History Main / SapientFurTrade

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', you can slay fully sentient dragons, rip out their souls to learn the [[MakeMeWannaShout Thu'um]], and then turn their bones and scales into armor or weapons. (Or sell them for a hefty profit.)

Compare ImAHumanitarian (particularly if the raw material people are being killed for is food), CruellaToAnimals (being cruel whether or not the animals are sapient), DesecratingTheDead, OrganTheft, HumanResources, * MonsterOrganTrafficking.

Compare ImAHumanitarian (particularly if the raw material people are being killed for is food), CruellaToAnimals (being cruel whether or not the animals are sapient), DesecratingTheDead, OrganTheft, HumanResources, MainliningTheMonster.

-->-- '''[[EvilDiva Courtney]] [[TheDragon Gears]]''' to Ratchet, in ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankUpYourArsenal''

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[[caption-width-right:350:Wookiee fur is ''so'' in this season!]]

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': Leather gained from the Skinning skill can be obtained from intelligent humanoids such as naga. Dragon scales can only be obtained from dragons and dragonkin, most of which are sapient. Notably, the worgen (werewolves) in the game were once skinnable, but this ability was removed once worgen were added as a playable race.

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* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': Less prominent in 5E, but in many older editions there were all kinds of uses for the hides, teeth, claws, and bones of sapient monsters for crafting armor, weapons, and magic items. The Cloak of Displacement, for example, was in older editions actually made from the hide of a Displacer Beast. Dragon Scale armor still exists, though it's noted in the 5E description that it can be crafted out of the shed scales of a living dragon- some dragons even collect their own scales to make the armor as a gift for a humanoid they particularly like.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheItchyAndScratchyShow'': In one episode, the VillainProtagonist Itchy, an evil humanoid mouse, skins the show's hero, Scratchy, a humanoid cat who was shopping at the mall and sells his fur, WhiteGloves attached, to a creepy RichBitch. Scratchy accosts her, with his bones and muscles on display, and puts his fur back on. Unfortunately he then gets assaulted by an AnimalWrongsGroup for wearing, what is clearly, his own skin.

** Likewise, [[ALoadOfBull Minotaurs]] possess enough intelligence to craft rudimentary weapons and armor, and are known to live in social "clan" societies. They may even be {{Half Human Hybrid}}s (by way of a non-malicious MonsterProgenitor) and the second Emperor of the Alessian Empire was Belharza, said to be the first Minotaur and son of St. Alessia (from her DivineDate coupling with Morihaus, the [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Aedric demi-god]] "winged man-bull".) However, Minotaurs are still valued by hunters for their horns (which are prestigious hunting prizes and have valuable alchemical properties) as well as Oxblood Fungal Spores (which are used by blacksmiths and are only known to grow on Minotaurs). They are also often captured alive and used as a common opponent in [[GladiatorSubQuest gladiatorial arenas]] throughout Tamriel.

Compare ImAHumanitarian (particularly if the raw material people are being killed for is food), CruellaToAnimals (being cruel whether or not the animals are sapient), DesecratingTheDead, OrganTheft, HumanResources.

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* Sometimes in non-canon alternate universes where AnyoneCanDie and [[KillEmAll often do]] the only remains of the X-Man Beast is his pelt used like a rug or coat.

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* The Franchise/{{Predator}} franchise has the titular aliens taking human skulls and weapons as trophies. They have rules, a code of conduct (no children, noone unarmed) and in one movie capture humans and place them on a "hunting preserve". A hunting preserve that's an entire planet.

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* [[PlayingWithATrope Played With]] in many ways in Creator/RobertSheckley's short story ''Hunting Problem''. Aliens from a distant world consider it a rite of passage to hunt down and skin a dangerous creature named "Mirash", whom they believe to be naturally cunning but not sentient. It turns out, however, that "Mirash" are actually the occasional human visitors of their planet, and [[spoiler:"skinning" them actually only involves taking the fancy space suits they usually arrive in]].
* The Venber of ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' can be melted down into an extremely efficient coolant if they're at a temperature above freezing.

* Lampshaded in Literature/LittleFuzzy.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': There's a single mention in ''Literature/EqualRites'' of a caravan leader wearing a trollhide jerkin. His ''Discworld Companion'' entry notes that trollhide is no longer considered an acceptable clothing material. Hunting trolls for sport is mentioned in ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'' (as is werewolves hunting ''humans'' for sport). (The trollburger mentioned in ''Literature/{{Mort}}'' is ''probably'' a burger ''for'' a troll since, whatever uses humans may find for the remains of silicaceous lifeforms, edibility is not one of them.)

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* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': There's a single mention in ''Literature/EqualRites'' of a caravan leader wearing a trollhide jerkin. ''The Literature/{{Discworld}} Companion'' entry for him notes that trollhide is no longer considered an acceptable clothing material. Hunting trolls for sport is mentioned in ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'' (as is werewolves hunting ''humans'' for sport). (The trollburger mentioned in ''Literature/{{Mort}}'' is ''probably'' a burger ''for'' a troll since, whatever uses humans may find for the remains of silicaceous lifeforms, edibility is not one of them.)

* There's a single mention in ''Literature/EqualRites'' of a caravan leader wearing a trollhide jerkin. ''The Literature/{{Discworld}} Companion'' entry for him notes that trollhide is no longer considered an acceptable clothing material. Hunting trolls for sport is mentioned in ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'' (as is werewolves hunting ''humans'' for sport). (The trollburger mentioned in ''Literature/{{Mort}}'' is ''probably'' a burger ''for'' a troll since, whatever uses humans may find for the remains of silicaceous lifeforms, edibility is not one of them.)

