History Main / Bambification

* ''{{Starman}}''

* Linderman saves a deer in one of the ''[[{{Series/Heroes}} Heroes]]'' [[AllThereInTheManual online comics]]. Maybe a direct reference to "Starman".

[[caption-width-right:300:SincerityMode Total]] [[BadAss.]]]]

[[caption-width-right:300:SincerityMode Total]] [[BadAss.]]

[[caption-width-right:300:[[SincerityModeTotal]] BadAss.]]

As far as how this trope has affected RealLife... let's... not even go there. (If you must, take it to this here [[Headscratchers/WhatMeasureIsANonCute Headscratchers page]]. We don't want this to turn into [[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike]] Complaining About Hoofed Mammals You Don't Like]].) It is worth noting that deer cause more human deaths than any other large land animal, due to their cute propensity for mimicking speed bumps on highways (so please drive carefully especially around dusk and at night.) Also, if deer happen to give you problems in your backyard, there are [[http://newfs.org/publications-and-resources/barring-bambi.html easy ways]] to thwart them. Try planting sages and onions. The latter will keep squirrels from digging at your tulips too. Alternatively, put in TheThingThatGoesDoink. [[AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle The more you know!]]

[[caption-width-right:300:Total BadAss.]]

As far as how this trope has affected RealLife... let's... not even go there. (If you must, take it to this here [[Headscratchers/WhatMeasureIsANonCute Headscratchers page]]. We don't want this to turn into Complaining About Hoofed Mammals You Don't Like.) It is worth noting that deer cause more human deaths than any other large land animal, due to their cute propensity for mimicking speed bumps on highways (so please drive carefully especially around dusk and at night.) Also, if deer happen to give you problems in your backyard, there are [[http://newfs.org/publications-and-resources/barring-bambi.html easy ways]] to thwart them. Try planting sages and onions. The latter will keep squirrels from digging at your tulips too. Alternatively, put in TheThingThatGoesDoink. [[AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle The more you know!]]

* Done in a [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence surprisingly graphic]]) ''CalvinAndHobbes'' strip.

As far as how this trope has affected RealLife... let's... not even go there. (If you must, take it to this here [[JustBugsMe/WhatMeasureIsANonCute It Just Bugs Me page]]. We don't want this to turn into Complaining About Hoofed Mammals You Don't Like.) It is worth noting that deer cause more human deaths than any other large land animal, due to their cute propensity for mimicking speed bumps on highways (so please drive carefully especially around dusk and at night.) Also, if deer happen to give you problems in your backyard, there are [[http://newfs.org/publications-and-resources/barring-bambi.html easy ways]] to thwart them. Try planting sages and onions. The latter will keep squirrels from digging at your tulips too. Alternatively, put in TheThingThatGoesDoink. [[AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle The more you know!]]

The TropeNamer (unrelated to the term used by some critics of vegetarianism to describe [[StrawmanPolitical how they see]] [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute the vegetarians' philosophy]]) is a [[{{Fictionary}} term]] used offhand to criticize this trope in Douglas Coupland's novel ''Generation X''. What's especially bizarre is the fact that ''{{Bambi}}'' is often accused of spreading the idea that "deer are innocent". If you feel this way, ''please'' go and watch the movie again. In actuality, the film does not shy away from the "Deer can be Bastards and, Really, Sometimes You Can't Blame Them" / "[[EverythingTryingToKillYou Nature, Red in Tooth and Claw]]" world of Felix Salten's original novel (which, needless to say, is a bit closer to reality.) [[ViewerGenderConfusion Bambi himself]] goes from cute little fawn to BadAss Prince who kicks (antlers, rather) butt for [[ThePowerOfLove love]].[[hottip:*:But since no one watches much past [[TearJerker/Bambi Bambi's mom dying]], no one remembers this.]]

The TropeNamer (unrelated to the term used by some critics of vegetarianism to describe [[StrawmanPolitical how they see]] [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute the vegetarians' philosophy]]) is a [[{{Fictionary}} term]] used offhand to criticize this trope in Douglas Coupland's novel ''Generation X''. What's especially bizarre is the fact that ''{{Bambi}}'' is often accused of spreading the idea that "deer are innocent". If you feel this way, ''please'' go and watch the movie again. In actuality, the film does not shy away from the "Deer can be Bastards and, Really, Sometimes You Can't Blame Them" / "[[EverythingTryingToKillYou Nature, Red in Tooth and Claw]]" world of Felix Salten's original novel (which, needless to say, is a bit closer to reality.) [[ViewerGenderConfusion Bambi himself]] goes from cute little fawn to BadAss Prince who kicks (antlers, rather) butt for [[ThePowerOfLove love]].

