History Main / AnimalReligion

* In ''ComicBook/BeastsOfBurden'', dogs have their own mythology. The Great Dog appears to be a god figure, or at least has dominion over the afterlife, and the Black Dog is TheGrimReaper.

* ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'': Subverted. Despite the titular Redwall being an abbey and having an abbot/abbess, and various characters being referred to as Brother and Sister, there is no real religion to speak of (no one is referred to as a monk/nun, prayer is a generic grace at mealtimes). The only form of supernatural is the spirit of Martin the Warrior, who appears once a book to aid the protagonists, the Dark Forest, which some characters see when near death, and the ghosts of their ancestors. [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness Even the first book]], which featured a church of Saint Ninian, had no one to pray to (although the villain does have a nightmare of the Devil). There are often references to the afterlife though, such as "Dark Forest" (a neutral land of eternal slumber) and "Hellgates". Both good and bad guys are referred to as going to either when they die. Sunflash even briefly witnesses the Dark Forest in ''Outcast of Redwall'', though he is barred from entering until his quest is complete.

*** [=WindClan=] believes [=StarClan=] cats run in moors in the sky. They leave their dead out in open moorland, akin to sky burials.

* In ''ComicBook/BeastsOfBurden'', dogs have their own mythology. The Great Dog appears to be a god figure, or at least has dominion over the afterlife, and the Black Dog is TheGrimReaper.

** In ''Fanfic/TheBlackStallion'', ponies live in a tribal society with at least some religious beliefs. TheGrimReaper is an all-black stallion appointed by the Rainbow (with the Rainbow likely being revered by ponies). Due to the fact most ponies are [[AmazingTechnicolorWildlife brightly coloured]], black (and especially all-black) ponies are treated as outcasts and are seen as demonic.
** In ''Fanfic/ChasingTheRainbow'', ponies worship the rainbow. Surprisingly, even water ponies worship it. Rainbow ponies are considered blessed and chosen by the rainbow itself.

** Princess Luna and and Princess Celestia are deemed gods by {{fanon}} (or, at minimum, ponies ''think'' they're gods, even if [[AGodIAmNot they don't consider themselves so]]). The cartoon itself doesn't imply it besides characters sometimes using their names in vain, such as "As Celestia is my witness..." and "Thank Celestia". For two seasons they were the only alicorns (and according to Creator/LaurenFaust were meant to be the only ones), and even compared to Twilight and Cadance they're unusual. They're over [[Really700YearsOld 1000 years old]] (though some ExpandedUniverse material implies they're long-lived and slow-aging, rather than immortal), are taller than other alicorns, and have flowing, ethereal manes; however, it was eventually shown that explicitly ascended alicorn can become tall and gain ethereal manes. {{Fanon}} has assumed they're naturally born alicorns and thus are functionally immortal gods, while "ascended alicorns" unusually age normally and die of old age. Cadance (who is canonically ascended) is occasionally dubbed a "goddess of love", though, and many fanworks portray her as similarly immortal. Twilight Sparkle and Flurry Heart are also often depicted as goddesses.

* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' generally avoids the issue of religion. ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', however, has several occasions where characters [[use Princess Celestia's and Princess Luna's names in a semi-religious manner]] -- "as Celestia is my witness", "Celestia knows where", etcetera.

* In the ''My Little Pony'' oneshot ''Fanfic/TheBlackStallion'', ponies live in a tribal society with at least some religious beliefs. TheGrimReaper is an all-black stallion appointed by the Rainbow (with the Rainbow likely being revered by ponies). Due to the fact most ponies are [[AmazingTechnicolorWildlife brightly coloured]], black (and especially all-black) ponies are treated as outcasts and are seen as demonic.
* ''Fanfic/TheirBond'': It's mentioned that wolfos (a wolf-like enemy from ''The Legend of Zelda'') believe in the Great Wolf.
* In ''Fanfic/ChasingTheRainbow'', ponies worship the rainbow. Surprisingly, even water ponies worship it. Rainbow ponies are considered blessed and chosen by the rainbow itself.

* A really creepy example appears in ''WesternAnimation/TheGoodDinosaur''; the film's antagonists are a flock of [[PteroSoarer pterosaurs]] who profess to a strange pseudo-religion that deifies the weather, their credo being "the storm provides". What the storm provides to them is ''food'' -- namely cute little critters (some of whom are sentient) that get injured during the storms. Their devotion to this weird CargoCult only makes them more disturbing.

* There's a lot of focus on wolf spiritualty in ''WesternAnimation/BaltoIIWolfQuest''. Essentially its a very distilled interpretation of what Native American beliefs entail (guiding spirits, crystals and vaguely Pacific Northwest cave art).

