History Main / AnthropomorphicZigZag

* ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'' constantly switches between having regular gorilla intelligence to human-like intelligence. In the original ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' and his guest appearance in ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' (Wii), he appears to be just a gorilla. In the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' games (both the original trilogy and ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns Returns]]''[=/=]''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze Tropical Freeze]]''), he displays more human-like intelligence, but still walks around in all fours like a typical gorilla. In the cartoon and ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'', he is now bipedal and displays far more human-like mannerisms. When he is capable of speech and not just random gorilla noises, it can range between HulkSpeak to regular speak. In general, it appears that he becomes more beast-like whenever he is cast in an antagonistic role. Diddy also suffers from this.

* ''The Night I Followed the Dog'' stars dogs that live as normal animals during the daytime, when humans are awake and around, and live as FunnyAnimals during the nighttime, when humans are usually asleep. They, as [[FullyDressedCartoonAnimal fully clothed]] funny animals, hang out in the [[MouseWorld Doghouse, to be concealed from humans]].

* All of the Secret Garden residents from ''WesternAnimation/FatherOfThePride'' walk on four feet while proforming on stage or around humans, then walk around on two when talking by themselves.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'', the animals would constantly go back and forth between [[FourLegsGoodTwoLegsBetter walking on four legs and walking on two legs]].
* Remy and the other rats from ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' can switch between [[FourLegsGoodTwoLegsBetter walking on two legs and walking on four legs]] too. This even has some minor importance in the story--It's noted at the beginning that walking on four legs is the norm, but Remy walks on two to keep his front paws clean. [[spoiler: When the clan rallies to help Remy cook for Anton, Remy insists that they all do the same.]]
* This is also true with the Pizza Planet truck from ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'', which was later seen in anthropomorphic form in the {{Pixar}} film ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}''.
** The three paintings, one of Lightning [=McQueen=], one of Doc Hudson, and one of Flo and Ramone, make those four ''Cars'' characters look non-anthropomorphic and a little more realistic than usual.
** And the toys from that movie themselves, who only come to life if no one's around. The only time they ever break that rule is if someone actually treated that toy ''very'' badly.

* The lawn ornaments from ''WesternAnimation/GnomeoAndJuliet''.

* From ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'': Naked Fievel.
* Actually a plot point in ''WesternAnimation/FantasticMrFox''. Mr. Fox struggles to live a civilized life with his family while his animal urges to hunt and steal distract him.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'' has a variation where on one "level" of reality, the characters move and experience like living beings, and on the next level, they are just toys that don't move.[[note]]With the one exception, obviously.[[/note]] Whenever something happens to them as toys, there is some equivalent event happening to the living versions.

* [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Lucoryphus of the Bleeding Eyes]] in the ''Literature/NightLords'' series of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novels, constantly behaves like an animal, particularly a bird, he walks on all fours surprisingly well, but can be persuaded to stand on his feet, though the notion bothers him. He often chides his men for speaking too much in raptor clicks and hisses, though he does it himself sometimes.

* Snoopy, from ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'', goes back and forth between all fours and walking upright, sometimes within a strip, not necessarily depending on his role, but more on his mood.
* ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} goes back and forth, but has noticeably become bipedal. The other cats can [[RunningOnAllFours switch between the]] [[FourLegsGoodTwoLegsBetter two stances as well]].

* ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'' constantly switches between having regular gorilla intelligence to human-like intelligence. In the original ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' and his guest appearance in ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' (Wii), he appears to be just a gorilla. In the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' games (both the original trilogy and ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns Returns]]''[=/=]''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze Tropical Freeze]]''), he displays more human-like intelligence, but still walks around in all fours like a typical gorilla. In the cartoon and ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'', he is now bipedal and displays far more human-like mannerisms. When he is capable of speech and not just random gorilla noises, it can range between HulkSpeak to regular speak. In general, it appears that he becomes more beast-like whenever he is cast in an antagonistic role. Diddy also suffers from this.

