History Main / InvasionOfTheBabySnatchers

* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' has goblin snatchers. Strangely, it's emerged that children who get kidnapped by goblins are perfectly happy, and are raised as though the goblins' own.

* Laird Barron's recurring villains of his {{Cosmic Horror Stor|y}}ies, known primarily as the "Children of the Old Leech" or "Those Who Dwell in the Cracks", which are prominently featured in ''Literature/TheCroning'', ''The Broadsword'', and ''The Men from Porlock'', frequently indulge in this. Being intergalactic parasites and {{Emotion Eater}}s, they derive pleasure from subsiding on human anguish and fear, and they consider the uncomprehending fear a human infant or a child feels while being eaten to be one of the most delicious tastes they know of. While the Children most engage in this by proxy, demanding a BabyAsPayment whenever a human strikes [[DealWithTheDevil a bargain]] with them (as they find the distress incurred in a human upon being asked this price to be pretty tasty too), they are not above personally stealing a child on occasion if it happens to strike their fancy.

->''"We want...your children. We will take your children."''

* Inverted in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "When The Bough Breaks", as technically it's the ''Enterprise'' crew (and their families) who are the outsiders to the child-napping Aldeans.

For a specific variation that involves abduction by fairy beings, see ChangelingTale. See also AlienAbduction, EatsBabies, ChildlessDystopia. Compare BabyAsPayment, which is where ''human parents'' trade their children in exchange for something.

* Neil Gaiman's ''series/TheSandman2022'' includes a sequence of Morpheus joining his sister, Death as she goes through her rounds of harvesting souls. This includes a baby who experiences sudden infant death. Although Death apparently has no agency in the matter and had no malicious intent, the scene depicts her picking up the child (or rather soul thereof) and leaving the house with him while the doting mother is briefly out of the room.

The name is a pun on Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers which is more of an AssimilationPlot than child kidnapping.

* Laird Barron's recurring villains of his {{Cosmic Horror Stor|y}}ies, known primarily as the "Children of the Old Leech" or "Those Who Dwell in the Cracks", which are prominently featured in ''Literature/TheCroning'', ''The Broadsword'', and ''The Men from Porlock'', frequently indulge in this. Being intergalactic parasites and {{Emotion Eater}}s, they derive pleasure from subsiding on human anguish and fear, and they consider the uncomprehending fear a human infant or a child feals while being eating to be one of the most delicious tastes they know of. While the Children most engage in this by proxy, demanding a BabyAsPayment whenever a human strikes [[DealWithTheDevil a bargain]] with them (as they find the distress incurred in a human upon being asked this price to be pretty tasty too), they not above personally stealing a child on occasion if it happens to strike their fancy.

* The Wiki/SCPFoundation has [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-918 SCP-918,]] a horrible inversion of the DeliveryStork where storks ''steal'' newborn babies and... well, don't click and the link if you're squeamish.

* In the {{Non serial|Movie}} ''Manga/CaseClosed'' movie, ''The Phantom of Baker Street'', the new virtual reality gaming system about to be released goes insane and takes captive the children chosen to beta test it. It only will agree to let them all go if one of them can beat the game, and will kill them all if they all fail.

* Laird Barron's recurring villains of his {{Cosmic Horror Stor|y}}ies, known primarily as the "Children of the Old Leech" or "Those Who Dwell in the Cracks", which are prominently featured in ''Literature/TheCroning'', ''The Broadsword'', and ''The Men from Porlock'', frequently indulge in this. Being intergalactic parasites and EmotionEaters, they derive pleasure from subsiding on human anguish and fear, and they consider the uncomprehending fear a human infant or a child feals while being eating to be one of the most delicious tastes they know of. While the Children most engage in this by proxy, demanding a BabyAsPayment whenever a human strikes [[DealWithTheDevil a bargain]] with them (as they find the distress incurred in a human upon being asked this price to be pretty tasty too), they not above personally stealing a child on occasion if it happens to strike their fancy.

* Odd-Bob the clown from ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' episode "Day Of The Clown", who says he was the original Pied Piper of Hamelin. He makes children disappear in order to feed off the resulting fear experienced by their parents and other adults.

* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', the White Walkers want human children to turn into more of their kind. They cut a deal with a CrazySurvivalist named Craster: he gives them all his male baby sons, and they leave him alone.

Losing a child is the worst nightmare of many parents. Creators play into this fear by creating characters that steal children for a living. [[AliensAreBastards Aliens]], [[TheFairFolk evil elves/fairies]], [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent goblins]] and other inhuman creatures are notorious for this. If a human does this, chances are they're a very special kind of evil character, because ChildrenAreInnocent.

[[AdultFear Losing a child is the worst nightmare of many parents.]] Creators play into this fear by creating characters that steal children for a living. [[AliensAreBastards Aliens]], [[TheFairFolk evil elves/fairies]], [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent goblins]] and other inhuman creatures are notorious for this. If a human does this, chances are they're a very special kind of evil character, because ChildrenAreInnocent.

* A humorous (or disturbing) version happens on ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim,'' which features an alien species whose adult forms happen to resemble human babies. Due to an unfortunate mix-up, their mothership accidentally beams up a collection of newborns instead of the landing party scouting the planet, forcing the aliens to take the babies' place for ''seven years.'' (No, they don't age, but [[WhatAnIdiot the parents don't notice]].)

For a specific variation that involves abduction by fairy beings, see ChangelingTale. See also AlienAbduction, EatsBabies, ChildlessDystopia.

* In the {{Non serial|Movie}} ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' movie, ''The Phantom of Baker Street'', the new virtual reality gaming system about to be released goes insane and takes captive the children chosen to beta test it. It only will agree to let them all go if one of them can beat the game, and will kill them all if they all fail.

* On ''Series/{{The 100}}'', Mount Weather kidnaps the Ark's children [[HumanResources to use their blood and bone marrow as medicine]]. Mount Weather doesn't specifically need children; they were just what was handy. [[RescueArc Rescuing them forms the backbone of Season 2's story arc.]]

* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' has goblin snatchers.
** Strangely, it's emerged that children who get kidnapped by goblins are perfectly happy, and are raised as though the goblins' own.

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