This list of fictional rodents is subsidiary to the list of fictional animals and covers all rodents, including beavers, mice, chipmunks, gophers, guinea pigs, hamsters, marmots, prairie dogs, porcupines and squirrels, as well as extinct or prehistoric species. 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]
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]
See main article: List of fictional rodents in literature.
| Character/s | Species | Author | Work | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ratty | Water Rat | Kenneth Grahame | The Wind in the Willows | ||
| Templeton | Rat | E. B. White | Charlotte's Web | ||
| Mr. and Mrs. Beaver | Beaver | C. S. Lewis | The Chronicles of Narnia | Mr. and Mrs. Beaver are major characters in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and appear briefly in The Last Battle. | |
| Pattertwig | Squirrel | C. S. Lewis | Prince Caspian | ||
| Reepicheep | Mouse | C. S. Lewis | The Chronicles of Narnia | Reepicheep is a minor character in Prince Caspian, a major character in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and appears briefly in The Last Battle. | |
| Tucker | Mouse | George Selden | Cricket in Times Square | Tucker appears in three additional books by George Selden: Harry Kitten and Tucker Mouse Tucker's Countryside and Harry Cat's Pet Puppy. | |
| Ralph | Mouse | Beverly Cleary | The Mouse and the Motorcycle | Ralph appears in two additional books by Beverly Cleary: Runaway Ralph and Ralph S. Mouse. | |
| Matthias | Mouse | Brian Jacques | Redwall | Matthias is an anthropomorphic mouse, appearing in the Redwall series. Later called Matthias the Warrior, Matthias is a male mouse of Redwall Abbey | |
| Geronimo Stilton | Mouse | Elisabetta Dami | Geronimo Stilton | ||
| Roscuro | Rat | Kate DiCamillo | The Tale of Despereaux | ||
| Despereaux | Mouse | Kate DiCamillo | The Tale of Despereaux | ||
| Little Tricker | Squirrel | Ken Kesey Barry Moser | Little Tricker the Squirrel Meets Big Double the Bear | A wily, street-smart red squirrel, who is the main protagonist of the book[5] | |
| Angelina Ballerina | Mouse | Katharine Holabird | Angelina Ballerina | A young mouse with a passion for dancing. Lives in the fictional town Chipping Cheddar, similar to 1920s London. | |
| Poppy | Mouse | Avi | Poppy | A young deer mouse living in a forest trying to stay safe from the clutches of a nefarious owl. | |
| Algernon | Mouse | Daniel Keyes | Flowers for Algernon | Algernon is a laboratory mouse who has undergone surgery to increase his intelligence.[6] |
See main article: List of fictional rodents in comics.
| Character/s | Species | Comic | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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." | |
| 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 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.[7] | |
| Ratbert | Rat | Dilbert | Ratbert first appeared in a lab and escaped to Dilbert's home, albeit without Dilbert's welcome. Scott Adams had intended for the character to appear for a single arc, but he returned by popular demand. For a long time, Ratbert struggled to find love and respect at home or in a workplace. His innocence and cuteness won the sympathy of the audience and eventually Adams himself, so Dilbert accepted him as part of the family. |
| Character/s | Origin | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pérez the Mouse | Ratoncito Pérez | A figure popular in Spanish and Hispanic American cultures, similar to the tooth fairy. Adapted into an animated film titled The Hairy Tooth Fairy. | |
| Mouse | 1001 Arabian Nights (Volume 3, 150) The Mouse and the Ichneumon | ||
| Mouse | 1001 Arabian Nights (Volume 3, 151) The Flea and the Mouse | ||
| ROUS | 1001 Arabian Nights (Volume 9, 901–902) The Mouse and the Cat | ||
| Mouse | Aesop's Fables The Lion and the Mouse | ||
| Mouse | Hickory Dickory Dock | ||
| Mouse | The Giant Turnip | Makes a difference in pulling out the firmly rooted vegetable | |
| Rat | This Is the House That Jack Built | This is the Rat that ate the malt, that lay in the house that Jack built | |
| The Mouse King | The Nutcracker and the Mouse King | An evil seven-headed mouse king that seeks to destroy the Nutcracker. | |
| Rat | Chinese zodiac | The first of the zodiac years. | |
| Ratatoskr | Norse mythology | The squirrel that ferries insults up and down Yggdrasil, the world tree, between the eagle at the top and the dragon Niðhogg down at the roots. |
