Tropescilloscope: Animal Motifs

The use of an animal/animals to underline a theme or make a statement about a character. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes Well-Intentioned Extremist Suspiciously Specific Denial Beta Couple Dirty Cop Chase Scene Black Dude Dies First Bury Your Gays Deal with the Devil Deconstruction Chewing the Scenery Malevolent Masked Men Dark Is Not Evil Wounded Gazelle Gambit Alliterative Name Serious Business Break the Haughty Evil Is Petty The '50s All There in the Script Film Noir Index Worthy Opponent Married to the Job All for Nothing Historical In-Joke Animated Credits Opening Face–Heel Turn Very Loosely Based on a True Story Slasher Smile Flashback Badass Bookworm Cat Fight Award-Bait Song Evil vs. Evil Accidental Murder And I Must Scream Silence Is Golden Crapsack World Eureka Moment Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique The '60s Femme Fatale Race Lift Death of a Child Riddle for the Ages Hell Is That Noise You Killed My Father Not So Stoic Villain Protagonist Beard of Evil Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Offscreen Moment of Awesome Interrupted Suicide Kill 'em All Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Hollywood Darkness Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Zombie Stories Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" The Chessmaster B-Movie Cool Car Arranged Marriage Idiot Ball Ambiguous Ending Eagleland Adaptation Name Change Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Costume Porn The Stoic The '90s As Long as It Sounds Foreign Lampshade Hanging All Just a Dream Fanservice Extra Oh, Crap! Poor Communication Kills Take a Third Option Butt-Monkey Facial Horror Ax-Crazy The Remake Show Within a Show Hong Kong Films Anyone Can Die Important Haircut O.O.C. Is Serious Business Catch-Phrase Protagonist Title Casting Gag Obstructive Bureaucrat Men Are the Expendable Gender Enemy Mine Hate Sink The Big Guy Epic Fail Intergenerational Friendship Action Genre Daddy's Girl Took a Level in Jerkass Shown Their Work Eye Scream One-Word Title The Bully No Antagonist The Oner Bond One-Liner Evil Is Hammy Meaningful Name The Stoner Biopic Anti-Hero Made of Explodium Suddenly SHOUTING! Every Car Is a Pinto Drives Like Crazy Our Vampires Are Different Victoria's Secret Compartment As You Know Loads and Loads of Characters Epic Movie Soundtrack Dissonance Those Two Bad Guys Meaningful Background Event Badass Normal Exact Words Black and Gray Morality French Films Psycho for Hire Black Comedy Crazy Jealous Guy Superhero Nice Hat Death Seeker Blood Knight Jitter Cam Genre Shift Bound and Gagged Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Stepford Smiler Kubrick Stare Antagonist Title Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Spiteful Spit Informed Ability Tempting Fate Mistaken for Gay Evil Plan Fire-Forged Friends Training Montage Twist Ending Big Brother Instinct I Just Shot Marvin in the Face No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Revenge Foreshadowing Alas, Poor Villain Taking You with Me Spanner in the Works Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Imagine Spot Bond Villain Stupidity Hope Spot Red Herring Vampire Fiction Reckless Gun Usage Cain and Abel Dumb Blonde The Sociopath The Great Depression Product Placement Sports Stories Adaptation Dye-Job Market-Based Title Random Events Plot Freeze-Frame Bonus Dull Surprise Mr. Exposition The Smart Guy Same Language Dub Developing Doomed Characters Vitriolic Best Buds Earn Your Happy Ending Villainous Breakdown Bloodier and Gorier Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Henpecked Husband Monumental Damage Rousing Speech Not What It Looks Like Stealth Hi/Bye Smoking Is Cool Gold Digger Shut Up, Hannibal! Annoying Younger Sibling Papa Wolf I Need a Freaking Drink Karmic Death Novelization Gender Flip Rasputinian Death Cloudcuckoolander Calling the Old Man Out All Girls Want Bad Boys Lighter and Softer Japanese Films Due to the Dead Department of Redundancy Department There Is No Kill Like Overkill Not So Above It All Ominous Latin Chanting German Films As the Good Book Says... The Ditz Cluster F-Bomb Say My Name One Steve Limit A Minor Kidroduction Bloodless Carnage Silent Movie An Arm and a Leg Spared by the Adaptation Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Captain Obvious Smug Snake Police Brutality Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Deliberately Monochrome Scary Black Man Fiery Redhead Bullying a Dragon Science