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| 12 | [[quoteright:350:[[Myth/ClassicalMythology https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/00427977_e10b_42d7_853e_94d5dedb2127.jpeg]]]] |
| 13 | [[caption-width-right:350:"[[Film/AustinPowers AH AET A BAEBAE!]]"[[note]][[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Rubens_saturn.jpg Saturn by Rubens.]][[/note]]]] |
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| 18 | ->''"I am the Eater of Worlds... and of children!"'' |
| 19 | -->-- '''Pennywise the Clown/IT''', ''Literature/{{It}}'' |
| 20 | |
| 21 | In folklore, many different kinds of monsters kill and eat children and infants. Others merely make children seriously ill or cause them to vanish (replacing them with fairy changelings). These stories were explanations for the high infant mortality rates seen in primitive cultures. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | Naturally, various media use these tales as source material for their own monsters. Some media monsters target children to use them as a slave work-force. Some drain their LifeEnergy to stay alive. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | It is taken as a given that specifically targeting children, especially if you are planning on eating them, is a sure sign that you are a monster in the truest sense of the word. Differs from EatsBabies as this trope covers creatures who go after babies because they specifically target children, while EatsBabies is about villains so evil they would target babies but don't go out of their way to do so. By definition, though, most (but surprisingly not all) [[ChildEater Child Eaters]] qualify for EatsBabies status. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | Given how long some of these stories have been around, this trope is OlderThanDirt. Related to WouldHurtAChild. Also see EatsBabies. GodEating has a surprising amount of overlap, as gods try to eat younger gods. |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[noreallife]] |
| 30 | ---- |
| 31 | !!Examples: |
| 32 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 33 | |
| 34 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 35 | * The demon Astarte from ''Manga/AngelSanctuary'' is infertile and wishes she could have children. As a way of coping, she swallows young girls who get lost in [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils her brother]]'s maze so that she can indulge in the fantasy of being pregnant. |
| 36 | * The second episode of ''Animation/BlackCatDetective'' sees Black Cat and his crew dealing with an avian villain called the Monkey-Eating Eagle, who abducts several animal children and have them locked in cages before eventually feasting on them. The Eagle seemingly got his name from an infamous scene where he swallows a monkey child ''onscreen'', though his victims also include rabbits, pandas, bears, squirrels and other children. |
| 37 | * Grand Fisher in the ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' manga. In the anime version, he preyed on women. |
| 38 | * In ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'', one Contractor is ''required'' to drink the blood of small children in order to use her powers of ExplosiveDecompression. And the crazy part? ''She's TheWoobie''. Yes, really. |
| 39 | ** She's TheWoobie because she lost her powers (and with them, her emotionlessness) and is now horribly haunted by what she did. She never harms any children during the actual series, [[spoiler:since she dies shortly after regaining her powers]]. |
| 40 | * In ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', Arf threatens to swallow the nine-year-old Nanoha whole to get her to stay out of Fate's way, though considering her [[NobleWolf later]] [[FriendToAllChildren established]] personality (and the fact that [[HairOfGoldHeartOfGold Fate]] would ''never'' allow her familiar to commit such an act of cruelty) it was probably a bluff. |
| 41 | * Donato Porpora from ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' is a Ghoul famous for his preference for child victims. To this end, he established himself as a SinisterMinister and opened a Catholic {{Orphanage|OfFear}} where the children lived happily with their beloved "Father". Then, one by one, the children would be "adopted"... and suffer brutal deaths before being eaten. He even went so far as to [[TheSecretOfLongPorkPies feed]] leftovers to the other children disguised as treats. Eventually, [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes his favorite]] child, Kotarou Amon, discovered him eating another child and his secret was revealed. Because he couldn't bring himself to kill Amon, he ended up captured and remains an infamous Ghoul considered vile even by other Ghouls. |
| 42 | * The Orb of Bask from ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' took the souls of children, which the wielder could use as food. Goki demonstrates this as Yusuke approaches him, although Yusuke defeats him before the children's souls could digest, allowing them to float back to their bodies upon being freed. |
| 43 | [[/folder]] |
| 44 | |
| 45 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 46 | * ''ComicBook/AllStarComics'': Gallifron is a giant Ogre who hunts and eats children. The ComicBook/{{JSA}} fight him to free an entire sack full of children he's just collected as snacks. |
