Iconic Pets

[GormanGhaste]

Gnomes (for giggles): Critters - they are the only creature small enough not to eat them

Gnomes: Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog

[Lovelle]

Expansions
Vanilla:
BC:
Wrath: Loque'nahak
Cata: @Release -Terrorpene @4.2 - Deth'tilac

Alliance Races
Nelf: Toss up between a moonstalker and an owl
Human: Mastiff
Dwarf: Bear
Draenei: Jorumgar Worm
Worgen: Saber wolf
(Not including Gnomes as they're not a hunter class, but feel free to add something if you wish)

Horde Races
Orc: Scorpid
Tauren: Tallstrider
Undead: Spider
Belf: Lynx
Goblin: Tyrannosaur
Troll: Raptor

General
Epitome of a "newbie" hunter: Alliance - Mazzranache (when it was rare) Horde - Grey Owl skin (from Teldrassil)
Epitome of an "experienced" hunter: Garwal in worgen form
BM hunter pet: Skoll
Non-BM hunter pet: Madexx
Show-off pet: Terrorpene - especially if you get him before max level

[Yaone]

Expansions
Vanilla: Broken Tooth, Humar, Deathmaw (1.2 speed on a wolf D:)
BC: Ironjaw hands down, almost everyone I know tamed this guy at one point or another. Hawkbane was also pretty popular to see camped before he got removed.
Wrath: Loque Nahak
Cata: Sambas

Alliance Races
Alliance in general: I can't seem to find a general family of pets for an entire faction.
Nelf: Wolves (coyote model), Owls, and cats.
Human: Mastiffs, foxes, and maybe hawks.
Dwarf: Bears
Draenei: Warp Stalkers
Worgen: Mastiffs and foxes
(Not including Gnomes as they're not a hunter class, but feel free to add something if you wish)
Gnome: The Devilsaur. Bigger is better it seems with that race.

Horde Races
Horde in general: Again, I can't pick one thing to generalize a faction.
Orc: Worgs.
Tauren: Lions, I can't really say tallstriders since they have quite a few up in TB roasting...
Undead: Demon dogs. After doing the quest for the forsaken guy in howling fjord, it seemed right.
Belf: Dragon Hawk
Goblin: Shale Spiders
Troll: Snakes

General
Epitome of a "newbie" hunter: Crocolisks... I see SOOO many lowbie hunters with these. And foxes.
Epitome of an "experienced" hunter: What ever pet has the needed buff. If you meant along the lines of skilled: Any new spider.
BM hunter pet: Spirit beasts
Non-BM hunter pet: Cats
Show-off pet: Terrorpene and any "trick" tamed pets.

[Akyo]

i started late in vanilla wow so i cant really say to much But got teh feeling Humar and rak, and broken tooth. If i recall the white worg from duskwood was worth a look aswell.

BC: no families stood out here but the iconic pet would be the Ghost Wolf no doubt.

Wrath: Loque nahak loque nahak loque nahak..yeah.

Cata:...i really dont know for sure. we have gotten so many new skins and some new models. Sambas and Karoma may be the most common. But none i feel are iconic.

[Senna-Umbreon]

Oh my. This.. Looks quite fun. Must do! XD (I'm gonna be so super specific. And odd. Whoo for odd opinions!)

Expansions
Vanilla: Dishu or Felpaw Wolf <3 (These two are my favourite old world pets due to the ones I had.. God I loved them. They're also what makes me love The Barrens and Felwood so much <3)
BC: Warp Stalkers or the spiky raptors~ Maybe lynxes too~
Wrath: Loque or King Krush~
Cata: Brown Madexx <3

Alliance Races
Alliance in general: I HAVE NO IDEA
Nelf: White tigers~
Human: Guhh.. Mastiffs, I suppose
Dwarf: Bears!
Draenei: Moths~
Worgen:.. Foxes..?


