People who are the last of their kind in western animation.
- Ace Ventura: Pet Detective: The one thing all missing pets in "Pet Food" have in common is that they are the last of their species... and this is exactly why they are being stolen.
- ABC Afterschool Special: The very first episode, from the fall of 1972, is "The Last Of The Curlews", a fictionalized account of the life of the last Eskimo Curlew. The show was meant to raise awareness of the relationship between humans and wildlife, survival and so forth.
- Word of God states that Finn from Adventure Time thought he was last human in the land of Ooo. Since then, he met a girl Susan Strong, and we still don't know if she's human or not (Finn might, though). Ice King is also human (or at least he used to be, it's never definitively stated if he still is), having survived the Mushroom War and the centuries that followed it thanks to his crown's powers. However, now that Betty has come to Ooo, Finn is no longer the only full human. The "Islands" miniseries reveals that Finn and Susan/Kara (who is indeed human) are from a Lost Colony founded by survivors of the Mushroom War. While a plague in the backstory depleted their numbers considerably, there are still many humans left on the planet. However, Finn is the last surviving member of the colony's "Helper" caste (who all succumbed to the plague). His mother fell victim to it too but continues to exist in some form via Brain Uploading herself to the colony's mainframe.
- Avatar: The Last Airbender:
- The original Avatar: The Last Airbender:
- As mentioned in the title, Aang is the only living Airbender, due to the Fire Nation launching a massive genocide against the Air Nomad race in an attempt to eliminate the next reincarnated Avatar before he reached maturity.
- Appa the Sky Bison, Momo the winged lemur, dragons Ran and Shao, and the Lion Turtle are also the last of their species. Subverted in Appa's case thanks to The Legend of Korra; Oogi and his siblings are shown to be raised by Tensin and his family, and other wild Sky Bison are also shown later in the series.
- Katara was thought to be the last free waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe, or rather the first to have been born in generations, the rest having been imprisoned or killed by the Fire Nation. She finds another southern waterbender, Hama, during the episode "The Puppetmaster". She soon wishes she hadn't.
- The Legend of Korra reveals that this trope is no longer the case for the Air Nomads, winged lemurs, Sky Bison, and dragons. After the events of the first series, Aang found a wild herd of Sky Bison that belong to a different breed from Appa (as they have a slightly different pattern), and a subspecies of wing lemur different from Momo's was also discovered after the Hundred Year War. Ran and Shao ended up having a descendant named Druk who serves as Zuko's dragon mount. Aang and Katara also had a son named Tenzin who can airbend and is Korra's Airbending teacher. Tenzin himself has three children who can bend air, but for now Tenzin is the world's only Airbending master until his oldest daughter Jinora is anointed as a Master in the Season 3 finale. Additionally, due to the occurrence of Harmonic Convergence at the end of Season 2, several random nonbenders all across the world suddenly became Airbenders; though most of them are not descendants of the original Airbenders, Tenzin has been hard at work training volunteers into a new generation of Air Nomads.
- In the time between Aang's death and the birth of Jinora, Tenzin would've been the last Airbender. Korra would've been alive during some of that span, but as the show established she couldn't airbend.
- The original Avatar: The Last Airbender:
- Ben 10:
- In the Made-for-TV Movie, Secret of the Omnitrix, it's revealed that Tetrax, the Petrosapien bounty hunter from "Hunted", used to work for Vilgax, the Big Bad of the series, until he wound up bringing Vilgax something that allowed him to conquer Tetrax's homeworld. After the populace refused to submit, Vilgax destroyed the planet, and Tetrax vowed never to let Vilgax claim a powerful weapon again, becoming The Atoner. In Alien Force, the planet is brought back to life, along with its people.
- In his debut episode, Cannonbolt's home planet is said to have been destroyed by the Monster of the Week, making him presumably the last Arubian Pelarota in existence, even though Cannonbolt's only just a DNA sample stored in the Omnitrix.