| 47 | * Homelander in ''ComicBook/TheBoys'' receives 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 government. [[spoiler: The photos are actually of Black Noir, in reality a clone of Homelander driven insane because [[UnfulfilledPurposeMisery 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]]. |
| 48 | * In ''ComicBook/CountdownToFinalCrisis'', ComicBook/MaryMarvel, 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.]] |
| 49 | * The norm rather than the exception in ''{{ComicBook/Crossed}}''. One Crossed is even stated to wear babies as ''shoes'', and the Homo Tortor arc has the hedonistic rulers of the titular human subspecies raise their child indulging his every whim from birth so as to enjoy his expression when they eat him alive. |
| 50 | * A taste he shares with Tojiro XIV, the Asian vampire from ''ComicBook/{{Grendel}}''. |
| 51 | * One really squicky villain in ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'', who was the demonic embodiment of rape trapped in the body of a dead child, sustained itself by ''drinking babies''. While investigating the monster's house, Constantine accidentally discovered what was left of them when he opened a closet and a pile of dozens of dead bloodless babies collapsed on him. |
| 52 | * The Walkers from the graphic novel ''ComicBook/MidnightNation'' will kill, torture, and eat adults and children alike... but they prefer children. |
| 53 | * Lawbringer Qztr (and later on, Charon) attempts to kill baby Memi in ''ComicBook/{{Negation}}''. [[spoiler: They fail, because Memi has cosmic-level superpowers.]] |
| 54 | * In the French comic ''ComicBook/{{Raptors}}'', the ancient leader of the new vampire order, Don Miguel Y Certa, who is also known as "The Devourer", has a particular fondness for children. |
| 55 | * The Corinthian in ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'' is already a repulsive PickyPeopleEater, but he seems to strongly favor the eyes of barely-pubescent boys. [[spoiler:Morpheus created him to represent the horrors of the modern world and the fears associated with them, with [[PaedoHunt one in particular]] fueling the Corinthian's hunger. He eventually gets remade into a less horrific being.]] |
| 56 | [[/folder]] |
| 57 | |
| 58 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 59 | * ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': As heard in "No Wonder Cure", Ami eventually becomes so well known as a force of evil that parents use her titles to scare their children into behaving properly, lest she eat them. |
| 60 | [[/folder]] |
| 61 | |
| 62 | [[folder:Fairy Tales]] |
| 63 | * The witch in ''Literature/HanselAndGretel'' planned to eat them. She even used a GingerbreadHouse as bait. |
| 64 | * Literature/HopOMyThumb and his brothers, after being left to die in the forest and being unable to find their way back home, find a house where a kindly woman lets them in... but warns them to beware her husband who's a man-eating ogre with a fondness for children. It ends badly... for the ogre and his wife [[spoiler: and their daughters]], that is. |
| 65 | [[/folder]] |
| 66 | |
| 67 | [[folder:Films -- Animated]] |
| 68 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheBFG'', the evil giants seem to eat only human children. |
| 69 | * ''Blender Babies'' by Jon Athan. The title says it all, but for those who need more detail: one day, people start kidnapping babies and blending them in order to drink their "essence", a powerful and addictive drug that their bodies produce. The trend explodes on social media and causes the collapse of civilization, with drug fiends first blending all the babies and then kidnapping women to use as {{Breeding Slave}}s to produce more babies to blend. |
| 70 | * The Beldam/Other Mother from ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'' lures children into her world, where she then "eats up their lives" (and their bodies, presumably). |
| 71 | * ''WesternAnimation/SecretMagicControlAgency'': Hansel argues that it would be dangerous for him and Gretel to go to Literature/BabaYaga since they've been transformed into children, but Gretel insists that there's nothing to indicate the rumours that she eats children are ''actually'' true. Hansel turns out to be right; Baba Yaga feeds them cookies laced with a [[ForcedSleep sleeping potion]] and traps them in her house so she can eat them. |
| 72 | [[/folder]] |
| 73 | |
| 74 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 75 | * FatBastard of ''Film/AustinPowers'' fame. Mini-Me's small size makes Fat Bastard hungry because it reminds him of the time he ate a baby. |
| 76 | -->''"Behbies!! It's tha OTHA otha White Meat!!" |
| 77 | * After his plan to become mayor of Gotham City is foiled by the Batman, The Penguin of ''Film/BatmanReturns'' goes after Gotham's first-born sons, planning to drown them in the sewer. He kills the one clown (Doug Jones again) who objects to the plan ("Killing sleeping children? Isn't that a little..." *BLAM!* "No! It's a LOT!"), but Batman stops the plan before it can get too far. |
| 78 | * ''Film/CatsEye'' By Creator/StephenKing: The [[AllTrollsAreDifferent Little Troll Monster]] sits on the little girl's chest and steals her breath. |
| 79 | * In ''Film/HocusPocus'' the three witches must eat the souls of children to survive. To help them do this, they revive Winifred's dead lover as a zombie, played by Doug Jones. |
| 80 | -->'''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick''': Please don't refer to the child as an hors d'oeuvre, I'm pretty sure that's illegal in most states. |
| 81 | * Pennywise the Dancing Clown, a.k.a. [[AntagonistTitle IT]], in ''Film/It2017'', much like the [[Literature/{{IT}} source material]]. |
