History AnimalMotifs / AnimeAndManga

* In a broader sense, in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', humans are domesticated livestock and the Titans are predators. The thematic goal of the protagonists is to become hunters and live free rather than be shut up in a pen.

** Pepe, one of the prostitutes [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold Luca]] looks after, has a cat motif. She often has a CatSmile, and when she and Fouquet try to claim Rickert, she gains the features of a cat.

* In ''Manga/BlueExorcist'', Konekomaru is one of the main characters to be this. Part of his name, Neko, means cat. He loves hot milk, he hates being cold, and he is one of the smallest and cutest characters in the series.
** On the other side of the spectrum, Mamushi Hojo is incredibly snake-like. She is very sharp tongued, condescending, and slippery like one; her name means pit viper; she even has the slitted snake-pupils!

*** It's worth noting that the manga has a lot of references to the works of Creator/FriedrichNietzsche, which Azuma's lion imagery seems to directly tie into. In ''[[Literature/AlsoSprachZarathustra Thus Spoke Zarathustra]]'', Nietzsche compares the second metamorphosis of the spirit to a lion. According to Nietzsche, the purpose of the "lion" is to create freedom for itself for the sake of even more creating--with the ultimate goal of the lion being to create its own values. Appropriately, Azuma's powers literally revolve around ''creation'', with both his lion imagery and his powers symbolizing the level of personal development that he's at.

* ''Anime/DeltoraQuest'': ''"Barda The Bear"'' is what Barda was called as guard during days of peace in Del, for being the toughest out of all the guards, though Barda doesn't appreciate that moniker when Jinx calls him by it.

* ''Manga/DontToyWithMeMissNagatoro'': Nagatoro is associated with cats, to the point that a fantasy {{Catgirl}} version of her is called '''Neko'''toro, and frequently has a CatSmile. The scene transitions in the anime involve cat heads meowing, with her face in the middle of them. Senpai is associated with a sheep, both due to his passivity and because of his soft hair. The Arts Club President and her cousin are associated with rabbits, as the former is sometimes seen wearing a PlayboyBunny outfit, and they also have rabbit ears in their motorcycle helmets.

* ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}'' has Monta with an uncanny appearance to a monkey. Patrick "Panther" Spencer is known to be one of the fastest people in the world. BloodKnight [[TheBerserker berserker]] Gaou is comparable to a Tyrannosaurus with the way he "devours" anyone who stands in his way. Rui has the appearance of a chameleon.
** Gaou's teammates Marco and Kisaragi are a raptor and a pteranodon respectively.

* ''Manga/FruitsBasket'': The Sohma family are themed after the EasternZodiac, and most of them have personalities fitting the particular animal spirit they're cursed with. Some subvert or avert the trope though - [[spoiler:Shigure uses his appearance of civility and uselessness to manipulate the other thirteen.]]

* ''Anime/FutureGPXCyberFormula'': Some racing teams' logos have these. For example, Team Sugo has {{Pegasus}} as their logo, Aoi has the Griffin as their logo and as for the team Albatross DDT... well, you can probably guess what they have as their logo.

** Similarly, while this is subtle, Satsuki, their leader, seems to be associated with eagles, if her [[BadassBoast "ASK NOT THE SPARROW HOW THE EAGLE SOARS!"]] is a clue, along with the fact that she is usually high up on some kind of perch and, in general, looks fierce and intimidating, along with having [[spoiler:fake, but otherwise sharp, talons]].

* In ''Manga/{{Kodocha}}'', whenever Hayama's feeling especially mischievous, he gains the ears and tail of a [[CatsAreMean cheetah]].
** Sana's also referred to him as a "Lone Wolf" and "The Monkey King" (with appropriate {{Imagine Spot}}s for both), and imagined him as an ill-tempered chick.

* ''Manga/MakenKi'': Inaho typically fashions her hair into a short pair of bobbles.. But, [[ArtEvolution in later chapters]], they're drawn as triangular ear-like wedges. Which, along with her perpetual {{cat smile}}, gives her the appearance of a squirrel girl.

** Also, Itachi has a raven motif-thing going on, which is interesting if you consider that his brother Sasuke's motif is the hawk...

* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', Shinji is regularly likened to a puppy by other characters, particularly in the ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'' films, the implication being that he is desperate for attention from his superiors and wants to be recognized by his "pack leader" -- that is, his father. For example, in ''Rebuild'' new pilot Mari nicknames him "Puppy Boy" as a joke about his meekness. In the original series the comparisons often occurred through background TV and radio broadcasts that the characters listened to. One such broadcast talks about a dog who can supposedly solve math problems, when in reality all it does is say "Wan" ("Woof" in Japanese, which sounds like "One"). This is clearly a reference to how Shinji feels as though he is being praised for doing nothing special, and also that he pilots EVA Unit 01.
** ''Rebuild Of Evangelion'' also gives Asuka a much more prominent animal theme -- felines, possibly as a [[CatDogDichotomy contrast to Shinji's]] [[FemaleFelineMaleMutt "puppy" motif]]. She wears both a hat and a helmet with cat ears on them, and when she takes her Eva into [[SuperMode "Beast Mode"]] it looks like a gigantic saber-toothed cat. Anno himself even specified that she have a "cat-like smile" in her concept art for the third movie. Interestingly, Mari also has her share of cat motifs (e.g. making meowing noises when she sings, and also wearing a cat-eared helmet). [[LesYay The fans have taken this to its obvious conclusion]].

** All of the Marine Admirals are given titles based on a different animal, each one fitting their personality in some way. [[BrilliantButLazy Aokiji]] is a pheasant, [[KnightTemplar Akainu]] is a dog, [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Kizaru]] is a monkey, [[HumbleHero Fujitora]] is a tiger, and [[PersonOfMassDestruction Ryokugyu]] is a bull.
*** Two Vice Admirals and one Director Investigation also have titles based on a different animal. Momousagi is a rabbit, Chaton is a pig, and Kurouma is a horse.

%%*** [[CuteWitch Angela]], for chameleons.
%%*** [[spoiler:[[ImprobableWeaponUser Kim]]]], for raccoon-dogs.

** Another male non-witch character, [[spoiler:[[TheCollector Eibon/Noah]],]] can be presumed to have a worm motif[[spoiler:, since "worm" is in his chanting and since he used one to bite an enemy to pieces. The fact that he wields a book, specifies it as a ([[BadassBookworm badass?]]) "[[NoPunIntended bookworm]]".]]

* ''Manga/{{Subaru}}'' has a black cat as an important animal motif, in terms of symbolic and emotional meaning. A black cat is what Kazuma and Subaru wanted as kids, but couldn't because their home didn't allow pets and it's a black cat that repeatedly leads Subaru to people or places associated with dancing. It disappears during the second half of the story, when Subaru leaves Japan for America.
** ''[[Manga/MoonSubaruSolitudeStanding The sequel]]'' returns with the same black cat motif. Subaru took in a stray black cat.

* ''Manga/VampireKnight'': Kaname transforms parts of himself into bats and occasionally a wolf, Yuuki is often shown with a plushy rabbit in covers (her [[EasternZodiac Zodiac animal]] and personality according to it) and portrayed with butterfly wings (gentleness, arguably re/birth), while Zero's loyal and self sacrificing personality very much reminds of his Zodiac, the Dog, along with having a white horse to compliment his debatable role as the Knight.

** there's an animal motif on two points where Misawa and Judai clash. The artwork depicts a dragon coming from Judai, and a tiger coming from Misawa. This is a reference to tigers and dragons represented by Yin and Yang in Taoism. Dragon was Yang, and Yang went with rushing headlong into things on instinct, which is how Judai does everything. The tiger was Yin, going with thinking and planning, which Misawa does even with things like batting in baseball.
*** For extra giggle points, Misawa eventually falls in love with Taniya, a tiger woman, and Judai with Yubel, who was transformed into a dragon to protect him.

** There are seven Dark Signers and six of the Earthbound Immortals are animals (the seventh is a [[OurGiantsAreBigger giant]]), but only three of the Dark Signers use archetypes fitting to their Earthbound Immortal. Rudger has Uru the spider, so his deck is a Spider deck. Misty has Ccarayhua the lizard, so her deck is a Reptilliane deck. And Demak has Cusillu the monkey, so his deck is a monkey deck.

** Azuma Higashi, Tokio's best friend, is represented by a lion. Lions are typically associated with strength and nobility, but in reality they're actually ''scavengers''. Likewise, Azuma purposefully gives off the facade of a perfect prodigy who has all of his shit figured out, yet under the surface he's a hot mess of insecurities just like Tokio. Tying back into Tokio's vulture symbolism, the fact that Azuma and Tokio are both represented with scavengers reflects the codependent nature of their friendship. Just as Tokio bases his sense of self around his personal "hero" Azuma, Azuma too bases his sense of self around Tokio's worship of him.

