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12[[quoteright:292:[[Film/TheCabinInTheWoods https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sugarplum.png]]]]
13[[caption-width-right:292:Score one for BodyHorror.]]
14
15We've all seen a lamprey mouth before: a ring- or funnel-shaped mouth with many sharp, inward-pointing teeth. Rather than being embedded in horizontal ([[VaginaDentata or vertical]]) jaws, teeth completely encircle the oral cavity. Extreme examples may occur [[Series/StrangerThings in conjunction]] with FlowerMouth. In fiction, this feature is often a trait of monstrous characters, and may offer a convenient visual shorthand implying that a creature is a parasite of some kind. In both, it's almost always used in the form of BodyHorror, whether intentional or not.
16
17On film, it's often a makeup technique used to make HumanoidAliens of the {{Rubber Forehead|Alien}} variety appear more alien by suggesting BizarreAlienBiology through its outward appearance. Such an orifice could also appear on a radically non-humanoid creature. Common in horror, where it may convey EldritchAbomination implications.
18
19A common feature of {{Sand Worm}}s or an AntlionMonster, and an occasional {{Cthulhumanoid}} may sport one. Does not cover insect-like mandibles.
20
21Often overlaps with MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily. SubTrope to MonsterMouth.
22----
23!!Examples:
24[[foldercontrol]]
25
26[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
27%%* The USBM from ''Manga/BioMeatNectar''.
28* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', Aaroniero Arrururie's Zanpakuto looks like a mutant sea anemone with such a mouth. When he goes OneWingedAngel, we can see that his gigantic octopus-like lower body has a gargantuan lamprey mouth complete with rows of teeth in the middle of his body.
29* The Angel Sandalphon from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', being essentially a monstrous version of an ''Anomalocaris'', has this kind of mouth.
30* ''Manga/Oddman11'': Seigi is a HumanoidAbomination who looks like a middle school-aged girl but can turn into a monstrous form for attacking people. At one point she's depicted with a lamprey-like maw that takes up most of her face.
31* [[spoiler:Shalltear]]'s true form in ''Literature/Overlord2012'' has a mouth like this with a single row of sharp fangs and a long protruding tongue. One bandit even calls her a lamprey.
32* A pretty common type of maw for the monstrous shapeshifters of ''Manga/{{Parasyte}}'' to bite peoples' heads off with.
33[[/folder]]
34
35[[folder:Comic Books]]
36* In the ''Franchise/MonsterVerse'' graphic novel ''Skull Island: The Birth of Kong'', the Swamp Locust's mouth is just a fang-studded giant ringlet with more sharp teeth inside the maw, including phosphate incisors.
37* The ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' villain Parasite has a mouth like this [[DependingOnTheArtist in some depictions]].
38* The Sandlings in ''ComicBook/WhiteSand'' have round mouth full of several rings of inwards-pointing teeth.
39* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': The scavenger worms on Hope's End, which are designed as a shout out to the [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi Sarlacc]], have round mouths ringed with rows of sharp teeth and a set of fourteen crab-like arms each ending in a single claw reaching out to grasp at food from just behind their "lips".
40[[/folder]]
41
42[[folder:Comic Strips]]
43* ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' has at least two examples. First there is a coworker named Floyd Remora who attaches himself to Dilbert's back and feeds off his success. On another occasion, the PointyHairedBoss briefly hires a sycophant with a deformed lamprey-like mouth.
44[[/folder]]
45
46[[folder:Fan Works]]
47* ''Fanfic/NineDaysDown'': While crossing the Fields of Asphodel, Twilight and Bait are attacked by a pack of creatures resembling raptors with eyeless, circular rings of razor teeth for heads.
48[[/folder]]
49
50[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
51* In ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' and the TV spinoff, the Whispering Death is a breed of dragon with this kind of mouth. As a Boulder-class dragon, capable of feeding on rocks and soil, it uses this mouth to literally eat its way through the ground like a mining drill, complete with the rows of teeth inside spinning like drill bits in different directions.
52* The underwater monster guarding the Armor Impenetrable in ''WesternAnimation/KuboAndTheTwoStrings'' has an absolutely ''huge'' one.
53[[/folder]]
54
55[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
56* ''Film/TenCloverfieldLane'': [[spoiler:The aliens revealed at the very end of the film are, [[AmbiguousEnding or just use for hunting]], large, scaly dog-like creatures with these instead of heads.]]
57* The Reapers from ''Film/BladeII'' double up on this trope, having one set of lamprey mouth teeth on their tongues and another set surrounding them.
58* In ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'', the Ballerina Dentata/Sugar Plum Fairy's entire face is one of these (currently the page image).
