History Series / BeforeWeRuledTheEarth

''Before We Ruled the Earth'' is a two-part SpeculativeDocumentary narrated by Creator/LindaHunt (or Creator/JohnSlattery, depending on the cut), which aired on Creator/DiscoveryChannel in 2003. It chronicles the evolution of humans and our struggles with the dangerous megafauna we once coexisted with.

* BaitAndSwitch: The very first segment features a trio of H. ''ergaster'' trying to scavenge a ''Megantereon'' kill and subsequently getting attacked by the sabretooth, suggesting the “man vs beast” theme will (as usual) focus heavily on predatory animals. But the next one focuses on a H. ''erectus'' clan hunting a herd of ''Megaloceros'' and from then on, the dangerous beasts consist almost entirely of herbivores.

* FromNobodyToNightmare: [[StartOfDarkness Humanities arc through the series]]. ''Homo ergaster'' was just a humble scavenger and forager scrapping by on the African savannah, but its descendants would eventually become rulers of the Earth, and wipe out many species in the process.

* ReusedCharacterDesign: Some of the CGI models here also appear in other contemporary from the early 2000s. Creator/DiscoveryChannel’s ''What Killed The Mega Beasts?'' (which aired a year earlier) featured the same woolly mammoth and ground sloth model, though in the latter case, it was for ''Megatherium'' rather than ''Megalonyx''. Similarly, ''Series/GiantMonsters'' (which also aired in 2003) used the same model for ''Megatherium'' once more, and the ''Megantereon'' model for ''Smilodon''.

* BaitAndSwitch: The very first segment features a trio of H. ''ergaster'' trying to scavenge a ''Megantereon'' kill and subsequently getting attacked by the sabretooth, suggesting the “man vs beast” theme will (as usual) focus heavily on predatory animals. But the next one focuses on a H. erectus clan hunting ''Megaloceros'' and from then on, the dangerous beasts consist almost entirely of herbivores.

* CruelElephant: Subverted with the woolly mammoth in the Beringian segment, as it was minding its own business when a trio of hunters attacked it and wounded it, causing it to (naturally) lash out at them and kill them. When the hunters’ widowed wives try going after it later, it freaks out and bellows at them but then tries to run away, only to succumb to its wounds.

** For the Neanderthal clan in the final segment of “Hunt or Be Hunted”. They start off thriving in their home, but are then faced with a particularly harsh winter and struggle to find food. Three hunters are forced to leave their clan and head off into the blizzard to make a kill, but one of them freezes to death in his sleep, another gets trampled by a bison (but survives) and their quarry gets taken by two newly arrived Cro-Magnons. The Neanderthals watch the strangers in confusion and walk off, with one of them wounded, while the narrator assures us that their clan won’t survive, and of course, their entire species will be supplanted by their African relatives.
** The woolly mammoth’s side of the story in the Beringian segment. It was attacked by hunters and survived, but was badly wounded (with a spear stuck in its shoulder) and eventually left behind by its herd while crossing a river, when the hunters’ wives arrived and managed to kill it after it collapsed from its injuries.

** Brutally averted with the elderly Homo ergaster who gets caught by the sabretooth, as we see the cat pounce on him, pin him down, and throttle him (we only don’t see it directly stabbing its fangs into the man’s throat). Some cuts remove this bit, playing this trope straight.
** Zig-zagged with the mammoth attack. The second hunter to be killed gets stomped by the mammoth, but we cut away from it and to the remaining hunter running for his life, but the latter’s death is explicitly shown, where the mammoth rams him and then squashes him to death with its massive tusks, though it’s shown from a distance.

* HerbivoresAreFriendly: This series goes out of its way to avert this trope and showcases just how dangerous giant herbivores such as cattle, large deer, and especially [[TheJuggernaut elephants]] can be, especially to ice age hunters armed only with torches, spears, and their human wits. Out of all the beasts that fight and maim the ancient humans, only two are carnivores, the saber-toothed cat ''Megantereon'' and the cave bear (which was mostly herbivorous anyway).
* TheJuggernaut: While the other herbivores are shown as more than capable of killing humans, the woolly mammoth, in particular, completely ''destroys'' a trio of hunters, chasing them across the tundra and squashing them one by one, all while having a spear embedded in its shoulder. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome This is what happens when you enrage a 6-ton elephant and fail to incapacitate it before it can go on the offense]].
* TheMarvelousDeer: The Irish elk (''Megaloceros giganteus'') is certainly magnificent (and imposing) and gets hunted by the European ''Homo erectus'', but they are more than capable of putting their massive antlers to good use, and kill several of the hunters when their hunt goes south. But after the hunters learn how to keep their torches lit for extended periods of time, they successfully drive the elk herd over a cliff.
* MushroomSamba: In the first segment of “Mastering the Beasts”, a young shaman-in-training and two hunters go on a ritual hunt that is meant to help a recently deceased companion (killed by the cave bear) pass on into the afterlife, but in order to decide which animal they are supposed to pursue, they perform a ceremony where they eat berries with hallucinogenic properties before entering a cavern filled with paintings of various animals (possibly Chauvet or Lascaux itself) and see a painting of an aurochs come to life, which they interpret as a message from the spirit world.