| 82 | * ''Film/PansLabyrinth'': One task the young heroine Ofelia must complete for the Faun is to retrieve a precious dagger from the lair of The Pale Man (both beings being played, again, by Doug Jones), a grotesque humanoid monster with his [[EyesDoNotBelongThere eyes on his hands]] who sits asleep at a table where a great banquet is laid. Murals on the walls of the chamber depict him cruelly killing and devouring scores of little children, and there is a pile of shoes implied to be left over from all the children he's eaten. On the way out, Ofelia succumbs to the temptation of eating from the delicious fruit on the table, causing the pale man to wake up and try to eat her; her fairy companions die trying to protect her, and she barely escapes with her life. There's a reason his portrait is on the film's [[NightmareFuel/PansLabyrinth nightmare fuel page]]! |
| 83 | * [[Characters/GodzillaTheGhidorahs King Ghidorah]] in ''Film/RebirthOfMothra3''. He plans on consuming the lifeforce of the children. He ''is'' capable of consuming the lifeforce of any other creatures, but specifically targets human children [[ForTheEvulz just for the heck of it]]. |
| 84 | * In ''Film/WesCravensNewNightmare'', Freddy Krueger tries to eat Heather's son Dylan alive before she stops him. |
| 85 | * The animatronics in ''Film/WillysWonderland'' had eaten numerous children in the past, as they contained the souls of [[spoiler:Jerry Robert Willis]] and his followers. |
| 86 | [[/folder]] |
| 87 | |
| 88 | [[folder:Folklore]] |
| 89 | * According to folk legend, {{cats|AreMean}} steal the breath from sleeping babies. This is an explanation of Sudden Infant Death syndrome. However, it's not true, and a cat sniffing your baby's face is a sign of affection. There is the slight potential of suffocation, but pillows and blankets pose a much greater risk. |
| 90 | * During the [[WitchHunt witch trials]] between 1450 and 1750 in early modern Europe, the belief existed that witches sacrificed children to Satan as well as practiced cannibalistic infanticide. For this reason, midwives and nurses responsible for young children and new mothers could become targets of suspicion, since they were in a position to collect babies who had not been baptized and thus were more vulnerable. These beliefs did not find fertile ground everywhere, but in religiously and socially troubled Switzerland, southwestern Germany, and northeastern France, the belief in cannibalistic infanticide and child sacrifice were accepted as a part of the witches' sabbath. |
| 91 | * [[OurOgresAreHungrier Ogres]] are depicted as child-eaters in many stories. One variant from German folklore is even named ''Kinderfresser'', which translates as Child Eater. |
| 92 | * Literature/BabaYaga is a witch in slavic folklore who was infamous for this. |
| 93 | [[/folder]] |
| 94 | |
| 95 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 96 | |
| 97 | * ''Literature/BennyRoseTheCannibalKing'': The main antagonist of the novel, Benny Rose has a special hunger for children. During the 50's, he ended up trapped with five kids in the basement of a hospital that caught fire and consumed them to stay alive, which caused him to become a supernatural entity of some kind. Now, every Halloween night, he strikes and feasts upon the trick-and-treaters who are filling the streets. |
| 98 | * In ''Literature/TheBFG'', the evil giants tend to eat people regardless of age, but seem to prefer kids, because "Little chiddlers is not so tough to eat as old grandmamma, so says the Childchewing Giant". |
| 99 | * ''Literature/BruceCovillesBookOf Nightmares II'': The title character of ''The Gravekeeper'' was hanged after a child disappeared and it was believed the old man had killed and eaten them. Since then, children have disappeared every year during the Harvest Moon, and local legend is that it's because he's still returning from the grave and cannibalizing them. |
| 100 | * The froglike alien Tendu of ''Literature/TheColorOfDistance'' and ''Through Alien Eyes'', have several life stages. In a case of BizarreAlienReproduction, early ones aren't very intelligent and not considered to be people. The first stage, the tadpole-like ''narey'', feeds a lot of the wildlife. Eventually they metamorphize into the ''tinka'', adult-shaped but smaller and not as smart. Tinka [[FreeRangeChildren roam the jungles]] until they find Tendu villages, where they act as servants. They can age and die, or else get chosen by fully adult Tendu to go through another metamorphosis and become ''bami'', who ''are'' intelligent and considered somewhere between children and apprentices. From there they potentially have two more metamorphoses. Bami and above, if female, can lay unfertilized eggs for animals to eat. It's seen as a common courtesy for a Tendu female, taking some narey from a pool to eat, to lay some eggs to feed the others. |
| 101 | ** Dr. Juna Saari, a human stranded among the Tendu and taken in by them, is utterly horrified to learn that the narey, which she's been eating just like any of the other foods offered to her, are early-stage Tendu and it damages her ability to get along with the aliens for some time. One of her friends explains that they don't eat narey that have developed forelegs. Later, after reconnecting with humans again, Juna gets pregnant and plans to have her now-dear Tendu friends help her out as she isn't inclined to marry. The father, and quite a lot of Earth press, are against this and call the Tendu baby-eaters, which the aliens are indignant about. They understand quite well that there's a difference between a baby and a tadpole. |