* The elephants from ''Film/TheJungleBook2016'' seem to be treated like gods, for Bagheera says that all animals bow before the elephants as they march by. He even tells Mowgli a short legend about how the elephants created the jungle with their tusks, trunks, and sheer strength.

* Religion and spirituality are rather thematically important to ''Literature/TheKaturranOdyssey'', as its a fantasy novel/script depicting various primate cultures.
** The religion of Bohibbah (inhabited by lemurs) is a monotheistic religion centered around the Fossah (which gets the Aslan treatment somehow, even though he's technically simply an actual, distant god himself rather than a MessianicArchetype; that's Katook's, the protagonist's, role). It follows a complex clerical hierarchy, that naturally is corrupt and perverting the spirit of the religion in the Fossah's absence.

* Creator/RichardAdams' book ''Literature/WatershipDown'' details the belief system of rabbits. Frith, the sun, made all the stars and the Earth, and all the animals thereon. Frith's second-in-command is Inle, the moon, tasked with collecting the dead and meting out punishments. The first rabbit angered Frith with his arrogance, and was punished by becoming prey to oodles of predators, which made him El-ahrairah, the Prince With A Thousand Enemies. In the lapine world, El-ahrairah functions like a combination Adam and Hercules, and those rabbits that excel at survival skills are welcomed in the afterlife to El-ahrairah's inner circle. Much of this is [[WesternAnimation/WatershipDown depicted]] in the 1978 AnimatedAdaptation by Nepenthe Studios.
* ''Literature/FireBringer'' has Herne, the God of Deer (or Herla as they call themselves) and Star Buck, the mythological hero of Deer. Herne Himself even summons [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Rannoch to join Him]] as the hero is on his last legs at the end.
** The semi sequel to ''Fire Bringer'', ''Literature/TheSight'', has Tor and Fenris, the gods of wolves (or Varg as they call themselves). Unlike other books, these gods are never actually encountered and the book drops hints that they [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane may or may not be real.]] It's never actually confirmed if they are real or fake, so it's left to the reader to decide if the gods are real or not. Given though that it's set in the same world as ''Fire Bringer'', it's certainly plausible that they COULD exist.

** Cats from the Tribe of Rushing Water don't go to [=StarClan=]. They instead have their own afterlife--the Tribe of Endless Hunting. Unlike [=StarClan=] cats, they only give living cats messages through omens rather than dreams. Tribe of Endless Hunting cats also revert to the age where they were at their most happiest, but unlike [=StarClan=] cats they keep all the wounds and disabilities they had in life.

