History Main / FeatherFingers

* Mordecai and Margaret on TheRegularShow.

* Played straight in the [[TheFilmOfTheBook film adaptation]] of ''The Trumpet Of The Swan''. We mention it here because [[AdaptationDecay the book had actually]] [[AvertedTrope averted]] this trope and had the swan play with his feet. This is a particularly bad example of AdaptationDecay, as this was a major plot point in the book, in fact. Louise at one point [[spoiler: asks his [[LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy Token Human Friend]] to cut apart the webbing between the toes of one of his feet, thus severely handicapping his ability to swim and fly in exchange for being a more dexterous trumpet player.]]
** Though this doesn't explain how a beaked bird can play an instrument requiring lips.

* Owl from WinniethePooh sometimes has these.

* Played straight in the [[TheFilmOfTheBook film adaptation]] of ''The Trumpet Of The Swan''. We mention it here because [[AdaptationDecay the book had actually]] [[AvertedTrope averted]] this trope and had the swan play with his feet. This is a particularly bad example of AdaptationDecay, as this was a major plot point in the book, in fact. Louise at one point [[spoiler: asks his [[LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy Token Human Friend]] to cut apart the webbing between the toes of one of his feet, thus severely handicapping his ability to swim and fly in exchange for being a more dexterous trumpet player.]]

** Another had several snakes wanting to let another snake in, but being not quite sure in how to work the doorknob.

You may have noticed that many non-primate animals have extremely un-humanlike limbs. They may have wings, they may have fins, they may have claws like a lobster or long grappling hooks like a sloth.

* ''{{Looking For Group}}'s'' Bloodrage (bipedal anthropomorphic bulls) have normal cloven hooves on their hind feet, but on their front feet, [[http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/33 the hooves are three-fingered hands]].

* The owls in TheLegendOfTheGuardiansTheOwlsOfGaHoole use their feet rather than their wings to manipulate objects.

See also CartoonyEyes, ToothyBird, AnatomyAnomaly, and InvisibleAnatomy. An extreme (and outright bizarre) variation is all those cartoon fish who are somehow able to [[TailfinWalking walk on their tailfins]]. There's also a more subtle variation where an animal will be given a few human-like features that their real-life equivalents tend to lack (think of all those [[OldMaster wise old]] [[TurtlePower turtles]] with hair, those [[ToothyBird birds with teeth]], or [[{{Dinosaur}} Aladar's creepy fleshy lips]].) For, shall we say, a less family friendly human-like anatomical modification of non-humanlike animals, see NonMammalMammaries...

* In ''TheLittleMermaid'', the fish characters avoid the "walking on your tailfin" subtrope for almost the entire movie. Then they start dancing on their tails during "Under the Sea" and it just looks odd. (And, of course, Scuttle is one of the TropeNamers.)

** And then on the subject of the actual movie, the trope is played around with. Rafiki being a monkey, he does have real hands. Zazu sometimes gestures with his wings, which sometimes become hand-like, but at least he doesn't pick anything up with them. The lions appear to have their dewclaws enlarged into thumbs, sometimes using them as hands. This is most obvious with Scar, as seen when he's tormenting a mouse (he even raises his pinky!) and in his VillainSong. Timon the meerkat is a bit odd. Meerkats in real life have very long, black claws at the ends of their stubby beige paws, so the animators gave Timon perfectly humanoid hands with black fingers to represent these. He pretty much always walks upright; from the waist up he uses his hands like a human would, both grasping and gesturing often.

* ScoobyDoo sometimes did this, especially in the earliest cartoons. He would normally walk around on all fours, with very dog-like paws, but when a zany scheme was involved, he'd stand up on his hind legs with no difficulty, and thumbs would mysteriously appear on his front paws.

* Mmm...chicken fingers.
** And steak fingers. Cows have fingers, right?

* [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Neo-Spacian_Air_Hummingbird Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird]] avoids feather fingers by having his [[WingedHumanoid wings come out of his back]]. He has talon hands instead.

* Probably the strangest example would be ''MyLittlePony Tales''. The Ponies are not anthropomorphic or human-like in the least; aside from the fact that they talk, they are quadrupedal equines with hooves. And yet, they can carry and use objects that have obviously been designed for humans -- with their teeth. Which wouldn't be ''so'' weird except for the fact that there don't seem to be any humans around...

* Not an exception, but an unusual use: In TimothyZahn's ''{{Hand of Thrawn}}'' duology, the President of the New Republic is a nonhuman [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Calibop Calibop]], an avian sentient species with a number of equine features. They also have wings and prehensile feathertips; the President is shown manipulating keys on a lectern and later signing the Imperial-New Republic peace treaty with Pellaeon. But, well, [[BizarreNonhumanBiology Calibops are aliens.]]

* [[StarFox Falco Lombardi]] in the SuperSmashBros. series. He and Fox provide the trope image.

