History Main / BrutalBirdOfPrey

* ''In ''Film/SilentTongue'', Awbonnie's ghost summons an eagle that attacks Prescott, Talbot and Veldava.

* Played with in the ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'' episode, "The Falcon and the Snow Job"; Skipper falls in love with Kitka, a falcon who crash-lands at the zoo and injures her wing. The other animals are suspicious of Kitka, since she eats smaller mammals, and think that [[LoveMakesYouDumb Skipper's crush on her makes him oblivious to that fact]], but Kitka promises not to eat Skipper's friends. One day, King Julien goes missing, and when a falcon feather is discovered in his habitat, the animals are all quick to point fingers at Kitka. Skipper travels to Kitka's nest to prove Kitka's innocence, and he turns out to be right; a male falcon was the one who snatched Julien and tried to eat him, and Kitka saved Julien from him.

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Compare and contrast NobleBirdOfPrey, which features birds of prey as noble, proud and majestic. A subtrope of FeatheredFiend and PredatorsAreMean. For the nocturnal equivalent, see OminousOwl.

* ''Manga/BusoRenkin'': Washio, the eagle homunculus, is the strongest of the man-eating [[OurHomunculiAreDifferent animal-type homunculi]]. He is able to transform into a half-man/half-bird hybrid [[TheHeavy who gives the main characters their toughest fight]] of the A New Life arc. However, he later turns out to be a NobleBirdOfPrey who doesn't care about anything except protecting the master who brought him back to life.

* In the ComicBook/DisneyMouseAndDuckComics, Emil Eagle is a MadScientist-and in some stories is the Lex Luthor to Super Goof's Superman. That is all.

* There's a children's book called "SQUAAAAWK" in which, if you open a magical book, you allow the [[GiantFlyer Roc]] magically bound inside to get out and terrorize your town.
* Tobias in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' (a boy stuck in the form of a red-tailed hawk) has a hatred of eagles -- SixthRangerTraitor David chooses a golden eagle as his first morph, a bird easily larger and more dangerous than any other the kids have morphed into so far, with the exception of Rachel's bald eagle.

* In the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' series, ordinary birds of prey such as hawks and eagles are portrayed as terrifying predators. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], since they're ''cats'', after all, and the birds are very large to them -- large enough to carry off a kit, or, with an eagle at least, a full-grown cat.
* In ''Literature/TheBookOfDust'', [[TheHeavy Olivier Bonnevile]], one half of the BigBadDuumvirate of ''The Secret Commonwealth'', has a sparrowhawk as a daemon.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard'' episode "Ono and the Egg" has an African harrier-hawk named Mpishi as its main antagonist. She invades the Pride Lands (where hawks are not allowed to hunt due to not having a territory there) in search of new prey to eat and teams up with Mzingo's right-wing vulture Mwoga in order to outwit the Lion Guard.
* In ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', Falcon Graves is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin an anthropomorphic falcon]] and a ruthless corporate saboteur.
* Played with in the ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'' episode, "The Falcon and the Snow Job"; Skipper falls in love with Kitka, a falcon who crash-lands at the zoo and injures her wing. The other animals are suspicious of Kitka, since she eats smaller mammals, and think that [[LoveMakesYouDumb Skipper's crush on her makes him oblivious to that fact]], but Kitka promises not to eat Skipper's friends. One day, King Julien goes missing, and when a falcon feather is discovered in his habitat, the animals are all quick to point fingers at Kitka. Skipper travels to Kitka's nest to prove Kitka's innocence, and he turns out to be right; a male falcon was the one who snatched Julien and tried to eat him, and Kitka saved Julien from him.

** The [[HarpingOnAboutHarpies harpies]] were often said to be part-woman and part-vulture, and they were nasty creatures that kidnapped humans, stole food and made it smell too horrible to ear when humans objected.

* Hayabusu, [[BigBad Shan Yu's]] falcon in ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'', serves as his master's loyal scout.

** The [[HarpingOnAboutHarpies harpies]] were often said to be part-woman and part-vulture, and they were nasty creatures that kidnapped humans, stole food and vomited on it when humans objected.
** The Stymphalian Birds, deadly bronze-taloned birds that could fire their feathers out like arrows, ''might'' have been this, though sources disagree on just what types of birds they were--some artwork depicted them as looking like geese or storks instead.

