Sapient animals

Non-humanoid animals who possess or appear to possess a human-level intellect. Generally, if such an animal is a non-mutant, their appearance and communication faculties are usually indistinguishable from other animals but may seem eerily smart and self-aware. If they are mutants, they may still lack a humanoid body plan, and either do not possess the power of speech or only communicate with assistance, alternative methods, or through additional augmentation giving them speech.

This category is for animal characters who display inescapably human levels of intelligence, above and beyond that of cartoon funny animals. This includes pet rats and tortoises who learn and practice ninjutsu by observation, and pet cats who can play card games, and chickens who can perform complex calculations, and so forth. Funny animals such as Garfield are not included, as they are typically anthropomorphized as a human-relatable framing device rather than as something that is meant to realistically reflect their situation.