History Main / ChildEater

* Several such examples exist in the ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'' universe, such as [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-352 SCP-352]] (who is based on the real-life legend of BabaYaga), and [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-5294 SCP-5294]].

* The title monster from Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/{{IT}}'' is "the Eater of Worlds, and of children!"[[note]]Though, technically, It feeds on fear: terrifying its victims before killing them 'salts the meat'. It just primarily focuses on children because they almost always have simple fears that it can easily 'become', unlike adults, who tend to have more complicated fears.[[/note]]

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' has Fenrir Greyback, a werewolf who tries to bite as many people as possible, particularly young children, even when he's ''not'' transformed. And he gets as close to children as he can before transforming. Pedophile stand-in?

* In ''ComicBook/CountdownToFinalCrisis'', Mary Marvel, after her FaceHeelTurn, briefly encounters a demon who claims to be the harvester of souls of stillborn children. After introducing himself as such [[IAmAHumanitarian he threatens to disembowel her and eat the digested food from her intestines.]] In other words, [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall he's the dead baby monster that eats poop.]]

* Black Annis, a villain from the ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'', is a fey creasture who specifically targeted children to kidnap, terrorize, and eventually devour whole.

[[folder:Folk Lore]]

* The Corinthian in ''Comicbook/TheSandman'' is already a repulsive PickyPeopleEater, but he seems to strongly favor the eyes of barely-pubescent boys.

* FatBastard of ''Film/AustinPowers'' fame.

* According to folk legend, {{cats|AreMean}} steal the breath from sleeping babies. This is an explanation of Sudden Infant Death syndrome.

* The ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "Something Wicked" features a Shtriga, which sucks life force from children, leaving them in comas.

* Also, the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' fifth season episode "Smile Time." Demonic puppets are sucking brain power from the children that watch their TV show.
** There was also a season 2 ep with a demon in Lorne's karaoke bar who was announced as Durthok the Child-Eater. Another child-eating species popped up in early season 5. Angel killed it but later learned he was supposed to be meeting with it.

* The Dark Dragon God, Loputousu, and its current host in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'' demand [[HumanSacrifice sacrifices of children ages 7 to 13]]. '''Large''' sacrifices.
** The midquel, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776'', reveals that Loputousu and his cult are not "sacrificing" the children per se; rather, they are forcing them to fight to the death, with the winners being rewarded with positions of nobility in the Lopt Empire. That said, the vast majority of the children are killed in these battles.

-->'''Candy Tree''': He's right to warn you. I feed on children. (''Swallows a child whole'')

* Homelander in ''TheBoys'' recieves blackmail photos of himself committing all manner of horrible crimes, including eating babies alive, even though he has no memories of the events. This eventually drives him to break down completely and becoming a full-blown villain, leading the various superhumans in an attempted coup against the U.S goverment. [[spoiler: The photos are actually of Black Noir, in reality a clone of Homelander driven insane because he's unable to fulfill the purpose he was created for; destroying Homelander in case he became uncontrollable. Black Noir committed the crimes in hopes of giving Homelander a psychotic break so he'd be allowed to kill him]]

* The opening Little Bad of the third book from ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' was a ghost who was stuck in the same pattern of actions: trying to make her baby be quiet by singing and covering his mouth, so that her husband wouldn't lose his temper. She was haunting a hospital nursery and suffocating children.

* In ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', Arf threatens to swallow the nine-year-old Nanoha whole to get her out of their way, though it was probably a bluff.

* Several ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' PokeDex entries ''suggest'' this is true of a few species:

** [[HappyFunBall Drifloon]] might be a ''nasty'' one. It's entry says "It is whispered that any child who mistakes DRIFLOON for a balloon and holds on to it could wind up missing."

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In the season 1 episode "Under the Bed", a boogeyman-like monster steals children from their bedrooms to devour them.

* Cronus/Saturn in Greek/Roman mythology. After hearing a prophecy that he will be overthrown by one of his children, he eats every one of his children [[spoiler:except Zeus/Jupiter, who was saved when Cronus/Saturn was tricked into eating a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes, under the impression that it was the real deal.]] As seen by the current image, famous artists such as Peter Paul Rubens' ''[[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Rubens_saturn.jpg Saturn]]'' and Francisco Goya's ''[[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Francisco_de_Goya%2C_Saturno_devorando_a_su_hijo_%281819-1823%29.jpg Saturn Devouring His Son]]'' (during his black period).

* ''BrunoTheBandit'' had a storyline parodying ''TheSwordOfTruth'' and it's ProtagonistCenteredMorality. The main villain of the story is portrayed as one of these in a TV interview.

* The Beldam/Other Mother from ''Literature/Coraline'' lures children into her world, where she proceeds to devour their bodies and lives.

* The Beldam/Other Mother from ''WesternAnimation/Coraline'' lures children into her world, where she then "eats up their lives" (and their bodies, presumably).