* StartOfDarkness: During the Pleistocene, humans mostly killed for their own survival and in self-defense, but as they gradually got better and better at it, and started controlling their environments more and more, [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters it would have serious consequences for Earth and its wildlife down the line]]. The narration in “Mastering the Beasts” keeps alluding to this.

''Before We Ruled the Earth'' is a two-part SpeculativeDocumentary narrated by Creator/LindaHunt, which aired on Creator/DiscoveryChannel in 2003. It chronicles the evolution of humans and our struggles with the dangerous megafauna we once coexisted with.

* TheMarvelousDeer: The Irish elk (''Megaloceros giganteus'') is certainly magnificent (and imposing) and gets hunted by the European ''Homo erectus'', but they are more than capable of putting their massive antlers to good use, and kill several of the hunters when their hunt goes south. But after the hunters learn how to keep their torches lit for extended periods of time, they successfully drive the elk herd over a cliff.

* PantheraAwesome: The saber-toothed cat ''Megantereon cultridens'' is the first beast to appear in “Hunt or Be Hunted”. Though smaller than its more famous cousin (and likely descendent) ''Smilodon'', it’s still depicted as a powerful and deadly predator that struck fear into the hearts of our early ancestors in Africa.

* TheJuggernaut: While the other herbivores are shown as more than capable of killing humans, the woolly mammoth, in particular, completely ''destroys'' a trio of hunters, chasing them across the tundra and squashing them one by one, all while having a spear embedded in its shoulder. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome This is what happens when you enrage a 6-ton elephant and fail to incapacitate it before it can go on the offense]].

* * CruelElephant: Subverted with the woolly mammoth in the Beringian segment, as it was minding its own business when a trio of hunters attacked it and wounded it, causing it to (naturally) lash out at them and kill them. When the hunters’ widowed wives try going after it later, it freaks out and bellows at them but then tries to run away, only to succumb to its wounds.

** For the Neanderthal clan in the final segment of “Hunt or Be Hunted”. They start off thriving in their home, but are then faced with a particularly harsh winter and struggle to find food. Three hunters are forced to leave their clan and head off into the blizzard to make a kill, but one of them freezes to death in his sleep, another gets trampled by a bison (but survives) and their quarry gets taken by two newly arrived Cro-Magnos. The Neanderthals watch the strangers in confusion and walk off, with one of them wounded, while the narrator assures us that their clan won’t survive, and of course, their entire species will be supplanted by their African relatives.

* CruelElephant: Subverted with the woolly mammoth in the Beringian segment, as it was minding its own business when a trio of hunters attacked it and wounded it, causing it to (naturally) lash out at them and kill them. When the hunters’ widowed wives try going after it later, it freaks out and bellows at them but then tries to run away, only to succumb to its wounds.

* GreyAndGrayMorality: Both the humans and the beasts are only trying to survive, but of course, since MostWritersAreHumans, the humans tend to triumph in the end.

* TheJuggernaut: While the other herbivores are shown as more than capable of killing humans, the woolly mammoth, in particular, completely destroys a trio of hunters, chasing them across the tundra and squashing them one by one, all while being wounded. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome This is what happens when you enrage a 6-ton elephant and fail to incapacitate it before it can go on the offense]].

* HerbivoresAreFriendly: This series goes out of its way to avert this trope and showcases just how dangerous giant herbivores such as cattle, large deer, and especially [[TheJuggernaut elephants]] can be, especially to ice age hunters armed only with torches, spears, and their human wits. Out of all the beasts that fight and maim the ancient humans, only two are carnivores, the saber-toothed cat ''Megantereon'' and the cave bear (which was mostly herbivorous anyway).

!!Tropes used in ''Before We Ruled the Earth'':