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Animal Motifs
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Animal Motifs (trope)
Who would win in a fight between a blue mongoose and a red snake?
"Ah, the Animal Kingdom offers many useful ideas!"
— Dr. Otto Octavius, The Spectacular Spider-Man, "The Invisible Hand"

Humans have always been fascinated by animals. Love them or hate them, they usually provoke a strong reaction in people, from the Jerkass who turns to mush when confronted by a playful puppy to the tough guy who freaks out when he encounters something slithery. Most mythologies feature animals in starring roles; some belief systems feature animals as guides, oracles, or totems representing certain qualities or certain people. So of course animals are going to turn up as symbols in popular media.

This animal isn't around to be petted or kicked, or to assist in taking over the world... well, they might be, but only as a side job. The real purpose of these animals is that of most motifs: they're there to underline a theme, or make a statement about a certain character. They might not even be physically present at all. The "animal" might be the name of a football team, a charm on a bracelet, or an ornament on the mantelpiece.

Animals are used to depict characters more often than they describe themes. Even in the real world, describing a person by comparing them to an animal is a good way to convey your opinion of them: phrases such as "lion-hearted", "eagle-eyed", or "doity rat" are popular to the point of cliché. Therefore, many Animal Motifs are also Characterization Tropes. The wimp who spends his time watching the tigers at the zoo will most likely be stronger than you think. As for the girl doodling big black spiders with suspicious red hourglasses on their underbellies... think twice before accepting her invitation to "coffee".

Animals, like flowers, are a motif that tends to be gendered. Men are usually compared to animals that are clearly predatory: wolves, lions, and bears, for example. Women generally get the cute and fluffy animals as motifs, such as bunnies. However, women have historically had a strong association with cats which, while cuddly and furry, are also predators. Cats are therefore a common motif for female characters, but one aspect of the feline mystique will most likely be emphasized over the others — the woman will either be a predator, a seductress, or a sweet little kitten. (Lionesses are especially popular for Action Girls: they look very different from male lions, and most people know it's lionesses who do the hunting, so a lioness motif conveniently emphasizes both femininity and ferocity.) Women are also frequently associated with foxes, also a predatory animal, although it is the fox's attractive nature or reputation as a trickster that is being invoked.

Some animals can be used as a motif for either sex but the sex of that character can affect the image of the invoked animal. For example:

  • Horses are usually associated with women or little girls as a reflection of their innocent and supportive side. For men and the elderly, the horse is a symbol of their virility, work ethic, and determination, but in the case of both genders, wild horses represent a strong-willed personality.
  • Bears are another example: If they are a man, then they either physically resemble a bear, or they are as strong and brutal as one. If the motif is given to a woman: then they are characterized as sweet and innocent until someone harms or upsets their children whereupon they will bring hell on Earth to protect them.
  • Someone being compared to a dog means one of a few things, they’re extremely loyal, excellent hunters, a stern yet frightening guardian, or stupid. But if a man is called a dog, it could either symbolize the previously mentioned examples or highlight the man’s sex drive and/or dangerous personality being akin to a rabid dog.
  • Cats have long been symbolized for magic, especially with black cats. Women being compared to cats are characterized as sensual and alluring temptresses. For both genders, it can highlight how cruel they are.
  • Swans being the symbol of beauty invoke a woman’s good looks. For doves, it symbolizes both a woman’s attractiveness and their innocent demeanor.
The important thing is that the motif should correlate with the character and be displayed appropriately; for example, a shark motif would indicate the character is either: a villain, a greedy moneylender, or a combative, sociopathic antihero. Therefore, a shark motif wouldn't apply to an altruistic, cheerful paragon who favors clemency over brutality. note  The motif must make sense to the character and allow the audience to understand the story you want to tell, if you use the wrong motif for the character then the audience won't know who to root for in the story.

In the world of fiction, someone who doesn't like animals at all is either a nasty piece of work or obsessively clean and germ-phobic. "Animal hater" is the word for them and so to dilute the "hard-heartedness" of this character, expect to see one particular animal that they just can't resist.note 

And if the character themself is an animal, then there might be the possibility that they have yet another animal that also represents them.

Usually overlaps with Animal Stereotypes and National Animal Stereotypes. In such cases, it's commonly a Super-Trope of Transformation Conventions (the object or being a character transforms into fits their personality). Can overlap with Mythical Motifs. Wildlife Commentary Spoof is this trope Lampshaded and Played for Laughs.

A Super-Trope to the following sub-tropes:

Example subpages:

Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Advertising 
  • Only Stwpd Cowz Txt N Drive: Cassie Cowan has a cow motif. Her surname is Cowan, her nickname is Cow, her alarm clock is cow-themed, and she buys a cow charm with her friends. However, "Cow" has also been an insult, usually directed towards women; this is intentional, as Cassie frequently texts and drives, which ends up causing a huge crash that claims at least four lives.

     ARG 

    Art 
  • North America: Portrait of a Continent: National and state animals appear readily in their appropriate locations, totaling well over 400. Just a handful of examples include a polar bear near Churchill, Manitoba (and several other places in the Arctic tundra), a lobster off the coast of Maine, sled-dogs headed for Nome, a clay-coloured thrush in Costa Rica, a white raven in Haida Gwaii, a bighorn sheep (among several other creatures) in Nevada...
  • The Persistence of Memory: Ants are gnawing away at the leftmost, orange watch while a fly sits on another, symbolizing rot and decay of memory.
  • The Weimaraner is the trademark of William Wegman's works.

    Asian Animation 
  • Balala the Fairies: Each of the three of the fairies is themed on a different sea creaturesto blend with the seasons' ocean theme. Azure's fairy form is based on a stingray, Kaylyn's fairy form is based on a jellyfish, and Finn's fairy form is based on a starfish.
  • Bima-S:
    • Bima-S is based on a peafowl during the first season, while in the second season he's based on the Garuda.
    • Eagle and his successor Astrom are based on eagles.
  • Guardian Fairy Michel: The Black Hammers' robots are all shaped like animals, such as a gorilla, a frog, a kangaroo, and a dog.
  • Happy Friends: It's not touched upon much, but based on part of his hood forming a beak-like shape and him owning a pet owl, Huo Haha seems to be associated with owls.

    Audio Play 

    Comic Books 
  • Arawn: Arawn and Engus resemble wolves; Math and Kern resemble lions.
  • Batman:
    • Bruce Wayne took up bat-themed crimefighting after a bat crashed through his window, which he interpreted as an omen. He wears a costume that makes him look like a giant bat, and has a variety of occasionally-used gadgets that can simulate things like sonar.
      • More specifically, bats are best known for being nocturnal animals and adept predators who cloak themselves in the shadows to ambush and attack their prey. Bruce uses the Batman identity during the night, infiltrating and observing crime and its advocates in the shadows in preparation to smite them, like a bat swooping down on its prey. Bats are also well known for their natural intuition and natural senses, which plays up Batman's other reputation as the "World's Greatest Detective".
      • Bats are also known for being terrifying creatures to the point where there is a term for those who fear them, chiroptophobia. This is made all the more meaningful when Bruce cultivates Batman's reputation as a noble hero, yet still frightening presence in the hearts of criminals.
      • On a more tragic note, bats symbolize death — in the sense of letting go of your past self and embracing a newer self, a rebirth of sorts. It's openly stated that Bruce was never the same when he saw his parents die in front of him, so essentially when taking the bat symbolism into account, Bruce Wayne "died" in a sense on that day, and in his place, Batman was "born".
      • Absolute Batman: While it's a given that Batman will base himself off bats, this version of the Dark Knight takes it to the next level, with his behaviour, skills, and technology being reflections of multiple traits of bats. The gadgetry in Bruce's costume grants him bat characteristics, such as the ability to hang upside down or use his cape as stilts just like bats walk with their hands. His incredible survival skills are compared to how bats lead long lives. His out-of-the-box, extreme strategies are a reference to the saying "crazy as a bat" (or "batshit insane", if you will), and his initial stint as a lonely avenger before he gradually opens himself to work with his friends and allies is based on bats being either solitary or social creatures. Even his unfortunate tendency to accidentally hurt others, like hastening Black Mask's plan when he exposes him or making his friends targets for Bane, is a parallel to how bats can be carriers of infectious diseases.
    • Dick Grayson and every other character whose taken up the mantle of Robin is generally associated with birds.
    • Selina Kyle is a Classy Cat-Burglar, and dresses the part too. She's clever, elusive, pulls off heists wearing a mask that resembles cat ears, and is associated with black cats in particular. She also literally keeps cats around her apartment like a old lady.
    • The Court of Owls is fittingly associated with Owls with them usually wearing owl masks and owl themed outfits and have an order of Assassins known as the Talons, to the point of even adapting the owl instinct to take the nests and territory other birds might have abandoned such as through abandoned rooms in hotels, or neglected parts of buildings which they then refurbish for their own use, they are even sometimes referred to as the Parliament of Owlsnote .
    • Despite often having a fear of them, Scarecrow is often associated with crows. Or in the case of the Arkham games, beetles.
    • Oswald Cobblepot looks like a penguin, being fat and having stubby legs and a large, beak nose. Some adaptations, like Batman Returns and The Batman (2004), add on to this by giving him flipper-like hands. He even tends to waddle and squawk like one. His usual attire is black and white, and he owns an Arctic-themed nightclub.
    • The Scott Snyder run on the comics attempted to give the Joker a motif of his own: Flies. He's always got flies buzzing around him, tying into his habit of spreading disease and misery, bats are also known to hunt insects such as mosquitos and flies, fitting with the Joker being Batman's Arch-Enemy.
  • Beta Ray Bill: Beta Ray Bill's head is modeled (by Walt Simonson) on a horse's skull because the horse suggested nobility.
  • Burlap: Cottontail wears a bunny mask that covers his whole head.
  • Casanova: Psychic operatives have differing animal totems that manifest when they use their powers. The protagonist had spiders then upgraded to crows and his villainous sister had snakes.
  • Conan the Barbarian:
    • Conan is associated with Lions. He was infamous as Amra the Lion during his pirating days, and as King of Aquilonia, his kingdom's banner is a lion. The narration also repeatedly compares him to a wolf or a panther.
    • Yara's is Both played straight and subverted: while he does possess the "Heart of the Elephant" jewel, and resides in the eponymous tower, both the jewel and the tower are named for Yag-Kosha, not Yara. He is however closely associated with spiders, from turning his enemies into spiders, having a boar-sized one serve as his guard dog.
    • Thugra Khotan has Black Scorpions. Heavily emphasized in the Dark Horse adaptation, where his shadow form has pinchers and a scorpion tail.
    • In The Flame Knife, Olgerd Vladislav is referred to as The Tiger by the Hidden Ones.
  • Cuori Grassi: Rocco is frequently associated with pigs due to his gluttony. For example, he has pig prints on his boxers. His personal Grim Reaper has a noticeable pig snout poking out from its hood. Heck, one cover elevates it to irony as a widowed pig mother and her piglets mourn the father pig in front of Rocco, who is eating a ham sandwich.
  • Fine Print: Cubi are associated with Butterflies, having massive butterfly wings and often heralded by a kaleidoscope of them.
  • Giraffes on Horseback Salad uses animals to represent the two main characters throughout the story:
    • Jimmy is symbolized by butterflies. Love is compared to a butterfly, trapped in a cocoon as it transforms into something beautiful, yet it must be protected even when it's ugly. Butterflies are also allowed to fly freely because of their beauty, even if the chaos they spread isn't always welcome. Finally, the butterfly reflects Jimmy's metamorphosis when he fully embraces surrealism.
    • The Surrealist Woman (and surrealism as a whole) is represented by flaming giraffes, because.
  • Judge Dredd: Judges' uniforms have a distinctive eagle motif to them, in keeping with the Big Meg's Eagleland origins. Other cities have this too, usually referencing the locale. For example, Brit Cit has a lion motif to its judge uniforms, and the judges in Africa has a lion and a gazelle. Some of the Dark Judges have extinct pterodactyls on their right shoulders as a hint to what their job is. Averted by East Meg judges, who wear shoulder pads decorated with red stars.
  • Marvel 1602: Spiders appear as a motif, usually around Peter Parquagh. Given who his modern counterpart is, spiders seem to be a symbol for destiny (perhaps a reference to the web of Fate).
  • The Mighty Thor: Loki developed certain associations with magpies in some stories, maybe not surprisingly for someone who is generally trouble and bad news, not to mention a thief and conman.
  • Monica's Gang: Each of the Main Gang has one except Jimmy Five. Rabbits for Monica, pigs for Smudge and cats for Maggy. Jimmy Five has a Vegetable Motif instead (onions).
    • Monica Adventures: Despite her name, the Serpent is associated with Insects. Her Tombian minions, while natural shapeshifters, seem to default to insectoids forms in some instances, as seen with Fake Nick Nope and one of the Engineers. Its revealed in the the Inverse Tower saga that she is in control of all insects on Earth, called “the Master of Insects” by the Possessed Smudge.
  • The Punisher: In one story, Frank partners with a High-Class Call Girl to infiltrate a criminal's party (well, not so much partners as blackmail her into it by taking the notebook where she writes down her connections). The story is told from her perspective, and she recalls her youth raising dogs from which she learned to fit people into two categories: dogs and wolves. At the end of the story, she puts Frank in the "lions" category.
  • Richard Dragon: Ben Turner is the Bronze Tiger, Lady Shiva is as ever associated with a Leopard. Nightwing is accompanied by bats in the background when he's eavesdropping on cops and when he joins a fight Dragon and Tiger are having in Bludhaven. The White Lionesses and the Brotherhood of the Monkey Fist show up too.
  • Sink: Mr. Dig wears a fox mask.
  • Spider-Man: Spider-man and a good portion of his rogues gallery are patterned on animals, to wit: the Vulture, the Chameleon, the Scorpion, the Rhino, the Beetle, the Jackal, Dr. Octopus. Likewise, Kraven the Hunter, while not having animal powers, wears a jacket made out of lion fur.
    • Invoked with Scorpion, who received his powers and codename so he could hunt Spider-Man: in real life, scorpions prey on spiders.
    • The Amazing Spider-Man (J. Michael Straczynski) posited that Spidey is being assaulted by envious pretenders who subconsciously realize that he is a true totemic champion. Spider-Man: The Darkest Hours, a book by Jim Butcher based on this run, introduces the siblings of Morlun, an Implacable Man and Energy Vampire who feeds on this type, and it turns out that every Animal-Themed Superbeing has this connection even if it's not obvious. Black Cat is a Badass Normal; she wasn't bitten by a radioactive cat and given feline powers. Yet, if she wasn't cat enough to be delicious and nutritious to the likes of Morlun, she'd never have chosen the name. That's why Spidey, Cat, and even the Rhino must team up when Mortia, Thanis, and Malos come to town.
    • Hunted, the first story event from The Amazing Spider-Man (2018) Lampshades this when Spider-Man points out that it's "not hard to see the theme here" among the many animal-themed rogues being rounded for Kraven the Hunter's latest evil scheme. Two of the bad guys doing the rounding up, Taskmaster and Black Ant actually discuss in a dark comedic way whether Hammerhead, the mob boss with a metal plate in his skull fits given the shark name but they decide that he hadn't committed, i.e. actually dress up and use gadgets which fit his animal gimmick. When all the rounding up is done, Taskmaster gloats to Black Ant, when he betrays him, that hey an ant is also an animal.
    • In Ultimate Spider-Man (2024), besides the spiders, Peter is also associated with doves, as several panels and cover arts show him flying alongside these birds. Doves symbolize peace, love, and hope, with New York City and this universe needing the last one especially.
  • Superman: Superman has the "Nightwing" and "Flamebird" guises he and his sidekicks took on in Kandor were originally two flying animals that lived on Krypton. Post Crisis, the were retconned as a benevolent god and goddess, sort of.
  • Teen Titans: Cheshire is associated with Cats. Her alias comes from the famous Cheshire Cat, the mask she (sometimes) wears resembles a cat with a Cheshire Cat Smile, and she can be as coy, mysterious, and cruel as a cat.
  • W.I.T.C.H.: Will has a passion for Frogs, great enough to be one of her defining characteristics, and its appearances have become a running gag. Her room is covered in stuffed frog toys and her bed has a frog styled on top it.
  • Wolverine: Wolverine, a short, stocky, violent, foul-smelling Canadian with a talent for surviving tough conditions.
  • Wonder Woman: Wonder Woman has an eagle motif. Her insignia is drawn to resemble a hybrid of "W" and an eagle. She also uses a golden eagle-shaped armor, and she's known to be brave and inspirational like the animal.
    • The Greek pantheon keeps some of their ties to their sacred animals, usually whittled down to one animal to correlate to each deity, and some gods with no sacred animals in the original mythology gain animal motifs in the comics:
      • Aphrodite wears an oversized shirt with a dove on it in Wonder Woman (2016), and is accompanied by other dove related imagery when she wants to make a big entrance.
      • Apollo's ravens show up with less frequency than many of the other god's related animals but they are there.
      • Unlike most of the gods who get whittled down to one correlated animal, the various animals associated with Ares from mythology and history have appeared in the comics across the continuities: Ares maintains his tie to both serpents and dogs, carrying over from the original mythology where snakes often adorned his shield, were one of his sacred animals and one of his beloved daughters was turned into one. In some of his earliest DCU appearance in the Golden Age there were snakes on his breastplate and later his iconic helmet has a snake motif down each side wrapped around the spikes and horns. DC Rebirth upgrades this to twisting living snakes. While Dogs were one of his sacred animals in mythology and is often accompanied by a pair, it's mostly visible through his sons, the gods of terror and fear, Phobos and Deimos who accompany him on the battlefield in the guise of monstrous dogs, and Phobos sometimes manifesting his head as writhing cobras, while Deimos' beard and helmet have snakes on them. Vultures show up the least often, but he uses them to aid Diana after she defeats him and he swears not to try to destroy humankind again, his daughter Harmonia is also connected to Vultures, strangely enough despite her clear ties to snakes in the myths. New 52 made Rams one as well that continues into Rebirth. His helmet prior to his imprisonment under Themyscira being modeled after a Ram's head. Bulls as well with the addition of bull-like horns to his iconic blue helmet.
      • Artemis will occasionally manifest with slender deer antlers.
      • Athena is almost always seen with her owl, except for that time she was an anthropomorphic owl herself.
      • Dionysus is tied to foxes in The New 52, unusual as his sacred animals in mythology were panthers, bulls and serpents.
      • Hades remains fond of dogs, and is often accompanied by Cerberus.
      • Hera has multiple articles of clothing heavily decorated with peacock feathers, and her diadem has a very simplified peacock centerpiece.
      • Heracles is usually wearing the Nemean Lion skin, and even when he's not his girdle and greaves are engraved with lions.
      • Hermes is still connected to hawks, and even takes on hawk like attributes like talons in some manifestations.
      • Phobos' mythological ties to lions have been used to inspire some of his looks Post-Crisis.
      • Zeus is tied to eagles, best seen in The New 52 with his feathered cape.
      • In the Elseworld Wonder Woman: Warbringer Phobos's helmet is adorned with a relief of Medusa's head with the serpents arched and ready to strike, his chariot also has a snake motif and his teeth are like many thin curved viper fangs. His twin Deimos has a helmet adorned with a relief of a roaring lion, chariot with a lion motif and lion-like teeth and lips.
      • Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons double downs on the trope with the Gods having their signature animals accompany them, wears clothing that evokes them, but also in some cases are part-animal themselves thanks to voluntary shapeshifting. Demeter has snakes on her person, Athena, naturally, has a giant owl that accompanies her, Artemis is seen with both stags and boars while Hera is accompanied by and wears clothing that evokes peacocks. As for the male gods, Ares is accompanied by vulture and his cape can turn into vulture-like wings, Zeus has ram horns growing out of his head along with a giant pet eagle at his side, Poseidon has the lower body of a Pegasus, and Dionysus rests with panthers by his side.

