History Main / TheTamingOfTheGrue

* There are [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Cthulhu]] plushie dolls (as shown in the page image). Not to mention [[Literature/TheHoundsOfTindalos Hounds of Tindalos]], gugs, Mi-Go. Moreover, recent fiction is ''much'' more likely to play these guys for laughs rather than straight.

[[quoteright:342:[[EverythingsBetterWithPlushies https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/IMPTYVHP003_360_7590.jpeg]]]]

See also CuteMonsterGirl, YouSexyBeast, LovecraftLite, {{Disneyfication}}. FriendlyNeighbourhoodVampire is a subtrope of this. DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu can lead to this effect if done often enough. JustForFun/NotToBeConfusedWith the plot of ''WesternAnimation/{{Despicable Me}}''.

* Zombies and Skeletons while never portrayed as cute or cuddly ([[AttractiveZombie most of the time]]), in cartoons it's not uncommon see {{Friendly Zombie}}s and [[FriendlySkeleton Skeletons]], who can detach and attach their parts at will. Then there are movies such as ''WesternAnimation/HotelTransylvania'', ''WesternAnimation/DaddyImAZombie'' and ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'' (In which the undead were much more lively and upbeat than the extremely dreary land of the living) and of course the ''Toys/MonsterHigh'' franchise. Even then there are fantasy novels and videogames which may feature Zombies who are friendly but either wish to be accepted by humans, or wish to die due to seeing themselves as monsters. Subverted in Videogame/{{Fallout}} in which the "Zombies" aren't actually zombies [[BerserkButton (And don't use that word in front of them)]] but are humans mutated by radiation to look like a corpse, but if their brain become radiated enough they can become "feral" and act like typical zombies.

* The trope namer, grues, first appeared in Creator/{{Infocom}}'s classic ''VideoGame/{{Zork}}'' games as the unseen (and, because they never leave pitch-dark areas, unseeable) monsters who would eat adventurers careless enough to wander in dark places without a light source. Later works such as ''VideoGame/{{Wishbringer}}'' and ''Zork: The Undiscovered Underground'' would play grues for laughs; ''Wishbringer'' featured a grue lair with a refrigerator whose light goes out when you open it and a mother grue with an apron, while ''Undiscovered Underground'' had a grue convention where grues would discuss topics such as 'Surviving the lean years'. The grues were still dangerous, but played less seriously than in earlier works. Somewhere in between was ''VideoGame/{{ADOM}}'s'' treatment of grues, which made them killable monsters -- played seriously aside from the ShoutOut aspect but less formidable than an unseen, unbeatable threat. The once-popular humorous wiki Uncyclopedia pokes fun at grues even more, making them look like the weird Japanese character Domo-kun for the hell of it.

There are also cases where said monster is modified in order to appeal to younger demographics (and {{otaku}}s) by making him (or, for the latter, [[{{Moe}} her]]) more cute, huggable, and so forth.

[[caption-width-right:342:Creator/HPLovecraft must be rolling in his grave... Or at least [[{{Headdesk}} banging his head on a wall]] [[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/81337 really hard]].]]

Except, as a particular monster gets more popular, it has a tendency to get less... monstrous. [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragons]] - which at least in Western mythology were once giant, winged, fire-breathing lizards that burned villages and were slain by knights - first got more intelligent, then more likely to be a "not really a monster" subversion, until, in the modern era, stuff like ''Film/{{Dragonheart}}'' and ''[[Film/PetesDragon1977 Pete's]] [[Film/PetesDragon2016 Dragon]]'' are nothing to bat an eye at. Similarly, [[OurOrcsAreDifferent orcs]] - who were invented for ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' to be ''bred evil'' (and mostly stupid) often appear as "{{noble savage}}s" after just eighty years.

* Regarding [[OurElvesAreBetter dark elves]]:

** As of the mid-2010s, however, two ''very'' disparate depictions of Godzilla popped up in modern culture: the American ''Film/Godzilla2014'' that potrays him as a noble anti-hero who represents nature's order, and Japan's ''Film/ShinGodzilla'' that portrays him as a horrific abomination against nature that man unleashed onto themselves. Strangely, either depiction [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor isn't really unfaithful to the "returning to the darker roots" concept]] that both films advertised.

** ''Film/PacificRim'' provides an in-universe depiction. Kaiju, once as deadly as natural disasters, are kept in check thanks to the Jager program. For most people, kaiju go from a terrifying threat to a distant annoyance, and humanity acclimates to their presence. A quick montage depicts kaiju re-branded as mascots, spiritual icons and kid-friendly cartoons (much as they have been in RealLife).

** The softening of the Werewolf dates back as the 12th Century where Creator/MarieDeFrance writes the tale of the {{Bisclavret}} who was trapped in his Wolf form by a treacherous wife after revealing his secret and is captured then kept as a pet by the King who he remains loyal to, even as a Wolf.

* The trope namer, grues, first appeared in Creator/{{Infocom}}'s classic ''VideoGame/{{Zork}}'' games as the unseen (and, because they never leave pitch-dark areas, unseeable) monsters who would eat adventurers careless enough to wander in dark places without a light source. Later works such as ''VideoGame/{{Wishbringer}}'' and ''Zork: The Undiscovered Underground'' would play grues for laughs; ''Wishbringer'' featured a grue lair with a refrigerator whose light goes out when you open it and a mother grue with an apron, while ''Undiscovered Underground'' had a grue convention where grues would discuss topics such as 'Surviving the lean years'. The grues were still dangerous, but played less seriously than in earlier works. The once-popular humorous wiki Uncyclopedia pokes fun at grues even more, making them look like the weird Japanese character Domo-kun for the hell of it.

