History Main / WhatMeasureisANonCute

* Look, let's be honest. As the examples above have shown, sea life in general suffers from this fairly regularly, despite having many fans and activist supporting them. This is not so much due to animosity, but because it is essentially a whole other world outside the Animal Kingdom we have on land, most of which isn't known or understood by outsiders of Marine Biology, which is why the general layman view of sea life ranges from cool, to exotic, to downright creepy. While it's not so bad to the point of being regarded as AcceptableTargets like insects and other invertebrates on land, this is why you can find much apathy from goverments, institutions and even everyday folk about the abuse and mass slaughter of fish and other sea life. It’s telling that whales and other sea mammals are the main exception—-[[MostWritersAreHuman they remind us of ourselves]] in a way that, say, fish don’t, so they elicit far more sympathy.
* German "science" TV show ''Galileo'' did a shocking documentary about tigers in a Korean zoo being raised under horrible conditions like too small cages, a true scandal. Then the next day they showed people eating (and chewing) living frog and skinning a snake while it was still alive, that fell under their ''cool'' section.
* Some Spanish people point this out, wondering why bullfighting is legal and dog fighting is not.

** A considerable amount of effort and money goes into protecting the American Mustang which is an introduced species descended from escaped horses brought to North America by the Spanish. The amount of effort and money going into protecting the Mustang is significantly greater than goes into protecting many genuine indigenous endangered species. Fossil records however have shown that horses (albeit a different species from the domestic horse) did exist in North America before they befell the same fate shared by many of North America's megafauna. So it is thought that their presence is actually restoring a bit of the environment that was once lost. The same cannot be said for the Australian Brumby (Horses were never native to Australia).

** Some of what plays in to this is marketing. Years ago, scientists found out that hamsters weren't really good for experiments but things really take off in the 1940s, when some guy named Albert Marsh won one in a bet and came up with the idea to breed, sell, and write ads for them([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestication_of_the_Syrian_hamster#/media/File:Raise_hamsters_advertisement.jpg See here]]). Rats (and mice) didn't really get that sort of marketing, not in the US anyway.
* There has apparently been talk about banning goldfish as pets in San Francisco due to them often being bred in unethical conditions or something along those lines. Whether you agree with the ban or not, you have to admit that the people's reactions have been telling of this trope. The worst comments claimed that they can't even feel pain, which has been scientifically proven wrong (and if it wasn't, you'd think the benefit of the doubt would go towards supposing that they can, to avoid possibly causing pain). Goldfish are generally often treated badly, for example kept in far too small bowls, again probably due to this trope. It's all too hard to make people understand that not only do they in fact have longer memories than 3 seconds (as busted by the Series/MythBusters, among others), they are actually rather smart and can learn tricks and ''even recognize humans by voice''.

** Of course, another reason for this is that dolphins are many times more intelligent than tuna, are near-sapient enough to be regarded almost as "persons", and breed a lot more slowly, so aren't as able to replace their losses.
* In America, opossums tend to get this treatment. Due to their vague resemblance to [[YouDirtyRat that abhorred rodent]] and [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily disturbing dentition]], they often get treated with much less respect and mercy than other native wildlife. Some people immediately conclude that an opossum is rabid [[InsaneTrollLogic because it's ugly]], even though their low body temperature makes them unlikely to catch the virus. An opossum living outside your house is usually harmless and sometimes even useful, as they eat many small pests. Admittedly they are rather dirty (and smelly) animals, but rarely carry any contagious diseases, to the point that wild opossum roadkills are usually ''safe to eat'' and there's a whole cuisine in the DeepSouth around them. They have very little chance of hurting you, their best defense is to hiss and play dead. But they're uglier than [[KillerRabbit raccoons and skunks]], so they must be evil!
* At one point, PETA campaigned to rename fish to "sea-kittens", the idea being if people compared fish to kittens, they would stop eating the former. This was eventually dropped. Part of why this didn't work is that Catfish are both caught and farmed for food. In some places, Catfish are a delicacy while in other places they are a dietary staple. A "sea-kitten" could refer to a juvenile Catfish that will be lunch when it grows up.

** Then we have Demona, who evokes some outright Satanic imagery (her name is '''Demon'''a, for one), and yet is drawn in such a way as to evoke every {{fanservice}} trope imaginable from {{Stripperiffic}} and BareYourMidriff, to ShesGotLegs and HeroesWantRedheads (used to be Goliah's wife) and so on. EvilIsSexy even if you're a giant lizard-bat-thing.

