Line #62 Main/ThankYourPrey


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6	[[quoteright:179:[[Webcomic/{{Sinfest}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thank_your_prey.png]]]]
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8	->''Pick clean the bones of Pokémon caught in the sea or stream.''
9	->''Thank them for the meals they provide, and pick their bones clean.''
10	->''When the bones are as clean as can be, set them free in the water from which they came.''
11	->''The Pokémon will return, fully fleshed, and it begins anew.''
12	-->-- "Sinnoh Folk Story 1", ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl''
13
14	The character is doing something akin to saying grace, but instead of addressing a deity, they are talking to their food. They might thank an animal they killed for its meat, or apologize to it for the kill, justifying it with the kill's necessity for their own survival.
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16	This is usually a sign that the hunter in question is in tune with nature, possibly a NobleSavage. This may also be a common practice among a ProudHunterRace. Expect them to make use of all parts of the animal, too.
17
18	Compare ApologeticAttacker.
19
20	In contrast, it's something an EgomaniacHunter or EvilPoacher is not likely to do.
21	----
22	!!Examples
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24	[[foldercontrol]]
25
26	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
27	* ''Manga/DrStone'': The very first thing Tsukasa does after being revived is to kill a pride of lions with his bare hands. After the deed is done, he says that he must make use of the lions' corpses to honor them. Conveniently, because he was NakedOnRevival, this provides him with lion skins he uses to make clothing.
28	* ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemistBrotherhood'' has Ed and Al stuck on an island in a flashback. They catch a rabbit and apologize for killing it, thanking it for extending their lives.
29	* ''Literature/KinosJourney'': Kino apologizes to the rabbit she kills in one episode.
30	* ''Manga/SgtFrog'': In one chapter of the manga, Natsumi is called in to deal with one of Keroro's invasion schemes that involved exploiting Earthlings' dependency on cattle, which somehow lead to Giroro being turned into a minotaur-esque half-cow, half-Keronian monster and going on a rampage in the Keronian base. When Mom brings home hamburgers for dinner later that day, Natsumi feels inspired to do this trope.
31	%%* ''Manga/{{Toriko}}'' does this, as part of his belief that life should not be taken for granted.
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Comic Books]]
35	* ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'': In ''Kings of the Broken Wheel'' 5, there's a bit of gentle ribbing of Pike, because he always thanks his prey for the meat, [[http://www.elfquest.com/gallery/OnlineComics/KOBW/KOBW05/DisplayKOBW05.html?page=12 even though it can't hear him anymore]].
36	%%* ''ComicBook/{{Galactus}}'':%%Quotes are not context.
37	%%-->"Of all the creatures in the vastness of the universe, there is none like me. I was present at the birth of the universe, and I shall be there at its end. Though I ravage worlds to live, I bear no malice to any living thing. I simply do what I must to survive. And why must Galactus survive? For, no matter how many worlds I devour... how many civilizations I destroy... it is my destiny to one day give back to the universe -- infinitely more than I have ever taken from it. So speaks Galactus."
38	* ''ComicBook/{{Sillage}}'' has a case of "Sorry, but I need your meat to survive" from Nävis on the very first page, while she's taking aim. The Püntas in ''Gearing Up'' have a tradition to this effect as well, to the degree that the yak-like animals walk up to them for slaughter before dying of old age.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Fan Works]]
42	* ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/266881/hooves-and-talons Hooves and Talons]]'': It's revealed this is a large part of Griffin culture, who are carnivores and eat meat. [[spoiler:This helps Rarity come to accept Griffin culture a bit better when the band she's making designs for explain that they want bones in the design because using every part of an animal is showing gratitude for it dying so they can eat.]]
43	[[/folder]]
44
45	[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]
46	* ''Film/{{Avatar}}'': Thanking your prey is part of the Na'vi's hunter culture. After making a kill, one is supposed to say, "I thank you (relative). While your body stays with us, your spirit returns to [[SentientCosmicForce Eywa]]".
47	%%* ''Film/TheGodsMustBeCrazy'' has a scene like this.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Literature]]
51	* ''Literature/AlwaysComingHome'': For the Kesh people, it is considered necessary for a person to sing a song after killing an animal on a hunt. A shortened version (a single line) is required even for butchers. A ''super''short version (one word) is mandatory even when swatting a fly or [[PickedFlowersAreDead picking a flower]].
52	* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAncientDarkness'': Torak and Renn are both seen thanking their prey and promising to use all of it as required by Clan Law. Villains who kill animals and waste the parts often get a KarmicDeath, and this was once exploited to slow Torak down by forcing him to kill a [[FullBoarAction crazed boar]] that attacked him.
