Line #21 Main/ChildrenInTow


1	[[quoteright:310:[[Literature/MakeWayForDucklings https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/make_way.png]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:310:Probably one of the best known examples. Awwwwwwwwwwww.]]
3
4	-> ''A thing, accompanied by a smaller version of that thing, is always cute.''
5	--> -- #07 on '''Cute Overload''''s [[https://web.archive.org/web/20090517015140/http://cuteoverload.com/2005/12/13/rule_of_cutenes-10/ Rules Of Cuteness]] [[note]] Warning: Site is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Even the most jaded tropers may experience CutenessOverload.[[/note]]
6
7	How do you make an animal instantly cute and endearing? Have it being followed by babies. Usually these babies are miniature versions of the parent. Sometimes there's [[TheRuntAtTheEnd a runt at the end]].
8
9	One can make any kind of predator into a monster by targeting either the parent or one of the children. Strangely, however, even said predator can become cute once again if [[MonsterIsAMommy followed by babies of its own]]. That is, unless it's trying to eat you, at which a hungry monster followed by a bunch of little, ''hungrier'' mouths becomes downright ''terrifying.''
10
11	Don't you dare get in between [[MamaBear the mother and her children]].
12	----
13	!!Examples:
14	[[foldercontrol]]
15
16	[[folder:Comic Books]]
17	* ''ComicBook/GastonLagaffe'' had a strip where Gaston gets a bunch of unidentified eggs and decides to hatch them. They turn out to be sea turtle eggs, and on hatching they immediately head for the sea, with Gaston holding up traffic so his charges can cross the street safely.
18	[[/folder]]
19
20	[[folder:Film --Animated]]
21	* In the "Pastoral" segment of the 1940 version of ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'', [[http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2623641881/ the pegasus foals]] fit this trope.
22	* Used for the ending of ''ComicStrip/FootrotFlats: A Dog's Tail''. Major mockingly greets the Dog with "Meow" (a reference to how the Dog was raised by a CrazyCatLady) only for the Dog to smugly reply, "No, bow wow!" whereupon the bitch Jess appears with several puppies.
23	[[/folder]]
24
25	[[folder:{{Literature}}]]
26	* ''Literature/MakeWayForDucklings'': The most recognizable scene from the book is Mrs. Mallard leading her brood across the street.
27	* The ''Literature/{{Madeline}}'' books have a variation of this, in that the "twelve little girls in two straight lines" are following a teacher rather than a parent.
28	* Subverted in ''Literature/CiaphasCain'', when Cain says a [[SpaceMarine Techmarine]] followed by [[AveMachina a techpriest of the Adeptus Mechanicus]] puts him in mind of an ork followed by a gretchin (which are separate subspecies, so more like a chicken following an ostrich). Amberley is quick to note the comparison is not one either would have appreciated.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Live Action TV]]
32	* In the AnimatedCreditsOpening of ''Series/ThePartridgeFamily'' the family is represtented as a mother partridge and her five children following behind her.
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
36	* Parodied in ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' with a couple's car trip being interrupted by a husband and wife pair of nerds wandering across the road, followed by a string of nerdlings.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:VideoGames]]
40	* Every creature in ''VideoGame/{{Spore}}''.
41	* The Blooper Nanny in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3''.
42	* The Huffin' Puffins, a species of duck-like critters in ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland'', are generally followed by a line of smaller ones. [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential You can bump off the parent and use the children as egg substitutes.]]
43	* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has a Plainstrider (a large flightless bird) named Mazzranache, who's followed around in Mulgore by three little ones that look like him.
44	* In ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin 2}}'', Spotty Bulbears may be followed by Dwarf Spotty Bulbears. This is a subversion, as it isn't intended to be cute at all and only serves to make a DemonicSpider even more demonic. Bulbmin may also have smaller Bulbmin, but fortunately, you can get them to your side if you defeat the parent.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:{{Webcomics}}]]
48	* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', the psychological effect of ducklings following their mother is ''so strong'' that they are used as an emergency barrier during a car chase. Even the bad guys treat them like they are a completely impenetrable wall and make no attempt to continue the chase once they are cut off.
49	* One ''{{Webcomic/XKCD}}'' strip has this in "Operation Duckling Loop".
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:WebOriginal]]
53	* The [[https://tribbetherium.tumblr.com/post/703842324513505280/in-the-sub-arcuterran-cavern-system-food-is Pink Eldriphant]] from ''Blog/HamstersParadise'' is a tentacled, multi-limbed subterranean creature that, despite appearances, [[ItMakesSenseInContext is actually descended from hamsters.]] Despite its alien-looking appearance and EyelessFace, it manages to be endearing in its own way by how adults bring their young along in single file, attaching to one another like a chain so they don't get lost.
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
57	* In the "Blue Danube" segment of ''WesternAnimation/ACornyConcerto'', a mother swan and her cygnets meet a [[WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck little black duck]].
58	* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', had the fire truck rushing to a fire only to be delayed by a mother duck crossing the road with a lot of ducklings.
59	-->'''Apu''': You ducks are really trying my patience!... but you're so cute!
60	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has scenes in both "Griffon the Brush-Off" and "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" where [[AnimalLover Fluttershy]] is seen helping a mother duck lead her ducklings. Unfortunately in the former episode, [[{{Jerkass}} Gilda]] doesn't give a damn and scares them all away.
61	[[/folder]]

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