History Main / AnimalAssassin

* In ''Film/DeathOnTheNile1978'', the murderer tries to kill Poirot with a venomous snake. Nothing remotely similar happens in the book.

* In ''Film/Shotgun1955'', Delgadito's renegades leave Bentley tied with wet rawhide out in the desert. As the rawhide dries, it shrinks and drags Bentley closer to a stake that has a rattlesnake tethered to it.

** ** In "The Adventure of the Missing Huntsman", one victim is rendered insensible and dumped in the stall of a temperamental stallion who stomps him to death in an effort to MakeItLookLikeAnAccident.

* ''Literature/SolarPons'': The murderer in "The Adventure of the Ipi Idol" kills one victim with a venomous insect (before the story starts) and makes attempts on the life of Pons' client with a tarantula and a green mamba.

** [[DoubleSubversion Double-subverted]] in '[[Recap/CSINYS03E10 Sweet 16]]". Meaning only to scare his sister, a brother puts a venomous snake in the very expensive car that their father gives her for her 16th birthday. The father gets in the car before he gives it to her, and dies but, as it turns out, from something else. Before the snake is discovered, it also bites Lindsay, who has to be helicoptered to the hospital.

** One episode actually {{subvert|edTrope}}s this twice. Someone is killed by Brazilian Wandering Spider venom, but even though there is a person connected to the case who keeps Brazilian Wandering Spiders, none of them actually bit the victim; she was killed with a syringe of the venom. Someone else is eaten by a tiger at the zoo but was already dead before he was thrown into the exhibit.
** [[DoubleSubversion Double-subverted]] in another episode. Meaning only to scare his sister, a brother puts a venomous snake in the very expensive car that their father gives her for her 16th birthday. The father gets in the car before he gives it to her, is bitten, and dies. Before the snake is discovered, it also bites Lindsay, who has to be helicoptered to the hospital.

** In "The Sting of Death", the first VictimOfTheWeek is immobilised and then doused in a synthetic pheromone that beekeepers use as a swarm lure. This results in them being [[ScaryStingingSwarm stung to death by a swarm of honeybees]].

** In "Wild Harvest", the first VictimOfTheWeek is tied up in a forest, doused with truffle oil, and left to be gored to death by a wild boar.
** In "The Village That Rose from the Dead", one victim is killed by being constricted to death by pythons.
** In "the Sting of Death", the first VictimOfTheWeek is immobilised and then doused in a synthetic pheromone that beekeepers use as a swarm lure. This results in them being [[ScaryStingingSwarm stung to death by a swarm of honeybees]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'':

''Literature/FunJungle''

** In "Mr. Monk and the Panic Room", a man is found shot to death in his panic room along with his pet monkey, who's holding the murder weapon. The monkey is (of course) the prime suspect, but the animal-loving Sharona [[ThisBearWasFramed insists that he is innocent]]. [[spoiler:She's right.]]

Often, the murder animal seems to know its role in the story. Rather than waste time hiding or just wandering around aimlessly, as a real animal might do, it gets straight to the point and attacks the hero by the quickest route, despite having no apparent reason to do so. No matter how big the bedroom is, the spider will almost always end up crawling onto the face of the sleeping hero -- and not, say, scuttling into the wardrobe, which is arguably more likely but rather less helpful for the plot. Although this could be justified, as these critters are cold-blooded and may seek heat/warmth. Don't expect a lot of sympathy for the animal, either. The ones chosen as assassins are generally a species which people consider AlwaysChaoticEvil like [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent snakes]] and [[SpidersAreScary arachnids]].

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', Frasier tries to help his father resolve an unsolved murder case and comes to the conclusion that one of the suspects trained a monkey to stab the victim. [[AvertedTrope He's wrong]].