History Main / SchmuckBanquet

* ''Anime/PrincessTutu'' references "Literature/HanselAndGretel" in the third episode, when Mytho and Ahiru stumble upon a restaurant in a wooded area and are immediately ushered in by a woman and fed huge amount of (chillingly cold) dishes, even though they were only looking for some water. Ahiru [[GenreSavvy immediately recognizes the similarities to Hansel and Gretel]] and tells Mytho the fairytale to try to subtly warn him, but he completely misses the point. [[spoiler:In the end, it turns out the woman wasn't fattening them up to eat, but was actually possessed by Mytho's heartshard of Loneliness and desperate to keep people in her restaurant, which had fallen on hard times after her husband's death.]]

* In ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' the crew spends a night at a traditional Japanese inn (commented on by one character as being entirely too convenient and probably a trap), complete with banquet (that the same person comments on as smelling horrible and likely being poisoned) and hot springs ([[HotSpringsEpisode okay, now they're just asking for it]]). The food itself is not poisoned, but the whole thing is indeed a trap set by disguised [[HalfHumanHybrid Beastmen]].

* ''Anime/SpiritedAway'': Happens near the start, with tragic results. It certainly looked like a restaurant (and it was, just not for humans, which they couldn't have been expected to guess) and as the father pointed out, he had cash and credit cards on hand. It definitely wasn't perfectly kosher, they could have been setting up for a private party for example, but it's hardly as bad as many of the examples here.

* ''Anime/TheTowerOfDruaga'' has one of these in the form of a mansion that gives the visitors cherished things they have lost in the past, from childhood toys to bringing back their lost TrueCompanions from the dead. The goal being to trap the heroes in the illusion so they do not continue on with their quest. Unlike most examples the "inhabitants" admit it isn't real. In fact one of the illusionary dead people prove enormously helpful.
* Averted in ''Manga/InuYasha'', the Kitsune Inn is marked with a sign, so anyone entering understands that it is the annual kitsune magic test, and outsiders are going to be test subjects for kitsune illusions. Kagome proves to be very hard to ruffle, but consider what she's been through, besides traveling with Shippo for months.
* In ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'', an alien sets a trap for Gintoki, Kagura and Shinpachi of a sumptuous banquet, then drops a cage on them to lock them in. Shinpachi, ever the straight man, provides the requisite banter with the villain while Gintoki and Kagura chow down.

* In ''Film/PansLabyrinth'', Ofelia comes across a banquet table, with the catch that eating anything will awaken the nearby [[EyesDoNotBelongThere monster]]. She had been warned not to touch any of the food, but she hasn't had dinner the night before and just can't resist grabbing the [[IdiotBall Idiot Grape]]. [[note]]You've got to hand it to her, if only because there are certain practical difficulties in handing anything to the monster.[[/note]]

* "Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast": Beauty's father stumbles into one of these when he takes shelter in the Beast's castle. In the original fairy tale it wasn't accepting the offered hospitality that caused the problem, though -- it was picking a rose as he left in the morning. Specifically, the Beast left out the banquet as a form of SacredHospitality. He then got pissed when Beauty's father took advantage of the kindness and then went on to basically rob him (taking the rose without asking first).
* "Literature/HanselAndGretel": A classic example is the fairytale, in which two children lost in the woods stumble upon a [[GingerbreadHouse house made of gingerbread]] and begin to eat on it. It belongs to a witch that eats children. Oops.
* The original "Literature/{{Goldilocks}}" tale is an UnbuiltTrope, since [[ContinuitySnarl versions differ]] as to Goldilocks' motivations, although [[{{Grimmification}} it didn't end well]] in most versions. While the food wasn't specifically put out for passing humans, the bears were quite distressed when they returned home to find her testing out beds in the house.
* The Korean folk tale "The Pheasant and the Gong": a woodcutter on a long journey gets lost in the forest. Tired and hungry, he stumbles upon a mansion, whose only occupant [[SchmuckBait is a beautiful, charming, helpful young woman]]. It turns out she is the spirit of a snake he'd killed earlier in the story who now wants revenge for having killed her.

