Line #1 Main/GiantAnimalWorship


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12	[[quoteright:349:[[Manga/OnePiece https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/one_piece_kashigami.png]]]]
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14	->''"The ancient scrolls say it's a white boar the size of a mountain!! That's what they call the Mountain God!!"''
15	-->-- '''Denjiro''', ''Manga/OnePiece''
16
17	A mostly adventure story trope, where a [[HollywoodNatives primitive tribe]] worships [[DireBeast a giant animal]] as a god or otherworldly entity, leaving it sacrifices of food (and occasionally {{human\|Sacrifice}}s). The animal itself is rarely [[IntellectualAnimal sapient]], only learning that food regularly appears in a specific part of its territory if it leaves the humans alone. This makes the tribe appear even more primitive as the object of their tribute is a mere representation of nature's power which they feel helpless against and thus deify.
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19	Compare AppeaseTheVolcanoGod and FedToTheBeast.
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21	----
22	!!Examples
23
24	[[foldercontrol]]
25
26	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
27	* ''Anime/DaikyouryuNoJidai'' shows a tribe of cavemen who offer sacrifices to the last living ''T. rex'' on the planet.
28	* In ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'', TheFourGods switch between beast and human forms, and their beast forms are (fittingly) ''at least'' {{Kaiju}} sized. Additionally, the Priestess is ''technically'' a VirginSacrifice to be FedToTheBeast, although if she is strong-willed enough, she may escape this fate and go on to live a more-or-less normal life in her own world.
29	* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Happens during the Skypeia arc in a flashback to 400 years prior, with a giant snake called Kashigami who was offered the most beautiful woman on the island of Shandia to stop a curse (which was actually a disease called tree fever). The woman was saved by the pirate captain Norland, who killed the snake and wiped the infected trees to stop the infection.
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Comic Books]]
33	* In ''ComicBook/TheFurtherAdventuresOfIndianaJones'' #19, Indy encounters (and becomes an ally to) a tribe of [[ContemporaryCaveman modern cavemen]] living the Himalayas, where they worship a [[MonsterInTheIce dragon frozen in the ice]].
34	* In ''Marvel Mystery Comics'' #23, [[Characters/InvadersWWIIRecruits The Golden Age Vision]] fights Kai-Mak: a giant, semi-humanoid shark creature worshipped as a god by the Zambiji Tribe, who appeased him with {{Human Sacrifice}}s.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
38	* ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' parodies this by showing a tribe of insects leaving a butterfly tied up to be taken away by a giant (to them) entomologist.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Fan Works]]
42	* The ancient human civilizations in ''Fanfic/TheNewAgeOfMonsters'' used to worship the kaijus, constructing giant buildings that could accommodate their size and praying for their support and protection. The Houtua and Iwi are tribes that stayed loyal to their gods (Mothra and Kong respectively) to the present day.
43	** Due to her role as protector of the human race, Mothraism has started to gain more and more followers all over the globe.
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
47	* ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'': Charlie and Anne-Marie are captured by a tribe of savage rats who worship a [[NeverSmileAtACrocodile giant alligator]] as a god.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
51	* ''Film/AztecRex'': A group of Spaniards led by UsefulNotes/HernanCortez discover an Aztec tribe that worships a surviving pair of Tyrannosaurus Rex they have dubbed “Thunder Lizards”.
52	* In ''Film/{{Conan the Barbarian\|1982}}'', Thulsa Doom has a [[TheGreatSerpent giant python]] at the bottom of the pit of his Tower of Serpents. It is worshipped by Doom's cult, keeps a treasure (the Eye of the Serpent) and young virgins are sacrificed to it. It tries to attack Conan and ends up killed by him and Subotai.
53	* In ''[[Film/Dune2021 Dune: Part One]]'' and ''Film/DunePartTwo'', the Fremen deify Shai-Hulud -- the gigantic {{Sand Worm}}s of Arrakis (which they also use as transportations via OutsideRide), as they consider them spiritual symbols of their faith and physical embodiments of their One God.
54	* ''Film/Godzilla1954'': The inhabitants of Odo Island, an old Japanese fishing village, once worshipped a sea monster they call "[[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} Gojira]]", even sacrificing young virgins to sate the beast when fishing was poor. By 1954, most of these antiqued traditions have stopped, but unfortunately, it turns out the monster is all too real...
55	* ''Franchise/KingKong'':
56	** ''Film/KingKong1933'': Possibly the TropeCodifier where the natives of Skull Island leave a sacrifice (the "bride of Kong") behind a wall so the giant gorilla leaves their village alone.