| 102 | * The Beldam/Other Mother from ''Literature/{{Coraline}}'' lures children into her world, where she proceeds to devour their bodies and lives. |
| 103 | * In the book ''Literature/DemonKeeper'', a demon known as [[ABeastInNameAndNature the Beast]] ate ''lost'' children. However, they didn't have to still be children by the time he ate them - a teenage runaway grown-up was still a prime meal. |
| 104 | * Literature/TheDiariesOfTheFamilyDracul'': Many vampires will gladly feast upon infants and children as well as adults. |
| 105 | * When ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' made Lucy Westenra into a vampire, her preferred victims were children. Dracula also fed at least one baby to his wives. |
| 106 | * ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': |
| 107 | ** The opening Little Bad of ''Literature/GravePeril'' 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. |
| 108 | ** In the first short story of the series (eventually published in the ''Side Jobs'' compilation), Harry has to save a runaway child from a [[AllTrollsAreDifferent Bridge Troll]] that eats children. It specifically mentions that under [[TheMasquerade The Unseelie Accords]], 'naughty' children who have run away are its (apparently only) legitimate prey. |
| 109 | * The VillainProtagonist of ''Literature/TheEnormousCrocodile'' by Creator/RoaldDahl sets out to eat as many school children as he can find, but he never really succeeds as the other jungle animals keep thwarting his plans. |
| 110 | * The Night Parade are a race of creatures from another dimension first appearing in the ''TabletopGames/ForgottenRealms'' novel of the same name. Their MO is to kidnap children and turn them into creatures like themselves; exactly why is not known, but most inhabitants believe it is because they are a DyingRace trying to increase their population. |
| 111 | * Several ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' villains, including King Jellyjam, the Beasts (when the loser of their game is a child), Cuddles the hamster, and Mr. Mortman. |
| 112 | * ''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. To make the [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything child predator vibe]] even worse, he gets as close to children as he can before transforming. |
| 113 | * The title monster from Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/{{IT}}'' is "the Eater of Worlds, and of children!" Technically, It [[EmotionEater feeds on fear]]: terrifying its victims before killing them 'salts the meat'. It 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. |
| 114 | * In the ''Literature/LandOfOz'' books, the Hungry tiger would like to be this. He is a massive Bengal tiger who is always hungry no matter how much he eats, and longs to eat a "fat baby," though he never would because his conscience will not allow him to do so. |
| 115 | * ''Literature/TheLaundryFiles'' (by Creator/CharlesStross): ''The Fuller Memorandum'' has the [[ReligionOfEvil Nyar lath-Hotep cultists]], who hold their monster summoning ritual next door to a primary school so that they can grab a bite to eat after church. Later on, after capturing Bob and performing a spell to turn him to their side (among other things), [[IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten they offer him some "refreshments."]] |
| 116 | * In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', Gandalf mentions that during the hunt for Gollum, he heard tales of 'a blood-drinking creature' that crawled through open windows to empty cradles... yes, Gollum eats babies. |
| 117 | * The alien overlords in Creator/SPSomtow's ''Literature/{{Mallworld}}'' series not only eat their own children, they've been known to serve them up as the main course at diplomatic dinners. Their children are non-sentient and considered vermin until they reach a certain age. |
| 118 | * One of the Mole-Men listed in ''Literature/MoreInformationThanYouRequire'' is "Ms. Edna Humanchildstealer". |
| 119 | * Early in ''Literature/TheThebaid'', a fiend from {{Hell}} slaughters the infants of Argos and eats their entrails to avenge the death of Apollo's son. It doesn't take long for the people get upset and kill the fiend as it wanders around sipping intestines from child corpses. |
| 120 | * Jenny Green-Teeth in ''Literature/TheWeeFreeMen''. And the headless horseman. And dromes. And [[TheFairFolk elves]]. |
| 121 | * The eponymous monsters in ''Literature/TheWitches'' want to kill children because they can't stand the smell of them -- a child, particularly a freshly-bathed one, smells like dog's droppings to a witch. They eventually decide to turn them all into mice, because the parents would then poison, trap or otherwise dispatch the newly arrived rodent infestation, not realizing it was their children. The witches get sick satisfaction from tricking the parents into OffingTheOffspring. |
| 122 | [[/folder]] |
| 123 | |
| 124 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 125 | * ''Series/{{Angel}}'': |
| 126 | ** The season 2 episode "[[Recap/AngelS02E01Judgment Judgement]]" has a demon in Lorne's karaoke bar who is announced as Durthok the Child-Eater. |
| 127 | ** Another child-eating species pops up in early season 5. Angel kills it but later learns he was supposed to be meeting with it. |
