List of fictional rodents
This List of fictional rodents is subsidiary to list of fictional animals and covers all rodents including beavers, mice, chipmunks, gophers, guinea pigs, marmots, moles, prairie dogs and porcupines plus the extinct prehistoric species (such as Rugosodon).
A print showing cats and mice from a 1501 German edition of
Aesop's fables.
Rodents, particularly rats and mice, feature in literature, myth and legend. The North American Salish people have an epic tale in which the Beaver, rejected by Frog Woman, sings a rain-power song that results in a disastrous flood.[1]
Rats are loathed in many cultures . Mice on the other hand are smaller, less menacing and more appealing . Mickey Mouse, the cheerful, anthropomorphic cartoon character, was a tremendous success for The Walt Disney Company in 1928.[2] Mice feature in some of Beatrix Potter's small books, including The Tale of Two Bad Mice (1904), The Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse (1910), The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse (1918), and The Tailor of Gloucester (1903), which last was described by J. R. R. Tolkien as perhaps the nearest to his idea of a fairy story, the rest being "beast-fables".[3] Among Aesop's Fables are The Frog and the Mouse and The Lion and the Mouse.[4]
Literature
Comics
Character/s |
Species |
Comic |
Notes |
Ratbert |
Rat |
Dilbert |
A rat subject to cruel scientific experiments, but escaped and took refuge in Dilbert's house. |
Hammy |
Squirrel |
Over the Hedge |
A hyperactive squirrel, Hammy is the least intelligent, though also the most lovable character in the strip, spouting random comments at random moments. His comments usually state an unusually short lecture on a topic of little interest to the other characters. The character started the strip as "Hammy," but the character was replaced by "Sammy."[5] |
Princess Sally Acorn |
Chipmunk |
Sonic the Hedgehog |
The co-leader of the Freedom Fighters alongside Sonic. She was created as a character for the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon, and then used in the comic as well. As Princess to the King he once overthrew, and now leader of a rebellion, Robotnik views her as a threat. She wishes to overthrow Robotnik and free her father from the void. A romantic relationship is often shown with Sonic, though often feelings towards other characters, such as Geoffrey St. John, and Monkey Kahn, have arisen as well. |
Rat |
Rat |
Pearls Before Swine |
Rat is a narcissistic, misanthropic rat, and is an antihero. He frequently breaks the fourth wall, as well as being aware of his existence as a fictional comic strip character. Because of this, Rat is often critical of the comic strip's style and artwork as well as the other characters in the strip and many other living things. Rat is an insensitive character in the strip, whose interactions with others are typically sarcastic, condescending, self-centered, insulting and sometimes violent.[6] |
Folklore & mythology
Film
Character/s |
Species |
Film |
Notes |
Hubert Flynn |
Rat |
Rat |
A man who is transformed into a rat by unknown nature and his family tries to cope with the change. |
Remy |
Rat |
Ratatouille |
A rat who likes food and cooking. |
Mouse |
Mouse |
Mouse Hunt |
A smart mouse determined to stay in an old house and avoid the house owners who are trying to rid him in order to auction their property. |
Mr Jingles |
Mouse |
The Green Mile |
A mouse domesticated in a prison. |
Television
Character/s |
Species |
Television show |
Notes |
Chuck Gopher |
Gopher |
Gophers! |
The head of the Gopher family. Played by Lou Hirsch. |
Gordon T. Gopher |
Gopher |
Gordon the Gopher |
First appeared on presenting television shows in 1985-1987 with Phillip Schofield on the interstitial or in-vision continuity programme The Broom Cupboard. His main puppeteer was Paul Smith. |
Hammy |
Hamster |
Tales of the Riverbank |
Curious and kind and lives in an old boot on the Riverbank. |
Rat-In-A-Hat |
Rat |
Bananas In Pyjamas |
The shopkeeper of Cuddles Avenue. |
Rattus P. Rattus |
Rat |
The Ferals |
A puppet character. He is a black rat with Ochre eyes, a mischievous sense of humour, has a love of foul odors and wears a leather-jacket. He is the leader of the ferals. |
Rizzo the Rat |
Rat |
The Muppet Show |
A recurring character in the show and Gonzo's partner in films. |
Roland Rat |
Rat |
Various |
Popular British television puppet character. |
Animation
Character |
Species |
Work |
Notes |
Mickey Mouse |
Mouse |
Mickey Mouse |
A cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio.[7] Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves. He is one of the most recognizable cartoon characters in the world and is the mascot of The Walt Disney Company, the world's largest media conglomerate in terms of annual revenue.