- In Ben 10: Alien Force, the reason the Highbreed attempted to annihilate every planet in existence is because they had reached their last generation (their beliefs of racial purity leading to sterility), and they intended for all life in the universe to perish with them. Fortunately, Ben used the Omnitrix's genetic repair feature to undo the damage (not to mention make the Highbreed into Hybrids) and they called off the attack in gratitude.
- The Biker Mice from Mars episode "Seeds of Victory" has Throttle's girlfriend Carbine come to Earth to recover the last sample of a Martian pinkseed, which is the sole source of sustenance for the Martian squirrel bat. Throttle, Vinnie, and Modo succeed in helping Carbine get the Martian pinkseed back, with Carbine opting to return to Mars and use the plant's seeds to ensure that both the squirrel bat and its food source continue to thrive.
- In the Bump in the Night episode "Made in Japan II", Little Robot and her purple sister are the last toy robots of their model left due to the factory that made them recalling and destroying the rest of their kind.
- The Butt-Ugly Martians episode "Meet Koo Foo" has the Butt-Uglies encounter the last of the Koo Foo, a race known for being very hostile and intimidating. The last Koo Foo, however, is more benign than the rest of his kind and even becomes an ally to 2T, B-Bop, and Do-Wah.
- One episode of Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers features the team meeting the last of the leprechauns, not so much that they died out but because they were captured by an evil banshee. Fortunately, the rangers manage to reunite him with his lost friends.
- The Snowman on Courage the Cowardly Dog was the last of his species because the hole in the Ozone Layer caused all the others to melt. This was the main reason for all his actions, as he was terrified of his species dying with him. Courage repairs the Ozone Layer, bringing all his friends back to life.
- The episode "Last of the Starmakers" features the last giant space squid. At the end her babies hatch so she is not the only one anymore.
- The DC Animated Universe has the standard DC examples: Superman as the last surviving Kryptonian, Supergirl as the last surviving Argoan (Argo being a planet near Krypton that was caught in its destruction, thus unlike the comics, she does not stop Superman from being the last Kryptonian), Martian Manhunter as the last surviving Martian and Lobo as the last surviving Czarnian. Vandal Savage spent a few thousand years as the last living human in a Bad Future, and jumped at the chance to help Superman rewrite history.
- In Superman: The Animated Series, the episode introducing Lobo also had the Preserver, an alien who collected creatures that were the last of their kind. He hired Lobo to capture Superman, the last known Kryptonian, without mentioning that he also wanted to add Lobo, the last Czarnian, to his collection as well. The Preserver even had a dodo bird from Earth on his ship. He had a Star Conqueror too.
- In Deep the titular young Octopus Deep and his friends are sent by his grandfather The Kraken to find his old friend Nathan who is the last whale on earth and the only creature large enough to rescue the Kraken and Deep’s colony who are trapped by rocks.
- Denver the Last Dinosaur: What the title says, he hatched from the last dinosaur egg found by a group of teenagers.
- Drawn Together: Captain Hero believes he is the only survivor of the destruction of his home planet. It turns out the planet is perfectly fine, its destruction being another of his odd fantasies; he was only sent to Earth by his parents due to his...''special'' qualities.
- In Dink, the Little Dinosaur in the episode “The Last of their Kind” Dink and his friends help reunite a Sea Dragon and her mate who are Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
- Dorg Van Dango: One of the things Jet is least proud of is being the last remaining unicorn on Earth.
- In The Fairly OddParents! episode "Just the Two of Us!" Timmy wishes that he and his Precocious Crush Trixie were the last two humans on earth, however when he realizes that Trixie becomes Ax-Crazy if she doesn’t get constant attention from a group of guys he undoes the wish.
- In The Flintstones episode "The Bedrock Hillbillies" it is revealed the titular family is the last of the Flintstones. With Pebbles married to Bamm Bamm, it seems that way.
