History Main / InformedSpecies

[[quoteright:286:[[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/beagles_vs_beagles_3611.jpg]]]]

* Most reindeer appearing in many Christmas specials look absolutely nothing like their real-life counterparts, instead looking more like mule deer, roe deer, or white tailed deer.
* Most media depictions of Velociraptor look more like the larger Deinonychus or Utahraptor than the real dinosaur, which has a long narrow snout. For more information, see RaptorAttack.

!!Other weamples:

!!Examples:

* CerebusTheAardvark looks little (if at all) like the real-life animal. He looks more like a gray pig-creature than an actual aardvark.

* KrazyKat is not readily identifiable as a cat.

* Lampshaded in ''BloomCounty'' that [[ArtEvolution eventually]] Opus looked more like a puffin than a penguin.
* ''{{Peanuts}}'': More of an informed breed, but Snoopy and his brothers look nothing like real beagles.

* {{Garfield}} looked reasonably enough like a chubby cat in the earlier comics. His more recent incarnations appear to look less obstinately feline, but he still looks somewhat reasonably like a feline.

* Rosita from ''SesameStreet'' was meant to be a fruit bat but she looks more like a blue Elmo or a mutated flying squirrel than a bat. After 13 years they removed her wing flaps and {{retcon}}ned her into being a Monster. The in-series reason for this is that she 'lost' her wings while flying through a cave.

* Menchi in ''ExcelSaga'' is a dog and is constantly referred to as such, but most people would guess "cat" upon seeing him instead.

** Also, many animals in the various DrSeuss books.

* {{Garfield}} looked reasonably enough like a chubby cat in the earlier comics. His more recent incarnations appear to be feline in name only.

[[quoteright:286:[[DisneyDucksComicUniverse http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/beagles_vs_beagles_3611.jpg]]]]

[[caption-width-right:286:The Beagle Boys, and real beagles...not seeing it.]]

[[quoteright:323:[[TheLionKing http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rafiki_5698.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:323: Disney's version of a "mandrill."]]

