Foxes in popular culture, films and literature

In Dogon mythology, the fox[1] is reported to be either the trickster god of the desert, who embodies chaos[2] or a messenger for the gods.[3]

There is a Tswana riddle that says that "Phokoje go tsela o dithetsenya [Only the muddy fox lives] meaning that, in a philosophical sense, 'only an active person who does not mind getting muddy gets to progress in life.'

Kuma Lisa is a female fox from Bulgarian folklore and Russian folklore who usually plays the role of the trickster. Kuma Lisa is encountered with another character known as Kumcho Vulcho – a wolf which is opposite to her and very often suffers from her tricks. Veronika Makarova writes that in Western European folklore, words relating to foxes, such as French "renard", have a masculine grammatical gender, which is why Western European foxes are usually depicted as male foxes, but the word лисa (lisa) in Russian has a feminine grammatical gender, which is why nearly all depictions of foxes in Russian folklore are female.[4]

In Scotland, the trickster figure of the fox (or tod in traditional Scots) was represented as Lowrence, as in the Morall Fabillis of Robert Henryson.

In Finnish mythology, the fox is depicted usually a cunning trickster, but seldom evil. The fox, while weaker, in the end outsmarts both the evil and voracious wolf and the strong but not-so-cunning bear. It symbolizes the victory of intelligence over both malevolence and brute strength. In Northern Finland, the fox is said to conjure the aurora borealis while it runs through the snowy hills. When the fox’s fur touches the snow it creates magical sparks and sets the sky ablaze. Still today, the Finnish word for the aurora is "revontulet" which literally translates to "fox-fires".

An Occitan song dating from the Middle Ages, Ai Vis lo Lop, features a wolf (lo lop), a fox (lo rainard) and a hare (lebre) dancing and circling a tree. It has been suggested that the three animals represent the King, Lord and Church who were responsible for taxation (the lyrics go on to refer to money gained over the year and how nothing was left after seeing 'the wolf, the fox and the hare').

In Europe, in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, foxes, which were associated with wiliness and fraudulent behavior, were sometimes burned as symbols of the Devil.[5]

In early Mesopotamian mythology, the fox is one of the sacred animals of the goddess Ninhursag. The fox acts as her messenger.

The Bible's Song of Solomon (2:15) includes a well-known verse "Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom" which had been given many interpretations over the centuries by Jewish and Christian Bible commentators.

To the Jewish sage Matteya ben Heresh, of the 2nd century CE, is attributed the maxim: "Meet each man with friendly greeting; be the tail among lions rather than the head among foxes".[6] "The head among foxes" in this context is similar to the English expression "A big fish in a small pond". "Fox fables" are attributed to Rabbi Meir and Johanan ben Zakai, and appeared in a large compilation by Berechiah ha-Nakdan; the term in fact refers also to fables featuring animals other than foxes.

Prince Hanzoku terrorized by a nine-tailed kitsune (fox spirit). Print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, 19th century.

In Classic of Mountains and Seas (edited by Liu Xiang in Han Dynasty and probably composed by people before Qin Dynasty), foxes eat people, and predict war. In Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese folklores, foxes (huli jing in China, kitsune in Japan, kumiho in Korea, and hồ ly tinh in Vietnam) are powerful spirits that are known for their highly mischievous and cunning nature, and they often take on the form of female humans to seduce men. In contemporary Chinese, the word huli jing is often used to describe a mistress negatively in an extramarital affair. In Shinto of Japan, kitsune sometimes help people as an errand of their deity, Inari.

The Moche people of ancient Peru worshipped animals and often depicted the fox in their art.[7] The Moche people believed the fox to be a warrior that would use his mind to fight. The fox would not ever use physical attack, only mental.

In the Uncle Remus collection of 19th-century African-American folktales adapted and compiled by Joel Chandler Harris, "Br'er Fox" is a major character, often acting as the antagonist towards the stories' main character, "Br'er Rabbit".

