ASCII Magic
Open tool

Animated ASCII animals

These ASCII art animals breathe, swim, fly and scuttle: a golden dog trotting through a park, goldfish gliding in a planted tank, an owl blinking on a moonlit branch, a penguin belly-sliding into the sea and a humpback whale rising to blow. Each creature is hand-coded in characters with its own palette and loop.

20 pieces

View use cases
Bats Leaving the CaveAnimals
Busy BeesAnimals
ButterflyAnimals
Chameleon and the FlyAnimals
MurmurationAnimals
Goldfish TankAnimals
Hummingbird at HibiscusAnimals
JellyfishAnimals
Koi Pond RipplesAnimals
Leaping DolphinsAnimals
OctopusAnimals
Night OwlAnimals
Penguin Belly SlideAnimals
Sand Crab ScuttleAnimals
Sleeping CatAnimals
Slithering SnakeAnimals
Fox Trotting in SnowAnimals
Spider WebAnimals
Swimming WhaleAnimals
Walking DogAnimals

Where to start

Animals make a page feel friendly fast, which is why they turn up on 404 pages, loading screens, pet shop sites and READMEs. The Sleeping Cat at Sleeping Cat lives here too, breathing slowly on a red cushion, and every piece can be copied as plain text for a chat, a comment or a plain-text email.

Walking DogA golden dog trots along a park path, tail wagging and ears bouncing, a cheerful loader or hero.Goldfish TankGoldfish glide through a planted aquarium while bubbles stream up, a calm loop for a desk or a wallpaper.Night OwlA horned owl blinks its big yellow eyes and turns its head under the moon, made for night themes and 404 pages.Hummingbird at HibiscusA hummingbird hovers on blurred wings and darts between two red hibiscus blooms, all speed and color.Swimming WhaleA humpback glides through shafts of light beneath the waves and rises now and then to blow a spout.Penguin Belly SlideA penguin waddles past its friends, flops onto its belly and toboggans into the sea, a comic loop for loaders.

An ASCII dog, fish and other pets

Pet pieces are the easiest way to add warmth to a site. Walking Dog trots happily along a park path, tail wagging, and the Happy Wagging Pup at Happy Wagging Pup sits in the sun and tilts its head as if asked a question. Goldfish Tank and Koi Pond Ripples bring the calm of water: one a planted aquarium, the other a pond seen from above with koi gliding under lily pads. The Sleeping Cat at Sleeping Cat completes the household. These suit pet shops, vets, grooming and pet-sitting apps, adoption pages and any brand with an animal mascot. Put a pet on a loading screen and a short wait feels friendlier.

ASCII birds, sea life and wild animals

Birds cover a wide range of moods. Night Owl blinks under the moon, Hummingbird at Hibiscus is all speed and color, and Murmuration folds hundreds of starlings into one shape over a sunset lake. At dusk, Bats Leaving the Cave pours a ribbon of bats into an orange sky. In the water, Jellyfish pulse upward through the deep blue, an Octopus curls its arms above the reef, Leaping Dolphins arc out of a sunset sea and Swimming Whale rises to blow. On land, Fox Trotting in Snow, Slithering Snake, Sand Crab Scuttle and Chameleon and the Fly each tell a tiny story in a few seconds, which suits nature blogs, wildlife charities, aquariums and classrooms.

Copying ASCII animal art as text

Classic ASCII animals were made to be pasted, and every piece here can be too. Pause on a frame, press Copy as text, and you have plain characters to drop into a code block in a chat, a comment at the top of a source file or a plain-text email. A few tips for clean results:

  • Pick a frame where the silhouette is clear, such as the owl mid-blink or the dog mid-stride.
  • Paste inside three backticks in chat apps, so a monospace font keeps the shape.
  • Narrow creatures paste more neatly than wide scenes, which can wrap on small screens.
  • When you want motion, use the GIF export instead, since text cannot animate in a message.

Matching an animal to a 404 page, loader or season

Choose by mood as much as by species. For 404 and error pages, Night Owl and Spider Web are both tagged for the job, and a creature that looks a little lost softens the moment. For loaders, Walking Dog, Penguin Belly Slide, Sand Crab Scuttle and Slithering Snake all read as progress. For the seasons, Spider Web and Bats Leaving the Cave fit Halloween, Fox Trotting in Snow fits winter, and Busy Bees and Butterfly fit spring. For calm backgrounds, Jellyfish and Koi Pond Ripples are the slowest loops. Use the size attribute to scale a creature to its space: it sets the font size in pixels, and the default is 12.

Ways to use ASCII animals

Step-by-step guides with a live builder and code to copy.