    Comic Strips 
  • Calvin and Hobbes: Besides having a tiger for a best friend, Calvin frequently visualizes himself as animals. His favorites are dinosaurs, with him usually as an Allosaurus or a Tyrannosaurus rex, and those around him as herbivores.
  • Quino: Played for Laughs in this strip◊, where a man mentally compares people to animals that they resemble before turning into a meek mouse when returning home.

    Game Books 
  • Lone Wolf: Lone Wolf has a wolf motif, unsurprisingly.

    Manhua 
  • The Breaker: Chun-Woo is associated with Dragons while Kang-Sung is associated with Tigers, In New Waves, Shi-Woon starts being associated more and more with his teacher, and by extension, he also seems to inherit his Dragon motif.
  • Ravages of Time leans on the same Shu = Dragon and Wu = Tiger motifs that they usually get in popular lore, there are also several characters who have their motifs.
    • The protagonist Sima Yi has two. He's always compared to a wolf because no one can be really sure about which side he's on, his strategies always leave room for the best offense and defense (like how a wolf can bite even when it retreats), and like his historical and ROTK counterpart he also has a neck that can turn around 180 degree. His other animal motif is the phoenix as he is the titular phoenix in the series' Chinese titlenote , which foreshadows his future rivalry with Zhuge Liang and his bloodline's eventual victory over the lords of Three Kingdoms. In-universe, Pang Tong is the only one who seems to realize this and has specifically linked the phoenix motif to him on separate occasions. He should know, since in the Burning of Luoyang arc Sima Yi has beat him in solving Dong Zhuo's puzzle. Out of the Eight Geniuses, Pang Tong got the Phoenix title for being the first one to offer a solution which turns out to be wrong while Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang solved the puzzle correctly - meaning the Phoenix title might very well have been Sima Yi's, had he been one of the Eights.
    • The crane for Yuan Fang, associated with him by his father Yuan Shao for its symbolization of fortune and longevity. Cranes flying into the west are, however, symbolic of death. Guess what happens to Yuan Fang.
    • Guo Jia is the crow, and earlier they even appear alongside him in many scenes. It has a deeper meaning than the obvious association with death, though, which isn't elucidated until much later. In his death, it's remarked that the crow is also known for being a filial bird with its behavior of feeding its parents, similar to how Guo Jia sacrifices everything—including his own reputation—to save the country.
    • True to his title of Fledgling Phoenix Pang Tong's is also the phoenix, though it's downplayed a lot compared to Sima Yi.
    • Zhuge Liang becomes associated with the dragon after he wins the title of Crouching Dragon from his teacher, which is only given to the best of the Eight Geniuses.
    • Sun Ce is the tiger.
    • Liu Bei once compared himself to a fish that hasn't found its 'water'. Once when Xiahou Dun rescues him from under a pile of corpses, Xiahou Dun catches the visage of a fish as he pulls Liu Bei out.
  • School Shock has Super-Soldier Cyborgs named Vanguards. They are themed on bees, praying mantises, ants, moths and spiders.

