Line #151 Main/UnusualEars


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4	[[quoteright:320:[[Literature/SpiceAndWolf https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/holo_ears.png]]]]
5
6	->'''Soval:''' What is their fixation with our ears?
7	->'''T'Pol:''' I believe they are envious.
8	-->-- ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', "[[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS02E015CeaseFire Cease Fire]]"
9
10	In SpeculativeFiction and {{Mythology}}, it is not surprising to see characters with non-standard ears. Having non-human ears is a common way of indicating that a character that otherwise looks mostly human is NotQuiteHuman, whether it be an alien, supernatural creature or human significantly modified through magical or pseudo-scientific means. Unusual Ears are particularly popular in SpeculativeFiction television and film, where they are used as a relatively cheap way of making RubberForeheadAliens. PointyEars are by far the most common type, having been associated with everything from demons and [[TheFairFolk magical faeries]] to [[Franchise/StarTrek Vulcans]]. In Japan, the ability to hear extremely well is called jigokumimi, which translates to "hell ears".
11
12	In Japanese Manga and Anime, cat ears (''nekomimi'', which is sometimes used to mean CatGirl.) 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.
13
14	!!Subtropes
15	[[index]]
16	* AnimalEaredHeadband - Fake animal ears worn as a costume
17	* CatGirl - Cat-eared person
18	* EarFins - Fins on the sides of the head where ears would be
19	* EarWings - Wing-like ears
20	* EarsAsHair - Ears used in place of hair
21	* ExpressiveEars - Ears used to signify mood
22	* FurryEarDissonance - Disconnect between artistic portrayal of animal ears and actual animal ears.
23	* LittleBitBeastly - People that look mostly human but have actual animal ears (other than [[CatGirl cat ears]] or [[AnimalEaredHeadband costume ears]])
24	* PointyEars - Pointed ears
25	* RobotAntennae - Otherwise-lifelike androids with metal fins on the sides of their head in place of ears
26	* SproutingEars - Unusual Ears that appear temporarily, often for comedic effect and intended to be symbolic of personality traits rather than indicating actual ears.
27	[[/index]]
28
29	----
30	!!Examples
31
32	[[foldercontrol]]
33
34	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
35	* From ''Manga/UFOPrincessValkyrie'', while not exactly ears, the princesses of Valhalla all have wings on their heads that they can apparently control. Additionally, the various alien races seen throughout the series often have their own ear types.
36	* Everyone in ''Manga/{{Loveless}}'' is born with nekomimi and a tail, and [[spoiler:loses them once they lose their virginity.]]
37	* Nekoko in ''Manga/DestinyOfTheShrineMaiden'' has cat ears (and a tail) due to experimentation by unscrupulous scientists/doctors.
38	* All of the cat-people in ''Mahou Shoujo Neko Taruto'' (also have tails).
39	* Aisha Clanclan and all of the other Ctarl-Ctarl in ''Manga/OutlawStar''. Though the shape and position have jigokumimi aspects too, perhaps intentionally.
40	* Merle, Naria, and Erya from ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne''.
41	* Koma in ''Manga/ShrineOfTheMorningMist''.
42	* Nya Nia from ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod''.
43	* Dejiko and Puchiko from ''Anime/DiGiCharat''.
44	* The Cheshire Cat from ''Manga/MiyukiChanInWonderland''.
45	* While not actually ears, the Diclonius in ''Manga/ElfenLied'' have horns that look like nekomimi.
46	* Neneko in ''Anime/{{Yumeria}}'' wears a hat designed to look like nekomimi.
47	** Do we ever see her head without that hat to know if it's just the hat or if she has nekomimi?
48	* Four of the five heroines from ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'': Ichigo/Mew Ichigo (cat), Bu-ling/Mew Pudding (monkey), Zakuro/Mew Zakuro (wolf) and Berii/Mew Berry (rabbit).
49	* In ''Manga/DotHackLegendOfTheTwilight'', an event prize is a set of {{Moe}} fetish items, including cat ears; Shugo begins to idolize the programmer, while the girls are mortified.
50	* The Medicine Peddler of ''Anime/{{Mononoke}}'' has pointed ears, in a setting where no normal human character does. This is only one of [[CuteLittleFangs many]] [[FacialMarkings unusual]] [[Really700YearsOld things]] about him that people [[WeirdnessCensor just don't seem to notice]].
51	* In ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'', the main character, Naota, sprouts nekomimi for an episode. [[spoiler:Of course, they prove to be nothing but part of a monster slowly emerging from Naota's head.]]