Vladimir Bogoraz wrote down a creation myth he allegedly heard from the Chukchi people, in which the yellow fox attempts to deceive the Creator of the world for food, but fails, and the arctic fox is cowardly.[8]

The Medieval Norman adventurer Robert Guiscard was nicknamed "Robert the Fox" as well as the Resourceful, the Cunning, the Wily – underlining the identification of such qualities with foxes.

During the American Revolution Continental Army Officer Francis Marion became so adept at attacking and ambushing British forces in the swamps of South Carolina that he became known as the "Swamp Fox".

During World War II, the German commander in North Africa, Erwin Rommel, was grudgingly nicknamed the "Desert Fox" by his British adversaries, as a tribute to his cunning and skill in operational art.

The Italian sociologist and economist Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923) in his Trattato di Sociologia Generale (1916) developed the concept of an elite social class, which he divided into cunning 'foxes' and violent 'lions'. In his view of society, the power constantly passes from the 'foxes' to the 'lions' and vice versa.

The words fox and foxy have become slang in English-speaking societies for an individual (most often female) with sex appeal. The word vixen, which is normally the common name for a female fox, is also used to describe an attractive woman—although, in the case of humans, "vixen" tends to imply that the woman in question has a few nasty qualities.

The word shenanigan (a deceitful confidence trick, or mischief) is considered to be derived from the Irish expression sionnachuighim, meaning "I play the fox."[9]

"Brer Fox Tackles Brer Tarrypin", from Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings: The Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation, by Joel Chandler Harris. Illustrations by Frederick Stuart Church and James H. Moser. 1881.

• 1908 and 1912 – Beatrix Potter included foxes in her anthropomorphic children's tales—as pursuer in The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck and as title character in The Tale of Mr. Tod.
• 1913 – Thornton W. Burgess's The Green Forest: Reddy Fox.
• 1924 – Aquilino Ribeiro, Romance da Raposa: Portuguese adaptation of the medieval story of Reynard the Fox.
• 1961 – Peter Spier, The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night: an adaptation of the folk song of the same name.
• 1970s – Richard Scarry, series of books, Fixit Fox, a mechanic; also animated.
• 1970 – Roald Dahl, Fantastic Mr. Fox: Mr. and Mrs. Fox and their four pups.
• 1972 – Nonny Hogrogian's children's book "One Fine Day": a story of a fox that has its tail chopped off.
• 1982 – William Steig's children's book Dr. Desoto contains an unnamed vulpine patient.
• 1998 – Michel Gagné, A Search for Meaning: The Story of Rex: Continues in comics magazine Flight.
• 2006 – Ali Sparkes, Finding the Fox: the first of a series of novels about a boy who has the ability to change into a fox.
• 1965 – Dr. Seuss, "Fox in Socks", a story about tongue-twisters.
• 1966–76 – David Thomson, "Danny Fox" book series.
• 2013 – Ylvis and Svein Nyhus, "What Does the Fox Say?", picture book based on the viral hit song "The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)".
• 2016 – Jonathan Schork, "The Love of Simon Fox", in which a talking fox living in an enchanted forest befriends a little girl.

