With Goose appearing in Captain Marvel recently, the science fiction and fantasy genre has been abuzz about animals. Goose may look like a ginger cat but technically he isn’t a feline at all – he is a Flerken.
In this article I list nine famous animals in science fiction and fantasy. This list is for animals based on/derived from Earth animals – I’ll do another post on fantasy creatures! Without further ado:
1. Jonesy in ‘Alien’. He has a small part but his role is critical in the final outcome.
2. The direwolves in ‘Game of Thrones’. Unfortunately, all but one of them meets a sticky end by the close of the show.
3. The cow in ‘The Restaurant at the End of the Universe’ (sequel to ‘The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’.) A cow that actually wants to be eaten would be disturbing in any other book but Douglas Adams makes it hilarious!
4. Aslan in ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ and the other Narnia books.
5. The apes in the ‘Planet of the Apes’ movies. It’s debatable whether these belong on the list because they’re highly evolved and far removed from their ape ancestors, but they derive from Earth apes so they qualify for the list IMO.
6. Porthos in ‘Star Trek Enterprise’. He’s cute as a button and brightened an average show.
7. The Eagles from ‘The Lord of the Rings’. Yes they are huge but they are clearly based on Earth eagles and I want a bird for this list!
8. Samantha the Alsatian from ‘I am Legend’. She met a sticky end unfortunately but she had a crucial role in the book and the film.
9. If we have two dogs then we have to have two cats, right? Last but not least, Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Because he’s an icon.
There are lots of other animals that could be added to this list. Which ones do you think should be added?
