History AnimalMotifs / AnimeAndManga

* ''Manga/KaijuGirlCaramelise'': [[CloudCuckoolander Manatsu Tomosato]] is connected to moths and caterpillars, though this is actually a way to reference Film/{{Mothra}} rather than the bugs themselves, given that she has a MadLove for the resident {{Notzilla}}.

** Each member of the [[BadassCrew Straw Hats]] have one of these (Chopper goes without saying), as [[WordOfGod Oda]] said. They get alternate motifs with the outfits in ''VideoGame/OnePieceUnlimitedCruise''. But more literally get animal counterparts in this [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/46/f1/e8/46f1e8cfa02df1b2cc680afe7556089f.png color spread]].

** Each member of the [[BadassCrew Straw Hats]] have one of these (Chopper goes without saying), as [[WordOfGod Oda]] said. They get alternate motifs with the outfits in ''VideoGame/OnePieceUnlimitedCruise''. But more literally get animal counterparts in this [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/46/f1/e8/46f1e8cfa02df1b2cc680afe7556089f.png colorspread]].

*** Roronoa Zoro is a shark, terrifying and hard to approach, as well as his three sword style evoking the image of a shark's fins. Meanwhile, [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/46/f1/e8/46f1e8cfa02df1b2cc680afe7556089f.png this color spread]] gives him a tiger motif, while he has a [[MythicalMotifs Dragon motif]] in ''Unlimited Cruise''.

*** Sanji is a duck, loud and loving. The above colorspread gives him a ram motif for his kicking power, while ''Unlimited Cruise'' gives him a goat motif for similar reasons.
*** Usopp is an armadillo, frightened easily and defensive. Meanwhile, the colorspread gives him a chameleon motif, while he's an owl in ''Unlimited Cruise'' as he's something of an inventor and owls are associated with knowledge.
*** Chopper has a reindeer motif, for obvious reasons, but he's regularly confused for a Tanuki (Japanese raccoon dog) so he is pictured as one as a gag as well as the colorspeard. He also has a dinosaur motif in ''Unlimited Cruise''.
*** Robin is a crane, tall and graceful. Meanwhile, the colorspread depicts her as a falcon (for her piercing eyes) and ''Unlimited Cruise'' gives her a butterfly motif.
*** Franky is a bull, boisterous and short-tempered. Meanwhile, ''Unlimited Cruise'' and the colorspread give him a rhino motif.
*** Brook is a horse, affectionate and friendly. Meanwhile, the colorspead depicts him with a skeletal ostrich, and ''Unlimited Cruise'' gives him a swallow motif.

*** Monkey D. Luffy, rather obviously, is a monkey, happy-go-lucky and hyperactive and even acts likes monkey in some of his earlier battles. Lion in ''Unlimited Cruise'', since he wants to be King of the Pirates and lions are associated with kings. [[spoiler:Also of note, Gear Fourth: Snakeman gives him a snake motif, as the form is based around replicating the speed and mobility of a snake]].
*** Roronoa Zoro is a shark, terrifying and hard to approach, as well as his three sword style evoking the image of a shark's fins. Meanwhile, the colorspread seen above gives him a tiger motif, while he has a [[MythicalMotifs Dragon motif]] in ''Unlimited Cruise''.

** Jasmine associated [[FriendToAllLivingThings many animals]] but mainly with birds since her connection with her pet black bird Kree and distaste for walls and stone, preferring freedom of the air. Lief is tied with Dragons and their majesty [[spoiler: as the Deltora royal family are connected to Dragons]].

** The rest of the Konoha clans save for the Senju have their own, too: Hyuuga--birds, Inuzuka--dogs, Aburame--insects, Yamanaka--boars, Nara--deer, Akamichi--butterflies, Sarutobi--monkeys, [[spoiler:Uzumaki--foxes]].

* ''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 favourite stuffed toy), and Misaki's a bear (she seems to be a fan of a nameless bear mascot).