• 1937 – Ladislas Starevich's puppet-animated feature film, Le Roman de Renard ("The Tale of the Fox").
• 1940 – Disney's Pinocchio: J. Worthington Foulfellow (also known as Honest John, and ironically is extremely dishonest).
• 1941–1950 – Screen Gems The Fox and the Crow: Fauntleroy Fox, one of the principal characters of the animated film series.
• 1946 – Disney's Song of the South: Brer Fox.
• 1960 – Hanna Barbera's Yogi Bear series had short cartoons, Yakky Doodle, in which the duckling is pursued by Fibber Fox.
• 1964 – The Irish-accented fox from the animated interlude in Disney's Mary Poppins
• 1972 – Ralph Bakshi's 1972 film Fritz the Cat: Winston Schwartz, the on-and-off-again girlfriend of Fritz.
• 1973 – Disney's Robin Hood: Robin Hood and Maid Marian
• 1973 – Zuiyo Eizo episodes Fables of the Green Forest based on a book The Green Forest.
• 1980s – The World of David the Gnome, animated show, Swift
• 1980s – Lis Leon, Polish animated show
• 1981 – Disney's The Fox and the Hound: Tod and Vixey;
• 1981 – Attila Dargay's Vuk, a young fox who is one of the most famous Hungarian cartoon characters.
• 1982 – The Plague Dogs, based on the book.
• 1985 – A French animated series, Moi Renart.
• 1986 – Hospital Radio's The Space Gypsy Adventures: D.C. Bones, D.C. Fusky, Gemma and Damien Mildury (animated).
• 1986 – Dutch TV series The Bluffers: Sharpy, one of the main protagonists.
• 1987 – Sunbow Productions' serial Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light: Ectar of the Spectral Knights possessed the totem of the fox.
• 1987 – Sylvanian Families: The members of the Slydale Family are Slick, Velvette, Buster, Scarlett, Skitter and Lindy from the animated TV series.
• 1987 – Maple Town: The members of the Fox Family are Fanny, Freddy, Mr. and Mrs. Fox from the animated series.
• 1990 – Disney's TaleSpin: several fox characters appear in the series, such as Katie Dodd, Myra Foxworthy, Muffy Vanderschmear and Buffy Vanderschmear.
• 1990–91 – Kyatto Ninden Teyandee (Samurai Pizza Cats): whose main antagonist Kitsunezuka Ko'on-no-Kami a prime minister in Edoropolis (in the Saban English version, he's known as Seymour "The Big" Cheese, and is a rat instead).
• 1991 – Don Bluth's Rock-a-Doodle, based on Chantecler by Edmond Rostand, a tale about a rooster; one of antagonists of the story is a fat fox named Pinky.
• 1991 – TV series Bucky O'Hare: Vixen Captain Mimi LaFloo; based on 1970s comics.
• 1992/2006 – Operation Lifesaver Video Sly Fox and Birdie teaches kids about railroad safety.
• 1993–1996 – The Animals of Farthing Wood TV series and movie: Fox and his mate Vixen.
• 1993, 1996 and 2007 – Flemming Quist Møller's Danish animated films Jungledyret Hugo: Rita, an urban fox.
• 1993 – Tezuka's Akuemon: Anime based on Japanese folk tale about fox-wife.
• 1993 – Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog: A TV series based on the characters Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Doctor Robotnik.
• 1997 – Tezuka's In the Beginning: The Bible Stories: Vixy, a vixen narrator.
• 1999 – Cosgrove Hall's The Foxbusters: Cartoon series based on Dick King Smith's novel about a group of chickens defending their farm against a gang of foxes.
• 1999–2001 – Pablo the Little Red Fox: A BBC series that revolves around the adventures of three child foxes and the misadventures they have.
• 1999–2001 – Nelvana's Redwall series, based on the book.
• 2000–2019 – Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer – Swiper the Fox, mischievous thief fox.
• 2002 – Balto II: Wolf Quest, sequel to 1995's Balto, featuring a cunning fox fooling Balto while the latter searches for his daughter.
• 2003 – Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure, features an evil and villainous red fox called Farley who is the most evil Charlotte's Web character.
• 2003–2006 – Sonic X is a TV series which focused on Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, and all of their friends being teleported to the real world.
• 2005 – A Thierry Schiel CGI film Le Roman de Renart ("Renart the Fox").
• 2005 – Foxy Loxy from Disney's 2005 film Chicken Little.
• 2006 – The Fox and the Hound 2, followup to the animated film The Fox and the Hound
• 2007 – Lee Sung-gang's South Korean animated film Yobi, the Five Tailed Fox: Yobi, a young kumiho girl.
• 2007 – TV series Skunk Fu!: Fox, on whom Rabbit has a big crush.
• 2007 – The Fox and the Child: a young girl who befriends a fox.
• 2009 – Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson's stop-motion animation adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's book.
• 2010 – My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox is a South Korean romantic comedy where a young girl plays a nine-tailed fox in the form of a human.
• 2010 – Popy from CGI animation series Oscar's Oasis.
• 2011 – Angelique from the CGI film Rango.
• 2015 – Ge Shuiying's CGI film Agent F.O.X.: Agent F.O.X., a super spy fox
• 2015 – Yoyotoki HappyEars from the animated series Yoyotoki HappyEars
• 2016 – Disney's animated film Zootopia (also known as Zootropolis in some countries) features three fox characters: Nick Wilde, one of the main protagonists, as well as Gideon Grey and Finnick, two supporting characters.
• 2016 – Vix from the CGI film Spark: A Space Tail.
• 2016 – Darma from the animated film Rock Dog.
• 2018–present – 101 Dalmatian Street features Fergus Fox who is recurring character in the show.
• 2018–2020 – Unikitty! features Dr. Fox, who is the castle's resident scientist whose experiments and inventions can both create and resolve problems.
• 2019–present – Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart features Rufus, a sly and cunning fox who swindles the Sweetypies of Pure Heart Valley.
• 2019 – Swifty and Jade from the animated film Arctic Dogs.
• 2020 – "Tale of the Nine Tailed" features A nine-tailed fox abdicates his position as the guardian mountain spirit of Baekdudaegan to search for the reincarnation of his one true love. Season 2 is currently under production and is expected to be released in 2023.
• 2020 – "Tale of the Nine Tailed: An Unfinished Story" features a 3 episode spinoff will tell the story of Lee Rang and Ki Yoo Ri before and during the events of Tale of the Nine Tailed (2020)

