vegas]]''), and no visible horse-like traits.
* ''Videogame/SunlessSkies:''
** "Locomotives" only sort-of look like locomotives, don't move on rails, don't have wheels, and cross outer space rather than land, but since locomotives is what they initially came from, and SteamPunk is in full swing, then locomotives is what they'll be.
** Due to a lack of cardinal directions in space, London got fairly lost when it came to coordinates. Due to the influence North (as in the direction) had on their development, they decided to start fixing things by picking a star that seemed fixed in the sky, calling it North and going from there.
** Worlebury-Juxta-Mare has to heavily depend on this to sell itself, and it seems to work. To a Londoner eager to visit the beach, "sand" means "jumble of ground rock and glass and wormy tendrils", a heavily corrosive roiling mist can well qualify as "sea", and the definition of "fish" can be happily stretched to include [[StarfishAliens things that you should never even try calling fish]]. And the less you ask about [[BodyHorror the donkeys for the donkey rides]], the better. Londoners really do miss UsefulNotes/TheGreatBritishSeaside, and they ''will'' keep going to the beach even if they have to call ''[[EldritchLocation that]]'' a beach.
* Sea Maggots in ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' look like mutant snails. Oddly, the game also has enemies called Maggots which look like real-life maggots, albeit much larger.
* ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'''s Flukemons and Flukefeys look nothing like parasitic flukes, and are closest to annelid worms, particularly leeches.
* ''VideoGame/Metroid1'': Polyps and Dragons have a superficial resemblance to what those words are meant to describe at best, although at least Dragons do resemble seahorses.
* ''VideoGame/{{Gift|2001}}'': The Dogs resemble four-legged spider-like creatures with large heads and blank black faces rather than actual animals. Also the Cosmonauts are penguin- or frog-like creatures with green scarves and antennae on their heads.
* ''VideoGame/EccoTheDolphin: Defender of the Future'' has a mild example in a couple of the alternate future "dolphin" species that take more cues from beaked whales than dolphins. The Clan seem to be nonspecific beaked whales, with tusks and generally beaked whale-y body plans, while the Movers are dead ringers for Cuvier's beaked whales. At least they're still cetaceans!
* One of the bosses of ''VideoGame/DemonsCrest'' is a giant blue snail named Holothurion. A holothurian is a sea cucumber.
* ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'': Alfyn's final boss, the "Ogre Eagle", is a griffon.
* ''VideoGame/LindaCube'': The game is set on the distant planet of Neo Kenya and tasks the player with rescuing various animal species before the planet gets hit by an asteriod. The animals are mostly given names based on Earth animals, but have only a vague resemblance to their Earth counterparts.
* ''VideoGame/EndlessSky'': In one of the missions, a lizard breeder named Alphonse asks you to deliver an exotic lizard to one of his clients. If you agree, he proceeds to load the three-ton reptile into your ship's cargo hold.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Rakuen}}'', the "cats" in Morizora's Foreset are purple, vaguely humanoid creatures. This is perfectly normal to the residents of the forest, but the Boy, who is from the real world where cats are plain old cats, becomes bewildered upon learning this.
* ''VideoGame/BattleBlockTheater'': The "sharks" in the game more resemble a cross between a clown and a green penguin (in gameplay when they eat players, they are immediately pooped out in an egg). Strangely, at the end, when [[spoiler:one of the sharks puts on a pair of pants, it turns into a more recognizable shark shape.]]
* Almost nothing in ''VideoGame/RainWorld'' is the animal it's named after, whether formally or colloquially.
** It's easiest to start with the one ''exception:'' lizards. While they resemble salamanders more than lizards and have unusual capabilities, they are still lizard-shaped.
** The "slugcats" comprising the player characters resemble rodents, and most frequently get compared to them. WordOfGod says they are neither furry nor slimy; they are naked.
** "Vultures" are floating black boulders with seemingly ornamental, tentacle-like wings, and no other limbs. They move mainly by gaseous propulsion, and while their faces are relatively bird-like, they wear individualized masks, apparently made of carbon fiber. "King vultures" additionally have a pair of retractable, laser-sighted harpoons they launch to spear prey.
** "Miros birds", named after the birds painted by Joan Miró (Fig [[https://www.joan-miro.net/images/paintings/le-coq.jpg 1]], [[https://www.wikiart.org/en/joan-miro/not_detected_227981 2]]), look like completely wingless ratites (e.g. emus, maybe kiwis), but all black, without feathers, constantly snapping scissor-like metallic beaks, and glowing yellow eyes, which flash rainbow when the "birds" are blinded.
** "Centipedes" are symmetric, having a head at each end. They kill prey by attaching both heads to it, and running a strong electric current through it. They can only see fully out of one head at a time, and they can only see motion.
** "Spiders" never spin webs or have venomous fangs; they are solitary hunters, who capture prey by pouncing. Their backs have a number of tube-like growths coming off of them. "Spitter spiders" additionally spit leech-like sacs filled slow-acting paralytic venom, which drain into you if they hit you.
** "Leeches" do not suck your blood; they simply attach to you in great numbers. Their weight pulls you to the bottom of water, and you drown. [[spoiler:This was retconned somewhat by jungle leeches in ''Downpour''; those do in fact suck away your food pips]].
** "Kelp" is a single amphibious, omnivorous tentacle coated with what seem like dry, rustling vines. It captures prey by grabbing them with its very tip, and then drawing them into its den. They hunt entirely by sound.
** Pole "plants" (also known as pole mimics) behave very similarly, with the difference being how they initially capture prey: they imitate poles, and any prey that tries to touch them will become stuck to them, and will be drawn into their dens to get eaten.
** "Daddy long legs" are based in design on [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/HeLa-IV.jpg epithelial cancer cells]], being composed of fleshy, blob-like growths and extruding long, stringy tentacles to capture prey, which is drawn into the central mass to be slurped up.
** Not even "fruits" are named honestly; they are apparently the pupae of an unknown bug. (They are also indestructible and invulnerable except by eating.)
** ''Downpour'' gives us [[spoiler:"gooieducks", which are odd, crunchy fruits, named after a kind of real life clam]].
rabbit.

