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Weasel Mascot

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Laying around by moonlight
Doing some stuff by daylight
Hopping around and doing flips and stuff
She is the one named Pixel Ferret
Yeah!
PeanutButterGamer, Harvest Moon: Animal Parade reviewnote 

The popularity of ferrets has created a new kind of animal sidekick character, in addition to the old standbys of the loyal, dull Dog and the smart, snarky Cat.

The weasel (or ferret) is a cute, mischievous, playful mascot who nonetheless looks out mainly for himself and can be very critical of people around him. He's nowhere near as clever as he thinks he is, and swears up and down he doesn't have to be fussed over. Until he wants to be, and frankly he's not about to turn down free food or attention if it's offered. If the dog is the fighter class, and the cat is the mage, then the weasel is the thief.

Animal mascot personalities normally fall into the Cat or Dog stereotypes even if the author has tried to use a more exotic animal, like a bird or mouse — it'll still act like a Cat or a Dog. The Weasel Mascot personality, likewise, may apply to other mustelids — but weasels, otters, and ferrets are most common. The Weasel personality is rarely applied to badgers and wolverines however (the latter in case where Bears Are Bad News). Mongooses, despite being unrelated to weasels (they're actually closer to cats, of all things), are also prone to this sort of portrayal.

A major benefit of the Weasel personality is that it largely reflects the behavior of the real animal. The Weasel can make a good ironic deadpan snarker, without the nasty or untrustworthy streak commonly associated with the Cat, or the aggressive, scavenging nature of the Dog. There is deep irony in the contrast between the two because weasels fared differently in older Western works, although this trope's ancestor can trace back to the weasels' fictional enmity against mythical Basilisks in European legends.

Many magical animal guardians are Weasel mascots, and most Weasel mascots are Talking Animals.

Compare Playful Otter and Frisky Ferret. Contrast Wicked Weasel.


Examples

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    Anime & Manga 
  • Uzume the ferret in Ai Yori Aoshi.
  • Kero-chan in Cardcaptor Sakura, although he's actually a lion cub.
  • Yuuno, from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is another actual ferret. He's an exception to the character type, though—he's a bookish, shy mage that gets nervous and blushes around Nanoha. This is mostly because Yuuno is not actually a ferret, but a 9-or-10-year-old human boy who transforms into such; when this is finally revealed, Nanoha reacts predictably.
  • Japolo from Shamanic Princess is a Talking Animal Battle Butler and would-be Mentor Mascot. He fancies himself full of important information and sage advice, but in reality his main contribution is snark and Plucky Comic Relief.
  • Hisashi Sakisaka, an occasional recurring character in the Midori Days manga, has a weasel sidekick, Tomahawk, on his shoulder at all times.
  • Although the series is realistic, and he is an actual ferret, the anime Strawberry Marshmallow has John, who belongs to the unbelievably-adorable Matsuri. John is cute, mischievous and playful, but that seems the extent of his Weasel Mascot traits.
  • Mepple in Futari wa Pretty Cure has an incredible attitude, and is greedy, picky, and likes to guilt Nagisa into doing things for him.
  • Tart from Fresh Pretty Cure!, who insist that he's a 'cute fairy' and speaks with Kansai accent. He swings around being responsible (trying to help the Cures) and irresponsible (stealing the Cures' foods like ice cream) at times.
  • Used in Spirited Away, not that you'd be able to tell: the "Art of" book tells us that the character Lin is supposed to be a transformed weasel. She's sarcastic but sweet and quite cute.
  • Chamo from Negima! Magister Negi Magi (with Dirty Old Man tendencies to boot!).
    • He would like to remind you he's an ermine, thank you very much.
    • There is a specific punishment for mages in Mahou Sensei Negima: temporary transformation into an ermine. It is never stated directly, but some lines may imply that Chamo-kun did undergo such a penalty. Nevertheless, Chamo-kun always claims he is a regular ermine and mentions about his ermine family. He also revealed that he was banned from his home country for stealing panties from his girl ermine companions. This may be somewhat true.
    • In the manga, he's pretty specific at several points in explaining he's an ermine sprite, which is where most of his powers — such as forming pactios and being able to read peoples' emotions — come from. He fled to Japan to find Negi to get him to hire him as a familiar so he wouldn't be punished for his panty theft.

    Comic Books 
  • Seamus the pooka from Blue Monday.
  • Spip, Spirou & Fantasio's snarky squirrel.
  • Played with in Get Fuzzy with Bucky's silent ferret nemesis, Fungo Squiggly.
  • Peach Fuzz, where the ferrets are the main characters... at least, they think they are. Their owners think they're just cute pets.

    Fan Works 

    Films — Animated 

    Films — Live Action 
  • Kodo and Podo (aka "The Weasel Hankies") from The Beastmaster are a ferret duo that aid the main character Dar on his quests.
  • Along Came Polly features a pet ferret that often appeared in promotional material, despite having very few scenes in the movie.
  • Mr. Kimble has a pet ferret (pronounced "fyeuwr-it") that he uses to calm down his class in Kindergarten Cop. The ferret even saves Kimble's hide by putting a well-timed bite on the Big Bad in the climactic showdown.
  • In Starship Troopers, Karl psychically commands his ferret to go bug his mother so his pet will stop begging for his attention.