* Tom, Jerry, and Spike from ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry''.

* Rita the CivilizedAnimal cat from ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' with a lot of TalkingAnimal moments would switch between [[FourLegsGoodTwoLegsBetter walking on two legs and walking on four legs]]. In a few {{cameo}}s and possibly in part of "Kiki's Kitten", she is shown as a FunnyAnimal, and in a {{cameo}} in "The Return of The Great Wakkorotti," she is even [[FullyDressedCartoonAnimal fully-dressed]].
** Chicken Boo is an NearlyNormalAnimal, but when he puts on a PaperThinDisguise, he becomes something of a FunnyAnimal.
** The Goodfeathers are usually {{Talking Animal}}s, but in "Star Warners" and a few other episodes, they are given more FunnyAnimal type roles.
** Newt is a CivilizedAnimal, but he sometimes a FunnyAnimal and in "Puttin on The Blitz," he is a NearlyNormalAnimal.
** Wilford B. Wolf is a geeky FunnyAnimal, but is a PettingZooPerson when he becomes a handsome werewolf.
* ''WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat''. From 1919 through the mid-1950s, stories alternated between showing Felix as either a TalkingAnimal pet in a human home or a FunnyAnimal master of his own house. Only with the Trans-Lux TV series was Felix established as a FunnyAnimal for good.
* Franchise/ScoobyDoo, although mostly a quadrupedal SpeechImpairedAnimal, also had the ability to walk on two legs and act like a FunnyAnimal when the situation calls for it.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has Brian Griffin, who started as a talking dog, but through the course of the series, [[AnthropomorphicShift he has become more and more human]]. Although every once in a while, you're reminded that he still is a dog.
** A human example would be Stewie, who would go from being treated like a non talking baby by his family to being treated like any other adult by everyone else.
* ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' flips-flops between a SpeechImpairedAnimal around his owners, Eustace and Muriel, to being a full-on TalkingAnimal around anyone else (human or otherwise) and to the audience.
* Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar of the [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts old Disney cartoon shorts]] and comics started out as actual four-legged non-anthropomorphic barnyard animals and alternated between anthro and non-anthro roles before becoming full-fledged FunnyAnimal characters alongside Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and the others.
** WesternAnimation/ChipAndDale are {{Funny Animal}}s in the ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'' video game series, but are {{Civilized Animal}}s otherwise.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1985'' had the snarfs, who would switch between walking on two legs and walking on all four at times (and occasionally standing on their tails). The other [=ThunderCats=] would do it too, occasionally.
* ''Franchise/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'': Alvin, Simon, and Theodore all started out as actual chipmunks, but in [[WesternAnimation/TheAlvinShow the first cartoon series]] they all started to [[FunnyAnimal look less like chipmunks]], and in [[WesternAnimation/AlvinAndTheChipmunks the second cartoon series]] they all [[PettingZooPeople looked even less like chipmunks]]. However, in [[Film/AlvinandtheChipmunks their first live action movie]], they all started to [[CivilizedAnimal look like chipmunks again]], although not as much as they did on the original covers.
* Plato from ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresFromTheBookOfVirtues'' would often go back and forth [[FourLegsGoodTwoLegsBetter between all fours and two legs]].

