History Main / CleverCrows

* ''{{Discworld}}''
** Ravens living around the High-Energy Magic building at Unseen University have developed intelligence beyond their already-clever limits, and view the city panorama below as a sort of daytime entertainment. A couple of them bother gnome constable Buggy Swires on a stakeout, constantly pestering him for details.
** Also from ''{{Discworld}}'', Quoth the Raven ([[ObligatoryJoke yeah...]]) who starts off as a wizard's familiar in {{Mort}}, and ends up becoming the steed for the Death of Rats in later books. He advises a number of protagonists and is clearly more level-headed than most characters on the disc, if a bit too keen on eating eyeballs (and is well-aware of the associations of his name, and refuses to say the N-word [[spoiler:[[DontexplainTheJoke Nevermore]]]]).
* Crows are a significant element of the ''Literature/DaughterOfTheLioness'' books. They're intelligent to the level of sentience and are the animal symbol of the TricksterArchetype. They assist Aly and the rebellion in numerous ways by directly fighting or spying on the regime. One of them even turns into a human to better help and [[InterspeciesRomance court]] Aly--crows have VoluntaryShapeshifting in the Literature/TortallUniverse.

** Also from ''{{Discworld}}'', Quoth the Raven (yeah...) who starts off as a wizard's familiar in {{Mort}}, and ends up becoming the steed for the Death of Rats in later books. He advises a number of protagonists and is clearly more level-headed than most characters on the disc.

* From Marvel's Selfdemonstrating/{{Loki}} comics - Ikol, the magpie containing the memories of what Loki was before he died.

* From Marvel's ComicBook/{{Loki}} comics - Ikol, the magpie containing the memories of what Loki was before he died.

Compare TheOwlKnowingOne. IdiotCrows, despite the name, is not this trope inverted.

Compare TheOwlKnowingOne.

* Increasing evidence suggests that crows actually have a rudimentary vocabulary, using different calls to alert their fellows to possible predators or worrying situations. They even have two different ''sets'' of vocabulary: a soft-toned, quiet version for communication within their immediate family, and a harsh, carrying voice used to convey similar sorts of information to non-relatives in the same flock.

* Think all ravens look the same? They do ''not'' think the same about us. They can identify people and form ideas of which ones of us are trustworthy and which ones are not.

* Matthew the raven in ''ComicBook/TheSandman''. Matthew is friendly, not a trickster (though a bit of a wise guy), pleasant and the most loyal guy in the Dreaming. He's as smart as a human and perhaps once ''was'' human.

* Rei Hino from ''Manga/SailorMoon'' (see Sailor Moon's ''Tropes Found in the Manga'' page [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SailorMoon/TropesThree]]), aka Sailor Mars, has a pair of crows named Phobos and Deimos (named for the Moons of Mars and essentially Mars's sentries - kind of like EvilDetectingDog + Defence.) Let's just say that, in the manga, they aren't ordinary crows... [[spoiler: They're [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifting aliens]] from the planet Coronis whose job is is to protect Sailor Mars]]. (They aren't this in the anime, only appear briefly as the shrine's pets, and aren't named at all in the live action.)

* The crows in ''HaibaneRenmei'' bridge the line between Glie and the outside world. One acts indirectly as a spiritual guide for Rakka, and is implied to be some reincarnated loved one.

* In ''Film/TheWiz'' the crows use their intelligence to convince the Scarecrow that he's stupid and can't frighten them off.

* From Marvel's Loki comics - Ikol, the magpie containing the memories of what Loki was before he died.

* Rei Hino from ''Manga/SailorMoon'' (see ''Tropes Three: Tropes found in the manga'' page [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SailorMoon/TropesThree]]), aka Sailor Mars, has a pair of crows named Phobos and Deimos (named for the Moons of Mars and essentially Mars's sentries - kind of like EvilDetectingDog + Defence.) Let's just say that, in the manga, they aren't ordinary crows... [[spoiler: They're [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifting aliens]] from the planet Coronis whose job is is to protect Sailor Mars]]. (They aren't this in the anime, only appear briefly as the shrine's pets, and aren't named at all in the live action.)