    Literature 
  • In His Dark Materials, Lyra's shapeshifting dæmon, Pantalaimon, often takes the shape of a weasel; he settles as a Pine Marten.
  • Harry Potter has Jarveys, smart-talking (very large) magical mustelids.
    • Mr. Weasley's Patronus is a weasel, while Hermione's is an otter. (No wonder she married into the family.)
      • The entire Weasley family have a strong mustelid motif going on, starting with their last name. They live in a home they call The Burrow, near Stoatshead Hill and the village of Ottery St. Catchpole (which sounds a little bit like "polecat").
  • John Wesley Weasel from The Book of the Dun Cowis an Anti-Hero example; although fierce, stubborn and implied to be a Reformed Criminal, is extremely loyal to the rooster protagonist, is undoubtedly one of the good guys, and literally kills thousands of enemy mythical Basilisks single-handedly after one murders his Nice Mice friend.
  • The Areas of My Expertise: "Let's use my ferret to steal that diamond."
  • Ozzie from Avalon: Web of Magic is an elf who was magically transformed into a ferret. Besides being more goofy than snarky, he's pretty much this trope exactly.
  • The title character of Zucchini is a boy's pet ferret. The book was later adapted on CBS Storybreak.
  • In Spellbent, Jessie Shimmer's magical familiar is a Deadpan Snarker ferret named Palimpsest.
  • The ferret has become something of an unofficial mascot for Inheritance Cycle, due to Angela's off-hand warning to Roran: "Watch out for ferrets."
  • In The Furry Boarding School, Phew Scarlet Tongue, a weasel, is the best student at the eponymous school and the favourite student of her (human, ten-year-old) teacher.
  • In Stephen King's The Dark Tower books, the heroes are accompanied by Oy, a creature called a Billy-Bumbler which is said to resemble a cross between a raccoon, a badger, and a dog (although illustrations often make him look like a civet). While intensely loyal to Roland and Jake, he otherwise has the snarky, independent attitude common to this trope.
  • The main heroes in Welkin Weasels are, as Exactly What It Says on the Tin, weasels. Stoats on other hand are their arch enemies.

    Live Action TV 

    Theatre 

    Video Games 
  • Koppa from Shiren the Wanderer is a talking white weasel or ferret, depending on the translation.
  • Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines has your family retainer, Kochin, who can transform between her weasel form and a human girl with weasel ears and tail.
  • Daxter, after being turned into an ottsel, from the Jak and Daxter series. While he is not technically a weasel, his species (ottsel) is still a combination of two different kinds of mustelid: a weasel and an otter.
  • Torchlight launched with the choice of a dog or a cat as the character's animal partner, but a later official mod added a ferret as a third option. It has also been officially added as a pet choice in Torchlight II.
  • Kiki was Alpha Creations Softworks' mascot during the '80s.
  • In the Backyard Sports series, the Football world champions visit Walter Weasel World. In the Skateboarding game, one of the sponsors is Weasel Barn, a pet store for weasels.
  • Your starting companion in Sunless Sea is a ferret, offering +1 to morale and not much beyond that.
  • Arco from Arietta Of Spirits, who even gets called a "flying weasel" by one of the human spirit characters.

    Webcomics 
  • Kiki from Sluggy Freelance. Although her Genki Girl attitude may make her a subversion.
  • Wendy Weasel from Cwen's Quest plays straight (wo)man/big sister to titular character Cwen and keeps Cwen humble.
  • Menjou from Candi — who adds the "embellished" to the comic's Life Embellished nature due to being telepathic, telekinetic and at war with the local Squirrel Mafia. His "girlfriend", Snowflake the albino squirrel, is his Distaff Counterpart (swapping psi powers for Eye Beams).
  • Annie from Demon Of The Underground. She was found in Pogo's pants and took on a group of mooks while he was busy.
  • Girl Genius:
    • The Wulfenbach Bug Squad (more officially known as the Vespiary Squad) use heavily modified weasels to hunt down and destroy slaver wasps, the most dangerous of this world's many abominations of science. Although they have eight legs, they are still, very much, weasels of some description. And, they are sooo cute (for a given definition of cute).
    • Agatha herself acquired one after Tarvek rescued several from a crashed Vespiary Squad airship. After the Time Skip, Agatha keeps it close at all times because Tweedle modified her so that she literally can't live without him. Agatha modified the weasel to fill Tweedle's role.
  • Tragia from The Secret Lives Of Flowers. Being the main character, he defaults as this.

    Web Video 

    Western Animation 

    Real Life 
  • Ferrets do indeed tend to have very hyperactive and playful personalities in real life, with a special emphasis on hyperactive, which is something to keep in mind for households with small children; they're either asleep or bouncing off the walls, and what between playful ferrets would be an inconsequential nip might easily break a child's skin.
    • They also like to chew on things, so by all means don't leave your leather goods within their reach. Or your keys. Or socks. Or shoes, potatoes, beer bottles, napkins, things made out of rubber, anything spherical, anything shiny (especially anything shiny), anything that tastes good (and you'd be amazed what a ferret thinks tastes good, especially dangerous since consuming anything other than meat is likely to damage their pancreases), anything that bounces or makes an interesting noise, anything that'll fit under a couch, anything you'd be upset to lose for several months and then rediscover decorated with tiny toothmarks...compared with the effort that goes into defending one's chattels from marauding mustelids, child-proofing a house is dirt-simple.
  • Oh, and they're called "mustelid" for a reason; that word shares a root with "musk", and indeed they do have an odor, which some find pleasant and others find intolerable. And they tend to nip, and even the best of them defecate in corners, and most of the ones you find in the United States are severely inbred and thus prone to dying badly of cancer after six or seven years. In general, they're adorable little monsters if you've got the personality to put up with them, but they're definitely not for everyone.
  • US Military radar jamming insignia often feature a weasel mascot.


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