    Music 
  • Ariana Grande originally held cats as her motif, likely stemming from her work as Cat Valentine, but has adopted rabbits in her work, especially in the music video of "Dangerous Woman". The bunny-ears mask is particularly associated with her.
  • AURORA: Aurora's love for moths is a recurring theme.
  • BABYMETAL has taken to using foxes as their motif coming from when their manager, Koba-metal, tried to teach the girls the metal horns, but they came up with the fox sign instead. In the band's backstory, they're chosen by the Fox God to unite the world through music. It's also become a catchphrase for the group, "Only the Fox God Knows."
  • Beyoncé is associated with Bees. More a result of Beyonce's fans referring to Beyonce as Queen Bey and themselves as the "Beyhive" than anything Beyonce's done herself. Needless to say, she's been a good sport about rolling with it.
  • Clazziquai Project has pigs in all of its artwork, and they are also seen extensively in the video for "Sweety"; additionally, their debut album was named Instant Pig.
  • Cormorant (unsurprisingly) have a lot of bird imagery, although serpents occasionally pop into their lyrics. The album Metazoa also mentions at least one animal in each song, but this was unintentional on their end.
  • Singer Christopher Cross has a flamingo featured in the artwork for all of his albums in some form. His logo also depicts a flamingo indented in the "O" in "Cross".
  • DMX's X persona constantly refers to himself and his gang as dogs, as well as barking and growling throughout his songs.
  • Excision has Dinosaurs, especially the Tyrannosaurus rex. Dinosaurs and dinosaur-related imagery are common in merchandise, artwork and at his shows. He is also the host of the dinosaur-themed music festival Lost Lands.
  • Gorillaz: Apes and monkeys. Besides the band's name, they have simian-like appearances in artworks and monkeys and apes also have a high tendency of appearing in music videos and artwork with them. Though Noodle begins developing a light cat motif from Humanz onward, with a few of her outfits sporting cat ears and/or tails.
  • Katatonia has a lot of bird imagery in their album artwork and music videos.
  • Katy Perry: The lyric and official music videos for "Chained to the Rhythm" both feature hamsters as a motif. The lyric video depicts a pair of hands making tiny food for a hamster inside a miniature house, as it watches another hamster using an exercise wheel on TV. The music video proper has one as the mascot for Oblivia, which features a human-sized exercise wheel as one of its attractions. The intent is to compare people's tendency to ignore things around them and do the same repetitive things to a hamster using a wheel: doing nothing productive and going nowhere.
  • Kendrick Lamar: In the music video for "Not Like Us", there are references to owls, with the owl representing Drake specifically because he owns OVO which has an owl as its logo: in one part he beats an owl themed pinata with the disclaimer saying "no OVhoes were harmed during the making of this video" possibly symbolizing that Kendrick beat Drake in their beef. And in the end of the video Kendrick puts an owl in a cage which could either symbolize that Kendrick "owns" Drake, or that Drake and OVO need to be locked up. They even made the owl seem like he was afraid of Kendrick.
  • Kurt Weill: Mack the Knife is compared to a shark a few times in his song.
  • LOONA: Each of the twelve members is assigned a representative animal that appears in her own solo music video. A map appears in the "Girl Front" music video decorated with animal stickers to represent the members and foreshadow unrevealed members. Yves plays with a claw machine in "New" that is filled with animal plushies, with the most focus on her own swan and YeoJin's frog. Go Won's animal is a butterfly, which reappears in the group's 2019 single, "Butterfly", in various forms. and there's ViVi's desktop deer mascot in "Everyday I Love You", to HaSeul's subtle bird cosplay, to JinSoul legitimately sitting in a tank and becoming her signature blue betta fish. This is the full list For reference:
    • HeeJin - rabbit
    • HyunJin - cat
    • HaSeul - bird
    • YeoJin - frog
    • ViVi - deer
    • Kim Lip - owl
    • JinSoul - betta fish
    • Choerry - fruit bat
    • Yves - swan
    • Chuu - penguin
    • Go Won - butterfly
    • Olivia Hye - wolf
  • Lovebites has a wolf that appears on all their album covers as their Metal Band Mascot.
  • Magical Mystery Tour: The band members are dressed as a walrus and eggman on the album cover, in reference to "I Am the Walrus".
  • Mariah Carey: Butterflies have been synonymous with Mariah since the release of her album of the same name.
  • mewithoutYou: A very common element in the discography:
  • Papa Roach was known for its use of cockroaches in the cover for Infest, as well as their music videos, most notably "Between Angels and Insects", in which cockroaches come out of Jacoby Shaddix's mouth.
  • Pink Floyd: Animals, taking inspiration from Animal Farm, uses different animals to represent different social castes in mid-'70s Britain. Dogs represent exploitative capitalist bigwigs, pigs represent corrupt politicians, and sheep represent the complacent masses, who will eventually rise up and overthrow the dogs (though conspicuously leaving the pigs alone, with the ending of "Sheep" implying that this leads to a Full-Circle Revolution). Even the band members get compared to animals: Roger Waters the horse, Rick the kitty cat, Nick the rodent (squirrel, chipmunk, beaver), etc.
  • PSY: The music video for "Gangnam Style" has horses in it, most likely because it's funny.
  • Radiohead came to adopt a stylized "Modified Bear" character as their mascot with the promotion for and release of Kid A in 2000; the character would reappear throughout the rest of the band's lifetime and act as a constant visual motif for them.
  • Roger Waters: In Amused to Death, the "What God Wants" trilogy uses a variety of animals to represent the audiences and allies of corrupt churches, with a monkey being common among them as "a symbol for anyone who's been sitting with his mouth open in front of the network and cable news for the last 10 years." The monkey also carries over to "Perfect Sense, Part I" and the album cover (where it's portrayed by a chimpanzee, an ape). In order, the trilogy also mentions beetles, springboks, jackasses, hyenas, vultures, magpies, raccoons, and groundhogs (the last four of which represent those who use organized religion as a means of generating profit).
  • Sabaton uses this quite Frequently, as many nations and/or armed forces have animals as their symbols. Most reoccurring, their songs often refer to Nazi Germany and its armed forces as "The Eagle," which was one of their symbols. Other examples include the Swedish Empire's Eagle and Lion, the Chasseurs Ardennais boar, and the Brazilian Expeditionary Forces' smoking snake, the "Screaming Eagles" (the unit nickname of the 101st Airborne Division), and the "Devil Dogs" (a nickname for the US Marines earned in World War I).
  • Suede had quite a bit of animal imagery in their lyrics and music videos, with songs like "Animal Lover", "Animal Nitrate", "We are the Pigs", "Where the Pigs Don't Fly", etc.
  • Synth V:
    • Chiyu seems to be associated heavily with birds, particularly the mythical pheonix.
    • Cangqiong has butterflies, her outfits have some trimmings that resemble the wings of a butterfly.
    • Haiyi has jellyfish.
  • Taylor Swift, as of her reputation album, seems to have adopted snakes as her animal of choice.
  • Tears for Fears: Horses are prominent in the "No Small Thing" music video; the wild ones embody personal liberty whereas the domesticated ones embody social responsibility.
  • Tsukipro:
    • Kensuke is associated with Dogs. In Tsukino Hyakkiyakou, he's an Inugami, a dog spirit. Ryota has made commands of him from time to time, including demanding that Ken bark (which he complies with). This plays up the Cat/Dog Dichotomy between the two.
    • Ryota is Compared constantly to a cat, due to his haughty and stern attitude. Has a Cat/Dog Dichotomy with Kensuke, since the cheerful and outgoing Ken is partners with the dour Ryo.
    • Makoto is associated with Wolves. His mascot character is a gray wolf with a red scarf. It plays up his predatory and aggressive energy, especially when contrasted with the members of ALIVE, whose mascots are all dogs. And in Tsukino Hyakkiyakou, the Yōkai Alternate Universe, he's Ooguchi Makami, the god of wolves. Interestingly enough, Makami is also another name for "Makoto no Kami"note .
    • Mitsuru is associated with Foxes, or kitsune. His mascot character is a tan-colored fox with a blue scarf. It shows his wily, Cunning Like a Fox personality, showing that he's not the most straightforward character around. And It's drily remarked in Tsukihana Kagura that Mitsuru and Ryota's relationship is like that of a mouse and cat, and when Mitsuru squeaks like a mouse, Ryota immediately yowls back.
  • Tsukiuta: Rabbits, as befitting the lunar theme the project has. The rabbits themselves are owned by President Tsukino, but they're pretty much Free-Range Pets. Six Gravity keeps the large black rabbit, Kuroda, on their floor, while Procellarum keeps the tiny white lop-eared rabbit, Shiroda, on theirs. The series' mascot character, the Tsukiusa.note  is also one.
    • It's canonically agreed upon that of the twelve boys, one member from each seasonal group, four of them are the most catlike: Hajime, Arata, Rui, and Shun.
    • Yayoi is associated with birds. More specifically, the Japanese bush warbler, the "uguisu", which is a harbinger of spring.
    • Depending on the situation, Arata gets associated with cats, dogs, or even capybaras, which are his favorite animal.
    • Iku is associated with Bears and dogs.
      • Apparently, Iku's appearance was designed with the image of a teddy bear in mind. Iku is referred to as the "Track-and-Field Teddy," his monthly logo is represented by a jack'o lantern with bear ears, and his height has grown exponentially to the point where he's tall, just like a bear. He also owns a pet panda by the name of Sasakuma Ichigou.
      • His character in the Youkai alternate universe is an Inugami, a dog spirit. He is one of Shun's "guard dogs" in Zanshin. Lastly, in Tsukihana Kagura, his unique dance move is called "Okuchi-no-Makami", which is the deification of the Japanese wolf-dog, the Yamainu. Prior to becoming an Inugami in Tsukino Hyakkiyakou, he was a normal Yamainu.
  • Twenty One Pilots: As of Trench, vultures have become increasingly prominent in the lyrics, marketing, and story. Tyler also notes he dabbled in several different animal-based metaphors on the album, referring to himself as a lion in "Cut My Lip" and writing a whole song about his "pet cheetah".
  • Violet UK: Blue Butterfly uses the Butterfly of Death and Rebirth as its symbolism.
  • YUP's 1994 story album Toppatakkeja ja Toledon Terästä has a main character detective Henri Blavatsky with a mole motif, presenting the character as an one-man underground army on the second song of the album, Minä olen myyrä (I am a mole).
  • Vocaloid: Multiple Vocaloids have animal motifs as part of their designs: Nekomura Iroha, See U and Mew (cats), Yuzuki Yukari (rabbits), SF-A2 miki (bears and sheep), Dex (wolves), Daina (foxes), Lily (bees), Chika (butterflies), Otomachi Una (eels), Yumemi Nemu (tanukis), LU Mi (jellyfish), and Megurine Luka (fish and octopus).
  • Yaelokre: Cole wears a hare mask while their stage partner Clémente wears a goat’s mask, and Peregrine dons a moose mask. Kingsley appears to be the exception, since their mask is based on a tree.

