History Main / ResourcefulRodent

* [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-zagged]] in Creator/JanuszZajdel's ''Cylinder van Troffa''. Rats (lots of rats) live alongside the earthlings, using tech like food dispensers and the underground. Generally, the rats seem about as intelligent as the ones in ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'' - no speech, but they cooperate pushing buttons and covering sensors, and giving the protagonist looks of disdain (or so he thinks). It appears that they inherit the Earth, but they die out soon after humans because they can't fend for themselves anymore and the machines break down.

** In the Vietnamese zodiac, a cat replaces the rabbit and the animals still have The Great Race. The Vietnamese zodiac states that the cat wasn't in the Chinese zodiac because of an incident with the rat. The rat formed an alliance with the cat and they both rode the ox across the river. When the pair were close enough to the riverbank, the rat betrayed the cat by pushing it into the river, which caused the cat to fail to become a zodiac (either drowning or being too late to reach the riverbank). It's the mythological reason why cats and rats hate each other.

* ''WebVideo/PiratesSMP'': Martyn's stream chat manifest as rats which he keeps in his boots, engaging in FilchingFoodForFun on a regular basis.

* ''WesternAnimation/ChickenRun'': Subverted; Nick and Fetcher is a pair of merchants and smugglers who take whatever they can get so they can sell them as tools for the chickens. They use a toffee tin as a suitcase and they offer a shuttlecock as a veil, a thimble as a cup, and a sink plug as a pendant. However, the pair aren't that smart because they couldn't tell the difference between a hen and a rooster (they believed Rocky when he told them he could lay his own eggs). [[spoiler:They are instrumental in the chickens' escape because they steal the necessary tools from the farmers by disguising themselves as garden gnomes.]]

* ''LetsPlay/RatsSMP'': The rat protagonists live their lives scurrying through the walls, pipes, and corners of the BigFancyHouse in which they reside, hiding from humans and scavenging for resources for survival from unused chests.

Although mice, rats, and other rodents are usually seen as timid and cowardly animals who avoid danger by running and hiding from them, these particular rodents are not cowards. They use their assets and environments to their full advantage to survive adversity.

It is said that a rat will do anything to survive, no matter how disgraceful or dishonorable their tactics are. A resourceful rodent will rarely engage in head-on fights or fight fairly for that matter because they know they can be easily overpowered.

The Resourceful Rodent can fit any definition; a GeniusBruiser[=/=]BadassBookworm who strategically fights their enemies with [[CombatPragmatist whatever they have at their disposal]], TheEngineer who [[ScavengedPunk invents, rebuilds, and repurposes items from junk]], and the sly and underhanded rogue who uses their resourcefulness to hastily and stealthily evade enemies and catch them off-guard.

It is said that a rat will do anything to survive, no matter how disgraceful or dishonorable their tactics are. A resourceful rodent will rarely engage in head-on fights or fight fairly, for rodents, it's either run or hide. Rules and honor don't really apply if their lives are on the line.

Although mice, rats, and other rodents are usually seen as timid and cowardly animals who avoid danger by running and hiding from them, these particular rodents are not cowards. It is said that a rat will do anything to survive, no matter how disgraceful or dishonorable their tactics are. A resourceful rodent will rarely engage in head-on fights or fight fairly, for rodents, it's either run, hide, or be pragmatic.

Although mice, rats, and other rodents are usually seen as timid and cowardly animals who avoid danger by running and hiding from them, these particular rodents are not cowards. It is said that rats will do anything to survive, no matter how disgraceful or dishonorable their tactics are. Since rodents are usually prey animals in the food chain, they have to be especially vigilant and more aware of their surroundings

Rodents have to be [[ImprovisationalIngenuity smart enough to use their cunning and high intellect to escape from danger]] and [[DavidVersusGoliath defeat their stronger enemies]]. They often use their [[GadgeteerGenius inventions to survive]] and utilize [[ImprovisedWeapon whatever they can find]] to [[ImprobableWeaponUser defend themselves from others]]. Very rarely will you see a rodent engage in head-on fights or see them fight fairly, for rodents, it's either run, hide, or be pragmatic.