| 128 | ** The season 5 episode "[[Recap/AngelS05E14SmileTime Smile Time]]" involves demonic puppets that are sucking brain power from the children that watch their TV show. |
| 129 | * In the ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' episode "[[Recap/BlackadderS2E4Money Money]]", the title character owes a large sum of money to which he can't possibly repay to the Bank of the Black Monks. They send the 'Baby-Eating' Bishop of Bath and Welles to collect or if Blackadder doesn't pay up, he gets to have his 'fun'. He seems to live up to his name when on first confronting Blackadder he asks if he has any children. When he gets a 'no', he says he'll skip breakfast and move on to business then. |
| 130 | * ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' has several: |
| 131 | ** Der Kindestod ('The Death of Children') from the second season episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E18KilledByDeath Killed by Death]]", who preys on sick children and kills them horribly. His appearance is clearly an homage to Freddy Krueger. |
| 132 | ** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E19IOnlyHaveEyesForYou I Only Have Eyes for You]]", Angelus is so disturbed by being forced to feel love (he and Buffy were possessed by the ghosts of dead lovers) that he insists on going out and killing a child to bring back a sense of evil in himself. |
| 133 | ** In the third season episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E6BandCandy Band Candy]]", the demon Larconis requires a tribute in the form of a ritual feeding every thirty years. What does it feed on? Newborn babies. |
| 134 | ** In the episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E11Gingerbread Gingerbread]]", a demon actually creates a panic by falsely making people believe children have been killed. Buffy laments the fact that this creates a panic, but the daily killing of innocent adults doesn't even cause a stir. |
| 135 | ** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E11Triangle Triangle]]", Olaf the Troll demands he be brought babies to eat. Spike at first suggests they check the hospital, and then suggests onion flowers as an alternative. |
| 136 | ** According to Anya, Santa Claus is real, but instead of leaving presents, [[BadSanta he comes down chimneys to disembowel children on Christmas]]. |
| 137 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': The Krillitanes, from "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E3SchoolReunion School Reunion]]", masquerade as teachers in a school, and are implied to eat students who don't measure up. Their boss begins the episode by explicitly eating a girl just for having a headache (and because she was an orphan). |
| 138 | -->''"You have no parents? No-one to miss you? Poor child. Poor... ''thin'' child. Why don't you come inside [my office]? It's almost time for lunch..."'' |
| 139 | * In the ''Series/{{Grimm}}'' episode "[[Recap/GrimmS6E4ElCuegle El Cuegle]]", the eponymous Wesen hunts down and kidnaps babies, intending to eat them at a specific ritual time. [[spoiler:It turns out that El Cuegle get horrible visions of the future, and know these babies will grow up to be killers. The one in the episode hates what he does, but hates what happens if he doesn't even more.]] |
| 140 | * In the first episode/movie of ''{{Series/Lexx}}'', the Cluster Lizards prove to be this. However, the kids they're eating happen to be the cream of the crop chosen by His Divine Shadow, so arguably this isn't such a bad thing in this case. |
| 141 | * ''Series/MastersOfHorror'': In the episode "[[Recap/MastersOfHorrorS2E12TheWashingtonians The Washingtonians]]", a secret cannibal society known as 'the Washingtonians' price children as a meal. Their founder, [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade George Washington himself]], professed in his hidden diary that he skinned them and made utensils out of their bones as well. |
| 142 | * ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': |
| 143 | ** In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S1E11UnderTheBed Under the Bed]]", a boogeyman like monster steals children from their bedrooms to devour them. |
| 144 | ** In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S5E4TheGrell The Grell]]", many humans believe that the Grell eat humans, especially children, but this is only a myth. |
| 145 | * ''Series/ScratchNSniffsDenOfDoom:'' the eponymous Hyena hosts of this quiz show, which revolves around this trope, are said to round up and capture their contestants to play their "Deadly Game". The losers of this game are swiftly dropped into the hosts' cooking pot to be eaten for their dinner. This is implied to happen after every episode as each game has a guarantee of four losers and only one potential winner/fifth loser. |
| 146 | * In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E4AndTheChildrenShallLead And the Children Shall Lead]]", the Gorgon orphans all of the children living on one planet because orphaned children are more easily influenced by parental figures... such as the "friendly angel", as the kids call the Gorgon. |
| 147 | * ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': |
| 148 | ** The episode "[[Recap/SupernaturalS01E18SomethingWicked Something Wicked]]" features a Shtriga, which sucks life force from children, leaving them in comas. |
| 149 | ** The demon Lilith likes to drink the blood of newborn babies. She even has a personal chef. |
