History Main / TuftOfHeadFur

The tuft of fur or feathers can take the form of a cowlick, a feather crest, a stylish curl, or a shock that sticks out as well as a simple tuft. The tuft can either be small, medium, or large. The tuft is most frequently placed on the top of the head, but it can also be placed on the back of the head. A majority of head tufts on fictional animals point toward the forehead and face, but some can point away from the face and grow more with the general fur or feather growth.

Some animal characters have a tuft of fur (or rarer, feathers) on their heads to make them stand out more. This can be used to make the animal look like it has hair, simply to distinguish it against other individuals without giving it an accessory to wear, or to just break up what could be an otherwise plain silhouette.

* In ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' Roger Rabbit has a tuft of red hair on his head that is different from the white fur over the rest of his body.

** Pinky the mouse has a tuft of fur on their head whereas The Brain doesn't. In Pinky's case, the tuft makes him look funnier, while Brain's lack of tuft makes him look bald, and thus both more serious and [[BaldOfEvil more villainous]].

* Some ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' villagers have tufts of fur instead of hair.

* ''WesternAnimation/Hanna Barbera'':
** Boo Boo from YogiBear has this.

* Among the rabbits of ''Literature/WatershipDown'', Bigwig is distinguished by being TheBigGuy and by a pronounced tuft of fur atop his head, hence his name: Thlayli in lapine.

** Sylvester has a long thin tuft of fur on his head

* In ''WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer TheMovie'' bucks like Rudolph and Arrow have fur on their heads while does like Zoey don't.

Some animal characters have a tuft of fur (or rarer, feathers) to make them stand out more. This can be used to make the animal look like it has hair, simply to distinguish it against other individuals without giving it an accessory to wear, or to just break up what could be an otherwise plain silhouette.

** Both of Simba's sons, Kopa from ''The Lion King: Six New Adventures'' books and Kion from ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard'' cartoon, have small manes growing in order to lessen the StrongFamilyResemblance between them and their father as a cub.

* Oliver (the protagonist) and Rita (TheChick) from ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' have tufts of fur on their head, with the latter looking very much like she has EightiesHair. Subverted with Tito, who inexplicably has red hair on his head despite being a normal looking Chihuahua.

* There is a trend in the UsefulNotes/FurryFandom to draw long, exaggerated hair tufts that look a bit like scene hair. You'll see this often in fan-art for series like ''Literature/WarriorCats'' or ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''.

** WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} has a long, very thin tuft of hair on his head. His son, Max has a large hairlike tuft of fur on his head.

* Most of the mice in ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNimh'' have tufts of fur on their head.

* Tails from ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' has an AnimeHair-esque tuft on his head.

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' Minnie has a tuft of fur when shown as the princess to the Country of the Musketeers. This is a direct reference to her design in the above-mentioned film, ''WesternAnimation/MickeyDonaldGoofyTheThreeMusketeers''. Present-time Minnie in other ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' games doesn't have a tuft of fur.

Some animal characters have a tuft of fur (or rarer, feathers) to make them stand out more. This can be used to make the animal look like it has hair or simply to distinguish it against other individuals without giving it an accessory to wear.

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* While ''Literature/WarriorCats'' fanart commonly depicts cats with this, it's used rarely and very subtly in the graphic novels themselves.

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* ''Disney/TheLionKing'' extended media uses this often to distinguish lions from each other. There's only so much you can do to make them look different from one another. Oddly, the heavy amount of lion cubs with manes makes Simba look like a late bloomer:
** Vitani from ''Disney/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'' has a tuft of fur on her head. In her case it makes her look scruffy, befitting for an Outsider and a DarkActionGirl.
** Both of Simba's sons, Kopa from ''The Lion King: Six New Adventures'' books and Kion from ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard'' cartoon, have small manes growing in order to lessen the StrongFamilyResemblance between them and their father as a cub.
** Tiifu and Zuri from ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard'' have a cowlick and a fluff of fur on their head respectively.
** CanonForeigner cubs from the comics usually have tufts of fur. Tojo and Tama have tufts of fur while Malka has a small black mane.
** Timon's mother in ''Disney/TheLionKingOneAndAHalf'' has a red tuft of fur on her head, like her son. She's the [[NonstandardCharacterDesign only meerkat]] with an eye color (instead of having BlackBeadEyes). Ma is a SignificantGreenEyedRedhead.
** Zazu's unnamed girlfriend in the comic ''Zazu the Heartbreaker'' has a huge head of feathers.
** ''The Lion Guard'' has a few non-lion examples. The gorilla princes have fur on their head styled like hair and Besthe the hippo has a small spike of black fur on his head.

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[[folder: Literature ]]

* Among the rabbits of ''Literature/WatershipDown'', Bigwig is distinguished by being TheBigGuy and by a pronounced tuft of fur atop his head, hence his name: Thlayli in lapine.
* While ''Literature/WarriorCats'' fanart commonly depicts cats with this, it's used rarely and very subtly in the graphic novels themselves.

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* In ''WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer TheMovie'' bucks like Rudolph and Arrow have fur on their heads while does like Zoey don't.

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* Teenage Po is depicted with a tuft of fur on his head in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda: Secrets of the Scroll''. His adult form lacks it.

* Angel from ''Disney/LadyAndTheTrampIIScampsAdventure'' has a tuft of fur on her head to help distinguish her as female.

** A meerkat example is Timon's mother in ''Disney/TheLionKingOneAndAHalf''. She has a red tuft of fur on her head. She's the [[NonstandardCharacterDesign only meerkat]] with an eye color instead of BlackBeadEyes. Ma is a SignificantGreenEyedRedhead.

* Teenage Po is depicted with a tuft of fur on his head in the ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' shorts. His adult form lacks it.

* Angel from ''Disney/LadyAndTheTrampII'' has a tuft of fur on her head to help distinguish her as female.

* ''Disney/TheFoxAndTheHound'' features MessyFancyFemale. Despite Todd being a former pet and Vixey being wild, Todd is drawn as having unruly fur (including a tuft of head fur) while Vixey is well-groomed.

* ''Disney/TheLionKing'' extended media uses this often to distinguish lions from each other. There's only so much you can do to make them look different from one another. Oddly, the heavy amount of lion cubs with manes makes Simba look like a late bloomer.:

* The animated adaptation of ''[[Literature/TheBookOfTheNamed Ratha's Creature]]'' gives the protagonist, Ratha, a tuft of fur on her head. Most of the others don't have the extra head fluff.

** Tiifu and Zuri from ''The Lion Guard'' have a cowlick and a fluff of fur on their head respectively.

When it comes to FunnyAnimal and PettingZooPerson characters this is ''much'' more common in males to the point of being a {{Tertiary Sexual Characteristic|s}}. Female characters will usually have a FurryFemaleMane while males only have a small amount of fluff. With NearlyNormalAnimal and PartiallyCivilizedAnimal characters the opposite is true. Female characters are more likely to have tufts of fur to establish them as females while males are normal and "bald".