History Main / FamilialCannibalismSurprise

%%Zero Context Example* Some versions of ''Literature/LittleRedRidingHood'', see ''The Sandman'' above.

* ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'': After Dr. Scott says that Eddie was his nephew, Dr. Frank-N-Furter reveals that they've been eating "Eddie under glass".

* Like its source inspiration, ''Manga/SoulHunter'' has Dakki killing Hakuyuko, turning him into hamburgers, and serving it to his father Ki Shou. Just like in the novel, he feigns ignorance despite being (somehow, as he's not a seer in this version) conscious of the nature of the meat. This trauma deprives him of appetite so much that he starves himself and eventually dies from it.

** The whole affair takes on a whole new layer during the events of "[[Recap/SouthParkS14E5200 200]]" and "[[Recap/SouthParkS14E6201 201]]" when the long-standing question of the identity of Cartman's father is revealed. Rather than Ms. Cartman being a hermaphrodite as was the original explanation, [[spoiler:she had a drunken one-night-stand with Jack Tenorman, Scott's father and a member of the Denver Broncos at the time and gave birth to Eric but never told him]]. The town also collectively agreed to keep it hush-hush so that [[spoiler:the Broncos' stellar season back then wouldn't be ruined]]. That unfortunately means that when Cartman served Scott that chili, he [[spoiler:was feeding the remains of his own father whom he had killed indirectly to his half-brother]].

* ''Literature/SunMoonAndTalia'', one of the various stories that contributed towards ''Literature/SleepingBeauty'' contains an [[SubvertedTrope unsuccessful attempt]] at this. After the princess Talia appears at the castle of the king who brought about her awakening[[note]] by raping Talia [[DudeShesLikeInAComa whilst she was unconscious]][[/note]] with their two children in tow his current wife orders the royal cook to slaughter and prepare said children as food. The cook secretly hides the children and cooks up goat stew instead, when the queen reveals her plan to the king after he eats the stew the cook steps in to let him know his children are actually safe after all and the king orders his current wife put to death and marries Talia soon after.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'', Frau Totenkinder once punished a woman by tricking her into eating a pie she made from one of the woman's horrible daughters (Frau having eaten the other one, while rewarding the woman's hated but kind stepdaughter with riches).

* Like its source inspiration, ''Manga/SoulHunter'' has Dakki killing Hakuyuko, turn him into hamburgers and serve it to his father Ki Shou. Just like in the novel, he feigns ignorance despite being (somehow, as he's not a seer in this version) conscious of the nature of the meat. This trauma deprives him of appetite so much that he starves himself and eventually dies from it.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6760673/1/The-Undignified-Demise-of-Serpentor-I The Undignified Demise of Serpentor I]]'', Mindbender reveals to Destro and the Baroness that their leader Serpentor (who was turned into a iguana during the events of ''G.I. Joe: Operation Dragonfire'') had disappeared. Later, Cobra Commander invites the high command of Cobra and the Dreadnok for a brunch with a breakfast casserole, promoting himself the new leader. Once the other members of Cobra start eating, he reveals that the casserole was made from ''iguana meat'', revealing he had found and cooked Serpentor into a meal and declares it a warning if the others try to betray him. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Then the Commander gets indigestion from eating the iguana meat]].

* ''Kongji and Patji'': In this Korean variant on Literature/{{Cinderella}}, the story concludes with the magistrate (the PrinceCharming equivalent) having evil stepsister Patji executed, turned into stew, and fed to the WickedStepmother, who faints and never awakens after finding out what she ate.

* ''Film/InTheTallGrass'': Based on the novella of the same name by Creator/StephenKing and Creator/JoeHill, a delirious, starving, barely conscious [[spoiler:Becky]] is fed ''[[spoiler:the remains of her stillborn baby]]'' by her BrainwashedAndCrazy [[spoiler:brother, Ross.]]