** Cats display some spiritual rituals, such burying their dead and burying their prey's bones as a sign of respect.
* Subverted in ''Literature/{{Redwall}}''. Despite the titular Redwall being an abbey, having an abbot/abbess and various characters referred to as Brother/Sister, there is no real religion to speak of (no one is referred to as a monk/nun, prayer is a generic grace at mealtimes). The only form of supernatural is the spirit of Martin the Warrior, who appears once a book to aid the protagonists, and Dark Forest, which some characters see when near death, and the ghosts of their ancestors. [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness Even the first book]], which featured a church of Saint Ninian, had no one to pray to (although the villain does have a nightmare of the Devil, who got referenced as well). There are often references to the afterlife though, such as "Dark Forest" (a neutral land of eternal slumber) and "Hellgates". Curiously, bad guys are referred to as going to either when they die. Sunflash even briefly witnesses the Dark Forest in ''Outcast of Redwall'', though he is barred from entering until his quest is complete.
* ''Literature/TailchasersSong'' has an extensively developed mythology for its fictional culture of cats, including a CreationMyth. The cats believe that everything was created by a god named "Meerclar Allmother", who gave birth to the Two, Harar Goldeneye and Fela Skydancer. The world was originally populated with cats, children of the Two, including the three Firstborn. One of the Firstborn, Grizraz Hearteater, was driven by jealousy to create a HellHound to [[SiblingMurder kill his siblings]]. His brother Viror Whitewind stopped it, but died in the process. The third brother, Tangaloor Firefoot, eventually trapped Grizraz underneath a tree. Later, after resurfacing, Grizaz was blinded by the sun, and dug a hole into the Earth, where it is said he still remains. Humans, or as [[HumansByAnyOtherName the cats call them]] "m'an", are deformed descendants of cats. They are [[HumansAreCthulhu dangerous and unusual beings]] who [[AnimalsFearNeutering commit demeaning acts towards cats]].
* The mice of the ''Literature/DeptfordMice'' series worship a nature spirit called the Green Mouse. The main ritual is the Great Spring Ceremony, which includes a coming-of-age ritual for mouselets. The rats worship Lord Jupiter [[spoiler: who is actually a cat]].
* Moses the Raven in ''Literature/AnimalFarm'', who symbolizes the Russian Orthodox Church, tells the other animals about an afterlife called Sugarcandy Mountain.
* In the world of Titan, from the ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' gamebooks, all the animals have their own gods. Since the game is about humans and humanoids, these gods almost never come up unless a humanoid tribe with a connection to an animal also worships that animal's god (such as the [[BornInTheSaddle Horse Nomads]], who worship Hunnynhaa) but they exist.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** The Educated Rodents in ''Literature/TheAmazingMauriceAndHisEducatedRodents'' have developed the idea that if a rat is a good rat, then when they die the [[TheGrimReaper Bone Rat]] will take them to the Big Rat Underground, whose tunnels are filled with food. It's not an idea they're all that sure about, though, since the ones who get philosophical about things are constantly questioning it and the more practical ones think it's not worth worrying about one way or the other.
** In ''Literature/TheTruth'', a translator reveals that elderly, beloved dog Wuffles refers to his owner as "God". The translator (a dog himself) calls it old-fashioned.
* Played with in ''Literature/RaptorRed''. An ostrich-dino has a strange experience: she captures a small furball mammal, tosses it into the air to eat it, and it transforms into a frog by the time it reaches her mouth. (A frog was in the furball's burrow for reasons that are too long to go into here.) It makes her pause to think, and while she eventually gives a mental shrug and moves on with her day, the narration notes that if she'd had an interest in transformation, she might have founded the first dinosaur religion then and there.
* In ''Literature/{{Silverwing}}'', most bats worship the goddess of the night, Nocturna. The ''Vampyrum spectrum'' (false vampire bats) worship the Mayan bat demon Cama Zotz, who claims to be Nocturna's brother in the third book.
* ''Literature/SeekerBears'':
** Polar bears believe that the stars are pieces of sea ice. Each star contains the spirit of a polar bear. When a polar bear dies, their spirit sinks underneath the ice. In summer the spirits become freed from the ice and go up into the sky. When the sea ice begins to break apart violently due to global warming instead of melting peacefully as it normally does, Kallik wonders if bear spirits trapped in ice that shatters sink into the sea to swim with the fish instead.
** Black bears believe spirits become trees.
** Grizzly bears believe that spirits live in rivers, to eventually flow into the sea when no one remembers them anymore.
** The bears display spiritual rituals. For example, they bury their dead. Black bears, brown bears, and white bears all travel to a Great Bear Lake for the Longest Day. It's a time of truce where black and brown bears call for the sun to return while white bears call for the sun to go away.
* In ''Literature/{{Bravelands}}'' almost all animals worship the Great Spirit. Only a few species, such as lions, do not believe in the Great Spirit. It is believed that one animal, known as either the "Great Mother" or "Great Father" depending on their gender, embodies the Great Spirit. This Great Parent is respected by almost all other animals due to their wisdom and their special ability to read bones. Little has been noted about what afterlife the animals believe in, but it is implied to be a paradise in the stars. Animals bury their dead, however it's not a complete burial as scavenging is an important part of their culture and spirituality.
* ''Literature/{{Survivor|Dogs}}s'':
** Dogs personify nature as {{Nature Spirit}}s. The sun is the Sun-Dog, earth is the Earth-Dog, dogs that exist in the heavens are the Sky-Dogs, etc. The Sky-Dogs act similarly to gods (with dogs even saying such things as "[[OhMyGods Thank the Sky-Dogs]]"), while the Earth-Dog is the one reverend when dogs die. There are also various mythical characters, such as Lightning, a legendary dog so fast that he can escape death, that create natural occurrences.
** Dogs believe that when beings die their spirits, usually referred to as their "scents", go up into the air and becomes one with the other spirits.
** Dogs have some religious rituals. For example, dogs turning before they sleep is called a "sleep-ritual" (but it's only a ''proper'' sleep-ritual if you turn exactly three times). At night they also [[WolvesAlwaysHowlAtTheMoon howl to the Spirit Dogs]].
* The PartiallyCivilizedAnimal gryphons of ''Literature/TheSummerKingChronicles'' worship the sun god Tyr [[spoiler:and the moon goddess Tor, whose importance to the Vanir kingdom was erased by their night-fearing Aesir conquerors.]]
* ''Literature/TheColdMoons'': Badgers have religious beliefs that take inspiration from real-world religions, including Judaism. Their {{God}} is named Logos, their {{heaven}} is called "Asgard", and their {{hell}} is "Sheol". Badgers must have a special prayer told by a close family member (or the closest equivalent) at funerals, or else they're BarredFromTheAfterlife and are sent to to "Gehenna" (which acts as a sort of eternal purgatory). Bragira is a character who greets slain heroes into Asgard and sends dishonorable badgers to Sheol. It's mentioned that Asgard is a place where all animals (including humans) live peacefully together.
* Dogs in ''Literature/{{Doglands}}'' don't believe in heavens or gods, but they do have a belief in spirits. According to dog lore, free dogs who "run with the winds" when alive will become one with the winds after death.
* ''{{Literature/Bambi}}'': The animals believe humans to be some sort of god. Bambi eventually learns from the Great Prince that humans are mortal, and concludes that there must be a power higher than either.