All 18 use cases →
Error page

Animated ASCII art for 404 and error pages

Make a 404 or 500 page people remember with animated ASCII art. Ready-made error pieces plus any scene or creature, embedded with one tag.

Chat

ASCII art you can paste into Discord and Slack

Copy any ASCII piece as plain text and paste it into Discord, Slack or Teams inside a code block, so it keeps its shape.

Loader

ASCII loading spinners and progress bars for websites

Lightweight animated ASCII loaders, spinners and progress bars for web pages. One tag to embed, no images to download, honours reduced motion.

README

Animated ASCII art for a GitHub README

Put an animated ASCII banner, scene or loader at the top of your GitHub README. Copy a GIF or SVG, no build step, works in GitHub's dark and light themes.

/FAQS

ASCII animals: frequently asked questions

Answers about using ASCII animals on websites, in READMEs, in terminals and in exports.

Q. Where can I find animated ASCII art animals?
This category gathers them: dogs, fish, birds, sea life, insects and wild animals, each animated and drawn in characters. Every piece page has a live player, Copy as text, an embed tag, a terminal command and GIF, video and PNG exports. More characterful animals, such as a penguin in a scarf, live in Mascots at Mascots & Characters.
Q. Is there an animated ASCII dog?
Yes, Walking Dog shows a golden dog trotting along a park path with its tail wagging and ears bouncing. For a sitting puppy that tilts its head, see the Happy Wagging Pup at Happy Wagging Pup. Both embed with one tag and export as GIFs for chats, emails and READMEs.
Q. Can I copy ASCII art of a dog as text?
Yes, open Walking Dog, pause on a frame where the dog is mid-stride and press Copy as text. That copies the frame as plain characters, ready to paste into a code block, a source comment or a plain-text message. For the moving version, download the GIF from the same page instead.
Q. Is there an ASCII fish animation?
Yes, Goldfish Tank shows goldfish gliding through a planted aquarium with bubbles rising, and Koi Pond Ripples shows koi from above under lily pads. For a whole reef, see Underwater Reef at Underwater Reef in Landscapes. All three make calm wallpapers and page backgrounds.
Q. What ASCII bird art is there?
There are several birds: Night Owl, Hummingbird at Hibiscus, Murmuration with hundreds of starlings, and the penguin in Penguin Belly Slide. Each has a different pace, from the slow, blinking owl to the darting hummingbird. For birds as a pattern, Boids Over Meadow at Boids Over Meadow simulates a flock steering by simple rules.
Q. Is there an ASCII owl?
Yes, Night Owl is a horned owl on a moonlit branch that blinks its big yellow eyes and slowly turns its head to look around. It is tagged for 404 pages and hero sections, and it suits night modes, late-night apps and anything about reading or wisdom.
Q. Is there an ASCII bunny?
No, there is no rabbit piece in the library right now. For a similar soft, friendly feel, try the Happy Wagging Pup at Happy Wagging Pup or the Penguin in a Scarf at Penguin in a Scarf. To make a bunny from your own photo, the ASCII Magic editor at ASCII Magic editor turns any image into ASCII.
Q. Can I use ASCII art animals on a 404 page?
Yes, Night Owl and Spider Web are both tagged for 404 pages, and any creature works as a friendly placeholder. Add the script tag and an ascii-art element to your 404.html, then put a plain link home underneath. The 404 guide at Animated ASCII art for 404 and error pages has a full example.
Q. Which animal makes a good loading animation?
Walking Dog, Penguin Belly Slide, Sand Crab Scuttle and Slithering Snake are all tagged as loaders, because their steady movement reads as progress. Show the embed while content loads and remove it when the content arrives. The website loaders guide at ASCII loading spinners and progress bars for websites shows the pattern.
Q. Can I change an animal's colors to match my brand?
Yes, add mono to the embed tag to draw the animal in one color, and bg to set the background. The look attribute redraws it as Halftone dots, Blocks, Letters or another set, and chars lets you supply your own characters from light to dark. Preview the looks on the piece page before you embed.
Q. Are the ASCII animals traced from photos?
No, each animal is hand-coded as an animation, with its own palette and movements such as blinking, breathing and wagging. That keeps the shapes clean even at small sizes. If you want your own pet in ASCII, upload a photo to the ASCII Magic editor at ASCII Magic editor instead.
Q. Can I use these animals in a school or kids' project?
Yes, every piece is MIT licensed, so you can use it in lessons, school sites, kids' apps and printed handouts. Credit is appreciated but not required. Export a PNG for print, a GIF for slides or a video for longer displays, all from the piece page.

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