History Main / ChickenWalker

* On ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'', this is one of [[MadScientist Heloise's]] many machines.

[[quoteright:350:[[https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/15193169 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chicken-walker_6291.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[VisualPun OK, now you're just being silly]].]]

[[quoteright:350:[[VisualPun https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chicken-walker_6291.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/15193169 OK, now you're just being silly]].]]

Most [[TankGoodness tanks]] have tracks, some tanks [[WalkingTank have legs]], while others have many, [[SpiderTank many legs]]. These tanks on the other hand, have ''[[CluckingFunny chicken legs]]'', or as they're officially known as ''"reverse-joint"''[[note]]Erroneously, might we add. See below.[[/note]] or ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digitigrade digitigrade]]'' legs.

* The Arundel from ''VideoGame/{{Ironcast}}'' features this particular leg design.

* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', the Geth (and in some cases, the HumongousMecha version), as their bipedal forms are based on the physiology of the quarians that created them.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bioforge}}'': The moonbase security bots.
* ''VideoGame/{{Walker}}'': The AG-9 Walker uses this configuration. It even has very bird-like "feet" and its head resembles a bird skull.

* The Mech from ''Metal Mech: Man & Machine''.

* All of the battlewalkers from ''VideoGame/Battlefield2142''.

* Some demons from the ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' series, such as the Hell Knights, Barons of Hell and especially the Cyberdemon, are built like this.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Chaotic}}'' featured the Vile Driver card in some episodes.

* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' once received a [=MegaDoomer=] stealth mech due to a shipping error. GIR even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it!

* [[https://edition.cnn.com/videos/business/2019/05/22/ford-autonomous-delivery-robot-orig.cnn-business A new delivery robot]] walks like this.

* From ''Series/KamenRider555'', the [[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v629/Kuruni/MS-Story/Vault-Non/sb-913v.jpg Side Basher in Battle Mode.]]

* ''VideoGame/RogueSquadron'': The original has a secret bonus level where you control an AT-ST, one of the gangly-legged walkers from ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''. The only way to access this level was to input "CHICKEN" in the cheat menu.

** For the Imperium, it's the Sentinels of the Astra Militarum , the Warhound Titans of the Adeptus Mechanicus' Titan Legions, the Ironstrider Ballistarius and the Sydonian Dragoon of the AdMech's Skitarii Legions. Other walkers like the Imperial Knights (and their various patterns) and the larger Titans (Warhounds are scouts) are more humanoid, if hunched over depending on specific pattern or variant. More recently added, the Armiger pattern Knights (the smallest and their pilots are squires to pilots of larger patterns of Knight) also have the chicken design.

%%* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogChaos'': The final boss.

* The Storrian Military from ''WesternAnimation/{{ark}}'' use tanks on two legs as default vehicles. They turned out to be AwesomeButImpractical as demonstrated in a chase scene - one Storrian tank ends up tripping sideways and hitting its partner, destroying both at the same time.

* ''Film/RoboCop1987'' has ED-209. Heavily armed, extremely intimidating, [[DeconstructedTrope can't even walk down a flight of stairs or down a street]]. In the second film one gets stuck in a manhole.

* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', the Geth (and in some cases, the HumongousMecha version), as their bipedal forms are based the physiology of the quarians that created them.

* Biomechanoids from ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'' series are like that. Coincidentially, the biological parts of these walkers are bird tissues. There is a Chicken Walker enemy in Serious Sam II, too which is called Torso Mech - The Nervous Chicken.

* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' once received a [=MegaDoomer=] stealth mech due to a shipping error. GIR even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it!.

* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'': Roughly half the bipedal [=BattleMechs=] are like this, including fan favorites like the Timber Wolf (''the'' signature 'Mech of the franchise and the image used on its Tropes page), Mad Dog, Bushwhacker, and Marauder, the rest using standard humanoid leg structure. [[AllThereInTheManual Acknowledged by supplemental material]] by noting that chicken-walkers may traverse rougher terrain but are typically less speedy than man-walkers.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' has the [=AT-STs=] (the two-legged walking vehicles in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'') and their various derivatives/precursors. In fact, they are often called "Chicken Walkers" by fans, [[AscendedFanon and this is often referenced by game developers or showrunners.]] For example, in the original ''VideoGame/RogueSquadron'', the code "CHICKEN" even unlocks a mission where you play as an AT-ST.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' has the [=AT-STs=] and their various derivatives/precursors. In fact, they are often called "Chicken Walkers" by fans, [[AscendedFanon and this is often referenced by game developers or showrunners.]] For example, in the original ''VideoGame/RogueSquadron'', the code "CHICKEN" even unlocks a mission where you play as an AT-ST.

Most of the time a Chicken Walker is a HumongousMecha or MiniMecha but occasionally backwards bending legs can be found on other objects, like [[Literature/BabaYaga buildings]]. While there may be some benefits to a leg shaped like this,[[note]]Again, see below.[[/note]] this design is usually chosen simply it looks less anthropomorphic than regular legs. This deliberate violation of one of the main tenets of character design -- the one that states that machines [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot must be humanlike]] to be relatable and aesthetically pleasing -- is a quick way to signal to the audience that the robot in question is sits firmly on the [[BoringButPractical Form Follows Function]] end of TheAestheticsOfTechnology. This is a particularly common design choice in military-themed RealRobot series.