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* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' plays with this trope. The Survivors avert NotUsingTheZWord hard, and call the zombies zombies. They give names like Witch, Hunter, and Smoker to various unique horrors ("special infected") which inhabit their world. Each special zombie has common features and distinct behaviors. They're also high priority targets and major threats. Survivors and players both use the common nicknames of the zombies to quickly identify them. Where this trope comes in is with the very prosaic names. A zombie which spits a glob of flesh-melting acid a hundred feet, allowing it to fill a room with deadly slime? Just call it "Spitter."
* Variably downplayed in ''VideoGame/{{Kenshi}}''. Several animal types have names similar to Earth animals, but despite having some points of contact, they are often very dis-similar. At one end of the spectrum are Boneyard Wolves, Bonedogs, Bulls and Goats, which are all similar to their earth equivalents but grow to be very large and seem to have external bone plating. Somewhere in the middle are Land Bats, which do indeed look a lot like large, wingless bats, and Gorillos, which are somewhat gorilla-like but with disproportinately enormous faces and giant mouths with far too many teeth. At the other end of the spectrum are Blood Spiders and Skin Spiders, which although they move in a vaguely spider-like way, have only four limbs and very human-like faces, and Swamp Turtles, which are very large, elephantine creatures whose chief resemblance to a turtle is the shells on their backs.
* ''VideoGame/MonsterRancher'' has a couple.
** The Tiger isn't a tiger. It's a wolf. And even then, it's not even a normal wolf -- it has blue fur, a fluffy mane, and horns. Cue much confusion for the players. For the record, the name is a translation error. The original name ''sounded'' a great deal like "tiger" and so it stuck. If translated right, the name (Taiga) would even reference its [[AnIcePerson ice abilities]].
** Speaking of Japanese names, Hare the rabbit monster is called Ham in Japanese (like a hamster, even though it clearly is not).
** Baku also doesn't have a strong resemblance to the tapir it's named after (or even the {{Youkai}} the tapir is named after in Japanese), looking more like a giant plush dog.
* ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'' gives us Zerg "Roaches", 10 foot long acid spitting organic tank beasts, and "Vipers", gigantic dragonfly-esque flying monsters whose tongues can snare ''enemy tanks'' as easily as frogs catch flies.
* The Frog and Rat creatures from obscure action-adventure game ''VideoGame/SphinxAndTheCursedMummy'' resemble neither frogs nor rats. The Frog has scales and a tail, can stand on its hind legs, and has a bright red crest (though it still hops like a frog), and the Rat is covered in razor-sharp spines. It also has a weird, dachshund-like body.



* The rats in ''VideoGame/PlaneShift'' have one eye.
* ''{{VideoGame/Warcraft}}''
** Giraffes in the games have antelope-style horns, orcas have small bony horns too, and raptors have a small horn on their nose (the kind that players can use as mounts has a large horn).
** Warcraft raptors also have feathers, which is accurate, [[ScienceMarchesOn though it wasn't known to be so when the models were designed in the early 2000s.]] Although they have now stated in several places that raptors actually pick feathers from other animals and use them for decoration, which once again brings them squarely into the realm of fiction.
** Basilisks are six-legged lizards that live on land. ''Crocolisks'' are six-legged lizards that live in and around water.
** Every last large cat species in the game, from lions to tigers to panthers, also have large saber teeth (with the exception of the tigers on Pandaria and the Salhet's lions).
** Heck, very nearly every animal of ''every'' type in the series has horns, tusks, saber teeth, or some combination of the above. In particular, [[MorphicResonance no matter their form]], [[OurMinotaursAreDifferent tauren]] druids are [[{{Pun}} always horny.]]
** The so-called "[[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060601214908/wowwiki/images/a/ab/Spore_Bat_Art.jpg Spore Bats]]" bear practically no resemblance to bats. Or to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9Vo_1g6bW4 bats]] in ''{{VideoGame/Spore}}''.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect''
** In one sidequest of ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', you have to find a data module stolen by creatures that act like monkeys, sound kinda like monkeys, and are called monkeys... but sure as hell don't look like monkeys. And then there are the [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Space_Cow Space Cows]]. One is even [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Shifty_Looking_Cow shifty-looking]]... and will rob you when you're not looking.
** Subverted with the monkeys, however, as ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' dubbed them "pyjaks." They are very common on the planet Tuchanka, homeworld of the Krogan (although Wrex will never actually correct you in the first game when you refer to them as monkeys). That said, they are actually an invasive species; Some traders left a bunch of them at port, and even the [[DeathWorld voracious Tuchanka ecosystem]] somehow hasn't managed to stamp them out.
* ''VideoGame/MonsterSanctuary'' has the koi, a flying fish that's not to be confused with ordinary koi, which can only swim in water.