Horde Races
Horde in general: Wolves or raptors~
Orc: Wolves, of course~
Tauren: Swoops or mountain lions~
Undead: Bats!
Belf: Lynxes~
Goblin: MONKEYS D:
Troll: RAPTORS~! <3

General
Epitome of a "newbie" hunter:.. I.. Honestly don't know. I guess really anything that is available in the immediate area when a Hunter (Depending on their race) gets the ability to tame pets. Or the pets Hunters start out with. *Shrugs* I dunno.
Epitome of an "experienced" hunter: ANYTHING. To me, the epitome of an experienced Hunter is one that knows that it honestly doesn't really matter what pet you have. If you like the pet, then why use something else because it's "more epic" or "better" or "SHINY"? Also.. Anything that isn't one of the stereotypical rare spawns. Seeing things like Brown Madexx make my freaking day <3
BM hunter pet: King Krush~ <3
Non-BM hunter pet: BROWN MADEXX <3 ('Course, I use mine no matter what~!)
Show-off pet: Nothing. I honestly don't like the idea of just having a pet to show off. The idea of trophy pets can go drown itself for all I care. (Though, I suppose I can count the Ghost Hydra. I LOVE mine, and I love to show her off, but I didn't tame her only for that. Before she was changed to Ferocity, she was my go-to tanking pet <3)

... Hope that all made some sort of sense. I'm tired and I'm not entirely sure whether people are gonna understand a lick of what I'm saying here. Guh.

[Predatauren]

I remember Arikara during Vanillia that i tamed by chance. The little cloud of dust which spawned when i called her was awesome!

Alliance Races
Alliance in general:
Nelf: Cats/Owls
Human: Wolves/Mastiffs
Dwarf: Bears/Boars
Draenei: Ravagers/Moths
Worgen: Mastiffs


Horde Races
Horde in general:
Orc: Wolfes/Boars/Scorpids
Tauren: Tallstriders/Coyotes
Undead: Bats/Spiders/Oozes/Demon dogs
Belf: Dragon-hawks/Lynxes
Goblin: Monkeys/Crabs
Troll: Raptors/Hydras


PS: Murloc: Seagulls/Deathwings

[Nefretiti]

isnt the wolf in Duskwood called Lupos?

[GormanGhaste]

Murloc: Seagulls/Deathwings

eee! mrglurglurrrgl!

[Vephriel]

Expansions
Vanilla: Humar the Pridelord
BC: Warp Stalkers
Wrath: Jormungar, also Skoll
Cata: Lava Spiders from the Molten Front, also Terrorpene

Alliance Races
Alliance in general: Sambas
Nelf: Saber Cats
Human: Foxes
Dwarf: Bears
Draenei: Sporebats or Ravagers
Worgen: Mastiffs

Horde Races
Horde in general: Worgs
Orc: Worgs
Tauren: Eagles
Undead: Spiders or Bats
Belf: Red Lynxes
Goblin: Monkeys or Gorillas
Troll: Raptors

General
BM hunter pet: Devilsaurs
Non-BM hunter pet: Cats

I don't really have much to say for the newbie/experiences/show-off categories. Any current rare pet is usually a show-off, and they're flavours of the month that change depending on which are newest. Newbie and Experienced hunters alike can go for either rares, or commons, or anything they desire, so I can't think of something to sum either of them up.

[Rhyela]

The last thing I thought of were specific rares for many of these, unlike several folks above.

Expansions
Vanilla: I wasn't a hunter much during Vanilla (I mostly played a warrior), but I remember seeing cats - lots and lots of cats. If memory serves me right, Broken Tooth was highly sought after for her fast attack speed.
BC: I seem to recall many ravagers during my raiding times. Raptors seemed prevalent, as well.
Wrath: Wolves. You couldn't take one step in Dalaran without tripping over someone's wolf. Not to mention it seemed everyone had the same model of wolf (white NR worgs, rune-style demon dogs before they were all tamable, and the war hound).
Cata: Thankfully there is more variety these days, but I still see a lot of "rares". I've probably seen Sambas and Karoma the most, but lately I've been seeing tons of people with Deth.

Alliance Races
Alliance in general: Probably Sambas. Even though he's new and I don't care for him, the lion-shield design seems to be the symbol of the Alliance (or at least it's the first symbol I think of, anyway).
Nelf: Saber kitties of any color, really.
Human: Hmm, probably something more realistic. I guess I associate human hunters with the coyote-style wolves.
Dwarf: Bears, definitely bears. I've seen the opening cinematic for Vanilla enough times to have that firmly ingrained into my brain.
Draenei: Even though ravagers do fit, to me they are too harsh-looking compared to a draenei. Draenei have lovely forms (IMO, maybe I'm weird), and I think the moths actually suit them the most.
Worgen: Surprisingly I don't feel that anything really fits a worgen. Wolves are too obvious and I'd feel weird being a wolf-humanoid with a canine companion. It would almost feel like running around with a less-evolved version of myself. Something about it just doesn't sit well with me.
(Not including Gnomes as they're not a hunter class, but feel free to add something if you wish)

Horde Races
Horde in general: Worg-style wolves; they're what I think of, anyway.
Orc: Again, the worg-style wolves.
Tauren: Eagles, they seem to go so naturally with tauren.
Undead: Spiders - it seems like when you think of something undead or spooky, big ol' spider webs are right there with it.
Belf: Dragonhawks, because they are graceful and colorful and flamboyant, just like blood elves.
Goblin: Beetles, though I'm not sure why.....
Troll: Most definitely raptors, but wind serpents are a close second.