* In the novelization of the ballad "Thomas the Rhymer" the Fairy Queen makes a point of only serving Thomas food made in human world, always specifying where it's from, since she intends to release him after several years of service, and if he ate the native food of the Fairyland he would be stuck there for good, and even she would have no power to help him.

* One ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''-based {{Gamebook|s}} features a table filled with self-serving food in an otherwise abandoned castle. [[spoiler:It's a trap, HaveANiceDeath!]]

* Creator/RobertEHoward's ''Literature/XuthalOfTheDusk'' starts off like this, after Literature/ConanTheBarbarian and his GirlOfTheWeek are attacked by what seems to be a dead man. Natala fears this trope when she sees a meal laid out. Conan tells her she's a fool since they are starving, but once he has eaten it does occur to him that it could be poisoned.
* Creator/CSLewis subverts this in ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'', with a banquet that appears to have put three men to sleep for ''years''. Despite ''seeing the victims'' still sitting at the table, some of the crew are tempted to dig in, though the wiser among them shoot that idea down. Later it turns out that the banquet is perfectly all right -- the victims fell asleep because during a heated argument, one of them grabbed the stone knife the White Witch used to kill Aslan, and they all dropped asleep as soon as he touched it.

* In ''Literature/TheOdyssey'' Odysseus and his crew stumble upon a cave with live animals. Thinking the animals are wild beasts, they began to take them for food. Then the cave's owner shows up, a Cyclops. Realizing their error, Odysseus offers to recompense the Cyclops for the animals that were butchered and eaten. The Cyclops agrees, by taking members of Odysseus's crew and eating them, raw, then sealing the cave shut with the rest trapped inside while he goes and lies on his bed [[TooDumbToLive right next to them.]]
* In ''Literature/TheOnceAndFutureKing,'' Wart ([[spoiler:young Myth/KingArthur]]) and Kay go into the castle of Morgan le Fay, warned that they won't be able to leave if they eat anything. The ''whole castle'' is made of food, but thankfully neither of them is stupid/hungry enough to fall for it.
* In one of the Literature/LandOfOz sequels, ''The Patchwork Girl of Oz,'' the protagonists come across a cabin on a deserted stretch of the Yellow Brick Road. A disembodied voice begrudgingly agrees to provide them food and shelter for the night, and they never see who provides it. The titular Patchwork Girl annoys the invisible host and winds up locked outside overnight, where she observes a large wolf coming to the door several times. In the morning, the protagonists who spent the night inside realize they're still hungry and tired as if they hadn't eaten or slept at all. The whole thing is [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment never elaborated on, explained, or even referenced again.]]

* ''Literature/TheWeeFreeMen'': If you eat anything inside a [[DreamWeaver drome]]'s dream, you'll never want to wake up; you just carry on dreaming while your sleeping body starves to death... (Though it doesn't work on Feegles, who [[DimensionalTraveler have no trouble getting in and out of anywhere]]; after entering one dream to warn Tiffany, they stay behind to polish off the lavish banquet that was provided.)
* High Judges in ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' often set up feasts during games in which items such as food and medicine are provided to present surviving tributes. Often, they serve as yet another occasion for further bloodshed, since stronger tributes use these feasts to attract weaker ones to kill; indeed, such feasts are commonly used to make games more active.

* ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'': As the game is about fairy tales from Hell, you'd imagine there'd be a few places in the Hedge that take advantage of this. One such place is a sumptuous underground manse, accessible only by ladder, filled with beautiful decor and giant marionette handservants that offer you the finest refreshments. And then you try to leave, and find that the ladder's disappeared, and the walls up are covered with an extremely slippery substance. And if you stay in that manse, you'll slowly ''become'' one of those genderless automatons, dedicated only to pleasing your "guests."
** Some hobgoblins have a Dread power called "Much Depends On Dinner," which creates one of these out of thin air that is supernaturally tempting...Anyone who sees or smells the delicious offerings is instantly, ravenously hungry, and is drawn to the table, where they eat their fill. This can be a mask for any number of unpleasant outcomes, with the most benign being that the food is actually dried husks and dead leaves and not actually filling, and at worst hide poison or included fruits that give the eaters Goblin Debt.
** If you have the Feast of Plenty Contract from the Chalice Regalia, you too can create your own Schmuck Banquet out of thin air -- the food is supernaturally tasty and has magical effects, but everyone who eats what you provided are now saddled with a Wyrd-enforced debt to you.

