 | |
| Cattle | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Bovidae |
| Genus: | Bos |
| Notable appearances: | Planet of the Apes |
Cows are big dumb four-legged mammals that go "moo". They are members of the bovine family and are ideal for yielding meat products in the form of beef and veal and dairy products in the form of milk. Male cows are called bulls while female cows are called heifers. Their young are called calves. In Hindu culture, cows are considered sacred because they give milk and it is considered a sin to injure or kill one. Killing a cow in India will earn you a longer stretch in prison than killing a human.
Film[]
Cows have occasionally become the unwitting target of a giant monster's appetite. In 1965, the ancient dinosaur creature Baragon began terrorizing settlements around Akita Prefecture in Japan whereupon it dined on a few dim-witted bovines. [1]
Sometimes the biggest threat to livestock comes in the smallest of packages. This was the case in 1974's Phase IV when a colony of cosmically enhanced ants ravaged livestock across the town of Paradise City, Arizona. Scientists Ernest D. Hubbs and James R. Lesko examined several cattle mutilations.
In the 2012 sci-fi comedy film The Watch, four members of the Glenview, Ohio Neighborhood Watch named Evan, Bob, Franklin and Jamarcus discovered alien technology capable of producing a bright death ray. They experimented with the device on an unsuspecting cow, reducing it to first a skeleton and then exploding the remains. Bob in particular was impressed with the machine's capabilities, citing "It's terrible for the cow, but this thing is fucking awesome!"
Television[]
On the TV series Planet of the Apes, a family of chimpanzee farmers raised cows in a small community. Per the ancient custom of their people, a chimp could not become a farmer in his own right until his cow has sired a bull. A young disgruntled farmer named Anto was particularly irritated when his cow gave birth to only heifers over the course of five years. The humans, Alan Virdon and Peter Burke begrudingly helped Anto's cow with her next birth, which produced twin bulls, which was very fortunate for them as the irate farmer was prepared to kill them if the situation had turned out any other way. [2]
On the 1980-1983 ABC comedy series Too Close for Comfort, cartoonist Henry Rush (Ted Knight) created a comic strip called "Cosmic Cow". While drawing his strip he used a Cosmic Cow puppet to hold his pencil and often spoke in her voice while crafting his dialogue. On one occasion, the puppet turned up missing, so Henry was forced to use a sock in place of her, which yielded severe writers' block for him.
Comics[]
When the great Frost Giant known as Ymir fell into slumber, his body slowly began to melt over the ages. From the warm winds that melted Ymir's icy form was born the first of the Aesir. As the sleeping giant continued to melt, a cow was conceived, which came to be known as Audumbla. When Ymir awakened, Audumbla served as wet-nurse until he could reconstitute his form. From that day forward, all Frost Giants sustained themselves from the four streams of milk produced by Audumbla's udders. Audumbla sustained herself by licking at the ice, and in time, it had worn down to reveal a new species of man - the first of the Gods of what would one day be Asgard. This was Buri, whose lineage would go on to include Odin Borson, and Thor Odinson. [3]
In the Marvel Comics title Fantastic Four, the alien race known as the Skrulls came to Earth and began paving the way for eventual conquest by using their shape-changing abilities to tarnish the reputation of New York City's resident superhero team, the Fantastic Four. Scientist Reed Richards - leader of the group defeated the Skrulls by hypnotizing them into shape-shifting into normal Earth cows with no memory of their previous existence. [4] Years later, the milk provided by these Skrull cows began having dire consequences for those who drank it. [5]
Cows of note[]
| Name | Source |
|---|---|
| Audumbla | Marvel Universe |
| Hellcows | Marvel Universe |
Notes[]
- The extradimensional being known as Rintrah, as seen in issues of Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme had physical characteristics similar to that of a bull including a bovine head and cloven hooves on his feet.
Appearances[]
Films[]
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Cowboys & Aliens
- Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965)
- Watch, The
Television[]
- Batman: Come Back, Shame
- Fringe: Stowaway
- Planet of the Apes: The Gladiators
- Planet of the Apes: The Good Seeds - Cows on Polar's farm.
- Preacher: The Possibilities
- Smallville: Zero
- Terminator: Desert Cantos
Comics[]
- Fantastic Four 2 - Skrulls turned into cows.
- Fantastic Four Annual 17 - Those damn Skrull cows again.
- Giant-Size Man-Thing 5 - Hellcow the Vampire! Seriously.
- Ultimate X-Men 3 - Cows in a field in Croatia.
- X-Factor 219 - New Hampshire cow grazing when Black Cat crashes her car.