* Rei Hino from ''Manga/SailorMoon'' (see ''Tropes found in the manga''-only page tropes [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SailorMoon/TropesThree]]), aka Sailor Mars, has a pair of crows named Phobos and Deimos (named for the Moons of Mars and essentially Mars's sentries - kind of like EvilDetectingDog + Defence.) Let's just say that, in the manga, they aren't ordinary crows... [[spoiler: They're [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifting aliens]] from the planet Coronis whose job is is to protect Sailor Mars]]. (They aren't this in the anime, only appear briefly as the shrine's pets, and aren't named at all in the live action.)

* Rei Hino from ''Manga/SailorMoon''(trope listed in ''Manga only'' tropes section [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SailorMoon/TropesThree]], aka Sailor Mars, has a pair of crows named Phobos and Deimos (named for the Moons of Mars and essentially Mars's sentries - kind of like EvilDetectingDog + Defence.) Let's just say that, in the manga, they aren't ordinary crows... [[spoiler: They're [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifting aliens]] from the planet Coronis whose job is is to protect Sailor Mars]]. (They aren't this in the anime, only appear briefly as the shrine's pets, and aren't named at all in the live action.)

* Rei Hino from ''Manga/SailorMoon'', aka Sailor Mars, has a pair of crows named Phobos and Deimos (named for the Moons of Mars and essentially Mars's sentries - kind of like EvilDetectingDog + Defence.) Let's just say that, in the manga, they aren't ordinary crows... [[spoiler: They're [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifting aliens]] from the planet Coronis whose job is is to protect Sailor Mars]]. (They aren't this in the anime and only appear briefly as the shrine's pets and aren't named at all in the live action.)

* Buzzy Crow from Creator/FamousStudios, who is usually paired with dimwitted Katnip Cat. Katnip tries to eat Buzzy as some form of cure for something, so Buzzy fools him into trying some other "cures", resulting in AmusingInjuries.

** Ravens are more intelligent than crows here, and function as Westeros's primary messaging system (similar to real-life homing pigeons).

Corvids often have been portrayed as sentries or lookouts, sometimes made use of by the ancient gods or other mythic figures. For example, the Norse god Odin was purported to have had a pair of ravens that served him in this manner.

* Crawford Crow, one half of WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheCrow from Creator/ColumbiaCartoons. He spends his days playing tricks on Faunterloy Fox, who [[CunningAsAFox unlike most of his brethren]], is quite gullible.

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* In Creator/JRRTolkien's works, although crows are generally in the [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Forces of Evil]], [[TalkingAnimal ravens]] are friendly and intelligent, exceptionally long-lived, and [[BindingAncientTreaty allied with the dwarves]]; they helped Bilbo and company in ''Literature/TheHobbit''. (For example, Roac, son of Carc in ''Literature/TheHobbit'', is a wise raven and an advisor for Thorin Oakenshield.)

* ''{{Discworld}}'': Ravens living around the High-Energy Magic building at Unseen University have developed intelligence beyond their already-clever limits, and view the city panorama below as a sort of daytime entertainment. A couple of them bother gnome constable Buggy Swires on a stakeout, constantly pestering him for details.

* Crows and Ravens both are a significant motif in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', invoked in the very title ''A Feast For Crows''.

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* In one of AesopsFables, a crow fills a pitcher with pebbles to reach water, a behaviour which has been observed [[TruthInTelevision in real life.]]

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* ''DungeonsAndDragons'': Ravens are commonly found as wizards' and sorcerers' {{Familiar}}s. Raven familiars always have the ability to speak.

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* Administrivia/ThereIsNoSuchThingAsNotability, right? Well then! The [[http://shifti.org/wiki/Xanadu_(setting) Xanadu]] storyverse, where a large convention [[GoneHorriblyWrong Goes Horribly Wrong]] ([[GoneHorriblyRight or right]]) when [[BecomingTheCostume costumes become real]], started after Eric Winters put on a Raven mask and [[http://shifti.org/wiki/Xanadu_(story) turned into a bird]] who is possibly a god.

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