History Main / ChickenWalker

* The ''UsefulNotes/VirtualBoy'' is depicted this way in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17euo2DzBZI this]] commercial.

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[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stompybot.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Chicken motifs are not a requirement.]]

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->''"(gasp) It's got chicken legs!"''

Most of the time a Chicken Walker is a HumongousMecha or MiniMecha but occasionally backwards bending legs can be found on other objects, like [[Literature/BabaYaga buildings]]. While there may be some benefits to a leg shaped like this,[[note]]Again, see below.[[/note]] this design is usually chosen simply it because it looks less anthropomorphic than regular legs. This deliberate violation of one of the main tenets of character design -- the one that states that machines [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot must be humanlike]] to be relatable and aesthetically pleasing -- is a quick way to signal to the audience that the robot in question is sits firmly on the [[BoringButPractical Form Follows Function]] end of TheAestheticsOfTechnology. This is a particularly common design choice in military-themed RealRobot series.

* In ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'', ''Anime/SuperDimensionCenturyOrguss'' and ''Anime/SuperDimensionCavalrySouthernCross'', the mech knees bend forward in full-humanoid battroid mode but backward in jet-with-legs GERWALK mode.
** ''Anime/{{Macross}}'''s Zentradi combat pods like Regult and Glaug also fit this trope.
** Earth mechs with Armo-Diver mode and the non-humanoid Invid mecha from ''Anime/GenesisClimberMospeada''.
** Most of the above also appear in ''{{Anime/Robotech}}'', of course.

* ''Manga/TwentiethCenturyBoys'': [[spoiler:the robot designed by the engineer whose daughter the Friend cult kidnapped ended up this way, instead of the blatant ''[[Anime/{{Gigantor}} Tetsujin 28]]'' ripoff they originally wanted.]]
* ''Anime/AuraBattlerDunbine'' has [[http://www.mahq.net/mecha/dunbine/dunbine/botune.htm Botune.]] It seem that the purpose of using this trope is merely to give audiences an impression that it's FragileSpeedster, since most of mech combat is aerial battle.

* The Storrian Military from ''WesternAnimation/{{Ark}}'' use tanks on two legs as default vehicles. They turned out to be AwesomeButImpractical as demonstrated in a chase scene - one Storrian tank ends up tripping sideways and hitting its partner, destroying both at the same time.

* ''Film/RoboCop1987'' has ED-209. Heavily armed, extremely intimidating, [[DeconstructedTrope but can't even walk down a flight of stairs or down a street]]. In the second film one gets stuck in a manhole.
* ''Film/{{Chappie}}'' has the Moose, an homage to ED-209.
* ''Film/FrankensteinsArmy'': There's a Chicken Walker standing in a corner of Frankenstein's main lab, although it doesn't move and may have still been under construction.

* ''Literature/TheThemisFiles'': [[spoiler:The aliens have digitigrade legs, and correspondingly, the controls used to operate their mechs require digitigrade legs. Vincent Couture, would-be pilot for the legs bit, undergoes some... [[BodyHorror intense]] surgery in order to match the alien anatomy]].

* From ''Series/KamenRider555'', the [[https://kamenrider.fandom.com/wiki/File:Attack_Ride_Side_Basshar.jpg Side Basher in Battle Mode.]]
* The Blue Midget from ''Series/RedDwarf'' was retconned into "upgraded" version of Red Dwarf so they could do a dance number, originally being a tank-like vehicle.

* Tweedledee and Tweedledum, from ''Series/{{Andromeda}}''.

** For the Imperium, it's the Sentinels of the Astra Militarum , the Warhound Titans of the Adeptus Mechanicus' Titan Legions, the Ironstrider Ballistarius and the Sydonian Dragoon of the [=AdMech=]'s Skitarii Legions. Other walkers like the Imperial Knights (and their various patterns) and the larger Titans (Warhounds are scouts) are more humanoid, if hunched over depending on specific pattern or variant. More recently added, the Armiger pattern Knights (the smallest and their pilots are squires to pilots of larger patterns of Knight) also have the chicken design.

* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'': Roughly half the bipedal [=BattleMechs=] are like this, including fan favorites like the Timber Wolf (''the'' signature 'Mech of the franchise and the image used on its Tropes page), Mad Dog, Bushwhacker, and Marauder, the rest using standard humanoid leg structure. [[AllThereInTheManual Acknowledged by supplemental material]] by noting that chicken-walkers may traverse rougher terrain but are typically less speedy than man-walkers. However, despite being a game system known for having optional rules for practically everything, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation there are no rules for having chicken legs instead of humanoid legs]].

* The second stage of the Spanish, ''VideoGame/{{Cabal}}''-like, arcade game ''VideoGame/AlligatorHunt'' has your character [[https://img.recreativas.org/201803/g/alligator-hunt-unprotected-set-1-g4749.png fighting]] giant, chicken-legged, alien mechs attacking a city. Their bodies are spherical, though, and you'll need to aim for their heads and blow them up to make them collapse.

* ''VideoGame/AtomicRoboKid'' have huge, bulky, two-legged robotic enemies modeled after the typical chicken walker design (called "R6" in the credits) as occasional GiantMook enemies.
* One of the bosses in ''VideoGame/EarthwormJim'' is this, complete with a chicken head.
* ''VideoGame/WarGamesDefcon1'' have walkers being the default attack units for W.O.P.R, armed with dual turrets for causing heavy damages. The game starts with the smaller MK-II Walkers, and later on introduces a far deadlier MK-IV Walker unit who can [[MacrossMissileMassacre spam tons of missiles on targets]].
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': The gnomes have [[HorseOfADifferentColor as their racial ground mount]] the Mechanostrider, a [[NinjaPirateRobotZombie chicken-legged mecha resembling an ostrich or emu]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Brigador}}''[='=]s mechs trend toward this, but taking the cake are the Spacer factions' mechs, who ''love'' placing as much hi-tech heavy weaponry as they can on their mechs, and using even higher-tech alloys, servos, and engineering to make the skinny legs that carry them work.

** They return to the use of tanks in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberiumWars'' but they do keep the Juggernauts as mobile artillery. In the Kane's Wrath expansion, the Steel Talons are a [=GDI=] subfaction, that brings back the Titans and even introduces a variant of the Juggernaut. To drive the point home even more, Juggernauts in CNC 3 occasionally comically peck ''just like chickens''!

