History Main / HeinousHyena

** Another quality of hyenas that may play into their negative perception is the fact that they look superficially doglike, but they're clearly not canines, creating a sort of UncannyValley effect. They're closer related to cats than to dogs, but their closest relatives are the mongooses.

[[SmallTaxonomyPools Fictional hyenas are mostly spotted hyenas]]; striped and brown hyenas are much, much rarer, and aardwolves (a purely insect-eating species) are still practically unheard of. This may be because the hyena's signature trait -- that laughing sound -- is actually only made by the spotted ones. Although when these other species ''do'' appear, they aren't always portrayed as negatively as the spotted hyena. The spotted hyena is the largest, strongest, and smartest hyena, very rarely scavenging (in contrast to their striped and brown cousins), and living in large clans with a clear hierarchy. Despite this, it frequently clashes with ScavengersAreScum; in RealLife, however, spotted hyenas are mostly '''hunters''', and in the wild, lions will take any opportunity to steal kills from them and kill them as they are often rivals for territory.

* It's easily missed, but in ''Film/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'' spotted hyenas are in the crowd surrounding [[spoiler:Aslan during his death]] along with many of the other evil species ruled by [[BigBad Jadis]] that plagued Narnia at the time, such as [[SavageWolf wolves]], [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier ghouls]], black-bearded dwarfs, and harpies. It can be assumed they served in her army as well.

* Subverted by Carla Hyenandez in ''Fanfic/BornToBeWilde''. [[spoiler:She's a mole for [[BigBad the Count]]]], but she's hardly evil, just gruff and unfriendly. And she's in an InterspeciesRomance with MaskedLuchador rat, Priscilla Rodentriguez.

* One of the Jokerz who act as the Joker's goons in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'' is a [[LegoGenetics spliced]] hyena-man named Woof who never speaks anything more than growls and giggles.

* {{Downplayed|Trope}} in ''Film/BirdsOfPrey2020''. Here, Harley Quinn has a pet spotted hyena named Bruce (after "that hunky [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Wayne]] guy"), which she purchased from a shady back-alley animal dealer. However, Harley is an AntiHero in this movie instead of a proper villain, and Bruce himself is presented as a very affectionate pet whom she truly loves. In real life, hyenas can indeed be tamed, though the striped kind are usually easier to domesticate. The filmmakers wanted to use an actual hyena, but because of how hard they are to train, ended up using a dog which was covered over with a CGI hyena.

* When Fat Charlie travels to the realm of African animal spirits in ''Literature/AnansiBoys'', he meets Hyena. She's weird and unsettling, but ultimately helps Fat Charlie on his journey, telling him which way to go. He can't decide whether she is "attractive or monstrously ugly".

* The series ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' has an episode called "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E6ThePack The Pack]]" (despite a group of hyenas actually being called a clan) in which Xander and four other students are [[DemonicPossession possessed by the ghosts of hyenas]]. They messily devour first a little piglet, and then the [[ImAHumanitarian school principal]]. Note that the images on the computer screen of "hyenas" in this episode are actually African wild dogs most of the time.

* The crocotta is a vicious mythical animal from Roman and Medieval bestiaries and accounts, said to inhabit Sub-Saharan Africa, India or both and resemble a monstrous doglike or wolflike animal. It was reputed to have a single ridge of bone in each jaw rather than teeth, to dig up and eat human corpses and to switch genders every year. Its most notable characteristic was its ability to imitate human voices, an ability it used to lure humans and dogs out of their homes and into the wilderness. Those who answered its calls were set upon by the beast and viciously torn to pieces.
** There was a similar creature called the leucrocotta, which had much the same appearance and attributes, but also had hooves and was reputed to be an extremely swift runner. Like the BasiliskAndCockatrice, it may be synonymous with the Crocotta depending on who you ask.
** It is generally agreed that the creature was [[FantasticFaunaCounterpart inspired by real life accounts of spotted hyenas]], which do indeed produce human-like vocalizations (such as their famous "laughter") and whose genders are notoriously difficult to tell apart (female hyenas are bigger than the males, in the inverse of how it usually works for mammals, and most notably their sexual organs resemble those of mammal males far more than they resemble those of other female mammals). The scientific name of the spotted hyena, ''Crocuta crocuta'', may be inspired by the mythical crocotta (it may also come from "crocus" and mean "the saffron-coloured one" -- there are different theories on this).

* In many African -- especially West African -- traditions, hyenas do not exactly enjoy a stellar reputation. They are often associated with a great variety of negative traits (exactly which ones often depends on the culture and tradition in question), including deviousness, brutishness, immorality, gluttony, subversive and unwholesome behavior and filthiness.

