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1[[quoteright:350:[[WebVideo/TuckerBudzyn https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tucker_journee.jpg]]]]
2 [[caption-width-right:350:''"Tucker, do you take Journ-journ to be your floofy-wedded wife, 'til'' treatos ''do you part?"'']]
3In fiction, sometimes animals are referred to as if they're married, even if their species is non-monogamous by nature [[note]]Birds such as swans, geese, eagles, doves, and pigeons, and canids such as foxes, grey foxes, coyotes, and wolves are naturally monogamous.[[/note]], because MostWritersAreHuman. At times human characters refer to themselves as married for convenience's sake and other times the animals themselves refer to each other as married.
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5[[MetaphoricalMarriage No actual]] [[CommonLawMarriage marriage]] has to even be shown. It can be an InNameOnly title with no legal bearing (if the series even has laws). Animals will very often be considered "married" as soon as they become mates.
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7Marriage between animals is most prevalent in children's works and {{Beast Fable}}s. Instead of being referred to as mates, animals will be referred to as "married". Often times this is shorthanded to by referring to them as "Mrs. [x]" and "Mr. [x]" (often using a SpeciesSurname) in animal characters hailing from Anglophone countries, "Sra. [x]" and "Sr. [x]" (often with a SpeciesSurname) in those hailing from Hispanohablante countries, or whatever their given country's language's equivalent is.
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9This trope can also explain the works with animal characters that have implications or explications of having out-of-wedlock births.
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11This trope can apply to polygynous and polyandrous marriages, but as polygamous marriages are illegal in most Western countries (except for South Africa) and polyandrous marriages are not widely accepted by [[MostWritersAreHuman many human societies]], most trope examples are monogamous.
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13FormallyNamedPet can look like this trope, and both can overlap, especially if the former is a Mrs., but a FormallyNamedPet is not necessarily this trope.
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15This trope applies to the NearlyNormalAnimal, SpeechImpairedAnimal, TalkingAnimal, and PartiallyCivilizedAnimal. It also applies to the somewhat anthropomorphic CivilizedAnimal. This applies to FunnyAnimal characters that are treated as the animals they are in the work's verse or are more BeastFable in nature, but not to those treated as humans in-universe or those that have a FurryLens on them. This doesn't apply to {{Beast M|an}}en, as they're usually treated on par with humans.
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17Animals that live and are treated like humans, such as WorldOfFunnyAnimals types, don't apply to this trope, for that would be Administrivia/PeopleSitOnChairs.
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19----
20!!Examples:
21[[foldercontrol]]
22
23[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
24 * Bunya the male cat and Noisy the female cat from the 2016 CGI ''Manga/ChisSweetHome'', a work with non-anthropomorphic or barely anthropomorphic animal characters, are referred to as married.
25[[/folder]]
26
27[[folder:Fan Works]]
28* In ''Fanfic/AllMyKittens'', Duchess' owner refers to Duchess' stud mate as a "husband".
29* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': "The Rings" shows longtime sweethearts Bolt and Mittens having a private marriage-like ceremony later in the day after Penny and Joe's more traditional wedding. They even exchange rings by putting them on each other's ears.
30[[/folder]]
31
32[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
33* The geese twins from ''WesternAnimation/TheAristocats'' get mad at Thomas when they learn that he isn't married to Duchess. It's unclarified if Thomas and Duchess do ever marry, but the film ends with Thomas [[FromStrayToPet being adopted]] by Duchess' owner.
34* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}'', the mother elephant is named Mrs. Jumbo. Although the name suggests she's married to a Mr. Jumbo, he's not mentioned in the film, and her son is brought by a DeliveryStork.
35* One of the main characters in ''WesternAnimation/HomeOnTheRange'' is a PartiallyCivilizedAnimal cow named "Mrs. Calloway". There's never any mention of a "Mr. Calloway" though.
36* ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTramp'': Lady's friends, Jock and Trusty, offer to marry her in case her owners kick her out.
37* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'' characters are not referred to as "husband" or "wife", but the concept of marriage still exists. Simba and Nala are mentioned to be [[ArrangedMarriage betrothed]] to each other as cubs and the word "married" is even used. In real life lions are not monogamous, however all lions in the series seems to be. This leaves Nala's [[DisappearedDad parentage all the more confusing]], but allows the series to cleanly subvert BrotherSisterIncest or KissingCousins by not having Simba and Nala be related like real lion cubs from the same pride would.
38* In ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'' Perdita and Pongo get married along with their owners.
39* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'', Mama Odie gets Naveen and Tiana married, pronouncing them "frog and wife". Although they are [[BewitchedAmphibians humans in frog form]], there are a bunch of WoodlandCreatures attending the wedding, implying this is a normal ceremony for them.
40[[/folder]]
41
42[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
43* The Pevensies meet Mr. and Mrs. Beaver soon after entering Narnia in ''Film/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe''. They provide a brief respite, as well as some necessary backstory exposition.
44[[/folder]]
45
46[[folder:Literature]]
47* In ''Literature/BewareOfChicken'' [[UpliftedAnimal Spirit Beast pigs]] [[DumbIsGood Chun Ke]] and [[PowerOfTheVoid Pi Pa]] are referred to as husband and wife, both by each other and by the other inhabitants of Fa Ram. This is the only case shown of such a relationship between two Spirit Beasts, though they are also the only two Fa Ram Spirit Beasts of the same species.
48* In the ''Literature/CatPack'' series, Timothy the mouse mentions that he has a wife.
49* In ''Literature/TheColdMoons'', badgers are referred to both as mates and spouses. It's even mentioned that they have a wedding-like ceremony.
