History Main / BeastOfBattle

* ''VideoGame/MinionMasters'': Some Stoutheart are this, mostly bears.

Supertrope to WarElephants. See also DragonRider, DomesticatedDinosaurs, HorseOfADifferentColor, {{Mon}}, WeaponizedAnimal.

* ''Fanfic/ShadowsOverMeridian'': Jade uses a giant shadow snake as a mount when she takes part in the skirmish in the northern mountains.

* ''VideoGame/ParaWorld'' is built around this trope. InAWorld where dinosaurs stroll through villages, and no one sees it as weird, someone is bound to have come up with the idea of using them as mounts. From regular wagon-pulling reptiles to massive armored Titan-class [[KingOfTheDinosaurs T. rex]], seismosaurus, and triceratops used as ultimate war machines. The [[UsefulNotes/TheVikingAge Norsemen]], living in colder climates, tend to use mammals such as sabertooths and mammoths, although they do use a few dinosaurs such as their triceratops titan. They also have SteamPunk technology, allowing them to field steam tanks and ironclads. The Dustriders (Bedouin-like nomads) are the faction that tends to use the dinos the most, given their low technological level. The Dragon Clan (an East Asian isolationist culture) has gunpowder and BambooTechnology which they mostly use for traps.

** War dogs, especially those of the ''Alano Español'' dogo-mastiff breed, were a more decisive force on the battlefield than horses in some parts of the Spanish conquest of the Americas. The dogs that knew the Pre-Columbian peoples were small, harmless and usually served as food, but the dogs that the conquistadors brought were sometimes bigger than a jaguar and perfectly capable to overpower and kill one, and their nose and intelligence made them fearsome assets. Some of them were reputed to be able to distinguish between an indigenous ally and an enemy.
** Conversely, the army of the Inca rebel Manco reportedly included ''pumas'' trained to counter the Spanish dogs. This might be the original reason why Hispanics began breeding dog races better suited to hunt pumas, which in modern times resulted in the renowned ''Dogo Argentino''.

*** That's just the tip of the iceberg. There have been such things as exploding rats, nuclear depth charge armed killer whales, incendiary monkeys, attempts to develop pigeon guided missiles, and the horribly misguided effort to use cats to guide munitions onto ships (under the logic the cat would prefer to land on the dry boat rather than the water around it). Of course, humans have also been used for all of these purposes, so yeah...

** A darker side is the use of animals as [[ActionBomb disposable explosive delivery systems]], such as anti-tank dogs[[note]]which had limited use for the Soviets as they trained them with their own tanks and cause the dogs to bomb the wrong troops.[[/note]] and bat bombs.

** War dogs were a more decisive force on the battlefield than horses in some parts of the Spanish conquest of the Americas.
** The dogs that knew the pre-columbian peoples were small, harmless and usually served as food. The dogs that the conquerors brought were sometimes bigger ''than a jaguar''.

** Many (but not all) of the summoning creatures used have martial uses and most of them are sapient if not a TalkingAnimal. Some of them are ''much'' larger than regular animal would be, such as the boss toad Gamabunta who has contracts with Jiraiya and Naruto; not only is he big enough that a person can stand on his head with ease, he carries a equally giant blade around and isn't afraid to use it.

** The [[LizardFolk Lizardmen]] have a variety of [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs dinosaurs]], including Carnosaurs, blind cave-dwelling Troglodons, Razordons covered in spikes, fire-breathing Salamanders, tank-like Bastiladons, Cold Ones and Stegadons, in addition to [[TheSwarm swarms of poisonous jungle creatures]].

* In ''VideoGame/DinoDDay'', ThoseWackyNazis [[StupidJetpackHitler develop cloning technology]] which they use to bring back [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs a wide variety of dinosaurs]] to use in the war, often [[WeaponizedAnimal with armor and mounted guns]] they can control by biting on a trigger. The Allies also get in on the action by taking in a ''Triceratops'' cast off by the Nazis for a deformed leg.

Supertrope to WarElephants. See also DragonRider, HorseOfADifferentColor, {{Mon}}, WeaponizedAnimal.

** ''ComicBook/AdventuresOfSupergirl'': During a dreamscape battle, Kara Zor-El rides a giant, armored white cat called [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/c/c5/Mar_Arrow_Earth-38_001.jpg Mar]] as fighting an army of wolfmen.

* In the ''Anime/MonsterRancher'' anime, the series' {{Mons}} were originally genetically-engineered pets by an advanced {{Precursor}} civilization, then were utilized as soldiers and weapons when war broke out between two rival superstates. The series BigBad was developed as a type of Superweapon, and you can guess [[GoneHorriblyRight how well]] ''[[GoneHorriblyRight that]]'' [[GoneHorriblyRight worked out]].

* The Beast Riders of Onderon from the ''[[Franchise/StarWars Tales of the Jedi]]'' series. Though primarily used as mounts, the drexl beasts use their fangs and claws in battle.

* In ''Fanfic/{{Wonderful}}'', [[AntiVillain Rachel]]'s empowered dogs work as fighters, mounts or both. When Rachel joined the battle against the tanks of the drug-dealing gang known as the Merchants, she was riding her over-sized dog Angelica.