- Futurama:
- Subverted with Turanga Leela, who knew nothing about her species and wondered if she was the last in existence. It's later revealed that her parents were mutants banished to the sewers beneath Earth's cities, and they dropped her off at an Orphanerium and passed her off as a humanoid alien.
- The Movie Into the Wild Green Yonder centers around an attempt to save the last Encyclopod from destruction at the hands of the last Dark One. The Encyclopod itself contains as part of its body recreations of every creature that has ever gone extinct.
- Gargoyles:
- The starring Manhattan Clan were led to believe they were last of their kind. That made the later world tour arc a heartening experience for the focus characters when they discover gargoyle clans all over, and beyond, the world.
- Demona believed herself to be the last surviving gargoyle for centuries. Maybe; when asked about her comment that she knew "every living gargoyle", Word of God says that she probably knew about the London Clan and possibly the Ishimura Clan (though probably not the Guatemalan Clan).
- Godzilla: The Series has Godzilla Jr. as the last surviving member of his species. Unlike his father, Junior is sterile and cannot reproduce.
- In the Total Television cartoon Go-Go Gophers, the main characters, Ruffled Feathers and Running Board, are the last surviving members of the Gopher tribe.
- Inverted in an episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, where wishing away the world's population is the only thing that has ever made Mandy give a genuine smile.
- Possibly the case with the Demon Sorcerers in Jackie Chan Adventures. There are eight of them, but Uncle suggests in "Day of the Dragon" that there were once thousands of them.
- Dragon, from Jane and the Dragon, although he hopes he's not.
- King of the Hill: In "Blood and Sauce", Bill's cousin Gilbert informs him that both of them are the only other Dauterive family members left (with half being infertile and other half being dead, imposters, or in the crazy house).note
- In the 1980 Animated TV Special ''Last of the Red Hot Dragons''. The Animals of Noah’s ark encounter and befriend the old Dragon who reveals that he is the last one and that he didn’t make it to Noah’s Ark on time and had to hold his breath during the flood.
- Looney Tunes: The episode "Porky in Wackyland" note features Porky Pig trying to catch the last Do-Do. Subverted at the end, where dozens of Do-Dos pop out.
- In the Madballs episode "Escape from Orb", it is mentioned in the opening narration that the Madballs are the last rock band on the planet Orb because of the tyrant Wolf Breath having hunted down and eliminated every other rock band on Orb due to his hatred of music.
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: "But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is... I'M THE ONLY ONE!" They even made an entire movie based on the concept of other Tiggers possibly existing. They don't, Roo sent the letter. Though since Tigger and all the other animals of the Hundred Acre Wood are stuffed animals, he most likely never had a biological family.
- Discord from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is described as a "Draconequus", which implies that there was at one time an entire species of creatures like Discord. If that's the case, then he appears to be the last one left note .
- The 1981 animated special No Man's Valley
features one of the last of then-extremely endangered California Condors searching for the eponymous valley — a sanctuary for endangered animals. One of the inhabitants is Lonesome George, who is mentioned in the Real Life section.note - There is also Pat the passenger pigeon, she explains that her kind went extinct in 1914.
- Noah's Island:
- Applies to many of the creatures in the show, which is about a community of animals on a floating island led by Noah the polar bear rescuing other animals around the world while searching for an uncharted island Called Diamantina where no humans exist. Some notable characters that this applies to include...
- The Three Elderly woolly Mammoths ‘Salomi’, ‘Mammothsbody’ and later Salomi’s father ‘Gorm’ who is discovered alive on Diamantina, he was the one who painted the map to Diamantina that the animals used in the first place and ‘Do-Dah’ the Dodo Chick who hatched from an Ancient Egg, he initially denies this but accepts when he is taken to Mauritius. It’s unknown but it may also apply to some of the other animals who board the island alone.
- In The Owl House, King is eventually revealed to be the last Titan after all the others were killed in a war against the Collectors, of which there was also only one survivor.