* Fat Cat in the pilot episode of ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'', back when he is still Aldrin Klordane's pet RightHandCat. After Klordane is arrested, he becomes anthropomorphic completely.
* WesternAnimation/EekTheCat is a TalkingAnimal[=/=]FunnyAnimal who often partakes in human activities, but is also a pet cat and cannot speak to his owners, although he appears to be able to speak to other human characters.
* The animals in ''WesternAnimation/{{Barnyard}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/BackAtTheBarnyard'' [[FourLegsGoodTwoLegsBetter walk on two legs]], talk and partake in "human" activities, but when humans/a human show/shows up, the animals switch to a four-legged stance (except the birds, which are two-legged by default) and act like normal animals.
* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Perry the Platypus on ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''. Around his owners he's a mindless domestic pet that "doesn't do much". In reality he's a super-capable secret agent that fights to save the world from evil. He still can't talk, though.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeachersPet'': The protagonist is a dog who wants to be a boy, so he dresses as a human and attends school with his owner, but has to keep it secret and stay a dog the rest of the time.
* Background character [[FanNickname Lyra Heartstrings]] in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is like this more than anypony else.
** Everypony else in the ExpandedUniverse and TheMerch.
** Ponies in general have always been like this. It especially shows in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'' where one moment they could be running on four legs and another they can be standing up on two legs without an issue. Even G4 has this, with the ponies occasionally using their hooves as hands when needed.
** Many of the other animals in [=FiM=] are, too. So far, Applejack's dog Winona is one of the few to behave strictly like her species.
*** The [[WordOfGod general rule]] is that the hooved animals are the more anthropomorphic, though the exact boundary is somewhat unclear, with pigs and a blink-and-you'll-miss-it deer seeming more like normal animals, while cows and sheep have some brief lines and a pair of goats appear somewhere between the two.
* Brandy from ''WesternAnimation/BrandyAndMrWhiskers'' would usually walk on two legs, but was shown acting more like a normal dog in flashbacks to when she was a pet and one episode where she found out she was a mongrel and lost all self-respect.

* Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar of the [[ClassicDisneyShorts old Disney cartoon shorts]] and comics started out as actual four-legged non-anthropomorphic barnyard animals and alternated between anthro and non-anthro roles before becoming full-fledged FunnyAnimal characters alongside Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and the others.

* ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'' constantly switches between having regular gorilla intelligence to human-like intelligence. In the original ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' and his guest appearance in ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' (Wii), he appears to be just a gorilla. In the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' games (both the original trilogy and ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns Returns]]''[=/=]''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze Tropical Freeze]]''), he displays more human-like intelligence, but still walks around in all fours like a typical gorilla. In the cartoon and ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'', he is now bipedal and displays far more human-like mannerisms. In general, it appears that he becomes more beast-like whenever he is cast in an antagonistic role.

* ''FelixTheCat''. From 1919 through the mid-1950s, stories alternated between showing Felix as either a TalkingAnimal pet in a human home or a FunnyAnimal master of his own house. Only with the Trans-Lux TV series was Felix established as a FunnyAnimal for good.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats'' had the snarfs, who would switch between walking on two legs and walking on all four at times (and occasionally standing on their tails). The other [=ThunderCats=] would do it too, occasionally.

* WesternAnimation/EekTheCat is a TalkingAnimal[=/=]FunnyAnimal that often partakes in human activities, but is also a pet cat and cannot speak to his owners, although he appears to be able to speak to other human characters.

* WesternAnimation/EekTheCat is a TalkingAnimal / FunnyAnimal that often partakes in human activities, but is also a pet cat and cannot speak to his owners, although he appears to be able to speak to other human characters.
* The animals in ''{{WesternAnimation/Barnyard}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/BackAtTheBarnyard'' [[FourLegsGoodTwoLegsBetter walk on two legs]], talk and partake in "human" activities, but when humans/a human show/shows up, the animals switch to a four-legged stance (except the birds, which are two-legged by default) and act like normal animals.

* EekTheCat is a TalkingAnimal / FunnyAnimal that often partakes in human activities, but is also a pet cat and cannot speak to his owners, although he appears to be able to speak to other human characters.

* Remy and the other rats from ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' can switch between [[FourLegsGoodTwoLegsBetter walking on two legs and walking on four legs]] too. This even has some minor importance in the story--It's noted at the beginning that walking on four legs is the norm, but Remy walks on two to keep his front paws clean. [[spoiler]] When the clan rallies to help Remy cook for Anton, Remy insists that they all do the same.[[/spoiler]]

* Remy and the other rats from ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' can switch between [[FourLegsGoodTwoLegsBetter walking on two legs and walking on four legs]] too. This even has some minor importance in the story--It's noted at the beginning that walking on four legs is the norm, but Remy walks on two to keep his front paws clean. [[Spoiler: When the clan rallies to help Remy cook for Anton, Remy insists that they all do the same.]]

