Not all monsters are equal — some are going to be far more sympathetic than others. So, in a setting where multiple monsters (or monstrous creatures) co-exist, how do filmmakers get the audience to tell them apart?
Why, make all the sympathetic monsters look like mammals. The more sympathetic — or out-and-out heroic — monsters in the narrative will look mammalian, compared to the more antagonistic non-mammalians. Primate-like and canine monsters are the most common recipients of this trope — monsters that resemble large, herbivorous mammals also get this trope.
Even when they are not heroic, mammalian monsters will be portrayed as tragic or at least non-malicious, as opposed to the less sympathetic non-mammals.
In Lost World or Hollywood Prehistory settings, prehistoric mammals are less likely to get the Prehistoric Monster treatment than dinosaurs — mammoths, in particular, are more likely to receive heroic portrayals, whilst sabre-toothed cats will be portrayed as majestic/noble.
The reason for this is Most Writers Are Human and, well, humans are mammals... as are most of the animals we choose to surround ourselves with. Therefore, a mammalian monster is automatically more relatable, therefore more sympathetic, than a more repulsive non-mammalian.
Supertrope of Primate Versus Reptile. Related to What Measure Is a Non-Cute? and Reptiles Are Abhorrent.
Examples:
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Films — Animation
- Monsters, Inc.:
- Of the two top scarers at the company, Sully, a big furry blue monster, is portrayed in a more heroic light than Randall, a scaly salamander-type monster. Sully is a typical, hard-working scarer while Randall is revealed to be using underhanded means to get ahead. This is reinforced by Boo's reaction to each, calling Sully "Kitty" while being terrified of Randall. The fact that they have both scared innocent children remains, downplaying the trope a bit. However, Sulley sees it as just his job and has a sincere Heel Realization later on, whilst Randall seems to enjoy it more than he really should.
- This is also played straight with Big Bad Mr. Waternoose, who resembles a spider or crab, and is willing to keep Boo from getting home to stop the company from shutting down, in contrast to Sully, who is willing to risk his job and life to protect her.
- Zigzagged as other monsters like Mike and Celia are less mammalian than Sully but are still seen as sympathetic, with Boo playing with and laughing at Mike multiple times.
- The Sea Beast: The most heroic sea beast, the Red Bluster, looks distinctly mammalian, resembling a cross between a whale and a sea lion. By comparison, the more neutral beasts have fish or cephalopod features and the most hostile beast resembles a crab.
Films — Live-Action
- King Kong:
- King Kong (1933): The titular ape is portrayed as a Tragic Monster — whilst the dinosaurs and giant reptiles he lives alongside are portrayed as dumb, monstrous brutes.
- King Kong (2005): This film features one of the most sympathetic incarnations of Kong, unlike the more monstrous dinosaurs, reptiles, and arthropods. The only other mammalian creatures (the Terapusmordax) are a severely downplayed case - whilst they're hideously ugly and semi-antagonistic (and one glares menacingly at Jack), they only really attack when they're provoked.
- Kong: Skull Island: Kong is presented as a benevolent protector of the island and the buffalo-like Sker Buffalo are Gentle Giants, whilst the reptillian Skullcrawlers serve as the main antagonists and insectoid kaiju are portrayed in a threatening light.
- Godzilla vs. Kong: Even though the dinosaurian Godzilla isn't really a bad guy in this one, Kong is still the main focus and is treated much more sympathetically.
- Tohoverse: King Caesar is one of the few mammalian Toho kaiju, and also one of the most consistently heroic. Unlike many of the other monsters in the series, he is generally portrayed as a protector of humanity, and in his debut appearance in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, he is the guardian deity of an ancient family from Okinawa.
- Avatar: The Way of Water: Lo'ak is tricked into fishing in the hunting ground of an akula, a shark-like creature the size of a bus that smashes its way through tens of feet of coral reef to get to him. He's saved by Payakan, a member of the local Sapient Cetacean species the Tulkun, who effortlessly smashes the akula against the reef before helping Lo'ak to the surface. Payakan specifically is considered monstrous by the Metkayina and by other Tulkun because he's willing to use violence where Tulkun usually refuse violence for any reason, but Lo'ak realizes he wouldn't hurt a fly unless the fly hurt him first.