Mickey debuted in November 1928 in the animated cartoon Steamboat Willie after initially appearing in a test screening earlier that year. Mickey appeared primarily in short films, but also in a few feature-length films. Nine of Mickey's cartoons were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, one of which, Lend a Paw, won the award in 1942. In 1978, Mickey became the first cartoon character to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. |
Speedy Gonzales |
Mouse |
Looney Tunes |
Speedy Gonzales (commonly shortened to just Speedy) is an anthropomorphic mouse in the Warner Brothers Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He is portrayed as "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico" with his major traits being the ability to run extremely fast and speaking with an exaggerated Mexican accent. He usually wears an oversized yellow sombrero, white shirt and trousers (Which is a common traditional outfit worn by men and boys of rural Mexican villages), and a red kerchief, similar to that of a reveler in the San Fermin festival. |
Jerry |
Mouse |
Tom and Jerry |
Jerry is a brown mouse from the "Tom and Jerry" cartoons. |
Mighty Mouse |
Mouse |
Mighty Mouse |
Mighty Mouse is an American animated anthropomorphic superhero mouse character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox. |
Daggett and Norbert Beaver |
Beavers |
The Angry Beavers |
The Angry Beavers is an American animated television series created by Mitch Schauer for the Nickelodeon channel. The series revolves around Daggett and Norbert Beaver, two young beaver brothers who have left their home to become bachelors in the forest near the fictional Wayouttatown, Oregon. |
Video games
Name |
Type |
Game |
Notes |
Conker |
Squirrel |
Diddy Kong Racing |
Protagonist and main character in the Conker series. In the newer games, Conker is a greedy, heavy drinking, red squirrel. Conker, though highly materialistic, always approaches new characters with a positive outlook. In Conker's Pocket Tales, he rescues his girlfriend, Berri, from the Evil Acorn; the same version of Conker appears in Diddy Kong Racing, where he is a playable character and that game marks his first appearance. In The King of Fighters XIV for the Xbox 360, Conker decides to enter the tournament to stop the Violator. |
Mappy |
Mouse |
Mappy |
The game's main character itself is a mouse. Mappy runs on Namco Super Pac-Man hardware, modified to support horizontal scrolling. The name "Mappy" is likely derived from mappo, a Japanese slang term (slightly insulting) for a policeman. |
Spike |
Mouse |
Commandos 2: Men of Courage |
A trained mouse given to commando Paul "Lupin" Toledo by the Burmese Spiritual Leader which can be used to distract enemies so that the commandos can evade or incapacitate them. |
Mr. Resetti |
Mole |
Animal Crossing |
Mr. Resetti is a fictional character in the Animal Crossing series. He is a mole whose role in the series is to remind players to save before quitting the game, and to give a lecture if they do not. |
Pikachu |
Mouse |
Pokémon |
An electric mouse species of Pokémon |
Mascots & Others
Character/s |
Species |
Use |
Notes |
Chuck E. Cheese |
Mouse |
Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Restaurant |
Formerly Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre and Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza. Originally a rat, but retconned into a mouse in 1997. |
Digger |
Gopher |
NASCAR on Fox camera icon |
Character is shown in the corner of the camera starting with the 2009 Daytona 500. |
Kia Soul Hamsters |
Hamsters |
Kia Soul Video Commercials |
A trio of hamsters who do various gimmicks to represent the KIA Soul car. |
The Nutty Squirrels |
Squirrels |
Shirley, Squirrely and Melvin |
A scat singing virtual band, formed the late 1950s with the song "Uh-Oh". |
Charley Rattue |
Rat |
Fallibroome |
A strange character. |
Scouse |
Mouse |
Scouse the Mouse |
A children's album, released in the UK in 1977, that featured the vocals of Ringo Starr and others. |
References