52	* Ropponmatsu 2 from ''Manga/ExcelSaga'' has cat ears, and their unusualness is immediately noted by Iwata in [[Anime/ExcelSaga the anime]] in the most spectacular fashion: "They're just offensive. If you have the energy to wiggle those nasty things, why don't you chew peanuts with your eyes and eat spaghetti through your nose, you offense to God?"
53	* Catherine from ''Manga/{{Gintama}}''. She's neither cute nor sexy, though.
54	* Ikuto from ''Manga/ShugoChara'' gets cat ears and tail when he character transforms with Yoru.
55	* Niea and the other aliens from ''Anime/NieaUnder7''.
56	* Mint from ''Anime/GalaxyAngel'' has goat-like ears. In the videogame continuity it's revealed they're symbiotic organisms native to her planet, which attach to people and give them the ability to read minds.
57	* Schroedinger from ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' is a {{catboy}} with feline ears.
58	* All the girls in ''Manga/OtomeYoukaiZakuro'' have these ears. Of course, they are fox spirits.
59	* ''Everyone'' in ''Anime/DogDays'' has these or dog ears (with a few other animals thrown into the mix) except [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Shinku]].
60	* Yomi of ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' has ''six'' long, [[PointyEars almost goat-like]] ears. It is revealed in a {{flashback}} that [[spoiler: he once had only two ears like this, but after losing his sight, he grew another four ears in compensation]]; he is a demon, after all. His son Shura also has similar ears (though only two).
61	* Kagome Higurashi's first act upon seeing ''Manga/InuYasha'', sealed and stuck to a tree? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn4RSEbPZPU 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.
62	* Several characters in ''Manga/KamisamaKiss'' qualify. For starters, Tomoe has fox ears and a lot of gods and demons also seem to have elven-looking ears.
63	* Chii and the other persocons in ''Manga/{{Chobits}}'' have "ears" that open up and contain electrical connectors.
64	* Hayama Akito from ''Manga/{{Kodocha}}'' occasionally sprouts leopard ears (and tail) for comedic effect.
65	* Meirin and Tamamo no Mae in ''VisualNovel/YamiToBoushiToHonNoTabibito'' have fox (kitsune) ears and tails.
66	* Almost everyone in ''VideoGame/{{Utawarerumono}}'' has animal or demon ears of some description, including cat, lion, wolf, rabbit and some rather strange wing-ears.
67	* Liliruca Arde in ''Literature/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon''. Her head has a pair of fur-covered ears and a tail behind her back.
68	* The Harpie Ladies in ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' usually have jigokumimi-type ears. However, when Harpie's Feather Duster is played, they sprout extra wings and get winglike ears.
69	* A quick indication of someone being a familiar in ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' is the existence of furry animal ears where human ears would usually be found.
70	* Kuon of ''VisualNovel/TriangleHeart3SweetSongsForever'' naturally has fox ears, being a kitsune.
71	* Solty from ''Anime/SoltyRei'' has long, pointy ears/antennae that are the same color as her hair.
72	* In ''Anime/LastExile'', some members of the Guild (Dio and Luciola are most prominent) have slightly pointed ears. They're normal-sized, just...pointed at the top.
73	* [[spoiler:Romulus]] from the 1 + 1/2 Nekutai doujinshi sports a pair of wolf ears, [[spoiler:hidden under his hat]]. It holds true for [[spoiler:basically all the werewolves after their first transformation, including Remus]].
74	* In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'':
75	** Kotaro, being [[HalfHumanHybrid half]]-inugami, has a pair of pointed ears sprouting from his head which he can [[HyperspaceEars somehow fold beneath his hair]].
76	** In the Magic World arc, large part of Magic World population have some unusual ears: jigokumimi, cat ears, sheep ears... Wearing fake cat ears becomes an [[PaperThinDisguise effective disguise]], not a decoration.
77	* In the "extra chapter" of ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'', Hinagiku gains donkey ears (Though they look much more like kyuubi ears). Something similar happens when Arthur of the series ''Series/{{Merlin\|2008}}'' gains donkey ears.
78	* The [[CatGirl Catians]] in ''Literature/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.
79	* [[PsychoElectro Eneru]] of ''Franchise/OnePiece'' has earlobes that hang down to his ''chest'' with heavy earrings. This is to invoke the appearance of [[AGodAmI a hindu deity]].
80	* In ''Manga/MonsterMusume'' most of the {{Cute Monster Girl}}s of the cast have odd ears. [[SnakePeople Miia's]] are pointy and scaly, [[OurCentaursAreDifferent Centorea]] has horse ears, [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent Mero's]] ears look like fins, and it's ambiguous whether [[SlimeGirl Suu]] even ''has'' ears at all.