53	* ''Literature/DreamPark'': In the [[VirtualTrainingSimulation holodeck-style LARP]] in ''The Barsoom Project'', one encounter requires the adventuring party to defend HumanityOnTrial for its sins as defined by the Inuit belief system. After successfully defending humanity against the charges of murder and abortion, they hit a stumbling block when the prosecution charges Western society with failure to uphold this trope. Exhibit A: the meat-packing industry. Exhibit B: LetsMeetTheMeat. Luckily, one of the players is a [[spoiler:stand-up comedian]] by profession, and his testimony demolishes the prosecution.
54	* ''Literature/EarthsChildren'': Jondalar, Ayla's mate, is often described as asking the prey he just killed to confer his thanks to the "Great Earth Mother".
55	* ''Literature/{{Emberverse}}'': Younger members of Clan Mackenzie begin doing this when they hunt.
56	* ''Literature/GuardiansOfGaHoole'':
57	** Wolves from Beyond the Beyond have a thing at the end of every hunt where they lock eyes with the prey they kill. Doing this is apparently an insurance of the prey getting to the afterlife, and if you can't lock eyes with someone, you basically go to hell, as a not-so-unfortunate bad guy finds out.
58	** When Soren sees Eglantine's friend playing with a dying mouse in ''The Shattering'', he gets furious, kills the mouse and eats it as a MercyKill, and tells that friend off.
59	* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': In a desperate situation, Zettai uses her new Bladi powers to reach into a creature's chest and remove their heart. She thanks them and then eats it.
60	* ''Literature/JulieOfTheWolves'': Happens in one of the books. The hunter also apologizes to the animal whose carcass he was unable to retrieve.
61	* The wolves in Louise Searl's ''Literature/KonasSong'' perform a special howl called the Hunt Song after a making a kill, which sends the prey's soul to the afterlife. When they see a human kill an elk, they are horrified that it performs no such ritual.
62	** The lions in ''Literature/TheWayOfKings2021'' by the same author also thank their prey for its sacrifice.
63	* ''Literature/LastOfTheMohicans'': Demonstrated after the deer hunt, where the hunters thank the spirit of the deer for giving its body so that they could live.
64	* ''Literature/LordOfTheClans'': Thrall learns to do this after becoming a shaman. Specifically, when he can't find anything to hunt, he calls upon the nature's spirits. A few seconds later, he happens upon a deer and kills it. He thanks the deer for its sacrifice and tells his hunting partners that none of the animal will go to waste. They will eat the meat, drink the blood, and use the bones, the hide, and the tendons to make tools and clothes.
65	* ''Literature/TheOldManAndTheSea'': A inversion of sorts. The eponymous Old Man recalls an incident when he and his apprentice apologized to a fish they'd just caught, although the attitude behind the trope is more or less the same.
66	* ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'': The Abbot/Abbess says a prayer to this effect whenever the inhabitants eat a meal of fish.
67	* ''Literature/SaturdayTheTwelfthOfOctober'': The prehistoric tribe the main character accidentally ends up with does this before eating anything living, such as grubs or ants.
68	-->''Then, impishly, she added what Sonte had told her so often, "You must thank them, you know, or else they will turn to poison in your belly!"''
69	* ''Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse'':
70	** The Pahkwa-thanh are a reptilian race of carnivores who believe their prey animals have souls, and honour the creatures they bring down and kill.
71	** ''Literature/StarTrekVoyagerRelaunch'' introduces a Klingon tradition of thanking your prey. B'Elanna does so while participating in the "Challenge of Spirit" wilderness survival rite.
72	* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': The Clan cats thank [=StarClan=] for their meals before eating. This is defied by Tigerclaw, as a sign of his arrogance and contempt for tradition. He feels he doesn't owe [=StarClan=] thanks because he caught the prey on his own.
73	[[/folder]]
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75	[[folder:Live Action TV]]
76	* The final episode of the Creator/DavidAttenborough nature documentary series ''Life of Mammals'' has the [[SuperPersistentPredator persistence hunting sequence]] end with the bushman performing one of these.
77	* ''Series/{{Christy}}'': "The Sweetest Gift" features the [[NobleSavage mixed-race]] Billy Long teaching Creed Allen the importance of thanking a turkey's spirit after shooting it.
78	* ''Series/{{Grimm}}'': In the first-season episode "Let Your Hair Down", Nick and Monroe find a litter of animal bones in the forest while tracking a suspected Wesen. Monroe explains that it is a ''knochen hof'' (literally a "bone yard") arranged as tribute to the animals who died so the Wesen could eat.