%%* ''Manga/SoulEater'':
%%** The witches have animal motifs in their names, appearances, and powers:
%%*** Medusa, for snakes.
%%*** Arachne, for spiders.
%%*** Eruka, for frogs.
%%*** [[FusionDance Mizune]], for mice.

%%*** [[spoiler:Shaula]] from ''Manga/SoulEaterNot'', for Scorpions

** [[spoiler:Another male non-witch character, [[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]]".]]

** In both versions, the shapeshifting Homunculus Envy has a slight reptile motif. Both his true forms in the manga resemble lizards and he turns his arm into a snake while trying to kill Ling Yao at one point, while in the first anime he takes on the form of an enormous serpent and gets trapped in that form permanently when he [[spoiler:crosses the gate into the real world]]. This fits both with his "sin" (the deadly sin of Envy is often associated with snakes and its patron demon is the sea monster known as Leviathan) and his duplicitous personality.

** Dinosaur Ryuuzaki has a [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Dinosaur]] deck, with his ace cards being [[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons dra]][[DinosaursAreDragons gons]].

* In ''Anime/SpiritedAway'', all the characters from the spirit world are actually animal spirits, according to the WordOfGod. [[DeadpanSnarker Lin]] is a weasel. [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Kamaji]], with his beady LennonSpecs, multiple arms and fuzzy moustache resembles a tarantula. [[ItsAllAboutMe Several workers]] in the bath are fittingly frogs and slugs. [[MyBelovedSmother Yubaba]] takes the form of a dark bird, perhaps a crow.

*** Ayaka Sajyou has a crow motif. She uses crow feathers as weapons, and her Command Seal single feather.

* In ''Manga/KodomoNoOmocha'', whenever Hayama's feeling especially mischievous, he gains the ears and tail of a [[CatsAreMean cheetah]].

* ''WebComic/AxisPowersHetalia'':
** There's Greece with his many cats. He himself wishes to be a cat, and has a cat army. He wears cat ears in one episode (Japan put them on him), after wishing he were one of his feline companions.
** There's [[FanNickname Usarisu]]. After a drawing on [[WordOfGod the author's blog]] of Chibirisu (the little kid version of England) with bunny ears, the trend spread of drawing little England with the ears became quite popular among fans. He's not the only character to have been drawn with them, though, and The Netherlands is very commonly associated with rabbits owing to toting his pet one everywhere.
** Lithuania can be compared to a dog. He's [[ButtMonkey always being ordered around by one person or another]], he has dog ears in a bonus comic [[LittleBitBeastly giving the characters animals characteristics]] and, possibly coincidentally, his human name Toris is supposedly a common name for dogs in Lithuania.

* ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn'' takes this concept to the logical conclusion. It is easier to list the amount of characters who don't have an animal associated with them. That number is 0.

* Satsuki Yotsuba from ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v09/c073/11.html is commonly drawn with a Koala behind her]] and is the only [[LoadsAndLoadsofCharacters one]] drawn quite [[OnlySixFaces different]] clearly inspired by a Koala.

** [[TheHero Jonathan Joestar]] from ''Manga/PhantomBlood'' is compared to a lion for his courage and nobility.
** ''Manga/StardustCrusaders'':

** Yoshikage Kira from ''Manga/DiamondIsUnbreakable'' is strongly associated with cats. His Stand, [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/jjba/images/d/dd/Killer_Queen_AV.png/revision/latest?cb=20161028161010 Killer Queen]] has [[NonHumanHead a feline head on a humanoid body]], he comes into the possession of the cat {{Planimal}}, Stray Cat, and his own attitude is [[CatsAreMean selfish and casually sadistic, stalking and killing on a whim for his own pleasure]].
** ''Manga/VentoAureo'':