• Aggretsuko – Fenneko
• Beastars – Voss (a Fennec Fox)
• BNA: Brand New Animal – Nazuna Hiwatashi
• Dragon Ball – Donbe
• Dog Days – Yukikaze Panettone
• Gingitsune Messenger Fox of the Gods Shinto Anime
• Digimon – Renamon, Kudamon, Kyuubimon, Pokomon, Taomon, Sakuyamon and Youkomon
• Gugure! Kokkuri-san – Kokkuri-san
• Hiiro no Kakera – O-Chan, Yuuichi Komura
• Hyper Police – Sakura Bokuseiinmonzeninari
• Inu x Boku – Soushi Miketsukami
• Inukami! – Yoko and Dai Yoko
• Inuyasha – Shippo
• Jewelpet – Larimar and Gumimin
• Kaiketsu Zorori – Zorori
• Kamisama Kiss – Tomoe
• Kanokon – Chizuru and Tayura Minamoto, and Tamamo-no-Mae
• Kanon – Makoto Sawatari
• Kekkaishi – Hime
• Kemono Friends – The females Ezo Red Fox and Silver Fox appear as a couple in the show.
• Kyatto Ninden Teyandee – Kitsunezuka Ko'on-no-Kami
• Naruto – Naruto Uzumaki, host to the fox-like Tailed Beast Kurama
• Natsume's Book of Friends – Natsume, the main protagonist, meets with a young kitsune on day on a walk.
• One Piece – Foxy, and Suu the cloud fox
• Pokémon – Vulpix, Ninetales, Zorua, Zoroark, Fennekin, Braixen and Delphox; Nickit and Thievul
• Rise of the Nura Clan – Hagoromo Gitsune
• Rosario + Vampire – Kuyou
• Shaman King – Conchi
• Sherlock Hound – Sherlock
• Slayers – Jillas Jillos Jillas
• Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic X – Miles "Tails" Prower
• Strike Witches – Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen
• Tactics – Yoko
• Tales of Symphonia – Corrine and Venus
• Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity – Mashiro Mito
• The Helpful Fox Senko-san – Senko-san
• Urusei Yatsura – The little fox, whose name is a "little fox" too.
• Urara Meirochou – The protagonist love interest, Kon, is possessed frequently by the fox spirit Kokkuri-san.
• Wagaya no Oinari-sama – Kugen Tenko, Gyokuyou Tenko, Ogami and Daigorou
• xxxHolic – Mugetsu
• Yu Yu Hakusho – Kurama
• Zoids – The Shadow Fox

