History Main / FoodChainOfEvil

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Although physically incapable of ''eating'' humans, cobras and kraits on the Indian subcontinent do kill them with some frequency. These venomous serpents are also preyed upon by king cobras, which are specialized snake-eaters.
** The New World version might be the mussarana, a large colubrid that likes to eat rattlesnakes. Of course, it's not particularly dangerous to humans itself, though it ''is'' a rather intimidating-looking snake.
** Mongooses also have been known to kill and eat snakes, though they don't seek snakes out as food.
* Great white sharks, frequently regarded as ferocious man-eaters, are themselves easy game for orcas. Records have sharks leaving their feeding grounds whenever they felt a killer whale nearby. One recorded example had them go all the way from the mainland U.S. to ''Hawaii''. To put that in perspective, if they went the other way to Kansas, it wouldn't be ''far enough''. In turn, while coastal great whites live mostly on marine mammals, their open-water fellows regularly prey on smaller species of shark. This includes other notorious man-eaters like tiger sharks or oceanic whitetips.
* [[PantheraAwesome Siberian tigers]] hunt {{bears|AreBadNews}} (black and brown) and keep wolves in their territory at a minimum. Interestingly, of the three the tiger is the least likely to kill humans.
* Lions are afraid of crocodiles when they are in the water, but if they surprise them on land they will kill and eat them with no problem.
** While in water, however, crocodiles are afraid of hippos, whose only real enemy are human hunters.
** Lions tend to go out of their way to kill other predators in the areas they hunt: hyenas can fight back but leopards and cheetahs are a bit outmatched and have to avoid them whenever they can.
** Even lions run for it when African honeybees get riled up, having no means of defense against their highly aggressive swarms.
* A certain urban legend holds that the benevolent [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pholcidae cellar or daddy-long-legs spider]] (that long-leggity beastie that lurks in ceiling corners and vibrates when you get too close) has the most potent venom of any spider, but can't bite through human skin. The Food Chain of Evil is one possible explanation: cellar spiders prey on other spiders, including black widows, ergo cellar spiders must be even ''worse''. However, this is untrue, as the daddy-long-legs spider's fangs are perfectly capable of penetrating human skin and their venom is both extremely weak and injected in such small quantities that it has no effect on humans.
* A subversion; it is widely believed that those insects that look like giant mosquitoes, known as crane flies or mosquito hawks, prey on mosquitoes. This actually isn't true. They actually are incapable of killing other insects as adults and many of them don't even eat. However, mosquitoes of the genus [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxorhynchites Toxorhynchites]], also known as elephant mosquitoes or mosquito eaters, ''are'' an example of this trope. Their larvae prey on other aquatic animals, including other mosquito larvae. This also means that adult females of this genus don't need to consume blood, as they get all the protein they need in the larval stage (mosquitoes that feed on blood do so to get protein for making eggs).
* Doctors are experimenting with using a special type of virus to treat patients with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These viruses, called bacteriophages, are specialized for infecting specific kinds of bacteria and are harmless to eukaryotic organisms like us. Bacteria can adapt resistance to these viruses, but by doing so [[MortonsFork lose their resistance to antibiotics]].
* Hominids and early humans used to be eaten rather regularly by extinct saber-toothed cats, such as ''Dinofelis'' and the like. The solution? It seems early human beings killed them off by using spears and probably fire. This wouldn't be ''Homo neanderthalensis''/''sapiens'' however, these people were ''Homo erectus''.
* There actually are viruses that infect other viruses, which are known as virophages. Normal viruses reproduce by reprogramming cells to make copies of them, but because viruses are not cells, virophages instead reprogram the host virus so it will cause the cells it attacks to produce copies of the virophage instead of itself.
* The cells of your body are also part of the microscopic food chain. Viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens attack and eat your cells, but your body is protected by phagocytes and other cells of the immune system which eat or kill anything foreign in the body. Sadly they are not the top predator. Human Immunodeficiency Virus attacks immune system cells, causing the body to suffer AIDS.
* There are "hyperparasites" that specialize in feeding off other parasites, from fleas on vampire bats to bacteria growing on mistletoe to fungi growing on other fungi. The highest recorded number of trophic levels afforded by such a lifestyle is a hyper-hyperparasite: a fungus growing on a fungus growing on a fungus growing on a tree.
[[/folder]]