* There's a company that makes plushie cuddly viruses and bacteria, including such charmers as the common cold, the Black Death, and syphilis. Ah yes, [[http://www.giantmicrobes.com/uk/ there it is.]] One shivers to think of toddlers sleeping with these.

The heroes, on the other hand, will be cute or cool animals like [[PreciousPuppy doggies]] and [[CuteKitten kitties]] and bunnies and duckies and {{turtle|Power}}s and froggies and ladybugs and bees and ants and [[SillySimian monkeys]] and {{friendly playful dolphin}}s and Reticulated Chipmunks and you see where we're going with this right?

->Charismatic megafauna you get all of the love
->Leaving nothing for the ugly ones when push it comes to shove
->Those squishy slimy little squirmy things don't get no chainsaw sculptures
->You'll never see a macrame of a lowly turkey vulture

** Actually, they are actually very different - rats are both far more intelligent and far more social animals than hamsters, resulting in their ability to actually bond with human owners and see humans as playmates much like kittens do. Most domestic rats rarely bite unless severely frightened (the main exceptions are some pink-eyed rats who can't see well and are easily startled). Hamsters, on the other hand, rarely see humans as more than lumps to climb on and to bite any time they happen to get in the way. But because hamsters have rounder faces and fluffier fur (and no long, naked, semi-prehensile tail), they are the more popular pet.

** Actually, some of what plays in to this is marketing. You see, years ago, scientists found out that hamsters weren't really good for experiments but things really take off in the 1940s, when some guy named Albert Marsh won one in a bet and came up with the idea to breed, sell, and write ads for them([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestication_of_the_Syrian_hamster#/media/File:Raise_hamsters_advertisement.jpg See here]]). Rats (and mice) didn't really get that sort of marketing, well, not in the US anyway.

* Inverted with the subject of feathered dinosaurs; some of the [[FanDumb less pleasant paleonuts]] tend to devolve into cries of "science ruined dinosaurs!" when the topic is brought up and act as though being covered in fluffy feathers would somehow make ''UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex'' a complete wuss, despite [[KingOfTheDinosaurs it still having teeth like steak-knives, a biteforce stronger than any land animal in history, a tendency to eat triceratopses by ripping their heads off and possibly cannibalizing each other]]. It's probably cold comfort that in 2020 it was discovered ''T. rex'' was not feathered after all, due to its size and gigantothermy making such insulation unlikely, though it was the exception rather than the rule and most large predatory theropods, including other tyrannosaur species like ''Yutyrannus'', indeed sported feathers.

Humans, being as prejudiced as we are, tend to only like certain animals. Oh, how our dog smiles and plays! Oh, how our cat rolls on the rug asking for a tummy rub! Oh, how the hamster stuffs his chubby little cheeks! Oh, how pretty the Mute Swan is as he glides across the pond! Oh, how the trout... is a boring old fish.

Humans, being as prejudiced as we are, tend to only like certain animals. Oh, how our dog smiles and plays! Oh, how our cat rolls on the rug asking for a tummy rub! Oh, how the hamster stuffs his chubby little cheeks! Oh, how pretty the Mute Swan is as he glides across the pond! Oh, how the Coelacanth... is a boring old fish.

** Then we have Demona, who evokes some outright Satanic imagery (her name is '''Demon'''a, for one), and yet is drawn in such a way as to evoke every {{fanservice}} trope imaginable from {{Stripperiffic}} and AbsoluteCleavage, to ShesGotLegs and HeroesWantRedheads (used to be Goliah's wife) and so on. EvilIsSexy even if you're a giant lizard-bat-thing.

You may have noticed that only cute, cuddly, and cool animals are good guys while unpopular or unattractive animals are brought in to be the {{Designated Villain}}s. This usually plays into the "Carnivores are Mean" subtrope of CarnivoreConfusion. [[SavageWolves Wolves]] were cast as baddies for centuries. Owls and hawks and [[CreepyCrows corvids]] basically exist to [[GiantFlyer drop down on our cuter protagonists from above]]. [[WickedWasps Wasps]] and termites are mini villains. [[YouDirtyRat Rats]] and [[WickedWeasel Weasels]] are the go-to pocket-sized villains. [[TentacledTerror Octopuses and squid]] are more or less discount {{Kraken|and Leviathan}}s. Friendly sharks pretty much exist ''only'' as a {{subver|tedTrope}}sion. Don't even ask about [[SnakesAreSinister snakes]][[note]]Well maybe you can aboit the non-venomous kinds, like garter snakes or pythons, but these are rare[[/note]].