81	* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Kyoka Jiro's Quirk gives her elongated earlobes, ending in jack plugs. She can extend and plug them into objects to catch extremely faint sounds or channel the sound of her own heartbeat into them in the form of powerful vibrations. [[MundaneUtility She can also use them as regular earbuds.]]
82	* A manga story based on ''Toys/{{Tamagotchi}}'' depicts Yumemitchi with abnormally stretchy ears that she uses to catch a ball and [[EarWings as wings to fly with]]. This is the only time in the franchise that she demonstrates this (makes sense, as [[spoiler:this specific manga story is AllJustADream]]).
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Comic Books]]
86	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': The kreel have PointyEars with large incised helixes.
87	[[/folder]]
88
89	[[folder:FanWorks]]
90	* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' fanfics ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11989539/1/Hakkōna Hakkōna]]'' and ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12023508/1/Kaitō-Kokoro Kaitō Kokoro]]'': When Kiku is in his true [[spoiler:[[VoluntaryShapeShifter nekomataneko form]], in addition to having human ears, he also has pointy cat ears.]]
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
94	* The title character of ''Franchise/{{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]].
95	[[/folder]]
96
97	[[folder:Literature]]
98	* ''Literature/SpiceAndWolf'': Holo's human form is that of a teenage girl with wolf ears, the color of which matches her hair and reflects her true form's fur coloring.
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
102	* ''Franchise/StarTrek'', with its RubberForeheadAliens, has ''many''.
103	** Vulcans and Romulans, of course, go under PointyEars.
104	** Ferengi ears are a major part of their identity. They are ''huge''[[note]]so large, they have to have bones to support them[[/note]] and roughly equivalent to BrassBalls (men have bigger lobes than women, and good businessmen are complimented on their lobes), as well as erogenous zones.
105	** The Vorta from ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' have long, thin ears from their chin to their crown.
106	** Neelix and other Talaxians in ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'' have larger and thinner ears than humans.
107	** Phlox, from ''[[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Enterprise]]'', has ridgey ears. This is the [[BizarreAlienBiology least unusual feature]] of his anatomy.
108	** ''Series/StarTrekPicard''. Played for laughs when Narek mocks his sister, a Romulan DeepCoverAgent disguised as a human with MagicPlasticSurgery.
109	--->"That ridiculous disguise. Round ears. You look like a plucked ''wakak''."
110	* In the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E16HellsBells "Hell's Bells"]], we see visions of Xander's supposed future. In these visions, his vision-daughter is sporting a pair of clearly non-human floppy ears, indicating that she's part-demon.
111	[[/folder]]
112
113	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
114	* In the ''{{LARP}}'' campaign set "TabletopGame/IsoleDelCielo" (Island of the Sky), some races have Unusual Ears. Dremmach have furry ears, while Arno have big, pointed ears, with big earrings. Those are needed to calibrate the magic perception sense, so that Arno can feel a single kind of magic, instead of every kind at the same time (that would be uncomfortable). Underworld LARP has Savar and Wolven (cat and dog/wolf people respectively) who wear unusual ears as part of their costume.
115	[[/folder]]
116
117	[[folder:Video Games]]
118	* ''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.
119	* Antenna ears, cat ears, floppy pig and bear ears, and most other things you can staple to the side of your head are available in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes''/''Villains''. The normal human ears only "go away" if you hide them.
120	* Felicia from ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}''.
121	* 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."
122	* Fran from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' (and all viera in the various Ivalice Alliance games) has rabbit ears.
123	* Apparent in some later ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' games:
124	** 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]].
125	** Taguel in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' sport rabbit ears. Fittingly, they can turn into rabbits to fight.
126	** ''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.
127	* True to form, ''Website/GaiaOnline'' has a tremendous variety of ear accessories for your avatar to wear.
128	* VideoGame/{{Klonoa}} has long, rabbit-like ears that actually add a gameplay element--they let him hover briefly, just enough to reach that next ledge.
129	* Beastmen of the ''VideoGame/{{Lunar}}'' series have these. The women of the species do, too, but usually they tend towards daintier PointyEars.
130	* ''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 ''[[VideoGame/{{MegaManClassic}} Classic]]'' series had proper ears, despite being ''much'' less advanced. Certain Robot Masters tend to have these ears, such as Metal Man and Turbo Man.
131	* {{Cute Monster Girl}}s Nei and Rika from the ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' series.
132	* 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.