** Further north, in the traditions of Ethiopia, Sudan, Eritrea, and surrounding countries, the witches ''are'' the hyenas, sinister [[OurWerecreaturesAreDifferent shapechangers]] called boudas, who desecrate graves, put the evil eye on people, and things like that. Unfortunately there is a long history of the semi-nomadic Beta Israel people (Ethiopian Jews) being [[MagicalJew scapegoated]] as boudas, similiar to how another travelling people, the UsefulNotes/{{Romani}}, have often been conflated with werewolves and vampires in European myths.

* ''Manga/ChoujinX'': Hyenas serve as a [[AnimalMotifs symbol]] for Azuma Higashi, one of the main characters. Hyenas are scavengers, which reflects Azuma's InferioritySuperiorityComplex. It's largely averted, however, as Azuma is shown to be a genuinely decent guy, even if he does have a lot of personal issues.

* Hyenas appear as [[GoddamnBats annoying]] low-level enemies in some of the desert areas of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition''. What really stands out about the ''Dragon Age'' hyenas is [[CallASmeerpARabbit how little they resemble actual hyenas]], looking more like exaggeratedly ugly dogs with tusks. They also drop a loot item called "Canine Leather" (real hyenas are not canines), suggesting that they may be wholly different from the hyenas of our world.

** [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 The original film]] is one of the clearest examples (and TropeCodifier, as previously hyenas didn't have much of a positive ''or'' negative reputation in pop culture aside from [[TheHyena laughing a lot]]) of this trope. The hyena clan are opportunistic scavengers who act as enemies to the heroic pride of lions, and happily follow Scar when he promises them food. Most of them are not that smart (although in a bit of FridgeBrilliance, the dumb ones are male- hyenas are matriarchal), and happy to [[WouldHurtAChild go after the young cub Simba]]. [[spoiler:They do end up killing Scar in revenge when [[BackstabBackfire he tries to pin the blame for his takeover on them]].]]

* It's easily missed, but in ''Film/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'' spotted hyenas are in the crowd surrounding [[spoiler:Aslan during his death]] along with many of the other evil species ruled by [[BigBad Jadis]] that plagued Narnia at the time, such as [[SavageWolf wolves]], ghouls, black-bearded dwarfs, and harpies. It can be assumed they served in her army as well.

* In ''Literature/TheWayOfKings2021'' by Louise Searl the trope is initially played straight - the book is about lions who, naturally enough, despise hyenas. However, it's subverted when Kachula, the main character, gets to know a hyena - he comes to recognise his own prejudice and acknowledges that the two species actually have a lot in common.

** It is generally agreed that the creature was inspired by real life accounts of spotted hyenas, which do indeed produce human-like vocalizations (such as their famous "laughter") and whose genders are notoriously difficult to tell apart (female hyenas are bigger than the males, in the inverse of how it usually works for mammals, and most notably their sexual organs resemble those of mammal males far more than they resemble those of other female mammals). The scientific name of the spotted hyena, ''Crocuta crocuta'', may be inspired by the mythical crocotta (it may also come from "crocus" and mean "the saffron-coloured one" -- there are different theories on this).

** Leucrottas appear in some editions, as ChaoticEvil monsters resembling hyenas with deer-like hooves, lion-like tails, badger-like heads, and the ability to mimic voices. They frequently associate with gnolls, and in 5th edition's ''Volo's Guide to Monsters'', it's stated that they came about the same way the gnolls did during Yeenoghu's rampages.
** The obscure werehyenas, which debuted in the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' subsetting of ''TabletopGame/AlQadim'', are overwhelmingly made up of men, with only 25% of all werehyenas being women. They have only two forms; a human with a second mouth on the back of their head that they wear their hair long to conceal, and a giant hyena. Whilst capable of being surprisingly loyal and affectionate to each other, they regard ordinary humans as fit only for prey, and exploit their naturally great beauty and low-level CharmPerson powers to lure humans into places where they can ambush and eat them.

* The Nazi concentration camp guard Irma Grese is sometimes referred to as [[RedBaron "The Hyena of Auschwitz"]] due to her treatment of prisoners, which was exceptionally brutal and sadistic even by Nazi standards.

* ''Film/{{Nosferatu}}'': Orlok's [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent transformed wolf form]] is represented by a [[MisplacedWildlife striped hyena]], possibly because the film-makers believed a hyena to be more uncanny and unfamiliar to a Western audience than a regular wolf.

Contrast KingOfBeasts, PantheraAwesome, NobleWolf, and HeroicDog since hyenas are often made out as the UnpleasantAnimalCounterpart to big cats and wild dogs. Compare TheHyena, which is a character who's constantly laughing (and who may or may not be a literal hyena).