| 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. | |
| Mouse | Mouse | MouseHunt | 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. | |
| Pip | Chipmunk | Enchanted | An animal friend of Giselle who followed her and Prince Edward to NYC. | |
| Remy | Rat | Ratatouille | The main protagonist who befriends a worker at a famous Parisian restaurant and assists him in his culinary career. | |
| Mrs. Brisby | Mouse | Secret of N.I.M.H. | Main protagonist. Mother mouse who attempts to save home and children from danger. | |
| Roddy | Rat | Flushed Away | A pampered pet rat who is forced out of his posh London home. | |
| Rita | Rat | Flushed Away | A street-wise scavenger who aspires for a life of riches. | |
| Unknown | Rat | The Departed | A curious rat that wanders across the balcony of Colin Sullivan's apartment, symbolic of the character's deceit and willingness to go behind another's back. | |
| Unknown | Gopher | Caddyshack | A mischievous gopher who thwarts every attempt by golf course greens-keeper Carl Spackler to kill him. | |
| Darwin | Guinea Pig | G-Force | An FBI special agent who leads a taskforce of trained guinea pigs. | |
| Bucky | Hamster | G-Force | A hamster who resides in a pet shop and has disdain towards G-Force. Voiced by Steve Buscemi. | |
| Louis | Mouse | A timid friend of Garfield who guides him through the city in exchange for macadamia nut cookies. | ||
| Socrates | Rat | Willard | A rat who makes fast friends with Willard Stiles in both 1971's Willard and the 2003 remake of the same name. | |
| Ben | Rat | Ben | A rat befriended by a lonely young boy. Ben leads a colony trained by the character Willard Stiles in the prior film Willard. | |
| Hammy | Squirrel | Over the Hedge | An overactive squirrel obsessed with cookies. | |
| Lou and Penny | Porcupine | Over the Hedge | Two friendly porcupines who hold optimistic values and are protective of their three children. | |
| Rat | Rat | The Fantastic Mr. Fox | A cider drinking, southern-speaking rat that guards Bean's cellar. Tall and thin with red eyes. Voiced by Willem Dafoe. | |
| Millions of army | Mouse | Cats & Dogs | Mr. Tinkles plans to amass the army of mice to spread humans that are allergic to dogs. | |
| Nick and Fetcher | Rat | Chicken Run | Two salesmen brothers that supply the chickens with equipment. They have an affinity for chicken eggs. | |
| Biggie Cheese | Mouse | Barnyard | A rapping mouse with a heart of gold. Voiced by Shaggy (musician). | |
| Stuart Little | Mouse | Stuart Little | A mouse adopted by a human family. Voiced by Michael J. Fox. | |
| Surly | Squirrel | The Nut Job and | A selfish purple squirrel who is an outcast who finds a nut shop. Voiced by Will Arnett. | |
| Buddy | Rat | The Nut Job and | A mute rat who helps Surly rob the nuts and a best friend. | |
| Andie | Squirrel | The Nut Job and | A beautiful red squirrel who helps the animals in liberty park and becomes Surly's love interest. Voiced by Katherine Heigl. | |
| Gus Gus | mouse | Cinderella | A talking mouse voiced by Jimmy Macdonald. | |
| Jaq | mouse | Cinderella | A talking mouse voiced by Jimmy Macdonald. |
| Character/s | Species | Song | Artist | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gerald the Mouse | Mouse | "Bike" | Pink Floyd/Syd Barrett | A homeless aging mouse | |
| The mouse who ran up the clock | Mouse | "Hickory Dickory Dock" | Traditional | A mouse who ran up the clock until it struck one, after which it ran down again | |
| La souris verte | Mouse | "Une Souris Verte" | Traditional | A green mouse | |
| The Three Blind Mice | Mouse | "Three Blind Mice" | Traditional | Three blind mice who run after the farmer's wife, but she cuts off their tails with a carving knife | |
| Ben | Rat | "Ben" | Don Black | The theme song of the film Ben. Performed by Lee Montgomery and Michael Jackson over the end credits. It won a Golden Globe for Best Original Song in 1972. | |
| Various Rats, Ben | Rat | "Rats" | Pearl Jam | A track on the album Vs. mentions the character from its titular film Ben. Edder stated that "Rats" is about the idea that "rats are probably a hell of a lot more admirable" than humans.[8] | |
| Harvey the Wonder Hamster | Hamster | "Harvey the Wonder Hamster" | "Weird Al" Yankovic | A hamster who neither bites nor squeals, known for running on a hamster wheel. |