* Another very strange example is ''TheLionKing'' level of ''KingdomHeartsII''. As mentioned elsewhere, it is a perfect storm of FurryConfusion. Not least because we finally get to see what DonaldDuck looks like as a non-Anthropomorphic bird; he has functioning wings, can fly, and carries his staff in his claws. Usually he has [[http://i36.tinypic.com/30ur9rm.png very human-like hands]]. Likewise, when Sora becomes a non-Anthro lion ([[LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy it is a long story]]), he carries the Keyblade in his teeth.
** And then, in the "opening the next path" cutscene, Sora holds the Keyblade with his tail in order to aim at the target.
** And then on the subject of the actual movie, the trope is played around with. Rafiki being a monkey, he does have real hands. Zazu sometimes gestures with his wings, but isn't seen picking anything up. The lions appear to have their dewclaws enlarged into thumbs, and will usually walk on their paws, sometimes using them as hands - this is most obvious with Scar, as seen when he's tormenting a mouse - he even raises his pinky - and in his VillainSong. Timon the meerkat is a bit odd. Meerkats in real life have very long, black claws at the ends of their stubby beige paws, so the animators gave Timon perfectly humanoid hands with black fingers to represent these. He pretty much always walks upright; from the waist up he uses his hands like a human would, both grasping and gesturing often.

* Jet the Hawk, Storm the Albatross, and Wave the Swallow in ''SonicTheHedgehog'', anyone?

* ''IAmNotAnAnimal'' is a British animation about a bunch of superintelligent animals who are released from a research facility. The nominally smartest of them, a horse, is mortified that he can't put on his pants by himself now he's outside the research facility.
** Also, the horse uses magnets on his hooves to hold knives and forks, and the sparrow somehow attaches plastic fingers on sticks to his wings to allow him to type and play keyboard.

** Similar weirdness is addressed in [[http://www.toplessrobot.com/2010/06/these_owls_are_owlin_around_owl_over_the_place.php this blog post]] about the trailer for the ''GuardiansOfGahoole'' movie (note that the writer [[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch has not read the books]]).

* Coco from ''[=~Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends~=]'' likewise carries things in her beak and feet, and nearly all imaginary friends manage to make the best of their [[BizarreAlienBiology bizarre anatomy]].

* Played straight in the [[TheFilmOfTheBook film adaptation]] of ''The Trumpet Of The Swan''. [[AdaptationDecay The book had actually]] [[AvertedTrope averted]] this trope and had the swan play with his feet. This is actually a pretty bad example of AdaptationDecay, as this was a major plot point, in fact. Louise at one point [[spoiler: asks his [[LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy Token Human Friend]] to cut apart the webbing between the toes of one of his feet, thus severely handicapping his ability to swim and fly in exchange for being a more dexterous trumpet player.]]
* Mordecai the bluejay from ''RegularShow'' not only has these, he's played rock paper scissors with them.

* Since we're on the subject of avian "hand" anatomy, this is a '''major''' point of contention among Paleoartists: Did Maniraptors have truly opposable thumbs or what? It's thought that [[http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/06-07/images/dinothumb.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/06-07/feb03.html&usg=__Cw2H-YwYDPbtv6iDH1CmwJXc9og=&h=300&w=194&sz=25&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=aE4nIcZx7u1m8M:&tbnh=116&tbnw=75&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbambiraptor%2Bhand%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1 Bambiraptor]] did, but the others are a puzzle. And this is quite relevant to this trope, as most [[FurryFandom Anthro artists]] unquestionably assume that they did. Seriously, though, about the only thing anyone agrees upon is that [[http://whenpigsfly-returns.blogspot.com/2009/03/theropod-handprints-their-implications.html the "kangaroo hands"]] in ''JurassicPark'' are all kinds of wrong.

* Jet the Hawk, Storm the Albatross, and Wave the Swallow in ''SonicTheHegehog'', anyone?

* [[StarFox Falco Lombardi]] in the SuperSmashBros. series. He and Fox provide the trope page.

* The cows in ''{{Home on the Range}}'' can't really hold anything in their hooves, so the animators gave them prehensile tails and ''tail tufts'' instead. SoYeah.

* Another very strange example is ''TheLionKing'' level of ''KingdomHeartsII''. As mentioned elsewhere, it is a perfect storm of FurryConfusion. Not least because we finally get to see what Donald Duck looks like as a non-Anthropomorphic bird; he has functioning wings, can fly, and carries his staff in his claws. Usually he has [[http://i36.tinypic.com/30ur9rm.png very human-like hands]]. Likewise, when Sora becomes a non-Anthro lion ([[LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy it is a long story]]), he carries the Keyblade in his teeth.

* [[StarFox Falco Lombardi]] in the SuperSmashBros. series. He([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Fox]]) provide the trope page.