** The first example may well be Tantalus, son of Zeus, ancestor of the aforementioned Atreus and Thyestes -- and arguably the true source of the curse on the whole bloodline. He wanted to prove the gods are not all-knowing so he murdered his son Pelops and cooked him for the feast he was giving the gods—that is, relatives on his father's side. The other gods instantly realized what was going on but Demeter (still crestfallen after Persephone vanished) did end up nibbling on a shoulder-blade (which got replaced with an ivory one courtesy of Hephaestus when the poor kid got brought back to the living).

A SubTrope of IAteWhat and ImAHumanitarian, and usually also RevengeIsADishBestServed.

* ''Literature/SunMoonAndTalia'', one of the various stories that contributed towards ''Literature/SleepingBeauty'' contains an [[AvertedTrope unsuccessful attempt]] at this. After the princess Talia appears at the castle of the king who brought about her awakening[[note]] by raping Talia [[DudeShesLikeInAComa whilst she was unconscious]][[/note]] with their two children in tow his current wife orders the royal cook to slaughter and prepare said children as food. The cook secretly hides the children and cooks up goat stew instead, when the queen reveals her plan to the king after he eats the stew the cook steps in to let him know his children are actually safe after all and the king orders his current wife put to death and marries Talia soon after.

* In one particularly dark ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' strip, a chicken takes off its dog costume and gleefully tells them that it's the chicken they thought they cooked for dinner...would they like to know where their dog is now?

* In the oneshot ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'' DarkFic ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/373563 Consumed]]'', Cinderella enacts revenge on her abusive step-mother and step-sisters in this manner. She orders Anastasia to be assassinated, gets her fed to her mother and sister, then frames them for murder and cannibalism.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1777312/12/Harry-Potter-the-Honeychurch-Institute-of-Magic Harry Potter & the Honeychurch Institute of Magic]]'' one of the Honeychurch ghosts was killed, butchered and served to his father as retaliation for a perceived slight against Lord Honeychurch.

* The Korean folktale ''Kongji and Patji'', a variant on Literature/{{Cinderella}}, ends with the magistrate (the PrinceCharming equivalent) having evil stepsister Patji executed, turned into stew, and fed to the WickedStepmother, who faints and never awakens after finding out what she ate.

* In ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'' after Dr. Scott says that Eddie was his nephew Dr. Frank-N-Furter reveals that they've been eating "Eddie under glass".
* In ''Film/TheatreOfBlood'', Edward Lionheart feeds Meredith Merridew his two [[MisterMuffykins pet poodles]] (who he regards as his children) baked into a pie, as a revenge based on ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus''. He then makes Merridew choke to death by ForceFeeding him the remains of the pies very forcefully.
* In ''Film/InTheTallGrass'', based on the novella of the same name by Creator/StephenKing and Creator/JoeHill, [[spoiler:a delirious, starving, barely-conscious Becky is fed ''the remains of her stillborn baby'' by her BrainwashedAndCrazy brother, Ross.]]

* Some of the oldest examples come from ''Literature/TheHistories'' of Herodotus, which contain at least two instances involving the Medes. Of these, the more famous comes from Herodotus' ([[BasedOnAGreatBigLie completely fictional]], by the way, though Herodotus probably didn't invent it himself) OriginStory for UsefulNotes/CyrusTheGreat. To summarize considerably, Cyrus' maternal grandfather, King Astyages of the Medes, had ordered one of his generals, Harpagus, to kill the newborn Cyrus (as he had had an omen that Cyrus would supplant or overthrow him). Harpagus didn't have the heart, and long story short Astyages finds out ten years later that Cyrus is still alive. This was Harpagus' punishment for his failure (from A.D. Godley's 1920 translation):

* In ''Literature/TheWitches'', Creator/RoaldDahl mentions offhandedly that American witches have been known to transmogrify children into hot dogs and feed them to unsuspecting parents.
* Subverted in ''Literature/ZoeyPunchesTheFutureInTheDick''. [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Titus Chobb]] heavily implies the meal he has served Zoey, an unidentifiable cooked meat, is her mother, until Zoey's mother enters from the next room, perfectly fine. A few pages later, Chobb implies that the meal is actually his own son, Marti, until Marti similarly enters alive and well. It's clear by this point that Chobb is simply being a troll, and an exasperated Zoey refuses to rise to the bait when Chobb tries it a third time.