** Jolyne Cujoh from ''Manga/StoneOcean'' has both spider and butterfly motifs. For spiders, her outfit is covered in [[ArachnidAppearanceAndAttire web-like patterns]] and she has [[KnowsTheRopes string powers]] that she uses like a spider. As for butterflies, she has a butterfly with a knife for a body as both an emblem on her chest and a tattoo on her arm, as well as [[spoiler:butterfly hair decs when she was younger in ''[[VideoGame/JojosBizarreAdventureEyesOfHeaven Eyes of Heaven]]'']], and [[spoiler:she ultimately dissolves into a swarm of [[ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth butterflies]] after Pucci kills her]].
** Funny Valentine from ''Manga/SteelBallRun'' has rabbits as a motif. His Stand, [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/jjba/images/4/4d/D4c_sbr69.png/revision/latest?cb=20160323142852 Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap]], has rabbit-like ears, and its [[AlternateUniverse ability]] allows Valentine to multiply himself in large numbers, as well as make things appear and disappear by throwing a cloth over them, similar to what a stage magician does to their rabbit.
** Daiya Higashikata from ''Manga/{{JoJolion}}'' has bears as a motif. Her outfits tend to have bear ears on top of them, and [[GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals her room has a number of stuffed animals in it, including bears]].

* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'': Usagi Tsukino with rabbits. Even her name means "rabbit", and [[{{Odango}} her hair]] is meant to mirror the ears of one. This relates back to the astrological motif as well, from the Japanese myth of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_rabbit the rabbit on the moon.]] Chibi-Usa is designed to look even more like a rabbit, with her pinkish eyes and bunny ear-shaped {{Odango}}. Taken to [[ExaggeratedTrope ridiculous extremes]] with Kousagi, Usagi's second daughter in a non-canon short story titled "Parallel Moon"; everything she has is bunny-themed, even her transformation brooch and {{Odango}} protectors, not surprisingly since said story is a huge self-parody of the manga.

%%Image selected via crowner in the Image Suggestion thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/ImagePickin/ImageSuggestions127
%%https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1452266899092104700
%%Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.

* ''Manga/{{xxxHOLiC}}'':
** Yuuko is often represented by a butterfly, which [[ButterflyOfTransformation symbolizes change]] and how she changes her customers, including the main characters. It also symbolizes [[ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth life and death]], [[spoiler:to reflect her undead nature]] and fate.
** Watanuki is often represented by Foxes and/or birds. However, he selects the bird to be his signature, which is representative of his connection to [[Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle Tsubasa]], as well as his being Yuuko's successor (because birds can go farther than butterflies).

** Tsunade has slugs - she can even summon a giant one to ride.
* ''Manga/{{Boruto}}'': Enko Onikuma (with her surname featuring the Japanese word for "bear") is a girl who wears bear paw-like gloves.

* 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]].
* Harundo from ''Manga/{{Rabuta}}'' is often compared to a pig due to his appearance. This is where Kurume's "[[AffectionateNickname Boss P]]" nickname comes from.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[RedBaron "The Uncrowned, Undefeated Lioness"]]]]

*** [[MasterSwordsman Dracule Mihawk]]: The Hawk, having sharp, narrow eyes, similar to those of a hawk. It's the sorce of his title "Hawk-Eyes".
*** [[MagnificentBastard Crocodile]]: The Crocodile, keeping monstrous crocodiles as pets and having a scar that resembles a crocodile's smile.
*** [[BearsAreBadNews Bartholomew Kuma]]: The Bear, appearing to be frightening and extremely large.
*** [[PeoplePuppets Donquixote Doflamingo]]: The Flamingo, wearing a pink, flamboyant clothes and walking like a flamingo.
*** [[DefrostingIceQueen Boa Hancock]]: The Snake, being [[ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful beautiful]] and vain. She also resides on an island where serpents are the pet of choice.
*** [[LivingShadow Gecko Moria]]: The Gecko, his clothing resembling a gecko. Or alternatively, the Bat, given his general shadow theme, and that his name is very close to, or at least contains, the Japanese word for bat (koumori).
** The same goes for the members of the [=CP9=]:

*** Fukuro is an owl, as him name is Japanese for "owl", and he usually uses sneak attacks.

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

** As his name implies, the Keeper of the Hounds, the Apostle Guts fights shortly after the Eclipse, has a dog motif. His Apostle form resembles a monstrous bulldog, and [[AdaptationExpansion in the 2016 anime]], is shown to have taken of his master's hounds.