59* ''Film/{{Coneheads}}'': Beldar is revealed as having this during a dental exam.
60* ''Film/DeepRising'': The monster, a giant mutant cephalopod, has a main mouth that is just a giant opening littered with numerous backwards-facing teeth.
61* In the film adaptation of ''Literature/{{Dreamcatcher}}'', the worm-creatures' mouths resemble a lamprey's that's been folded VaginaDentata-style, [[spoiler:as do the controlling aliens' entire upper bodies]].
62* The {{sand worm}}s in both 1984's ''Film/{{Dune|1984}}'' and ''[[Film/Dune2021 Dune: Part One]]''-''Film/DunePartTwo'' are depicted this way. The 1984 one has pedipalps parting to reveal a ring-shaped, saw-toothed maw, and that example has influenced most of the following sand worm designs. The latter removed the pedipalps, because the director, Creator/DenisVilleneuve, wanted symbolism that "when you look into a worm's mouth, it looks like an eye. It has this feeling of the presence of a god.".
63* A couple of creatures from ''Film/Evolution2001'' (a carnivorous "tree" and a large green bug) have mouths like this.
64* Apophis in ''Film/GodsOfEgypt'' has a truly ''gargantuan'' one.
65* ''Film/TheHobbitTheBattleOfTheFiveArmies'': The were-worms have five fleshy tooth-tipped protrusions in a ring around an inner circle of teeth.
66%%* The mechanical shark from ''Film/JamesAndTheGiantPeach'' would count.
67* The ''Carnictus'' worms from ''Film/KingKong2005'' [[spoiler:that eat the cook]] have mouths like this.
68%%* Jeff, the subway worm from ''Film/MenInBlackII''.
69* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest'', the Kraken has a mouth like this, with a full ring of multi-jointed pedipalps surrounding it.
70* In ''Franchise/{{Predator}}'' films, the alien hunters have the pedipalps, although the mouth beneath them isn't actually ring-shaped.
71* A many-limbed critter screams straight into the camera with one of these in ''Film/SilentHillRevelation3D''.
72* ''Film/StarTrek2009'': The creature Kirk runs away from on the icy world he's marooned on would probably qualify.
73* ''Franchise/StarWars''
74** The Sarlacc from ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' has the look, particularly in the original edition before extra tentacles and a maw were added in digitally.
75** The Mynocks in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' use these to attach to ships.
76** ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' continues the tradition of using this trope, in this case for the rathtars.
77** As a circle lined with several thin triangles on the inside, the First Order's logo resembles a lamprey mouth. This is fitting for how aggressive and murderous they are.
78* The "Driller" from ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'' has a lamprey-like mouth on its main body ''and'' several of its appendages.
79[[/folder]]
80
81[[folder:Literature]]
82%%* Taxxons from ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' have these.
83* ''Literature/BasLagCycle'':
84** In ''Literature/TheScar'', the magical statuette used by [[spoiler:Silas Fennec]] has a lamprey mouth.
85** In ''Literature/IronCouncil'', the many-armed creature that menaces Hiddentown has a lamprey mouth on the end of each tentacle.
86* Chaugnar Faughn, one of Creator/FrankBelknapLong's contributions to the ''Literature/CthulhuMythos'', has an elephant's trunk that ends in one of these.
87* ''Literature/{{Deeplight}}'': [[spoiler:Post-transformation Jelt]]'s secondary mouth is conical, lined with many rows of teeth, and lunges out to grab prey.
88* ''Literature/DeltoraQuest'' has flesh-eating plants known as Grippers. From above, they appear to be small ferns, or clumps of grass. However, buried underground, they have a huge, funnel-like mouth, with rows of sharp teeth. When unsuspecting prey walk over the top of them, the ground parts as they open their mouths, and the prey falls in to be eaten.
89* Sandworms from the ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' series have massive ones, arranged in three large "jaws" that can open wide to swallow entire Spice Harvesters. Pieces of their teeth are used as blades by the Fremen, who call them crysknives.
90* One species of needle monsters in ''Literature/EdenGreen'' has a long neck ending in a lamprey mouth, which they use to pick up and shred humans.
91%%* ''Literature/TheEdgeChronicles'' has [[http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/224/1/8/edge__logworm_by_ladynazgul_1912-d46a806.jpg logworms.]]
92* ''Literature/GarrettPI'': In ''Petty Pewter Gods'', one of the trio of double-ugly thugs in the Godoroth pantheon has a mouth like this.