* In Creator/JohnMilton's ''Theatre/{{Comus}}'', Comus offers one, and is scorned. He only manages to keep the Lady there by using his MagicWand and imprisoning her in her chair.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'':
** The [[AfterlifeExpress Phantom Train]] with EverythingTryingToKillYou has a dining car. [[SubvertedTrope Despite this though, the food is perfectly fine and will fully heal you.]] You don't even have to pay! The Phantom Train is packed front-to-back with hostile spirits, but there are plenty of [[FriendlyGhost Friendly Ghosts]] onboard too. [[DontFearTheReaper The ghosts operating the train]] are all of the friendly variety.
** AfterTheEnd, the once-besieged castle of [[ThrowawayCountry Doma]] is now completely deserted and devoid of any life. But the beds are still good and comfy! And for free, too. Just don't bring [[SoleSurvivor the one guy who used to live here]], or [[BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind his nightmares are going to be quite vivid]].
* A variation in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' when the party celebrates the Festival of the Hunt by eating the feast already laid out for them. Technically there was nothing wrong with the food but Princess Garnet just managed to slip sleeping weed into everyone else's dishes so she could sneak off.
* Also a variation in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' where you will trick a priest that early on was your quest-giver, as the new course for the [[ImAHumanitarian feast]] of followers of Namira. As soon as the priest enters the banquet, he's already mind-controlled into taking a sleep (where you will carve him). The player can either take the first bite, or use the priest as bait to gather all of Namira's local coven in one place to kill them.
* ''VideoGame/TheLastStory'': While exploring a heavily dilapidated shipwreck full of nothing but monsters, the party comes across a banquet room filled with high-class food that looks fresh and ready to eat. Everyone scoffs at how obvious a trap it is though (except for BigEater Mirania who needs to needs a bit of sense talked into her first), and they quickly move on without incident.

* ''VideoGame/GretelAndHansel'' has a variation in the second game, where you drop into a banquet held by a treeman (the other guests are tied up) who offers you fare such as fish or leg of human. Eating it causes branches to sprout from your head, eating too much gets you one of the game's many deaths.

* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' has the free cake set out for you towards the end of the Glitz Pit arc. This is especially deceptive, because the first one ''is'' safe and restores all stats, while the second one later on will poison and weaken you (forcing you to fight without a partner in the next bout).
** ''VideoGame/MarioPartyDS'' starts with Mario getting a microscopic shard known as a Sky Crystal, and on cue, Kamek flies over the Mushroom Kingdom, dropping invitations from Bowser to a banquet as an apology for his antagonism. The invitations also land in the hands of Franchise/DonkeyKong and Diddy Kong, who rush over to Bowser's Castle for the food, only for Donkey Kong to be [[TakenForGranite turned to stone]] by Kamek. Mario and his friends arrive at Bowser's Castle, and as promised, the banquet is laid out in the open, but this turns out to be a trap for all eight guests to be locked behind a cage, be [[IncredibleShrinkingMan shrunk]] by Bowser, and have Mario's Sky Crystal be stolen. Come the end of the game, the entire banquet is devoured by the Kongs.
** Bowser is treated to one after beating Midbus in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory''. He eats only a little and tries to get out, but the Boos force-feed him [[BalloonBelly until he becomes too fat to move]].

** The Argonauts arrive on the island of Mysia and find a large feast laid out for them, with nobody in sight. Of course taking one thing from the table summons the Harpies to attack. The entire banquet was put there as a KickTheDog to Phineus who had given up his eyesight for the ability to see into the future. A new banquet is put there every day but he can't eat any of it or else the Harpies will get him. However once the Argonauts get rid the Harpies, he's free to eat as much as he wants.

** Bowser is treated to one after beating Midbus in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory''. He eats only a little and tries to get out, but the Boos force-feed him until he becomes too fat to move.