General
Epitome of a "newbie" hunter: Nothing really sets them apart to me. It seems like the hunters that still use their starting pets without a name look to me like they belong to a person who just has so many characters that they don't care anymore.
Epitome of an "experienced" hunter: One who knows what each pet family's ability is by heart.
BM hunter pet: Loque'nahak (even though I don't own him myself)
Non-BM hunter pet: Sambas or Deth, because they're fancy without being exotic.
Show-off pet: Used to be KK back when he was a tough tame (still kinda tough if you're at his level), but now it's probably Deth. I have never been in Firelands myself, but I hear plenty of horror stories.

[Smyelmdar]

Nice topic.

For me, in classic WoW it was The Rake, Dishu, Ressan the Needler, Mazzaranache, Humar the Pridelord and Broken Tooth.
I used to collect rare pets back then, so I had several hunters, because of the size of our stables back then.
I still have most of them, even though some of them aren't special anymore.

In Burning Crusade, it has to be the warp chasers. As soon as I could, I tamed one of them, and I still have it, and she's still one of my fave pets.

For Wrath, I'd say the spirit beasts, King Krush and Aotona. But I guess Loque'nahak was the pet of Wrath.

As for which pets that has been special to me duing my years of WoW, it has to be Naraxis in classic WoW, and the green warp chaser from Burning Crusade.
And after Burning Crusade and until now, I've kept my warp stalker as my main pet.
On my second level 85 hunter, it has been Mazzaranache all the way, ever since level 10.

[Rurutia]

Expansions
Vanilla: Humar!
BC: Tough one...Think scorpids were the sh*t back then
Wrath: Loque'nahak <3
Cata: One of those spiders from Fireland (I think the blue one is the coolest, tho I'm not familiar with their names)

Alliance Races
Alliance in general: I'd have to agree with Sambas
Nelf: Shadowclaw
Human: with a Fox
Dwarf: A boar. XD Remember that many dwarves had boars in low lv bg back in the days...
Draenei: A ravager!
Worgen: Yeah I'd have to go with some sort of worg, prolly a black one.
(Not including Gnomes as they're not a hunter class, but feel free to add something if you wish)
Gnomes hmmm...With a big pet something like, a gorilla maybe XD

Horde Races
Horde in general: the armored worg too
Orc: Hyena
Tauren: A lion! Like, the Rake for exemple.
Undead: A bat XD I'm so cliché!
Belf: Mazzranache
Goblin: A turtle
Troll: A raptor

General
Epitome of a "newbie" hunter: I liked Ghamoo'ra (old skin) and Bjarn really much back in Vanilla at low level <3
After that, my best friend was Olm the wise use to run hundreds of bg with this pet. Was the best <3 and then, in BC, I've only been with the green warp chaser that I kept awfully long and had on 3 of my hunters!
Epitome of an "experienced" hunter: Tbh I think the talent stuff kind of messed up the game for me, because what I look for in a pet is 1) The unusual looks 2) The rare-ness (and when I mean rare, I don't mean hard to get but more like the one pet that no one wants because it's butt-ugly or uninteresting!). My favorite pet of the moment is a Tenacity. It's awesome for soloing (what I mostly do), but when it comes to Pve or Pvp, and that I have to separate myself from him, it makes me a bit emo
BM hunter pet: Rattlebore <3 <3 <3
Non-BM hunter pet: If I wasn't BM I'd go with the Strider Clutchmother, that is taking a deserved rest in my stables but I like really much!
Show-off pet: I guess, always that's really wanted atm. I'd choose Ban'thalos

[Calomel]

Expansions
Vanilla: Sons of Hakkar/Bloodseeker Bats from ZG. And King B! <3 King B.
BC: Grimtotem Spirit Guide
Wrath: Loque'nahak
Cata: Terrorpene

General
Epitome of a "newbie" hunter: A fox, because every little hunter I've seen just HAS to go get himself/herself a fox. And then they realize the dungeon horror that is Tailspin.
Epitome of an "experienced" hunter: A crocolisk or a moth. Because if you can own face with a croc, or with a giant butterfly, you are epic. I dislike FOTM pets.
BM hunter pet: Any of the spirits
Non-BM hunter pet: Ironjaw
Show-off pet: Anything! This is as varied as the hunters that tame them.