57	** ''Film/KingKong2005'': In this one, the villagers seem to view Kong as a guardian deity who protects them against the dinosaurs on the island.
58	* Franchise/MonsterVerse: This hybrid ContinuityReboot of ''Godzilla'' and ''King Kong'' has this where [[Characters/MonsterVerseKaiju the Kaiju]] are concerned:
59	** ''Film/KongSkullIsland'': Kong is once again worshiped, and protects the island from the deadly Skullcrawlers.
60	** ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': It's revealed that ancient civilizations worshipped the Titans such as [[AdaptationalHeroism Godzilla]] as gods, even going as far as to form symbiotic relationships with the creatures where the humans and Titans benefited from each-other. The [[EcoTerrorist eco-terrorists]]' plan is partly based on the notion that [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans humans can coexist with Titans once again]] as the creatures are slowly waking up from hibernation, [[spoiler:with the ending confirming that the eco-terrorists at least got ''[[VillainHasAPoint this]]'' [[VillainHasAPoint part of their agenda right]]]].
61	* The vampiric SnakePeople in ''Film/TheLairOfTheWhiteWorm'' worship the eponymous creature, a massive serpent called Dionin.
62	* In ''Film/PigHunt'', the hippie cult worships [[FullBoarAction the Ripper: a 3000 lb. boar that roams the woods around the commune]]. They abduct hunters and others they find the woods and chain them up as {{Human Sacrifice}}s for the boar.
63	* In ''Film/PrehistoricWomen'', it is not clear if the white rhino the tribe worships is [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane actually a god]], or merely a unusually large rhino.
64	* ''Film/TyrannosClaw'' is set in Prehistoric times, with a Dark Tribe whose shaman worships a live T-Rex, often sacrificing captives to the monster.
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Literature]]
68	* ''The Blue World'' by Creator/JackVance. The humans stranded on an ocean world after their PrisonShip crashed started feeding a large [[KrakenAndLeviathan kragen]] so it would drive away the others. By the time of the novel King Kragen has grown into a giant sea monster that the FuturePrimitive humans worship, with the encouragement of their priests who secretly control the creature and use it to maintain their own power. The protagonist doesn't like this and decides to KillTheGod.
69	* In ''Literature/TheDarkProfitSaga'' lizardfolk are said to be wired to worship "something" due to being created as the dark gods' shock troops. Often they end up adopting some sort of monster as their "god". In the first book the party encounters a tribe worshiping a stone drake.
70	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Parodied in ''Literature/SmallGods'', where an extremely backwards swamp-dwelling tribe worships a giant newt and has no concept of fire or war. The newt shows up on Cori Celesti ([[GodsNeedPrayerBadly because of how belief works on the Disc]]) and is just as ignorant as its worshipers, conceptualizing war as "like the time Pacha Mog hit his uncle with big rock, only more worse".
71	* ''Literature/GarrettPI'': Garrett once consulted a priest of a minor [=TunFaire=] snake-cult about two even less-successful cults along the Street of the Gods. Attempting to impress Garrett, the priest told the investigator that ''his'' cult has a genuine, for-real god-snake big enough to swallow horses at its temple. Garrett was thrilled to hear it ... but only because he hates horses.
72	* Somewhat inverted in ''Literature/InCryptid'', where the [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter Aeslin mice]] worship the human Price-Healy family as their AnimalReligion, and rely on their gods to protect them from larger threats, like dangerous predators and the Covenant. Before encountering the family, the Aeslin played this straighter, worshiping a chicken.
73	* ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' features a rare sapient example in the form of the pterosaur-like [[GiantFlyer Lethrblaka]] worshipped in a TownWithADarkSecret called Dras-Leona. Juvenile specimens (called Ra'zac) are closer to humans in size and general body shape, but they share a lair with the grown Lethrblaka [[note]]Which isn't too crowded an arrangement, since only four specimens are thought to remain: two Ra'zac and two Lethrblaka.[[/note]] and accept {{human sacrifice}}s from Dras-Leona too.
74	* ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'': In ''Thuvia, Maiden of Mars'', the Lotharians worship Komal, who is supposedly a great beast god, but is in fact merely an unusually large banth (the Barsoomian equivalent of a lion.)
75	* ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'':
76	** ''Literature/TheTaggerung'' has a tribe of pygmy shrews who feed on schools of tiny eels that migrate through their lands every year. In order to ensure that this happens, they choose a tribe member by lottery (they walk under a dripping stalactite and whoever gets splashed is chosen) to be fed to Yo Karr, an enormous eel they believe is responsible for bringing its tiny brethren. Tagg is having none of this and kills Yo Karr himself.