to:

* The rats in ''VideoGame/PlaneShift'' have one eye.
* ''{{VideoGame/Warcraft}}''
** Giraffes in the games have antelope-style horns, orcas have small bony horns too, and raptors
''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'': Spiderants, massive four-legged insects with tough exoskeletons. While they seem to have a small horn on their nose (the kind that players can use as mounts has a large horn).
** Warcraft raptors also have feathers, which is accurate, [[ScienceMarchesOn though it wasn't known to be so when the models were designed in the early 2000s.]] Although
"society" somewhat like ants, physiologically they have now stated little in several places that raptors actually pick feathers from other animals and use them for decoration, which once again brings them squarely into the realm of fiction.
** Basilisks are six-legged lizards that live on land. ''Crocolisks'' are six-legged lizards that live in and around water.
** Every last large cat species
common with spiders ''or'' ants (and, really, any real-world insect or arachnid you can name).
* Several enemies
in the game, from lions to tigers to panthers, also have large saber teeth (with ''VideoGame/ChaosRings'' series are like this, with the exception [[http://rpgfan.com/pics/Chaos_Rings_Omega/ss-018.jpg dolphins]] being one of the tigers on Pandaria and most bizarre. The games explain it as these monsters, called congloms, are created by from the Salhet's lions).
** Heck, very nearly every animal
DNA of ''every'' type terrestrial animals, but that doesn't really explain why they aren't given new names.
* The "rats"
in the series has horns, tusks, saber teeth, or some combination of the above. In particular, [[MorphicResonance no matter ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''[='s=] 2300 AD bear only vague resemblances to their form]], [[OurMinotaursAreDifferent tauren]] druids are [[{{Pun}} always horny.]]
** The so-called "[[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060601214908/wowwiki/images/a/ab/Spore_Bat_Art.jpg Spore Bats]]" bear practically no resemblance to bats. Or to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9Vo_1g6bW4 bats]] in ''{{VideoGame/Spore}}''.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect''
** In one sidequest of ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', you have to find a data module stolen by
real-life counterparts. Since most creatures that act in the future are mutants, though, this might be {{justified|Trope}}.
* In ''Digimon'', the obviously rabbit Patamon is called a mouse, as well. Then the rodent CartoonCreature is called Opossumon and it behaves
like monkeys, sound kinda like monkeys, and a cat.
* ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'':
** The title character's name plays with this trope. Donkey Kong is an ape, not a donkey. The Japanese creator Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto evidently chose the English name "Donkey" to convey the idea of stubbornness. Then again, "Donkey" appears to be a given name. When you think about it, a gorilla named Donkey isn't too much weirder than a human named Robin or Leo. The ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' series also weirdly combines this trope with CallARabbitASmeerp, as all the primate characters
are called monkeys... but sure as hell don't look like monkeys. And then there are the [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Space_Cow Space Cows]]. One "Kongs" (presumably in reference to Film/KingKong).
** The "Iguanadon" of ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongJungleBeat''
is even [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Shifty_Looking_Cow shifty-looking]]... and will rob you when you're not looking.
** Subverted
a giant gecko with the monkeys, however, as ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' dubbed them "pyjaks." They are very common on the planet Tuchanka, homeworld hair.
* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'':
** Most
of the Krogan (although Wrex will never actually correct you higher-level monsters had fairly unusual names, especially in ''Doom II'' but the first game when you refer novels played this trope to them as monkeys). That said, they are actually an invasive species; Some traders left a the hilt, throwing in "Pinkies" and "Pumpkins", along with other non-animal designations of "Clydes", "Bonies" and "Fire eaters" amongst others.
** Maggots (two-headed crawling demons) and Ticks (exploding {{giant spider}}s) in ''Doom 3''.
* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'': A
bunch of them at port, and even the [[DeathWorld voracious Tuchanka ecosystem]] somehow hasn't managed to stamp them out.
* ''VideoGame/MonsterSanctuary'' has the koi, a flying fish that's not to be confused
goblins are knocking on our door riding beak-dogs? Okay, dogs with ordinary koi, which can only swim in water.beaks ain't so bad -- Urist [=McHammerer=], take 'em -- OH GOD, WHO LET THE VELOCIRAPTORS IN THE DOOR!? As this is simultaneously a mundane-sounding name for an exotic creature '''and''' an unusual name for an earthly creature, this doubles as CallARabbitASmeerp, a rare achievement.
** Additionally, [[{{RidiculouslyCuteCritter}} Fluffy Wamblers]] are often called "sheep" by players, despite being humanoid agricultural pests 1/3 the size of a cat.



