why do cartoon characters have only three fingers and a thumb?
83818
Easier to draw.  Less clumsey looking.
1114459
yeah wow...with 11 fingers imagine how fast you could type!!  then again, with four arms you'd be a bad *ss drummer...i'd take the arms. plus, if you didn't wanna draw attention to yourself you could always just let two of 'em hang under a coat or somethin' and just use the other two!!
570894
Well on this planet the answer is NO,  Mammals (including people) only have two arms and two legs as a maximum, however as you said it is a Si-Fi drawing, then you can make it look like whatever you want, the limit is your imagination.
880332
I don't know, I think it would only work if the two other fingers were "working"...kinda like two in the pink, one in the stink...lol
1046349
Not true.  He made this up.  Count the toes on your dog or cat; they have 4 plus a dew claw (that "thumb" on their heal).  Most mammals have 5 digits.  Our pinkies were going nowhere.
452367
It was for april fools day. Last year they drew mustaches on all the characters in Witch Hunter Robin. They should show it again next time the show is scheduled to air.
473259
There are no fingers in my hand. I only have fingers on my hand.
1155314
Most likely the hair on the toes is remnants from our less evolved ancestors. Since toes, and fingers for that matter, are small and out in the open, they are highly susceptible to the elements, especially cold.  So, to fight the cold on our tiny appendages, we had little tufts of hair.  Hair is a natural way to help the body trap in heat (why do you think people shave their heads in the summer).  However, it is also likely that our ancestors had a lot more hair on their hands and feet, and thus their fingers and toes.  We didn't evolve from apes, but they do have a lot of hair don't they?
632863
In addition to the good answers you already have, there are also some arboreal frogs with opposable thumbs. The Phyllomedusa leaf-frogs are known as "monkey frogs" because of this feature:\nhttp://www.mongabay.com/images/peru/tambopata/Tambopata_1026_3848a.jpg\n\nMonkeys (order Primates) have opposable thumbs (not only in their hands but also opposable big toes in their feet, we're an exception). And the pandas have an opposable "pseudo thumb" that is really one of the bones of the wrist.
765734
The thumb and index finger actually make a cross +, and therefore we show our love of the cross by kissing it!! The other three fingers represent the holy trinity, The Father, The  Son, and The Holy Spirit!
34428
Richard Dawkins attempts to answer this : \n[The embryo of every 4-limbed  vertebrate has five "fingers and toes".]\n"We tend to think that  the possession of 5 digits is deeply stamped in the hands and feet  of tetrapods (4-limbed  vertebrates).  Yet {some early vertebrates] had  7 toes....8 toes....6 toes. ...My tentative guess is that\nin those early times the different species really did benefit from their respective numbers of toes...Later the tetrapod limb design hardened at 5 digits because some internal embryonic  process came to rely upon that number. In the adult the number is frequently reduced...in..modern horses to just one, the middle toe."
985392
mabey you were just born with a bigger thumb on one hand u know how some people have an arm thats longer than the other.... mabey thats what is wrong with your thumbs...?
50313
It allows for better grip.  It has been hypothesized that this is because of evolution from our tree dwelling roots (if you grip something  there will be more surface area covering the branch without your fingers overlapping meaning more grip).
836762
Technically, we don't differ from primates since Homo sapiens are primates.  Monkeys, lemurs, apes and hominids all belong to the order Primates.   \n\nI'm assuming your question is "How do we differ from other primates?"  So, I'll answer that instead.  \n\nWe are unlike the other primates physically in that we do not have opposable thumbs on our feet.  Our hipbones are structured differently to facilitate vertical walking.  Due to this, unlike other primates, humans are the only obligatory bipedal primates.  One misconception is that humans are hairless relatives of apes.  In fact, we have just the number of hair follicles per square centimeter of skin that one would expect on an animal of our size.  It's just thought our hair is unpigmented and finer and shorter than most other animals so it's not as visible at a glance.    \n\nApart from physical characteristics, our advanced brain size and capacity exceeds that of lesser primates.  This allows us to have abstract thought and use logic and other ideas that lesser primates are capable of.  Our use of tools and external objects to compensate our physical shortcomings is unrivaled not only among other primates, but among all other organisms.  \n\nWe do have some common characteristics with primates.  After all, we are supposed to have descended from a common ancestor.  Like other primates, we have opposable thumbs on our hands.  Also, all primates have five fingers (not counting my old shop teacher, Mr. Windslow).  All primates have fingernails instead of claws, or other keratinous apendages.  In general, primates are social creatures.  All primates also have forward facing eyes, useful for depth perception.  Humans are similar to most primates in that we are both omnivorous, meaning that we have the physiology to eat and digest both plant matter and meat.
649265
It's FIGURE not FINGER. try looking for FIGURE in google.
42437
Cause she doesn't have thumbs!\n\nNo thumbs = can't hold a toothbrush\nCan't hold brush = can't brush teeth\ncan't brush teeth = breath smells like cat food.\n\nthat, and the fact that she sounds like a stray (cat), should account for it.
990799
the most logical answer:\n10 minus the number of finger you're not holding up!