- The Real Ghostbusters:
- Count Vostok from "Transylvanian Homesick Blues" describes himself as the last vampire.
- The episode "Surely You Joust" has the Ghostbusters encounter a ghostly dragon who states that she is the last of her kind. They follow her to the Realm of Fantasy to help her defeat Orlox, a ghostly wizard intent on using her heart to make a magic potion that will make him strong enough to conquer the Realm of Fantasy.
- ReBoot:
- For most of the show, Enzo was the last little sprite in Mainframe. Everyone else was nullified when the twin city exploded. He's also one of 8 surviving native sprites, the others being Dot, Phong, Frisket, and 4 background characters.
- Bob himself becomes the last free full Guardian, the rest having been infected by Daemon, while Enzo never was able to go to the Guardian Academy for multiple reasons.
- Samurai Jack, the titular character becomes the last of his kind after he was sent to a Bad Future where his home is destroyed and his parents and everyone else from his land are long dead.
- Sea Princesses: In "The Last One", the sound of a shark wail brings Tubarina, Polvina and Ester down to the Abysmal Kingdom. None of the girls have ever seen a shark like this. Perhaps it is one of a kind!
- She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: The First Ones vanished from Etheria a long time ago, but as Adora gradually learns about her past she discovers that she is a First One who got pulled through a portal when she was a baby.
- Parodied in The Simpsons when Marge introduced her Pre-Teen Braves to a real Mohican. Bart asks the obvious question and the man replies that he keeps the myth up because "chicks dig it when you're the last of something".
- Sonic Boom: Just like his main incarnation, Knuckles was eventually revealed to be the last surviving member of his species in this universe. In fact, it was the subject of a whole episode. Of course, this being Sonic Boom, the subject was treated (slightly) less seriously than in other continuities. That being said, it ends with Team Sonic essentially being a family in their own right.
- Star Wars Rebels:
- Zeb originally thought that he was the last of the Lasat, after the Empire's genocide of his home planet of the same name. In "Legends of the Lasat", he meets two other survivors who believe in the mythical world of Lira San, which is rumored to be a paradise world for the Lasat. They were right, in a sense. Lira San is the original homeworld of the Lasat. The reason it faded into obscurity is because the planet is in the uncharted Wild Space, so only an experienced Lasat navigator can find it.
- After the Clone Wars, the Empire committed genocide on Geonosis after forcing its inhabitants into slave labor to build a new superweapon. The rebels later found that there was one survivor, a drone nicknamed Klik-Klak (named so because he couldn't speak Basic and could only make clicking sounds). Klik-Klak was harboring a Queen Egg, the last of its kind but could potentially save the race from extinction. Unfortunately, in the Darth Vader comic, it's revealed that the egg contained a sterile queen, who eventually went insane and attached a Battle Droid factory to where her womb was and started treating the droids as her children. Vader later put her down, meaning the Geonosians are likely extinct.
- Steven Universe: In "That Will Be All", we find out that Steven's mother Rose Quartz, and by extension Steven himself, are effectively this for their entire Gem type, as the remaining ones are all "bubbled" in Pink Diamond's People Zoo as Revenge by Proxy for how Rose Quartz shattered Pink, and if Yellow Diamond had her way they would have all been long shattered. The Earth-born Quartzes in the same episode include a single Carnelian who's implied to be the last of her type originating from that particular colony. This turns out to be a subversion, as turns out Rose was not actually a Quartz at all, but rather Pink Diamond, who took on the appearance and name of a Rose Quartz. However, all the other Rose Quartzes aren't actually dead, just bubbled, so they're all still very capable of coming back. By the time of Steven Universe: Future in the episode "Rose Buds", we're introduced to the entire Rose Quartz population, including one who is identical to Steven's mother.
- Tabaluga: The protagonist Tabaluga is the the last dragon his world.
