Animal Motifs for Supers

[Hermit]

Every once in awhile, I end up wanting to make an animal motif superhero or villain. The problem, of course, is finding ones that are cool (nifty powers, good image ... sheep man just doesn't work... that sort of thing) but haven't been over done or cornered on the market too much. Tricky.

So, I thought I'd ask others on this board what animals they used or liked to use for such?

My own thoughts?
Cats never go out of style, domestic or Big varieties....
Dogs just don't have the same 'coolness' factor, but wolves and foxes can and do.
Birds= Raptors are in, canaries are usually out (Though, female characters with a sonic 'song' go by lark or other such names quite often)
If there's an Ostrich man, I don't know of him.
Insects and Arachnids vary.... Spiders are very cool, but it's hard to top or get away from Spider-Man clones while still having that theme. Scorpions maybe? I mean, bad guys don't count so.. Ant was done well by the Freedom Force game... I don't think I'd WANT the powers of a dung beetle.

Fish-Sharks make great villains....rays are just cool.... but Tuna doesn't inspire much dread in anyone unless you're allergic or can't stand the smell. Octopus seem well covered thanks to a certain doctor, maybe a squid?

Whales/Dolphins- Dolphins and Killer Whales get some show time in comics.... not sure there are any whale related villains heroes (Well, Monstro and the like as summoned followers maybe).

Bears= Good Brick imagry.

Snakes- Only problem, in the CU everyone sees the scales and screams "He works for VIPER, get him!"

[Bengal]

I like animal motifs which is odd since I don't like or allow anthropomorphic animals.

Hummingbird, a shrinking and flying hero
Hornet, high-tech with good weaponry
Redwood, a growth-oriented hero (okay technically a tree, but whatever)
Stingray, nice choice
Bengal, as in the tiger (I'll let ya use it lol)

Don't forget Ant-Man, Yellowjacket, the Wasp, HAWKeye, Black Panther, some other avengers I'm sure, Hawkman and Hawkgirl, Wildcat, Hellcat, Nighthawk (a type of owl actually), Catman, Wild Dog or Dingo, Hyena, Sphinx (not exactly an animal but you get the idea), Beast, Wolverine, Shadowcat, angelic names for winged characters. There's some good ones.

And of course, Sheep Man: The Man who can turn you into a sheep.

[Kzinbane]

Just off the top of my head...

Lizards and crocks and the like - Komodo Dragon, Gila Monster (one of two poinsonous lizards). A quick look online can find other types of crocks (Cayman, Gahrial - the latter a type from India). Names are often trickier than the powers - trying to find something not overdone - and using a more unusual one can make an international character making an opening for an interesting background.

Names aren't all either. Watch the discovery channel a bit or snoop on web pages. Look at spiders for example - there's one called the trap door spider. A super villain or hero based on this may have a dimensional gate power and tunneling - nothing like the "classic" Spider-man powers! In fact about the only things they'd have in common are web (for lining burrows and wrapping prey in the trap door type) and venom (which Spider-man doesn't mimic with a power anyway).

The internet is wide open. Pick an animal - even a pig or something laughable and you can probably make a decent villain. The amazine Aardvark! The heroes are so busy laughing they are caught short as he rips them open with lethal aardvark claws then digs away...

[misterdeath]

Originally posted by Hermit
So, I thought I'd ask others on this board what animals they used or liked to use for such?

Big cats, ranging from simple, Cougar, to more exotic, the Ebony Lion.

Raptors, Hawks and Falcons mainly. Gyrfalcon, Goshawk, Steelhawk.

We did have "Dog Boy" for a while, but the guy got fed up with the abuse...

That Flying Squirrel Guy (powered armor guy)and Combat Wombat (martial artist with guns) were two of the most ... esoteric.

Very serious characters, very silly names.

D

[Twilight]

Anansi is a borderline suggestion from Static Shock. Based on the legends of Anansi the Spider from Ashanti myth and legend. Of course that's more in the realm of Thor and such, but still he is The Spider.

[Blue]

I hear lemmings have great teamwork skills, but you just have to control their leader.

I've been thinking about something dog related. Not wolf related, but more like a junyard dog kind of thing, but I couldn't think of a good name ("Junyard Dog" is a little too 'wrestling' for my campaign; Mutt; Fang; "Canis" is a little too "wolf" like). I'll think of one eventually.

[Bill_CCHKK]

I was thinking that a Razorback would be a good animal motif. Wild boars are mean and nasty. But then I read this and thought better of it.