* ''WesternAnimation/BabarAndTheAdventuresOfBadou'' has a notable aversion with Hoot. While she is a [[ThePrankster practical joker]], she always means well and is generally friendly. She also averts AnimalJingoism by being friends with Dandi Andi and his lionesses.

[[SmallTaxonomyPools Fictional hyenas are mostly spotted hyenas]]; striped and brown hyenas are much, much rarer, and aardwolves (a purely insect-eating species) are still practically unheard of. This may be because the hyena's signature trait -- that laughing sound -- is actually only made by the spotted ones. Although when these other species ''do'' appear, they aren't always portrayed as negatively as the spotted hyena. The spotted hyena is the largest, strongest, and smartest hyena, very rarely scavenging, and living in large clans with a clear hierarchy. Despite this, it frequently clashes with ScavengersAreScum; in RealLife, however, spotted hyenas are mostly '''hunters''', and in the wild, lions will take any opportunity to steal kills from them and kill them as they are often rivals for territory.

* ''WebOriginal/OrionsArm'': Sapient spotted hyenas are one of the many kinds of {{Uplifted Animal}}s among the Terragen civilizations. While not evil, as such, they are noted to be very aggressive and competitive compared to other sapients, something carried over from their non-sapient ancestors. As such, they have long-standing problems with conflicts with both each other and other sapients, as well as recurring issues of fratricide among their young before they can be properly socialized. As they developed as a people in their own right, they ended up consciously embracing the stereotypes of this trope: while neurological and biological modifications were available to dampen their aggressive tendencies, the sapient hyenas saw these as anthropocentric attempts to erase their identity as a species and turn them into yet another clade of humans in animal bodies. As such, most sapient hyenas ended up celebrating their status as aggressive outcasts and pariahs unwanted by mainstream civilization. Of course, many hyenas did choose to take the behavioral modifications, and considered the hyenas still enamored with this trope to be backward savages obsessed with glorifying violence. Overall, sapient hyenas in the setting's present have tendency to live in highly hierarchical matriarchies, to have personalities tending to being aggressive and vindictive and to spend a great deal of time jockeying for position amongst each other, although they are also highly social and cooperative.

* ''Manga/ChoujinX'': Hyenas serve as a [[AnimalMotifs symbol]] for Azuma Higashi, one of the main characters. Hyenas are scavengers, which reflects Azuma's SuperiorityInferiorityComplex. It's largely averted, however, as Azuma is shown to be a genuinely decent guy, even if he does have a lot of personal issues.

* The Nazi concentration camp guard Irma Grese was sometimes referred to as [[RedBaron "The Hyena of Auschwitz"]].
* South African media company WildEarth [[note]]known for their live safaris[[/note]] are doing their best to change people's perception of hyenas to a more positive one, doing so by showing the animals in the natural habitat and even visiting active hyena dens, which are home to [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter young hyena cubs]]. For the most part, they have succeeded.

* Invoked in Creator/ManlyWadeWellman's short story "The Devil Is Not Mocked" in the description of a mysterious and sinister character with unusually narrow shoulders: "they were humped high, like the shoulders of a hyena, suggesting a power that crouched and lurked." The character in question is eventually revealed to be [[spoiler:{{Dracula}}]].

->'''Shenzi:''' Do you know what we do to kings that step out of their kingdom?\\
'''Simba:''' ''[scoffs]'' You can't do anything to me!\\
'''Zazu:''' Uh, technically, they can. We ''are'' on their land.\\
'''Simba:''' But Zazu, you told me they're nothing but slobbery, mangy, stupid poachers.\\
'''Zazu:''' Ix-nay on the upid-stay...\\
'''Banzai:''' Who you callin' "upid-stay?!"
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994''

** [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] by Haida the Spotted Hyena, who is one of the few characters who isn't mean or rude to Retsuko, and in the Netflix series develops a crush on Retsuko.

* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in ''Anime/{{Aggretsuko}}''. Haida the Spotted Hyena is actually one of the few characters who isn't mean or rude to Retsuko, and in the Netflix series develops a crush on Retsuko.

* [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in ''Anime/{{Aggretsuko}}''. Haida the Spotted Hyena is actually one of the few characters who isn't mean or rude to Retsuko, and in the Netflix series develops a crush on Retsuko.

* Hyenas appear as [[GoddamnBats annoying]] low-level enemies in some of the desert areas of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition''. What really stands out about the ''Dragon Age'' hyenas is [[CallASmeerpARabbit how little they resemble actual hyenas]], looking more like exaggeratedly ugly dogs with tusks. They also drop a loot item called "Canine Leather" (real hyenas are not canines), suggesting that they may be wholly different from the hyenas of our world.

* From ''WesternAnimation/ChipAndPotato'', Howie Hyena is the school bully, and he's also quite naughty.