History Main / HonorableElephant

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Primal}}'', Spear and Fang hunt and kill an injured woolly mammoth for food and insulation. The rest of the herd come across the dead mammoth's remains and track down Spear and Fang to the cave where they're hiding for the night, upon which the herd attacks the two of them relentlessly. As it seems, though, what they really wanted was a tusk of the dead mammoth, which the herd leader picks up; they bring the tusk to an ElephantGraveyard to mourn him.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' has some elephant villagers throughout the series, and many of them are [[NiceGuy nice animals]], even [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold the Cranky or Snooty elephants]]

* Elephants are one of the few animals that display something akin to 'funerary rituals', like gently touching dead elephant heads with the trunk, or putting dirt and branches on them. They will still do this to elephant skulls after the carcass has decomposed to the bone, and they can apparently not only recognize them, but also distinguish them from the bones of other animals which don't elicit the same gestures.

** In "Mammoth Journey", female woolly mammoths and their young live in family groups that stick together and quietly help each other when facing predators and climatic hardships. The most unprovoked aggression seen consists of an adult male in musth chasing off a herd of bison with a mildly threatening trot, and an older bull scaring two cave lions out of his way when he migrates south (though [[AcceptableTargets said lions]] were feeding on [[IAmAHumanitarian a human carcass]]).

* ""WesternAnimation/TheAntAndTheAardvark'' cartoon "Mumbo Jumbo" features Tiny, the ant's forest lodge brother (local 202). Tiny protects the ant from the aardvark at all costs upon hearing the call "zimbala zoombala."

* UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}}: The Buddha was an honorable elephant in several of his previous lives, and the popularity of white elephants in Thailand has to do with Buddha taking the form of a six-tusked white elephant.

* Elephants are not really as noble-hearted as you might think for such intelligent organisms; adolescents have been known to kill rhinos and other animals for amusement.[[labelnote:Note]]Though it's now believed that such behaviors often stem from orphaned teenage gangs of elephants who have grown up without guidance from older elephants, essentially the pachyderm version of juvenile delinquents. It's become more common as poaching of elder, bigger-tusked elephants has increased.[[/labelnote]] There are even claims that elephants occasionally indulge in necrophilia both with members of their species and with other creatures. On the other hand, they are social animals and do have something similar to human empathy, especially toward their fellows or young.
* Elephants are one of the few animals that display something akin to 'funerary rituals', like gently touching dead elephant heads with the trunk, or putting dirt and branches on them. They will still do this to elephant skulls after the carcass has decomposed to the bone, and they can apparently recognize them from the bones of other animals which don't elicit the same gestures.

* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': Behemoth -- a {{Kaiju}} who resembles a cross between a mammoth and a ground sloth -- plays with this; he's portrayed as destructive under [[TheCorrupter Ghidorah's]] command, but [[spoiler:later proves to be a docile and beneficial creature once Godzilla takes charge, [[FertileFeet restoring much of the Amazon rainforest just by walking around]]]]. Though only appearing in a few scenes, he's become a fan favourite, in large part for his weird, striking design.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}'': The title character is playful but never malicious. The Matriarch invokes this trope ("We elephants have always walked with dignity.") but is actually a CruelElephant behind her dignified facade. [[MamaBear Mrs. Jumbo]] plays it straighter, [[HumansAreBastards not that it helps her]].

* All the prehistoric elephants rescued in ''Fanfic/PrehistoricParkReimagined'' prove to be largely friendly and agreeable [[GentleGiant gentle giants]]. Martha in particular is every bit the kindly GentleGiant that she was in the original ''Prehistoric Park'' (even managing to sympathize and form a bond with JerkWithAHeartOfGold security chief Nikolai). But just to be safe, all the adult males are largely kept separate from the youngsters and adult females at the park, [[CruelElephant just in case]].

* The ''Franchise/UltraSeries'' have two elephant-looking kaiju, Zuruzula from ''Series/UltramanRighty'' and Gazebo from ''Series/UltramanTowardsTheFuture'', neither of them which are hostile or violent. The former is a harmless zoo animal who was accidentally transformed into a monster after being exposed to [[TheCorruptor Minus Energy]], and even in it's giant state Zuruzula is never seen attacking the city or destroying buildings, only using it's trunks to blast high-pressure jets of water at UGM planes when they attack him, in self-defense, resulting in Ultraman Eighty purging the Minus Energy from inside him turning Zuruzula back to a zoo animal. The latter is a forest guardian protecting the environment and defending his own territory, causing Ultraman Great to put him into a DeepSleep rather than killing it.

* Horton the Elephant is the main protagonist of ''Theatre/{{Seussical}}'', which adapts both ''Literature/HortonHearsAWho'' and ''Literature/HortonHatchesTheEgg'', among other Seuss books. Here, he is called upon to guard the Whos and sit on Mayzie's egg at the same time, presenting a MoralDilemma as to which innocent life to protect.

* ''WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies'': In "Elmer Elephant", the title character is a heroic anthropomorphic elephant who saves his LoveInterest Tilly Tiger from a fire.

* The elephant of the ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse'' cartoon "The Helpless Hippo" is the hero's loyal steed and alerts him of any trouble in progress.

* Undercover Elephant from ''WesternAnimation/CBBears'' is a dedicated but none-too-bright detective. He is assisted and sometimes hindered by Loudmouse.

''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': ''Hobo Bobo'' is a pint-sized elephant who gets tired of lugging logs all the time so he runs off to America seeking his fortune. It becomes a misadventure for him and in the end he winds up exactly where he started, albeit in a different locale. In a later cartoon he becomes a baseball star after an umpire invokes AnimalAthleteLoophole.

''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': ''Hobo Bobo'' is a pint-sized elephant who gets tired of lugging logs all the time so he runs off to America seeking his fortune. It becomes a misadventure for him and in the end he winds up exactly where he started, albeit in a different locale. In a later cartoon he becomes a baseball star after an umpire invokes AnimalAthleteAbuse.