* In the 2023 April Fools event called [[https://enlisted.net/en/news/show/490-titan-rise-open-test/#!/ "Titans Rise"]] for ''Enlisted'', they introduced the walking tanks which are WWII-style walkers. The USSR get ShT-34V "Victor", the Germany has the Pz.Tr. X, and lastly the USA gets the WT-25 “Predator”.
* ''VideoGame/StarCraft'': The Goliath unit, as well as its replacement, the Viking (walker mode), in ''VideoGame/StarCraftII''.
* Basically the whole idea of ''VideoGame/FutureCopLAPD''. Well, that and {{Flying Car}}s.
* ''VideoGame/GeneticSpecies'' has the Wolfhead, gigantic bipedal robots on two legs as the largest and strongest mechanical enemy in the game.
* The Raptor from the second ''VideoGame/GPolice'' game. It had the ability to jump and glide (compared to most of the vehicles being planes, with one example of an armoured car).
* You can find many of this in ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore'' series. Befitting of a bird-inspired design, they're better in the air.
* The first boss from ''Super VideoGame/MeatBoy'' called Lil' Slugger is one armed with saws and a chainsaw.
* Biomechanoids from ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'' series are like that. Coincidentially, the biological parts of these walkers are bird tissues. There is a Chicken Walker enemy in ''VideoGame/SeriousSamII'', too which is called Torso Mech - The Nervous Chicken.
* ''VideoGame/TopHunterRoddyAndCathy'' allows you to hijack bipedal, two-legged tanks from enemies and use them to kick ass. Enemies getting trampled by your mech gets SquashedFlat and floats away comically.
* You pilot one of these in ''VideoGame/BattleCorps'', called a B.A.M or "[[FunWithAcronyms Bipedal Attack Machine]]".
* ''VideoGame/MechWarrior'', being based off ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'', gets in on this as well with quite a few reverse-joint 'Mechs. The games give some of them a marked hopping-bobbing gait, which can be a bit tough on targeting at times. Chicken walkers in the games typically move faster, but aren't as good at scaling hills or mountains as man-walkers - ''Mechwarrior Living Legends'' features the Thanatos, a mech with anatomically-correct [[http://i.imgur.com/dFd7fRx.jpg chicken-legs]], which is ''very'' [[LightningBruiser fast for its weight]], but has trouble scaling >30% grade hills.
** The SpinOff series ''VideoGame/MechAssault'' contains these mechs as a majority of their roster, such as the Cougar (JackOfAllStats with a Jump Jet, two Pulse Lasers, one Auto Cannon, and two Javelin Missiles), the Catapult (support-oriented MightyGlacier with [[BeamSpam four Pulse Lasers]], [[MacrossMissileMassacre four Javelin Missiles]], and the longest lasting Jump Jets in both games), the iconic Madcat (offensive-oriented MightyGlacier with [[ChargedAttack two PPC]]'s, four Javelin Missiles, and [[MoreDakka two Machine Guns]]), and much more.
%%* The Arundel from ''VideoGame/{{Ironcast}}'' features this particular leg design.
* In one level of ''VideoGame/{{Futurama}}: The Game'', you get to ride in a ''literal'' Chicken Rider.
* You spend the entirety of ''VideoGame/TheDivideEnemiesWithin'' piloting a two-legged chicken-walker-esque mech exploring an alien planet infested with hostile creatures.
* A ''literal'' one in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'', which serves as the boss of World 7. And yes, it's piloted by a chicken.
* In ''VideoGame/ChromeHounds'', you can build your very own, officially known as reverse-joint chassis. The leg form gives enhanced recoil consumption, making them good for light artillery and sniper mechs.
* The Flapper species in ''VideoGame/{{MULE}}''. No surprise, since they are human-sized birds.
* The Star, Panzerstar and Sturmvogel enemies/boss from ''VideoGame/{{Einhander}}''. Interestingly enough, their names mean "Starling", "Armored Starling" and "Thunderbird" in German, quite meaningful when compared to their bird-like legs.
* The bipedal geth units from ''Franchise/MassEffect'' have digitigrade legs, based on the physiology of the quarians that created them.
* All of the "light" mechs of ''VideoGame/{{Hawken}}'' use this configuration.
%%* ''VideoGame/{{Bioforge}}'': The moonbase security bots.
* ''VideoGame/{{Walker}}'': The AG-9 Walker has very bird-like "feet" and its head resembles a bird skull.
* ''VideoGame/RenderingRangerR2'' have an alien walker machine as one of the bosses, where the only way to damage it is by shooting upwards at it's head. Oddly enough, unlike other examples this particular walker ''won't'' try stomping you under it's feet, allowing you to walk directly beneath it.
* Light AFW's from ''VideoGame/RingOfRed''. One model even ''looks'' like a mechanical chicken, with a machine gun for a face.
* The Creator/DataEast arcade game, ''VideoGame/RoboCop'', brings back the [=ED-209=] units from the film, as recurring GiantMook enemies larger than the titular hero.

