History Main / AnimalThemeNaming

* Australia's national sports teams are often named after AustralianWildlife, particularly kangaroos.

* Most of the light Axon vehicles in ''UnrealTournament2004'' and ''UnrealTournamentIII'' are named after animals; the others either have Biblical or {{punny name}}s.

* Most of the light Axon vehicles in ''UnrealTournament2004'' and ''UnrealTournament3'' are named after animals; the others either have Biblical or {{punny name}}s.

The animal chosen [[AnimalStereotypes tends to say something about the character's personality]]. Someone named after a bear will tend to be rough, aggressive, and not subtle at all, while one named after a snake will tend to be more sneaky and cunning. Dogs tend to be loyal and good friends, while birds may be flighty. If said theme naming is because characters ''are'' that animal, or can take its form, this trope will overlap with ADogNamedDog.

The animal chosen [[AnimalStereotypes tends to say something about the character's personality]]. Someone named after a bear will tend to be rough, aggressive, and not subtle at all, while one named after a snake will tend to be more sneaky and cunning. Dogs tend to be loyal and good friends, while birds may be flighty. If said them naming is because they ''are'' that animal, or can take its form, this trope will overlap with ADogNamedDog.

The animal chosen [[AnimalStereotypes tends to say something about the character's personality]]. Someone named after a bear will tend to be rough, aggressive, and not subtle at all, while one named after a snake will tend to be more sneaky and cunning. Dogs tend to be loyal and good friends, while birds may be flighty.

[[AC:Anime and Manga]]
* Virtually every character of ''ParanoiaAgent'' has the character(s) of an animal in his/her name.
** And not by coincedence. Nearly every major character has a MeaningfulName- a good example is Harumi '''Cho'''no, a schoolteacher with [[spoiler: a split personality disorder.]] "Cho" is one word for "butterfly" in Japanese, another is "chocho" [[spoiler: reflecting on her dual selves.]]
** This is put into even simpler terms in Episode 5, in which a Shonen Bat impersonator tells the story so far from his..."unique" perspective, many of the chracters are depicted or refered to as their respective animals.
* The four main characters of ''[=~Wolf's Rain~=]'' are all named for aspects of the wolf; Kiba (Fang), Tsume (Claw), Hige (Whisker), and Toboe (Howl). The pun in the title of the second episode, "Toboe, Who Doesn't Howl", is thus lost in the English translation.

* The Nara, Yamanaka and Akimichi families in ''{{Naruto}}'' seem to have their names include Shika (deer), Ino (boar/pig), and Chou (butterfly) after a hand in a Japanese card game. The Inuzukas family has names having to do with dogs, such as Kiba (fang), Hana (nose) and Tsume (claw). Many other names are individually puns as well, though not strung together in a theme.
* In ''WeissKreuz'', the members of Weiss all have cat-themed codenames: Bombay, Siberian, Abyssinian, Balinese, Manx, Birman, and Persia(n). Sequel series ''Weiss Kreuz: Gluhen'' adds [=LaPerm=], Havana (Brown), and Rex.

* Bud Bison and Damian Wolfe from MegaManStarForce. [[{{Meaningful Name}} Their compatable EMians are a bull and a wolf respectively.]]
* The Sailor Animamates, the QuirkyMinibossSquad from the final season of ''SailorMoon'', which was notably the only one not to use RockThemeNaming. Their names followed the form "Sailor [metal] [animal]": Sailor Iron Mouse, Sailor Aluminium Seiren, Sailor Lead Crow, and Sailor Tin [[CatGirl Nyanko]].

[[AC:Comic Books]]
* The Phantoka Makuta from {{Bionicle}} all have a bat theme going on, and are named appropriately: Antroz (''Antrozous pallidus'', or pallid bat), Chirox and his Matoran partner Kirop after Chiroptera, and Vamprah should be obvious. Then there is Makuta Bitil, based off a beetle.