79	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': In one episode, the angel Castiel, in full CloudCuckoolander mode, serves ham sandwiches with ham he obtained himself. He says that he comforted the pig before slaughtering it.
80	* ''Series/TrueBlood'': Amy, a FantasticDrug addict, blitzed on vampire blood and in the midst of sex with her boyfriend, turns and slurs that they ought to thank their supplier, FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire, Eddie "for the gift he's given us." Since Eddie has been kidnapped, chained to a lawn chair in their basement and forced to watch their antics, he replies with a sullen burst of profanity.
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
84	* ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'': In the supplement ''Terror Australis'', adventure "City Beneath the Sands'', Power Boy (who had some relationship with Aboriginal deities) could call animals and ask that they allow themselves to be eaten. If they agreed, he praised their beauty and courage.
85	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
86	** A recurring trait of nature-loving good races, or at least NobleSavage races, is that they do this, as well as striving to only take what prey they need for food and other goods.
87	** One PrestigeClass in ''Book of Exalted Deeds'' has, as its highest-level ability, the power to summon a large group of bears to fight on their side once per day. If any of the bears are killed in battle, they are expected to harvest and make use of as much of the bears as possible (meat, bones, skins), and give anything that remains a proper burial. Every time they fail to do this, there's a cumulative 20% chance that the power will fail, wasting its use, the next time they try to summon bears.
88	%%* ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'' has the "Prayer for the Prey" rite for this purpose.%%What purpose?
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	%%[[folder:Theater]]
92	%%* ''Theatre/BatBoyTheMusical'': "Apology to a Cow".
93	%%[[/folder]]
94
95	[[folder:Video Games]]
96	%%* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'': Conner does this in his native tongue.
97	* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'': Udyr is in lore [[WildMan a wild druid-fighter]] with [[AnimalisticAbilities the power to channel animal spirits through his body]], and in gameplay a "jungler" who spends most of his time fighting neutral monster camps (raptors, wolves, the occasional odd dragon, etc.) in the jungle of Summoner's Rift. Unlike pretty much every other champion in the game, he fights them with utmost respect, thanking them for their sacrifice and pledging to keep their spirits alive through their gifted strength.
98	* ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'': It's mentioned you should thank the spirit of the Pokémon before eating it.
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Webcomics]]
102	* ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'' has this show up at times. [[https://www.kevinandkell.com/2004/kk1117.html At one point]] Rudy is upbraided for venturing into JerkJock territory, and is asked if he's grateful for everyone else involved--his teammates, his coach, and the prey that they all hunt down and kill. Said prey shows up to agree with the point made.
103	* ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'':
104	** [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2007-03-21 In one strip]], Slick thinks Squigley is praying before eating. The latter corrects him, saying that it's closer like an apology to the chicken sandwich.
105	** [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2009-01-19 In another strip]], Squigley thanks the cow who sacrificed itself to be turned into his cheeseburger before voraciously eating.
106	[[/folder]]
107
108	[[folder:Western Animation]]
109	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAntAndTheAardvark'': When the Aardvark would confront the Ant at the start of "Technology Phooey," he'd say "Sorry to eat and run, but you know how it is."
110	* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'': In "[[Recap/SamuraiJackS2E9JackAndTheHunters Jack and the Hunters]]", Aku hires a band of alien hunters who [[ProudHunterRace live for the hunt]] to bring Jack down. They succeed in doing so, but not before [[WorthyOpponent he gives them the greatest hunt in their careers]], so great that they refuse to hand him over to Aku, then let him go and leave him a message thanking him and telling him to "run free."
111	[[/folder]]
112
113	[[folder:Real Life]]
114	* This is a real tradition found around the globe, connected with the belief that animals have a spirit/soul that should be honoured.
115	* The German inscription in the bottle of Jägermeister: "It is the hunter's honour that he protects and preserves his game, hunts sportsmanlike, and honours the Creator in His creatures". Jägermeister means "master hunter" in German.
116	** A German tradition when hunting deer or boars is ''der letzte Bissen'', or "Last Bite". When killing one of these animals, the hunter will place a sprig of (usually) oak in its mouth as a sign of respect before it dies.
117	* There is a joke that goes as follows: A priest is walking through the woods when a bear attacks him. He falls to the ground crying, [[ExactWords "Oh, Lord, make this bear a Christian]]." A moment later he hears growling that sounds like, [[BlackComedy "May the Lord bless this food that I am about to receive."]]
118	** A variant of this joke has the bear attack a rabbi, and say ''hamotzi'' (the blessing over the bread).
119	[[/folder]]

Context Main / ThankYourPrey