* ''[[http://www.generation-msx.nl/software/bothtec/eggy/388/ Eggy,]]'' an old Japanese computer game, stars a mecha named Ena that walks like this, though it can hover too.
%%* All of the battlewalkers from ''VideoGame/Battlefield2142''.
* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogChaos'': The final boss, the Laser Walker, is such a device during it’s first phase. In the Japanese release, it’s even called the “Killer Turkey”.
* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD'': The first boss from PalmtreePanic is this, with spiked feet.
* ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' has both of the MiniMecha piloted by Tails and Eggman.
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
** The Mantis is a bipedal mech used by the UNSC, first appearing in ''VideoGame/Halo4''. Its much larger cousin, the Colossus from ''VideoGame/HaloWars2'', also has digitigrade legs, though this may be not particularly noticable at first glance due to how straight it stands.
** The Reaver from ''VideoGame/HaloWars2'' is a bipedal anti-aircraft walker used by the Banished. It even has an appearance reminiscent of a theropod dinosaur.
* In both ''Videogame/BattleZone1998'' and its sequel, all combat HumongousMecha utilize chicken walker designs. The NSDF "Sasquatch" of ''1998'' uses a "man-walker" design with a torso and arms with chicken legs, while the CCA "Golem" has chicken legs bolted directly to the sides of the body with no arms. In ''Battlezone II'', the ISDF "Attila" uses a bizarre layout where the chicken legs are connected to a pelvis which supports the torso ''under it'', riding between the legs, while the Scion "Mauler" has a pair of chicken claws that pull the rest of its stabilizing legs along the ground.
* In ''VideoGame/StarFoxZero'' the Arwing SpaceFighter can [[TransformingMecha transform]] into a chicken walker known as the "walker". It's used to get into tight spaces and narrow corridors you normally couldn't fly through. Fittingly it even [[http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/starfox/images/3/31/SFZ-012.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150622200816 resembles a chicken]] with short wings on the side, a tail like fuselage, and bird feet.

* It's subtle since they lack digits, but the legs of both [[{{Cyborg}} MEC Troopers]] in ''[[VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown XCOM: Enemy Within]]'' and [[RobotBuddy SPARKs]] in ''VideoGame/XCOM2: Shen's Last Gift'' have this anatomy.
* ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth'': a few of the cybers available from the Digital Age onwards have this type of design, namely the Minotaur and Zeus units, but the designs are generally broad. The pattern is repeated in the sequel.
%%* Some demons from the ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' series, such as the Hell Knights, Barons of Hell and especially the Cyberdemon, are built like this.
* The Corpus from ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' produces and uses numerous forms of [=MOAs=], turret robots walking on a pair of digitigrade legs.

* ''VideoGame/{{Crusader}}'': Other than the Cametron, all the anti-personnel mechs have reverse-jointed legs
* One type of enemy variant in ''VideoGame/{{Ghostrunner}}'' is a stationary turret with largely decorative chicken-legs. They can launch massive horizontal blasts at the Ghostrunner with unparalleled accuracy.

* A common Clank design in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''. [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040407 For example, Gil's Fencing Clank.]]
* ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth''[='s=] candy mecha is a sentient example. In fact, even after the head is detached so that it can fly off to fight the villain, the legs still are used for various purposes.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/{{Chaotic}}'' featured the Vile Driver card in some episodes.
* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' had giant robotic flamingos.
* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'': Thanks to a DefiantCaptive shipping, Zim receives a [[DoomyDoomsOfDoom MegaDoomer]] stealth mech from his superiors. [[CloudCuckoolander Gir]] provides the page quote upon first seeing the mech, to Zim's irritation.
-->'''Zim:''' ''(Growling)'' Yes. ''Chicken legs''.
* On ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'', this is one of [[MadScientist Heloise's]] many machines.

* In Myth/{{Russian mythology|AndTales}}, Literature/BabaYaga's house moves around on actual giant chicken legs. This depiction originates from an ancient Slavic custom to put coffins (which is what Yaga's house supposed to be or at least symbolyse) on four tree stumps, which do look a bit like chicken legs, due to the sprawling roots.