[Rurutia]

Hey Calomel, I use to have Mazzranache for the same purpose: If people get owned by a funny looking PINK bird, it's epic XD (especially when I used to be a pig-tailed dwarf girl, then it's double lol )

[Kurasu]

Expansions
Vanilla: Humar, definitely. He was *the* go-to 'awesome pet' back then.
BC: Any cat. With them being the 'big damage pet', they were everywhere. 'Cat or GTFO', pretty much, was the idea. Raptors and windserpents got their turn as well, but cats were the big ones. ... I raided with a windserpent, myself.
Wrath: Wolves. Wolves, wolves, wolves, wolves. Everyone had a wolf. Beast Masters, Devilsaur. Loque was definitely the 'big name', though.
Cata: Sambas and Madexx. A lot of people like Terrorpene, Karoma, et cetera, but those were the iconic ones. Later in Firelands, the 'rare spiders', of course.

Alliance Races
Alliance in general: I can't think of a general one here.
Nelf: Owls. I personally think they should have started with an owl rather than the white sabrecat (not that there's anything wrong with white sabrecats). When I see night elves, I always think 'owl', though.
Human: Dogs. Wolves match well, too.
Dwarf: Bears, boars, and snow leopards.
Draenei: Almost any of the Outland pets. Ravagers, in particular, since you can get them at low level. Moths match well, too.
Worgen: Wolves. I don't care if they start with dogs. They should start with wolves!
(Not including Gnomes as they're not a hunter class, but feel free to add something if you wish): Gnomes, for me, would work with mechanical things better than hunter-pets. If you made me choose a hunter pet that matched them, though, I'd say give Draenei the ravager and give gnomes the moth.

Horde Races
Horde in general: Don't really have a particular one here.
Orc: Wolves (especially worg-style), boars, and scorpids.
Tauren: Tallstriders. They look amazing with an owl as well, but they're not exactly easy to get.
Undead: Spiders, and of course any of the 'dead/dying/rotting' pets.
Belf: Dragonhawks, lynxes, brightly-colored birds. Almost any pet that is really showy.
Goblin: I'm not sure of what I would consider 'iconic' for these.
Troll: Definitely raptors. To me, they couldn't have started with a better 'newbie' pet. They also go well with jungle cats. And, while I know the lore doesn't allow it, they look amazing with birds.

General
Epitome of a "newbie" hunter: Any of the pets that are from the area they are in. Also, boars. boars, back in vanilla/BC days were the iconic leveling pet because of how well they would hold aggro ('Charge' would double the aggro of your opening Growl).
Epitome of an "experienced" hunter: Any hunter who carries the pet with the 'buff needed' in a party/raid. I don't really consider taming one of the 'Firelands' rares to be the epitome of an 'experienced hunter' since there's a ton of tactics online and people can go to their friends to help out for the most part. I won't deny they take *skill*, but I wouldn't call them *experienced*, if that makes sense!
BM hunter pet: Devilsaur and Spirit Beast.
Non-BM hunter pet: Wolf and cat.
Show-off pet: Any of the hard-to-get rares or FOTM 'special skinned' rare/pets. Also, any 'special tames' that have been recently discovered (Garwol, fire pets, buff-pets, impossible skins, et cetera). I can't think of a particular one here because it changes so often.

[Sasrei]

Expansions
Vanilla: Humar and broken tooth, humar was heavily camped and before the nerf BT was the most popular pet out there.

BC: wasnt there so.. idk

Wrath: Loque.. by far was the OMGOSHWTH I LUVS LONG TIME pet

Cata: Id actually say Karoma... Sambas and Madexx. Sambas was a new fluffeh kitty, Karoma made those who wanted the skin really happy and madexx well.. the first rare ever to have 5 different skins and the msot controversal pet (yes rak shiri had stripes.. but rak didnt come in 5 colors, nor have a brown common pop out of nowhere )