* In ''Series/BabylonBerlin'', the [[TheDon Armenian]] serves his business partner his own brother's tongue as "octopus" as revenge for some deed.

* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'' [[spoiler:Arya Stark]] kills and feeds [[spoiler:Walder Frey]]'s sons [[spoiler:Lame Lothar and Black Walder]] to him as meat pies, instead of [[spoiler:Lord Manderly]] being the one to do it like in the books.
* In ''Series/{{Gotham}}'', Oswald Cobblepot kills [[spoiler:his father, Elijah's]] stepchildren then feeds them to their mother before killing her. They were using him as a servant and had [[spoiler:poisoned his father]].

** The first example may well be Tantalus, son of Zeus, ancestor of the aforementioned Atreus and Thyestes -- and arguably the true source of the curse on the whole bloodline. He wanted to prove the gods are not all-knowing so he murdered his son Pelops and cooked him for the feast he was giving the gods, that is, relatives on his father's side. The other gods instantly realized what was going on but Demeter (still crestfallen after Persephone vanished) did end up nibbling on a shoulder-blade (which got replaced with an ivory one courtesy of Hephaestus when the poor kid got brought back to the living).

* A ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' sketch has a vengeful fish killing a man's wife and serving her to him.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "[[Recap/SouthParkS5E4ScottTenormanMustDie Scott Tenorman Must Die]]", Cartman kills Scott's parents, cooks them into chili and tricks him into eating it, mocking him in an homage of ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus''. (Although Titus didn't have the members of Music/{{Radiohead}} on hand to call the unfortunate victim a pussy.)

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Scott Tenorman Must Die", Cartman kills Scott's parents, cooks them into chili and tricks him into eating it, mocking him in an homage of ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus''. (Although Titus didn't have the members of Music/{{Radiohead}} on hand to call the unfortunate victim a pussy.)

* In ''Paul of Franchise/{{Dune}}'' Emperor Paul Muad'dib shares water with Count Fenring, a sacred practice to the desert Fremen, then [[spoiler: reveals the water was distilled from his daughter's flesh after her attempt to assassinate Paul failed.]]

** In more recent times, it is implied that [[spoiler:Lord Wyman Manderly]] served [[spoiler: Symond, Rhaegar, and Jared Frey]] as meat pies at the wedding of [[spoiler:Ramsay Bolton. They were eaten by their relatives (who were attended because of the family's alliance to the Boltons), including Symond's brother, niece, and nephew as well as Rhaegar's father.]]

* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'' [[spoiler:Arya Stark]] kills and feeds [[spoiler:Walder Frey]]'s sons [[spoiler: Lame Lothar and Black Walder]] to him as meat pies, instead of [[spoiler:Lord Manderly]] being the one to do it like in the books.
* In ''Series/{{Gotham}}'', Oswald Cobblepot kills [[spoiler: his father, Elijah's]] stepchildren then feeds them to their mother before killing her. They were using him as a servant and had [[spoiler:poisoned his father]].

[[folder:Mythology]]

** The first example may well be Tantalus, son of Zeus, ancestor of the aforementioned Atreus and Thyestes - and arguably the true source of the curse on the whole bloodline. He wanted to prove the gods are not all-knowing so he murdered his son Pelops and cooked him for the feast he was giving the gods, that is, relatives on his father's side. The other gods instantly realized what was going on but Demeter (still crestfallen after Persephone vanished) did end up nibbling on a shoulder-blade (which got replaced with an ivory one courtesy of Hephaestus when the poor kid got brought back to the living).

[[folder:Film - Live-Action]]

* In ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', Fiddler's Green relates a version of Little Red Riding Hood in which the wolf carved up Granny and poured her blood into a wine bottle, then tricked Red into having a bite and a drink before killing her as well.