50* The mother of the winged cats in ''Literature/{{Catwings}}'' is called "Mrs. Jane Tabby".
51* The children's book ''Literature/DearHound'' is about a Deerhound puppy who gets lost in the woods. He is helped by a pair of foxes, Sunset and her husband Fixit.
52* ''Literature/InCryptid'': Timpani recognizes that two Aeslin mice have mated because they've built themselves a house, and the female appears to be pregnant. She refers to their relationship as a mouse honeymoon.
53* One of the first inhabitants of Narnia that the Pevensies meet in ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'' are Mr. and Mrs. Beaver. Beavers in real life form monogamous pairs for life.
54* The widow protagonist of ''Literature/MrsFrisbyAndTheRatsOfNIMH'' Mrs. Frisby ([[AdaptationNameChange renamed]] "Mrs. Brisby" in the [[WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH animated film]]) actually has [[NoNameGiven no known given name]]. She is either known as "Mrs. Frisby" or "Mrs. Jonathan Frisby". Most of the animals in the series are {{Partially Civilized Animal}}s living in a MouseWorld.
55* In the Creator/DickKingSmith story "A Narrow Squeak", mice Hedley and Ethel have an anniversary coming up. The writer goes on to explain that, because mice's lives are so uncertain, they celebrate anniversaries in days, not years.
56* In ''Literature/TailchasersSong'', cats refer to being in committed relationship similarly to a marriage as a "Joining". Joinings are rare amongst cats as most are noncommittal. Prior to Joining, cats do a special dance called the Dance of Acceptance.
57* While marriage isn't used in ''Literature/WarriorCats'', cats do generally mate for life.
58* The term, mating, is used in ''Literature/{{Sekhmet}}'' to refer to marriage. They even have a mating ceremony.
59* In ''Literature/TheHundredAndOneDalmatians'', Missis is referred to as Pongo's wife. Perdita once felt "a great desire to marry", although it's pretty clear from context that this is a euphemism for going into heat.
60[[/folder]]
61
62[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
63* In the ''Series/BroadCity'' episode "The Matrix," Ilana's brother Elliot hosts an elaborate wedding for his dog, complete with wedding rings, a yarmulke for the groom, and a gown and veil for the bride. He takes the wedding very seriously and panics every time anything doesn't go according to plan.
64[[/folder]]
65
66[[folder:Radio]]
67* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': In the episode "Minerva's Kittens", Mrs. Davis and Miss Brooks wait at the veterinary hospital for Minerva to give birth. They share this exchange:
68-->'''Miss Brooks''': Please, Mrs. Davis, calm down. Even Timothy isn't as jumpy as you are. You're as nervous as a cat.\
69'''Timothy''': [[NearlyNormalAnimal ''Meow'']].\
70'''Mrs. Davis''': What is ''he'' doing here?\
71'''Miss Brooks''': Why shouldn't he be here? He's Minerva's husband. It's very nice of him to take such an interest.
72[[/folder]]
73
74[[folder:Toys]]
75* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'': G1 is somewhere on the sliding scale between PartiallyCivilizedAnimal and CivilizedAnimal, depending on the year. An early figurine depicts Moondancer and a [[{{Genderflip}} male]] Glory as married. A later set features families consisting of two parents and their foal.
76[[/folder]]
77
78[[folder:Video Games]]
79* In ''VideoGame/{{Cattails}}'', the player cat can propose to and marry another cat by bringing a ring to them.
80* ''VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon'': One set of trainers asks if you'll celebrate a wedding for their Pikachus with them. If you choose to do so, the two will walk together minus an aisle and be officiated to kiss by one of said trainers, although they get a modesty fade to black before it happens.
81* In ''VideoGame/StardewValley'', the quest "Extended Family" has the player catching the legendary fish' extended family members, including the wife of the Angler fish called "Ms. Angler".
82[[/folder]]
83
84[[folder:Webcomics]]
85* In ''Webcomic/FauxPas'' Randy the domestic fox learned everything he knew about romance from human TV, confusing his wild girlfriend Cindy as to why they needed to be "mare-reed" before having kits.
86* ''Webcomic/{{Housepets}}'':
87** The dogs King and Bailey are married, though King is a [[ForcedTransformation former human]]. The vet who helps deliver their puppies is rather sarcastic about this, apparently seeing it as an example of people spoiling their pets, and feeling that Bailey's owner should be more involved than King.
88** Wolves Miles and Lucretia are "mated" with three pups but not legally "married." Once Miles remarks that he'd like to "marry my wife someday."
89** Sabrina the cat is almost forced to marry an African leopard prince she made a ChildhoodMarriagePromise to, but her current boyfriend (a dog) derails the ceremony.
90* ''Webcomic/InOurShadow'': The artist has stated that the post-human evolved animals don't really do "marriage," with the one exception seen in the comic being a [[AltarDiplomacy political marriage]] between the founder of the Kangaroo Kingdom and the daughter of one of the tribal chiefs he defeated.
91[[/folder]]
92
93[[folder:Web Video]]
94* ''WebVideo/TuckerBudzyn'': Tucker gets married to Journee on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2E-i9ZhChk a video]] (pictured above) posted on Valentine's Day 2020.
95[[/folder]]
96
97[[folder:Western Animation]]
98* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': In the episode "The Love God", Mabel set up Waddles the pig and Gompers the goat together and has Stan officiate their wedding.
99* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E11FearOfFlying "Fear of Flying",]] after a FreakOut on an airplane due to a fear of flying, Marge's SanitySlippage keeps showing up in strange ways, such as carrying Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II into the room and saying:
100-->'''Marge:''' I just realized we never had a wedding for the cat and the dog. They've been living in sin.
101[[/folder]]

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