* In ''Literature/PrinceCaspian'', Bacchus and the Maenads undergo this treatment. The original Greco-Roman myths depict Bacchus as a fearsome god of alcohol and madness, and the Maenads as frenzied cultists who partake in orgies of ecstasy and gruesome violence akin to TheWildHunt. In ''Prince Caspian'', on the other hand, Bacchus is almost like the Disney version of Disney/PeterPan, and the Maenads are the female equivalents of the Lost Boys. To someone versed in Myth/ClassicalMythology, this comes off like a kiddie cartoon called "[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom Mola Ram]] and Friends." This is somewhat justified in-story by the implication that they're changed by [[CrystalDragonJesus Aslan's]] presence, losing the aspects of their character associated with corruption and becoming representatives of harmless joy and high spirits. Susan even comments that "I wouldn't have felt very safe with Bacchus and all his wild girls if we'd met them without Aslan." It's a clear reference to the Christian "baptism" of pagan symbolism (e.g., the use of pre-Christian Germanic traditions at Christmas).

** The softening of the Werewolf dates back as the 12th Century where Marie de France writes the tale of the Bisclavret who was trapped in his Wolf form by a treacherous wife after revealing his secret and is captured then kept as a pet by the King who he remains loyal to, even as a Wolf.

* Zombies and Skeletons while never portrayed as cute or cuddly ([[AttractiveZombie most of the time]]), in cartoons it's not uncommon see {{Friendly Zombie}}s and [[FriendlySkeleton SKeletons]], who can detach and attach their parts at will. Then there are movies such as ''WesternAnimation/HotelTransylvania'', ''WesternAnimation/DaddyImAZombie'' and ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'' (In which the undead were much more lively and upbeat than the extremely dreary land of the living) and of course the ''Toys/MonsterHigh'' franchise. Even then there are fantasy novels and videogames which may feature Zombies who are friendly but either wish to be accepted by humans, or wish to die due to seeing themselves as monsters. Subverted in Videogame/{{Fallout}} in which the "Zombies" aren't actually zombies [[BerserkButton (And don't use that word in front of them)]] but are humans mutated by radiation to look like a corpse, but if their brain become radiated enough they can become "feral" and act like typical zombies.

* Zombies and Skeletons while never portrayed as cute or cuddly, in cartoons it's not uncommon see friendly zombies and skeletons, who can detach and attach their parts at will. Then there are movies such as ''WesternAnimation/HotelTransylvania'', ''WesternAnimation/DaddyImAZombie'' and ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'' (In which the undead were much more lively and upbeat than the extremely dreary land of the living) and of course the ''Toys/MonsterHigh'' franchise. Even then there are fantasy novels and videogames which may feature Zombies who are friendly but either wish to be accepted by humans, or wish to die due to seeing themselves as monsters. Subverted in Videogame/{{Fallout}} in which the "Zombies" aren't actually zombies [[BerserkButton (And don't use that word in front of them)]] but are humans mutated by radiation to look like a corpse, but if their brain become radiated enough they can become "feral" and act like typical zombies.

* In their original appearance in the ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse, the Terra-Firmians were sociopathic subterranean savages who cared a whit about the massive destruction and loss of life their [[FictionalSport rolling competitions]] caused on the surface. Their appearance in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' was much softer, with the Terra-Firmians being much less monolithic in their self-absorption. Then comes ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', where they're practically cuddly -- they're just plain folks who live underground, look like rocks, and occasionally come up toward the surface to explore.

* In their original appearance in the DisneyDucksComicUniverse, the Terra-Firmians were sociopathic subterranean savages who cared a whit about the massive destruction and loss of life their [[FictionalSport rolling competitions]] caused on the surface. Their appearance in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' was much softer, with the Terra-Firmians being much less monolithic in their self-absorption. Then comes ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', where they're practically cuddly -- they're just plain folks who live underground, look like rocks, and occasionally come up toward the surface to explore.

** As of the mid 2010's, however, two ''very'' disparate depictions of Godzilla popped up in modern culture: the American ''Film/Godzilla2014'' that potrays him as a noble anti-hero who represents nature's order, and Japan's ''Film/ShinGodzilla'' that portrays him as a horrific abomination against nature that man unleashed onto themselves. Strangely, either depiction [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor isn't really unfaithful to the "returning to the darker roots" concept]] that both films advertised.

See also CuteMonsterGirl, YouSexyBeast, LovecraftLite, {{Disneyfication}}. FriendlyNeighbourhoodVampire is a subtrope of this. JustForFun/NotToBeConfusedWith the plot of ''WesternAnimation/{{Despicable Me}}''.

See also CuteMonsterGirl, YouSexyBeast, LovecraftLite, {{Disneyfication}}. FriendlyNeighbourhoodVampire is a subtrope of this. Not to be confused with the plot of ''WesternAnimation/{{Despicable Me}}''.

*** Untaming the grue is very much in mind with drow in ''TableTopGames/Pathfinder''. The drow of that setting are fleshwarping, demon-loving complete monsters who tried to crash an asteroid into the surface in order to bring about a second age of darkness and destroy any resistance to enslaving the surface dwellers. They would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those damn player characters.

[[caption-width-right:342:Creator/HPLovecraft must be rolling in his grave... Or at least [[{{Headdesk}} wallbanging]] [[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/81337 really hard]].]]

** As of the mid 2010's, however, two ''very''disparate depictions of Godzilla popped up in modern culture: the American ''Film/Godzilla2014'' that potrays him as a noble anti-hero who represents nature's order, and Japan's ''Film/ShinGodzilla'' that potrays him as a horrific abomination against nature that man unleashed onto themselves. Strangely, either depiction [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor isn't really unfaithful to the "returning to the darker roots" concept]] that both films advertized.