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Bambi.jpg ]]

[[AC:MMORPGs]]

* The [[Pokemon Pokémon]] Deerling is clearly a case of this. Its evolution, Sawsbuck, isn't.

** Of course, this turns into DidNotDoTheResearch and an additional WallBanger for actual hunters watching, as either they were poaching or live in a previously-unknown are where it's legal to hunt in early spring. Even game ranches won't send people out to shoot deer in spring and summer, which is the only time the fawns are with their mothers.

* In the ''WarCraft'' novel ''Lord Of The Clans'', Thrall comes upon a deer who isn't afraid of him, specifically because he's so close to nature. He kills it, and thanks its spirit for its sacrifice.
** Similarly, in ''Rise of the Horde'', Thrall's father's first kill is a [[CallARabbitASmeerp space deer]] that separates itself from the rest of its herd. [[spoiler:This is foreshadowing of sorts: Durotan is one of the relatively few orcs to resist demonic corruption, and that choice eventually gets him killed.]]

* Aside from the example mentioned briefly above, ''HarryPotter'' actually uses this quite well beginning in ''PrisonerOfAzkaban''. There is a Stag who has a particular significance to Harry. [[spoiler:[[strike:When his father's group of friends became [[{{Animorphism}} Animagi]], that was the form he took,]] James Potter's Patronus took the form of a stag and Harry's Dementor-expelling Patronus takes this form as well.]] We'd almost say this counts as an [[InvertedTrope inversion]]: when the deer shows up, it means the ''villains'' are about to get slaughtered. There is also the case of the silver doe in the final novel.

-->'''Hulk''': ''Men killed Bami's mother!''

** Hilariously, because deer shed their antlers yearly, even an incredibly lousy hunter could decorate with antlers just by walking around the forest and picking them up. His boast becomes much less impressive that way.

* ''Starman''
* ''Powder''
* ''TheIronGiant'', though it's actually done rather well there to show the Giant's first inkling of others' mortality.
* ''Simon Birch'', where the deer in question is actually Simon's dead mother. Or something. [[{{Narm}} Whatever.]]
* In ''SpinCity'', Mike refuses to kill a fawn to score political points with a political contributor who's big on hunting. Mike's attempt at "missing" ends up killing the mother, though. Just to drive the point home, the hunter shows a sort of sadistic glee at the fact that the fawn will no longer have a mother, ''while they're eating meat made from her''.
** It does, however, lead to a CrowningMomentOfFunny when they take the wounded fawn into a hospital. Carter fills out a form for it.
-->'''Carter:''' Relationship to patient. Oh, that's easy - ''assassin!''\\
'''Mike:''' Yeah? Well, I may have killed him - but ''you ate his mother''!
* Shows up in ''SportsNight'' when Jeremy is traumatized on a deer hunt with executives. Isaac rightly tells him he should have voiced his objections sooner.
* In more fantastic stories, unicorns are used instead of deer. Case in point, ''HarryPotter''.
** There is an excellent Jane Yolen short story, "De Natura Unicorni", that plays this variation absolutely straight until the climax - and it works.
** ''Harry Potter'' also has this with actual deer -- James Potter's Animagus form was a stag, which symbolically makes his wife Lily the doe, and they both [[HeroicSacrifice died at Voldemort's hands trying to save Harry]] (Lily, specifically, chose to die despite having the clear choice to save herself, and her sacrifice put ThePowerOfLove on Harry as a magical protection against Voldemort). Later, Harry's Patronus (a CareBearStare spell to counter the EmotionBomb effect of Dementors) manifests as a stag, representing James, and [[spoiler:Snape]]'s turns out to be a doe, representing Lily.

