History Main / SproutingEars

* ''Webcomic/MyDeepestSecret'': During his more comedic and/or teasing chibi moments, Yohan tends to develop cat ears alongside a CatSmile.

* Though it doesn't happen in the finished game, the storyboards for ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Crisis Core'' show Zack sprouting dog ears and a tail to fit his nickname of "Puppy".

* ''Literature/TheApothecaryDiaries'': In the manga and anime adaptations, main protagonist Maomao tends to sprout cat ears (and occasionally a tail as well) whenever she's excited or interested in something; being an apothecary, this tends to happen around anything to do with drugs or poisons. It also ties into her overall [[AnimalMotifs cat motif]].

* '''Cats''': {{Genki| Girl}}ness, excitability, occasionally irritation. Usually accompanied by a CatSmile.

See also CatGirl, UnusualEars and LittleBitBeastly.

* Tsubasa Hanekawa of ''LightNovel/{{Bakemonogatari}}'' develops feline characteristics after being possessed by a 'meddlesome cat' who would take control after an accumulation of severe stress.

* From ''[[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Kagetsu Tohya]]'', Len -- the {{Really Seven Hundred Years Old}} {{Elegant Gothic Lolita}} semi-[[HornyDevils Horny Devil]] -- is half cat, and thus would occasionally add CatGirl to the list when surprised enough [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ear_today_gone_tomorrow.gif to pop out her fuzzy ears]].

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* ''Manga/KomiCantCommunicate'' makes a RunningGag out of Komi sprouting cat ears when she gets excited about something. This is even lampshaded in one chapter, when she's up late at night worrying about things she might have done to embarrass herself, and one of her "anxiety points" is "Why do I sometimes grow cat ears?" Komi also cannot emote well, and the mangaka exaggerates her facial expressions to make her mood as clear to the audience as it is to her friends. In other words, the facial expressions are there for the audience's benefit, and the occasional cat ears are something she stresses about in-universe.

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[[folder: Western Animation]]

* ''Manga/AiYoriAoshi'': Aoi sprouts nekomimi (and a tail) when she's rolling around in Kaoru's bed.

* A purely text-based example happens in the ''VisualNovel/CiconiaWhenTheyCry'' Data Fragment "Siblings Day" when Miyao [[MistakenForSuicidal thinks his best friend Jayden is planning or has already committed suicide]] due to turning off his notifications for new messages, which is supposedly done mostly by people about to kill themselves, but in this case was to free up memory for chat filters (since [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad potentially offensive speech is illegal in the AOU]], especially when talking to people of lower socioeconomic status, some of which Jayden was meeting up with). When Miyao finally gets a reply message from Jayden, the narration mentions that if Miyao had ears on top of his head, they'd have perked up (which, unlike other visual novel examples, is not represented on his sprite).

[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_ear_sprout_8042.jpg]]]]

[[folder: Anime And Manga ]]

* ''Manga/Reborn2004'': Whenever Gokudera's really happy (usually because of praise from Tsuna) he [[http://media.photobucket.com/image/gokudera/Akatsuki-Chika/Katekyo%20Hitman%20Reborn/Gokudera_puppy.jpg?o=224 grows doggy ears and a tail]].

* Lately in the ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' manga, a number of the students use magic to sprout animal ears and/or tails in order to not be recognized on wanted posters. The sad thing is that it ''[[ClarkKenting works]]''.
** Sort of inverted with Kotaro. He ''really has'' dog ears which he is somehow able to hide in his hair.

* ''Manga/KomiCantCommunicate'' makes a RunningGag out of Komi sprouting cat ears when she gets excited about something. This is even lampshaded in one chapter, when she's up late at night worrying about things she might have done to embarrass herself, and one of her "anxiety points" is "Why do I sometimes grow cat ears?" Komi also cannot emote well, and the mangaka exaggerates her facial expressions to make her mood as clear to the audience as it is to her friends. In other words, the *facial expressions* are there for the audience benefit, and the *occasional cat ears* are something she stresses about in-universe.

* Tamaki (who's basically a GenkiGirl in a {{bishonen}}'s body) does this with puppy ears once in a while in ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub''.

[[quoteright:350:[[{{Franchise/Nasuverse}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_ear_sprout_8042.jpg]]]]

* In the manhwa ''Chocolat'', Kum-Ji's aunt sprouts fox ears and a tail during her apology after a member of their rival favorite band overhears her trash-talking them.

* Yuzuriha in ''Manga/{{X1999}}'' (especially when trying to cheer Kamui up) has pointy dog ears because her spirit animal is a dog.

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[[folder: Visual Novels ]]

* In ''VisualNovel/MajiDeWatashiNiKoishinasai!'' Kazuko often sprouts dog ears when happy or depressed.

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* It occasionally happens to Yurine in ''Manga/AnoKoNiKisuToShirayuriWo'', especially when she is with [[SingleTargetSexuality the girl she loves]], Ayaka.

* Hayama in ''Manga/KodomoNoOmocha'' occasionally sprouts leopard ears and tail when acting especially cool.

* Lately in the ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' manga, a number of the students use magic to sprout animal ears and/or tails in order to not be recognized on wanted posters. The sad thing is that it ''[[ClarkKenting works]]''.

* Maron/Jeanne does this several times in the ''Manga/KamikazeKaitouJeanne'' manga. Usually when thinking of Kaitou Sinbad.

* [[ThatOneGuy Hiroki]] [[ButtMonkey Komachi]] from ''Chu-Bra!!'' grows cat ears and tail whenever he's nervous, which is the result from being surrounded by [[AllergicToLove girls]] [[AccidentalPervert who deal with underwear on daily basis.]]

* This occurs to a large amount of various characters in ''Manga/AliceAcademy''. It's more prevalent in the manga than in the anime.

* Happens a few times with Hazuki in the first part of ''Tsukuyomi'', before she gets into the habit of wearing a CatEaredHeadband. This was initially intended to be only an occasional gimmick, sometimes done with headbands and other times with this trope, until the Anime made it a central aspect of the entire design, and then went on to add cat ears to everything, with absolutely no exceptions.

* ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn'': Whenever Gokudera's really happy (usually because of praise from Tsuna) he [[http://media.photobucket.com/image/gokudera/Akatsuki-Chika/Katekyo%20Hitman%20Reborn/Gokudera_puppy.jpg?o=224 grows doggy ears and a tail]].

* Kyoko from ''Manga/SangatsuNoLion'' sprouts cat ears to show her excitability and affection toward Gotou.

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* When Emperor Kuzco in ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' turns into a llama, the first thing to transform are his ears which pop out of his head.
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