[[

[[folder:Film]]
* The Aracuan Bird from ''TheThreeCaballeros'' is pink, unlike its real world counterpart.
* A few of the reviews for ''AnAmericanTail'' when it first came out complained about how un-catlike Tiger looked.
* [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110408184553/kungfupanda/images/9/93/ShifuGreen.JPG Shifu]] the red panda from ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'', with his huge round ears, more whitish orangey fur, and dark brown hands, is not that easy to identify as a [[http://www.pluspets.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Red-Panda4.jpg red]] [[http://www.pluspets.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Red-Panda2.jpg panda]], which has medium sized, rounded triangular ears and is more reddish with a black underside and legs.
* [[{{Godzilla}} Zilla]], a.k.a., the American {{Godzilla}}, is an interesting variation. He's supposed to be a mutated marine iguana, but his physical structure is more akin to that of a theropod dinosaur. Of course, since he is mutated, this might be justified.
** Anguirus doesn't really look much like an Ankylosaur.
* ''TheLandBeforeTime'':
** Cera is hardly recognizeable as a Triceratops since she only has one horn.
** Poor Ducky. Sources can't decide if she's a Parasaurolophus, an Edmontoaurus, or a Saurolophus since she doesn't really look completely like one or the other.
** Likewise, Hyp and his father don't really look much like Hypsilophodons.
** The "Yellow Bellies" from ''The Wisdom Of Friends'' hardly look like the dinosaurs they're supposed to be either.
* ''TheLionKing''
** Rafiki is stated to be a mandrill, but he looks slimmer and more bluish gray than a real mandrill and has the tail of a baboon.
** Zazu is supposed to be a yellow-billed hornbill. And, while he does look like a bird with a yellow beak, he doesn't look much like the bird he's supposed to be.
*** Zazu is [[http://lionking.wikia.com/wiki/Zazu actually]] supposed to be a [[http://www.underwater.org/mermaid/tanzania/images/hornbill1-800.jpg red-billed hornbill.]] [[SarcasmMode Note the resemblance.]]
** Mild Example: Pumbaa is supposed to be a warthog, but he looks a little more like a domesticated pig with a mane and tusks than an actual warthog.
---> '''Pumbaa''': [[BerserkButton They call me... ...MISTER PIG!!!"]]
* Jiminy Cricket from ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}'' is so heavily anthropomorphized that he looks more like a little green man with a rabbit nose and no ears. Animator Ward Kimball, who designed him, admitted that "he's a cricket because we ''say'' he's a cricket."
* Remember the fact that [[Disney/TheGreatMouseDetective Ratigan]] actually hates being called a rat? WordofGod actually confirms that he is actually indeed a mouse, but for some reason he looks like a rat. Hint? Just count the number of fingers!
* Flounder in ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'' is portrayed as a large yellow fish with blue fins and stripes and nothing like actual flounders (which are large, flat brown fish whose eyes are both on one side of its face) at all. However, that could just be his name, not his species. Also, many of the species described in the song "Under the Sea" look ''nothing'' like their real-life counterparts.
* [[SeaMonster Cretaceous and Maelstrom]], the main villains of [[IceAge ''Ice Age 2: The Meltdown'']] are supposed to be a Mosasaurus and an Icthyosaurus, respectively, but [[SomewhereAPaleontologistIsCrying they look more like mutated crocodiles instead.]]
** And the aardvarks look more like giant anteaters with big ears and mouths at the base of their snouts.
* [[TimCurry Drake]], the villain of ''ThePebbleAndThePenguin'', actually looks very un-penguinlike if you look very closely.
* Kron and Bruton from ''{{Dinosaur}}'' are supposed to be Iguanodons like Aladar and Neera, but Kron looks more like an Altirhinus and Bruton looks more like a Muttaburrasaurus since real Iguanodons do not have nose crests like they do.
* Frankie the flea from ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheMovie'' for some reason actually looks more like a large green mosquito than an actual flea. Also, fleas aren't the same size as mice!
** Similarly, the largest member of [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment the Singing Cat Gang]] actually does not look like a cat at all and looks more like a gorilla instead.
* Priscilla from ''{{Rango}}'' is supposed to be an [[MisplacedWildlife aye-aye]], but she actually looks more a mouse instead.
** She's a [[http://rango.wikia.com/wiki/Priscilla cactus mouse]], explaining the resemblance.
* Chirin's adult form at the end of ''ChirinnoSuzu'' is supposed to be a ferocious ram, but he vaguely resembles more of a wildebeest instead and nothing like the other sheep in the film, not even himself as a lamb. As a result of this, at the end of the film, he ends up being chased out of his own farm!
--->'''Narrator''': ...but to them, he was neither ram nor wolf, but a monster...
* The large theropod featured in the "Rite of Spring" segment of ''Disney/{{Fantasia}}'' is supposed to be a TyrannosaurusRex, but it looks more like an Allosaurus instead.