77	** In ''Literature/{{Doomwyte}}'', Korvus Skurr's tribe of crows, carrion birds and reptiles lives in a cave where a wels (a giant catfish) lives. They believe the wels is an oracle that only Skurr's snake advisor Sicariss can understand, and throw reptiles into its pool to attract it and interpret its wisdom. In fact it's just a giant fish, the "speech" is actually the wels opening and closing its mouth with Sicariss pretending to understand it. It ends up in an underwater fight with Baliss, a blind adder whose face is full of infected hedgehog spikes... and ''still'' loses to the snake.
78	* In ''Literature/SpiceAndWolf'', Holo is [[CanisMajor a gigantic wolf]] who was worshiped by a village as a harvest goddess until the Church converted most of the people and she decides to leave with a traveling merchant. Of course one could consider her [[PhysicalGod an actual god]], what with her shapeshifting into a LittleBitBeastly human form and influence over wheat harvests.
79	* Subverted in ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive''. Due to some mistranslations early in contact, the Alethi assume that the Parshendi worship the [[GiantEnemyCrab Chasmfiends and Greatshells]] that live around the Shattered Plains. Their real gods are [[spoiler:their ancestors, who return to life every Desolation]].
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
83	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
84	** The dominant lifeform on the Ogron home planet is a giant slug-like lizard named the Eater, and the Ogrons both pray to and are preyed on by it.
85	** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS16E5ThePowerOfKroll The Power Of Kroll]]", a giant alien squid is worshiped as a god by the indigenous people. It's so big its intestinal gas is collected as fuel by the colonists. The size is because it swallowed a segment of the [[CosmicKeystone Key to Time]].
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
89	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
90	** The ''Sandstorm'' sourcebook describes {{thunderbird}}s as often being worshipped as nature spirits and embodiments of the elements by desert-dwelling peoples.
91	** The ''Stormwrack'' sourcebook mentions the natives of an undersea village seeing a giant shark as a kind of protector, because it scares off other predators.
92	** ''TabletopGame/IsleOfTheApe'' (essentially one long Film/KingKong ShoutOut) has a 30-foot-tall ape (several, actually) believed to be a god by the natives who regularly leave sacrifices to it consisting of pigs, monitor lizards or the occasional ape or human along with mountains of fruit and vegetables. The apes aren't particularly hungry for meat, they consider it a bonus as they're mostly interested by the fruits.
93	** Krakens occasionally accrete cults of humanoids awestruck by the monsters' immense power and anxious not to find that power directed at themselves. Krakens pleased with their worshippers reward their flocks with calm seas and plentiful fish harvests, although they do not ultimately exempt them from their schemes to ruin all things.
94	** [[FrogMen Bullywugs]] occasionally stumble across a [[AmphibianAtLarge froghemoth]] and take to worshiping the monster as tribal deity, supplying it with food and a safe lair to lay eggs in. Though not terribly intelligent, the froghemoths eventually come to tolerate this relationship after eating only a few bullywugs.
95	** LizardFolk are sometimes depicted worshiping and serving dragons, recognizing them as a kind of apex predator among their own kind. [[OurDragonsAreDifferent While dragons are intelligent and powerful]], they're rarely ever truly divine.
96	* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': The kobolds of Kher Keep worship Prossh, an ancient dragon, as a living god. Prossh is not a kind overlord -- in particular, he seems to have developed a taste for eating his worshipers -- but the kobolds continue to revere him due to awe for his immense power and the chance to follow along in his rampages in the lowlands.
97	* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': {{Kraken\|AndLeviathan}}s are sometimes worshiped by coastal communities, either as avatars of nature or as divine figures themselves. In a variant, krakens are highly intelligent and malevolent and tend to think that HumansAreInsects, so they might accept the reverence -- or demand it.
98	* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'':
99	** The Great Maw is a gigantic, tooth-lined hole in the ground worshiped by the ogres, who regularly bring it sacrifices of food and in return are granted Gut magic, which has different effects based on what the caster ate.
100	** ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'': Certain tribes of swamp-dwelling goblins are said to worship hydras, giving them sacrifices and offerings to divert their wrath and appease their hunger.
101	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The Genestealer Behemoid Undercult worships the legendary Tyranid war-beast Old One Eye alongside its own Patriarch, having found it trapped in ice on the fringes of Ultramar space and believing it to be a prophet of a xenos god they call Behemoth.
