History AnimalMotifs / AnimeAndManga

** 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.

** Fubuki, even more so when he's taken over by Darkness, has a dragon motif, as he uses Dragon deck.

* In ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', 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.

*** [[MeaningfulName Crow]] Hogan uses the Blackwing archetype, a deck of Winged Beast-type monsters, so he has a crow and raven theme.

** Basketball players with the skill "wild animal instinct" have each their own animal motif. The type of animal describes how ferocious their wild animal instinct is. Kagami's is the tiger, Aomine's is the panther, Hayama's is the leopard, Koganei's is the mountain cat, and Silver's is the dinosaur raptor.

* 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]].

* ''Manga/{{Patalliro}}'': Patalliro is associated with three animals: a cat, a cockroach and a monkey. His face resembles a cat's muzzle, he often behaves like a cat (to the point that sometimes he meows), he also interacts with the Super Cat. Patalliro is called a cockroach by other characters, such as Bancoran, for his vitality: despite numerous assassination attempts by the International Diamond Syndicate and other enemies, Patalliro is still alive. In addition, Patalliro uses a fast running technique, which he himself calls "the cockroach running". As for the monkey, it's mostly a joke about Patalliro's [[UglyCute ugliness]], although sometimes this comparison is used for other purposes, such as references to ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest''.

* ''Manga/Patalliro'': Patalliro is associated with three animals: a cat, a cockroach and a monkey. His face resembles a cat's muzzle, he often behaves like a cat (to the point that sometimes he meows), he also interacts with the Super Cat. Patalliro is called a cockroach by other characters, such as Bancoran, for his vitality: despite numerous assassination attempts by the International Diamond Syndicate and other enemies, Patalliro is still alive. In addition, Patalliro uses a fast running technique, which he himself calls "cockroach running". As for the monkey, it's mostly a joke about Patalliro's [[UglyCute ugliness]], although sometimes this comparison is used for other purposes, such as references to ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest''.

* ''Manga/LuckyStar'': The characters start wondering which animal motif suits them best. Joking unflappable otaku Konata gets a fox, cute and innocent Tsukasa a puppy, cool and mysterious Minami a hawk, soft-mannered and peaceful Miyuki a sheep (although Konata would quip that she's more suited to a cow due to her...[[GagBoobs ahem... bust size]])... and resident {{Tsundere}} and StraightMan Kagami is to her endless shame given a bunny (due to her underlying emotionality and her tendency to hide it from the world, and, apparently, because her pigtails look like rabbit ears according to Konata).

* In ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'', during comedic moments, Sousuke's animal motif is a cute (albeit irritable looking) little dog. A more plot significant one for him, though, is a tiger (referring to the fact that he's the "son of Bdakshon's Tiger," being called "Tiger" by Gauron in the English dub, as well as his adopting a pet tiger that he loves). On the other hand, Gauron's animal motif can be seen as a dragon, derived from his name "Gauron" (meaning "nine dragons" in Chinese). Symbolism is rampant when one considers the antagonizing, spark-filled relationship between the tiger and dragon in Asian culture. In fact, the TigerVersusDragon trope page describes their relationship perfectly.

* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'': Ko'''neko''' Toujou's motif is cats. She's a [[CatGirl Nekomata]], aloof, a [[CatsAreSnarkers snarker]], wears black hairclips with the shape of a cat's head and has a white cat as a familiar.

* ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon'': Bell is often compared to a WhiteBunny because he's an albino with a LightningBruiser style of combat.

* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnlineAlternativeGunGaleOnline''

* [[SiblingYinYang Black and White]] from ''Anime/{{Tekkonkinkreet}}'' are collectively referred to as "the cats", and White is often seen wearing hats or hoods that mimic animal looks.

* ''LightNovel/TorturePrincessFremdTorturchen'':

* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' uses the "dog of the military" motif, which is what Ed is constantly referred to as. It's mostly used as a derogatory nickname given to state alchemists by people who believe alchemists should not be involved in state affairs. In [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]], after defecting when [[spoiler:his brother becomes the philosopher's stone]], Ed voices to his commander, Mustang, that he is now a stray.

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'': Most of the chosen children are associated with certain animals based off their crests and their Digimon partners.
** Taichi: [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Dinosaurs]].
** Yamato: [[NobleWolf Canines]].
** Sora: [[GiantFlyer Birds]].
** Koushirou: [[BigCreepyCrawlies Bugs]].
** Jou: [[AquaticAnimalTropes Sea Creatures]].

*** X. Drake has an Allosaurus motif, as his Zoan-type Devil Fruit [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs allows him to turn into one]].

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

*** Serpico has a fox motif. Guts outright compares him to one whenever they're fighting each other, his Holy Iron Chain Knights helmet resembles a {{kitsune}}, and he's a CombatPragmatist, fitting foxes being stereotyped as tricksters.

** Kon: Fox (some of the cast would rather see her as {{Kitsune}}.

* Satsuki Yotsuba from ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' [[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.

*** Blueno is a bull, as seen with his HornedHairdo.

** 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.

** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo Vento Aureo]]'':

** Centipedes for [[AffablyEvil Principal Asano]] and his [[BrokenAce son]].

** Jolyne Cujoh from ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Stone Ocean]]'' 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]].

* ''Manga/DontToyWithMeNagatoro'': 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.

* ''Manga/{{Hyakunichikan}}: Chiho is often compared to a rabbit, especially in Chapter 11, when she brings home a stray one. Her GirlishPigtails often [[ExpressiveHair stick straight out or up]] like rabbit ears.

** Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha are odd cases of having ''two'' Animal Motifs each. First are ones which [[GenerationXerox they "inherited" from their teachers]] (which are really too blatant in their cases to even count as motifs) and the second are ones unique to them. Naruto has toads and foxes (resemblance to a fox, a prankster but [[IGaveMyWord always keeps his promises]]), while Sasuke has snakes and hawks (what he names his team, an illusion he uses is represented with feathers pierces the person, [[spoiler:he learned to summon a hawk]], ''[[AnimeHair his hair]]'').

* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'': The so called "Black Organization" has a raven motif and its members are well known to wear "raven-colored" outfits. The Boss of the Black Organization's email/text number uses the melody of ''Nanatsu no Ko'' ("Seven Children") which prominently has ravens in its lyrics. [[spoiler:Renya Karasuma had a raven as his symbol.]]