* A sapient species of jay-like bird from WebOriginal/{{Serina}} believe that the world was only barren desert until all life was born from an intense rainstorm. Some of them believe that the "Sky Sea," the planet that their home moon orbits, is the source of all rain.

* Religion is a topic avoided in ''Franchise/MyLittlePony''. ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' glosses over the issue; however, there are several times when characters [[OhMyGods use Princess Celestia's and Princess Luna's names in vain]]. While {{fanon}} has largely taken to alicorns as being {{Physical God}}s, the series itself has yet to acknowledge if the princesses are deemed demi-gods by others.
** It was eventually established that non-ponies (such as dragons) scoff at the princesses, and yet their claim to control celestial bodies is entirely true, presumably making the unbelievers {{Flat Earth atheist}}s.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'':
** Lemurs in ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'' believe in "sky spirits".
** ''WesternAnimation/AllHailKingJulien'' expands on the lemurs' Sky Gods with a whole pantheon of gods responsible for individual things, their chief god being named Frank, and all their other gods having similarly normal-sounding names like Kevin and Gladys. Similarly, aye-aye are said to worship a pantheon of bells that live deep underground.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTarzan'' animated series, the gorillas believe in a protective savior called Mangani, an albino gorilla guardian, while the elephants believe in the All-Seeing Elephant. The two differ in several respects; Mangani inhabits a physical form and resurrects dead animals, while the All-Seeing Elephant is a spirit and protects elephants from fatal accidents.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfPussInBoots'', Puss occasionally prays to "Felina". He has an icon of her, which resembles a cat version of the Virgin Mary or a female saint.

* ''Fanfic/WarriorsRedux'' expands upon the original ''Warriors'' version of this. When proper warriors die, they go to the hivemind that is [=StarClan=]. In contrast, warriors who break the Code just cease to exist. When Firepaw asks Spottedleaf if kittypets and other non-Clan cats can go to [=StarClan=], she dismissively notes that of course they don't. It's never mentioned where non-Clan cats go when they die. This is because the four Clans created the idea of [=StarClan=] and the story is intentionally vague on whether [=StarClan=] is real or whether it's just mythology. Similarly, the Clans now have a mythology full of {{Just So Stor|y}}ies.

* In ''Literature/{{Silverwing}}'', most bats worship the goddess of the night, Nocturna. The ''Vampyrum spectrum'' false vampire bats worship the Mayan bat demon Cama Zotz, who claims to be Nocturna's brother in the third book.

** ''Literature/TheTruth'', a translator reveals that elderly, beloved dog Wuffles refers to his owner as "God". The translator (a dog himself) calls it old-fashioned.

** Cats from the Tribe of Rushing Water don't go to [=StarClan=]. They instead have their own afterlife--the Tribe of Endless Hunting. Unlike [=StarClan=] cats, they only give living cats messages through omens rather than dreams. Tribe of Endless Hunting cats also revert to the age where they were most happiest, but unlike [=StarClan=] cats they keep all the wounds and disabilities they had in life.
** What happens to kittypets and loners is not specified, nor what occurs to cats that live far from the Clans. Jake, a kittypet, was allowed to visit [=StarClan=] from an unspecified elsewhere because he befriended (or [[OfficialCouple more]], according to the writers) Tallstar in his life. Ravenpaw initially refuses to join [=StarClan=] because his friend Barley can't come with him, but he's told that both he and Barley can be together in [=StarClan=].
** Cats display some spiritual rituals, such burying their dead and burying their preys bones as a sign of respect.

* ''Literature/FireBringer'' has Herne, the God of Deer (or Herla as they call themselves) and Star Buck, the mythological hero of Deer. Herne Himself even summons [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Rannoch to join Him]] as the hero is last legs at the end.