Fiction Films Peek-a-Boo Corpse Dramatic Gun Cock No Name Given Age Lift Small Name, Big Ego Closed Circle Early Installment Weirdness Together in Death Mad Scientist "Shaggy Dog" Story Lock and Load Montage Back from the Dead Apocalypse How The Dog Bites Back Evil-Detecting Dog Gratuitous English Public Domain Feature Films All Men Are Perverts Fingore Pay Evil unto Evil Deadpan Snarker Cool Old Lady Wham Shot Skewed Priorities Body Horror Never My Fault Gainax Ending Immune to Bullets Advertised Extra Anguished Declaration of Love Green-Eyed Monster The Power of Love And the Adventure Continues Demoted to Extra Drowning My Sorrows Corpsing Plot Hole The Mole Not So Different And Starring It's Personal Daylight Horror Only in It for the Money Badass Longcoat Adaptational Villainy Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Kids Are Cruel La Résistance Five-Man Band Death by Adaptation Brutal Honesty The Atoner Bloody Hilarious Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Martial Arts Movie Not Quite Dead Mama Bear Sci-Fi Horror Ship Tease Manipulative Bastard Laser-Guided Karma Gorn Central Theme Rule of Three The Casanova Sinister Minister Aluminum Christmas Trees Foregone Conclusion Romantic False Lead Extremely Short Timespan Dissonant Serenity Contrived Coincidence You Have Failed Me Politically Incorrect Villain Evil Sounds Deep Nothing Is Scarier Unspoken Plan Guarantee Too Dumb to Live Bad Boss After the End No Celebrities Were Harmed Sadistic Choice Freudian Excuse Leave the Camera Running World of Ham Maybe Ever After Hollywood Law Cool Shades Catapult Nightmare Kick the Son of a Bitch timeperiod Reality Has No Subtitles Adults Are Useless Only One Name Ms. Fanservice Sassy Black Woman Cat Scare Super Strength Male Gaze Knight Templar Rule of Symbolism Defiant to the End Dutch Angle Alpha Bitch The Ace Guns Akimbo Stalker with a Crush Improbable Aiming Skills Woman Scorned Funny Background Event Word of God Cassandra Truth Awesome, but Impractical An Aesop "The Reason You Suck" Speech It's All About Me Playing Gertrude Retcon Does Not Like Shoes Shirtless Scene Comically Missing the Point I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Rewatch Bonus No OSHA Compliance Those Wacky Nazis Vomit Discretion Shot Eldritch Abomination The Load Defrosting Ice Queen Sole Survivor Rape as Drama Call-Forward Sequel Hook Determinator Non-Indicative Name Manic Pixie Dream Girl Arch-Enemy The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Expy Mythology Gag Hair-Trigger Temper Bowdlerise Heroic Sacrifice Rated M for Manly Final Girl Insult Backfire Mind Screw Needs Wiki Magic Love Adaptational Attractiveness Wretched Hive Take That! Ass Shove The Chick Bait-and-Switch Bolivian Army Ending Moment Killer Mexican Standoff For Want of a Nail Blackmail Outrun the Fireball Disney Villain Death Missing Mom Rule of Funny Despair Event Horizon In the Back Big Bad Duumvirate He Who Fights Monsters Pragmatic Adaptation Double-Meaning Title Big "NO!" Credits Gag Bunny-Ears Lawyer Sealed Evil in a Can Corrupt Corporate Executive I Have Your Wife Fat Bastard Dogged Nice Guy Flipping the Bird The Film of the Book The Reveal Mugging the Monster Authority Equals Asskicking Belligerent Sexual Tension Abusive Parents Artistic License – History Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Pre-Mortem One-Liner Loophole Abuse The Vamp Here We Go Again! Motor Mouth Tap on the Head Insane Troll Logic Shout-Out Title Drop Celebrity Paradox Ascended Extra More Dakka Put on a Bus Fate Worse than Death Animal Title Index Unusual Euphemism You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! "Awesome McCool" Name Breaking the Fourth Wall Disguised in Drag Shoot the Shaggy Dog Ungrateful Bastard Mundane Made Awesome Overprotective Dad My Beloved Smother Bland-Name Product Would Hit a Girl Implacable Man Retirony Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Offscreen Teleportation Dirty Coward Big Damn Heroes Woman in White Male Frontal Nudity Artistic License – Geography The Hero Cowboy Cop Reality Ensues Unreliable Narrator Frame-Up Adaptational Heroism Star-Crossed Lovers Children Are Innocent Big-Bad Ensemble Brainless Beauty Humiliation Conga Yandere Fish out of Water Spiritual Successor Domestic Abuse Everyone Has Standards Diabolus ex Machina Captain Ersatz Logo Joke The Quiet One Damsel in Distress Artistic License – Military Big Bad I Did What I Had to Do Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Broken Pedestal Christmas Movies Index