[Supreme Serpent]

Originally posted by Blue
I've been thinking about something dog related. Not wolf related, but more like a junyard dog kind of thing, but I couldn't think of a good name ("Junyard Dog" is a little too 'wrestling' for my campaign; Mutt; Fang; "Canis" is a little too "wolf" like). I'll think of one eventually.

The comic Wildguard (amusing book BTW) has a hero "Red Rover" who has red outfit/"dog powers".

[lemming]

Originally posted by Kzinbane
Look at spiders for example - there's one called the trap door spider. A super villain or hero based on this may have a dimensional gate power and tunneling - nothing like the "classic" Spider-man powers! In fact about the only things they'd have in common are web (for lining burrows and wrapping prey in the trap door type) and venom (which Spider-man doesn't mimic with a power anyway).

Trapdoor Spiderman
Someone did lyrics at one point, but I haven't found those.

[winterhawk]

Good stuff here, one of my favorite types of heroes.

Arachnids: I have a Silver Age scorpion based Spider-Man knock off called The Sting. A teenager vacationing in Las Vegas is stung by a scorpion irradiated by atomic testing. He gains the strength, invulnerability and abilities of a scorpion. He creates a 'stingline' (as teenagers of the time were known to do), a telescopic metal tendril with a paralytic poison delivery system and a cable claw that allows him to swing from building to building. My character Tarantula (the DC one) has a number of insect motiffed villains in his Rogue's Gallery. Trapdoor, a spider motiff villain that creates wormholes and favors sneak attacks. Another is Wasp Woman, cosmetic magnate that uses phermones to control men and wasps (based on a roger Corman flick). Finally there's Portia, which is a genus of wolf spider know for their cunning, a femme fatale ex-spy.

Canines: I had another roofrunner character called the Fox. He was the son of the heroine White Rabbit (A Black Canary type who could create warpholes) and the silver age Fox. His weapon was the Foxglove (gadget gauntlet) with fired the Foxtail (swingline) and Foxfire (flash). Like his mother, he could open warps, which he called 'foxholes'. His battle cry was Tallyho! As an alternative to the fox/wolf standards, I always thought Mastiff and Foxhound/Wolfhound could be cool themes.

Felines: I have a villain team called the Pride (which I had help creating via these boards): Siberian (Brick), Tomcat (Flying Power Armor), Snow Leopard (Ice Guy), Boots (cute girl gadgeteer), and Lioness (avatar of Sehkmet, Egyptian lion-headed goddess of war).

No one mentioned equines: Mustang, Bronco, Warhorse, Palamino...how about a St. Louis based hero named Clydesdale

I highly recommend Animal Planet/Discovery Channel. Anyone know that platapus have poisonous stingers that produce one of the most painful venoms in the world. And I'm still going to do something with Funnelweb, named for the deadliest spider in the world.

As far as sheep...how about Counting Sheep, the sleep inducing villain!

[Stray Cat]

This thread has reminded me of my Timberwolf (not original name by any means, AND a Batman rip-off to boot!) character. I never finished writing him up other than his background. One member of his rogues' gallery was Mockingbird, a Catwoman clone with a nutty theme (kinda like a less-brutal Joker or a more serious Foxbat).

Cat

[Blue]

Bloodhound!

...Knew I'd come up with a name eventually.

Sorry, just had to share that.

[Kzinbane]

Hmmm. Yeah when you think about it using cats is cool - Ocelot, Tiger, Puma, etc. Dogs... Wolf (cool) Coyote (been done) Jackal, Dingo? heh. The cat's certainly win on this one. One could use PittBull or Mastif or something as a character name and not be laughed at too much I would think.
Beware the amazing Dachshund! Ze French Poodle woman shall snap you up....

Stick with cats.

[assault]

DC had a character called Wild Dog. He was a norm with guns and a hockey mask.

Bugs: Blue Beetle, Silver Scarab. Dung beetle powers seem to work for them.

[BNakagawa]

Hmm. I'd rather have cat-like reflexes than dog-like reflexes.

But that's just me.

Pound for pound, the most ferocious predator in all of nature is the amoeba. But that doesn't make it a good college mascot or motif for a superhero.

Some animals are blessed with positive reputations that can be easily leveraged into a good motif for superheroes. Cats, wolves, raptors and loads of other hunter/killers make the best candidates. The rule of thumb is that the higher you are on the food chain, the better it'll work.

Pandas and reindeer don't work so well. Doesn't take a lot of brain power to sneak up on bamboo and lichen. No mystique in it at all.

Familiarity also helps. Everyone knows about lions and tigers, and so there are countless school mascots that bank on those reputations as fierce killing machines. Pound for pound, civets may be better hunters, but you aren't going to find any civets on your school's schedule. But you'll probably find at least one lion and at least one tiger.

$0.02