The Resourceful Rodent can fit any definition; a GeniusBruiser[=/=]BadassBookworm who strategically fights their enemies with [[CombatPragmatist whatever they have at their disposal]], TheEngineer who [[ScavengedPunk invents, rebuilds, and repurposes items from junk]], and the sly and underhanded rogue who uses their resourcefulness to hastily and stealthily evade enemies and outwit them. Resourceful Rodents are not strictly anthropomorphic; a trained rodent, an intelligent rodent, and even an entire group of rodents who create strategies and hunting tactics to take on larger prey can fit here as well.

Mice, rats, and other rodents are usually seen as timid and cowardly animals who avoid danger by running from it. But these rodents though are not cowards, being [[ImprovisationalIngenuity smart enough to use their cunning and high intellect to escape from danger]] and [[DavidVersusGoliath defeat their enemies]]. They often use their [[GadgeteerGenius inventions to survive]] and utilize [[ImprovisedWeapon whatever they can find]] to [[ImprobableWeaponUser defend themselves from others]].

The Resourceful Rodent can fit any definition; a GeniusBruiser[=/=]BadassBookworm who strategically fights their enemies with [[CombatPragmatist whatever they have at their disposal]], TheEngineer who [[ScavengedPunk invents, rebuilds, and repurposes items from junk]], and the sly and deceptive rogue who uses their resourcefulness to hastily and stealthily evade enemies and outwit them. Resourceful Rodents are not strictly anthropomorphic; a trained rodent, an intelligent rodent, and even an entire group of rodents who create strategies and hunting tactics to take on larger prey can fit here as well.

It may overlap with MouseWorld, which often involves rodent characters repurposing human objects as tools. It may also overlap with ScavengedPunk (and therefore averting ScavengersAreScum) since it can involve rodent characters using materials scavenged or stolen from humans. It may or may not be TheLabRat (literally), which does the forensics and other researches.

* ''Fanfic/JuniorOfficers'': Sarabi Squirrel is rather clever. After having been [[ParentalNeglect neglected by her mother in her childhood]], she has become independent as well as a [[SupremeChef very skilled chef]]. She's also quick-witted in missions and knows how to distract others to beat them in arm-wrestling.

* ''WesternAnimation/ChickenRun'': Subverted; Nick and Fetcher are a pair of merchants and smugglers who take whatever they can get so they can sell them as tools for the chickens. They use a toffee tin as a suitcase and they offer a shuttlecock as a veil, a thimble as a cup, and a sink plug as a pendant. However, the pair aren't that smart because they couldn't tell the difference between a hen and a rooster (they believed Rocky when he told them he could lay his own eggs). [[spoiler:They are instrumental in the chickens' escape because they steal the necessary tools from the farmers by disguising themselves as garden gnomes.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'', the mice are quite ingenious in their abilities to help Cinderella. Jaq and Gus get a whole necklace of beads from the stepsisters' room to Cinderella's by stringing them on their tails (while evading [[CatsAreMean Lucifer the cat]] the entire time). Meanwhile the female mice rig up a pulley system with the friendly bluebirds to sew her dress.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}'': Timothy the Mouse is the deuteragonist of the film who helps Dumbo in the circus. He gets Dumbo in the circus by planting ideas in the ringmaster's head while the latter is sleeping and he convinces Dumbo that he can fly with a magic feather (a normal feather that Timothy was given by a crow who plucked it from one of his goons).

** The rest of his colony counts for this trope as well, since they were able to fashion together makeshift tables, boats and even instruments using regular household items.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'': The rats of NIMH are able to read as a result of the experiments scientists conducted on them. They also know how to work technology.

* ''Film/TheGreenMile'': In the movie adaptation of the novel by Stephen King, Mr. Jingles was trained by Eduard Delacroix to play fetch with a wooden spool. In the behind the scenes footage, they had between 15 and 30 trained mice for the scenes of Mr. Jingles. Only using animatronics and [=CGI=] for the death and ressurection of Mr. Jingles.