* In ''VideoGame/FarCry4'', EverythingIsTryingToKillYou (unless, of course, it's a pig, or a tapir, or an HonorableElephant), and one of the dangerous native animals of Kyrat are their black eagles. If you ever hear one of the Golden Path soldiers shout "EAGLE!!", look to the sky, because that eagle is most likely going to swoop down and introduce your face to its talons. As a testament to the danger posed by black eagles, they can literally ''[[KidnappingBirdOfPrey carry off pigs]]'', despite the fact that those pigs should weigh more than they do. The eagles make more appearances in the Oros Valley in ''VideoGame/FarCryPrimal'', and ''VideoGame/FarCry5'' introduces bald eagles that fill the same role. Rather appropriate, since the fifth game takes place in {{Eagleland}}.

* The antagonist of the first act of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'' and current trope image is a giant hawk known as Metalbeak who routinely terrorizes the Western town called Dirt (the inhabitants of which are all animals who would naturally be the hawk's prey). Even [[TheDreaded Rattlesnake Jake]] is terrified of it. ([[spoiler:Which makes Rango's accidental success in killing it unfortunate, as it was the only thing restraining Rattlesnake Jake in any way.]])

* Although he is an owl rather than a diurnal raptor, the case of Metalbeak from the ''Literature/GuardiansOfGaHoole'' books cannot be ignored here.

The other reason is, quite simply, a lot of animal fiction has their natural prey as protagonists. Birds of prey, as their natural predators, are the obvious choices for antagonists. In a story where birds are the main protagonists, whether anthropomorphic or not, the BigBad is usually a bird of prey.

* The antagonist of the first act of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'' and current trope image is a giant hawk who routinely terrorizes the Western town called Dirt (the inhabitants of which are all animals who would naturally be the hawk's prey). Even [[TheDreaded Rattlesnake Jake]] is terrified of it. ([[spoiler:Which makes Rango's accidental success in killing it unfortunate, as it was the only thing restraining Rattlesnake Jake in any way.]])

* The antagonist of the first act of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'' is a giant hawk who routinely terrorizes the Western town called Dirt (the inhabitants of which are all animals who would naturally be the hawk's prey). Even [[TheDreaded Rattlesnake Jake]] is terrified of it. ([[spoiler:Which makes Rango's accidental success in killing it unfortunate, as it was the only thing restraining Rattlesnake Jake in any way.]])

* ''Manga/BusoRenkin'': Washio, the eagle homunculus, is the strongest of the man-eating [[OurHomunculiAreDifferent animal-type homunculi]] who is able to transform into a half-man/half-bird hybrid [[TheHeavy who gives the main characters their toughest fight]] of the A New Life arc. However, he later turns out to be a NobleBirdOfPrey who doesn't care about anything except protecting the master who brought him back to life.

* Tobias in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' (a boy stuck in the form of a red-tailed hawk) has a hatred of eagles - SixthRangerTraitor David chooses a golden eagle as his first morph, a bird easily larger and more dangerous than any other the kids have morphed so far, with the exception of Rachel's bald eagle.
* The vicious birdlike Shryke race in ''Literature/TheEdgeChronicles'' resemble humanoid birds of prey and are a matriarchal race of warriors and slavers who are notorious for their brutality, to the point of [[ToServeMan eating their enemies]] -- and [[ImAHumanitarian even each other]]. Male shrykes are treated little better than slaves, led around on chains by the larger females.

* The antagonist of the first act of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'' is a giant hawk who routinely terrorizes the Western town called Dirt (the inhabitants of whom are all animals who would naturally be the hawk's prey). Even [[TheDreaded Rattlesnake Jake]] is terrified of it. ([[spoiler:Which makes Rango's accidental succes in killing it unfortunate, as it was the only thing restraining Rattlesnake Jake in any way.]])

* The antagonist of the first act of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'' is a giant hawk who routinely terrorizes the Western town called Dirt (the inhabitants of whom are all animals who would naturally be the hawk's prey). Even [[TheDreaded Rattlesnake Jake]] is terrified of it.
* Hayabusu, [[BigBad Shan Yu's]] falcon in ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'', serves as his master's loyal scout.

* In the second ''Film/StuartLittle'' film, an evil and cunning falcon is the main antagonist. He manipulates Margalo into assisting his criminal schemes and nearly kills Stuart.