Needs Help: Prickly Porcupine

GastonRabbit Sounds good on paper (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me

Sounds good on paper (he/him)

#26: Sep 30th 2022 at 5:48:27 AM

Archiving the wick check so the sandbox can be cut:

Here a wick check will be performed for Prickly Porcupine.

Why?: Prickly Porcupine is a trope that combines two separate concepts, "evil/mean porcupine", and "shy/lonely porcupine". It also may attract "porcupines exist" usage.

Wicks checked: 50/50

Wick totals:

12/50 evil or mean porcupines, or 24%
1/50 shy or lonely porcupines, or 2%
15/50 "porcupines exist" usage, or 30%
14/50 literally prickly porcupines, or 28%
5/50 ZCEs, unclear, and other, or 10%, and
3/50 unclassifiable wicks, or 6%

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Evil or mean porcupine(s) (12/50)

Fanfic.A Diplomatic Visit: In chapter 20, Far-Tracker tells the story of how he ran afoul of one of these while hunting, and how he's pretty sure it was cursing him out afterward. Mean porcupine.
Monster.Kamen Rider: Go-Jaraji-Da, the Porcupine Gurongi still stands as the standard to which other kaijin-of-the-week in Kamen Rider are compared to even years after he blighted television screens in Japan. Jaraji uses his upper-class privileges to choose the 90 teenage boys in Midorikawa High School's 10th grade as his targets for his game. Using super speed and poisonous darts that kills his victims from encephalitis within four days, Jaraji terrorizes and poisons all but one of his targets, condemning many of his victims to slow, brutal deaths and drives others to suicide. As those who commit suicide do not count to his Gegeru, Jaraji compensates by killing high-school boys belonging to other grades and numerous policemen. Most of the other Gurongi are either required to participate in the Gegeru or merely see the Gegeru as a necessary duty. Jaraji, on the other hand, commits his crimes precisely because he enjoys himself watching living beings suffer and coldly admits this to a family before closing in on one of his targets. Evil porcupine.
KillerRabbit.Real Life: Porcupines also deserve a mention. Some people assume that porcupines are just a bunch of pudgy, clumsy looking rodents who only managed to avoid being a predator's meal by virtue of being too spiky to eat. However, old-World porcupines will take the offensive by turning around and running towards persistent attackers with their spiny backsides, hoping to stab them. The Indian Crested Porcupine does this so effectively that brushes with predators like leopards and tigers often result in severe injury or even death. The lucky ones that manage to survive often are forced to become man-eaters because of their injuries. It's for this reason that porcupines have very few predators. Their spiny appearance are a good reason why porcupines are sometimes made a basis for a Monster of the Week with Spikes of Doom. Real Life porcupine described as evil.
Characters.Infinite Stratos Our Darkest Days: Maria will quill anyone who pokes into her past.
“How’s this then? If you keep sticking your nose in my business, you might get herpes. So I advise you to refrain from doing that in the strongest possible terms.” As described, mean porcupine.
Characters.Digimon Mega Digimon N To Z: Downplayed. It's a hedgehog Digimon and though it has overcome the negative emotions that created Rage Mode, they're still there. Its previous forms' spikes are now much larger and detachable. Described as (sort of) mean.
Animation.Vuk The Little Fox: Szú is a hedgehog rather than a porcupine (since the film takes place in Europe), but has a grumpy, Deadpan Snarker personality that fits this trope. Mean porcupine.
Characters.Undertown: He's definitely not the friendliest of the Junkyard Gang. Mean porcupine.
Creator.Amoridere: Amoridere uses this trope more overtly in Porcumouse, Quills, and Her Quills, where porcupines tend to be Animal Motifs for the subject hating being hugged, being unapproachable, or both while wishing she were more unapproachable, on top of never wanting to be hurt again, in way, being "prickly", while Porcumouse uses this as a juxtaposition, as the subject is scared of conflict (the "mouse" part), while, at the same time, going out of her way to be unapproachable to anybody she doesn't like (the "porcupine" part). Mixed, but seems to mainly be mean porcupine.
Literature.A Porcupine Named Fluffy: Inverted; Fluffy is a porcupine, but he's a friendly and non-aggressive sort. His parents likewise appear amiable, given that they reject "Lance" as a name because it sounds too fierce. Inverted, but implies the trope is about mean porcupines.
Characters.Sing Calatonia (1): A punk porcupine like Ash, except he’s, in Gunter's words, "a total super-jerk dinkleschplatt!" Mean porcupine.
Characters.Sing Calatonia (2): A porcupine girl who somewhat gives off Alpha Bitch vibes, as she doesn’t seem to have any qualms about dating someone else's boyfriend, and scoffs at Ash's performance. Mean porcupine.
WesternAnimation.Sing: Ash and Lance, who are both punk rock porcupines in their late teens. Ash, while generally nice is the snarkiest out of the main cast, especially around Buster, and she has a tendency to shoot her quills when she gets emotional. On the other hand Lance is a complete jerk who eventually cheats on Ash with another porcupine girl named Becky. Mean or mean-ish porcupines.