** The legendary Rat Cook is said to have served a prince to his father, over an unknown slight by the King. However, the worst deed the Rat Cook performed was not his murder of the prince or the fact that he made the King an unwitting cannibal, but his violation of SacredHospitality by killing a guest beneath his roof. For this crime, the gods turned him into a massive white rat cursed with eternal hunger, but only able to eat his own young. It is said that all the rats that roam the Nightfort are his descendants.

* ''Literature/FengshenYanyi'' has a subversion, when Lord Ji Fa is ordered to consume meatballs by the tyrant King Zhou, which is made from the flesh of ''his son''. Ji Fa is aware of the ingredients, but in order to pretend he's oblivious to Zhou's tyranny, he consumes the meatballs anyways. When he finally returns home, he regurgitates blobs of flesh on the ground, highly implied to be his son Bo Yikao's remains.

* ''Literature/FengshenYanyi'' has a subversion, when Lord Ji Fa is ordered to consume meatballs by the tyrant Emperor Zhou, which is made from the flesh of ''his son''. Ji Fa is aware of the ingredients, but in order to pretend he's oblivious to Zhou's tyranny, he consumes the meatballs anyways. When he finally returns home, he regurgitates blobs of flesh on the ground, highly implied to be his son Bo Yikao's remains.

** The legendary Rat Cook is said to have served a prince to his father, over an unknown slight by the King. However, the main horrible deed the Rat Cook performed was not that he killed the prince or made the King an unwitting cannibal, but that he violated SacredHospitality by killing a guest beneath his roof. For this crime, the gods turned him into a massive white rat cursed with eternal hunger, but only able to eat his own young.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''

%%Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1652495835036442600&page=1
%%Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheatreOfBlood https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theater_of_blood_1973_7.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:That horrible moment when "IAteWhat" becomes "I Ate WHO?!"]]

* ''Series/BabylonBerlin'': It's [[AmbiguousSituation heavily implied]] that the Armenian served his business partner his own brother's tongue as "octopus" as revenge for some deed.

* ''Series/BabylonBerlin'': It's [[AmbiguousSituation heavily implied]] that the Armenian served his business partner his own brother's tongue as "octopus" as revenge for some dead.

[[folder:Film - Live Action]]

* In ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' Fiddler's Green relates a version of Little Red Riding Hood in which the wolf carved up Granny and poured her blood into a wine bottle, then tricked Red into having a bite and a drink before killing her as well.

--> But when Harpagus’ son came, Astyages cut his throat and tearing him limb from limb roasted some and boiled some of the flesh, and the work being finished kept all in readiness. So when it came to the hour for dinner and Harpagus was present among the rest of the guests, dishes of sheeps’ flesh were set before Astyages and the others, but Harpagus was served with the flesh of his own son, all but the head and hands and feet, which lay apart covered up in a basket. And when Harpagus seemed to have eaten his fill, Astyages asked him, “Are you pleased with your meal, Harpagus?” “Exceeding well pleased,” Harpagus answered. Then those whose business it was brought him in the covered basket the head and hands and feet of his son, and they stood before Harpagus and bade him uncover and take of them what he would. Harpagus did so; he uncovered and saw what was left of his son: this he saw, but he mastered himself and was not dismayed. Astyages asked him, “Know you what beast’s flesh you have eaten?” “Yea,” he said, “I know, and all that the king does is pleasing to me.” With that answer he took the rest of the flesh and went to his house, purposing then, as I suppose, to collect and bury all.

* ''Series/{{CSI}}'': In “Last Supper", the murderer cuts up the VictimOfTheWeek, cooks him, and serves him to the contestants on a cooking show as a palate test. The victim had raped and murdered her sister together with his 'frat brother', who is one of the contestants. The butchering and cooking scene is an obvious tip of the hat to ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus''.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Scott Tenorman Must Die", Cartman kills Scott's parents, cooks them into chili and tricks him into eating it, mocking him in an homage of ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus''. (Although ''Titus Andronicus'' didn't have the members of Music/{{Radiohead}} on hand to call the unfortunate victim a pussy.)