* Similarly, in ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' when Willow pets a fawn in a green garden... before slitting its throat to use a spell ingredients in order to resurrect Buffy. One of the first clues to the wrongness of said resurrection and the dark path Willow's on. It's specifically noted to be "blood of the innocent" or some such.
* ''Film/BeautyAndTheBeast'': Gaston sings in his VillainSong, "I use antlers in all of my decorating!" Judging by the state of his trophy room, that's a lot of [[KickTheDog dead deer]]. ([[CompensatingForSomething What does he need all those antlers for]], one must wonder.)
** Some of the animators on that movie even said they were trying to imply that Gaston was the one who killed Bambi's mother. She appears in the opening shot in the movie as well.
** Hilariously, because deer shed their antlers yearly, even an incredibly lousy hunter could decorate with antlers just by walking around the forest and picking them up. His boast becomes much less impressive that way.
*** And Judge Doom from ''WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' was meant, in earlier drafts, to also be revealed as Bambi's mother's killer. They decided this pushed him too far over the MoralEventHorizon, especially given what he'd done so far in the film (that poor little sneaker...); it also created FridgeLogic, since the movie worked on the idea of AnimatedActors.
* Linderman saves a deer in one of the ''[[{{Series/Heroes}} Heroes]]'' [[AllThereInTheManual online comics]]. Maybe a direct reference to "Starman".
** Likewise, in a later comic, Arthur Petrelli takes his two sons out hunting. You win no prizes for guessing Peter's reaction to his daddy's order to shoot at a buck.

* In FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends, during a camping trip gone wrong, Mac makes a trap to catch a deer, so they could eat it to survive. After seeing the deer, however, he chickens out.
* BeastMaster - The beast master finds an injured doe and takes care of it in his shack until it's healthy enough to move again. The group of men who trash the shack and kill the deer is meant to show how much bastards they are.
* My Dog Skip - Willie (Frankie Muniz) touches a dying innocent deer in shock before being forced to look away when the hunters finish off with the killing blow.
* SupermanTheAnimatedSeries - A group of low level thugs testing out high powered weapons from Apokolips get tired blowing up the trees and try to aim at a running deer. Then Superman appears, blocks off the shot and proceeds to kick their collective asses.
* The second expansion of World Of Warcraft features Bambina, Mother of Bambina, Flora, and Thudder. Occasionally an NPC will shoot the mother and cheer, at which point Bambina takes several levels in badass and slaughters the NPC mercilessly. Players can watch this unfold repeatedly.

* Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings's novel ''The Yearling'': Jody's killing of his pet deer signifies the end of innocence.

* DependingOnTheWriter, TheIncredibleHulk is quite fond of deer. He even calls them Bambi! One memorable issue had him stumble upon some hunters killing deer, and he reacted [[UnstoppableRage pretty much exactly how you'd expect him to.]]
-->'''Hulk''': ''Men killed Bami's mother!''

[[AC: {{Comic Books}}:]]
* Done in a [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence surprisingly graphic]]) ''CalvinAndHobbes'' strip.
** And at least one ''The Far Side'' strip.

* HaroldAndKumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay - Makes fun the bambification trope in a very dark way. On the run from an insane, racist Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, the duo finds themselves in the woods in Alabam. They encounter an adorable deer and start petting it... right before it suddenly shot in the head, spraying guts and blood on the horrified men, by a sophisticated redneck hunter. He then slits its throat and stuffs the body messily into a a sack. All of it for comedy of course! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmE2xhYQTNs

* Parodied to hell and back in "Tommy Boy".
[[AC: {{Literature}}:]]

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]
* LifeWithLouie has Andy's war story, in which branch of soldiers has been attacked and battered by a herd of deers.
-->'''Andy:''' Sometimes a deer comes to you, and run away. Sometimes deer comes, and doesn't run away. Sometimes deer comes, stares into your eyes and kick you right in the knuckle. So don't tell me about Bambi and don't left his cute eyes fool you. Deers are bastards!?
* In ''TheSimpsons'', there are reindeer who start off cute, then (understandably) turn vicious when Homer and company try to hunt them.
** And in another episode, deer growl and show their sharp teeth to Lisa, but when a park ranger arrives they act cute.
* Seeing as its heroine is a [[PettingZooPeople Wolf-Woman]], ''{{FreeFall}}'' naturally [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff300/fv00227.htm took this one on]].
* ''DrawnTogether'' turns Captain Hero loose on nature with semi-automatic weapons. Inevitably, Bambi shows up on the doorstep with his dead mother's body in his... er... [[FeatherFingers arms]] and tearfully begs Captain Hero to stop. This display moves the housemates to drop their guard, whereupon Bambi lets loose a herd of vengeful deer on them. When the deer attack is routed, Bambi cries out [[spoiler: "Come back! I killed my own MOTHER for this!"]]
[[AC: {{Web Original}}]]
* "BambiMeetsGodzilla".
** "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VujzyznQ4eE Son of Bambi meets Godzilla]]". That is all.
* There's [[http://deer-s-revenge.software.informer.com/ Deer's Revenge]], also a parody of the ''DeerHunter'' series that also swaps the roles of predator and prey.
[[AC: {{Music Videos}}]]