But when you think about it, eating people is kind of old-hat. After a while, you begin to lose track of [[EverythingTryingToKillYou all the different types of monsters that eat humans]]. It just becomes a fact of life, so by the time you run into that guy who wants to [[CannibalismSuperpower devour your flesh to add to his own power]], you just sort of yawn because it's exactly the same as everything you've seen anywhere ever. So how do you make something distinctive, then? Well, if monsters that eat humans are no longer a threat... what about monsters that eat other monsters? To establish a Food Chain Of Evil, all you have to do is [[TheWorfEffect make the last threat the preferred prey of the next one]].

Anything which eats monsters that eat humans counts. Basically, this is power tiers established via fictional food chain.

* MonstrousCannibalism: When monsters of the same species eat each-other, rather than a ''separate species'' devoted to eating them, although there's a lot of overlap.
* SapientEatSapient: The monsters and the monsters devouring other monsters are all ''sapient''. They are capable of [[ItCanThink human-like thought and emotion]] and [[YouCanTalk and often can hold a conversation too]]. And yet the first thing on their minds is making meals of other monsters while not becoming meals themselves. Theses instances can be particularly [[NightmareFuel nightmare-inducing]] because these beasts are not only devouring each other but also have the capacity for cruelty to [[ForTheEvulz revel in it]]. These beasts are especially likely to see this vile food chain as a measure of [[TheSocialDarwinist which monsters reign supreme]].

** Sea Kings are a collective term describing certain types of gargantuan {{Sea Monster}}s which infest regions of the oceans. They're the main reason why it's normally impossible to enter the Grand Line through the Calm Belts, since they'll destroy any ship that enters the region. However, some beasts are encountered which can hunt Sea Kings, such as the [[NeverSmileAtACrocodile Banana Gators]] that Crocodile keeps as his pets, the poisonous Yuda SeaSerpents that the Kuja People use to draw their ships through the Calm Belt, and the Blue Gorillas that [[TheAlcatraz Impel Down]] uses as prison guards.

** The immensely powerful kakuja [[spoiler: that Kaneki becomes after eating all of Kano's mass-produced Washuu spawns mindless creatures called Dragon Orphans. These survive Kaneki's return to sanity and consume humans and ghouls alike, forcing the two races to work together just to survive.]]

** [[https://scryfall.com/card/4ed/200/gray-ogre One card]] mentions an [[OurOgresAreDifferent ogre]] philosopher who believed that one's purpose in life is to climb as high on the food chain as possible; she therefore made a point of feeding only on creatures that prey on intelligent beings, and outright refused to eat vegetarians.

* ''ComicBook/{{Bone}}'': Bartleby says that rat creatures are born with skinny, hairless tails, but these are lopped off on their first birthday so a dreaded monster called the Jekk doesn't drag them away by their tails in the night. Phoney thinks it's ridiculous that a race of monsters are afraid of another monster. However, the prequel series shows there is no such thing as a Jekk, it's a distorted account from when the Bones' distant ancestor, Big Johnson, went to the Valley centuries ago and became so feared amongst the rat creatures for his tendency to brutalize their tails in a battle that he became a legendary figure in their culture.

* ''Film/BladeII'': The Reapers feed on vampires. Though they were not above snacking on humans too. The only way to kill them was the sun, as they had a solid bone plate over their heart, and easily healed from a broken neck. They could probably survive decapitation as well; a victim in the middle of turning survived a partial decapitation. After the body was destroyed, the remaining piece was still looking around and blinking with its eye.

* ''Film/GhouliesII'': The Ghoulie Eater, who does what exactly what his name says and eats all but the Fish Ghoulie.

* ''Literature/{{Clickers}}'': The titular three-foot-long man-eating crabs are only on shore in the first place because they're fleeing from seven-foot-tall FishPeople.