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': In Operation: F.O.U.N.T.A.I.N., Sector V found themselves an ancient school build underneath Gallagher Elementary School in order to rescue Leaky Leona. Their trek to rescue her led them to a cafeteria where the food is laid out perfectly. Numbuh 5 is aware that it could be a trap, so she ordered everyone to not touch the food. But when the message is passed to [[TheDitz Numbuh 3]], she completely misheard the message and tells [[BigEater Numbuh 2]] to "try the onion rings", but Numbuh 2 was already putting food on his tray. A gush of milk from where the food used to be began flooding the entire room, which ironically helps them get out as the only way to the next room is a heighted exit.

* ''WesternAnimation/TimonAndPumbaa'': In one episode, Timon and Pumbaa run into a free-for-all restaurant in the middle of the Amazon jungle (since they're {{Funny Animal}}s, the entrees are insects and the like). It's actually a trap set by a duo of anacondas for FatteningTheVictim.

->''"Free eats can't be beat! [...] Is it too good to be true? ...Of course!"''

** If you have the Feast of Plenty Contract from the Cup Regalia, you too can create your own Schmuck Banquet out of thin air -- the food is supernaturally tasty and has magical effects, but everyone who eats what you provided are now saddled with a Wyrd-enforced debt to you.

* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' has the free cake set out for you towards the end of the Glitz Pit arc. This is especially deceptive, because the first one ''is'' safe and restores all stats, while the second one later on will poison and weaken you (forcing you to fight without a partner in the next bout).

* Bowser is treated to one after beating Midbus in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory''. He eats only a little and tries to get out, but the Boos force-feed him until he becomes too fat to move.

* ''VideoGame/MarioPartyDS'' starts with Mario getting a microscopic shard known as a Sky Crystal, and on cue, Kamek flies over the Mushroom Kingdom, dropping invitations from Bowser to a banquet as an apology for his antagonism. The invitations also land in the hands of Franchise/DonkeyKong and Diddy Kong, who rush over to Bowser's Castle for the food, only for Donkey Kong to be [[TakenForGranite turned to stone]] by Kamek. Mario and his friends arrive at Bowser's Castle, and as promised, the banquet is laid out in the open, but this turns out to be a trap for all eight guests to be locked behind a cage, be [[IncredibleShrinkingMan shrunk]] by Bowser, and have Mario's Sky Crystal be stolen. Come the end of the game, the entire banquet is devoured by the Kongs.

* Parodied in ''LightNovel/WoofWoofStory''. A sapient wolf pack are trying to escort (oblivious) adventurers through the forest, reasoning that the less monsters they encounter, the sooner they will get out of the wolves' territory. So every single time the adventuring group sense monsters around, [[MookHorrorShow they are immediately slain by shadowy creatures too fast to recognize, who say nothing to the humans and follow them wherever they go]]. In the end, the wolves -- seeing that the group is terrified and exhausted despite all their hard work -- place a fancy banquet in their path. This doesn't help.

* Myth/{{Greek Mythology}}:

* Also a variation in ''Videogame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' where you will trick a priest that early on was your quest-giver, as the new course for the [[ImAHumanitarian feast]] of followers of Namira. As soon as the priest enters the banquet, he's already mind-controlled into taking a sleep (where you will carve him). The player can either take the first bite, or use the priest as bait to gather all of Namira's local coven in one place to kill them.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLastStory'', while exploring a heavily dilapidated shipwreck full of nothing but monsters, the party comes across a banquet room filled with high-class food that looks fresh and ready to eat. Everyone scoffs at how obvious a trap it is though (except for BigEater Mirania who needs to needs a bit of sense talked into her first), and they quickly move on without incident.

-->-- '''LemonyNarrator''', ''[[VideoGame/MarioParty Mario Party DS]]''

* ''[[VideoGame/MarioParty Mario Party DS]]'' starts with Mario getting a microscopic shard known as a Sky Crystal, and on cue, Kamek flies over the Mushroom Kingdom, dropping invitations from Bowser to a banquet as an apology for his antagonism. The invitations also land in the hands of Franchise/DonkeyKong and Diddy Kong, who rush over to Bowser's Castle for the food, only for Donkey Kong to be [[TakenForGranite turned to stone]] by Kamek. Mario and his friends arrive at Bowser's Castle, and as promised, the banquet is laid out in the open, but this turns out to be a trap for all eight guests to be locked behind a cage, be [[IncredibleShrinkingMan shrunk]] by Bowser, and have Mario's Sky Crystal be stolen. Come the end of the game, the entire banquet is devoured by the Kongs.