** In a similar case, the titular Allosaurus from ''TheValleyofGwangi'' looks more like a T. Rex with three fingers.
* As noted by many youtube commentators of {{Felidae}}, Kong is decidedly dissimilar to the more anatomically correct cats that populate the movie, looking more like a bufallo/bull-dog hybrid than an actual cat.
* Baloo from ''Disney/TheJungleBook'' is supposed to be a sloth bear, but he doesn't even look like one at all! The only indication that he's a sloth bear are of course, the long, sharp claws unique to that animal.
* The Chilantaisaurus from ''YouAreUmasou'' barely looks like the real animal in that it has bull shaped horns and a short, rounded snout (which led to some mistaking it for a Carnotaurus). At least it's the same size as Tyrannosaurus and retains the huge arms and claws.
** Also most of the dinosaurs in the movie, especially the Tyrannosaurus and Maiasaura.
** The bit with the Chilantaisaurus may be HandWaved, in that no decent skull material of the dinosaur has been found yet.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''SonicTheHedgehog'':
** Sonic himself looks little like his animal namesake. His spikes look more like styled hair and he hardly has a snout. Instead, he has a jellybean-like nose that's close to face. Same goes with Amy, Shadow, and Silver who are also hedgehogs. Also, [[AmazingTechnicolorWildlife hedgehogs aren't blue, pink, black, or silver]].
** Knuckles is an echidna, but because his spikes look more like styled hair, he hardly has a snout, and has a jellybean like nose that's close to face, it wouldn't be too hard to mistake him for a "hedgehog".
* King Dedede from the ''{{Kirby}}'' game series is not readily identifiable as a penguin.
* ''CrashBandicoot'':
** Crash and Coco don't look much like bandicoots.
** Tiny the Tiger looks like ''some'' kind of big cat, but definitely not a tiger. He apparently was originally intended to be a Tasmanian tiger (an extinct Australian marsupial, not actually a cat) but in the game ''Crash of the Titans'' he was redesigned and looks more cat like now.
** Dingodile has a crocodile tail but the rest of him looks like some kind of pig thing, not a dingo.
* The Buzzy Beetle enemies (which are basically fireproof Koopa Troopas) from the ''SuperMarioBros'' series games actually look more like hunchbacked, gray turtles than actual beetles.
* Many, '''MANY'' species of {{Pokemon}} (At least, the ones that aren't given abstract species' names like the "Emotion Pokemon") are listed as animals that they either barely resemble or don't resemble at all to the point where it would be easier to just list the Pokemon that actually ''look'' like the animal they're supposed to be.
** Diglett and Dugtrio from ''{{Pokemon}}'', despite being both called moles, actually don't even look like moles at all! (for one thing, neither of them have bodies) Drilbur and Excadrill, however...
** There's also Sandshrew and Sandslash who are said to be mice, but look more like armadillos or a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangolin pangolin]].
** Blastoise is said to be a shellfish but more strongly resembles a large turtle.
** An interesting variation and double-subversion come from Rattata and Raticate. Originally, they were listed as rats in the games, but have since beeen retconned into being mice.
** Raichu is said to be a mouse, but more strongly resembles a gerbil or possibly a jerboa.
*** And do you ever see a yellow-furred, pointy-eared, zigzagged-tailed mouse in real life? I don't think so.
** Psyduck and Golduck are said to be ducks. Well, Psyduck kind of looks like a cartoony duck. Golduck, on the other hand, looks more like a platypus.
** Growlithe is said to be a puppy, but it has tiger stripes. Justified, in that Growlithe and Arcanine are loosely based off of the Shisa in Japanese folklore.
** Slowbro is said to be a hermit crab, but it looks more like a strange cross between a hippopotamus and a salamander with a shell on its tail. Dwebble and Crustle on the other hand...
** Cyndaquil is also said to be a mouse, but more strongly resembles an echidna.
** Azumarill is said to be a rabbit, but, like Raichu, it looks more like a gerbil or a jerboa.
** Wooper and Quagsire are said to be fish, but are closer in appearance to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl axolotls]] or [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudpuppy mudpuppies]].
** Likewise, Mudkip, Swampert, and Marshtomp are also said to be fish, but more closely resemble salamanders.
** Vigoroth is said to be a monkey, but it strongly resembles a sloth on steroids rather than any known species of monkey.
*** Vigoroth's line, which are based on sloths, is a strange case, as it's original form, Slakoth, does look like a sloth, but Vigoroth looks more like a mix of a sloth and some kind of monkey. Slaking looks like a giant sloth mixed with a gorilla.
** Cradily is said to be a barnicle, but it looks more like a sea lily.
** Bidoof is said to be a mouse, but it looks more like a gopher or a beaver. Oddly enough, its evolution, Bibabarel is said to be a beaver and actually looks like one.
** Kricketot and Kricketune are said to be crickets. Though, Kricketot looks more like some sort of beetle and Kricketune looks like a mantis with a mustache.
** Subverted with Snivy, Servine, and Serperior. While they are said to be snakes, they do have limbs (Snivy and Servine have both arms and legs and Serperior has just arms). Justified, in that prehistoric snakes ''did'' have limbs.
** Tranquil is said to be a pidgeon, but looks more like a cross between a pheasant and a hawk.
** Stunky and Skuntank are supposed to look like skunks, but they have [[StealthPun cat heads]] instead. Also, Skuntank looks more like a honey badger than an actual skunk.
** Shelmet is supposed to be a snail, but snails don't wear helmets. Or dress like ninjas.
* Fire Leo from ''ViewtifulJoe'', despite being a lion actually doesn't even look like a lion at all. Joe actually calls him a dog, but he hates being referred to as such.