102	[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder:Theater]]
105	* ''Theatre/{{Firebringer}}'': Subverted in that while the tribe do worship a duck as the creator of the universe, it's not particularly big, nor is it even the ''same'' duck (they keep flying off or dying). Fortunately, the tribespeople (including the shaman) are too stupid to notice.
106	* ''Theatre/TsukinoHyakkiYakou'' -- Kurotenko and Shirotenko, the Black and White [[AsianFoxSpirit Heavenly Foxes]] are the ultimate gods of that universe. To those who don't know know them, they appear as giant four-tailed foxes. To those who are close to them, they appear as handsome young men who are ALittleBitBeastly with fox ears and four giant fluffy tails. They prefer to be seen as equal to everyone else, but they do possess extreme magic power.
107	[[/folder]]
108
109	[[folder:Video Games]]
110	* ''VideoGame/DangerousAdventure2'' has a village of crocodile-men who worship a gigantic frog. You're tasked with killing it to bring its legs back as an ExoticEntree.
111	* ''VideoGame/DonaldInMauiMallard'': The Muddrakes worship a giant red frog which Maui either kills or [[FedToTheBeast appeases by feeding natives to it]] depending on the version.
112	* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'': Some individuals could worship the megabeasts who attacked their settlements.
113	* ''VideoGame/KingsBounty'': The Orcs of Dersu worship a colossal frog as their god. When you slay it on behalf of their goblin enemies, the Shaman will angrily complain about it before revealing that he intends to do the same to a snake and have it become their new god.
114	* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'': As Lorule steadily collapses, some Loruleans have forsaken their homes and duties to follow and worship giant monsters such as the Gemesaur King.
115	* ''VideoGame/LiveALive'': The final boss of the Prehistoric chapter is a giant Tyrannosaurus worshipped by the enemy tribe.
116	* ''VideoGame/MOAstray'': The Inhabitants once had a mutually beneficial relationship with the giant worm Doula, caring for its eggs as a show of thanks for being 'Mother of the Land' and providing huge quantities of life-giving water. [[spoiler: Doula is no longer holding up its end of the bargain after being experimented on and mutated by human scientists. It continues to lay eggs but the offspring are shown to be mutated and vicious to the inhabitants who still try to look after them.]]
117	* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'': A group of Koopa Troopas worships the Earth Vellumental, a creature resembling an immense tortoise, as their god.
118	* ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'': A petroglyph in [[GreenHillZone Turffield]] depicts a [[MakeMyMonsterGrow Gigantamax]] [[ExtraOreDinary Melmetal]] ([[OlympusMons which was already worshipped for its ability to generate metal seemingly out of nothing]]), implying that Dynamax and Gigantamax Pokémon (or at least, Gigantamax Melmetal) played an important part in ancient Galarian religion.
119	* ''VideoGame/Portal2'': One of the hypothesized apocalypse scenarios is "Animal King" where such a being rules over mankind (represented by a giant leopard-print turret). The animal king turret turns out to actually be real, as it is briefly seen at the very end of the game as part of the turret opera.
120	* ''VideoGame/PrimalRage'' features giant gods who take the form of apes and dinosaurs, and features cultists and followers for both gods during the fight. You can pick them up and eat them for a small health bonus.
121	* ''VideoGame/ATotalWarSagaTroy'': The Lernean Hydra is attended by a cult of unfortunate wretches whose minds have become addled by the monster's venom, and who seek to spread its worship. These cultists serve as the monster's footsoldiers in battle and were instrumental in its resurrection.
122	[[/folder]]
123
124	[[folder:Webcomics]]
125	* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': The Prospitians and Consorts worship the Genesis Frog, a cosmic batrachian that holds an entire universe within his body, although mostly in an abstract sense as he's not yet alive for most of a Sburb session. By contrast, the Dersites detest him with a matching religious intensity.
126	* ''{{Webcomic/Neverchosen}}'': Our "heroes" (two idiot Nurglites) see [[https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/10/29/neverchosen-reflection-in-water/#comictop some elves worshipping a huge crab]] and laugh at their behavior... by pointing it out to the perfectly ordinary goat they believe is a harbinger of Chaos.
127	[[/folder]]
128
129	[[folder:Web Videos]]
130	* The Salmonism {{cult}} in ''WebVideo/SMPLive'' worships a giant salmon.
131	[[/folder]]
132
133	[[folder:Western Animation]]
134	* ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'': In "Zipper Come Home", Zipper becomes king of a tribe of insects, who try to sacrifice him to a frog called The Great Ribbit.
135	[[/folder]]

Context Main / GiantAnimalWorship