| 150 | * In ''Series/TorchwoodChildrenOfEarth'', an alien being called the 456 comes to Earth and demands 10% of the child population of the planet. It doesn't want the children to eat them, it wants them because the children release chemicals which to it are like a drug. It's essentially getting high off of kids. Very, very squicky. |
| 151 | * ''Series/TrueBlood'': Nigel Beckford is introduced in season 5 as a pedophile vampire who disguised himself as a nurse practitioner and ate babies at the local hospital. He was arrested by the Authority (the vampire government) and imprisoned. He's later released by [[spoiler:Salome]] when the Sanguinistas take over, and we see him feasting on a child when [[spoiler:the Authority crashes a wedding reception and slaughters all of the guests there]]. |
| 152 | [[/folder]] |
| 153 | |
| 154 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 155 | * Horror-punk band Calibretto has the song "Misanthropy and the Full Moon", from the perspective of a werewolf, promising to fulfill this trope to put an end to [[HumansAreBastards man's inhumanity to man]]. |
| 156 | -->'Cause the only way to stop this infestation\ |
| 157 | of this selfish race and its dehumanization\ |
| 158 | is by decimation of all reproduction,\ |
| 159 | so here is my own resolution:\ |
| 160 | I will eat your children. Hey! |
| 161 | * [[Music/{{Gwar}} GWAR]], being the intergalactic psychopaths that they are, naturally enjoy eating children on a regular basis. |
| 162 | [[/folder]] |
| 163 | |
| 164 | [[folder:Mythology]] |
| 165 | * Lamia, in Greek mythology, stole other women's children as vengeance for the theft of her own. |
| 166 | * Lilith in Hebrew tradition is supposed to feed on babies, as well as being a [[SuccubiAndIncubi succubus]]. It's only relatively recently (OlderThanPrint, but not OlderThanFeudalism) that she's been known as the first wife of Adam who wouldn't stay in the metaphorical kitchen. |
| 167 | * In Mesopotamian mythology, the she-demons Lamashtu and Akhkhazu (Dimme and Dimme-kur in Sumerian) liked to harm, kidnap, kill, maim and/or eat children and babies, just ForTheEvulz. |
| 168 | * Gello and Abyzou of Mediterranean myth and folklore, out of [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy]]. |
| 169 | * The Buddhist goddess [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hariti Hariti]] or Kishimojin, who grieves over her own lost child and becomes a child-eating demoness. Buddha makes her see the error of her ways (or, in some versions, has her lost child restored to her, or converts her), and she makes a HeelFaceTurn and is now a protector of childbirth. She eats pomegranates instead. |
| 170 | * Atavaka was originally a baby-eating demon until Buddha converted him. He then became an attendant to Bishamonten and protector of the south-west. |
| 171 | * The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyak Leyaks]], and their queen [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangda Rangda]], from Balinese mythology. |
| 172 | * In Danish mythology, they have the Valravn, a raven that has eaten the corpse of a man who died in battle and gained his intelligence, but they are only able to fly at night. To break this curse, the Valravn has to eat the heart of a child, so they regularly tried to kidnap children or make deals with mothers for their firstborn. If they succeeded, then they would be turned into either a knight or a wolf/raven hybrid. |
| 173 | * 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 Creator/PeterPaulRubens' ''[[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Rubens_saturn.jpg Saturn]]'' and Creator/FranciscoDeGoya's BloodierAndGorier ''[[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 ''Art/BlackPaintings'' period). |
| 174 | * Kelpies in Scottish mythology fit this. Their modius operandi was to trick children into riding them, or merely ''touching'' them, at which point the child would be trapped by their adhesive skin and the kelpie would drag them into a river to drown. Then the kelpie would devour everything but the liver. |
| 175 | * While many gods from Myth/AztecMythology were appeased by [[HumanSacrifice human sacrifices]], the rain god Tlaloc specifically craved for human children. During the month of Atlcahualo, children were adorned with beautiful flowers before they were paraded to Mount Tlaloc, where their hearts were pulled out by the priests. If they cried hard, it's a sign of good things, because this meant Tlaloc was satisfied and would bring abundant rain to the populace. |
| 176 | [[/folder]] |
| 177 | |
| 178 | [[folder:Newspaper Comics]] |
| 179 | * ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': |
| 180 | ** Calvin frequently has to deal with monsters that want to eat him. The monsters under the bed aren't much of a threat as they aren't very smart. |
| 181 | ** In one of Calvin's nastier {{Daydream Surprise}}s, his parents turn into bug-eyed aliens, dunk him in batter and try to make him into waffles. |
| 182 | ** In another strip, Calvin imagines that the gross slop on his dinner plate comes to life and devours him. His parents celebrate his death by dancing. |
| 183 | ** Another time his lunch bag comes to life at school and tries to eat him, but he kills it with his thermos. |
| 184 | ** He also was once attacked by a baseball that suddenly spouted teeth while he was playing baseball with Hobbes. |
| 185 | * ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'': |
| 186 | ** One comic depicts two parents telling a stereotypical-looking WickedWitch, "Now let me get this straight. We hired you to babysit the kids, and instead you cooked and ate them BOTH?" In ''The Prehistory of The Far Side'', a retrospective book, cartoonist Gary Larson expresses particular pride at emphasizing the word "both". |
