Rabbits

Rabbit is used to describe either all or specific variants of *Lagomorpha* and characters based off of them. When using "rabbit" instead of bunny, the cuteness is de-emphasized, though not always absent. Rabbit is the common word for the animal, while bunny is the cutesy-wutsy melting in your heart word. For more in-depth media depictions, please see Rabbits & Bunnies in Media.

In the English-speaking world, rabbits are stereotyped as being carrot eaters. Carrots bottoms are actually unhealthy for rabbits. They're alright as a treat but fed in excess they develop problems. Rabbits are leaf eaters rather than root eaters, so carrot tops are fine to give to them as regular food. Carrot tops are also edible to people. Most people don't know it, but you can use them to create a spice-herb that's similar but distinct from parsley. However, they are too thin and hard to use as salad leaves.

## Religion & Folklore

In Japan there is said to be a rabbit making mochi on the moon. This is an interpretation of the crator's shape. While here in America we see a man's face.

In Chinese astrology the Rabbit is one of the animals associated with a year in its zodiac. Currently, in 2023, it is the year of the rabbit. Happy Easter New Year! They also say that a rabbit lives on the moon.

The rabbit spirit animal in New Ageism is, amongst other things, a sign that the person ought to be more focused on vegetarianism. It also may be invoked to help speed up the decision making process and determine where to go or get out of something fast.

In Christianity and Judaism the bible/tanakh mentions that rabbits are unclean to eat, as though they chew cud they do not have hooves.

## Media depictions

Spoilers*This article is about a specific form of media, such as a movie or a video game. Therefore it may contain heavy spoilers so as to best discuss it. You have been warned!*
Rabbit depictions may differ based off of their word. Rabbit-rabbits are not necessarily any cuter than "other rodents" are portrayed to be. They may be cunning. Bunnies, on the other hand, are portrayed as cute. Because the words rabbit and bunny apply to the same creature, they may intermingle in portrayals. Additionally, this list will also include other leporids, the hares and jackrabbits. While clear hares and clear jackrabbits will have their own pages, due to the similarities between the animals attributes intermingle. Sometimes people are confused as to which kind of "rabbit" a character is. Is it a rabbit, a bunny, a hare, a jackrabbit? Is it a wild rabbit or a domesticated one? These issues get mixed up, so the character is both "yes" to it and also "no" to it. When it is clearly stated to be one or another, other attributes might affect it anyways. So those can be listed here, too, if applicable by way of canon or fanon.

* Rabbit is a character in Winnie-The-Pooh. Though sometimes mistaken as a she (including by me) due to his voice and personality, he is canonically a he. He is fretful and fastidious and considered smart by the series, but not necessarily all that smart all things considered. He grows a vegetable garden and lives in a burrow under a tree. He has anxiety.
* Rabbids belong in a video game series. They are supposed to be cute and stupid looking, but are prone to screaming and worse.
* The Easter Bunny is the mascot of Easter. Like Santa, some children are taught to believe that he is real. He has a basket of colored eggs and hides them for children to find. He also leaves a basket of chocolate goodies for children during Easter morning on their bed. This basket is typically made of wicker and colored brightly to some extent or fully. It is layered with plastic grass. Plastic and chocolate eggs and bunnies and other sweets are placed in the basket.
* In Zootopia Officer Hops is a rabbit from a carrot farm family who dreamed of becoming a cop ever since she was a little girl. The movie plays with various rabbit-character stereotypes, being called a "dumb bunny" as a slur, being cute, being small, being prey, kicking as males do during breeding season, tons of babies, eating carrots, eating other plants, etc. Other rabbit characters are shown.
* Bugs Bunny is the mascot of Looney Tunes. He is a calm but snarky rabbit who often plays tricks on those who annoy him. He also eats carrots. There are other rabbit characters in the show, namely Lola Bunny. She was first a character in Space Jam and played to the "Playboy Bunny" theme, but partially-subverted it. She then played to the dumb bunny (and dumb blonde) trope when she was remodeled for the Looney Tunes Show.
* In the books Tops and Bottoms a farming family of rabbits have been starving. They trick their neighbor, a bear, into growing different types of crops. Each crop they ask him to grow they tell him which part of the plant they'll eat, the top or the bottom (and so forth). They always give him the non-food (or what is considered to not be food culturally) part of the plant. They get the food part of the vegetable. Thus they trick him into growing their own crops.
* In the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise, Cream The Rabbit is a reoccuring character. She is a re-occurring, sometimes playable character. She is a sweet, small child who is often accompanied by her pet/friend, Cheese the Chao. Unlike most of the Sonic characters, she is shown to have a mother, named Vanilla. She is inadordinatly tall for a rabbit, hinting that they might be based off of Flemish rabbits. Maybe. Her daughter is almost Sonic's height too and he's a teenager, sooo....
* In Over The Moon the protagonist is obsessed with the moon goddess Chang'e. Her parents give her a pet rabbit that she names Bungee. Later on Bungee goes with her to the moon and develops laser powers in her ears as a result of a potion brewed by the jade hare on the moon. She becomes his love interest.

## References

1. ↑ Animal Speak by Ted Andrews
2. ↑ https://whatismyspiritanimal.com/spirit-totem-power-animal-meanings/mammals/rabbit-symbolism-meaning/