* [[BigFriendlyDog Poochie]], [[OneSceneWonder Yoshi's pet dog]] from ''YoshisIsland'' for some reason does not look like a dog at all and looks more like a platypus instead.
* The Therizinosaurus from ''DinoCrisis'' not only look nothing like the real animal, but also small and carnivorous. Then again, it may have been ScienceMarchesOn.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'':
** The Tasmanian Devil and the Tasmanian SheDevil are brown furred and look nothing like real Tasmanian Devils, which have black fur.
** The [[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner Roadrunner]] also looks nothing like its real-world counterpart. Roadrunners aren't bright purple/blue nor are they the same size as a coyote.
** Hippety Hopper, the baby kangaroo that Sylvester always mistakes for a giant mouse. In Sylvester's defense Hippety does look far more like a giant mouse than an actual kangaroo.
** Yoyo Dodo looks nothing like a real dodo.
** Batty, the bat in the cartoon, "The Brave Little Bat," looks nothing like a bat, and looks like a mouse with wings instead.
** Pete Puma is supposed to be... well... a puma, but he looks more like a maneless male lion without a tuft on the end of his tail.
** Henery Hawk doesn't look that much like a hawk.
** Rare human examples: Bosko and his girlfriend Honey are supposed to be {{blackface}}-looking African-American human characters, but they look more like ambiguous-looking chimpanzees or bonobos.
* Dizzy Devil (the purple Tasmanian devil), Little Beeper (the red roadrunner), and Gogo Dodo from ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures''.
** Shirley the Loon looks more like a white duck like those in CarlBarks' [[DisneyDucksComicUniverse duck comics]] save for a thicker bill, than like any loon.
** [[TheAhnold Arnold the Pitbull]] looks more like a Bull Terrier.
* Slam Tasmanian and Rev Runner from ''WesternAnimation/LoonaticsUnleashed''
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bonkers}}'': Bonkers D. Bobcat hardly looks like a real bobcat. At least he has downward-facing cheek tufts though.
* Bungo from ''JungleJunction'' is said to be a "bunny", but, rabbits don't have long striped tails.
* Who Who the ring tailed lemur from the ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' episode, "Back In Style" hardly looks like a real ring tailed lemur and looks vaguely like a red panda instead.
** Calhoun Capybara from the same episode actually looks more like a wombat than an actual capybara.
** Howie Tern, a FunnyAnimal NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of HowardStern, looks more like a stork than anything like a tern.
* Evil the Cat from ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'' hardly looks like a cat at all; he looks like a white rat with pointed ears.
* The protagonists of ''TheRenAndStimpyShow'' are not readily identifiable as a chihuahua dog and cat, respectively.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'':
** Arthur Read and his relatives are aardvarks, but aren't readily identifiable as such. Real aardvarks have ''giant noses.'' Arthur, D.W., and other Reads have ''no nose''.
*** Averted in the early books, in which Arthur's enormous nose is actually the driving force of the plot.
** Brain and the Tibble Twins are supposed to be bear cubs, but they look more like gophers than actual bears.
** Prunella is supposed to be a rat (like Mr. Ratburn), but her ears and hair make her look more like a poodle.
* {{Pete}} the cat from the ClassicDisneyShorts is so hard to identify as a cat that in ''GoofTroop'', ''AGoofyMovie'', and ''An Extremely Goofy Movie'', he was treated like a [[{{Dogfaces}} Dogface]] instead.
** In ''SteamboatWillie'', the first time {{Pete}} was portrayed as a cat, he looked somewhat reasonably like a cat and had a tail, but since the mid 1930s, he lost his tail and fell into this trope.
** Junior, {{Pete}}'s son from the DonaldDuck cartoon "Bellboy Donald" is a cat, but he's not readily identifiable as such and [[{{Expy}} looked more like]] MickeyMouse with cat ears instead.
** [=PJ=], {{Pete}}'s son from ''GoofTroop'', ''AGoofyMovie'', and ''An Extremely Goofy Movie'', is supposed to be a cat, but in all his appearances, he was treated like a [[{{Dogfaces}} Dogface]] instead.
* Chip and Skip from ''CampLazlo'' are supposed to be dung beetles, but look more like purple [[CartoonCreature things]]. And, for some reason, the Lemming brothers look more like green frogs with ears than well....''lemmings''.
* AlvinAndTheChipmunks and The Chipettes in the animated TV shows and movies look nothing like chipmunks.
** Averted in the [[Film/AlvinAndTheChipmunks two live action movies]] though.
* Wendell T. Wolf from ''TazMania'' is supposed to be a Tasmanian Wolf, but he looks more like a miniture version of Wile E. Coyote.