| Character/s | Species | Television show | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chipmunk | Chipmunk | Nanalan | A brown colored chipmunk with a name relating to its species, and is Mona’s arch-nemesis | |
| Chuck Gopher | Gopher | Gophers! | The head of the Gopher family. Played by Lou Hirsch. | |
| Chuckie Sue | Hamster | Sesame Street | A female hamster who was owned by Telly Monster as a pet, she gets taken care by Telly throughout some episodes, and she gets pregnant and has lots of babies one time. Telly thought Chuckie Sue was a boy at first, but it was revealed that she was a girl after she had babies. | |
| Door Mouse | Mouse | Team Umizoomi | Helps the team with various math problems | |
| Elmo Squirrel | Squirrel | Elmo's World | A squirrel variation of Elmo imagined by Dorothy in the episode Sleep | |
| Farfour | Mouse | Tomorrow's Pioneers | A Mickey Mouse lookalike and the host of the Arabic children’s television program | |
| 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. | |
| Hank and Frank | Beavers | Jim Henson's Pajanimals | Two beavers who live in the Land of Build-It | |
| Jacques | Beaver | Bear in the Big Blue House | ||
| Miami Mice | Mouse | Sesame Street | The two detective mice (J.P. and Tito) that appeared on the Sesame Street segment, Miami Mice. They are based on Miami Vice. | |
| Mr. Happy Birthday | Porcupine | Jim Henson's Pajanimals | A porcupine who lives in Birthday World | |
| Oscar the Wonder Rodent | Rat | The Cheap Show | Part of the bonus round, who goes down a hole in a spinning wheel to determine the grand prize. | |
| Ralph Packrat | Packrat | ′′Kissyfur′′ | One of the Swamp Cubs in Paddlecab County. | |
| Rat-In-A-Hat | Rat | Bananas in Pyjamas | The shopkeeper of Cuddles Avenue. | |
| Rattus Rattus | Rat | Horrible Histories (2009 TV series) | Rattus is the primary host and official mascot of the TV series. Voiced by John Eccleston. | |
| 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. | |
| Scooter McNutty | Squirrel | Barney & Friends | A brown squirrel who is best friends with Miss Etta Kette in Seasons 4-6 of the show. | |
| Scrappus Rattus | Rat | Horrible Histories (2009 TV series) | Scrappus is the nephew of Rattus, seen in the Savage Songs special episode. | |
| Skippy | Red Squirrel | Bear in the Big Blue House | ||
| Special Patrol Group (SPG) | Hamster | The Young Ones | Vyvyan's destructive pet with a Glaswegian accent. | |
| Steve McQueen | Rat | House M.D. | ||
| The Squirrelles | Squirrels | Sesame Street | Three female singing puppet squirrels that are a fictionalized music group | |
| Tutter | House mouse | Bear in the Big Blue House | A small blue mouse with long ears and a pink nose, He certainly calls Bear “dear” | |
| Zippity | Hamster | Barney and the Backyard Gang & Barney & Friends | The school’s pet hamster who was gone after some alone time and even appearing in a few Barney & Friends episodes too | |
| Warehouse Mouse | Mouse | Imagination Movers |
See main article: List of fictional rodents in 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.[9] 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. | |
| Minnie Mouse | Mouse | Mickey Mouse | Mickey Mouse's girlfriend who first appeared in Steamboat Willie alongside him in 1928. In the 1930s, Minnie wore her eye shadow, her flower hat and short flapper girl skirt, and a pair of large high heels. Nowadays she wears her oversized ribbon bow on her hair and her short-skirted dress. At the Disney theme parks, Minnie wears her iconic red and white polka-dotted dress and bow. In 2018, Minnie joined the ranks of other animated celebrities (including Mickey) by receiving her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[10] | |
| Nigel Ratburn | Rat | Arthur | Arthur's strict but lovable 3rd-grade teacher. | |
| 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. | |
| Secret Squirrel | Squirrel | The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show | Secret Squirrel is Agent 000, in a parody of the spy genre | |
| Master Splinter | Rat | TMNT | An aged anthropomorphic rat that is the adoptive father and martial arts master of the Ninja Turtles Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello. | |
| Bubble | Mouse | Tube Mice | ||
| Squeak | Mouse | Tube Mice | ||
| Kiff Chatterly | Squirrel | Kiff | ||
