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Species Equals Gender
- 146 statements
- 25 feature instances
- 4 referencing feature instances
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There is a tendency, especially in animated works involving animal characters on the Sliding Scale of Anthropomorphism from Nearly Normal Animal to Funny Animal, to cast characters of some species as more commonly male and characters of some species as more commonly female. This is about an animal species that has both biological sexes in Real Life, but has one gender overrepresented in fiction due to stereotyping. Usually the more ugly, masculine-looking, or androgynous-looking animals (like pigs, gorillas, crows, frogs and toads, rhinos, donkeys, turkeys, and walruses) are more commonly male, while the more beautiful, graceful, or feminine-looking ones (like cats, ladybugs, swans, giraffes, deer, gazelles, and ironically peacocks and male-plumaged ostriches) are more commonly female. If butterflies are shown as adult butterflies they're all female, but when an "ugly" catepillar is shown it'll be male, and one of the few male butterflies. Some species can be either/or gender wise (like dogs, mice, foxes, rabbits, squirrels, tigers, horses, kangaroos, and snakes). There are exceptions to the "graceful animals are female, big imposing animals are male" part of the trope. Hippos, for example, are quite often female in fiction and if so will be cast as either gonkish fat girls or Big Beautiful Women. The Women Are Delicate aspect is often subverted with large animals who will then just act delicately for comedy, like cows, elephants and the aforementioned hippos. Apex hunters such as wolves, bears, and lions tend to be portrayed as male (while unfortunately also being portrayed as "evil" in an anthropomorphic society). Generally, villains, especially in youth-oriented works, are more likely to be male, especially when non-human. However, more mature and realistic works know that in many cases, it is the female who tends to be more dangerous in almost all predatory species, even in ones where she is smaller (and in a lot of cases, the female dwarfs the male in that aspect as well). Mosquitoes are the most notable and obvious example of this as not only are the females dangerous, the males are totally harmless. As an exception to the "predator" category, big cats other than lions (tigers, leopards, pumas, etc) are equally likely to be female, reflecting their grace and agility. In animals which engage in complex courtship rituals, such as most birds, the males tend to be larger and more vibrantly coloured. But because these are more "pretty", they tend to be portrayed as female, especially if the bird in question is a peafowl. The opposite is true with insects, where females tend to be bigger and stronger and more likely to have distinguishing marks while males are tiny and nondescript. Because of this insects like mosquitoes, mantises, ants, and bees are usually portrayed as male. Spiders seem to come out all right, though. It's become common knowledge that the female attempts to eat the male during/after coitus, so spiders tend to be portrayed as vamps, especially the Black Widow, probably thanks to her very indicative name. Any time a large population of a given species is present, there will often be a more realistic balance of males and females to accurately reflect the human population. Thus in films like A Bug's Life (ants), Bee Movie (bees), Antz (ants), Happy Feet (penguins), and Disney's adaptation of Tarzan (gorillas), males and females are seen together. Even then, the male animal characters in the group are usually the ones with the most prominent roles storywise. It's still not totally realistic, especially not in the case with eusocial insects (like A Bug's Life, Bee Movie, and Antz), as the different genders tend to have widely different roles and appearances and all worker ants, bees, and wasps are female. Whenever there is an Interspecies Romance between a human and another animal, the human is usually a woman and the other animal is male. This trope can also be combined with Animal Motifs and Transformation Conventions. Subtrope to Species-Coded for Your Convenience. See also Animal Stereotypes, Animal Gender-Bender, Peacock Girl, Insect Gender-Bender, Female Feline, Male Mutt, Bicolor Cows, Solid Color Bulls, Gender Equals Breed and One-Gender Race. Related to and usually a subtrope to Women Are Delicate. Related to Pale Females, Dark Males and Masculine Lines, Feminine Curves. |
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Dropped link to AnimalAnthropomorphismTropes: Not an Item - CAT | |
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Dropped link to BigBeautifulWoman: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
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DBTropes | |
| Species Equals Gender / int_117116ef | type |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_117116ef | comment |
Subverted with Rhonda, the female walrus in one episode of The Penguins of Madagascar. Also subverted with two female badgers in one episode, two female baboons in another episode, and a female chimp in yet another episode. Also subverted with Marlene the female otter. |
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| The Penguins of Madagascar | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_14cb9f30 | type |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_14cb9f30 | comment |