* Jake from ''MyGymPartnersAMonkey'' is supposed to be a spider monkey but, while obviously a primate of some kind, looks little like the actual species. Lampshaded in one episode that shows his family at the zoo at first appear to look correct but after the humans leave they remove disguises showing they actually look like Jake.
* Dagget and Norbit from ''TheAngryBeavers'' don't look an awful lot like beavers. This is constantly pointed out in the show, as most people assume that they are [[IAmNotWeasel weasels]].
* TheTick owns a capybara named Speak (named because he once hallucinated it talking to him) who looks much more like some sort of mutant pug dog; in fact, the Tick was sure Speak was a dog until he took him to the vet.
* ''ItsABigBigWorld'':
** Snook is supposed to be a sloth, but he looks more like some weird furry creature.
** [[EverythingsBetterWithBob Bob]] is supposed to be a Tarmandua, a type of anteater, but looks more like a cross between Gonzo and a cat.
* The titular Aardvark from ''TheAntAndTheAardvark'' doesn't look very much like an aardvark, having [[AmazingTechnicolorWildlife blue fur]], a long snout more like that of an anteater's than an actual aardvark's, and long angularly bent ears.
* Cyrill Sneer and his son Cedric on ''TheRaccoons'' are suposed to be aardvarks, but have pink fur and snouts that bend down. The show's creator did this on purpose so kids don't think that real aardvarks are greedy industrialists.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants''
** [=SpongeBob=] looks more like an artificial dish sponge than an actual sponge, even though he is supposed to be the latter.
** Squidward Tentacles looks more like an octopus than a squid.
*** WordOfGod says that Squidward ''is'' an octopus.
* Austin from ''TheBackyardigans'' is a kangaroo, but looks more like he's half aardvark and half cat.
* [[BigBad Doctor Hamsterviel]] from ''LiloAndStitchTheSeries'' is supposed to be a hamster, but he looks more like a gerbil. However, he hates being called a gerbil.
** Stitch himself is described as being a dog, but he actually looks more like a mutant koala instead, as pointed out by [[PromotionToParent Nani]] about halfway through his film.
*** Though unlike other examples Stitch isn't actually intended by the creators to be a dog. Which is good considering his default form has six limbs, antennae, and dorsal spines.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Cyberchase}}'' involved The Hacker using [[RodentsofUnusualSize a giant hamster]] in an exercise wheel as part of one of his evil plans to undermine the Mother Board and take over {{Cyberspace}}. However, for some reason the aforementioned hamster looked more like a capybara than an actual hamster.
* Sherlock from [[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner ''Sweet Cuppin' Cakes'']] is supposed to be a mix between a cow and a helicopter, but he looks like neither.
* Rigby from ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' is supposed to be a raccoon, but for some reason he looks more like a coati (a South American relative to the raccoon) instead.
** Margaret is supposedly a robin, but looks just like a [[AnimalGenderBender male-colored]] cardinal.
** And Eileen looks more like a midget human with a tail than a mole.
** That ostrich and possum in "Replaced". The ostrich looks like a duck. The possum...well, he may just be the technical "possum" (the one that lives in Australia).
* ''AdventuresFromTheBookOfVirtues''
** Plato, a bison, has a face that looks a bit more identical to a bear's than an actual bison's.
** Socrates is supposed to be a bobcat, but his orange fur, black stripes and white patterns make him look more like a tiger.
* Goo from the {{Gumby}} cartoons barely looks like a [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent mermaid]] (even less so in her 1960's appearances).
* Winslow from ''CatDog'' is supposed to be a mouse, but other than the ears and the fact that he lives in a hole in the wall (with a door, mind), it's not obvious.
* One episode of TheBerenstainBears features what Brother identifies as a [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bvIhzA5Nu04/TZRdaoP0dmI/AAAAAAAAAks/ueJqBi5TzpA/s1600/Scarlet+Tanager.jpg scarlet tanager]]. It reality, it looks like ''no'' existing species of bird - it has the body shape of a [[http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/WAG_072202_00364Z_S.jpg pileated woodpecker]], except all black and with red wings.
* All of the fish from ''FishHooks''.
* Most cartoon fireflies look nothing like their real-life counterparts, the only indication of such being a firefly is the light on its abdomen.
* The Chameleon Brothers from ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' look more like some kind of theropod dinosaur than actual chameleons.
* The Zuniceratops, Velociraptor, and Troodon from ImADinosaur look more like Triceratops, Deinonychus, and Coelophysis respectively.
* The [[NightmareFuel leopard seal]] from ''{{Pingu}} Dreams'' hardly looks like a real leopard seal and more closely resembles a walrus without tusks instead.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Mr Bogus}}'', as well as his younger cousin, Brattus, are supposed to be gremlins, but due to their yellow skin, it's indeterminate whether they actually are gremlins or just little people.
[[/folder]]