[[AC:Film]]

[[AC:Literature]]
* You can sometimes spot an [[{{Animorphism}} Animagus]] or lycanthrope in the ''HarryPotter'' series by their name. Professor Remus Lupin was a [[WolfMan Werewolf]] (not only is Lupine the generic name for a Wolf, Remus is the brother of Romulus, two boys who were literally RaisedByWolves and created Rome), another werewolf is Fenrir Grayback (Fenrir is the wolf that eats Odin in norse mythology), Sirius (another name for Dog Star) Black a black dog, and Rita Skeeter was a bug ("skeeter" being a slang term for mosquito).

* In KimNewman's Diogenes Club story "You Don't Have To Be Mad..." the staff at the Retreat are Dr Myra Lark, Miss Dove, Miss Wren, Miss Robin, Miss Sparrow and Sergeant-Mistress Finch. Dr Mrs Myrna Swan in "Kentish Glory: The Secret of Drearcliff Grange School" may or may not be related.
** Also in "Drearcliff Grange", the Moth Club's codenames are all types of moth, as chosen by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endromis_versicolora the title character]].

[[AC:Live Action TV]]

[[AC:Real Life]]
* Though now more or less abandoned, the naming system of the US Navy had submarines named after fish.
* A non-fictional example, British pedestrian crossings use animal names, first the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra_crossing Zebra crossing]], which basically involves painting white stripes on the black road to mark a crossing point, hence the name. For crossings with traffic lights the first attempt was the bizzare [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panda_crossing Panda crossing]]. After an off-theme excursion with the nearly-right X way (Cross way) crossing, what became the standard design for the last 40 years was named the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelican_crossing Pelican crossing]], with Pelican being tweaked from "[=PEdestrial=] [=LIght=] [=CONtrolled=] crossing". Newer variants of the Pelican follow the bird theme, with the updated standard crossing being the Puffin crossing (Pedestrian User-Friendly Intelligent Crossing), those with provision for bicycles being Toucan crossings (two-can), and for equestrian there is the Pegasus crossing.
* The American aircraft design company Grumman names a lot of its planes after cats (Wildcat, Panther, Tomcat, Cougar, and Tiger, for instance).
* The Bundeswehr (and the Wehrmacht before it) names almost all of its vehicles after animals.

[[AC:Theatre]]
* This one is OlderThanSteam (at least), as Ben Jonson used it in his 1607 play ''Volpone,'' in which wealthy trickster Volpone (fox) and his double-crossing servant Mosca (fly) attempt an involved con game on the lawyer Voltore (vulture), the decrepit Corbaccio (raven), and the thuggish Corvino (crow).


[[AC:Video Game]]
* Slightly lampshaded in Mask of the Betrayer when your character meets Efram the Stag and Susah the Crow, part of a five-person group of siblings known as "The Menagerie," who ask for your help in finding their sister, Kaelyn the Dove. You have the option of asking "'The Dove?' Are you all named after animals?" when they tell you this.
* In ''MetalGearSolid'', members of FOXHOUND are named after animals.

* The Major Circuit opponents in the NES version of PunchOut included King '''Hippo''', Great '''Tiger''', and Bald '''Bull'''. Also included is Don Flamenco, which sounds sort of like "Don '''Flamingo'''".

* In the {{Halo}} games, most of the UNSC's vehicles are named after animals: the Scorpion tank, Mongoose ATV, Warthog LRV, Elephant troop transport, Hornet VTOL and Pelican dropship. Halo Wars also expands the theme naming for most human vehicles.
* Altaïr from ''[=~Assassin's Creed~=]'' is named for the eagle, as is his descendant Ezio. "La Volpe" from the second game is named for the fox, while Il Lupo "The Prowler" takes his (code)name from the wolf.
** Nikolai Orelov from the [[AssassinsCreedTheFall comic]] continues this trend. Orelov is Czech for "the eagle's son."