Shy or lonely porcupine(s) (1/50)

Characters.Onegai My Melody: The sad kind. He doesn't like to play with his friends because his spines hurt them or pop their balls. They still love him, though. Shy or lonely porcupine.

Porcupines exist (15/50)

GiantMook.Video Games: Chipmonk! has Prickly Porcupine enemies several times larger than your chipmunk heroes, and attacks with cudgels and heavy clubs instead of swords or spears. Porcupines exist.
Dub Species Change (in description): Similarly, chipmunks and gophers are common in North America but not endemic to Europe, thus dubs to European languages often change the former to squirrels, the latter to moles or hamsters. Hedgehogs are common in most of Europe and Asia, but North America and Southern Europe are more likely to be familiar with porcupines, while Australia may change them to echidnas. Porcupines exist.
Characters.Kemono Friends: Though she is never seen using her quills. Porcupines exist.
Characters.To Be A Miraculous Master Lumiose Trainer Academy Friends Classmates: Playing with Fire: His starter is a Cyndaquil/Quilava. Porcupines exist.
Literature.Tales From Dimwood Forest: Ereth. Mr. Ocax told Poppy's family that porcupines were vicious predators who used their quills to eviscerate their prey as a means of controlling them in the first book, but Poppy discovered that wasn't true after meeting Ereth. Character isn't mean—thus, the example is a "porcupines exist" example.
Characters.Battle Of The Multiverse O Cs: Probably takes after her mother in this regard. Spike is also a porcupine, of course, but also wears a nervous expression in his casual pose. As written, "porcupines exist" usage.
Characters.Critical Role Darrington Brigade: His Spirit Guardians manifest as tiny porcupines. Porcupines exist.
Characters.Pokemon Generation VI Chespin To Hawlucha: Its Japanese, German, and French names make reference to it being a hedgehog, but it's hard to tell just from looks alone. It becomes more notable when it can make the leaves on its body sharper. Primarily porcupines exist as written.
Characters.Ben 10 Guardians: Is a humanoid hedgehog-like alien like Argit (The source of the DNA). Porcupines exist.
Recap.Wild Kratts Aardvark Town: One of the many animals inhabiting the aardvark-dug burrows. Porcupines exist.
Recap.The Rising Of The Shield Hero S 1 E 3 Wave Of Catastrophe: The episode begins with Naofumi and Raphtalia fighting a porcupine monster. Porcupines exist.
VideoGame.Chipmonk: Porcupines are a recurring Giant Mook enemy the chipmunks will battle. Porcupines exist.
VisualNovel.Magic Kyun Renaissance: Monet has a pet hedgehog named Rin. Porcupines exist.
Characters.Code Prime Decepticons: He has the appearance of a robotic porcupine. Porcupines exist.
Analysis.Unpleasant Animal Counterpart: Beavers vs Porcupines Porcupines exist.

Porcupines are literally prickly (14/50)