* There's a single mention in ''Literature/EqualRites'' of a caravan leader wearing a trollhide jerkin. ''The Literature/{{Discworld}} Companion'' entry for him notes that trollhide is no longer considered an acceptable clothing material. Hunting trolls for sport is mentioned in ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'' (as is werewolves hunting ''humans'' for sport). (The trollburger mentioned in ''Discworld/{{Mort}}'' is ''probably'' a burger ''for'' a troll since, whatever uses humans may find for the remains of silicaceous lifeforms, edibility is not one of them.)

* There's a single mention in ''Literature/EqualRites'' of a caravan leader wearing a trollhide jerkin. ''The Literature/{{Discworld}} Companion'' entry for him notes that trollhide is no longer considered an acceptable clothing material.

* There's a single mention in ''Literature/EqualRites'' of a caravan leader wearing a trollhide jerkin. ''The Literature/{{Discworld}} Companion'' entry for him notes that trollhide is no longer an acceptable clothing material.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheItchyAndScratchyShow'': In one episode, Itchy (a mouse) skins Scratchy (a cat) and sells his fur to a furrier, who then sells it to a rich woman. Scratchy accosts her, with his bones and muscles on display, and takes his fur back, wrapping it around himself. Then he gets assaulted by anti-fur protesters.

* ''WebComic/TwoKinds'': Keidrans -- {{Beast M|an}}en resembling canids and felids -- are often hunted for their fur, and unscrupulous humans are often characterized as such by voicing intent to hunt keidran fur or owning keidran-skin rung. One particular breed of feline keidrans, the snow leopards, is said to have nearly been driven to extinction for their pelts.

* Leather gained from the Skinning skill in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' can be obtained from humanoids such as naga and yetis. Dragon scales can only be obtained from dragons and dragonkin, most of which are sentient. Interestingly, many worgen (werewolves) in the game were once skinnable, but this ability was removed once worgen were added as a playable race.
* In ''VideoGame/KultHereticKingdoms'', the Taymurians are basically wolf-people, and are sometimes hunted by humans for their pelts. This doesn't make them very inclined to end their war against the human kingdoms, but if players do a side-quest to take out some hunters, one of the Taymurian tribes is willing to respond by making peace.

* ''WebComic/TwoKinds'': Keidrans -- {{Beast M|an}}n resembling canids and felids -- are often hunted for their fur, and unscrupulous humans are often characterized as such by voicing intent to hunt keidran fur or owning keidran-skin rung. One particular breed of feline keidrans, the snow leopards, is said to have nearly been driven to extinction for their pelts.

* In ''Webcomic/CharbyTheVampirate'' the lemuros have almost been wiped out due to the demand for their pelts, many of those buying the pelts are not even aware they come from a sapient human-like species since they are relatively new to Kellwood and those hunting them are through in disposing of the remains they’re not selling so it just looks like a striped magical tail or boa.
* The author of ''Webcomic/LastRes0rt'' has stated that the reason leather is banned on Arael is because back when the native Talmi were a SlaveRace they were often, well... Let's just say that one of the exceptions to the ban is recovering ancestral remains.
* Alluded to in ''WebComic/TwoKinds''. As early as page two, we have a [[spoiler: [[GodInHumanForm god disguised as a]]]] huntsman threatening a [[BeastMan keidran]] with being skinned because her fur will fetch a pretty penny. Much later, a secondary character's people is said to have nearly been driven to extinction for their pelts.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ObanStarRacers'', Muir's people are crab-like creatures that communicate using telepathic tentacles that are very sought after by other sentient species. Muir's mate was left for dead after someone harvested her tentacles and he hopes to bring her back to life.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheItchyAndScratchyShow'' Itchy (a mouse) skins Scratchy (a cat) and sells his fur to a furrier, who then sells it to a rich woman. Scratchy accosts her, with his bones and muscles on display, and takes his fur back, wrapping it around himself. Then he gets assaulted by anti-fur protesters.
* A King Features ComicStrip/{{Popeye}} cartoon "Valley of the Goons" has Popeye saving the inhabitants of Goon Island from poachers out to harvest "goon skins".
* In ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'' Clover was transformed into a humanoid animal, as well as many hostages, in a villain's plans to dominate the fashion industry by bringing fur scales and feathers back in prominence, purportedly because materials from humanoid bodies would make for a better fit.

A SubTrope of FurAndLoathing.

A SuperTrope to GenuineHumanHide.

!Examples

** Background lore indicates that the Dreugh, an [[FishPeople aquatic race of humanoid octopi]], were once highly intelligent, able to speak, and capable of using magic. It is said that they even ruled the world (or a previous world that was destroyed and made into the current world) during the [[TimeOfMyths earliest era following creation]]. While their intelligence is said to have devolved over time, they are still considered a sapient species. That doesn't stop hunters (primarily the [[OurElvesAreBetter Dunmer]]) from killing them for their leathery hides (which can be forged into quality weapons and armor) and wax (a valuable ingredient in alchemy).

* In Creator/MCAHogarth's ''[[Literature/{{Paradox}} Earthrise]]'' there's one scene where Irene, a Harat-Shariin[[note]]one of those races of human-animal hybrids known collectively as "The Pelted"[[/note]], suggests that maybe surrendering to the pirates chasing them and being sold into slavery isn't such a bad thing. So Reese suggests that maybe they want to make her into a rug instead. That's enough to scare her into changing her mind. Later in ''Only the Open'' a liner is attacked by pirates who start killing human passengers and stunning Pelted ones, telepath Jahir confirms that they're furriers before fighting them off.