* In the ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'', if it's a monster and it's named after a real animal, don't expect it to look much like said animal. The most common example of this are the wolves, who aside from their canine body shape generally look more like reptiles then anything else.
** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', [[IdiotHero Lloyd]] insists that Noishe is a dog, despite the presence of ''real dogs'' that look nothing like him. The rest of the world either lampshades this or just plays along. This is, however, justified: Lloyd reveals in Heimdall that he calls Noishe a dog because he knows that he's not a wolf, so he just assumed he was a dog. We later find out that Noishe is something called a protozoan... but he doesn't look anything like our ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protozoa protozoans]]'' either. Noishe is called protozoan because of its legend. It is the "first animal". If you know Scottish mythology Noishe '''is''' a (type of mythological) dog. His name is pronounced nearly identical to "Cu Sith" (Pronounced Cu Shee), and he matches the physical description of one.
*** They also have a large, furry, bipedal and somewhat troll-like monster that could legitimately have been called a Bigfoot, a Troll, or possibly a Bugbear. It's simply called a Bear. The PaletteSwap of it, encountered later in the game, is an Egg Bear, compounding the nonsense.
** The sequel: ''Dawn of the New World'' actually justifies this by introducing a large canine monster that bears a strong resemblance to Noishe... then it introduces the Griffin as a monster with only two legs and a wolf-like head.
** Repede in ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' looks like a wolf with a blue mane and a sickle-like tail, but he's referred to as just a dog. The prequel movie even shows other dogs who look just like Repede, all referred to as just "dogs".
** Likewise, the "Ligers" in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' are massive green-and-purple canines that shoot lightning and reproduce by laying eggs. They are also hinted to be matriarchal in nature.
** VideoGame/TalesOfArise averts this trope. Most animals, like cows, pigs, horses and chickens, look like their real-life counterparts. The ones that are this trope, like wolves, armadillo and monkeys, are explicitly said to be artificial lifeforms called Zeugles.
* The "rats" in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''[='s=] 2300 AD bear only vague resemblances to their real-life counterparts. Since most creatures in the future are mutants, though, this might be {{justified|Trope}}.

to:

* In the ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'', if it's a monster and it's named after a real animal, don't expect it Common in older [=JRPGs=] due to look much like said animal. The most common example of this are the wolves, who aside from their canine body shape generally look more like reptiles then anything else.
** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', [[IdiotHero Lloyd]] insists that Noishe is a dog, despite the presence of ''real dogs'' that look nothing like him. The rest of the world either lampshades this or just plays along. This is, however, justified: Lloyd reveals in Heimdall that he calls Noishe a dog because he knows that he's not a wolf, so he just assumed he was a dog. We later find out that Noishe is something called a protozoan... but he doesn't look anything like our ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protozoa protozoans]]'' either. Noishe is called protozoan because of its legend. It is the "first animal". If you know Scottish mythology Noishe '''is''' a (type of mythological) dog. His
name is pronounced nearly identical to "Cu Sith" (Pronounced Cu Shee), and he matches the physical description of one.
*** They also have a large, furry, bipedal and somewhat troll-like monster that could legitimately have been called a Bigfoot, a Troll, or possibly a Bugbear. It's simply called a Bear. The PaletteSwap of it, encountered later in the game, is an Egg Bear, compounding the nonsense.
** The sequel: ''Dawn of the New World'' actually justifies this by introducing a large canine monster that bears a strong resemblance to Noishe... then it introduces the Griffin as a monster
space constraints and/or poor translation combined with only two legs [[PaletteSwap the reuse of sprites]]. ''VideoGame/TheFinalFantasyLegend'' features the Wolf and a wolf-like head.
** Repede in ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' looks like a wolf with a blue mane and a sickle-like tail,
Jaguar, but he's referred to as just a dog. The prequel movie even shows other dogs who look just like Repede, all referred to as just "dogs".
** Likewise,
both monsters use the "Ligers" in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' are massive green-and-purple canines that shoot lightning and reproduce by laying eggs. They are also hinted to be matriarchal in nature.
** VideoGame/TalesOfArise averts this trope. Most animals, like cows, pigs, horses and chickens, look like their real-life counterparts. The ones that are this trope, like wolves, armadillo and monkeys, are explicitly said to be artificial lifeforms called Zeugles.
* The "rats" in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''[='s=] 2300 AD bear only vague resemblances to their real-life counterparts. Since most creatures in the future are mutants, though, this might be {{justified|Trope}}.
same graphic of a tiger. Okay, so at least one of those is another type of big cat.



* ''VideoGame/ZenoClash'' contains "wrathbirds" and "squirrels". The squirrels are very similar to real squirrels, but the wrathbirds that look nothing like a bird, and share the elongated ears and large rear paws of a rabbit.



* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'': A bunch of goblins are knocking on our door riding beak-dogs? Okay, dogs with beaks ain't so bad -- Urist [=McHammerer=], take 'em -- OH GOD, WHO LET THE VELOCIRAPTORS IN THE DOOR!? As this is simultaneously a mundane-sounding name for an exotic creature '''and''' an unusual name for an earthly creature, this doubles as CallARabbitASmeerp, a rare achievement.
** Additionally, [[{{RidiculouslyCuteCritter}} Fluffy Wamblers]] are often called "sheep" by players, despite being humanoid agricultural pests 1/3 the size of a cat.

to:

* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'': A bunch ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'': The species the main characters belong to has massively long [[PointyEars pointy ears]] and apparently unlimited hair colors (often even multicolored), and its sages have [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation green, blue, red or yellow]] skin. What do they call themselves? Humans.
* Variably downplayed in ''VideoGame/{{Kenshi}}''. Several animal types have names similar to Earth animals, but despite having some points
of goblins are knocking on our door riding beak-dogs? Okay, dogs with beaks ain't so bad -- Urist [=McHammerer=], take 'em -- OH GOD, WHO LET THE VELOCIRAPTORS IN THE DOOR!? As this is simultaneously a mundane-sounding name for an exotic creature '''and''' an unusual name for an earthly creature, this doubles as CallARabbitASmeerp, a rare achievement.
** Additionally, [[{{RidiculouslyCuteCritter}} Fluffy Wamblers]]
contact, they are often called "sheep" by players, despite being humanoid agricultural pests 1/3 very dis-similar. At one end of the size spectrum are Boneyard Wolves, Bonedogs, Bulls and Goats, which are all similar to their earth equivalents but grow to be very large and seem to have external bone plating. Somewhere in the middle are Land Bats, which do indeed look a lot like large, wingless bats, and Gorillos, which are somewhat gorilla-like but with disproportinately enormous faces and giant mouths with far too many teeth. At the other end of the spectrum are Blood Spiders and Skin Spiders, which although they move in a cat.vaguely spider-like way, have only four limbs and very human-like faces, and Swamp Turtles, which are very large, elephantine creatures whose chief resemblance to a turtle is the shells on their backs.
* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' plays with this trope. The Survivors avert NotUsingTheZWord hard, and call the zombies zombies. They give names like Witch, Hunter, and Smoker to various unique horrors ("special infected") which inhabit their world. Each special zombie has common features and distinct behaviors. They're also high priority targets and major threats. Survivors and players both use the common nicknames of the zombies to quickly identify them. Where this trope comes in is with the very prosaic names. A zombie which spits a glob of flesh-melting acid a hundred feet, allowing it to fill a room with deadly slime? Just call it "Spitter."



* ''{{VideoGame/Rogue}}'':
** The original game is not a definite case, since no pictures or descriptions are provided -- but what sort of emu lives in a dungeon?
** ''[=TileRogue=]'', a graphical version, ''is'' a definite case. An emu resembles a griffin, a rattlesnake is hooded like a cobra, and a kestrel has two heads.
* Common in older [=JRPGs=] due to name space constraints and/or poor translation combined with [[PaletteSwap the reuse of sprites]]. ''VideoGame/TheFinalFantasyLegend'' features the Wolf and Jaguar, but both monsters use the same graphic of a tiger. Okay, so at least one of those is another type of big cat.