* Remy and the other rats from ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' can switch between [[FourLegsGoodTwoLegsBetter walking on two legs and walking on four legs]] too.

* Taz experienced this somewhat in ''TazMania''. Unlike in the original WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes cartoons, Taz is cast as a teenager who lives in a house with a family. He watches TV, collects bottlecaps, and even wears a suit and works as a bellboy at a hotel. Other times, he still partakes in his carnivorous behavior and acts like a wild animal as he hunts for prey, and is even hunted by some of the other characters like a wild animal.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeachersPet'': The protagonist is a dog who wants to be a boy, so he dresses as a human and attends school with his owner, but has to keep it secret and stay a dog that rest of the time.

* Tom, Jerry, and Spike from ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry''

* The titular sifaka lemur of the PBS children's show ''{{Series/Zoboomafoo}}'' is always anthropomorphosized at the very beginning of each episode by being fed a different snack. However, at the end of each episode, Zoboo actually loses his anthropomorphism due to the effects of said snack wearing off.

* Snoopy, from ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' would also go back and forth, not necessarily depending on his role, but more on his mood.
* ComicStrip/Garfield goes back and forth, but has noticeably become bipedal. The other cats can [[RunningOnAllFours switch between the]] [[FourLegsGoodTwoLegsBetter two stances as well]].
* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' has a variation on this. The question of whether Hobbes is really alive, or just a product of Calvin's imagination, was deliberately avoided. Even when depicted as a "live" tiger, Hobbes' appearance zigzaggs-- sometimes he'll walk on two legs as a very cartoonish FunnyAnimal, with long arms and stubby legs. This stature is used mainly when he's doing something cerebral, like philosophizing or acting as StraightMan to Calvin's insanity, or else a task that requires manual dexterity, like throwing snowballs. At other times he'll go on all fours, usually for the purpose of pouncing on Calvin, and his body will take on realistic feline proportions.

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' has a variation on this. It was [[ShrugOfGod never confirmed]] whether Hobbes is really alive, or just a product of Calvin's imagination.

** When WesternAnimation/{{Wile E Coyote|and the Roadrunner}} has The Roadrunner as his adversary, he's mute and orders things from ACMEProducts. When he's paired opposite BugsBunny, he's an erudite CivilizedAnimal GadgeteerGenius.

** Remy walks on two legs to keep his forepaws clean. The other rats go to two only when standing or carrying something.

This trope also includes examples that shift roles back and forth in a single work or shift back and forth depending on their mood. There are also a lot of characters do this intentionally to live a double life, going from walking on two legs to RunningOnAllFours depending on the company. The shift can either be intentional or unintentional.

* [[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail Naked Fievel.]]

* TheLEGOMovie has a variation where on one "level" of reality, the characters move and experience like living beings, and on the next level, they are just toys that don't move.[[note]]With the one exception, obviously.[[/note]] Whenever something happens to them as toys, there is some equivalent event happening to the living versions.

** ChipAndDale are {{Funny Animal}}s in the ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'' video game series, but are {{Civilized Animal}}s otherwise.

* The titular sifaka lemur of the PBS children's show ''{{Zoboomafoo}}'' is always anthropomorphosized at the very beginning of each episode by being fed a different snack. However, at the end of each episode, Zoboo actually loses his anthropomorphism due to the effects of said snack wearing off.

** Ponies in general have always been like this. It especially shows in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'' where one moment they could be running on four legs and another they can be standing up on two legs without an issue. Even G4 has this, with the ponies using their hooves as hands and moving around like humans when needed.
** Many of the other animals in [=FiM=] are, too. So far, Applejack's dog Winona is one of the few to behave strictly like her species.