* This is [[spoiler:the overarching plot]] in the InteractiveFiction story ''VideoGame/EatMe''. Nearly everything (and everyone) you meet is made of food, and you can't enter the last area until you've fattened yourself up enough [[spoiler:and made yourself a sufficiently poetic target for a ForcedTransformation].

* This is [[spoiler:the overarching plot]] in the InteractiveFiction story ''VideoGame/EatMe''. Nearly everything (and everyone) you meet is made of food, and you can't enter the last area until you've fattened yourself up enough [[spoiler:and made yourself a sufficiently poetic target for a BalefulPolymorph]].

* ''[[VideoGame/MarioParty Mario Party DS]]'' starts with Mario getting a microscopic shard known as a Sky Crystal, and on cue, Kamek flies over the Mushroom Kingdom, dropping invitations from Bowser to a banquet as an apology for his antagonism. The invitations also land in the hands of Franchise/DonkeyKong and Diddy Kong, who rush over to Bowser's Castle for the food, only for Donkey Kong to be [[TakenForGranite turned to stone]] by Kamek. Mario and his friends arrive at Bowser's Castle, and as promised, the banquet is laid out in the open, but this turns out to be a trap for all eight guests to be locked behind a cage, be [[IncredibleShrinkingMan shrunk]] by Bowser, and have Mario's Sky Crystal be stolen.

* "Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast": Beauty's Father stumbles into one of these when he takes shelter in the Beast's castle. In the original fairy tale it wasn't accepting the offered hospitality that caused the problem, though -- it was picking a rose as he left in the morning. Specifically, the Beast left out the banquet as a form of SacredHospitality. He then got pissed when Beauty's father took advantage of the kindness and then went on to basically rob him (taking the rose without asking first).

* "[[Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast Beauty's Father]]" stumbles into one of these when he takes shelter in the Beast's castle. In the original fairy tale it wasn't accepting the offered hospitality that caused the problem, though -- it was picking a rose as he left in the morning. Specifically, the Beast left out the banquet as a form of SacredHospitality. He then got pissed when Beauty's father took advantage of the kindness and then went on to basically rob him (taking the rose without asking first).

* The first feature film of ''Het Huis Anubis'', "Anubis en het pad der 7 zonden", featured one of these within the villain (Rohan's) castle, complete with gorgeous outfits. While neither the food nor the outfits were harmful in and of themselves, they did end up petrifying both Amber and Appie, as both of them succumbed to one of the deadly sins because of them (pride and gluttony respectively).

* "Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast": Beauty's father stumbles into one of these when he takes shelter in the Beast's castle. In the original fairy tale it wasn't accepting the offered hospitality that caused the problem, though -- it was picking a rose as he left in the morning. Specifically, the Beast left out the banquet as a form of SacredHospitality. He then got pissed when Beauty's father took advantage of the kindness and then went on to basically rob him (taking the rose without asking first).

* Played with in ''Literature/TheHungerGames'', in which the Gamemakers provide a banquet for the final six tributes that includes food and needed supplies. However, it's commonly known these are death traps, and the Gamemakers don't claim otherwise. They simply rely on the tributes' desperation to get them to come.

* "[[Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast]]": Beauty's father stumbles into one of these when he takes shelter in the Beast's castle. In the original fairy tale it wasn't accepting the offered hospitality that caused the problem, though -- it was picking a rose as he left in the morning. Specifically, the Beast left out the banquet as a form of SacredHospitality. He then got pissed when Beauty's father took advantage of the kindness and then went on to basically rob him (taking the rose without asking first).

* "[[Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast Beauty's Father]]" stumbles into one of these when he takes shelter in the Beast's castle. In the original fairy tale it wasn't accepting the offered hospitality that caused the problem, though -- it was picking a rose as he left in the morning. Specifically, the Beast left out the banquet as a form of SacredHospitality. He then got pissed when Beauty's father took advantage of the kindness and then went on to basically rob him (taking the rose without asking first).