* ''Belling the Cat'': The story involves a group of mice trying to figure out a way to avoid a cat that has been hunting them. One mouse states they should put a bell around the cat's neck so they'd know where it is and how to avoid it. Everyone agrees until a wise old mouse asks for a volunteer to bravely put the bell on the cat, where everyone else responds by making excuses and refusing to do it. It lead to the idiom "Bell the cat", which means "To undertake or agree to perform a risky, dangerous, or impossible job or task."
* [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-zagged]] in Creator/JanuszZajdel's ''Cylinder van Troffa''. Rats (lots of rats) live alongside the earthlings, using the tech like food dispensers and the underground. Generally, the rats seem about as intelligent as the ones in ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'' - no speech, but they cooperate pushing buttons and covering sensors, and give the protagonist looks of disdain (or so he thinks). It appears that they inherit the Earth, but they die out soon after humans, because they can't fend for themselves anymore and the machines break down.

* ''Literature/MrsFrisbyAndTheRatsOfNIMH'': The story is about a group of lab rats that gained human intelligence through a series of top secret government experiments.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'': The Skaven are rat men living in Underground Cities and able to make devices such as the [[GatlingGood Ratling]] and technological devices using warpstone such as tools and power generation. The only reason why they haven't taken over the world yet is [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder because they are infamously treacherous]].
* The [[RatMen Rattevir]] of ''TabletopGame/TheChroniclesOfAeres'' are a highly intelligent race who, unlike the other [[BeastMan Wilderkind]], have abandoned the simple life of forest-folk to integrate into humanity's cities. They are regarded as some the world's greatest apothecaries, scribes and researches, and are particularly well-known for their skill at alchemy.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bully}}'': Invoked as the nerd clique has an association with rats; Algie and [[MeaningfulName Bucky]] [[note]] Bucks is the name for a male rat [[/note]] have pet rats called "Sniffy" and "George", the gang has a collective fear of rats as shown by the mission "Rats in the Library", the group is willing to run away from a fight, use underhanded tactics, are regarded as "Sneaky bastards" by Gary Smith, and the Nerds use homemade firearms that are made from various scraps around the school. They also made an alternate route to the abandoned observatory to avoid jocks, like how rats would avoid predators by taking alternate routes and staying out of sight. The Bullworth academy crest also has a rat as part of the design, likely referencing the nerds.

* ''VideoGame/EnterTheGungeon'': The aptly-named [[YouDirtyRat Resourceful Rat]] is an anthropomorphic giant rat that managed to adapt himself to the life in the Gungeon. He uses the ever-changing layout of the Gungeon to construct a giant maze to serve as his lair, he hoards a lot of Gungeon's treasures, and he has great expertise in scavenging and stealing stuff left by Gungeoneers, and even managed to construct a [[HumongousMecha mecha out of scavenged stuff]]. It's stated that his resourcefulness would've let him reach The Gun That Can Kill The Past with ease, and the reason he didn't do so is that [[{{Troll}} he's more interested in frustrating the Gungeoneers]].

* ''VideoGame/APlagueTaleInnocence'': At first, the man-eating rats in the game seem disorganized and chaotic, and are physically unable to enter the light, which is your main defence strategy. As their influence grows, they develop strategies to counter this, using their own bodies in formations and directed attacks to bust through the light and extinguish fires.

* ''Radio/TheHitchHikersGuideToTheGalaxy'': In the story, Planet Earth is in reality one enormous super-computer dedicated to working out The Answer to Life, The Universe and Everything. Its keepers are hyper-intelligent white mice, who not only tend the computer, they run incredibly subtle and elegant psychological experiments on their human, err, "lab-rats".

* ''TableTopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': The Ratfolk, or ysoki, are humanoid rats with a particular knack for tinkering, which grants them bonuses related to [[AlchemyIsMagic alchemy]] and operating magical devices. In ''TableTopGame/{{Starfinder}}'', they instead have a racial bonus to the Engineering and Survival [[SkillScoresAndPerks skills]] and their largest population is on the ScavengerWorld of Akiton, where many of them make a living turning scrap into usable things.

* ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami2WrongNumber'': Invoked by Richter Berg, the operative who wears a rat mask. In gameplay, he can pick up weapons from fallen enemies to use for himself. [[spoiler: He also escapes prison by disguising himself as a member of the prison staff.]]