[[AC:Western Animation]]
* The Pack in ''{{Gargoyles}}'' had names after wild canines: Fox, Wolf, Jackal, Dingo, and Hyena (OK, a hyena isn't actually a canine, but they look and behave similarly).
** And let's not forget Coyote, of course.
** The London Clan, who all look like animals, tend to be named after the animal they most resemble. Exceptions to the rule are Coco (short for Constance), Lunette and Pog. Could be some of the clan elders like virtue names and names from myth and legend.
* ElTigre has the eponymous character, his father, White Pantera (panther), and grandfather Puma Loco. Their past generations have included people such as Dark Leapord, Golden Leon (lion), Mighty Cheetar, and Justice Jaguar. On the villains side we have the Flock: Lady Gobbler, Vultura, and Black Cuervo (raven).

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* ElTigre has the titular character, his father, White Pantera (panther), and grandfather Puma Loco. Their past generations have included people such as Dark Leapord, Golden Leon (lion), Mighty Cheetar, and Justice Jaguar. On the villains side we have the Flock: Lady Gobbler, Vultura, and Black Cuervo (raven).

** Also in "Drearcliff Grange", the Moth Club's codenames are all types of moth, as chosen by the title character.

* In KimNewman's Diogenes Club story "You Don't Have To Be Mad..." the staff at the Retreat are Dr Myra Lark, Miss Dove, Miss Wren, Miss Robin, Miss Sparrow and Sergeant-Mistress Finch. Dr Mrs Myrna Swan in "The Secret of Drearcliff Grange School" may or may not be related.

* ''{{Einhander}}'' has ''almost every single Mook'' named after an animal... in German, no less. The bosses share the traits of the animal they're named after- for example, Greif (griffin) is a robot with a hover ship instead of legs, similar to the griffin being part lion and part eagle, while Garnele (shrimp) best resembles a cross between a shrimp and a motorbike.

''{{Einhander}}'' has ''almost every single Mook'' named after an animal... in German, no less. The bosses share the traits of the animal they're named after- for example, Greif (griffin) is a robot with a hover ship instead of legs, similar to the griffin being part lion and part eagle, while Garnele (shrimp) best resembles a cross between a shrimp and a motorbike.

** What about Peter Pettigrew? He turns into a rat and his name isn't related to that.

* The Bundeswehr (and the Wehrmacht before it) names almost all of its vehicles after animals.

* The author of ''{{One Piece}}'' seems to especially love this one: Not only is the protagonist called Monkey D. Luffy, but all of the original Shichibukai(Crocodile, Jimbei (A Whale shark Fishman), Bartholomew Kuma (Bear), Gecko Moria, Donquixote Doflamingo(Complete with pink feather boa), Boa Hancock(Giant pet snake, called the snake princess, and comes from an island of snake themed Amazons) and Dracule Mihawk) and the three Admirals ("Blue Pheasant", "Yellow Monkey", "Red Dog", all nicknames based on the animal companions of Japanese folk-hero Momotaro) have animal-themed names assigned to them, which more or less correspond with their characters or abilities.

* As befitting of his serpentine nature, {{Orochi}} from the ''DynastyWarriors''/''Samurai Warriors'' crossover ''Warriors Orochi'' names his demonic generals after breeds of snakes (Copperhead, Diamondback, etc.)

* In ''AceCombatX: Skies Of Deception'', the Aurelian Air Force squadrons seen in-game are named after bird genera.

* The author of ''{{One Piece}}'' seems to especially love this one: Not only is the protagonist called Monkey D. Luffy, but all of the original seven warlords ( Sir Crocodile, Jinbei (A Whale shark Fishman), Bartholomew Kuma (Bear), Gecko Moria, Donquixote Doflamingo(Complete with pink feather boa), Boa Hancock(Giant pet snake, called the snake princess, and comes from an island of snake themed Amazons) and Dracule Mihawk) and the three Admirals ("Blue Pheasant", "Yellow Monkey", "Red Dog", all nicknames based on the animal companions of Japanese folk-hero Momotaro) have animal-themed names assigned to them, which more or less correspond with their characters or abilities.