Webcomic.Raptormaniacs: Savape states that they, along with armadillos, are difficult for her to eat. Porcupine is literally prickly.
Heartwarming.Happy Tree Friends: There's also the time when, in Happy Trails Part Two, they invite the surviving tree friends on an inflatable raft. It doesn't end well due to a certain Prickly Porcupine popping it by accident (which earns her a Karmic Death and even worse in that the raccoon duo were the only ones who don't survive the swim back), but for the two selfish characters that would do anything for a quick buck, it is a nice surprise to see them genuinely charitable. Porcupine is literally prickly.
WesternAnimation.Bosko The Talk Ink Kid: Bosko lands rear-end onto one in "Bosko At The Zoo". Porcupine is literally prickly.
WesternAnimation.Babar And The Adventures Of Badou: Munroe is a pretty good-natured guy, but he won't hesitate to use his "quill-fu" when his friends are in danger. Porcupine is literally prickly.
Characters.Transformers Robots In Disguise 2015 Steeljaws Pack: He has the quills, so... Porcupine is literally prickly.
Characters.Battle Of The Multiverse Regular Characters: He's technically a hedgehog but his quills often cause the demise of other characters. Literally prickly.
Characters.Bojack Horseman The Main Group Family Members: Balloons, paintings, and her mother's arms have suffered the prick of her needles. Literally prickly.
Film.The Jungle Book 2016: A porcupine with a hoarding habit is one of the minor jungle animals, and in one scene Mowgli accidentally bumps into his spikes with predictable results. He is based on a minor character from the book named Ikki. Literally prickly.
FridgeBrilliance.My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic Season 5: The young filly with Super-Strength has a hedgehog cutie mark. This cutie mark reflects a metaphor known as the Hedgehog's Dilemma based on intimacy. It basically states that people are sometimes scared of being intimate with others due to fears they will accidentally hurt them, just like hedgehogs and porcupines aren’t able to cuddle or be near one another due to their spines/quills hurting others. Thus, her Super-Strength prevents her from being close or intimate to her schoolmates because she's scared of hurting them or other school things. Her Tareme Eyes reflect this as only other Shrinking Violet characters like Fluttershy and Coco Pommel have them. Literally prickly.
Animation.Nu Pogodi: Wolf unfortunately lands on a family of them in episode 1. As written, literally prickly.
Recap.Futurama S 7 E1131st Century Fox: Bender tries to throw his scent off by rubbing himself with a porcupine. Being a robot, he's only slightly irritated by its quills. Literally prickly.
Characters.Digimon Champion Digimon A To M: It has quills growing out of its scalp and in place of a tail. Literally prickly.
Recap.Bojack Horseman S 6 E 02 The New Client: Princess Carolyn's daughter may be cute, but she's also a porcupine. Though PC usually makes sure to wear oven mitts when handling her, the baby's quills still end up pricking her by accident multiple times. When PC shows up at Pastiches to see Bojack, the groundhog at the front desk even comments how badly scratched up her arm looks. Literally prickly.
Film.Zookeeper: Appears to be of the projectile-launching variety. Literally prickly.

ZCEs, unclear and other (5/50)

Characters.Kung Fu Panda 3: Master Porcupine. ZCE.
Characters.Jewelpet Magical Red Jewelpets: Hedgehog, whatever. ZCE.
VideoGame.The Curse Of The Were Rabbit: The were-hedgehogs, of the type A variety. "Type X" ZCE.
Characters.Lilo And Stitch Experiments 3 Series: He resembles a porcupine and his spines turn others into idiots. Unclear.
VideoGame.Beast Breaker: Jonquil. ZCE.

Unclassifiable (3/50)

You Dirty Rat! (in description): Prickly Porcupine is the more (physically) nastier cousin of this trope. "Compare" in trope description.
Trivia.Tom Lehrer: "Quote source" listing
Scary Animals Index: Porcupines and hedgehogs who are mean, or with Spikes of Villainy. Index

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.

Adept (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu

#27: Sep 30th 2022 at 9:12:50 AM

Did some wick cleaning, and here's some examples of grumpy/jerk porcupines in case someone wants to draft them.

Western Animation.Sing: Ash and Lance, who are both punk rock porcupines in their late teens. Ash, while generally nice is the snarkiest out of the main cast, especially around Buster, and she has a tendency to shoot her quills when she gets emotional. On the other hand Lance is a complete jerk who eventually cheats on Ash with another porcupine girl named Becky.
Vuk the Little Fox: Szú is a hedgehog rather than a porcupine (since the film takes place in Europe), but has a grumpy, Deadpan Snarker personality that fits this trope.
Furry Fight Chronicles: Played With as Ida Huggler is a hedgehog with a bit of a jaded and cynical personality, but she's very passionate about fashion, and she has a playful and teasing side of her when she messes with Cookie.
Bambi: A grouchy porcupine who will use his quills to prick anyone who crosses his log. He is even the image of the page.
Tales from Dimwood Forest: Subverted. Mr. Ocax told Poppy's family that porcupines were vicious predators who used their quills to eviscerate their prey as a means of controlling them in the first book, but Poppy discovered that wasn't true after meeting Ereth.

themayorofsimpleton Now a lurker. Thanks for everything. | he/him from Elsewhere (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: Abstaining

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#28: Sep 30th 2022 at 9:57:46 AM

All wicks cleared out but Trope Report's sandbox and the Pantheon wicks (of which I have requested the Pantheon thread remove them.) We can now probably close.

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Berrenta How sweet it is from Texas Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love

How sweet it is

#29: Sep 30th 2022 at 10:47:22 AM

Dequilled and cut, so time to close.

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Trope Repair Shop: Prickly Porcupine

25th Sep '22 4:07:23 PM

Crown Description:

Prickly Porcupine is supposed to be for when porcupines are portrayed as mean/grumpy. However, the name is often interpreted literally and misused to refer to porcupines in general, among other forms of misuse. What should be done with it?

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