Recycled IN SPACE! Death by Irony Properly Paranoid Scenery Gorn Canon Foreigner Auto Erotica Disappeared Dad Danny Peary Cult Movies List The Mafia Empathic Environment Grievous Bottley Harm Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Light Is Not Good Reality Is Unrealistic Depraved Bisexual Evil Laugh Dwindling Party Rule of Cool Sexy Discretion Shot Match Cut Shower Scene Ironic Echo Romantic Comedy Love at First Sight No Ending Affectionate Parody All There in the Manual '80s Hair The Alcoholic Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Unresolved Sexual Tension Irony As Himself Ambiguously Gay Villain Song Big Eater Creepy Child Break the Cutie Dark and Troubled Past Broken Aesop Creator Cameo The X of Y Dirty Old Man Armor-Piercing Question Book-Ends Only Known by Their Nickname Race Against the Clock Get Out! Retired Badass Laughing Mad Sacrificial Lion Neck Lift Dressing as the Enemy Coming-of-Age Story Beauty Is Never Tarnished 20 Minutes into the Future Continuity Nod Thriller Never Found the Body Kick the Dog Adult Fear Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Not Even Bothering with the Accent Slap-Slap-Kiss Faking the Dead Driven to Suicide Wham Line The '70s The '80s Camera Abuse Storming the Castle Red Right Hand Hero of Another Story Parental Neglect Dark Reprise Curb-Stomp Battle Death Glare Arc Words The Lost Lenore Fatal Flaw Film Noir Mystery and Detective Films Animal Motifs Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Actor Allusion Face Death with Dignity May–December Romance Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Video Credits Once More, with Clarity! Adaptation Distillation Black Best Friend Artistic License – Physics Off-into-the-Distance Ending A Date with Rosie Palms Demonic Possession Exactly What It Says on the Tin Australian Movies Only a Flesh Wound Eyepatch of Power Camp Gay Greater-Scope Villain Decoy Protagonist Bi the Way Happily Married In Medias Res Fantastic Racism Action Girl Batman Gambit Translation Convention Bilingual Bonus Creative Closing Credits No-Sell An Axe to Grind MacGuffin Dramatic Irony Pet the Dog Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Sanity Slippage Narrator Stuff Blowing Up Easily Forgiven Tranquil Fury Left the Background Music On Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Undying Loyalty Time Skip Blonde, Brunette, Redhead The Starscream Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! It Can Think Stealth Pun Dropped a Bridge on Him Canadian Movies Scenery Porn Heroes Want Redheads No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Precision F-Strike Fatal Family Photo Call-Back The Bad Guy Wins Neck Snap "Well Done, Son!" Guy Villain Opening Scene The Hero Dies Self-Deprecation Tagline Heel–Face Turn Fun with Acronyms Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Distracted by the Sexy Slashed Throat Room Full of Crazy Intrepid Reporter Psychopathic Manchild Curse Cut Short Wrong Genre Savvy Pretty in Mink The Dragon Based on a True Story The Un-Reveal Psychological Thriller Ghost Fiction Soft Glass Chiaroscuro Card-Carrying Villain Manchild Bad "Bad Acting" Love Triangle From Bad to Worse Fourth Date Marriage Jerk Jock The Ghost Hypocritical Humor Trailers Always Spoil A God Am I Mr. Fanservice Badass Grandpa You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Only Sane Man The Smurfette Principle Up to Eleven Historical Hero Upgrade Friend to All Children Whole Plot Reference Conspicuous CG Man on Fire Ripped from the Headlines Italian Films Drugs Are Bad Make It Look Like an Accident Parental Abandonment Pretty Little Headshots Amusing Injuries Mooks Mighty Whitey Red Oni, Blue Oni Re-Cut How We Got Here Famous Last Words Drill Sergeant Nasty What the Hell, Hero? Early-Bird Cameo Red Shirt Getting Crap Past the Radar Parental Incest Dies Wide Open Hoist by His Own Petard Anachronic Order Beware the Nice Ones Truth in Television Heel Realization Horror Films Double Entendre Vacation Films It Will Never Catch On Obviously Evil Killed Mid-Sentence The Alleged Car Destination Defenestration Crazy-Prepared Refuge in Audacity Villain Ball Military and Warfare Films Redemption Equals Death Ambiguous Disorder Overly Long Gag Plucky Comic Relief Film Series Anti-Villain Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Pimped-Out Dress Asshole Victim Adaptational Badass Chekhov's Gunman Obfuscating Stupidity Bottomless Magazines Disproportionate Retribution Index of Film Westerns Horror Comedy Bare Your Midriff Really