    Mythology & Religion 
  • Modern Arthuriana often connects Morgan le Fay with crows/ravens, such as having her change into one to spy on people. It's not really a thing in the medieval legends, however, and may come from the (disputed) academic theory that she developed from the Morrigan.
    • Cú Chulainn's name translates to "Hound of Culainn"
    • King Arthur is associated with Dragons and bears, though the latter occurs more in modern media than in the medieval texts. Dragon elements pop up now and then, most prominently in the name "Pendragon", and the name "Arthur" is thought to be related to the Celtic word for bear. According to Geoffrey's account, his helmet had a crest shaped like a dragon, and he once dreamed of a dragon defeating a bear, which was taken to mean him as the dragon defeating his enemy the bear, who likely represent the Roman Empire, though this is confused as in some accounts the Romans use dragon motifs. A Welsh poem "The Dialogue of Arthur and the Eagle" puns on his name by calling him arth gwyr, "bear of men".
  • In Celtic Mythology, the Morrigan has crows, which is her preferred animal form. Badb, a goddess whose name means "crow," is either one of her titles, her sister, or an aspect of her, depending on the source.
  • Christianity:
    • God:
      • God has a snake motif in the Old Testament. He turns Aaron's staff into a snake to showcase His power, and punishes the Israelites who spoke against Him by releasing a pack of venomous snakes into their midst. When they ask for mercy, He has Moses create the Nehushtan, a bronze snake that healed their injuries.
      • God is often compared to a bird in the Psalms, often saying believers will be protected under his wings.
      • The Psalms and Hosea also compare God to a moth, who consumes his enemies.
      • The Book of Numbers also compares God's strength to an animal, which depending on the translation, is either an ox or a unicorn.
      • Jesus has dual symbolism with lambs and lions. His title as the Lamb of God represents his status as a flawless, perfect sacrifice in atonement for mankind. His title as the Lion of Judah symbolizes his royal power as the Son of David and the King of Kings.
      • The Holy Spirit is most often represented as a dove, based on his description in The Bible as descending like a dove.
    • The Four Gospels: The Four Evangelists have symbols assigned to them in the Book of Revelation; a lion for St. Mark, an ox for St. Luke, an eagle for St. John, and St. Matthew gets a human.
    • Lilith was originally associated with owls. She later became associated with snakes due to syncretism with the Serpent in the Garden of Eden; nowadays, expect more reptilian than avian Liliths.
    • Satan is most frequently associated with snakes and dragons, taking the form of both creatures throughout the Bible. In ancient times snakes and dragons were often lumped together as the same creature.
    • The Seven Deadly Sins have various animals representing them:
      • Envy is associated with dogs and snakes.
      • Gluttony is associated with pigs. Due to its close association with the demon Beelzebub, Gluttony is also occasionally associated with flying insects, due to Beelzebub being known as "lord of the flies".
      • Greed is associated with foxes, crows and frogs.
      • Lust is associated with cows, bulls, goats, and roosters (feel free to make the appropriate jokes about that one). Perhaps more surprisingly, Lust is also commonly associated with rabbits, due to their proficiency at multiplying.
      • Pride is associated with horses, lions and peacocks.
      • Sloth is associated with goats, snails, turtles and donkeys. Ironically, it is not often associated with actual sloths (which fit the sin perfectly), as they're native to South America and Europeans didn't encounter them until long after the symbolism was well established (the animal was actually named for the sin because they fit so perfectly). In the modern day at least, it's become common to associate Sloth with bears, presumably due to their tendency to hibernate in winter.
      • Wrath is associated with bulls, wolves, lions and bears.
    • The Bible is full of animal analogies. Lions, doves, sheep, and cattle are especially prominent.
      • Jacob, and later Moses, blesses each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel before their death; several of these blessings mention animals (lion for Judah, bull for Joseph, wolf for Benjamin, deer for Naphtali). Jewish tradition tends to play up this trope, interpreting other verses about those animals as referring to the tribes in question.
  • Classical Mythology:
    • Heracles (popularly known by the Roman name Hercules) is associated with lions. His most famous act was slaying The Nemean Lion by strangulation and then wearing its hide as a cloak. He's also famous for his divine strength and courage. Heracles is also responsible for the creation of the Leo constellation as Zeus commemorated this labor by placing the Lion in the sky. In the mythology of Theseus, Heracles and Theseus met and befriended each other after a young Theseus mistook his cloak for an actual lion and bravely attacked it, earning Heracles's respect.
    • The Greek pantheon is filled with these.
      • Zeus, the king of the heavens, is heavily associated with eagles, as well as bulls to represent his virility.
      • Hera's sacred animal was the peacock, though she was also given the epithet "cow-eyed", giving her an association with cows as well—both complimenting her husband's eagle and bull motifs
      • Poseidon, the god of the sea, was heavily associated with horses and even fathered the winged horse Pegasus with Medusa.
      • Hades, lord of the Underworld and ruler of the dead was associated with dogs, tawny owls, and serpents.
      • Demeter, the goddess of the harvest, was strongly associated with lizards and snakes.
      • Hestia, goddess of the hearth, home, and family was associated with pigs.
      • Aphrodite, the goddess of love, sex, and beauty, was associated with doves and swans.
      • Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war strategy, had an obvious owl motif that, unlike most of the others listed here, has persisted even now.
      • Ares, the god of war, was associated with vultures, dragons, and much more sinister owls.
      • Hephaestus, the god of the forge, was associated with donkeys.
      • Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, had deer while her brother Apollo, god of music and art, had swans.
      • Hermes, the god of trickery and messenger to the Olympians, had many animal motifs, but his most notable were hawks, hares, and tortoises.
      • Dionysus, the god of hedonistic madness, had bulls (sometimes to the point of being depicted with horns), leopards and dolphins.
    • The Thebaid: Prophecy tells the Argives that their princes will come in the guise of a lion and a boar. It is no coincidence that Polynices and Tydeus are fighting while wearing the skins of those two beasts. Even when they ditch the skins for armor, the two are still consistently compared to a carnivorous lion and a wild boar and sometimes the comparisons are swapped to show the new brothers influence on each other.
  • Egyptian Mythology: Many gods were often, though not always, portrayed with traits of animals they were associated with, though level of anthropomorphism varied. The most common variety was 'normal human with the head of an animal'.
    • Horus is associated with the falcon, as he was a sky god. 𓅃
    • Ra was usually depicted in artwork as a man with the head of a falcon, a scarabnote (in his form as Khepri) and the beetle pushing a ball of dung behind itself reminded the Egyptians of the way the sun moved across the sky, a cat (especially when in contrast with the snake demon Apep), or a ram. He was also pictured as a full-bodied ram, beetle, phoenix, heron, serpent, bull, cat, or lion, among others.
    • Anubis is prominently associated with jackals due to their tendency to hang around graveyards.note 
    • Bastet often appears as a small cat or a lioness.
    • Sekhmet is always portrayed as a lioness. And the story of her rampage typically has her showing up as a straight-up lioness (with giant fangs and claws), not as a lioness-headed woman.
    • Mut was also associated with lionesses, making her the Upper Egyptian counterpart to the Lower Egyptian lion goddess Sekhmet. She was also portrayed with the wings of a vulture.
    • Hathor was often pictured in the form of a cow, or a human with cow ears and cows were sacred to her; and she is a cattle Food God in her earliest representations.
    • Sobek is always associated with crocodiles, since he's the god of the Nile. And he was uniformly portrayed as a vicious and bestial deity who often stole women and took sadistic pleasure in battle (in keeping with the perception of crocodiles as violent predators), Though he is more of an Ambiguously Evil case seeing as he represents the duality of the river Nile (both the life giving waters, as well as the destructive floods).
    • Tawaret is the protective ancient Egyptian goddess of childbirth and fertility, and is associated with hippos. since she is depicted with a hippopotamus head. Her case stands out as Egyptian gods tend either to be fully humanoid, or have the body of a human and the head of an animal. Tawaret has the distinction of being almost entirely beastly. In some representations, she has the chimeric characteristics of multiple animals, chiefly hippos, and at other times she is simply an upright hippopotamus, but she is never seen as a normal human woman with a hippo head.
    • Osiris was sometimes associated with frogs because the frog goddess Heqet breathed life into Horus's body when he was born, and thus also Osiris's body when he was resurrected. Other times, he was associated with the Bennu (a gray heron-like bird that represented the sun) to symbolize his rebirth.
    • While Isis was not one of the animal-headed gods, quite a few animals were asscociated with her. Note that they're all often creatures considered vile in western cultures.
      • Birds of prey: Vultures, which were sacred to her, and she was often wearing a vulture crown in her depictions. She's also often drawn with hawk's wings in place of arms.
      • Scorpions: She tends to be accompanied by them due to the association of nurturing their babies. One time she and Horus were guarded by seven of them one time when travelling.
      • Snakes, whether wearing a crown based off one or making one out of mud to scheme against Ra.
    • Set had an animal head We're not sure what animal, though. Possibly an aardvark, otherwise it's just called the 'Set animal'. The other theory about his animal is that it might have been a mythical chimerical type creature that was known in ancient Egyptian mythology akin to a griffin, dragon, or kirin that's simply been forgotten with time. Of course, everyone in ancient Egypt would've known the mythology behind a . . . "jackal-aardvark" and thought it so ubiquitous that nobody apparently ever bothered to write its origin story and basic description down. He was also associated with other animals such as a red hippo. In one of the myths concerning his rivalry with Horus, they both turned into hippos and fought one another bloodily, and in The Book of the Faiyum he has the head of a flamingo. He's also associated with jackals, snakes, wild boars, crocodiles, asses, and antelopes.
    • Nephthys was one of the few Egyptian deities to not have a heavy association with a particular animal, but she does get linked to kites on occasion, as the Egyptians compared their cries to the wails of a mourning woman.
    • Thoth is usually portrayed with the head of an ibis, and is also associated with baboons.
    • Khonshu was sometimes depicted as having the head of a bird, a falcon to be exact. And he takes on the guise of a snake in some stories.
    • Akin to Anubis, Wepwawet is depicted as having a canine head. And like his brother, the actual species that is used for Wepwawet is debated- jackal, wolf (living or extinct), domestic dog, etc.
    • Montu was depicted as either a falcon or a bull, with the falcon representing his association with the sky and the bull representing his strength in war. Because bulls embodied raging strength and warfare, sometimes he was even said to manifest in the form of a sacred bull called Buchis.
    • Pakhet was usually portrayed as a lioness or caracal.
    • Seker was associated with Mummified falcons, referring to both his status as god of the dead and his association with Ra.
    • Mafdet's depictions varied between a cheetah, serval, or mongoose. When portrayed in her animal form, she was often given the feline characteristic of presenting Ra with the hearts of evildoers she had torn out like how a cat presents its owner with dead birds or mice, and she was a protector against all venomous creatures, and was sometimes portrayed with a mongoose's head to signify the real life enmity between mongooses and snakes.
    • Like Isis, Serket is associated with scorpions.
    • Anhur's sacred animal is the male African lion.
    • Khnum has a green goat's head.
    • Shezmu's animal symbols were falcons and lions.
    • Seshat is associated with cheetahs and is frequently shown dressed in a cheetah or leopard hide.
    • Renenutet is a serpent goddess that is associated with healing and medicine and was depicted either as a cobra, or as a woman with the head of a cobra.
    • Geb was sometimes associated with snakes, due to one Coffin Text describing him as the father of snake god Nehebkau.
    • While Neith is usually not depicted with an animal head like a lot of the other Egyptian gods, She was often associated with spiders due to being known as “the great weaver” who weaved the threads of creation like a spider weaves its webs.
    • Shu and Tefnut were the gods of male and female african lions respectivelynote , though Tefnut is the only one who has a lion head.
    • Ptah the creator god of craftsmen and architects was associated with bulls.
    • Bes was associated with Ostriches. While the other gods get animal heads, Bes wears ostrich plumes.
    • Like Thoth, Babi is associated with baboons, specifically Hamadryas Babboons.
    • Nekhbet was associated with vultures since she was symbolized by the vulture headdress that queens and female pharaohs wore, which she was depicted with when portrayed as human. This was due to vultures being associated with motherhood (the hieroglyph for vulture, mwt, was also used in the word for "mother").
    • Apis was a sacred bull worshiped in the Memphis region, identified as the son of Hathor, who is heavily associated with cows.
    • Ammit is a demon that lived near the Scales of Justice in Duat (the Egyptian underworld/afterlife) and devours the souls of evil people whose sinful souls were heavier than the feather of Ma'at. And she has the head of a crocodile, the front limbs and torso of a lion, and the back limbs and rear end of a hippopotamus — all animals that the Egyptians rightly feared as the most dangerous on Earth.
  • In Japanese Mythology, Chickens and Roosters are said to be sacred to Amaterasu the Sun Goddess. as the rooster's crow is associated with her and some shrines even keep roosters roam around which are believed to be her assistants, They wake her up every morning, according to folklore. Some experts believe that the rooster may be the bird depicted on the torii due to some hypothesis on the origins of the torii say the gate would originally have been some kind of bird perch.
  • In Mesopotamian Mythology, Dogs were Bau's sacred animal. People noticed that when dogs licked their sores, they seemed to heal faster, and so dogs became associated with healing. Her iconography almost always depicted her with a dog, sometimes seated with a dog reclining at her feet.
  • Norse Mythology:
    • Loki is associated with fish. In the Faroese ballad Loka Táttur, he transforms a boy into a grain in the middle of a flounder's roe to hide him from a jötunn who wanted to murder the child, and Loki uses fishing as part of his ruse against the giant.note  He's also the inventor of the fishing net, and he once shape-shifted into a salmon to evade the Æsir. Some people will claim that Loki also has a connection with serpents, but this doesn't exist in the Eddas — it's a later addition to make him seem more like a Satan figure.
    • Odin is associated with ravens. He has two ravens called Huginn and Muninn. note  He's also titled "Raven-God" by the Prose Edda. He's also associated with wolves, he has two wolves by his side called Geri and Freki. note  In The Prose Edda he's destined to be killed by Fenrir, a colossal wolf. Odin is also the one who set the wolves Hati and Skoll on the sun and moon when they refused to move. note  He has a lesser association with eagles, as scavenging birds; one of his epiphets translates as "eaglehead".
    • Heimdall is associated with sheep, specifically rams. His hearing is said to be so acute that he could hear the wool on sheep growing. His horn is depicted as a large ram horn and he is often depicted wearing a helmet with ram horns note .
    • Thor is commonly associated with goats (which drew his chariot).
    • Freyja is associated with Cats, the animals that pull her chariot. She's also associated with boars, having a boar for a steed, and has a falcon skin that allows her to turn into a falcon, fitting as the valkyries are associated with birds and she is heavily associated with the Valkyries and is often even regarded as their queen. Her brother Freyr is also associated with pigs and boars as he also has a boar for a steed but he's also associated with horses.

    Podcasts 
  • The Adventure Zone: Balance: The main cast all have animal associations, laid out explicitly with their disguises in Petals to the Metal and elaborated later on.
    • Magnus is associated with bears; it's later revealed that a bear taught him the meaning of bravery. He's also associated with dogs, as he repeatedly asks for a dog as a pet, his first heroic act was rescuing a dog from bullies, and after the world is saved he opens a dog training school.
    • Merle is associated with owls; later, when he loses an eye, he gets an eyepatch with an owl on it.
    • Taako is associated with mongooses; it's later revealed that a family of mongooses taught him how to speak "animal".
  • Cool Kids Table: In Small Magic, the royal family is connected to birds. They tend to listen to them and those assisting the family.
  • True Geordie: Brian Davis has a liking towards to lions. He has a massive lion tattoo on his upper right bicep and there is a lion poster in his studio. In the interview with Logan Paul, there is a lion figure in the background. He also wore a t-shirt of a lion.

    Sports 
  • 1960s Portuguese soccer player Eusebio was also known as "The Black Panther" because of his speed, his powerful strike, and the fact that he was black.
    • Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin was "The Black Spider" for its impressive saves and an all-black uniform.
  • Quite a few national soccer teams have animals on the logo (France has a rooster, England has three lions), or as a nickname (Brazil are the "Little Canary team", Nigeria the "Super Eagles", Cameroon "The Indomitable Lions").
    • Common for domestic clubs as well. The Premier League currently includes The Tigers (Hull), The Black Cats (Sunderland), The Eagles (Crystal Palace), The Foxes (Leicester), The Magpies (Newcastle), The Swans (Swansea) and The Throstles (West Bromwich Albion, though largely out of use).
  • Many American sports teams—too many to count, really. A decent estimate is that about a quarter to half the sports teams in the US and Canada are named for animals, and all of those will exploit this in their advertising.
  • Kobe Bryant is known as "the Black Mumba".

    Tabletop Games 
  • BattleTech: The Clans are all are named after various animals, many of which are extraterrestrial or genetically engineered (i.e. the sea fox was an aquatic predator native to Strana Mechty, while the diamond shark was engineered by Clan Snow Raven to wipe out sea foxes after a dispute with Clan Sea Fox, who later changed their name to Clan Diamond Shark in defiance). Except for Clan Blood Spirit. They had an animal named after them. Reinforced by Clan warriors sometimes wearing full-head masks patterned after their Clan's respective animal for ceremonial purposes. While this is seen most frequently in the fiction when the Khans assemble for council, it's not actually limited to them; similar occasions involving lower-ranking warriors are simply not shown as often.
  • Clue: Mrs. Peacock, as her name implies, is associated with peacocks. Though this is likely intended more as a Color Motif, since all of the Clue characters are named after colors, the motif fits Mrs. Peacock being frequently portrayed as a vain and ditzy aristocrat. Some releases of the game reinforce the motif by adorning her attire with peacock feathers, while the film adaptation gave her a pin in the shape of a peacock.
  • Dungeons & Dragons: In 3rd and 4th Edition, the familiars of wizards, sorcerers, and adepts bestow minor skill bonuses to their masters, which vary with the familiar's animal type. While some grant bonuses derived from their genuine aptitudes (e.g. Move Silently for a cat), other bonuses reflect the animal's anthropomorphized reputation (Bluff for snakes, Appraise for ravens).
  • Exalted: Many Exalts take an animal for their character motifs. Lunars take it one step further, in that they can turn into any animals, provided they ritually hunt the animal first. Infernals on the other hand, takes some characteristics of their Coadjutors, which tends to be demonic version of certain animals. (Erymanthoi are demon-gorilla, Theodozjia are demon-cats, etc.)
  • Legend of the Five Rings: The various clans are each named for an animal, and each draws on the symbolism of that animal as inspiration for their clan's nature.
  • In Nomine: The angels who serve Jordi, the Archangel of Animals, are often attuned to animals who match their Choir's role or mannerisms in some way. Ofanim, who are creatures of motion and freedom, are attuned to flying animals. Malakim, who are defined by unflinching commitment to duty and loyalty, get pack hunters such as wolves. Mercurians, closest to humanity of any Choir, have the apes.
  • Warhammer:
    • The Chaos Gods are each associated with a type of animal, and in the background lore it's said that Chaos cults often disguise themselves as unassuming animal totemists.
      • Khorne is associated with Savage Wolves and hounds. He is referred to by epithets such as the Bloodwolf or the Hound, and his daemons include the savage, doglike Flesh Hounds.
      • Tzeentch is strongly tied with birds, especially corvids. He is often referred to as the Raven or the Crow, and his daemons include the Lords of Change, who resemble giant humanoid birds, and Pink Horrors, who often sport avian beaks.
      • Nurgle is typically associated with insects, especially ones attracted to carrion and disease, and especially flies and maggots. His followers are always accompanied by swarming clouds of droning insects, and his more bestial daemons resembles immense flies and their giant, bloated larvae.
      • Slaanesh is often linked with snakes. Many daemon princes of Slaanesh often take the form of serpents, and Slaanesh himself is called a Serpent. Seeing as Snakes Are Sexy and Snakes Are Sinister (and how Slaanesh is associated with temptation), this makes sense.
    • Warhammer 40,000:
      • The Imperium of Man is symbolized by a double-headed eagle, in homage of various great empires through human history.
      • Many Space Marine chapters have animals they closely associate with and often use in their heraldry, usually ones with some thematic link to their outlook and traditions or which have an important presence on their homeworld.
      • The Space Wolves have wolves, referencing the Savage Wolves that roam their homeworld of Fenris and the themes of ferocious Germanic barbarism the chapter evokes.
      • The Raven Guard uses ravens and other corvid birds. Many of their successor chapters continue this trend and sometimes expand it to other birds, such as the Iron Ravens, the Knights of the Raven, the Necropolis Hawks and the Raptors.
      • The Iron Snakes have serpents, especially the Sea Serpents that swim in their seas of their homeworld and which they revere as holy.
      • The Hawk Lords and the Solar Hawks, chapters heavily focused on piloting and aerial warfare, use hawks and general birds of prey in their heraldry.
      • The Sons of the Phoenix use phoenix symbology to represent their willingness to throw themselves into the fiercest flames of battle.
      • The Mantis Warriors make heavy use of insect imagery and naming themes.
      • The Celestial Lions, as part of their subsaharan African Fantasy Counterpart Culture, use a lot of lion imagery.
      • The Alpha Legion's use of the hydra, the many-headed serpent of Classical Mythology, alludes to their command structure and immunity to Decapitated Army: cut off one head, and two more will sprout out from its place.
    • Warhammer Fantasy:
      • The wizards of the Gold College uses an eagle as their symbol, as this is an important motif among the High Elves whose scholarly and magical traditions the College seeks to emulate.
      • The Light College's symbol is the Serpent of Light, and its wizards make heavy use of snake symbolism in their clothes and gear.
      • The Blood Dragon vampires make heavy use of dragon imagery in their heraldry and armor, in order to remind themselves of their founder's slaying of a dragon and of their own ultimate goal to do the same.
      • Most of the Old World's gods have particular sacred animals. Morr, the God of the Dead, holds crows and ravens as sacred. Myrmidia, the goddess of strategic warfare, holds the eagle as sacred; eagle symbology is common in the gear and temples of her followers, and her high priests are referred to as "Eagles". Shallya, the Lady of Mercy, has the white dove. Wolves, especially white wolves, are sacred to Ulric.
    • Warhammer: Age of Sigmar: The Aelementors, elemental Nature Spirits of Hysh, can sometimes manifest in physical form for battle, and when they do they often have a particular animal they take the form of, and that their worshippers will emulate. The mountain spirits, for instance, have bulls; they're powerful, immovable, and nearly unstoppable when they charge forward. The wind spirits, meanwhile, are foxes: fast, mischievous, and difficult to pin down.