As far as science can tell, the only modern species that has a concept of religion are humans. In fiction, however, a common way to anthropomorphise NearlyNormalAnimal to PartiallyCivilizedAnimal characters or -- depending on what the work in question is about -- flesh out their culture is to have them have their own gods and faiths. Like a FantasyPantheon, whether or not animal worshiped deities or faiths are [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane encountered]], or are real, depends on the work.

** The Educated Rodents in ''Discworld/TheAmazingMauriceAndHisEducatedRodents'' have developed the idea that if a rat is a good rat, then when they die the [[TheGrimReaper Bone Rat]] will take them to the Big Rat Underground, whose tunnels are filled with food. It's not an idea they're all that sure about, though, since the ones who get philosophical about things are constantly questioning it and the more practical ones think it's not worth worrying about one way or the other.
** ''Discworld/TheTruth'', a translator reveals that elderly, beloved dog Wuffles refers to his owner as "God". The translator (a dog himself) calls it old-fashioned.

** Its not clear if the Patah worship anything at all, but they clearly see stars and the heavens as divine and as "true" magic, and given that they are based on muslim and zoroastrian cultures they're likely monotheist.

** The Dourahn in the book are strictly atheist or possibly acestor worshippers; they once had a pantheon of gods (Fossah included), but have rejected them in favour of "self worship". In the script they are instead fanatical monotheists, revering [[spoiler: Nadab]].

* Moses the Raven in ''Literature/AnimalFarm'', who symbolises the Russian Church, tells the other animals about an afterlife called Sugarcandy Mountain.

** Princess Luna and and Princess Celestia are deemed gods by {{fanon}} (or, at minimum, ponies ''think'' they're gods, even if [[AGodIAmNot they don't consider themselves so]]). The cartoon itself doesn't imply it besides characters sometimes using their names in vain, such as "As Celestia is my witness..." and "Thank Celestia". For two seasons they were the only alicorns (and according to Creator/LaurenFaust were meant to be the only ones), and even compared to Twilight and Cadance they're unusual. They're over [[Really700YearsOld 1000 years old]] (though some ExpandedUniverse material implies they're long-lived and slow-aging, rather than immortal), are taller than other alicorns, and have flowing, ethereal manes; however, it was eventually shown that explicitly ascended alicorn can become tall and gain ethereal manes. {{Fanon}} has assumed they're naturally born alicorns and thus are functionally immortal gods, while "ascended alicorns" age normally and die of old age. Cadance (who is canonically ascended) is occasionally dubbed a "goddess of love", though, and many fanworks portray her as similarly immortal.

* A sapient species of jay-like bird from WebOriginal/{{Serina}} believe that the world was only barren desert until all life was born from an intense rainstorm. Some of them believe that the "Sky Sea," the planet that their home moon orbits, is the source of all rain.

As far as science can tell, the only modern species that has a concept of religion are humans. In fiction, however, a common way to anthropomorphise NearlyNormalAnimal to PartiallyCivilizedAnimal characters or -- depending on what the work in question is about -- flesh out their culture is to have them have their own gods and faiths. Like a FantasyPantheon, whether or not animal worshiped deities or faiths are encountered, or are real, depends on the work.

** Princess Luna and and Princess Celestia are deemed gods by {{fanon}} (or, at minimum, ponies ''think'' they're gods, even if [[AGodIAmNot they don't consider themselves so]]). The cartoon itself doesn't imply it besides characters sometimes using their names in vain, such as "As Celestia is my witness..." and "Thank Celestia". For two seasons they were the only alicorns (and according to Creator/LaurenFaust were meant to be the only ones), and even compared to Twilight and Cadance they're unusual. They're over [[Really700YearsOld 1000 years old]] (though some ExpandedUniverse material implies they're long-lived and slow-aging, rather than immortal), are taller than other alicorns, and have flowing, ethereal manes. {{Fanon}} has assumed they're naturally born alicorns and thus are functionally immortal gods, while "ascended alicorns" age normally and die of old age. Cadance (who is canonically ascended) is occasionally dubbed a "goddess of love", though, and many fanworks portray her as similarly immortal.

* There's a lot of focus on wolf spiritualty in ''WesternAnimation/BaltoIIWolfQuest''.

** In the comic ''Why Stories Are Told About Anansi'', an ancient god known as the "Sky God" is discussed. He was a god towards all animals, not just lions. He fell out of favor after a spider named Anansi eclipsed his fame.

** It was eventually established that non-ponies (such as dragons) scoff at the princesses, and yet their claim to control celestial bodies is entirely true, presumably making the unbelievers FlatEarthAtheists.