Basic Trope: An animal's limbs function like human hands, regardless of whether or not this is possible.
- Straight: A nearly normal bird with wings for arms can use its wings to hold and manipulate objects.
- Exaggerated: An equine can use its hooves with just as much function as human hands, somehow.
- Downplayed:
- A raccoon has more precise hand movements than it actually would.
- The bird can simply point with individual feathers.
- Justified:
- The animal doing this is magical. Invisible Anatomy may be involved.
- A bird character has prehensile feathers (similar to Prehensile Hair).
- Inverted: A human is able to fly around in the air with normal human arms.
- Subverted: The bird tries to use its wings as hands, but fails to do so.
- Double Subverted: However, it then explains that it is tired and can't do much at the moment, and in its next appearance, is perfectly capable of using its wings as hands.
- Parodied: The bird's wings act exactly like human arms, and even having the limitations of them, including being unable to fly.
- Zig-Zagged: ???
- Averted:
- Animals are given Humanlike Hand Anatomy.
- Animals can not use their limbs like human hands.
- Enforced: "It would look weird if we put real arms on an anthropomorphic bird. Let's give him feather fingers."
- Lampshaded: "I tried to hold on to it, but it slipped through my finger...feather...whatever these are."
- Invoked: A scientist creates a modified bird with prehensile feathers so that it can hold stuff with its wings.
- Exploited: A bird character's "fingers" are made up of their feathers, technically giving them extra fingers.
- Defied: "My animunculus is almost complete...and no, I am not giving it feathers for fingers. I know I'm a Mad Scientist, but that's a crime against anatomy."
- Discussed: "So, are your fingers covered in feathers, or do the feathers themselves work like fingers?"
- Conversed: "Why do the birds use their feathers like fingers?" "Well, the plot wouldn't work if the main characters couldn't hold a coffee cup."
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