    Theatre 
  • Cirque du Soleil: Most of the shows directed by Franco Dragone from Saltimbanco through La Nouba invoke bird imagery, usually through one or more characters and their costume(s).
    • Saltimbanco: The Songbird (the lead singer).
    • Mystere: The Red Bird, the Birds of Prey, and the bungee trapeze artists.
    • Alegria: The evil nobles are known as the Nostalgic Old Birds, and wear masks that appear a cross between human and bird faces.
    • Quidam: Zoe has a pet bird in a cage in the opening scene.
    • La Nouba: The Green Bird.
  • EPIC: The Musical:
    • Odysseus and his son Telemachus have a wolf motif. Odysseus and his crew are compared to "a pack of wolves" by Poseidon, Telemachus is commonly referred to as a "little wolf", and they end up slaughtering the suitors like they're dogs. Also worth noting, in Classical Mythology, Odysseus' maternal grandfather is Autolycus, whose name means "the wolf itself".
    • On the subject, Penelope’s suitors being compared to dogs since they practically hunt for her hand in marriage and openly lust after her. Their lowest point is planning to kill Telemachus and then gang-rape Penelope, which ends up being their downfall and put down like the rabid dogs they are.
    • Like in mythology, Zeus is represented with an eagle, fitting of his role as ruler of the heavens. In "The Horse and the Infant", an eagle's screech can even be heard before Zeus announces himself to Odysseus.
    • Like in mythology, Athena is represented with an owl.
    • Poseidon compares himself to a shark during "Ruthlessness", contrasting it to Odysseus' wolf motif by making it clear that while he and his crew are fearsome warriors on land, at sea, they're nothing but prey to Poseidon. The official animations used in the premiere party streams also depict him wearing what resembles a surfer suit with blue stripes resembling shark gills.
    • The suitors have a dog motif. Athena outright refers to them as such, and in contrast to Odysseus and Telemachus' wolf motif, while they act tough and work in a mob, they're only able to beat Telemachus because of his inexperience and are completely outclassed by Odysseus in strength and skill.
  • Legally Blonde gives Callahan a shark motif, as heavily advertised in his introductory Villain Song "Blood in the Water". The song utilizes the "lawyers are sharks" metaphor to its fullest, stating that "only some of you will turn out sharks, the rest are chum", describes potential advantages a sleazy lawyer can seek to get ahead as the titular "blood in the water", and that the only interns he'll take in are "those four with a dorsal fin".
  • A Little Night Music:
    Carl-Magnus: Watch him, Charlotte. Watch them both like a...
    Charlotte: Hawk, I know, dear. You're a tiger, I'm a hawk. We're our own zoo.
  • Lizzie: Birds are strongly associated with Lizzie. She is fascinated by the pigeons in her family's barn, even talking to them sometimes, and is distraught when they are killed. She's described early on as "not the brightest bird," and the song "The Soul of the White Bird" is used as a metaphor for her mental state. She also makes lots of references to "flying away," and the last sound of the show is a flock of birds taking off — symbolizing Lizzie's freedom.
  • In Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Momma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad, when the ultra-snobbish Madame Rosepettle is interrogating Rosalie, she asks her if her love for cats includes alley cats. "Especially alley cats," Rosalie says. "I thought so," Madame Rosepettle says, and resumes her previous Slut-Shaming tirade. That "alley cat" happens to be an old derogatory epithet for a sexually free woman is probably not a coincidence here.
  • Prima Facie: In the opening lines Tessa compares herself to a thoroughbred horse — a well-trained powerhouse with killer instincts — in her legal career.
  • Trifles: Minnie is represented by birds and this is given more details in the book A Jury of Her Peers, where, it's mentioned that, before her marriage, Minnie was a free spirit, who loved to sing and wore pretty clothes. Before and during her marriage, she kept a canary to which John killed, said canary representing herself from years ago and the the Minnie that was "killed" by her marriage. Likewise, the caged bird is meant to represent a woman's place in 19th/early 20th century society.

    Toys 
  • LEGO:
    • Numerous LEGO Castle and Aquazone factions.
    • The animal tribes of Legends of Chima utilize motifs based, of course, on themselves.
    • BIONICLE:
      • Vastus has a snake motif, with snake ornaments on his shoulders, a helmet based off a snake, and a snake-like staff with the fangs forming a blade that injects venom.
      • Although the '08 Makuta and Shadow Matoran respectively shapeshifted or were mutated into bat or insect-looking forms, it seems the masks that some wore had been vaguely animal-like to begin with.
      • The Barraki all have motifs of sea creatures, which they can command:
      • Pridak embodies the shark's bloodthirstiness and can summon hordes of sharks. The feet on his set can hook together to create a shark's tail fin.
      • Kalmah draws inspiration from cephalopods, and is the breeder of the Barraki's vampiric squid projectiles.
      • Ehlek is inspired by electric eels. He besieges the Matoran settlement of Mahri Nui with an army of eels.
      • Mantax is inspired by rays and like them, he can bury himself in the sand and attack with both venom and electricity.
      • Carapar takes inspiration from crabs and crustaceans, with heavy armor and a pair of pincers
      • Takadox is themed after shrimp and other sea arthropods, thanks to his mandibles and twin knives, which bring to mind the claws of a mantis shrimp.
    • Hero Factory's Jungle Planet line had the Heroes adopting various animal motifs for their new armor.
  • Mermaid High: Mari sports an octopus motif in her outfit.
  • Transformers: Bumblebee has a bug/insect motif that varies in strength between incarnations. Obviously, there's his name and yellow coloration evoking a bee, but his original vehicle mode is a Volkswagen Beetle. Some incarnations give him "wings" and/or "stingers" to play up the bee aspect.