A Bug's Life has ants of both genders (although, naturally, the protagonist is male), as well as a female spider, male caterpillar, male mantis, and female butterfly. However, it also has a subversion in the form of Francis the male ladybug, who is constantly being mistaken for a girl. | |
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| A Bug's Life | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_2f3aa7ef | comment |
Horse: Most likely to be male, because stallions are considered badass; however, particularly cute/pretty ones are often female. Anything referred to as a "pony", whether it technically is one or notnote actual ponies have shorter legs than other kinds of horse, is likely female (see the whole My Little Pony franchise). | |
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| My Little Pony (Franchise) | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_32d86902 | type |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_32d86902 | comment |
The Backyardigans plays this trope straight with Pablo the male penguin, Tyrone the male moose, and Tasha the female hippo, but subverts it with Austin the male kangaroo. The episodes "Eureka" and "Horsing Around" also both feature female donkeys, while "Elephant on the Run" features a female elephant. | |
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| The Backyardigans | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_3e96b159 | type |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_3e96b159 | comment |
Besides a male cat as the main character, Cats Don't Dance is a near perfect example, with a male elephant, penguin, goat, and turtle, and a female hippo, cat, and fish. | |
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| Cats Don't Dance | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_426a7572 | type |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_426a7572 | comment |
Animaniacs: A similar to the above inversion shows up in "Kiki's Kitten," a Rita and Runt segment episode, with the titular female gorilla antagonist. Chicken Boo is a giant rooster who is simply referred to as a chicken. |
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Earthworm Jim features the male villain Evil the Cat and, in one episode of the TV series, his girlfriend and Distaff Counterpart, Malice the Dog. | |
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| Earthworm Jim | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_524e2e3b | type |
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Subverted with Jenny the female donkey in the Donald Duck cartoons, "Don Donald" and "The Village Smithy" because most cartoon donkeys and mules are male. | |
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| Donald Duck | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_762df2bc | type |
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Kung Fu Panda is a near-perfect example, with a male panda bear, a female tiger, female snake, male monkey, and male mantis. The sequel has Lord Shen, a male peacock. The sequel subverts this with the Soothsayer, a female goat. |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_791e7b7f | type |
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Interestingly played with in Zootopia. There's a few examples (e.g. the male lion and his assistant, the female sheep), a few exceptions (e.g. a married couple of otters with the female having a more prominent role). | |
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| Zootopia | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_84823809 | type |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_84823809 | comment |
Kaeloo the frog is female. | |
| Species Equals Gender / int_84823809 | featureApplicability |
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| Kaeloo | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_878454c5 | type |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_878454c5 | comment |
Played straight with Magic, Wallace, Eva's two henchdogs Zull and Gort, and dog Royal Guards William and Danny being male and Princess Ava, her sister, Eva, and the cat Royal Guards Balloon and Mela being female, but averted with cats Milo and Camo, dogs Dot, Kiki, Bella, Phoebe, and Pia, and Krakia the crow in Puppy in My Pocket: Adventures in Pocketville. | |
| Species Equals Gender / int_878454c5 | featureApplicability |
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| Puppy in My Pocket: Adventures in Pocketville | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_917deeee | type |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_917deeee | comment |
Played straight in Meet the Feebles. On the male side, we have a walrus, a bulldog, a rat, a frog, a hedgehog, a worm, a warthog, a gray dog, some crabs, a fly, a human, an elephant, a fox, a whale, an aardvark, a hare, a weta, and a duck. On the female side, we have a hippo, two cats, two rabbits, a sheep, a chicken, a poodle, and a cow. There's also a Giant Spider, but it's unknown what gender it is. | |
| Species Equals Gender / int_917deeee | featureApplicability |
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| Meet the Feebles | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_93e3f14e | type |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_93e3f14e | comment |
Tarzan shows gorillas in a troop. Unlike in most works with large groups of animals of a given species, the two most prominent members of the troop storywise, Terk and Kala, are female. | |