Most of the time a Chicken Walker is a HumongousMecha or MiniMecha but occasionally backwards bending legs can be found on other objects, like [[Literature/BabaYaga buildings]]. While there may be some benefits to a leg shaped like this,[[note]]Again, see below.[[/note]] this design is usually chosen simply it looks less anthropomorphic than regular legs. This deliberate violation of one of the main tenets of character design -- the one that states that machines [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot must be humanlike]] to be relatable and aesthetically pleasing -- is a quick way to signal to the audience that the robot in question is sits firmly on the [[BoringButPractical Form Follows Function]] end of TheAestheticsOfTechnology, thus being (or at least appearing to be) more realistic. This is a particularly common design choice in military-themed RealRobot series.

Most of the time a Chicken Walker is a HumongousMecha or MiniMecha but occasionally backwards bending legs can be found on other objects, like [[Literature/BabaYaga buildings]]. While there may be some benefits to a leg shaped like this,[[note]]Again, see below.[[/note]] this design is usually chosen simply it looks less anthropomorphic than regular legs. This deliberate violation of one of the main tenets of character design -- the one that states that machines [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot must be humanlike]] to be relatable and aesthetically pleasing -- is a quick way to signal to the audience that the robot in question is sits firmly on the [[BoringButPractical Form Over Function]] end of TheAestheticsOfTechnology, thus being (or at least appearing to be) more realistic. This is a particularly common design choice in military-themed RealRobot series.

Most of the time a Chicken Walker is a HumongousMecha or MiniMecha but occasionally backwards bending legs can be found on other objects, like [[Literature/BabaYaga buildings]]. While there may be some benefits to a leg shaped like this,[[note]]Again, see below.[[/note]] this design is usually chosen simply it looks less anthropomorphic than regular legs. This deliberate violation of one of the tenets of the AnthropicPrinciple -- the one that states that machines [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot must be humanlike]] to be relatable and aesthetically pleasing -- is a quick way to signal to the audience that the robot in question is sits firmly on the [[BoringButPractical Form Over Function]] end of TheAestheticsOfTechnology, thus being (or at least appearing to be) more realistic. This is a particularly common design choice in military-themed RealRobot series.

Most of the time a Chicken Walker is a HumongousMecha or MiniMecha but occasionally backwards bending legs can be found on other objects, like [[Literature/BabaYaga buildings]]. While there may be some benefits to a leg shaped like this,[[note]]Again, see below.[[/note]] this design is usually chosen simply it looks less anthropomorphic than regular legs. This deliberate violation of one of the tenets of the AnthropicPrinciple -- the one that states that machines [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot must be humanlike]] to be relatable and aesthetically pleasing -- is a quick way to signal to the audience that the robot in question is sits firmly on the [[BoringButPractical Form Over Function]] end of the AestheticsOfTechnology, thus being (or at least appearing to be) more realistic. This is a particularly common design choice in military-themed RealRobot series.

Most [[TankGoodness tanks]] have tracks, some tanks [[WalkingTank have legs]], while others have many, [[SpiderTank many legs]]. These tanks on the other hand, have ''[[CluckingFunny chicken legs]]'', or as they're officially known as ''"reverse-joint"''[[note]]Erroneously, see below[[/note]] or ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digitigrade digitigrade]]'' legs.

Most of the time a Chicken Walker is a HumongousMecha or MiniMecha but occasionally backwards bending legs can be found on other objects, like [[Literature/BabaYaga buildings]]. While there may be some benefits to a leg shaped like this,[[note]]Again, see below[[/note]] a lot of the time this design is chosen either because it looks [[RuleOfFunny inherently funny]] or (particularly in military-themed RealRobot series) because it looks alien in comparison to human legs, thus making any robots that use it seem more mechanical and artificial.

Most of the time a Chicken Walker is a HumongousMecha or MiniMecha but occasionally backwards bending legs can be found on other objects, like [[Literature/BabaYaga buildings]]. While there may be some benefits to a leg shaped like this,[[note]]Again, see below[[/note]] it doesn't overcome the fact that these are [[RuleOfFunny inherently funny]] (though you'll find most, if not all military-themed series will be taking them very seriously).

Most of the time a Chicken Walker is a HumongousMecha or MiniMecha but occasionally backwards bending legs can be found on other objects, like [[Literature/BabaYaga buildings]]. While there may be some benefits to a leg shaped like this, it doesn't overcome the fact that these are [[RuleOfFunny inherently funny]] (though you'll find most, if not all military-themed series will be taking them very seriously).

Also note that chickens don't actually have "backwards knees", because the apparent "knee" is actually their ankle and heel joint (and their "ankle" a knuckle), while their ''actual'' knee is much closer to the body (and practically invisible under their coat of feathers). Same goes for horses, and most quadrupeds' hind legs.

** For the Imperium, it's the Sentinels of the Astra Militarum and the Warhound Titans of the Adeptus Mechanicus' Titan Legions.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' has the [=AT-STs=] and their various derivatives/precursors. In fact, they are often called "Chicken Walkers" by fans.

* It's subtle since they lack digits, but the legs of both [[{{Cyborg}} MEC Troopers]] in ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown XCOM: Enemy Within]]'' and [[RobotBuddy SPARKs]] in ''VideoGame/XCOM2: Shen's Last Gift'' have this anatomy.

* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' once received a [=MegaDoomer=] stealth mech due to a shipping error. GIR even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it! (see page quote).