Fiction often associates drills with moles, as they, in turn, are associated as Tunnel Kings and miners. These characters will often engage in Fast Tunnelling, either through a drill-equipped machine or a drill-like appendage that is capable of rotation.
Not to be confused with a villain masquerading as a hero who prefers to use a drill.
The selection of moles as a digging character is Truth in Television. Moles are are designed for digging, with their long claws and pointy snout. They spend most of their time digging underground burrows.
Examples:
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Anime and Manga
- Drimogemon, a Monster of the Week from Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure 02, and Digimon Data Squad, is a giant purple mole with a drill on its snout. By extension, this trope also applies to its even more purple Palette Swap NiseDrimogemon, which makes a cameo appearance in Digimon Adventure: (2020).
- GaoGaiGar is a Combining Mecha with a Drill Tank component, resulting in drills on its knees. Its Super Prototype "Genesic GaoGaiGar" is composed of robotic animals rather than vehicles; guess what animals form the legs (and therefore supply its drills)?
- Ox Tales features as the main antagonist a crowd of moles that look just like the trope picture on the left.
- In Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, the heroes use drills to fight and the Team Pet is a mole. Ergo...
Film — Animation
- Atlantis: The Lost Empire: The expedition's soil expert is nicknamed Mole; along with looking like a mole, he operates the team's Drill Tank.
- The Underminer (voiced by the ubiquitous John Ratzenberger) at the end of The Incredibles fits this perfectly, riding to the surface on a giant drill.
Film — Live-Action
- Tohoverse: The Moguera from The Mysterians and Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla is the Humongous Mecha version, as it's based off a mole and sports a drill on its nose that lets it burrow through the ground.
Tabletop Games
- Monsterpocalypse has the Subterran Uprising faction, which has monsters and units that are giant mole monsters with drills for weapons, most notably Drillcon-Vorionnik. Others have buzzsaws or blasters.
- Yu-Gi-Oh!:
- Neo-Spacian Grand Mole wears a drill armor. Its and Elemetal HERO Neos's Fusion form, Elemental HERO Grand Neos, also uses a drill arm.
- Mogumole actually carries a drill.
Video Games
- Donkey Kong Country Returns: The moles in World 4 use a Drill Train in a few levels.
- Dungeons of Dredmor: Diggles are explicitly their own species, but they do have many resemblances to moles, and they have a very pronounced drilling nose that lets them burrow just about everywhere in the dungeon.
- Horizon Zero Dawn: Rockbreakers are giant mining machines that look like huge mechanical moles. They have a trio of rock grinders in place of a mouth.
- Kingdom Hearts II: The Driller Mole Heartless is based on the concept, though it doesn't look too much like a mole.
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land introduces Digguh, the provider of the Drill Copy Ability, who resembles a mole.
- The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages has the miniboss of Moonlit Grotto, Subterror, a blue mole wearing glasses with a drill for a nose that digs into the ground then attacks Link from below with said drill.
- MARDEK has Drillions, which supposedly use their drill snouts to mine for gems to eat. And also to hurt Mardek.
- Digmole, Coach Mountain's Medabot in Medabots, is a construction Medabot with drills for hands and on its nose.
- Mega Man:
- Although it's combined with a duckbill, Duckbill Mole (Platypus, perhaps?) from Mega Man X: Command Mission is a drill fanatic.
- Mega Man Zero: The Molegule enemy.
- Mega Man ZX has Flammole the Moleroid, whose arms are equipped with drills as well as flamethrowers.
- Monster Rancher: Mogis are breakdancing moles with giant drills on their heads.
- Mother 3: Reconstructed Moles,
being Mischievous Moles that have been cybernetically augmented in the Pigmask Army's Chimera Lab. Mecha-Moles! also appear to have one, though, unlike the former, it doesn't use it in battle.
- Pokémon Black and White: Drillbur and Excadrill, who appropriately learn the moves Drill Run and Horn Drill. The former may be a Shout-Out to the aforementioned Reconstructed Moles from MOTHER 3; and both are widely accepted as expies of the earlier mole pokemon Diglett and Dugtrio. Due to the fact that it very abruptly Takes a Level in Badass when it undergoes Mon Metamorphosis.
- Ristar: The boss of Planet Scorch is Adahan, a mole-like creature in a giant mechanical suit. One of his attacks involves him drilling into the ground, then drilling out of the middle of the arena.
- Sonic the Hedgehog: Starting with the Burrobots in the first game, Eggman has consistently used mole-themed robots that almost always have tank treads for feet and a drill for a nose. On an interesting note, the original Burrobots were probably the most technically impressive models, showing a surprising amount of movement options for sidescrolling Video Game Mooks, being able to change direction, jump. and climb up walls with ease.
- Super Mario Bros.:
- Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story: The Monty Bros. are first seen drilling a tunnel to the under-caves of Toad Town using a giant construction drill.
- Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins: An enemy appears with this exact name. As might be expected, it's got a drill for a nose.
- Super Mario Galaxy: Major Burrows digs into the ground by spinning at high speeds using his spiked helmet.
Western Animation
- Digger (Experiment 529) from Lilo & Stitch: The Series is a brown alien with a drill for a tail.