** Most of the dinosaurs in the movie somewhat qualify, especially the Tyrannosaurus and Maiasaura.

* The Zuniceratops and Troodon from ImADinosaur look more like Triceratops and Coelophysis respectively.

* The Zuniceratops and Troodon from I'm A Dinosaur look more like Triceratops and Coelophysis respectively.
* The [[NightmareFuel leopard seal]] from ''{{Pingu}} Dreams'' more closely resembles a walrus without tusks.

* The Chilantaisaurus from ''YouAreUmasou'' barely looks like the real animal in that it has bull shaped horns and a short, rounded snout. At least it's the same size as Tyrannosaurus and retains the huge arms and claws.

*** Zazu is [[http://lionking.wikia.com/wiki/Zazu actually]] supposed to be a [[http://www.underwater.org/mermaid/tanzania/images/hornbill1-800.jpg red-billed hornbill.]] [[SarcasmMode Note the resemblance.]]

* Jiminy Cricket from ''{{Disney/Pinocchio}}'' is so heavily anthropomorphized that he looks more like a little green man with a rabbit nose and no ears. Animator Ward Kimball, who designed him, admitted that "he's a cricket because we ''say'' he's a cricket."

** She's a [[http://rango.wikia.com/wiki/Priscilla cactus mouse]], explaining the resemblance.

* The large theropod featured in the "Rite of Spring" segment of ''{{Disney/Fantasia}}'' is supposed to be a TyrannosaurusRex, but it looks more like an Allosaurus instead.

* ''LooneyTunes'':

** Stitch himself is described as being a dog, but he actually looks more like a mutant koala instead, as pointed out by [[PromotiontoParent Nani]] about halfway through his film.