http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoonRabbit

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Observe the full moon sometime and take note of its shadows. If you look at it in a certain way, you may notice that its shape resembles that of a rabbit standing over a mortar.

This is the Moon Rabbit or Jade Rabbit. A myth that came from China, legend has it that the rabbit we see serves under the moon goddess and pounds the elixir of life for the immortals. The idea of a rabbit on the moon resonated so well that it spread to other countries under Chinese cultural influence like Japan, Korea and Vietnam, though in their version, the rabbit isn't pounding the elixir of life but simple rice cakes instead.

While the Asian version of this legend is the most widespread in modern times, they weren't the only ones who saw the rabbit in ancient times. The Aztecs and other Mesoamerican cultures also saw the Rabbit in the moon (minus mortar) and had their own tales on what it is and how it came to be. One of their most famous legends state that the rabbit we see was thrown there as an insult to the arrogant and cowardly Moon God, so that its luster will not be equal to the noble Sun God's.

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A famous mythical figure, the Moon Rabbit appears in several popular media, either in the form of the actual creature or as a winking reference to the legend. They're mostly found in Asian media, but there have been sightings in non-Asian countries as well.

For the version more popular in Western culture, see The Man in the Moon.

Examples:

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Anime & Manga

Card Games

The Soratami from the Magic: The Gathering Kamigawa block; they aren't as obviously rabbitish as some of the examples, but you can definitely see it in the ears. Plus, they were directly inspired by the Japanese rabbit/moon legend.

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Comic Books

In the Batman Lovers and Madmen comic, when the Joker first emerges from the chemical vat that warps his mind and appearance (not that he wasn't a sociopathic criminal already in this continuity) the first thing he sees is "a bunny in the moon...that's crazy!" Then he bursts out his first real bout of maniacal laughter.

Film

Very weird Japanese film The Happiness of the Katakuris tweaks this trope with an image showing two rabbits humping on the face of the moon.

The third Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf film, Moon Castle: The Space Adventure, has the gang go save the moon from the Gourd King and his minions. While there, they meet the queen of the moon, who is a rabbit named Queen Luna. Her brother, Wandi, helps them throughout their adventure.

Literature

The Grim Reaper/God of the Underworld in Watership Down is called the Black Rabbit of Inle, and Inle is the rabbits' word for moon. It is unsure if he actually lives there, as opposed to just being associated with it. Likely the latter as rabbits in Watership Down believe the sun to be God and the giver of all life, and in one folktale, El-ahrairah visits the Black Rabbit and doesn't go to the moon to find his home. The association is presumably because most rabbit predators hunt at night.

In the Harry Potter books, Luna Lovegood's Patronus spell takes the form of a hare.

In Frank Herbert's Dune, the second moon of Arrakis has a kangaroo mouse-shaped pattern on it.

A children's book titled The Rice-Cake Rabbit by Betty Jean Lifton is based upon a Japanese folk tale.

This idea appears in Kit William's puzzle-book Masquerade.

In Robin Jarvis' Deptford Mice books, the messenger of the moon goddess came to earth in the form of a hare to speak with the Green Mouse.

In one of the last adventures in Journey to the West, Sun Wukong fights the Moon Rabbit when she comes down to Earth in human form as an Indian princess attempting to force Xuanzang to marry her.

Live-Action TV

The kaiju Lunatyx from Ultraman Ace (and other appearances since) is based on the legend. The twist is that Lunatyx actually destroyed a civilization that once existed on the Moon, reducing the Moon to the rocky waste we know today. However, among the Moon People who fled to Earth, one of their descendants was Yuko Minami, the female co-host of Ultraman Ace .

. This is why the moon base in Kamen Rider Fourze is named the Rabbit Hutch.

The Goodies. The trope becomes Rabbit On the Moon in "Invasion of the Moon Creatures". Graeme Garden sends a couple of rabbits into space. They land on the Moon and breed like, err, rabbits.

Music

Oral Tradition

Records containing references to the moon rabbit date all the way back in texts found during the Warring States period of Ancient China, which talks of a rabbit in the moon pounding herbs for the immortals. This makes the legend at least Older Than Feudalism.

As mentioned in the main text, another version of the Moon Rabbit could be found in the creation story in Aztec Mythology. There are two versions of how the rabbit came to be. In one version, the god Tecciztecatl sacrificed himself as a rabbit when he became the new moon, and the rabbit we see is the god himself. In another version of the myth, the beautiful and wealthy god Tecciztecatl volunteered to be the light of our current world but feared the sacrificial fire when the time came for the ritual to turn him into the sun. In his place, the sickly and blistered Nanahuatzin stepped forward and bravely stepped into the flames to become the new sun, and now shamed, Tecciztecatl followed her. Angered at his cowardice, the gods believed that Tecciztecatl shouldn't glow brighter than Nanahuatzin and threw a rabbit at his face to dim his luster.

Buddhist folklore gives a different explanation for the rabbit. Once upon a time, several animals resolved to practice charity, believing that great virtue will lead to great reward. When an old man came, the other animals offered it food that they had gathered. However, since the rabbit was only capable of gathering grass, it sacrificed itself for the old man by jumping into the fire the old man built. But the rabbit wasn't burned, and the old man revealed himself to be the deity Sakra, who was so touched by the rabbit's virtue that it drew its likeness on the moon for all to see.

A similar tale could be found in Mexican folklore. According to Aztec legend, the god Quetzalcoatl lived in Earth as a man and while he was on a journey, he found himself hungry and tired with no food around. Just when he thought he was going to die, a nearby rabbit came to him and offered himself as food. Moved by the rabbit's gesture, Quetzacoatl placed its likeness on the moon, telling him "You may be just a rabbit, but everyone will remember you; there is your image in light, for all men and for all times."

Theatre

Tsukiuta's 5th stage play Rabbits Kingdom takes their general months = moons = bunnies motif and turns it into a full Alternate Universe in which the characters form the royal courts of two kingdoms of rabbit-eared people. With fluffy tails, too.

Video Games

Web Comics

Web Original

Western Animation

Another possibly accidental reference: in the Phineas and Ferb episode "Out to Launch," Dr. Doofenshmirtz's evil scheme is to make shadow puppets on the moon. The only one he is shown making is a rabbit.

In the Looney Tunes short Haredevil Hare (1948) Bugs Bunny gets sent to the moon on a rocket. Bugs Bunny: No, no, don't leave. There's a beautiful Earth out tonight.

One episode of BoJack Horseman shows via a background photograph that one of the astronauts on the Moon in the Apollo 11 landing was a rabbit in this universe.

Real Life