History Main / FoulWaterfowl

* ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'': In "Mime to Five", Lumpy keeps a bunch of seemingly normal ducks in his circus. The ducks later turn out to be [[KillerRabbit vicious carnivores]] that tear him and the spectators to shreds.

Subtrope of FeatheredFiend. Contrast SwansASwimming, a much more peaceful view of waterfowl. Can overlap with QuackingUp if you got an UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist, or NoisyDuck if the duck is loud. Compare CockyRooster for another domesticated bird with a similar stereotype.

[[WellThisIsNotThatTrope This is not that.]]

Sometimes, waterfowl are portrayed as hyper-aggressive and/or total dicks towards others. Usually, it involves swans and geese, but the portrayal of ducks as selfish and temperamental in UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation would also fall under this. There is a bit of TruthInTelevision to this: geese and swans are naturally very territorial, and they will attack anything they see as a threat. Furthermore, as some of the largest and strongest of all birds, they are quite powerful enough to break bones with one blow. So, of course, if a human walks by and seems to challenge their authority, that human is, simply put, [[{{Pun}} totally ducked.]] Geese in particular have a tendency to barge in on human settlements, leading to inevitable conflict.

Geese are the most likely to receive this treatment. While smaller than swans, they're just as ferocious and more commonly seen in everyday life (thanks to the aforementioned intrusion on human territory), but don't have the beauty and elegance to cancel it out. Geese also tend to be more consistently hostile towards humans compared to swans, which tend to only be particularly aggressive towards people while raising their offspring, as swans are known for their protectiveness, and will generally only attack people if they intrude on ''their'' territory, whereas with geese, it's the opposite scenario, as geese can and will encroach on human territory if it has the resources to sustain them. Geese also tend to gather in large groups, increasing the odds that they'll outnumber any humans encountering them. Additionally, while serrated tongues are common among waterfowl as a means of breaking up food (since they don't have teeth), their presence on geese factors into their image as more menacing than most other common birds, with people frequently describing geese as having [[ScaryTeeth "teeth on their tongues"]] to invoke feelings of BodyHorror.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'': Swanna are based on swans, and they're said to [[HairTriggerTemper have awful tempers]].

* ''VideoGame/UntitledGooseGame'' allows the player to take the role of a self-described "horrible goose" that terrorizes the people of a small English village.

Geese are the most likely to receive this treatment. While smaller than swans, they're just as ferocious and more commonly seen in everyday life (thanks to the aforementioned intrusion on human territory), but don't have the beauty and elegance to cancel it out. Geese also tend to be more consistently hostile towards humans compared to swans, which tend to only be particularly aggressive towards people while raising their offspring, as swans are known for their protectiveness, and will generally only attack people if they intrude on ''their'' territory, whereas with geese, it's the opposite scenario. Geese also tend to gather in large groups, increasing the odds that they'll outnumber any humans encountering them. Additionally, while serrated tongues are common among waterfowl as a means of breaking up food (since they don't have teeth), their presence on geese factors into their image as more menacing than most other common birds, with people frequently describing geese as having [[ScaryTeeth "teeth on their tongues"]] to invoke feelings of BodyHorror.

* ''VideoGame/AtomicHeart'' has a goose as the antagonist of its two DLCs.