| 187 | ** Another comic has a witch with a house made of brussel sprouts, frustrated that a rival witch's gingerbread house is attracting all the kids to eat. |
| 188 | ** Another had a witch telling her friend she's pregnant, the other witch thought she was being literal when she said she "has one in the oven." |
| 189 | [[/folder]] |
| 190 | |
| 191 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 192 | * In ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', the ancient and mad sorceress Raksi is known for feasting on babies. |
| 193 | [[/folder]] |
| 194 | |
| 195 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 196 | * Would you believe ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' has one? In a ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}''-themed event in ''[[VideoGame/AnimalCrossingPocketCamp Pocket Camp]]'', players could catch the [[FunnyOctopus squid and octopus forms]] of [[KidHero Inklings and Octolings]] and give them to Chip, who would talk about them as if they were any other [[TrademarkFavoriteFood fish]] in the game: with hunger. Granted, this is probably more due to [[WelcomeToCorneria limited dialogue]] or the fact that [[TheDitz Chip isn't supposed]] [[FatIdiot to be particularly bright]], but COME ON, Nintendo! |
| 197 | * Alice from ''VideoGame/BalloonKid'' is a little girl, even being depicted as a small baby in the Japanese art. If she flies too close to the water, a fish will leap out and grab her, bring her into the water, and eat her alive. |
| 198 | * ''VideoGame/ChoiceOfTheVampire'': Children are one option for the vampire PlayerCharacter's TrademarkFavoriteFood, but come with a hefty hit to the KarmaMeter and the unambiguous disgust of [[EvenEvilHasStandards every other vampire]] you mention it to. |
| 199 | -->'''Player Character:''' Their innocence is intoxicating. |
| 200 | * Captain Mako, the shark mutant of ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' has this on his record as if first big act of villainy. He killed off his orphanage because the other kids were taunting him for being a Mutant. Though actually we are never specifically told he ate the other kids, but considering his preferred method of murder in his adulthood and how he [[ImAHumanitarian disposes of the bodies]], it is pretty heavily implied. |
| 201 | * Arioch from ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}'' is a psychotic SerialKiller who eats children, and only children. While she'll ''kill'' adults, children are the only ones she cannibalizes due to psychosis from having lost her family to TheEmpire and rendered infertile by a DealWithTheDevil. |
| 202 | ** [[spoiler:The game also provides a sick inversion where gigantic children eat the main characters. More specifically [[DeathByIrony the aforementioned Arioch]].]] |
| 203 | --->[[spoiler:[[LastWords Arioch: The greatest of feasts!]]]] |
| 204 | * ''VideoGame/{{Evoland}}'': Talking to the blue-haired NPC in the Village when Clink is a child gets a warning involving eating kids: |
| 205 | --> If you're not a nice boy, the evil Kefka's Ghost will come and eat you! |
| 206 | * Long Arms from ''VideoGame/FatalFrameI''. In life, he was the father of a previous VirginSacrifice and tried to save his daughter. His disfigured spirit haunts the mansion, snatching away any children he encounters and killing them. |
| 207 | * ''VideoGame/FearAndHunger'': Pocketcat is a [[ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight boogeyman]] commonly said to abduct and devour children. He does this to a child during a late-game interaction with him, and if you have the Girl and/or Demon Child in your party, [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential you can sell them to him in exchange for powerful items]]. |
| 208 | * 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. |
| 209 | * In ''VideoGame/IcewindDale 2'', the witch Limha is a particular sadistic variant. To preserve her youth, she drains lifeforce from the children of a nearby group of fur-traders and turns them into minks as a side effect. Minks that are hunted and skinned by their own unwitting parents. She gets sick kicks from watching the traders murder and skin their own missing children. |
| 210 | * Several ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' Pokédex entries ''suggest'' this is true of a few species: |
| 211 | ** [[ThingsThatGoBumpIntheNight Drowzee's]] entry claims "It remembers every dream it eats. It rarely eats the dreams of adults because children’s are much tastier." |
| 212 | ** [[CreepyDoll Banette's]] entry says it is "a doll that became a Pokémon over its grudge from being junked. It seeks the child that disowned it." Maybe this is a story told to kids to make them appreciate gifts, but still... |
| 213 | ** [[HappyFunBall Drifloon]] might be a ''nasty'' one. Its entry says "It is whispered that any child who mistakes DRIFLOON for a balloon and holds on to it could wind up missing." |
| 214 | ** [[WhenTreesAttack Phantump's]] entry says ‘According to old tales, these Pokémon are stumps possessed by the spirits of children who died while lost in the forest." While that does ''not'' say it victimizes children, the other Pokémon who ''do'' suggest Phantump may be the ''victims'' of such Pokémon. Or victims of Pokémon in general, [[FridgeHorror given how many kids are trainers.]] |