133	* Serilly from ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' is a mermaid with little fins on the sides of her head where ears would be.
134	* The members of the Lesser Fellpool race in the ''VideoGame/StarOcean'' series have ears like this.
135	* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'':
136	** [[LittleBitBeastly Animal youkai]] often have ears reflecting their animal nature:
137	*** Ran has fox ears, which she wears a hat over.
138	*** [[CatGirl Chen and Orin]] both have cat ears, Orin in addition to a pair of human ears.
139	*** Nazrin has mouse ears.
140	*** Tewi, the fairies in Eientei, Reisen, [[ReplacementGoldfish Rei'sen]], and the moon rabbit army all have rabbit ears.
141	*** Mystia, oddly enough, has feathered PointyEars that look like wings. She's a sparrow and wouldn't normally have external ears.
142	*** Toyosatomimi no Miko from ''Ten Desires'' has [[AnimeHair her hair]] shaped like animal ears.
143	** Narumi has oversize ears, reflecting her origin as a jizo statue. Interestingly, fellow uplifted jizo statue Shiki Eiki doesn't have noticeably unusual ears, possibly due to differences in the way the two came to life (Narumi became a youkai [[BornOfMagic thanks to the magic of the Forest of Magic]], while Shiki received enough faith to become a god).
144	* A few characters in ''VideoGame/TrinityUniverse'': Kanata (dog), Tsubaki ([[FantasticFoxes fox]]) and Miyu ([[CatGirl cat]]).
145	* Mariel and her {{Exp\|y}}ies in the ''VideoGame/WildArms'' games have long, floppy, furry ears.
146	* The Rehda in ''VideoGame/YsVITheArkOfNapishtim'' have long, outward-pointing ears and fox-like tails. Some of them dismissively call humans "Small-ears", as well.
147	[[/folder]]
148
149	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
150	* Len in ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' as well as a handful of other non-human characters such as Seven/Nanako.
151	* The Chiesters in ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' have bunny ears for some reason.
152	[[/folder]]
153
154	[[folder:Webcomics]]
155	* In ''Webcomic/NinthElsewhere'', the Muse people have feathered-wings ears.
156	* Faith from ''Webcomic/AloneInACrowd'' is a CatGirl.
157	* 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.]]
158	* 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]].
159	* The cast of ''Webcomic/KarinDou4koma'' are primarily youkai, so there are plenty of characters with ears to match their type, be it animal ears or some variant of PointyEars.
160	* Osborne from ''Webcomic/MonsterPulse'' has a left ear that can detach and transform into a monster.
161	* In ''Webcomic/MyRoommateIsAnElf'' Jacinda and her mother have cat-like ears. Sebastian has droopy ears that resemble a dog's.
162	* All characters in ''Webcomic/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.
163	* 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.
164	[[/folder]]
165
166	[[folder:Western Animation]]
167	* Odd of ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' gets cat ears added to his Lyoko avatar in Season 4.
168	* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'': The Galardonians have tube-like ears.
169	* 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]].
170	[[/folder]]
171
172	!!Antennae
173
174	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
175	* Nuku Nuku from ''Anime/AllPurposeCulturalCatGirlNukuNuku''.
176	* Chachamaru and Chachazero from ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi''. In Chachamaru's case, most people don't seem to take enough notice of it [[PaperThinDisguise to figure out that she's a robot]].
177	* Rag from ''Manga/AstroBoy''.
178	[[/folder]]
179
180	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
181	* In the ''Series/{{Beetleborgs}}'' episode "Buggin Out", Flabber sprouts these when he goes through stage 2 of turning into kombat gnat.
182	* The blue Andorians from ''Franchise/StarTrek'' have some expressive antennae in addition to regular ears. According to ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', their function is to help with balance, suggesting they're the Andorian equivalent of the human vestibular system (the "inner ear"). In the ''Deep Space Nine Relaunch'' novels, they also detect electrical fields.
183	[[/folder]]
184
185	[[folder:Video Games]]
186	* Multi from ''VisualNovel/ToHeart''.
187	* The protagonist [[spoiler:Quote]] and Curly Brace from ''VideoGame/CaveStory''. However, they're very hard to see and so it comes as a surprise when [[spoiler:you find out that your character, Quote, and Curly Brace are robots from the surface.]]
188	[[/folder]]
189
190	[[folder:Webcomics]]
191	* Averted in ''Webcomic/{{Megatokyo}}'', where the android Ping has normal-looking ears with big plastic earrings that contain connectors and LCD's.
192	[[/folder]]

Context Main / UnusualEars