* Look, let's be honest. As the examples above have shown, Marine Life in general suffers from this fairly regularly, despite having many fans and activist supporting them. This is not so much due to animosity, but because it is escentially a whole other world outside the Animal Kingdom we have in land, most of which isn't known or understood by outsiders of Marine Biology, which is why the general layman view of Sea Life ranges from cool, to exotic, to downright creepy. While it's not so bad to the point of being regarded as AcceptableTargets like insects and other invertebrates on land, this is why you can find much apathy from goverments, institutions and even everyday folk about the abuse and mass slaughter of fish and other sea life. Perhaps it might also be why in fiction [[FishPeople they're potrayed as monsters]] in Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon and Franchise/TheCthulhuMythos, since [[NothingIsScarier there's nothing scarier]] [[EldritchAbomination than what you can't understand]], why NoCartoonFish is a thing, why InstantFishKill is often PlayedForLaughs ([[UndignifiedDeath which can be even more degrading if it was preceded by an]] UnderwaterFartGag), [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman and why a characters with water-related powers are seen or treated as jokes]]. Tellingly, whales and other sea mammals are the main exception.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** ''Pokemon'' come in all forms and species, and while Pokedex entries describe varying degrees of morality for many of them, yours will naturally only be as good and bad as you tell them to be (the anime adaptation is a different story though...). Design wise, the scape of animals and plants and...[[CartoonCreature whatevers]] the Pokemon are based is surprisingly versatile. [[GiantSpider Galvantula]] for example looks surprisingly docile and huggable for what is the universe's equivalent of a dog sized tarantula spider.
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' and ''VideoGame/PokemonPlatinum'' an NPC is upset his Gyarados and Steelix are not considered cute enough to enter a park.

* The Orca also suffers from the same stigma as the Great White Shark, the "Killer Whale" name not doing them any favors. Ironically, their Dolphin brothers don't have the same stigma or persecution, [[FriendlyPlayfulDolphin instead they're generally seen as adorable]], [[RealityIsUnrealistic despite there actually being very good reasons]] [[DeviousDolphins to not like them at all]].

* Look, let's be honest. As the examples above have shown, Marine Life in general suffers from this fairly regularly, despite having many fans and activist supporting them. This is not so much due to animosity, but because it is escentially a whole other world outside the Animal Kingdom we have in land, most of which isn't known or understood by outsiders of Marine Biology, which is why the general layman view of Sea Life ranges from cool, to exotic, to downright creepy. While it's not so bad to the point of being regarded as AcceptableTargets like insects and other invertebrates on land, this is why you can find much apathy from goverments, institutions and even everyday folk about the abuse and mass slaughter of Marine Life. Perhaps it might also be why in fiction [[FishPeople they're potrayed as monsters]] in Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon and Franchise/TheCthulhuMythos, since [[NothingIsScarier there's nothing scarier]] [[EldritchAbomination than what you can't understand]], why NoCartoonFish is a thing, why InstantFishKill is often PlayedForLaughs ([[UndignifiedDeath which can be even more degrading if it was preceded by an]] UnderwaterFartGag), [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman and why a character like Aquaman and Expies of him are seen or treated as jokes]].

** A considerable amount of effort and money goes into protecting the American Mustang which is an introduced species descended from escaped horses brought to North America by the Spanish. The amount of effort and money going into protecting the Mustang is significantly greater than goes into protecting many genuine indigenous endangered species. Fossil records however have shown that horses did exist in North America before they befell the same fate shared by many of North America's megafauna (like Mammoths and North American Lions). So it is thought that their presence is actually restoring a bit of the environment that was once lost. The same cannot be said for the Australian Brumby (Horses were never native to Australia).

* Pigeons are often stereotyped as dirty, mindless city slickers despite being intelligent and affectionate. This is especially jarring because white doves are considered pure and good almost universally, despite the two birds being ''the same species'', with little difference between the two.