| Lemmiwinks | Gerbil | South Park | The fourth grade class pet. He first appears in the episode The Death Camp of Tolerance, in which he's inserted into the ass of Mr. Slave and must undergo a spiritual journey through the digestive system. | |
| Alvin Seville | Chipmunk | Alvin and the Chipmunks | ||
| Simon Seville | Chipmunk | Alvin and the Chipmunks | ||
| Theodore Seville | Chipmunk | Alvin and the Chipmunks | ||
| Chip | Chipmunk | Chip'N'Dale Rescue Rangers | ||
| Dale | Chipmunk | Chip'N'Dale Rescue Rangers | ||
| Brittany Miller | Chipmunk | Alvin and the Chipmunks | ||
| Jeanette Miller | Chipmunk | Alvin and the Chipmunks | ||
| Eleanor Miller | Chipmunk | Alvin and the Chipmunks |
See main article: List of fictional rodents in 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. | |
| Hammond | Hamster | Overwatch | Playable hero in Overwatch, also known as Wrecking Ball. He is an intelligent hamster who controls a quadrupedal robot mecha that can transform into a high-speed wrecking ball equipped with a grappling hook. | |
| 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. | |
| New Rat City (or NRC) | Rat | Rat Chaos | An "Avatar of Rats"[11] [12] [13] that appears after the player unleashes "rat chaos" on board the spaceship. It offers to take the player to the Planet of Rat, and also begins a stream of consciousness narrative[14] about bullying, depression, and self-loathing.[15] The character won the XYZZY Award for Best Individual NPC in 2012.[16] [17] | |
| Twitch | Rat | League of Legends | A playable Champion in League of Legends that was mutated into an anthropomorphic rat with human level intelligence a la toxic waste. | |
| Brick | Rat | Pizza Tower | A "stupid rat" that appears as a companion for the secondary character, Gustavo. | |
| Tilo | Mouse | Ghost of a Tale | The protagonist and main character. A small mouse minstrel, who must make his way through dungeons and lands full of danger while uncovering mysteries of the past, all the while he is determined to find his wife Merra and finding a way to escape the prison. |
| Character/s | Species | Use | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chuck E. Cheese | Rat, later mouse | Chuck E. Cheese's pizza restaurant | Formerly Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre and Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza. Originally a rat,[18] [19] [20] [21] but retconned into a mouse in 1997.[22] | |
| Buc-ee's Beaver | Beaver | Buc-ee's convenience store chain | It is featured on the Buc-ee's logo wearing a red baseball cap. | |
| Digger | Gopher | NASCAR on Fox camera icon | Character is shown in the corner of the camera, starting with the 2009 Daytona 500. | |
| GameStop mice | Mice | GameStop | Many unnamed mice that accompanied Carl the Rabbit and Ray the Guinea pig in GameStop commercials. | |
| Gary the Squirrel | Squirrel | The Best Show with Tom Scharpling | Puppet controlled by the show's host, frequently busts on call screener/associate producer Mike | |
| Kia Soul hamsters | Hamsters | Kia Soul commercials | A trio of hamsters who do various gimmicks to represent the KIA Soul car | |
| Mitzi Mozzarella | Mouse | The Rock-afire Explosion from Showbiz Pizza Place | A female mouse who was the only female character in the band.[23] | |
| Parka | Beaver | Parks Canada | The mascot for the Canadian park[24] | |
| The Nutty Squirrels | Squirrels | Shirley, Squirrely and Melvin | A scat singing virtual band, formed in the late 1950s with the song "Uh-Oh". | |
| Ray the GameStop guinea pig | Guinea pig | GameStop | A mascot for GameStop along with Carl, a rabbit and many unnamed mice. | |
| Scouse | Mouse | Scouse the Mouse | A children's album, released in the UK in 1977, that featured the vocals of Ringo Starr and others. | |
| Nutino | Squirrel | Nutino commercials | A mascot for the Australian hazelnut spread brand Nutino. Typically animated or puppeteered. | |
| The Go gopher | Gopher | Go programming language | Mascot for the Go Programming language | |
| Yellawood beavers | Beaver | Yellawood | Bunches of beavers taking Yellawood lumber to build dams and munch. The mascots of the company. | |
| Ayunda Risu | Squirrel | Hololive Production's Virtual YouTuber | A squirrel girl who got lost in the human world and became a Virtual YouTuber for hololive Indonesia. [25] | |
| Hakos Baelz | Rat | Hololive Production's virtual YouTuber | A virtual YouTuber with rat-like appearance and chaotic theme, part of hololive English. [26] |