** [[LightIsNotGood Griffith]] is closely associated with hawks and falcons; besides the name of the group of his followers, the Band of the Hawk[[labelnote:*]]The Japanese word, taka, can be used for both hawks and falcons, through Miura [[WordOfGod has stated]] that the groups' name came from the [[Franchise/StarWars Millennium Falcon]][[/labelnote]], he's an extremely ambitious man and fierce warrior who attacks his opponents out of the blue, Guts likens him to a hawk flying overhead everyone else, his helmet is vaguely similar to that of a bird of prey, he often wears a cape (symbolizing the wings), he appears to people in their dreams as a falcon, and is even called [[DarkMessiah "The Hawk of Light"]]. [[spoiler:Eventually, once he becomes a member of the Godhand, his demonic form Femto resembles a black hawk with batlike CapeWings]].

* ''Manga/DontToyWithMeMissNagatoro'': Nagatoro is associated with cats, to the point that a fantasy {{Catgirl}} version of her is called '''Neko'''toro, and frequently has a CatSmile. The scene transitions in the anime involve cat heads meowing, with her face in the middle of them. Senpai is associated with a sheep, both due to his passivity and because of his soft hair.

** Tousen is themed on the bell cricket [[spoiler: to such an extent that when he finally gains resurreccion it takes an insect form reminiscent of the TheFly.]]

* Hitomi of ''Manga/HitomiChanIsShyWithStrangers'' is compared to sharks with her sharp eyes and even [[ScaryTeeth sharper teeth]]. Ironically, she's actually a sweet, if socially awkward, girl who just happens to be [[HugeSchoolgirl a bit on the tall side]].

** One of the sets of ArcWords for the series is Elisabeth's {{catchphrase}} "I am the proud wolf and the lowly sow." She expounds on it further at one point: "Having lived the cruel and haughty life of a wolf, I shall die like a lowly sow. For that is the choice I made." In the manga she's also occasionally drawn with perky dog ears when especially happy (such as the first time she tries Kaito's custard pudding).

*** Chopper has a reindeer motif, as he ''is'' a reindeer who [[UpliftedAnimal ate a Devil Fruit that gave him a human-like fork and intelligence]], but he's regularly confused for a tanuki (Japanese raccoon dog) so he is pictured as one as a gag as well as the color spread. He also has a dinosaur motif in ''Unlimited Cruise''.

*** Brook is a horse, affectionate and friendly. Meanwhile, the color spread depicts him with a skeletal ostrich, and ''Unlimited Cruise'' gives him a swallow motif.
*** Jimbei has a shark motif, being a whale shark [[FishPeople Fish-man]].

* ''LightNovel/ThePetGirlOfSakurasou'': The girls have different animal motifs; Mashiro's motif is a cat, Nanami's is a tiger (which shows up a bit as her [[GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals favourite stuffed toy]]), and Misaki's a bear (she seems to be a fan of a nameless bear mascot). Mashiro and Misaki wear kigurumi of their respective animals when advertising for the culture festival, and in the first ending sequence.

** Yuya and his counterparts all have strong ties to their dragons. This is taken further with Z-ARC, whose bond with his dragons is so strong, he becomes one with them. This is also in stark contrast to Reiji, as he's the Kaiba expy who ''doesn't'' have a dragon motif in any kind (he even has a pair of dragon slayers). Instead he's associated with demons, not with any animalistic creature, even if some of his monsters are based on them.

** Ruri is associated with birds, as she represents the bird part of the Kachou Fuugetsu principle. Her Lyrical Luscinia deck is likewise based on {{Cute Monster Girl}}s based on different types of singing birds.
** Kurosaki is also associated with birds, just like his sister Ruri. In his case, it's predatory birds. His Raid Raptors deck is comprised of lanii, eagles, vultures, strixes, and falcons. The falcon is the raptor he's associated with the most, since one of his main strategies is evolving his Rise Falcon into stronger falcons.
** Shinji Weber's uses a Bee Force deck, which means his deck is primarily themed after bees, wasps and hornets.
** The Obelisk Force are associated with hounds, as they commonly use Antique Gear Hound Dog and its evolutions in favor of the more well-known Antique Gear Golem.

** Yuya and his counterparts all have strong ties to their dragons. This is taken further with Z-ARC, whose bond with his dragons is so strong, he becomes one with them.

* ''Anime/YuGiOhVrains'': Revolver takes it further than Kaiba and the other expies, as his deck is solely made of dragons. Even his Topologic monsters, which are Cyberse-Types, are still based on dragons.

** Shark is, as his nickname makes it obvious, very associated with sharks and uses a Shark deck.