You may have noticed that only cute, cuddly, and cool animals are good guys while unpopular or unattractive animals are brought in to be the {{Designated Villain}}s. This usually plays into the "Carnivores are Mean" subtrope of CarnivoreConfusion. [[SavageWolves Wolves]] were cast as baddies for centuries. Owls and hawks and [[CreepyCrows corvids]] basically exist to [[GiantFlyer drop down on our cuter protagonists from above]]. [[WickedWasps Wasps]] and termites are mini villains. [[YouDirtyRat Rats]] and [[WickedWeasel Weasels]] are the go-to pocket-sized villains. [[TentacledTerror Octopuses and squid]] are more or less discount {{Kraken|and Leviathan}}s. Friendly sharks pretty much exist ''only'' as a {{subver|tedTrope}}sion. Don't even ask about [[SnakesAreSinister snakes]].

* DiscussedTrope in TravelogueShow ''Series/LongWayDown'': As Creator/EwanMcGregor and his cohost Charley Boorman are being driven through the wilds of far eastern Siberia, their Russian drivers spot a bear by the side of the road. The drivers promptly leap out of the trucks, shoot and kill the bear, and skin it. Ewan is horrified. Charley isn't exactly thrilled, but he points out that Ewan has no problem eating meat from a cow, and for Ewan to eat a steak a cow must suffer and die. All Ewan can answer with is "But it's a ''cow''."

The UncannyValley is somewhat related, as it was born from the scientific study of this trope. It is a supertrope of NoCartoonFish. It often cross-pollinates with BeautyEqualsGoodness, AnimalStereotypes, CarnivoreConfusion, and WhatMeasureIsANonHuman. See also UglyCute, BatOutOfHell, BugWar, OminousOwl, ReptilesAreAbhorrent, YouDirtyRat, and AlwaysChaoticEvil. Contrast DarkIsNotEvil, LightIsNotGood, TastesLikeDiabetes, and GrotesqueCute. Also contrast FluffyTamer and FriendToBugs for people with unconventional opinions on what animals qualify as cute or lovable. This trope also applies to humans and is often the deciding factor of who gets to be the FaceOfTheBand. This trope is pervasive enough that the KillerRabbit and some of the [[CatsAreMean Bad Kitties]] exist to subvert it. Time period and location seem to affect public opinion of mustelids, as shown by the contrasting tropes WeaselMascot and WickedWeasel.

* One ''Franchise/DisneyFairies'' short subverts this. One of the pixies is skating around with the fireflies and other [[TastesLikeDiabetes cute bugs and cutely-animated fish flying and leaping about]], while a frog eats a nearby swarm of flies. At the end, it accidentally draws her attention, and she orders it to spit the flies out.

* Franchise/PrettyCure''
** The standard MonsterOfTheWeek in the series is a random object turned into a rampaging beast but there's also cases of animals and even people getting possessed. In those rare instances, the heroines use a special attack that purify the monster without harming the victim. The catch is this only happens if the possessed animal is of the cute sort, like the MamaBear from ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCure'' or or Inori's BigFriendlyDog Lucky from ''Anime/FreshPrettyCure''.

* ''Anime/FreshPrettyCure'' officially adopted this trope when Eas/Setsuna had her HeelFaceTurn. Both of her forms were equally good looking; instead of being killed off like [[TheVamp most other female Pretty Cure villains]], she's spared and converted to the side of good as Cure Passion.

** Kevin Richardson, also known as "Lion Whisperer", regularly releases videos on Website/YouTube, showing him with hyenas, hoping that public opinion will change about them[[note]]and, for the most part. he's acutually succeeding[[/note]].

* Played depressingly straight in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTheTitanic''. The mice, dogs, birds, dolphins, and whales are all good guys, while the sharks are villains in league with the human villains and the [[CatsAreMean mean cats]] are pets of the WickedStepmother. Tentacles the octopus is given a giant baby head with a dog's nose.

* A plot point in ''WesternAnimation/PenguinsOfMadagascar'', as Dave the Octopus became a villain because people didn't think he was cute.

* Pigeons are often stereotyped as dirty, mindless city slickers despite being intelligent and affectionate. This is especially jarring because white doves are considered pure and good almost universally, despite the two birds being in the same family, with little difference between the two.

**A lot a nature conservation efforts tend to focus on deer, especially if there is an anti-hunting spin involved. While in someplace this is justified as there are threatened species of deer, in most instances trying to conserve deer populations is actually ''harmful'' to the environment. In many places the deer's natural predators have been eliminated, allowing them to breed until they have no food left and they starve.