| Species Equals Gender / int_93e3f14e | featureApplicability |
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| Tarzan | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_99e49e94 | type |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_99e49e94 | comment |
Averted in Bug Fables, which uses realistic sexual division—nearly all of the bees and ants you meet are female, as are most of the mosquitos you meet. There's also buff female stag beetles and several male ladybugs. It also internally subverts this with Crisbee, one of the only confirmed male bees you meet—because he's a carpenter bee, which isn't a eusocial species. | |
| Species Equals Gender / int_99e49e94 | featureApplicability |
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| Bug Fables (Video Game) | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_9a152d5d | type |
Species Equals Gender | |
| Species Equals Gender / int_9a152d5d | comment |
Chicken of Cow and Chicken is a rooster who is literally just called chicken. | |
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| Cow and Chicken | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_a825da3e | type |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_a825da3e | comment |
Magic: The Gathering: For certain tribes of cat warriors, males tend to be based on lions and tigers and more muscular, while females tend to be based on jaguars and leopards and more slender, with curves and breasts and all. | |
| Species Equals Gender / int_a825da3e | featureApplicability |
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| Magic: The Gathering (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_b5bbed98 | type |
Species Equals Gender | |
| Species Equals Gender / int_b5bbed98 | comment |
Madagascar has Alex the male lion, Marty the male zebra, and Gloria the female hippo. However, Melman is a male giraffe. All four penguins are male, also. | |
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| Madagascar | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_bf7fe67f | type |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_bf7fe67f | comment |
A non-animal example of this is Sausage Party in which all sausages are male, and all hot dog buns are female. | |
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| Sausage Party | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_c17e8c00 | type |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_c17e8c00 | comment |
In the Pixie and Brutus this trope is played straight with males Randal (Chew Toy raccoon), Brutus (German Shepherd who retired from military service) and newcomer Dexter (male Belgian Malinois), and female Pixie (Cute Kitten). Inverted with female Lola (a ditzy dog). Mr. Wrinkles is an interesting case in that it is not his species, but his breed (Sphynx) that fits the "ugly animal = male" trope interpretation. He finds himself having to tell Lola that he is a hairless cat, not an alien. |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_c17e8c00 | featureApplicability |
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| Pixie and Brutus (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_cf3de377 | type |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_cf3de377 | comment |
Also subverted with Clementine, Peck's mule/donkey in Sheriff Callie's Wild West. | |
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| Sheriff Callie's Wild West | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_dab32e3 | type |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_dab32e3 | comment |
In Mega Man X series, all of the animal Mavericks are male - which means you can find a male butterfly and ostrich, a male peacock (Truth in Television, but rare in fiction), and a male kangaroo (without pouch, thankfully). | |
| Species Equals Gender / int_dab32e3 | featureApplicability |
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| Mega Man X (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Species Equals Gender / int_dab32e3 | |
| Species Equals Gender / int_f78e69f | type |
Species Equals Gender | |
| Species Equals Gender / int_f78e69f | comment |
The titular protagonist in Chicken Little is a young rooster who is simply referred to as a chicken. | |
| Species Equals Gender / int_f78e69f | featureApplicability |
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| Chicken Little | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_f90f1b9f | type |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_f90f1b9f | comment |
Inverted in an episode of Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers has a female gorilla named Kookoo. She's an Expy of the Real Life female gorilla Koko, who was trained to use human sign language. | |
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| Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers | hasFeature |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_fbf8abdd | type |
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| Species Equals Gender / int_fbf8abdd | comment |
James and the Giant Peach features a male centipede, a male earthworm, and a male grasshopper who are respectively referred to as "the Centipede", "the Earthworm", and "the Old-Green-Grasshopper". It also features a female ladybug who is referred to as "the Ladybug" and a female spider who is referred to as "Miss Spider". | |
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| James and the Giant Peach | hasFeature |
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