- Gremlins: While Gizmo is the only truly heroic Mogwai, it's clear that part of the reason why he remains heroic is because he never transforms into a Gremlin, which are larger and more muscular, obviously reptilian with scales instead of fur, and sharp claws and fangs. In an earlier draft, Gizmo would have become a Gremlin and tried to kill Billy.
- Pete's Dragon (2016) is an odd take on this, with the titular dragon being furry. Word of God says this was to get around the Reptiles Are Abhorrent trope.
Literature
- In Artemis Fowl, most of the fairy races would count as mammals, except for the goblins and demons, which are more reptilian. Unsurprisingly, goblins are entirely a race of Always Chaotic Evil Mooks, while demons are a Proud Warrior Race with a few good members. In comparison we have trolls, which seem to be mammalian; they're often treated as monsters, especially early on, but later books veer toward making them more sapient and sympathetic as time goes on.
- Inverted in the titular novella of The Dream Eaters and Other Stories by Louise Searl. The heroes are the reptilian dragons, whilst the Big Bad is a manticore, a mash-up of several mammals (lion, human and bat - though it also has a scorpion's tail).
- Harry Potter:
- Downplayed as it's only really present in the Animal Motifs of rival Hogwarts houses Gryffindor and Slytherin — respectively a lion and a serpent— and not in monsters. These animals are meant to characterize the students who belong to those houses. Gryffindors are courteous, brave, and honorable, with the house as a whole being Always Lawful Good. On the other hand, Slytherins are cunning, ambitious, and underhanded, with the house having a reputation of being Always Chaotic Evil.
- The setting contains all sorts of mythological and folkloric creatures. The ones that are featured most prominently tend to follow this trend. Unicorns Are Sacred, the part-horse Hypogriff Buckbeak is prideful but not malicious, and Fluffy the Cerberus is a guardian and only ever harms the bad guys. Then we have the Basilisk (the king of serpents) who was bred to purge the school of muggle-borns and the Acromantulas (giant, man-eating spiders) whom only Hagrid calls adorable. The trope is subverted with dragons. They are always antagonistic and portrayed as very dangerous, with their viciousness being explained as being either breeding mothers or enslaved guardians who prompt Hermione's sympathy. Thestrals (winged, skeletal horses) downplay the trope a bit, as they can only be seen by those who've witnessed death but are not evil and even help the heroes at a crucial moment.
- The Lost World (1912): The prehistoric mammals that appear —the Megaloceros and glyptodonts— do not get the Prehistoric Monster treatment, unlike most of the dinosaurs, with the Megaloceros in particular described as a fairly majestic creature.
Video Games
- Inverted in The Legend of Spyro series, where the heroes are dragons, while one of the recurring villains are monkeys (which are called "Apes" despite having tails).
- Monster Hunter: Most large-sized Monsters and Elder Dragons are based on reptiles, cephalopods, and arthropods. Mammals (known In-Universe as Fanged Beasts) constitute a small percentage of the game available throughout the series and only a handful of them (such as Rajang and Garangolm) are strong enough to go toe to toe with Wyverns and even Elder Dragons (they're both based on primates, which shouldn't come off as surprising, given the presence of Godzilla-like Wyverns such as Deviljho). A Rajang is also plot-relevant in Monster Hunter: World as a Worthy Opponent to the Admiral, who otherwise doesn't address individual monsters during expeditions. Another prominent example is Gammoth, which is so far the only Fanged Beast strong enough to ward off and kill tundra apex predators (the trailer to Monster Hunter Generations: There's a battle between a Tigrex and the Gammoth which ends with the latter flattening the former with its trunk in a first-person view).
Western Animation
- In Beast Wars the Maximals all either become mammals, birds, or fish, while the Predacons all either become reptiles, amphibians, or invertebrates.
- Rugrats: Often inverted with the Godzilla Expy Reptar, the main kids' favorite In-Universe character. For instance, in "Toy Palace", Tommy and Chuckie get locked inside the titular toy store, wherein Tommy accidentally turns on a life-sized doll of Thorg the ape, which chases him and Chuckie throughout the store. He later starts up a similar doll of Reptar to push the Thorg doll into a time machine and save himself and Chuckie.