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* ''{{VideoGame/Rogue}}'':
The Lemmings in ''{{VideoGame/Lemmings}}'' actually look more like humanoid green-haired creatures than actual lemmings, which are rodents. The only similarity is the fact that both actually tend to walk off cliffs to their deaths in huge groups. Apart from real lemmings, that don't.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect''
** In one sidequest of ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', you have to find a data module stolen by creatures that act like monkeys, sound kinda like monkeys, and are called monkeys... but sure as hell don't look like monkeys. And then there are the [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Space_Cow Space Cows]]. One is even [[http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Shifty_Looking_Cow shifty-looking]]... and will rob you when you're not looking.
** Subverted with the monkeys, however, as ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' dubbed them "pyjaks." They are very common on the planet Tuchanka, homeworld of the Krogan (although Wrex will never actually correct you in the first game when you refer to them as monkeys). That said, they are actually an invasive species; Some traders left a bunch of them at port, and even the [[DeathWorld voracious Tuchanka ecosystem]] somehow hasn't managed to stamp them out.
* ''VideoGame/MonsterRancher'' has a couple.
** The Tiger isn't a tiger. It's a wolf. And even then, it's not even a normal wolf -- it has blue fur, a fluffy mane, and horns. Cue much confusion for the players. For the record, the name is a translation error.
The original game name ''sounded'' a great deal like "tiger" and so it stuck. If translated right, the name (Taiga) would even reference its [[AnIcePerson ice abilities]].
** Speaking of Japanese names, Hare the rabbit monster
is not a definite case, since no pictures or descriptions are provided -- but what sort of emu lives called Ham in Japanese (like a dungeon?
hamster, even though it clearly is not).
** ''[=TileRogue=]'', Baku also doesn't have a graphical version, ''is'' a definite case. An emu resembles a griffin, a rattlesnake strong resemblance to the tapir it's named after (or even the {{Youkai}} the tapir is hooded named after in Japanese), looking more like a cobra, and a kestrel giant plush dog.
* ''VideoGame/MonsterSanctuary''
has two heads.
* Common in older [=JRPGs=] due
the koi, a flying fish that's not to name space constraints and/or poor translation combined be confused with [[PaletteSwap ordinary koi, which can only swim in water.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Mabinogi}}'', The southern region of
the reuse continent of sprites]]. ''VideoGame/TheFinalFantasyLegend'' features Iria (which is a cross between Africa, Australia, and the Wolf American Southwest) tends to scale up their animals and Jaguar, but both monsters use tweak them to look more like other animals (such as fennec foxes that look like large hyenas from behind, and mongooses that are two feet tall at the same graphic shoulder). Compare the original continent of Uladh (loosely based on ancient Britain), which uses smeerps sparingly (with the exception of Dire Whatevers).
* ''VideoGame/Pikmin2001'': Captain Olimar crash lands on
a tiger. Okay, strange world and comes up with names -- common ''and'' scientific -- for many of the plants and animals. A whole family of creatures get christened "[[http://www.pikminwiki.com/Red_Bulborb Bulborbs]]" because Olimar thinks they look like his ''pet dog'', Bulbie. To clarify, it's not so at least much that ''these'' smeerps are being called rabbits: it's that the ones on his own planet are.
* The rats in ''VideoGame/PlaneShift'' have
one of those is another type of big cat.eye.



* In ''Digimon'', the obviously rabbit Patamon is called a mouse, as well. Then the rodent CartoonCreature is called Opossumon and it behaves like a cat.
* The Martian Expedition team In ''VideoGame/WakingMars'' refers to most of the life forms you interact with as plants and seeds. ART the on-board AI constantly argues the point that the Martian life forms are not plants, and gives everything grandiose CanisLatinicus names instead.
* ''VideoGame/TheWindRoad'' has a GiantSpider boss called a "Black Widow", despite looking more like an oversized tarantula. It has thick, furry legs for starters, and it's ''crimson red''.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Mabinogi}}'', The southern region of the continent of Iria (which is a cross between Africa, Australia, and the American Southwest) tends to scale up their animals and tweak them to look more like other animals (such as fennec foxes that look like large hyenas from behind, and mongooses that are two feet tall at the shoulder). Compare the original continent of Uladh (loosely based on ancient Britain), which uses smeerps sparingly (with the exception of Dire Whatevers).
* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'':
** Most of the higher-level monsters had fairly unusual names, especially in ''Doom II'' but the novels played this trope to the hilt, throwing in "Pinkies" and "Pumpkins", along with other non-animal designations of "Clydes", "Bonies" and "Fire eaters" amongst others.
** Maggots (two-headed crawling demons) and Ticks (exploding {{giant spider}}s) in ''Doom 3''.
* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'': Most ''youkai'' in Gensokyo appear as if they were ''youkai'' in stats only. Check out the CuteMonsterGirl entry.
** There's also the use of "youkai" as a catch-all term for supernatural beings, including some more distinctively western creatures like the Scarlet sisters (European-style vampires).

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* In ''Digimon'', the obviously rabbit Patamon ''{{VideoGame/Rogue}}'':
** The original game
is called not a mouse, as well. Then the rodent CartoonCreature definite case, since no pictures or descriptions are provided -- but what sort of emu lives in a dungeon?
** ''[=TileRogue=]'', a graphical version, ''is'' a definite case. An emu resembles a griffin, a rattlesnake
is called Opossumon and it behaves hooded like a cat.
* The Martian Expedition team In ''VideoGame/WakingMars'' refers to most of the life forms you interact with as plants
cobra, and seeds. ART the on-board AI constantly argues the point that the Martian life forms are not plants, a kestrel has two heads.
* ''VideoGame/SepterraCore''. Certain monsters -- especially Thunder Cats (which, in spite of vaguely feline gait
and gives everything grandiose CanisLatinicus names instead.
* ''VideoGame/TheWindRoad'' has a GiantSpider boss called a "Black Widow", despite looking more like an oversized tarantula. It has thick, furry legs for starters, and it's ''crimson red''.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Mabinogi}}'', The southern region of the continent of Iria (which is a cross between Africa, Australia, and the American Southwest) tends to scale up their animals and tweak them to
ecosystem role, look more like other animals (such as fennec foxes that look like large hyenas from behind, stone rhinos) and mongooses that are two feet tall at the shoulder). Compare the original continent of Uladh (loosely based on ancient Britain), various things marked as spiders and beetles which uses smeerps sparingly (with the exception of Dire Whatevers).
look very little like their Earth equivalents.
* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'':
** Most of the higher-level monsters had fairly unusual names, especially in ''Doom II'' but the novels played this trope to the hilt, throwing in "Pinkies"
The Frog and "Pumpkins", along with other non-animal designations of "Clydes", "Bonies" and "Fire eaters" amongst others.
** Maggots (two-headed crawling demons) and Ticks (exploding {{giant spider}}s) in ''Doom 3''.
* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'': Most ''youkai'' in Gensokyo appear as if they were ''youkai'' in stats only. Check out the CuteMonsterGirl entry.
** There's also the use of "youkai" as a catch-all term for supernatural beings, including some more distinctively western
Rat creatures from obscure action-adventure game ''VideoGame/SphinxAndTheCursedMummy'' resemble neither frogs nor rats. The Frog has scales and a tail, can stand on its hind legs, and has a bright red crest (though it still hops like a frog), and the Scarlet sisters (European-style vampires).Rat is covered in razor-sharp spines. It also has a weird, dachshund-like body.
* ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'' gives us Zerg "Roaches", 10 foot long acid spitting organic tank beasts, and "Vipers", gigantic dragonfly-esque flying monsters whose tongues can snare ''enemy tanks'' as easily as frogs catch flies.



* ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'':
** The title character's name plays with this trope. Donkey Kong is an ape, not a donkey. The Japanese creator Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto evidently chose the English name "Donkey" to convey the idea of stubbornness. Then again, "Donkey" appears to be a given name. When you think about it, a gorilla named Donkey isn't too much weirder than a human named Robin or Leo. The ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' series also weirdly combines this trope with CallARabbitASmeerp, as all the primate characters are called "Kongs" (presumably in reference to Film/KingKong).
** The "Iguanadon" of ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongJungleBeat'' is a giant gecko with hair.
* The Barracuda Sharks in ''VideoGame/QuakeII'' more resemble deep-sea viperfish than either of the former. The Hornet is a giant half-insectoid half-humanoid flyer.
* ''VideoGame/SepterraCore''. Certain monsters -- especially Thunder Cats (which, in spite of vaguely feline gait and ecosystem role, look more like stone rhinos) and various things marked as spiders and beetles which look very little like their Earth equivalents.
* The Lemmings in ''{{VideoGame/Lemmings}}'' actually look more like humanoid green-haired creatures than actual lemmings, which are rodents. The only similarity is the fact that both actually tend to walk off cliffs to their deaths in huge groups. Apart from real lemmings, that don't.
* Several enemies in the ''VideoGame/ChaosRings'' series are like this, with the [[http://rpgfan.com/pics/Chaos_Rings_Omega/ss-018.jpg dolphins]] being one of the most bizarre. The games explain it as these monsters, called congloms, are created by from the DNA of terrestrial animals, but that doesn't really explain why they aren't given new names.