    Visual Novels 
  • Ace Attorney:
    • Phoenix himself is reminiscent of the legendary bird, returning from the brink, surviving getting tased, falling into a very cold river from a broken bridge, and many more. Everyone who interacted with him had their lives changed drastically. In the original, he has a dragon instead (being named Ryuichi), although this isn't brought up until Furio Tigre, who wears a shirt with a tiger chomping on a dragon, appears.
    • Minor example, and also brought about due to localization. In both the Spanish and Italian versions with Apollo's nickname, "Pollo" means "chicken", since his hair somewhat resembles a chicken's comb. One of his goofy pouts also makes his mouth look like a beak.
    • Athena is described as a canary- loud, jumpy, and bright yellow- by Simon. Canaries are also well known for their history of saving people, which they could do because they were sensitive to problems humans couldn't see. Bucky Whet refers to her as "chickadee", another type of small bird. Ironically, chickadees are known for their incredible memories, but Athena doesn't remember a thing about her mother's death.
    • Horses for Franziska. She's a haughty girl (at least, initially) and is frequently called 'a wild mare'. Her younger attire resembled riding gear, complete with a whip.
    • Crows for Kay Faraday. Fitting her title as Yatagarasu, which means "three-legged crow" in Japanese, and corvids being infamous for stealing. She even looks like a baby crow as a kid.
    • Wolves for Lang. His manners, name, and design are meant to invoke wolves, and his incredibly efficient Badass Crew of 100 agents resemble a wolf pack.
    • Dahlia Hawthorne, The Ingenue college girlfriend of Phoenix, resembles a butterfly in many ways (and they're constantly fluttering around her which burn when she gets angry): on a surface level, she's delicate, doe-eyed and noted as especially beautiful by many characters. Butterflies also have a lot of association with the end and beginning of life, something that not only parallels the phoenix motif of the character she's strongly intertwined with, but also resonates with her character as you realize this young lady has a chillingly strong association with death, both in having one of the longest lists of both directly successful and attempted murders in the series and in quite literally managing to return from beyond the grave.
      • Later prosecutor Nahyuta Sadmadhi is also styled like a butterfly, which may possibly be a throwback of sorts to this in order to fool the player. Nahyuta also has an association with snakes and dogs.
      • Colias and his country of Babahl use butterfly symbology. Though players might be suspicious of this due to Dahlia Hawthorne's butterfly motif, Colias is a positive example.
    • Will Powers gets compared to a lion by Phoenix in 2-4, while Rayfa described a lion-faced Steel Samurai actor who apologized a lot in Apollo Justice: Asinine Attorney. His hairdo and buff physique probably helps in that comparison.
    • Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: April May has Cats as her motif. Her standard pose has her holding her hands up close to either side of her face like a cat pouncing, she uses words like "Rowr!" when she gets angry, and her 'Pressured' sprite has her adopt an angry, Cheshire Cat-esque grin.
    • Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice For All: Matt Engarde also has a subtle, but strong association with cats, from his attitude (manipulating others via Obfuscating Stupidity, a common cat stereotype), to bearing claw marks over his hidden eye that are implied to be self-inflicted, and owning a pet cat himself.
    • Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations: Luke Atmey's snazzy tux, long nose, and Anime Hair make him look a lot like a penguin.
    • Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney: The Kitaki family has foxes as their family emblem; their youngest heir even has "whiskers" marks on his face and his hair is styled like one.
    • Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies:
      • A number of characters find Filch very similar to a tanuki, which is described in Japanese folklore as very mischievous, fitting his appearance and thieving habits.
      • Phoenix describes Norma as a sea lion, because she's so fierce. This is aesthetically consistent with her pudgy physique and smooth black clothing.
      • Myriam has many snake-like qualities to her, including hissing like one as a Verbal Tic, making a slithering motion for her "happy" animation, and her love of cardboard boxes.
    • Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice:
      • Princess Rayfa has caterpillars as her motif, stemming from her mother and brother’s butterfly motifs. She has a certain bug-eyed look about her, has a bit of a complex about not having hit her growth spurt, and her arc centers around undergoing a transformation as she comes into her own.
      • Queen Garan has spiders as her main motif. When she reveals herself, her hairstyle is styled like one. Her royal emblem is also a spider, with its legs folded up so it looks like a flower. This befits her cruel and manipulative nature.
      • Bonny and Betty are associated with rabbits and bats respectively, Bonny dresses as a Playboy Bunny while Betty's hairstyle resembles bat wings, and they both have umbrellas patterned with their respective animals.
    • Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit:
      • Di-Jun Wang strongly resembles a lion in appearance, reflecting his strength in stature. His impersonator's true face resembles the Cowardly Lion, befitting his Dirty Coward personality.
      • Knight has an Indirect one — his neck brace and leaned-back head makes him resemble a chess knight, which is usually represented by a horse.
      • Fifi has Foxes. She wears a Live Mink Coat made out of foxes and despite being rather weak physically, she's sly, cunning, and dangerous, singling out prey to kill by dragging them into her den (be it an orphanage backyard or her office).
      • Simeon has Monkeys. His name in both versions relates to monkeys, he tends to make the Monkey Morality Pose, and Money the Monkey often hangs around with him.
      • Shaun is based around a cow theme. He has cow like costume horns, wears a red cow print shirt, has a cow pin on his backpack, and his Trademark Favorite Food is milk, and he is an actor for the Show Within a Show known as Taurusarus.
    • The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve: Adron B. Metermann and Quinby Altamont share a bee motif, with the former carrying a black, yellow-striped bag and the latter a similarly patterned umbrella. Quinby is the wife of Metermann's boss, making him — as their names suggest — the drone to her queen.
  • Ballad of an Evening Butterfly: Butterflies, of course, are a major motif in this visual novel. Black butterflies are associated with Yoru and white butterflies with Chou. Given how butterflies are beautiful, yet very fragile creatures, they fit Chou- an albino vampire that is forced to live her life in a basement- well.
  • Collar × Malice:
    • Heroine Ichika is referred to as a cat by Sasazuka, "baka neko/idiot cat" becoming his Affectionate Nickname for her. The collar she is forced to wear by Adonis has a cat on it and it resembles a cat collar, not to mention how people mention her hair seems to bristle like an angry cat would when she becomes irritated.
      • In his route, Sasazuka also teases her by calling her a dog due to her habit of following orders and being quick to be delighted when praised for a good job.
    • Shiraishi is also associated with cats, particularly the stray cats in the city. He is very fond of said cats, naming and feeding them and even wears cat accessories such as cat ears when working. He can be sly, mischievous, quick to tease and has a hard time getting close to others.
  • Danganronpa:
    • Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc: The Mastermind of the Killing Game and their Dragon each have an animal motif. Junko Enoshima and Mukuro Ikusaba, the Despair Sisters, are associated with bears and wolves respectively. Mukuro was part of an organization known as Fenrir, whose symbol was a wolf, and she tattooed said symbol on her hand to show her loyalty to them. Junko meanwhile used the mechanical Teddy bear Monokuma as her proxy during her tenure as the Killing Game's mastermind and Monokuma becomes a major symbol of her cult of Ultimate Despairs throughout the franchise.
    • Danganronpa 2:
      • Nagito Komaeda's last name translates to "Lion-Dog Tree Branches". Lion-Dogs or Chinese Lions are statues that protect and guard shrines in Shintoism. The kanji used are rather old and classical, which may allude to an old family line or an upper-class background (of which Nagito does have).
      • Kazuichi Soda has a slight one with sharks as he is a Shark-Toothed Humanoid and his hair resembles a shark fin (which we never see in-game, other than the CG of the students frolicking on the beach and is only seen in official art with his hat removed, since he has no sprites without his hat, even with Ultimate Summer Camp).
      • Nekomaru Nidai has a slight one with cats. His first name means "round cat" something he was teased about as a child, his birthday, February 22, falls on Cat Day in Japan, and his hair points somewhat resemble cat ears.
      • Teruteru's character model (short, chubby, notably pinker skin tone than the other students, small black beady eyes, and an off-model circular round nose) suggests the characteristics of a pig but it doesn't outright evoke them and he isn't directly compared to a pig in-game. Add this to his Lovable Sex Maniac and The Chikan nature and he fits the bill. That said, Ultimate Talent Development Plan has Miu calling him a series of pig-related nicknames, like "pig face" and "piggy".
      • Gundham Tanaka is associated with animals in general, but he is particularly associated with hamsters as he is always seen with four hamsters he calls the Four Dark Devas of Destruction. He is also associated with snakes to a lesser extent. One of his kanji means "snake" and his reasoning for avoiding people is because of how "poisonous" he is. His attire as a Remnant of Despair as shown in the anime has a giant snake coiled around him.
      • Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu wears a tie with a bull skull emblem on it, fitting for someone who is Hot-Blooded and loud mouthed with a Hair-Trigger Temper like Fuyuhiko, though he does become considerably nicer after his Heel–Face Turn in Chapter 2. He also has some slight dragon motifs that can be seen with his family. For example, his last name "Kuzuryu" means "Nine Headed Dragon" and his Main Illustration shows him wearing a fedora with a dragon symbol on it. Which is also fitting for a Yakuza like Fuyuhiko. after losing his eye, he gets an eyepatch with a dragon on it.
    • Danganronpa Zero: Ishikki Madarai Is frequently compared to a snake both in appearance and behavior. The fact that there are eight of them also makes them a reference to the Orochi, a legendary eight-headed serpent.
    • Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony:
      • Kokichi Oma is frequently associated with horses; one common translation of his name is literally "King Horse", his Evil Laugh sounds very similar to a horse's whinny, and the assortment of random scraps and junk you find hoarded in his room includes a horse mask and crown.
      • Miu Iruma is associated with rabbits. Miu's first name can translate as "beautiful rabbit," and her dual ahoges are similar to rabbit ears. Her Lovable Sex Maniac tendencies also fit with her rabbit symbolism: rabbits are symbols of fertility and sexuality due to how quickly they reproduce.
      • Kirumi Tojo has a spider motif, her clothing features a spiderweb motif, an iconic tool of any maid worth her salt is a feather duster, generally used to clear away spiderwebs, and her success is largely down to the extensive web of contacts she established. Her execution is also based on the Japanese morality tale "The Spider's Thread", where a sinner trapped in hell seeks his own salvation at the cost of others.
      • Korekiyo Shinguji has a small one with foxes. he takes the appearance of a kitsune during his Argument Armament, which fits Korekiyo due to his cunning and deception. Particularly with his killings, and his Split Personality can be compared to shapeshifting, one of the most well known abilities of the kitsune.
  • Doki Doki Literature Club!: Natsuki is associated with Cats. She is introduced having baked cupcakes shaped like little cats. She, like a cat, is small, mean, called cute by others, and shows fangs. Her casual outfit even includes a cat logo on the shirt.
  • The Fruit of Grisaia: Yumiko Sakaki and Michiru Matsushima have a cobra and bear, respectively, during their Lightning Glare showdown.
  • Harukuru: Turritopsis dohrnii is a species of jellyfish with the unique ability to revert from an adult stage to an immature form, making it biologically immortal. It gives the name of the underground colony Turritopsis and everything inside it, including both objects and characters, has the same properties as the jellyfish. In each carnation loop, they age during 90 days and they de-age back again for another 90 days.
  • The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty: Allusions to animals, or animal-based names and titles are widely used throughout the story; children being sold to rich families are called "lambs" or "sheep", the protagonist Liang likewise has a habit of constantly comparing people to animals (he calls himself and Tongue "wolves", most people are "sheep", a shady person like Yin San is a "fox", and Man Sui is likened to a "cat"). There are also rumors about a Swine Demon, and the euphemism of "Lamb Dishes" referring to children sent out to be eaten by the latter.
  • Little Busters!:
    • Rin is strongly associated with cats, considering that she's constantly surrounded by them and looking after them, has a generally Tsundere, skittish personality, is occasionally drawn with cat ears when she gets angry or shocked, and wears a bell in her hair (and her name is the sound of a ringing bell, too).
    • Kud, on the other hand, is associated with friendly dogs, having a playful and easy to please personality, dearly loving two pet dogs of her grandpa's, and sometimes being drawn with dog ears when upset. She's even great at fetch! She's also associated with bats based around a story about a bat being excluded both from the village of beasts and village of birds, representing the isolation she feels being not entirely Japanese.
    • Sasami is an odd case — her hair ties strongly resemble cat ears and her battle title is 'self-centered cat queen'; but if you follow the mini-route focusing on her, it's revealed that she's actually a huge dog lover.
  • Magical Diary: Invoked by the faculty of Iris Academy. All students are sorted into one of six houses based on their gender and personality traits. Horses, Butterflies and Snakes for girls. Wolves, Falcons and Toads for boys.
  • Majikoi! Love Me Seriously!: Kazuko is heavily associated with dogs. She is frequently depicted with dog ears, and occasionally a tail. She's trained to respond to a whistle and will run to the person who blows it whether she wants to or not. Most notably, though, she has two nicknames referencing dogs, Wanko (used by everyone) and Inu (used by Chris). Mayucchi comes up with an animal motif for everyone.
  • Mice Tea: Even on top of the naming scheme, the main cast have various physical and personal aspects related to their transformation. Margaret is mousy, both in appearance and personality. Sylvia sometimes wears fishnets that cover her legs in a geometric pattern and has metaphorically shed her skin before. Julie has visible eyebags and is a thief.
  • Nasuverse:
    • Fate/stay night:
      • Shirou Emiya has a dog motif, fitting as dogs take great joy in being of service to others and are comfortable in both peaceful and military situations. In ataraxia, he speculates that Sella's zoomorphic potion would give him a dog's verbal tic.
      • While Saber (aka Artoria Pendragon, a gender flipped King Arthur) was often compared to dragons when she was alive, she more closely has an association with lions, as lions are often representations of bravery and leadership fitting Artoria being a king when she was alive.
      • Lancer has a dog motif, fitting his true identity as Cú Chulainn, the Hound of Culann, though Lancer himself hates being compared to one.
      • Rider gets both horses for her ability to summon Pegasus and snakes as befits her real identity as Medusa. She hates the snake comparison.
      • Souichirou Kuzuki has a snake motif, given that he specializes in a fighting style called Snake, which is based around Confusion Fu.
      • Berserker, aka Heracles, has a lion motif, fitting his mane like hair, slitted pupils, his animalistic roaring, and his legend as the hero who slew the Nemean lion.
      • The Shadow has a squid motif, given its body's resemblance to tentacles, Shirou likening it to a deep sea creature, and the fact that Lancer first discovers it while it's hiding in the lake near Ryoudou Temple.
      • Fujimura Taiga, although she really doesn't like being compared to a tiger. One would think that she would stop wearing the yellow striped shirt and take the tiger strap off her shinai if that were the case, but... well, logic has never been her strong point. As it turns out, she actually loves tigers but hates the comparison people constantly make. She calls it a "love-hate relationship".
    • Tsukihime: The series compares Arcueid to a cat a few times with her mood swings, occasionally impish nature and impulsive behavior. And Neko-Arc in the hints corner. Kagetsu Tohya took that and ran with it. Neko-Arc everywhere, a leopard booby trap in her underwear drawer (Yes, really) that eats Shiki, Arcueid in a catsuit, normal Arcueid with cat ears... Len also has a cat theme, but that really doesn't count considering what she is.
  • Project: Eden's Garden: Each character is tied to a specific animal that is featured in their attire.
    • Damon: Snake
    • Eva: Crow
    • Desmond: Shark
    • Eloise: Swan
    • Wenona: Bear
    • Toshiko: Flamingo
    • Ulysses: Owl
    • Mark: Alligator
    • Diana: Chameleon
    • Wolfgang: Sheep
    • Kai: Butterfly
    • Ingrid: Lion
    • Jett: Coyote
    • Grace: Rabbit
    • Jean: Dragon
    • Cassidy: Black Widow Spider
    • Tozu: Ram
    • Mara: Panther
  • Serre: Oaxa’s insectoid design, buzzing telepathy, and black-and-yellow colors evoke bees. This cues the reader to the authoritarian nature of her home society — Oaxa’s mother rules harshly. On a lighter note, bees are attracted to flowers, and Arlette has a flower motif.
  • Slay the Princess: 
    • The player is associated with Birds, or more specifically, corvids. You resemble a bird with feathers, bird-like arms, taloned fingers, and possibly even a beak. Some forms of the Princess call you "little bird" as a nickname. Appropriately, crows and ravens are associated with death, bad omens, transformation, and oncoming change. Less common then the corvid motif, you're intermittently described as draconic, fitting with the inversion of a standard fairy tale. In The Princess and the Dragon, a chapter named by the Princess, you can ask if the dragon means you and be psyched about being called that.
    •  The Princess is strongly associated with cats, including large cats like lions, especially when she begins to take more animalistic traits. Even in her initial human form, her eyes are notably large, and she can potentially be quite snarky and mean. It also creates a contrast to the Player, who is associated with birds, creating a predator-prey dynamic, what with the Princess being easily capable of slaying the Player in many routes.
  • Spirit Hunter series:
    • Spirit Hunter: Death Mark:
      • Shimi-O is associated with bees. He kills his victims with a drill and turns them into human beehives. He's also covered in hundreds of bees, and Yashiki has to navigate carefully around beehives during the chapter. In life, Shimi-O was a member of the cult, and the bees reflect the hierarchy of it.
      • Red Riding Hood from the final chapter is associated with spiders. An ancient torture method is brought up during the case, where a spider is forced down someone's throat to prove whether they're innocent or not (similar to witch drownings). Red Riding Hood was victim to it, which drove her to commit suicide later. Her final form is a giant, monstrous spider, and after she's defeated, Yashiki finds a dead spider on his way home that he associates with Red.
    • Spirit Hunter: NG:
      • The rabbit motif from Death Mark shows up in a few, subtle ways; the bathmat in Akira's apartment has a bunny design, his aunt's bar is called The Black Rabbit, and Kakuya, despite her fox-like appearance, is an explicit reference to The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, which is loosely connected to the Moon Rabbit myth.
      • Turtles are featured prominently in the Urashima case, inhabiting the lake that the Urashima Woman haunts. It's later revealed that the Urashima Woman's murderer dumped dead fetuses in the lake, which possessed the turtles and caused their shells to bear human faces. In one Bad End, Kaoru is found dead with turtles spewing out of their mouth. This is a nod to Urashima Taro, the hero of the folklore that the Urashima Woman is based off of, who was rewarded for saving a turtle's life.
      • Dogs are front and centre for the Kubitarou case, as they are the primary victim of her decapitations. Maruhashi's devotion and loyalty to Seiji are compared to that of a bulldog, which foreshadows him becoming one of Kubitarou's victims, later found wearing a dog mask and collar.
      • Birds are prominent throughout the Screaming Author case. The silhouette first seen outside the house resembles a crane, the titular screaming sounds like a bird warbling, and evidence around the house relates to a performance of "Lac des cane", or "Duck Lake". A young girl was slated to play the part of a princess becoming a duck, which Yakumo made a literal reality, kidnapping and mutilating her into a bird-shaped monstrosity.
  • Sunrider: Sola's uncle Crow Harbor is heavily associated with crows. Apart from being named after them, when we finally see him during The Stinger of Sunrider Liberation Day he's wearing a large bird's skull on one shoulder and a cape made of what appears to be crow feathers on the other. Given that he plunged the entire galaxy into a bloody civil war just to put himself on the throne of the ancient Ryuvian Empire and is poised to do the same thing to the modern galaxy, he fits the motif of crows as harbingers of doom.
  • Tavern Talk: Baya likes antsnote , so they ask for drinks that make them as nimble as them.
  • Umineko: When They Cry: Beatrice is most frequently associated with golden butterflies (appearing early on a cloud of them), signifying the questionable nature of reality as presented in the series. Bernkastel, the self-entitled "cruelest Witch in the world", has a cat's tail. In what may have been a partial Cultural Cross-Reference, Battler is a few times compared to a Phoenix (for his determination).