* ''Literature/TheOneWhoEatsMonsters'': Erynis, the protagonist, is a goddess of vengeance who is classified as a monster because her powers are chaotic. She exists to punish evil in all its forms, her preferred victims are other monsters, and she eats their hearts after killing them. Erynis has been so successfull in her mission that other supernatural beings named her [[RedBaron "the Implacable One"]].
* ''Literature/PerdidoStreetStation'': The main issue driving the plot is the presence of the slake moths, giant dream- and mind-eating moths that scare the living crap out of ''devils''. In fact, the slake moths are even shown to have eaten a vampire at one point in the book. And these slake moths are only halfway up the foodchain in their homeland. It's [[DeathWorld that kind of world]].

* ''Literature/TheWanderingInn'': In the High Pass, Ryoka is attacked by goblins, who are promptly attacked by carn wolves, who accidentally chase her into herd of flesh-eating goats, who then all stumble into a nest of gargoyles, who are then all scared away as she approaches the cave of Teriarch, who is later revealed to be a dragon.

* ''Series/RiverMonsters'' is a documentary about catching the scariest freshwater fish -- not just the man-eaters, but the things that eat ''them''. Piranhas, for instance, are eaten by the giant arapaima and by river dolphins, while crocodiles can fall victim to both territorial hippopotami and to the highly aggressive goliath tigerfish. The show is usually done on a catch and release basis, but sometimes people do end up eating the catch. Note: this is a documentary, so the fish that qualify are '''also''' RealLife examples.

** The Wraith are a terrifying race of lifeforce vampires who hunt, herd, and generally rule over humanity as a food source. However, [[spoiler:when Lt Ford was being fed upon, the process was interrupted and he discovered that the Wraith, in order to allow them feed longer, inject their victims with a powerful stimulant that makes the victim stronger. Cue Ford and some other Wraith survivors around the galaxy forming a group that hunts the wraith, harvesting their corpses for more sweet, sweet PsychoSerum]]

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': As established in "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS3E25S4E1Scorpion Scorpion]]", Species 8472 are Borg biters. They see our entire galaxy as impure, and plan on killing everything else after they finish chowing down on the Borg.

*** Dragons find hydras to be incredibly delicious, and will go to great lengths to kill and devour the lesser monsters should they become aware of their presence.

*** Beast dragons, native to the Outer Plane of the Beastlands, revel in hunting challenging prey. They'll go after anything that provides them with a suitable test of their skills, but especially favor hunting dinosaurs and powerful evil monsters.

** Bebiliths are spider-like fiends native to the Abyss that hunt demons. They don't ''eat'' them, as such -- as fiends, they do not needs sustenance -- but they're just as sadistic as most other fiends, and enjoy hunting demons and chewing on their flesh.
** Death worms are powerful beasts and aren't choosy about their prey; as a result, other desert-dwelling monsters such as gnolls, lamias and jackalweres are as likely to find themselves on the death worms' menu as regular animals and humanoids are. Even drakes and yrthaks are suitable prey if they fly too low. In turn, death worms fall lower on the food chain that certain breeds of giant scorpions and desert-dwelling dragons.

** Esoboks, a kind of bestial psychopomps, enjoy eating undead flesh, and pursue and ravenously consume undead creatures at every opportunity.
** As souls travel through the Astral Plane on their way to the afterlife, they are beset by numerous supernatural predators such as astradaemons, night hags and sahkils. As these creatures feed upon passing souls, however, they are themselves hunted by the Outer Goddess Nhimbaloth, who consumes predator and prey as one.

*** Any vampire with Blood Potency 7 can only feed if they're willing to drink the blood of another vampire. There are drawbacks: addiction and the risk of being mind controlled by the victim. They can also get addicted to soul-eating other vampires through diablerie. Usually, any vamp getting this high a Blood Potency either ate his way up or existed for a very long time, both of which tend to make you extremely powerful. In the case of the former, they also tend to be quite psychotic due to diablerie eating away at your [[KarmaMeter Humanity]].