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* ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'':
** The title character's name plays with this trope. Donkey Kong is an ape, not a donkey. The Japanese creator Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto evidently chose
In the English name "Donkey" to convey the idea of stubbornness. Then again, "Donkey" appears to be ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'', if it's a given name. When you think about it, a gorilla monster and it's named Donkey isn't too after a real animal, don't expect it to look much weirder than a human named Robin or Leo. like said animal. The ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' series also weirdly combines most common example of this trope with CallARabbitASmeerp, as all are the primate characters are called "Kongs" (presumably in reference to Film/KingKong).
** The "Iguanadon" of ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongJungleBeat'' is a giant gecko with hair.
* The Barracuda Sharks in ''VideoGame/QuakeII'' more resemble deep-sea viperfish than either of the former. The Hornet is a giant half-insectoid half-humanoid flyer.
* ''VideoGame/SepterraCore''. Certain monsters -- especially Thunder Cats (which, in spite of vaguely feline gait and ecosystem role,
wolves, who aside from their canine body shape generally look more like stone rhinos) and various things marked as spiders and beetles which reptiles then anything else.
** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', [[IdiotHero Lloyd]] insists that Noishe is a dog, despite the presence of ''real dogs'' that
look very little nothing like their Earth equivalents.
*
him. The Lemmings in ''{{VideoGame/Lemmings}}'' actually look more like humanoid green-haired creatures than actual lemmings, which are rodents. The only similarity is the fact that both actually tend to walk off cliffs to their deaths in huge groups. Apart from real lemmings, that don't.
* Several enemies in the ''VideoGame/ChaosRings'' series are like this, with the [[http://rpgfan.com/pics/Chaos_Rings_Omega/ss-018.jpg dolphins]] being one
rest of the most bizarre. The games explain it as these monsters, world either lampshades this or just plays along. This is, however, justified: Lloyd reveals in Heimdall that he calls Noishe a dog because he knows that he's not a wolf, so he just assumed he was a dog. We later find out that Noishe is something called congloms, are created by from the DNA of terrestrial animals, a protozoan... but that he doesn't really explain why look anything like our ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protozoa protozoans]]'' either. Noishe is called protozoan because of its legend. It is the "first animal". If you know Scottish mythology Noishe '''is''' a (type of mythological) dog. His name is pronounced nearly identical to "Cu Sith" (Pronounced Cu Shee), and he matches the physical description of one.
*** They also have a large, furry, bipedal and somewhat troll-like monster that could legitimately have been called a Bigfoot, a Troll, or possibly a Bugbear. It's simply called a Bear. The PaletteSwap of it, encountered later in the game, is an Egg Bear, compounding the nonsense.
** The sequel: ''Dawn of the New World'' actually justifies this by introducing a large canine monster that bears a strong resemblance to Noishe... then it introduces the Griffin as a monster with only two legs and a wolf-like head.
** Repede in ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' looks like a wolf with a blue mane and a sickle-like tail, but he's referred to as just a dog. The prequel movie even shows other dogs who look just like Repede, all referred to as just "dogs".
** Likewise, the "Ligers" in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' are massive green-and-purple canines that shoot lightning and reproduce by laying eggs. They are also hinted to be matriarchal in nature.
** VideoGame/TalesOfArise averts this trope. Most animals, like cows, pigs, horses and chickens, look like their real-life counterparts. The ones that are this trope, like wolves, armadillo and monkeys, are explicitly said to be artificial lifeforms called Zeugles.
* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'': Most ''youkai'' in Gensokyo appear as if
they aren't given new names.were ''youkai'' in stats only. Check out the CuteMonsterGirl entry.
** There's also the use of "youkai" as a catch-all term for supernatural beings, including some more distinctively western creatures like the Scarlet sisters (European-style vampires).
* The Martian Expedition team In ''VideoGame/WakingMars'' refers to most of the life forms you interact with as plants and seeds. ART the on-board AI constantly argues the point that the Martian life forms are not plants, and gives everything grandiose CanisLatinicus names instead.
* ''{{VideoGame/Warcraft}}''
** Giraffes in the games have antelope-style horns, orcas have small bony horns too, and raptors have a small horn on their nose (the kind that players can use as mounts has a large horn).
** Warcraft raptors also have feathers, which is accurate, [[ScienceMarchesOn though it wasn't known to be so when the models were designed in the early 2000s.]] Although they have now stated in several places that raptors actually pick feathers from other animals and use them for decoration, which once again brings them squarely into the realm of fiction.
** Basilisks are six-legged lizards that live on land. ''Crocolisks'' are six-legged lizards that live in and around water.
** Every last large cat species in the game, from lions to tigers to panthers, also have large saber teeth (with the exception of the tigers on Pandaria and the Salhet's lions).
** Heck, very nearly every animal of ''every'' type in the series has horns, tusks, saber teeth, or some combination of the above. In particular, [[MorphicResonance no matter their form]], [[OurMinotaursAreDifferent tauren]] druids are [[{{Pun}} always horny.]]
** The so-called "[[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060601214908/wowwiki/images/a/ab/Spore_Bat_Art.jpg Spore Bats]]" bear practically no resemblance to bats. Or to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9Vo_1g6bW4 bats]] in ''{{VideoGame/Spore}}''.
* ''VideoGame/TheWindRoad'' has a GiantSpider boss called a "Black Widow", despite looking more like an oversized tarantula. It has thick, furry legs for starters, and it's ''crimson red''.



* ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'': The species the main characters belong to has massively long [[PointyEars pointy ears]] and apparently unlimited hair colors (often even multicolored), and its sages have [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation green, blue, red or yellow]] skin. What do they call themselves? Humans.
* ''VideoGame/Pikmin2001'': Captain Olimar crash lands on a strange world and comes up with names -- common ''and'' scientific -- for many of the plants and animals. A whole family of creatures get christened "[[http://www.pikminwiki.com/Red_Bulborb Bulborbs]]" because Olimar thinks they look like his ''pet dog'', Bulbie. To clarify, it's not so much that ''these'' smeerps are being called rabbits: it's that the ones on his own planet are.
* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'': Spiderants, massive four-legged insects with tough exoskeletons. While they seem to have a "society" somewhat like ants, physiologically they have little in common with spiders ''or'' ants (and, really, any real-world insect or arachnid you can name):

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* ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'': ''VideoGame/ZenoClash'' contains "wrathbirds" and "squirrels". The species squirrels are very similar to real squirrels, but the main characters belong to has massively long [[PointyEars pointy ears]] and apparently unlimited hair colors (often even multicolored), and its sages have [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation green, blue, red or yellow]] skin. What do they call themselves? Humans.
* ''VideoGame/Pikmin2001'': Captain Olimar crash lands on a strange world and comes up with names -- common ''and'' scientific -- for many of the plants and animals. A whole family of creatures get christened "[[http://www.pikminwiki.com/Red_Bulborb Bulborbs]]" because Olimar thinks they
wrathbirds that look nothing like his ''pet dog'', Bulbie. To clarify, it's not so much that ''these'' smeerps are being called rabbits: it's that a bird, and share the ones on his own planet are.
* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'': Spiderants, massive four-legged insects with tough exoskeletons. While they seem to have
elongated ears and large rear paws of a "society" somewhat like ants, physiologically they have little in common with spiders ''or'' ants (and, really, any real-world insect or arachnid you can name):rabbit.





















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