* Somewhat alluded to in the video for Fall Out Boy's ''Sugar We're Going Down'' (if Faun counts as an extension of Deer).

* Aside from the example mentioned briefly above, ''HarryPotter'' actually uses this quite well beginning in ''Prisoner of Azkaban''. There is a Stag who has a particular significance to Harry. [[spoiler:[[strike:When his father's group of friends became [[{{Animorphism}} Animagi]], that was the form he took,]] James Potter's Patronus took the form of a stag and Harry's Dementor-expelling Patronus takes this form as well.]] We'd almost say this counts as an [[InvertedTrope inversion]]: when the deer shows up, it means the ''villains'' are about to get slaughtered. There is also the case of the silver doe in the final novel.

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[[AC: Comic Books:]]

[[AC:Film]]

[[AC: Literature:]]

[[AC: Web Original]]

[[AC: Music Videos]]

* While not exactly a parody, there is that scene in MarmaladeBoy where Miki gets mobbed by tame deer...
* HaroldAndKumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay - Makes fun the bambification trope in a very dark way. On the run from an insane, racist Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, the duo finds themselves in the woods in Alabam. They encounter an adorable deer and start petting it... right before it suddenly shot in the head, spraying guts and blood on the horrified men, by a sophisticated redneck hunter. He then slits its throat and stuffs the body messily into a a sack. All of it for comedy of course! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmE2xhYQTNs
* LifeWithLouie has Andy's war story, in which branch of soldiers has been attacked and battered by a herd of deers.
-->'''Andy:''' Sometimes a deer comes to you, and run away. Sometimes deer comes, and doesn't run away. Sometimes deer comes, stares into your eyes and kick you right in the knuckle. So don't tell me about Bambi and don't left his cute eyes fool you. Deers are bastards!?

* A majestic elk summons the Sprite in the "Firebird Suite" segment of ''[[{{Fantasia}} Fantasia/2000]]''.
* Ryu risks his life to save a deer in a later episode of ''ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'', and in doing so helps a gruffer than usual Joe remember his own softer side.

* Done in this [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence surprisingly graphic]]) ''CalvinAndHobbes'' strip.

[[AC:Played Straight]]

[[AC:Notable Parodies]]

** We suspect they may have got the idea from a similarly-themed (and [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence surprisingly graphic]]) ''CalvinAndHobbes'' strip.
** And at least one ''The Far Side'' strip.
* And then there's [[http://deer-s-revenge.software.informer.com/ Deer's Revenge]], also a parody of the ''DeerHunter'' series that also swaps the roles of predator and prey.

[[AC:Older, less {{Narm}}ful version of this trope]]

* "BambiMeetsGodzilla".
** "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VujzyznQ4eE Son of Bambi meets Godzilla]]". That is all.

* Despite seemingly playing it completely straight, ''TheRing 2'' features a herd of demonically-possessed deer. Yes, it's [[{{Narm}} just as silly as it sounds]].
** It's somewhat implied that, since horses were driven mad by Samara's uncontrollable PsychicPowers (and indeed, a horse broke out of its trailer and drowned itself at the mere presence of a Cursed Video victim [[spoiler:who had already cured herself]],) deer respond to the malevolent influence not by trying to kill themselves, but by killing the ''offender''. The car was almost totaled by their attack.

* ''TheIronGiant'', though it's actually done rather well here.

In much of ''today's'' fiction, however, something got [[{{Flanderized}} seriously lost in the translation]]. Somehow, deer became symbols of innocence and all that is pretty and sweet in nature. Therefore, if you want to show [[MoralEventHorizon the death of something innocent]] to [[GreenAesop make some sort of point or other]], you kill a deer. The examples of this trope speak for themselves (see below) and it has gotten to the point where it can barely be taken seriously; this trope is a rich vein of {{Narm}}.