- Poor little Woody Allen-esque Wendell T Wolf from Taz-Mania is the last surviving Tasmanian wolf and is often mistaken for a silly-looking dog. He's The Woobie for sure!
- In Testament: The Bible in Animation, Elijah is the last prophet of God left in Israel after Jezebel has the rest slaughtered.
- Electrothermal lifeform Tronos Madu in 3Below is strongly implied to be the only member of his species to have survived after his home planet Voltar’s destruction in a civil war. Unfortunately, however, Tronos is captured and murdered by General Morando in a Heel–Face Door-Slam, causing the final extinction of his species.
- Transformers
- Omega Supreme in The Transformers is the last surviving Guardian Robot; probably. At least no other functioning ones were ever seen in the present day.
- Predaking of Transformers: Prime was intended to be the first of a new generation of Predacons bred to serve the Decepticons. However, his demonstration of sentience, in addition to his great strength, led a paranoid Megatron to terminate the project before it reached completion, leaving him the only member of his revived race, and not happy about it. In "Predacons Rising" Shockwave clones two more Predacons from Predacon fossils on Cybertron, so Predaking is no longer alone.
- Bob the Insecticon, while Ironhide and Metroplex worked to exterminate the Insecticon Swarm, the events Chaos probably wiped them out for good.
- Optimus himself is the last of the Primes chosen by Primus. As of "Predacons Rising" Optimus sacrificed himself along with the Matrix of Leadership to revive Cybertron, meaning the Prime lineage itself has ended. And then he comes back to life in Robots In Disguise. He is Optimus Prime after all, he does this a lot.
- Supplementary material reveals that Optimus Prime is in fact the last of another kind as well. Specifically, he's the last of the original 13 primes, with the only fact known about him was that he was the 13th among them, and nothing else. He had chosen to be reincarnated as an ordinary Cybertronian after all was said and done, leaving everything to Alpha Trion to take care of. With Trion's implied death in Prime, this would leave Optimus as technically the last of the 13 original Primes still alive.
- The heroes of Transformers: Rescue Bots are the last active Rescue Bots squad. Even Optimus Prime is surprised when they show up.
- TUGS: O.J is the last wheelhouse tug in Bigg City.
- In Voltron: Legendary Defender, Allura and Coran thought they were the last of the Altean race: The rest having been wiped out by Zarkon, 10,000 years ago. Then, starting in Season 2, we find out:
- Zarkon's Dragon, Haggar, was once Zarkon's Altean bride, Honevra.
- Which made Lotor, Honevra's son, half-Altean.
- Then they met Romelle, who's from a secret colony of Alteans founded by survivors who were off planet during Altea's destruction. A colony we find out was created by Lotor.
- War Planets:
- Princess Tekla is the last survivor of Planet Tek, which is devoured by the Beast Planet in the first episode.
- Upon learning that its world engines are beyond repair, the sentient plants of Planet Jungle decided to give Femur one last sapling clipping before he departs. Planet Jungle is later used in a (futile) suicide attack on the Beast Planet, as it would be devoured anyways due to it's destroyed world engine, leaving the sapling the last survivor. Fortunately, the plants shared a collective consciousness, so as long as the sapling survives, the entire planet will.
- Winx Club:
- Bloom as the princess, and lone survivor, of Domino. Strictly speaking, she's not the last of her kind, since it's revealed later in S1 that her parents are merely missing. She officially stops being this after The Secret of the Lost Kingdom.
- Played straight and subverted again in Season 4 with Roxy, the last Earth Fairy, which is no longer this after episode 17. many fans commented/complained on how Roxy's story was identical to Bloom's.
- Yin Yang Yo!: Aside from being the last panda on the planet, Master Yo was also the last Woo Foo Knight until the spirits of the old Woo Foo Masters ordered him to train Yin and Yang.
- Young Justice (2010) has Superman, but not Martian Manhunter, whose background is closer to the Silver Age version. M'gann / Ms Martian is just one of several hundred nieces and nephews.