| 215 | * Kusaregedo from ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'' is a rather monstrous version of this. |
| 216 | * In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'', one of the demons you may meet around is the above mentioned Hindu goddess Hariti - who, unfortunately, [[Myth/HinduMythology was once a vicious ogress]] with a serious case of these [[{{Lunacy}} which the full moon threatens to bring back]]. Luckily, her friend [[Myth/GreekMythology Persephone]] is more than willing [[ShownTheirWork to give her a pomegranate]], just so she won't be tempted to restart the habit. |
| 217 | * The [[TheWeirdSisters Ladies of the Wood]] in ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'' [[spoiler: fatten up the children that live at the Crookback Bog orphanage in order to eat them. Depending on his choices [[PlayerCharacter Geralt]] can save them but NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished.]] |
| 218 | ** This is also encountered through other forms in the game, usually by various monsters in the game, namely the [[spoiler:Grave Hag from the Merry Widow contract in Lindenvale]]. |
| 219 | [[/folder]] |
| 220 | |
| 221 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 222 | * One storyline of ''Webcomic/AndShineHeavenNow'' features an Adze, a vampire that feeds on children and can take the form of a firefly. |
| 223 | * ''Webcomic/BrunoTheBandit'' had a storyline parodying ''Literature/TheSwordOfTruth'' and its ProtagonistCenteredMorality. The main villain of the story is portrayed as one of these in a TV interview. |
| 224 | --> '''Fiona''': Was he chewing on a ''baby leg''?! |
| 225 | * Quixoto ended up as Charby of ''Webcomic/CharbyTheVampirate'''s sire due to his preference for eating children when he left his meal unfinished and Charby turned into a vampire before he came back to clean up. |
| 226 | * Harvestman of ''Webcomic/DaddyLongLegs'' is, amazingly, a ''heroic'' example. (Partly justified since neither he nor the children in question are [[CarnivoreConfusion human]].) |
| 227 | * ''Webcomic/NoRestForTheWicked'': Saying anything would spoil the fuel. |
| 228 | * ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'': Cutter says that in his perfect world there'd be a baby in every crock-pot. The Silver later messes with him by creating a "fruit" for him to eat that breaks open to reveal that its innards are shaped like an infant Inak in its shell. |
| 229 | [[/folder]] |
| 230 | |
| 231 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 232 | * This is part of ''Blog/TheComicsCurmudgeon's'' interpretation of ''{{ComicStrip/Marmaduke}}'' as a {{Hellhound}}. |
| 233 | * Several such examples exist in the ''Website/SCPFoundation'' universe, such as [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-352 SCP-352]] (who is based on the real-life legend of Baba Yaga), and [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-5294 SCP-5294]]. |
| 234 | * This is one possible theory as to why Franchise/{{the Slender Man|Mythos}} kidnaps children. |
| 235 | [[/folder]] |
| 236 | |
| 237 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 238 | * ''WesternAnimation/AlfredJKwak'': [[CatsAreMean Krabnagel the cat]] tries to eat both Alfred and Dolf when they are little. |
| 239 | * In the animated version of ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange'', [[BigBad Dormammu]] uses children to try to enter the human world. |
| 240 | * In one ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode, Peter tells Chris that he can do whatever he wants while he and Lois go on a trip except go near the Candy Tree. |
| 241 | -->'''Candy Tree''': He's right to warn you. I feed on children. ''[Swallows a child whole]'' |
| 242 | * ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': The Summerween Trickster threatens to eat Dipper and his friends for lacking Summerween Spirit, unless they bring him 500 pieces of candy before the last Jack-o-melon goes out. Then to show he's serious he devours a random trick-or-treater. [[spoiler: He also eats the adult Soos, which proves his undoing as [[BigEater Soos]] eats his way out.]] |
| 243 | * One ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' parody of ''Literature/HanselAndGretel'' casts Witch Hazel as the witch; when WesternAnimation/BugsBunny calls her out on her plan to eat the two siblings, she mumbles, "Call it a weakness..." |
| 244 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': |
| 245 | ** In the "Nightmare Cafeteria" part of WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror V, Springfield Elementary is suffering from both overcrowding in detention and food budget cuts. To solve both problems, the faculty starts eating the children one by one and sending the kids to "detention" for even minor infractions to process them as cattle. |
| 246 | ** The Salem Witch trial parody in another Halloween episode had Marge and her sisters, being witches for the act, take up the Flanders idea that they would eat children. On their way out of the Flanders's house, Ned offers them candy instead, which they take and get from the other families, [[JustSoStory starting the tradition of Trick-or-Treating]]. [[BlackComedy Then they mention having already eaten several children before they reached the Flanders house.]] |
| 247 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', Kardiak only targeted children, because, according to WordOfGod, he was supposed to be more of an [[{{Animesque}} anime-style]] villain. |
| 248 | [[/folder]] |
| 249 |
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