Gets Around Deus ex Machina Determinator aka: The Determinator One-Man Army True Companions Faux Affably Evil Failed a Spot Check Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Big Fancy House Bring My Brown Pants Does This Remind You of Anything? Wicked Cultured Pragmatic Villainy N-Word Privileges Bavarian Fire Drill Older Than They Look Character Development Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Adapted Out Heroic BSoD Genre Throwback Disney Death Framing Device Action Prologue The Brute Off with His Head! She Cleans Up Nicely The Cavalry Your Head A-Splode Downer Ending Genre Savvy Token Minority Screw the Money, I Have Rules! A Father to His Men Those Two Guys Let's Get Dangerous! Punch-Clock Villain Actually Pretty Funny Anachronism Stew Hooker with a Heart of Gold Chekhov's Gun Reasonable Authority Figure Chekhov's Skill Action Survivor Artistic License – Biology Dramedy Unusually Uninteresting Sight Good Is Not Nice Roaring Rampage of Revenge Establishing Character Moment Fan Disservice Artistic License – Law Shipper on Deck Serial Killer Author Appeal In Name Only She's Got Legs Abhorrent Admirer Not Using the "Z" Word My God, What Have I Done? Didn't Think This Through Evil Brit Noodle Incident Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Bittersweet Ending Did Not Get the Girl Your Cheating Heart Music Stories Historical Villain Upgrade Sir Swears-a-Lot Line-of-Sight Name Death by Sex Composite Character Boom, Headshot! Humans Are Bastards Dying Moment of Awesome Even Evil Has Loved Ones Air-Vent Passageway Darker and Edgier Aside Glance Heterosexual Life-Partners Documentary Blatant Lies Bald of Evil Babies Ever After Villain with Good Publicity The Cameo Shell-Shocked Veteran Broken Bird Posthumous Character Last-Name Basis Kill It with Fire Foil Pyrrhic Victory Would Hurt a Child Naked People Are Funny Amoral Attorney Extreme Doormat Redshirt Army Groin Attack Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Fake Shemp Black Comedy Rape "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Historical-Domain Character Accidental Misnaming Homage NO INDOOR VOICE Expository Hairstyle Change Big Applesauce Real Life Bar Brawl Car Fu Crucified Hero Shot Evil Counterpart Stylistic Suck Fantasy Films British Films Unwitting Instigator of Doom Throwing Your Sword Always Works Running Gag Half the Man He Used to Be Madness Mantra Works Set in World War II Red Eyes, Take Warning Eiffel Tower Effect This Is Gonna Suck Dual Wielding Four-Temperament Ensemble Paper-Thin Disguise Author Avatar Badass Boast Betty and Veronica Spell My Name with an "S" The Musical For the Evulz Totally Radical The Place Made of Iron Guile Hero Jerkass Our Zombies Are Different Slasher Movie Agony of the Feet Becoming the Mask Names to Run Away from Really Fast Attempted Rape Taking the Bullet The End... Or Is It? Punny Name Naïve Newcomer Took a Level in Badass The Faceless Darkest Hour Handicapped Badass Jump Scare Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Country Matters Berserk Button Morality Pet Fanservice Hypocrite Major Injury Underreaction Never Trust a Trailer Funny Foreigner War Is Hell Blood from the Mouth folderlabel Brother–Sister Incest Badass in a Nice Suit Cool Old Guy Deliberate Values Dissonance Vomit Indiscretion Shot Grey and Gray Morality My Greatest Failure Jerk with a Heart of Gold Improbable Weapon User Setting Update I'm a Humanitarian Gilligan Cut Mercy Kill Gone Horribly Right Television Movie Index Suspiciously Similar Substitute Karma Houdini Russian Films Almost Kiss What You Are in the Dark Fainting From Nobody to Nightmare Police are Useless Stock Footage Leitmotif The Lancer Covers Always Lie Nice Guy Knife Nut Rich Bitch Leaning on the Fourth Wall Sequel Escalation The Dreaded Cool Guns Adorkable Have a Gay Old Time Artistic License – Gun Safety Hero Antagonist Mood Whiplash Toplessness from the Back Insistent Terminology Affably Evil The Stinger Large Ham Straight Gay BFG Cruel and Unusual Death Even Evil Has Standards Be Careful What You Wish For A.I. Is a Crapshoot What Happened to the Mouse? Scare Chord Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Instant Death Bullet The Voiceless Better to Die than Be Killed Visual Pun Combat Pragmatist Meaningful Echo Real Life Writes the Plot Honor Before Reason Improvised Weapon Brick Joke Manly Tears Meet Cute Hidden Depths He Knows Too Much Jerkass Has a Point Dark Action Girl Cold-Blooded Torture Gory Discretion Shot Adaptation Expansion Parental Substitute