• 1973 – Ukrainian movie director Igor Negrescul's Domino: A Life of a Silver Fox.
• 1990 – Akira Kurosawa's Dreams: A boy goes to the forest to see where the foxes have their weddings.
• 1994 – Russian director Ury Klimov's Once Lives a Fox: Story of a fox escaped from the zoo.
• 2005 – Andrew Adamson's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Mr. Fox, voiced by Rupert Everett, which is turned to stone by the White Witch.[12]
• 2006 – Helen the Baby Fox Seven-year-old Taichi found a baby fox named "Helen."
• 2007 – The Fox and the Child, directed by Luc Jacquet, is about a young girl who befriends a fox.
• 2009 – Antichrist directed by Lars von Trier has a possibly supernatural fox appearing throughout the film.
• 2021 – The Green Knight: A fox follows Gawain and warns him to abandon his quest.
• 2022 – Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Miles "Tails" Prower, a young fox boy with two tails and the ability of flight, accompanies Sonic the Hedgehog in the sequel to his 2020 film, Sonic the Hedgehog.

• 1966 – The Hollies & Peter Sellers' "After the Fox"; popular theme song from the movie of the same name
• 1967 – The Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Foxy Lady"
• 1968 – Manfred Mann "Fox on the Run"
• 1972 – Genesis' Foxtrot
• 1975 – Sweet's "Fox on the Run"
• 1981 – Elton John's 1981 album The Fox, and the title track therefrom.
• 1986 – Kate Bush's titular single release from her 1985 Album Hounds of Love references a fox in the lyrics.
• 1996 – Belle & Sebastian's album If You're Feeling Sinister features a song called The Fox in the Snow.
• 2000 – Nickel Creek's "The Fox" is a variation of a folk song about a fox stealing food for his family.
• 2001 – Millencolin's album Pennybridge Pioneers includes a song simply titled "Fox".
• 2004 – mewithoutYou's sophomore studio album is titled Catch for Us the Foxes. The band's subsequent albums feature the songs "The Fox, the Crow, and the Cookie" (It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright, 2009) and "Fox's Dream of the Log Flume" (Ten Stories 2012).
• 2004 – Rilo Kiley's album More Adventurous features a song titled "Portions For Foxes"
• 2005 – Sleater-Kinney's album The Woods features a song called "The Fox".
• 2008 – Rapper Nas recorded the song "Sly Fox" on his untitled 2008 album. In the song he disses Fox News, considering it to be sly and deceitful.
• 2008 – Born Ruffians' song "Foxes Mate For Life" appears on their debut album Red, Yellow & Blue.
• 2008 – Fleet Foxes, a five-piece band from Seattle.
• 2010 – The kawaii metal group Babymetal claims to perform in accordance to revelations from the Fox God and have a recurring fox motif, including their 2013 single "Megitsune".
• 2012 – Louisa Rose Allen or known as her stage name Foxes.
• 2013 – Ylvis's "The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)"[13]
• 2014 – Taylor Swift's song "I Know Places" from 1989 references foxes.
• 2015 – The music video for The Prodigy's "Nasty".
• 2016 – Baby Shark Dance is a popular kids' song made by the children's education brand Pinkfong. The mascot of the brand, a pink fox, appears in the video.