    Web Animation 
  • 13 Cards: Gabriel tends to be associated with cats, as shown in the credits for Mafia & the fact that he has pointy ears and cat-like eyes.
  • The Amazing Digital Circus: All of the Digital Circus members have at least one;
    • Pomni has crocodiles/alligators, considering her (albeit brief) companionship with Gummigoo, how she and her "Evil" version can bear sharp teeth, and how personality-wise, she prefers to lay low but is proven to be capable of taking matters seriously when the situation calls for it. In a moment blending a comedic element into a serious situation, it's reflected in how she chomps down on one of Jax's legs, in the middle of the fight she started that's meant to break through to his feelings. She also has a slight frog motif, she makes a frog pose during the intermission in episode 5 and her original design was supposed to be a humanoid frog. Which is similar to Ribbit, who also shares some similarities with Pomni such as both of them having a Blush Sticker and both being friends with Jax.
    • Jax takes the form of a purple cartoon rabbit fitting with his mischievous personality and penchant for viewing everything as either part of a show or game. Interestingly, he also has a cat motif that is especially shown in episode 5. He's a carnivore (best seen when he's mauling Rhinoceros Gangle and his own evil doppelganger), his pupils are verticalnote  and they shrink several times, and he's scared of ears of corn much like cats are scared of cucumbers. His personality also fits the Cats Are Mean and Cats Are Snarkers stereotypes, and he is often shown with a Cheshire Cat Grin.
    • Ragatha is associated with horses, having raised them before she ended up in the circus. In episode 4, she wistfully comments that she misses her horses, and in one of the merch videos she requests a horse from the merch machine, her bow also slightly resembles horse ears and her feet resemble hooves.
    • Kinger is heavily associated with insects and bugs, often mentioning "insect collections", expressing a fondness for the candy bugs in the Candy Canyon Kingdom in episode 2, being distracted by fireflies in episode 5, and producing a butterfly to restore Ragatha's health in episode 6. His royal coat resembles a moth's ruff. And the fact that he can only think clearly in the dark while normally being a Cloudcuckoolander in the light also matches insects like moths who seem to lose all their survival instincts when they see light. In episode 3, it's revealed that this is because his wife was an entomologist and he overcame his dislike of bugs because of her.
    • Gangle has a cat motif, as seen through her tendency to make Playful Cat Smiles when in happy mode and her cosplaying as a cat in episode 6 (and convincing Ragatha and Kinger to join her).
    • Zooble is loosely associated with birds, especially flamingos. They have two accessories resembling bird wings that they attach to themself in a few episodes (and a bat wing in another episode), their head could be interpreted as resembling a bird's, with the triangular point being a beak, they have a webbed, ducklike foot in one episode, and in Jax's "Poacher's Paradise" adventure, they're turned into a flamingo.
    • Jax's friend before abstraction was named Ribbit, as her name implies, was a human in the form of a cartoon frog.
    • Caine is associated with bees. He likes drawing them, his personality can be fairly described as "buzzing" and like worker bees, he's single-mindedly determined to fulfill his one purpose and really doesn't take the idea that he's failing that purpose well. It's also something that connects him to his inspiration, AM, who in the radio play brings that it should be impossible for a bee to fly; speaking of, it truly is impossible for Caine to connect with his players, since he cannot understand humans, yet has to try to keep them from abstracting.
  • Amy (Animated Short): This is represented in shadows. The titular's shadow is seen as a mouse, something that is small and meek, while her guardian's shadow is a wolf, something predatory. When Amy gets back at her abuser, her shadow becomes a lioness, something that represents courage.
  • The Gaslight District: Each of the Smiling Dead have at least one.
    • Mel has a bird motif, particularly crows and vultures. Given that she is heavily connected to the angels which bird-like in the show and was born from an egg, even her head is shaped like an upside-down egg and her bangs resemble wings.
    • Ken has a subtle aquatic life motif. Ken's appearance resembles a fish, with his green pallor and the split top of his head looking similar to a head fin. His butcher shop is built into the remains of a dead whale, and his preferred method of killing is strapping concrete to people's feet and dropping them in the ocean.
    • Mud is associated with snakes. He has a lean, tall build and sometimes appears with his arms disappearing into his coat, he can also be seen almost slithering around at some points, and his sneaky, underhanded mannerisms along with his tendency to swallow objects bring to mind deceptive snakes. He's also seen in the prologue springing out of the toilet through the pipes, which is a common myth involving snakes.
    • Breadhead is associated with Alligator snapping turtles. It's subtle, but the way he sticks out his bread tongue to trap and kill one of the Angels is similar to how alligator snapping turtles use their worm-like tongue to capture prey.
    • Jack The Rat is a former member but he has one too, in this case he has a rat motif, it's in his name and he wants to rat out the fact that Mel is a human.
  • Helluva Boss:
    • Blitzo has both cats and horses as prominent motifs. For cats, he wakes up Moxxie in the pilot by sitting on his chest and purring, and in "C.H.E.R.U.B", he watches a potential victim of assassination while swaying his tail from side-to-side, like a cat getting ready to pounce. With horses, Blitzo is shown on multiple occasions to be obsessed with them, often having toy ponies, pictures of horses and horse-themed pornography in his office or on his person. He also seems to have a bit of chameleon in him as well, with his body being longer and more reptilian-like than Moxxie or Millie, and having a prehensile tongue that he can use to grab things (namely a dog treat Loona turned down). He also has a penchant for climbing - almost slithering - up larger folks to meet them eye to eye, or just for a combat advantage.
    • Stolas is an owl demon, so naturally birds are a prominent motif for him. He can occasionally be heard making owl noises, such as hooting or screeching, when excited or stressed out and he's been visually represented with feathers on multiple occasions.
    • Stella and Andrealphus are demonic peafowl, so they are naturally a prominent motif for both of them. Though Stella is based on the drab-colored female peahen in contrast to the brightly-colored Andrealphus, who is based on the male peacock. Peacocks are symbols of power, divinity, and royalty, which fits Andrealphus and Stella's status as a Goetia demon. Peacocks are also associated with the sin of Pride — while snobby attitudes comes with the territory, Andrealphus is colder and more condescending in his snobbery whereas his sister is more outspoken and hateful of those she considers beneath her. "Sinsmas" also reveals that Andrealphus' coat and tail feathers can spread out like a peacock's tail when pissed off.
    • Fizzaroli has a prominent snake theme, ranging from his forked tongue to coiling himself around Asmodeus' shoulders in a manner similar to those shots of beautiful naked women with boa constrictors. In addition, his constantly extending and retracting limbs and general slinkiness further the serpentine allusion. This particular theme is probably yet another reference to Beetlejuice, specifically his infamous snake form from the movie. Frogs are also another motif for him, as shown by one of Asmodeus's pet names for him, "Froggie," and a brief clip where Fizzarolli puppet waves its arms like Kermit the Frog.
    • Moxxie's dad, Crimson, has sharks as a prominent motif. His crew made up mostly of shark demons, his home's decor includes themes of shark jaws and dead fish, and his favorite method of "whacking" is drowning people in a lake. Like sharks, he is a persistent predator who tracks his prey (Moxxie) across a vast distance (between Rings) and is incredibly bloodthirsty.
    • The Seven Deadly Sins:
      • Lucifer has snakes, fitting with his role as the serpent that caused the Fall of Man. Most of the snake iconography he's associated with also stylizes the snakes to look like worms crawling out of or coiling around apples, further alluding to his Biblical significance as the one who gave humanity the Forbidden Fruit. In his home show, he also displays a fondness for waterfowl, making novelty rubber ducks in his spare time and implicitly having true form resembling a swan.
      • Bee-Lzebub is visually depicted as a mix between a fox and a honeybee, but bees are the more prominent motif for her, represented through having antennae on her ears and eyelashes, her abode resembling a giant beehive and frequent references to honey, as well as her nickname being, well, "Bee". What is implied to be her true form also looks more insect-like than her regular form.
      • Mammon has a spider motif, with his six additional eyes (giving him eight in total), extra arms and tendency to lounge around on a spider web. He also has Fizzarolli trapped in a metaphorical "web" as an employee he exploits. His true, full demon form takes this further by giving him long, clawed spider legs.
      • Asmodeus has roosters as his main motif; he himself is a hulking demon with colorful rooster feathers, he has decorations with an avian theme (including a cuckoo clock with the "cuckoo" being a rooster with a giant cock) and his personality can easily be described as "cocky". Like the mythological Asmodeus, he also has the heads of a goat and a bull projected on his feathery collar, and said heads appear as decorations on his office doors as well.
      • Satan is a humanoid dragon, fitting how dragons are symbols of rage and destruction.
      • Leviathan is a two-headed fish woman with one of her heads resembling a Sea Serpent, as a reference to how Leviathan in folklore was a giant sea dragon.
      • Belphegor is a sleepy humanoid sheep with a long neck like a llama. This fits with her Sloth sin, as sheep are associated with both sleep ("counting sheep", the fluffy wool resembling clouds or pillows) and laziness (sheep as "followers" who don't think for themselves).
  • "Meet My Family" (turn on captions for English translation) features the members of the titular family with animal-like designs to compliment their various colorful personalities, some more subtle than others; the most subtle are the twin aunts at the beginning, who don't borrow any visible traits from an animal, but the room they're introduced in is decorated all over with cute pictures of dogs; the cousins resemble chickens as a possible Gossipy Hens joke; the grandfather has a cane in the shape of a fox's head and his green eyes, pointed sideburns and triangular eyebrows compliment that motif; the mother is a Lean and Mean Rich Bitch who slithers about like a snake; and the grandmother is a short, plump, friendly woman with a wide mouth like a toad.
  • Meta Runner: Five of the main characters are based on birds: Tari is a bluejay as her appearance is inspired by one, In particular, her symbol and the designs on her jacket's shoulders resemble wings, Belle is a phoenix, Lamar is a peacock, Sofia is a canary, and Masa is a falcon.
  • Murder Drones:
    • Uzi occasionally demonstrates traits reminiscent of a cat, acting dismissive and surly yet being affectionate towards those she cherishes, N in particular, sitting atop her desk on all fours like a cat at attention, hiding in a trash can, and even letting out the occasional Playful Cat Smile.
      • She also has bats and crows. Both are animals that are related to darkness and goth themes, which are what Uzi likes to wear. In her Solver form, Uzi takes traits of bats, and inside of N's memories in "Home", she takes the form of a crow.
    • N is frequently associated with dogs, especially golden retrievers, as he is an outgoing people pleaser with a kind, easygoing temperament that endears him to others. These parallels are lampshaded in "Home", where his first scene has him happily reading a book about dog breeds, with golden retrievers receiving the most focus. Just like golden retrievers and other canines, he suffers from being such a loyal follower that he often sides with people that he knows in the past rather than coming to his own conclusions first, allowing him to be played like a fiddle. He grows out being a doormat over the course of the story while retaining his kind nature.
    • Alice, as if she wasn't unsettling enough, engages in unnatural behavior similar to a four-legged animal, though it's not directly clear which creature she represents.
      • She possesses a makeshift Disassembly Drone-inspired tail, bounces from objects on all-fours, perches on tabletops, is always barefoot, never removes her feet from the chair, and always preys on whoever stumbles in her territory, including the dreaded Disassembly Drones. These traits are comparable to cats who typically sit on furniture, hop from object-to-object, and are natural born hunters.
      • Unlike most Worker Drones, Alice dons crafted antlers on her hardhat consisting of various scraps that were most likely scattered around the facility. These horns are creepily reminiscent of deer antlers. Incredibly ironic considering deers are symbolized as gentle, innocent, and meek creatures, and Alice herself is a sadistic psychopath who murders and harvests her victims.
    • The Solver is associated with Centipedes. As demonstrated with Eldritch J and Cyn, the mutations the Solver causes in Drones produces elongated, partially organic bodies lined with dozens of bladed insectoid limbs and hologram-projecting cameras that aren’t too dissimilar in bodyplan to a centipede. Centipedes are also used as a symbol for the perversion of life in certain cultures, with the Solver making use of Zombie Drones, Murder Drones and Tessa, all of whom had died in some manner.
  • "Only Girls Get It" depicts various symptoms of PMS as women turning into animals; a prickly hedgehog, a starving black bear, an emotional elephant, and a solitary lioness.
  • Red vs. Blue:
  • RWBY:
    • Ruby Rose is associated with wolves. She is based on Little Red Riding Hood, she's first introduced fighting Beowolves, a type of monstrous wolf-creature, when she sleeps, she wears pajamas with a cartoonish wolf-face and wears a wolf-eyed Sleep Mask, her Circling Birdies are little wolves, and her bedroom has Beowolf action figures in it. Also, Word of God states that she was supposed to appear more "wolf-like", but animation constraints prevented it.
    • Blake Belladonna has cats as a motif. For one, she's a cat Faunus, she's also sneaky and mysterious, and like many Faunus, she has traits reminiscent of the animal she's a hybrid of, such as liking fish and being scared of dogs.
    • Adam Taurus has a bull motif. He's a bull Faunus, his last name is the latin word for "Bull", the markings on his Cool Mask resemble horns, and when he removes his blindfold, he's revealed to have been branded over his left eye by the SDC, just like how cattle is branded in farms.
    • Junior, the club owner Yang fights in the "Yellow" trailer, has bears as a motif. He's the third largest character in the series, his real name, Hei Xiong, is Chinese for "Black Bear", his club's DJ wears a bear costume, and all of his henchmen use axes with the word "bear" engraved on it.
    • Team CRDL (pronounced "cardinal") contains four members who are all associated with birds. The leader is Cardin Winchester, whose name is associated with cardinals, and he wears a breastplate with a bird in flight on it. Two other teammates also wear armor with birds found somewhere on them: Dove Bronzewing, who is associated with pigeons and doves, and Sky Lark, who is associated with the skylark. The remaining member is Russell Thrush, who looks more like a punk and doesn't wear armor. All the birds have Christian folklore attached to them, hence the "church knight" appearance of most of the team.
    • Velvet Scarlatina has rabbits as a motif. She's a rabbit Faunas, and her eyes are animated differently from other characters, being much wider and more doe-eyed to emphasize her cute appearance.
    • Raven Branwen has birds, specifically, as her name implies, ravens, as a motif. Her last name means "Blessed Raven", her Cool Mask resembles a bird's face and beak, she styles her hair in a way that resembles bird feathers, and like her brother, she can magically shape-shift into a bird.
    • Arslan Altan, the leader of Team ABRN, has lions as a motif. She's the leader of the team, a position associated with lions, her first name is Turkish for "Lion", and her color scheme brings lions to mind.
    • Tyrian Callows has scorpions as a motif. He's a scorpion Faunus, his wrist-blades resemble pincers, and his ponytail resembles a scorpion's tail.
    • Ilia Amitola has a chameleon motif. She's a chameleon Faunus, her weapon is a whip that lashes out like a chameleon's tongue, and her ponytail curls back in on itself like a chameleon's tail.
    • Trifa, a member of the White Fang working under the Albain brothers, has a spider motif. She's a spider Faunus, her symbol is a spider, and her short sword's blade is attached to the handle by a spider-like design.
    • Lil' Miss Malachite used to be afraid of spiders. As a result, she decided to overcome that fear by making spiders work for her. She now runs a criminal information network in Mistral, using the symbol of a spider sitting on a web to identify her criminal headquarters. Every single member of her organization can be identified by the presence of a tattoo of the same symbol somewhere on their body. And to top it all off, she is based on the nursery-rhyme character, Little Miss Muffet.
    • Clover Ebi has kingfishers as a motif. His weapon is named after them, his design (his hair in particular) seems inspired by the bird, and the kingfisher is associated with good fortune, but also tragic death.
    • Harriet Bree has hares as a motif. Her nickname is "Hare", the blond tufts of hair in the front of her hairline resemble long ears, and her semblance is Super-Speed.
    • Marrow Amin has dogs as a motif. He's a canine Faunus, his weapon is a boomerang-rifle named Fetch, and his semblance can paralyze Grimm with the command "Stay".
    • Fiona Thyme has sheep as a motif. She's a sheep Faunus, her hair resembles a sheep's wool, her earrings resemble the tags farm sheep are given, and she has a shy and gentle personality.
    • Robyn Hill has birds as a motif. Her personal symbol is a bird with flared wings, and wings extend out of her crossbow whenever she prepares to use it.
  • Salad Fingers: Glass Mother's appearance seems to invoke a insectoid one.
  • Skibidi Toilet: Titan TV man has a Cat motif. He has two antennas/thick head decorations that resemble cat ears, six claws from his back and often shows a cat smile emoticon when he is happy. He tends to jump on his opponent and act recklessly in battle, just like how cats fight each other and is incredibly loyal toward his fellow Titans and his creator (Scientist TV man), like a house cat. Black cats are also associated with bad luck. Titan TV man is one of the greatest assets of Alliance and a fearsome opponent for Skibidi Toilet. His downfall due to the Astro Toilet ultimately becomes one of the biggest sources of bad luck for the Alliance side, especially the TV men side.
  • Spooky Month:
    • Moloch's appearance is very similar to a demonic bull, in reference to the original deity. In addition, the second pair of teeth closely resembles the toothy mouth of a lamprey.
    • The Eyes of The Universe has two vaguely resembles an alien octopus, given its tentacles. Though it also has thin legs emerging from its head, making it very similar to a spider. Whether or not it's a connection to the spider hiding in Skid's attic remains to be seen.
  • SMG4: Tari is associated with ducks, especially rubber ducks.
  • The Walten Files:
    • Rosemary is associated with Sheep: her short curly hair, her puffy sweater and her black shoes are very reminiscent of the wool and hooves of a sheep; moreover, they were the animals that Rosemary loved to draw and on which she based Sha, her self-insert character from the Showstoppers. It is no coincidence that, once killed, Bon hid her body inside Sha's animatronic.
    • Susan is associated with rabbits: her body is hidden inside Banny, a background clip depicting her suffering in "Relocate Project" shows numerous rabbits, and she finally refers to herself as a starving rabbit tapped in a cage.
    "The bunny rabbit is trying to find a way out."
    "The bunny rabbit needs to catch the owner attention."
    "The bunny rabbit needs to get out."
    "The rabbit is starving."

