History Main / MonsterMunch

* The ''{{Franchise/ResidentEvil}} series has plenty of these.

** Robert Kendo in ''VideoGames/ResidentEvil2'' serves little other purpose than to be devoured by zombies shortly after Leon arrives at his gun store.
*** In the [[VideoGames/ResidentEvil2Remake remake]] of the same game, Officer Elliot Edward is [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe brutally ripped apart]] by a zombie while Leon tries to help him.
** Both Spanish police officers in ''VideoGames/ResidentEvil4'' are captured and killed by the Los Illuminados cult after dropping Leon off. Leon arrives just in time to see one of them being fed to Del Lago, a monster living in the lake.
** ''VideoGames/ResidentEvil5''

** An unnamed man joins Leon and Helena in ''VideoGames/ResidentEvil6'' as the latter two escape Ivy University, only to be devoured by his infected daughter minutes later.
** The Sewer Gators, a trio of paranormal investigators in ''VideoGames/ResidentEvil7'', are introduced mostly to show the brutality of the Baker family. All three are trapped within the house and murdered by the family’s members.
** An old man in ''VideoGames/ResidentEvilVillage'' becomes monster food less than a minute after ambushing Chris with a shotgun.

* Most of the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' movies, save for [[Film/SawI the first]] and ''Film/{{Jigsaw}}'', have an opening victim whose entire purpose is to show the audience how one of [[PoeticSerialKiller Jigsaw]]'s brutal {{death trap}}s works, so as to get the crowd pumped for the murder and mayhem to follow. Many of these scenes are similar: the victim wakes up to find themselves trapped with a [[RubeGoldbergHatesYourGuts clockwork contraption poised to kill them]], a tape plays in which Jigsaw outlines what these victims did to find themselves in their predicament, and then the game begins.

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* Most of the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' movies, save for [[Film/SawI the first]] and ''Film/{{Jigsaw}}'', have an opening victim whose entire purpose is to show the audience how one of [[PoeticSerialKiller Jigsaw]]'s brutal {{death trap}}s works, so as to get the crowd pumped for the murder and mayhem to follow. Many of them are similar: they wake up to find themselves trapped with a [[RubeGoldbergHatesYourGuts clockwork contraption poised to kill them]], a tape plays in which Jigsaw outlines what these victims did to find themselves in their predicament... and then the games begin.

* Stu the glyptodont in ''[[WesternAnimation/IceAge2TheMeltdown Ice Age: The Meltdown]]'' exists only to be eaten by [[PrehistoricMonster Cretaceous and Maelstrom.]]

JustForFun/NotToBeConfusedWith MonsterMash.

* Most of the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' movies, save for [[Film/SawI the first]] and ''Film/{{Jigsaw}}'', have an opening victim whose entire purpose is to show the audience how one of [[PoeticSerialKiller Jigsaw]]'s [[TorturePorn brutal]] {{death trap}}s works, so as to get the crowd pumped for the murder and mayhem to follow. Many of them are similar: they wake up to find themselves trapped with a [[RubeGoldbergHatesYourGuts clockwork contraption poised to kill them]], a tape plays in which Jigsaw outlines what these victims did to find themselves in their predicament, and then [[{{Gorn}} the games begin]].

* Most of the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' movies, save for [[Film/SawI the first]] and [[Film/{{Jigsaw}} the eighth]], have an opening victim whose entire purpose is to show the audience how one of [[PoeticSerialKiller Jigsaw]]'s [[TorturePorn brutal]] {{death trap}}s works, so as to get the crowd pumped for the murder and mayhem to follow. Many of the minor characters are similar: they wake up to find themselves trapped with a [[RubeGoldbergHatesYourGuts clockwork contraption poised to kill them]], a tape plays in which Jigsaw outlines what these {{Asshole Victim}}s did to find themselves in their predicament, and then [[{{Gorn}} the games begin]].

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Note: In Europe, there actually is a popular type of snack called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Munch Monster Munch]], but this trope isn't about that, although it is where the idea for the name came from.

Not to be confused with MonsterMash.

%%* ''Squatina'' from ''Series/PlanetDinosaur''.

* The three punks at the beginning of ''Film/TheTerminator'' are there solely to establish the ruthlessness of the antagonist (and provide him with some clothes).
** There's also a bit where Reese has a dream/flashback about the future where he's fighting a giant tank thing. While he does manage to destroy it [[RedShirts it kills another soldier fighting alongside him in one shot.]]

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'':
** In the pilot "Sandkings", Josh Kress' dog Cowboy is eaten by the Sandkings. This alerts Josh's father Dr. Simon Kress to how dangerous they are.
** In "Unnatural Selection", a Genetic Rejection Syndrome sufferer butchered a cat, traumatizing the little girl who owned it in the process.
** In "Stranded", Tyr'Nar eats Kevin Buchannon's German Shepherd Cody and later his best (and only) friend Brad.
** A slight variation in "Descent" as it is the episode's protagonist, Dr. Arthur Zeller, who kills and eats a dog while in the process of transforming into a ''Homo erectus''.
** In "Revival", Luke, who is actually a shapeshifting alien, eats Cindy in his trailer when she offers to have sex with him.
** In "Flower Child", Violet eats Mary Cummings' cat shortly after killing her and taking over her apartment.
** In "Lion's Den", the Lewisborough High School wrestling team eat a dog while still in the early stages of their transformation into CatFolk.

* The ''Film/FridayThe13th'' films have plenty of these, as befitting an iconic SlasherMovie franchise with a very high body count, but few are more obvious than the biker gang in ''Film/FridayThe13thPartIII'', who exist solely to harass the protagonists in the first act before they meet the business end of a machete.

* Each ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' movie save for [[Film/SawI the very first]] has an opening victim whose entire purpose is to show the audience how one of [[PoeticSerialKiller Jigsaw]]'s [[TorturePorn brutal]] {{death trap}}s works, so as to get them pumped for the murder and mayhem to follow.

* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Murder on the Planet Express" with Scruffy the Janitor's heretofore-unseen apprentice Jackie Jr.

Note: In the Europe, there actually is a popular type of snack called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Munch Monster Munch]], but this trope isn't about that, although it is where the idea for the name came from.

Note: In the Europe, there actually is a popular type of snack called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Munch Monster Munch]], but this trope isn't about that, although it is where the idea for the name came from. Not to be confused with MonsterMash.

Note: In the United Kingdom, there actually is a popular type of snack called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Munch Monster Munch]], but this trope isn't about that, although it is where the idea for the name came from. Not to be confused with MonsterMash.

This trope differs from SacrificialLamb in that the death isn't to provoke an emotional response (although it may do that) from characters or the audience, but for more practical purposes.

* When the T-rex gets loose in San Diego in ''Film/TheLostWorldJurassicPark'', there's a brief shot of a random civilian being eaten. He was never seen before, and [[BlackComedy presumably not since]]. For added humor, he's played by the film's screenwriter (given how unpopular this film was, this could be seen as his "punishment").