The creature either uses its natural abilities and/or has various platforms and/or instruments of destruction [[WeaponizedAnimal lashed to its side or across its back]] that human(oid) riders can use in battle (or that it can use itself if intelligent enough and physically capable). This can be as simple as a Howdah or other platform from which your soldiers can fight, but weapons like ballistae, cannons, and other mechanisms are also common. Typically they're as willing and able as their owners to charge into bad odds, discriminate between their side and the enemy while fighting, and die for the cause. Again, this can fairly well justified, depending on the trainability and/or intelligence of the fictional animals in question.

* In ''Fanfic/{{Wonderful}}'', [[AntiVillain Rachel]]'s empowered dogs work as fighters, mounts or both. When Rachel joined the battle against the tanks of the drug-dealing gang known as the Merchants, she was riding her over-sized dog Angelica.

* ''Fanfic/EquestriaDivided'': Various factions employ large animals and monsters in their armies:
** House Everfree makes use of its home area's... ''unique'' fauna in battle, fielding [[{{Planimal}} timberwolves]], gigantic hydras, [[GiantSpider giant wooden spiders]], WarElephants and voracious [[HordeOfAlienLocusts swarms of parasprites]] on the battlefield.
** House Moon and Star fields [[ThePhoenix firebirds]], as well as magically bound Ursa Minors to tear through enemy formations and to serve as living siege engines.
** House Stormwing uses {{roc|Birds}}s as aerial units of immense power.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' the Garlean Empire’s canis pugnaces are armored war dogs the size of ''bears''.

* Creator/ScottWesterfeld's series ''Literature/{{Leviathan}}'' have the Darwinists who use [[{{Mixandmatchcritters}} fabricated beasts]] not only in battle as well as in everyday life. See: [[GiantFlyer the Leviathan]], which is essentially its own ecosystem based on the back and innards of a flying whale, including things like bats that crap flechettes onto the enemy, and [[BearsAreBadNews Russia's War Bears]].

* ''VideoGame/AztecWars'' has one or two of these for every nation. The Aztecs have [[PantheraAwesome big cats]] and spy eagles, the Russians have [[BearsAreBadNews war bears]], the Chinese use [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti yetis]] and WarElephants. They are available after specifically building a nest, a cave or a stable in your base.

* In ''Webcomic/ChampionsOfFaraus'', several factions have animals/creatures that aid them in combat:

** Sarengal’s cult has rams which are trained to fight, as well as carry riders.
** The protagonists end up stealing two rams from Sarengal’s cult, and name them Thunders and Showers.

* The Tailed Beasts in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''.

** ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton'' has ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}'s dog cavalry, soldiers trained to ride the Demon Dogs: armored, dog-like, T-Rex-sized creatures trained to track a prey down and tear it apart.

* The Literature/{{Animorphs}} are the battle beasts themselves when in morph.

* The Marat in ''Literature/CodexAlera'' treat their BondCreatures this way, thanks to their ProudWarriorRaceGuy culture. It's bad enough to have a horde of screaming barbarian warriors charging you, but a horde of screaming barbarian warriors with terror birds and dire wolves or riding giant ground sloths is another matter ''entirely''.

* In ''Literature/DestinysForge'', the evil Kzinti use bio-monsters called ''rapsari'' as well as soldiers, including some designed to operate ballistae or dissolve their way through blast doors[[note]]Both Kzinti factions were bound by the rules of Honor-war to only use muscle-powered weapons, so that civil wars wouldn't nuke the planet to cinders. ''Rapsari'' are a cheap trick that only the bad guys would use[[/note]].
* In the web-novel ''Literature/{{Domina}}'', most of the fey monsters fit into this category. Special mention goes to the gargants, which vary in size from the brick-plated gargants (the size of a very large wolf) to the blind-rammer gargants (which are big enough to tear through buildings).
* In Jack Vance's novel ''Literature/TheDragonMasters'', both the humans on the planet Aerlith and the alien Greph make use of specialized battle beasts that were originally members of the opposing race. Humans, despite their limited Medieval-era technology, had managed to capture a ship and crew from the multi-limbed Greph and through strange, magitek mutagens were able to breed the barely sapient "Dragons", while the Greph had long been harvesting humans to breed into "ogres" that included riding animals amongst them.

* In ''VideoGame/DuneII'' and UpdatedReRelease ''Dune 2000,'' the Fremen can use a thumper and maker-hooks to catch and ride SandWorms to battle.

* Taking a page from ''VideoGame/GoldenAxe'', fellow side-scroller beat'em up ''VideoGame/DragonsCrown'' has your characters capable of riding on sabretooths and dracolisks.

** ''II'' has the dragons enslaved by the Horde, while dwarves throw hammers from the back of trained gryphons.

** In the backstory the initial Orc invasion of Azeroth was quickly routed by Azeroth's mounted knights. The Orcs were unprepared to face the fearsome armored warriors riding what Garona described as "great beasts of muscle and sinew who did almost as much damage to our troops as their riders".
** Hunters in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' can tame nearly any beast and use it in battle. Turtles, lions, wolves, ''moths''; they can all be used as a pet in battle. Beast-Master specialized hunters can eve tame special pets such as ''T. rexes'' (they shrink to a fraction of their original size on being tamed).