    Websites 
  • According to CEO Jay Graber, the butterfly logo of Bluesky is a motif. The butterfly represents change, and Bluesky's goal is to change social media as it opens up.
  • FLAVOR FOLEY: "rawdog", punning off its title and tying into its themes of sex and dominance, is canine-themed — collars, leashes, barking as part of the hook, and... canine mating habits.
  • From Killerbunnies, we have Arachne, who, fitting of her name, tends to have a spider motif and behaves very much like one, which is to say, she won't bother unless bothered.
  • VIMALION PROJECT:
    • Lang Chuan's design is inspired by lions, with a color scheme of blondes and reds along with sporting a hairstyle that resembles a lion's mane.
    • While Mai's design is inspired by apples, she also has a slight bunny theme as she has what resemble bunny ears made out of apple slices.

    Web Videos 
  • The Carpetbagger associates himself with possums. They show up in most of his animated intros. In this video, he explains that this is because he finds possums weirdly fascinating, and because possums are associated with the Deep South, which is where his channel originally focused on before he started branching out to the whole US.
  • Dream SMP: All characters who have anthropomorphic animal skins in terms of their species obviously have motifs that compare them to their animal forms, e.g. Fundy and CPK to foxes, Antfrost to cats, and Techno to pigs.
    • TommyInnit is associated with Raccoons. After fleeing Logstedshire, he digs a hole in Technoblade's basement and starts hoarding and stealing from there, causing Techno and even Tommy himself to compare him to a raccoon. At the same time, raccoons are often seen as tricksters and scavangers, a fitting motif for a boy with a tendency to troll and steal from his servermates.
    Technoblade: You don't even have your own house, you're living in my floorboards like a raccoon!
    Tommy: There's nothing wrong with being a raccoon, dickhead. (laughs)
    Technoblade: Raccoon boy!
    • Tubbo is associated with Bees, which Tubbo also happens to absolutely adore. Bees are hardworking, community oriented animals who do important work (pollinating flowers and food plants) but are often overlooked or seen as pests. They have a strict social hierarchy, and are surprisingly intelligent, able to communicate in sophisticated ways. Tubbo is a determined, loyal friend and The Smart Guy. However, he also tends to kiss up to authority and act as a yes-man, and his contributions are often overlooked. In Jack Manifold's lore finale, Tommy also mentions that Tubbo has started selling honey after the events of the SMP.
    • Philza is associated with Crows. Phil is a Winged Humanoid with large, feathered wings (though he lost them in the L'Manburg explosion), and his chat manifests as a murder of crows. It also helps that he's married to the Goddess of Death, and crows are heavily affiliated with death.
    • Quackity is associated with Ducks, from a meta perspective, given his content creator counterpart's screen name and past videos. It also helps that Quackity as a character was quite silly (at least before his spiral) and can canonically fly, not to mention that the room dedicated to him in the Lost City of Mizu from Tales From the SMP had a yellow duck design on the flooring.
    • Niki is associated with two separate animals at different points.
      • Birds. Thanks to the angelic imagery around her character, Niki gets associated with birds, especially birds with black feathers, thanks to the main image of Niki with black angel wings. Niki is quite clever as a character, and many birds (especially black-feathered birds like corvids) are very intelligent. Her association with birds also doubles as a Caged Bird Metaphor since during Manburg, Niki felt like the country she once loved had become a Gilded Cage.
      • Cats. Thanks to one of her skins adorning herself with cat ears, Niki also gets associated with cats. Like birds, cats are also often associated with a sense of cleverness — often in a more predatory or mischievous manner. Cats being a predator, but one that is considered more adorable and cute in comparison to others, also fits Niki as she is often seens as a sweet, nice, kind girl, but is dangerous and vindictive when pushed. It's not uncommon for her cat association to be more specific to big cats, like a lynx, a snow leopard, or similar animals, which fits for a character that can be dangerous.
    • A minor one, but Karl sometimes wears a frog hoodie and is drawn as a frog on at least one Kinoko Kingdom promotional poster.
    • Connor is associated with Hedgehogs. He wears a hedgehog onesie, and some fans often depict him as even being part hedgehog.
    • Boomer is often identified with frogs, most notably seen on his hat in Minecraft.
  • Game Grumps:
    • Jon tends to prefer bird Pokémon, along with having a bird sidekick in his own series.
    • Danny is associated with unicorns (The Last Unicorn is reportedly his favorite movie, and an early Ninja Sex Party song, "Unicorn Wizard," established his love for the creature) and Arin is associated with cats (he has pet cats and Dan's Affectionate Nickname for him is "big cat"). Their respective fursonas, crossing over with their Color Motifs, are a blue unicorn and a pink lion respectivelynote , which have appeared in media such as Game Grumps Live shows and even official body pillows.
  • Hermitcraft: Starting with Season 7, Doc plays his acronym of G.O.A.T to the hilt, using a large goat statue he calls the Goatmother to represent his doctrine.
  • JaidenAnimations has some references to birds in her videos; as shown by her pet conure, Ari. In her Pokémon videos, she's shown to possess bird-themed pokemon. In some videos; you can see 3 small bird tattoos on her right forearm.
  • The Minerva Alliance: The titular Minerva Alliance has birds as its motif. Its logo is the face of a barn owl, its base of operations, Eyrie Command, is named after the term for an eagle's nest and its personnel have bird-themed codenames, such as "Agent Sparrow", "Agent Peregrine", etc.
  • The MrBeast logo has always been a big cat, speciffically a Tiger◊.
  • Party Crashers:
    • Monkeys for Brent, as he frequently makes monkey noises and often plays as monkeys in video games whenever he's given the option, such as Funky Kong in the Mario Kart series and the Monkey in Ultimate Chicken Horse. He's also often associated with crocodiles due to being a King K. Rool main in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
    • Penguins for TCNick3, as he used to have a Piplup as his profile picture◊ and was often represented with Piplup images and GIFs in videos, though this was phased out after changing his profile picture to his custom Daisy costume in January 2024 and him stating that he does not like being represented as Piplup. He's also often associated with dogs, as he frequently makes dog noises and often plays as dogs in video games whenever he's given the option, such as Scrubby in Liar's Bar and Dribble in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$!.
  • Pirates SMP: All of the pirate factions/guilds are named after birds; There's the Herons, the Kestrels, the Kites, and the Nightingales. Puffy only figures this out after meeting a heron (as in the actual bird) out in the wild. The Odd Name Out is a non-Isles faction named the Sabertooth clan, which is named after a mammal instead.
    • After trying to bounce back from the cursed treasure from the Captain Golden Beard quest and claiming to always land on his feet, Eloise compares Owen to a cat. It also fits his aloof and independent streak and flippant attitude towards life.
    • For all his status as The Beastmaster, there are a couple of animals that hold a deeper-than-surface-level association with Scott.
      • Magpies, which are how his stream chat manifests. They're also known for being clever and mischievous, and assist in playing into his Caged Bird Metaphor.
      • Kangaroos, who form the bulk of his pet collection (aside from the aviary). They're associated with extroversion and laid-backness, which he eventually starts mellowing out to be. It's also joked that his stint with a jump boost amulet early in the series is foreshadowing for the Kangacrew.
  • SMPLive:
    • Cooper has a fish motif, being a Fish Person and having fish as a main element of his branding.
    • A more subtle one compared to other server members, but Gold is associated with parrots, as he has many, and is very fond of them.
    • Despite his name being a type of bear, Grizzly's animal motif is dogs — particularly pugs, as his mascot is one and one can be seen on his skin.
    • Travis is associated with both dogs and monkeys — the former due to his branding, and the latter due to his skin. Both reflect his Keet personality quite well.
    • Schlatt is associated with sheep due to his mascot being one.
    • Wilbur has two, and both are sea animals: Whales, due to his "whale facts" booth, and squids, as he performs "The Squid Song" during the SMPLive Talent Show.
  • SuperMarioLogan: Jeffy is associated with Rabbits. He likes carrots, has buckteeth and big ears, acts harebrained, and has a bunny suit. His favorite song, Hop Hop, also features a rabbit.
  • Yo Videogames: Dogs (to be more precise, Pomeranians) are Maximilian's animals of choice. After all, his mascot, Benny, is one. Taken to a logical extreme where, in Tokyo Jungle, Max plays as a Pomeranian while his friend Matt favors the saber-toothed tiger.

 
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Samon, Kiji, and Kenshirou

The Cell 13 inmates compare the guards, Goku Samon, Mitsuba Kiji, and Yozakura Kenshirou to a monkey, a pheasant, and a dog (the three animals that supported the titular character of the Japanese folktale "Momotaro").

Hachi [Dog]

Vanitas [Bats]

Maligula [Snakes]

Aisling [Wolves]

The Foretellers...

Alternative Title(s): Animal Motif

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Samon, Kiji, and Kenshirou

The Cell 13 inmates compare the guards, Goku Samon, Mitsuba Kiji, and Yozakura Kenshirou to a monkey, a pheasant, and a dog (the three animals that supported the titular character of the Japanese folktale "Momotaro").

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Samon, Kiji, an...

Hachi [Dog]

Vanitas [Bats]

Maligula [Snakes]

Aisling [Wolves]

The Foretellers...
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