** In addition, they are considered the rivals of lions, and lions are among the most popular animals in the world. Actually, however, it is lions who steal prey more often from hyenas (and other predators), and not vice versa. Lions are also much more brutal than hyenas, and even harass or kill their food competitors.
** Kevin Richardson, also known as "Lion Whisperer", regularly releases videos on Website/YouTube, showing him hyenas, hoping that public opinion will change about them[[note]]and, for the most part. he's acutually succeeding[[/note]].

* Look, let's be honest. As the examples above have shown, Marine Life in general suffers from this fairly regularly, despite having many fans and activist supporting them. This is not so much due to animosity, but because it is escentially a whole other world outside the Animal Kingdom we have in land, most of which isn't known or understood by outsiders of Marine Biology, which is why the general layman view of Sea Life ranges from cool, to exotic, to downright creepy. While it's not so bad to the point of being regarded as AcceptableTargets like insects and other invertebrates on land, this is why you can find much apathy from goverments, institutions and even everyday folk about the abuse and mass slaughter of Marine Life. Perhaps it might also be why in fiction [[FishPeople they're potrayed as monsters]] in Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon and Franchise/TheCthulhuMythos, since [[NothingIsScarier there's nothing scarier]] than what you can't understand, why NoCartoonFish is a thing, why InstantFishKill is often PlayedForLaughs ([[UndignifiedDeath which can be even more degrading if it was preceded by an]] UnderwaterFartGag), [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman and why a character like Aquaman and Expies of him are seen or treated as jokes]].

* Look, let's be honest. As the examples above have shown, Marine Life in general suffers from this fairly regularly, despite having many fans and activist supporting them. This is not so much due to animosity, but because it is escentially a whole other world outside the Animal Kingdom we have in land, most of which isn't known or understood by outsiders of Marine Biology, which is why the general layman view of Sea Life ranges from cool, to exotic, to downright creepy. While it's not so bad to the point of being regarded as AcceptableTargets like insects and other invertebrates on land, this is why you can find much apathy from goverments, institutions and even everyday folk about the abuse and mass slaughter of Marine Life. Perhaps it might also be why in fiction [[FishPeople they're potrayed as monsters]] in Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon and Franchise/TheCthulhuMythos, since [[NothingIsScarier there's nothing scarier]] than what you can't understand, NoCartoonFish is a thing, why InstantFishKill is often PlayedForLaughs ([[UndignifiedDeath which can be even more degrading if it was preceded by an]] UnderwaterFartGag), [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman and why a character like Aquaman and Expies of him are seen or treated as jokes]].

* Look, let's be honest. As the examples above have shown, Marine Life in general suffers from this fairly regularly, despite having many fans and activist supporting them. This is not so much due to animosity, but because it is escentially a whole other world outside the Animal Kingdom we have in land, most of which isn't known or understood by outsiders of Marine Biology, which is why the general layman view of Sea Life ranges from cool, to exotic, to downright creepy. While it's not so bad to the point of being regarded as AcceptableTargets like insects and other invertebrates on land, this is why you can find much apathy from goverments, institutions and even everyday folk about the abuse and mass slaughter of Marine Life. Perhaps it might also be why be why in fiction [[FishPeople they're potrayed as monsters]] in Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon and Franchise/TheCthulhuMythos, since [[NothingIsScarier there's nothing scarier]] than what you can't understand, NoCartoonFish is a thing, why InstantFishKill is often PlayedForLaughs ([[UndignifiedDeath which can be even more degrading if it was preceded by an]] UnderwaterFartGag), [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman and why a character like Aquaman and Expies of him are seen or treated as jokes]].

* Look, let's be honest. As the examples above have shown, Marine Life in general suffers from this fairly regularly, despite having many fans and activist supporting them. This is not so much due to animosity, but because it is escentially a whole other world outside the Animal Kingdom we have in land, most of which isn't known or understood by outsiders of Marine Biology, which is why the general layman view of Sea Life ranges from cool, to exotic, to downright creepy. While it's not so bad to the point of becoming AcceptableTargets like insects and other invertebrates on land, this is why you can find much apathy from goverments, institutions and even everyday folk about the abuse and mass slaughter of Marine Life. Perhaps it might also be why in fiction NoCartoonFish is a thing, why InstantFishKill is often PlayedForLaughs ([[UndignifiedDeath which can be even more degrading if it was preceded by an]] UnderwaterFartGag), [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman and why a character like Aquaman and Expies of him are seen or treated as jokes]].