Want an easy way to show that your character is loyal? Make him a dog! Want your female member to come off as graceful, but don't know how to show it? Make her a cat! One characterization shortcut is to somehow compare the character to an animal species that the audience's culture commonly projects certain anthropomorphic personality traits upon. This can be done in several ways: The respective animal frequently follows the rules set by What Measure Is a Non-Cute?. Quite possibly one of The Oldest Ones in the Book. And oh. Be wary of Animal Jingoism, accidential or intentional.