The Resourceful Rodent can fit any definition; a GeniusBruiser / BadassBookworm who strategically fights their enemies with [[CombatPragmatist whatever they have at their disposal]], TheEngineer who [[ScavengedPunk invents, rebuilds, and repurposes items from junk]], and the sly and deceptive rogue who uses their resourcefulness to hastily and stealthily evade enemies and outwit them. Resourceful Rodents are not strictly anthropomorphic; a trained rodent, an intelligent rodent, and even an entire group of rodents who create strategies and hunting tactics to take on larger prey can fit here as well.

* ''WesternAnimation/ChickenRun'': Subverted; Nick and Fetcher are a pair of merchants and smugglers who take whatever they can get so they can sell them as tools for the chickens. They use a toffee tin as a suitcase and they offer a shuttlecock as a veil, a thimble as a cup, and a sink plug as a pendant. However, the pair aren't that smart because they couldn't tell the difference between a hen and a rooster (they believed Rocky when he told them he could lay his own eggs). [[spoiler: They are instrumental in the chickens' escape because they steal the necessary tools from the farmers by disguising themselves as garden gnomes.]]

--> '''The Courier''': Don't worry about me. I'm used to finding out-of-the-way places to stuff my gear.

Mice, rats, and other rodents are usually seen as timid and cowardly animals who avoid danger by running from it. These rodents though are not cowards and are [[ImprovisationalIngenuity smart enough to use their cunning and high intellect to escape from danger]] and [[DavidVersusGoliath defeat their enemies]]. Often using their [[GadgeteerGenius inventions to survive]] and using [[ImprovisedWeapon whatever they can find]] to [[ImprobableWeaponUser defend themselves from others]].

The Resourceful Rodent can fit any definition; a GeniusBruiser / BadassBookworm who strategically fights his or her enemies with [[CombatPragmatist whatever they have at their disposal]], TheEngineer who [[ScavengedPunk invents, rebuilds, and repurposes items from junk]], and the sly and deceptive rogue who uses their resourcefulness to hastily and stealthily evade enemies and outwit them. Resourceful Rodents are not strictly anthropomorphic; a trained rodent, an intelligent rodent, and even an entire group of rodents who create strategies and hunting tactics to take on larger prey can fit here as well.

This has some elements of being TruthInTelevision. In real life, rats are actually very intelligent and social creatures, they are also scavengers who take whatever food they can get. In one experiment in 2016, rats have been observed to use tools to access food but could not use them to their full capabilities due to their poor eyesight. In addition, due to being small prey animals, rodents need to rely on caution and stealth to avoid enemies much stronger and larger than themselves.

* ''TableTopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': The Ratfolk are humanoid rats with a particular knack for tinkering, which grants them bonuses related to [[AlchemyIsMagic alchemy]] and operating magical devices. In ''TableTopGame/{{Starfinder}}'', they instead have a racial bonus to the Engineering and Survival [[SkillScoresAndPerks skills]].

This has some elements of being TruthInTelevision. In real life, rats are actually very intelligent and social creatures, they are also scavengers who take whatever food they can get. In one experiment in 2016, rats have been observed to use tools to access food but could not use them to their full capabilities due to their poor eyesight.

See also IntelligentGerbil, NiceMice, PricklyPorcupine, ScrewballSquirrel, YouDirtyRat, and SuicidalLemmings. If the rats are half-human, then it's RatMen. RodentsOfUnusualSize may apply if the animal fits the criteria for the resourceful rodent.

The Resourceful Rodent can fit any definition; a GeniusBruiser who strategically fights his or her enemies with [[CombatPragmatist whatever they have at their disposal]], TheEngineer who [[ScavengedPunk invents, rebuilds, and repurposes items from junk]], and the sly and deceptive rogue who uses their resourcefulness to hastily and stealthily evade enemies and outwit them. Resourceful Rodents are not strictly anthropomorphic; a trained rodent, an intelligent rodent, and even an entire group of rodents who create strategies and hunting tactics to take on larger prey can fit here as well.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}'': Timothy the Mouse is the deuteragonist of the film who helps Dumbo in the circus. He gets Dumbo in the circus by planting ideas in the ringmaster's head while the latter is sleeping and he convinces Dumbo that he can fly with a magic feather (a normal feather that Timothy had plucked from a nearby bird).