*** In the [[UpdatedReRelease 2nd edition]] , werewolves got tweaked so that Primal Urge had a similar drawback to Blood Potency above. Hitting Primal Urge 6 means that only the flesh of carnivorous creatures can sustain a werewolf, so if they don't want to starve to death, they need to start eating wolves and the like. Two points of Primal Urge later, and from then on, only the flesh of creatures that produce Essence will do. These big bad wolves can only nourish themselves on the flesh of humans (and by extension mages), spirits, and other werewolves.

* In ''VideoGame/DungeonMunchies'', the numerous wild monsters in the dungeon try to eat your zombie protagonist, as rotting human flesh is a delicious and nutritious food source for them. In turn, your protagonist hunts down and cooks these wild monsters to satisfy his own supernatural hunger, and power himself up to fight stronger beasts.
* ''VideoGame/EXTRAPOWERStarResistance'' gives an ecosystem of food chains in the early half of stage 3. The giant spider cormorants are general predator animals, but are preyed upon by Aqua Devils. One can even be seen in the background feasting on a cromorant. But the large gators that lunge out of the water are the apex predators of the sewers of Shakun.

** In the original trilogy, the Covenant are a collection of highly advanced alien species who look to be the main reason why humanity's about to go extinct... that is, until the Flood are released. After that, the Flood start assimilating both Covenant and humans into their ranks and you start to wish you just had the Covenant to face again.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Insaniquarium}}'', Guppies are your basic fish that eats food pellets and drop coins. Shortly after you get introduced to Carnivores, which eat baby Guppies, but drop the more valuable diamonds. Much later, you meet the large and menacing Ultravores, which eat Carnivores and drop the extremely valuable treasure chests.

* In ''VideoGame/NightmareCreatures'' you spend most of the game facing the tough and somewhat dangerous Pepys' Monsters (sort of large humanoid golems with extra limbs and heads). After a certain level you'll start meeting GiantSpider monsters, who has webbed and eaten one of said Pepys Monsters.

* ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKainSoulReaver'': The initial protagonist Raziel begins by being transformed from a vampire to a wraith which feeds on the souls of vampires.

* ''WesternAnimation/BlackDynamite'': A white hunter is eaten by a giant white wolf is eaten by a larger white dinosaur is eaten by an even larger spider... which Black Dynamite shoots in the head.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'': One episode fetures Mee-Krah, an EldritchAbomination that awakes every thousand years and devours other ghosts in order to replenish its energy. Unfortunately, it becomes incredibly hot as it did this, until it eventually reduces the surrounding landscape to a wasteland. The Sahara Desert, the Gobi Desert, and Death Valley were all in their current state because of this demon's previous rampages. The heroes have to stop it before it does the same thing again.

** Lions tend to go out of their way to kill other predators in the areas they hunt: hyenas can fight back but leopards and cheetah are a bit outmatched and have to avoid them whenever they can.
** Even lions run for it when African honeybees get riled up, having no means of defense against their highly-aggressive swarms.

* Doctors are experimenting with using a special type of virus to treat patients with antibiotic resistant bacteria. These viruses, called bacteriophages, are specialized for infecting specific kinds of bacteria and are harmless to eukaryotic organisms like us. Bacteria can adapt resistances to these viruses, but by doing so [[MortonsFork lose their resistance to antibiotics]].

* There actually are viruses that infect other viruses, which are known as virophages. Normal viruses reproduce by reprogramming cells to make copies of them, but because viruses are not cells, virophages instead reprogram the host virus so it will causes the cells it attacks to produce copies of the virophage instead of itself.
* The cells of your body are also part of the microscopic food chain. Viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens attack and eat your cells, but your body is protected by phagocytes and other cells of the immune system which eat or kill anything foreign in the body. Sadly they are not the top predator. Human Imunodeficiency Virus attacks immune system cells, causing the body to suffer AIDS.

** In ''ComicBook/TheComingOfGalactus'', Galactus is first introduced by showing the Skrulls, some of the most threatening villains the ComicBook/FantasticFour had faced up until then, terrified of him and doing their best to conceal their home planet so he wouldn't find and eat it. In a later story, Galactus successfully devours the Skrull homeworld and its inhabitants.