History Main / UnusualEars

In Japanese Manga and Anime, cat ears (''{{nekomimi}}'') and other types of animal ears (''LittleBitBeastly'') are particularly popular. Expect some FurryEarDissonance. Another common anime ear type is "antenna ears," which can be seen primarily on {{Robot Girl|}}s.

* Kagome Higurashi's first act upon seeing ''Manga/InuYasha'', sealed and stuck to a tree? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zseoPxveIS8 Messing with his ears]]. The first thing Kagome's ''mother'' says when a dog-eared boy busts into Kagome's house to drag her back to the feudal era is not "Who are you?" or "Where are you taking my daughter?" or even "Why are you dressed like that?" It's, "Your ears; are they real?" whilst reaching up and touching them. As does Kagome's little brother; it appears to be something of a family thing.

*** Tewi, the fairies in Eientei, Reisen, [[ReplacementGoldfish Reisen II]], and the moon rabbit army all have rabbit ears.

* ''Franchise/MegaMan'': All of the Reploids in ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' and cyborgs in ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' seem to have these strange white headphone-like things instead of human ears, which is strange, considering that the first VideoGame/{{Mega Man|Classic}} had proper ears, despite being much less advanced. Certain Robot Masters tend to have these ears, such as Metal Man and Turbo Man.

* The Rehda in ''VideoGame/YsVITheArkOfNapishtim'' have long, outward-pointing ears and fox-like tails. Some of them dismissively call humans "Small-ears", as well.

* The Chiesters in ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' have bunny ears, for some reason.
* Mariel and her [[{{Expy}} Expies]] in the ''VideoGame/WildArms'' games (an elw) have long, floppy, furry ears.
* All of the Reploids in ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' & cyborgs in ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' seem to have these strange white headphone-like things instead of human ears, which is strange, considering that the first ''[[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Mega Man]]'' had proper ears, despite being much less advanced. Certain Robot Masters in ''Mega Man'' tend to have these ears, such as Metal Man and Turbo Man.
* Antenna ears, floppy pig and bear ears, and most other things you can staple to the side of your head are available in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes''/''[[VideoGame/CityOfVillains Villains]]''.

* Felicia from ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}''.
* Apparent in some later ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' games:
** Cat, tiger, lion, and wolf Laguz in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance]]/[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' have ears like the animals they can [[VoluntaryShapeshifting turn into]].
** Taguel in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' sport rabbit ears. Fittingly, they can turn into rabbits to fight.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' has [[AsianFoxSpirit kitsune]], who sport fox ears and can turn into foxes, as well as [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Wolfskin]], who sport wolf ears and become werewolves.
* Beastmen of the ''VideoGame/{{Lunar}}'' series have these. The women of the species do, too, but usually they tend towards daintier PointyEars.
* The members of the Lesser Fellpool race in the ''VideoGame/StarOcean'' series have ears like this.
* ''VideoGame/BunnyMustDie'': Bunny has both bunny ears and cat ears as a result of a catular power plant explosion. She's [[BerserkButton less than happy]] about it, too.
* Len in ''[[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Kagetsu Tohya]]'' as well as a handful of other non-human characters such as Seven/Nanako.
* Any ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' character can have cat ears, and the normal human ears only "go away" if you hide them.

* March and Salsa in ''VideoGame/EternalSonata'' both have pointy ears and this is really the only thing that indicates that they are NotQuiteHuman, other than that March mentions that she's "never known the agogos to approach a human before."
* One of the most unusual sets of ears in fiction is the Roggenrola line from ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''. You see those indentations that look like eyes? They're ears.
* [[CuteMonsterGirl Cute Monster Girls]] Nei and Rika from the ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' series.
* Serilly from ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' is a mermaid with little fins on the sides of her head where ears would be.

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Grace's squirrely form has pointy, fuzzy ears. Catalina also gets the ability to [[LittleBitBeastly become a catgirl, with the requisite kitty ears.]]

* In ''Webcomic/{{Terinu}}'' instead of ears, every Galen has four to seven thin tines of bone like piano keys on either side of their skull.
* In the ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' End of Act 5 flash: [[spoiler:Upon ascending to God Tier, Jade gains a snazzy pair of dog ears to go with near omnipotence and immortality.]]
* Faith in ''Webcomic/AloneInACrowd'' is a CatGirl.

* Osborne from ''Webcomic/MonsterPulse'' has a left ear that can detach and transform into a monster.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* All characters in ''Roleplay/RubyQuest'' have these, corresponding to the characters' ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' counterparts. It's often the only way they can be told apart, due to the simplistic art style.
[[/folder]]

* A minor one in ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama,'' but the way Izzy's ears are drawn is upside-down [[https://www.google.com/search?q=total+drama+izzy&rlz=1CALKNW_enUS712US714&sxsrf=ALeKk000o7FGvLXInfPsklyz9Ysh7xjBBA:1611074318178&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj58cPDt6juAhXCwFkKHX_iA1UQ_AUoAXoECAoQAw&biw=1366&bih=617#imgrc=OJ7n19vySoZPPM compared to the other characters]].

* The title character of ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'', along with other [[OurOgresAreHungrier ogres]], has trumpet-shaped ears that point 45 degrees up. They're considered iconic enough to [[CharacterInTheLogo be included in the logo]].

* Liliruca Arde in ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon''. Her head has a pair of fur-covered ears and a tail behind her back.

* The [[CatGirl Catians]] in ''LightNovel/CatPlanetCuties'' have both kitty ears like the picture at the top of the page as well as normal human ears. This adds to the in-universe perception of how much they just look like humans who are cosplaying.

-->-- ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', "Cease Fire"

[[quoteright:320:[[LightNovel/SpiceAndWolf https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/holo_ears.png]]]]

* Horo from ''LightNovel/SpiceAndWolf'' has [[ExpressiveHair wolf ears]] and a tail as she's a wolf-god. She always keeps them hidden in public with a [[InTheHood hood]] or a hat. . However, that doesn't change the fact that they look more like they belong to a fox (being red-orange with white fluffy tips). When you see her in full wolf form, her fur pattern is distinctly different from fox's, despite of sharing similar ears and tail, which are the same as on her humanoid form.

* The title character of ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'', along with other [[OurOgresAreHungrier ogres]], has trumpet-shaped and point 45 degrees up. They're considered iconic enough to [[CharacterInTheLogo be included in the logo]].

* Mint from ''Anime/GalaxyAngel'' has goat ears.

-->-- '''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''', "Cease Fire"

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' has {{kitsune}}, who sport fox ears and can turn into foxes, as well as [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Wolfskin]], who sport wolf ears and become werewolves.

** Ferengi ears are a major part of their identity. They are ''huge'' and roughly equivalent to BrassBalls (men have bigger lobes than women, and good businessmen are complimented on their lobes), as well as erogenous zones.

** Kotaro, being [[HalfHumanHybrid half]]-{{inugami}}, has a pair of pointed ears sprouting from his head which he can [[HyperspaceEars somehow fold beneath his hair]].