• "The Fox" – 15th century folk song about the animal that has been adapted and recorded by many performers.
• Mr Fox – 1970s folk rock band
• June Tabor – Reynard the Fox

Cosplay of Fox McCloud of Star Fox (top) and Ahri from League of Legends (bottom)

• Miles "Tails" Prower, a two-tailed fox that can spin his tails like a helicopter to fly, that has appeared in the Sonic the Hedgehog series beginning with Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
• Fox McCloud, James McCloud, and Krystal from the Nintendo Star Fox series
• Keaton of the Legend of Zelda series
• Vulpix, Ninetales, Zorua, Zoroark, Fennekin, Braixen, Delphox, Nickit, and Thievul from the Pokémon series.
• Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox, a police officer in the Sly Cooper series of video games.
• Rif and Rhene of the Fox Tribe from the video game Inherit the Earth: Quest for the Orb.
• Spy Fox, a James Bond parody computer game series.
• Crazy Redd, the black market salesman from the Animal Crossing games.
• In Trickster Online, Fox is the female sense type character.
• In the video game series Metal Gear Solid, the special forces group is known as "FOXHOUND". Additionally the title of Grey Fox was given to Frank Jaeger.
• Ninetails, a major boss character from the game Ōkami.
• Titus the Fox: To Marrakech and Back, fox mascot in the 1990s platform game
• In the video game Drawn To Life for the Nintendo DS, the charters of the village are "Raposas" which is Portuguese for fox
• Persona 4 features a fox living at a shrine as one of its Social Links.
• Yusuke Kitagawa from Persona 5 adopts the codename Fox after his Inari-like mask.
• Jade Empire, the RPG by BioWare, contains fox spirits as well as a non-playable character who uses the alias Silk Fox.
• Psycho Fox, the main character in a Sega Master System game of the same name.
• The 2009 video game League of Legends includes a kumiho character named Ahri, the Nine-Tailed Fox.
• The horror game Five Nights at Freddy's features the animatronic character Foxy the Pirate.
• In the video game Little Misfortune, the titular character is protected from the demon Morgo by a fox named Benjamin Juhanelius Redfox.
• Pepper and Pip from Paladins
• The Vulpera, are a race of nomadic fox people that inhabit the deserts of Vol'dun on Zandalar from the game World of Warcraft.
• Gregg from Night in the Woods.
• In the sandbox game Terraria, there is a zoologist NPC that was said to be bitten by a fox, and now takes the form of a fox in certain circumstances.
• The First Tree is played from the perspective of an unnamed mother fox
• Overwatch 2 includes the fox spirit-based character, Kiriko
• Naraka: Bladepoint features Tessa, a girl who shares her soul with an ancient fox spirit

• Slylock Fox, in the Sherlock Holmes parody comic strips from Slylock Fox & Comics for Kids
• Raposão/McFox, a character from the Brazilian comic series Lionel's Kingdom.
• Fix and Foxi, a German comic series where the title characters are two fox brothers.
• In Kiss, in Psycho Circus #14 and #15, the members of Kiss are portrayed as supernatural beings who train a Feudal Japanese samurai to outsmart supernatural foxes.
• Ninjara, a character who appeared in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.
• The main female protagonist in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman: The Dream Hunters illustrated novella, and comic is a legendary Kitsune
• The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic series from IDW Publishing features the character of Alopex, an Arctic fox ninja.

• Ozy and Millie – foxes starring in a webcomic of the same name
• Kevin and Kell – Fiona Fennec and George Fennec, her father, are both fennec foxes.
• Gunnerkrigg Court – The comic's main character Antimony has a fox companion whose spirit is trapped in a doll of a white wolf, a symbol for Antimony in Alchemy.

• In the trading card game Magic: The Gathering, Eight-and-a-Half-Tails is a legendary fox monk of great power and purity.

The fox and castle on the coat of arms of Châteaurenard, France

Reynard and vixen supporting the arms of La Boussac, France

• The canting coat of arms of Châteaurenard in France displays a fox, as do the coats of arms of Poligny in France and Tuliszków in Poland.
• The reynard (male fox) as dexter supporter and vixen (female fox) as sinister supporter of the arms of La Boussac in Brittany.

• The English association football team Leicester City are nicknamed 'the Foxes'.
• The Brazilian football team Cruzeiro have one their nicknames called 'Raposa', meaning Fox in Portuguese.
• The athletic teams of Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York are known as the Red Foxes.

Sixteen ships and two shore establishments of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Fox, after the animal. Also vessels of other navies and civilian ships bore such a name.