Anthro

Anthro Characters, or Anthropomorphic Characters, are a special subgenre of heroes that are basically Animals that act as if they were human (though they may exhibit stereotypes of their species behavior) - although it is mostly associated with animals it is possible for anthropomorphic characters to be inanimate objects such as vehicles or abstract ideas (though the latter tend to be called personifications rather than anthropomorphic).

Please keep in mind that not every animal hero or villain is anthropomorphic; they have to act human-like (speaking, wearing clothes, walking on two legs, talking with humans, etc.)

Of course, not all of these are animals. Benson Dunwoody, for instance, is a gumball machine, while Lightning McQueen is a car.