93* Round mouths are the norm for animal life on Longtunnel, a cave-dominated world from ''Literature/HumanxCommonwealth''. Naturally, this means that most of its predators have a Lamprey Mouth, although spore-feeders and some insectivores avert this by having no teeth.
94* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheIsles'' features one of these at one point. It's sported by a magical creation made entirely of wood.
95* The Chtorran worms in ''Literature/TheWarAgainstTheChtorr''. Their teeth encircle their mouth, curving inwards to draw the prey into their body. Once they've taken a bite, they can't stop or they'll choke to death.
96[[/folder]]
97
98[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
99* The "Bathing Beauty" teaser for ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryRoanoke'' features a woman looking into a bathtub, only for her [[ExorcistHead head to turn around]] and reveal this in place of her face.
100* ''Series/BlakesSeven'': The worm-like giant predatory creatures on Terminal which Vila referred to figuratively as "snakes" had mouths like this.
101%%* The Hellbugs from ''Series/{{Defiance}}''.
102%%* [[spoiler:Mr. Sweet]] from the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E11TheCrimsonHorror The Crimson Horror]]". Also true of the Mire from "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E5TheGirlWhoDied The Girl Who Died]]".
103%%* ''Series/Earth2'': The Terrians have this trait.
104%%* The Lebensaugers from ''Series/{{Grimm}}''.
105* The giant pre-Cambrian worms from ''Series/{{Primeval}}'' have this sort of mouth, most apparent when one's head is pinned under a photocopier's plate and a bunch of copies of its maw are printed out.
106* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
107** The [[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v349/DocDoom777/Entertainment/STTOS-SaltVampire.jpg Salt Vampire]] in the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E1TheManTrap The Man Trap]]" has one of these.
108** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and other modern ''Trek'' series have the Nausicaans, who have appeared in every series except the original series and [[PredatorPastiche were inspired by]] ''Franchise/{{Predator}}''. Their mouth-structures are a slightly more humanoid version of this trope.
109** The ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS4E4Nemesis Nemesis]]" features an example very similar-looking to the above, but even more pronounced, in the Kradin.
110* In ''Series/StrangerThings'', the mouth of a Demogorgon has both an inner tooth-ringed gullet and five encircling petal-like flaps lined with teeth that can close over it. The Demogods also have this.
111* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': In "[[Recap/SupernaturalS03E02TheKidsAreAlright The Kids are Alright]]", the Changelings, creatures who impersonate stolen children and feed on the human mother's blood at night, have this kind of mouth in their true form for feeding.
112* ''Series/TheWheelOfTime2021'' portrays the [[HumanoidAbomination Myrddraal]] with oversized mouths that are lined inside with multiple rows of inward-hooked teeth. In the books, they have stark white skin and [[EyelessFace no eyes]], but otherwise look human.
113* ''Series/TheXFiles'': Flukeman from "[[Recap/TheXFilesS02E02TheHost The Host]]" has a lamprey mouth that incorporates features of a tapeworm's scolex. Ironically, flukes are in the class Trematoda and don't have a scolex (they hang on to their host with one or two muscular suckers). Scully identified the parasite she found inside the Russian sailor as a "Turbellaria"... which is, in fact, a flatworm, but they don't have a scolex either! The only flatworms that have a scolex are tapeworms, which are in the class Cestoda. As Phil Farrand (author of ''The Nitpicker's Guide for X-Philes'') might point out, "Tapeman" doesn't sound nearly as cool as "Flukeman". This was hardly the only [[{{Pun}} fluke]] in this episode, but ''The Nitpicker's Guide'' is a more appropriate place for those.
114[[/folder]]
115
116[[folder:Pinball]]
117* The "Darkside" table of ''VideoGame/BallsOfSteel'' includes a squat red alien with a Lamprey Mouth and MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily.
118* The Leapers in ''Pinball/ScaredStiff'' have these, most visibly when they EatTheCamera.
119[[/folder]]
120
121[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
122* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
123** Older editions depict the purple worm with this sort of mouth, although later ones shift to a more typical pair of hinged jaws.
124** The otyugh is a monster with a mouth on its torso, and some depictions give it this type of mouth.
125** The thessalhydra is a [[OurMonstersAreWeird very strange]] critter with a gaping Lamprey Mouth surrounded by a bunch of conventional hydra heads. Its clamp-like tail picks up victims and stuffs them into the former.
126** Kopru had mouths like this in their original illustration from the adventure ''X1: Isle of Dread''.
127** [[{{Cthulhumanoid}} Mind flayers, also known as illithids]], sport a circular mouth of this sort, although it's usually hidden by their facial tentacles.
128* ''TabletopGame/RogueTrader'': Sand tigers are sand-dwelling predators with circular, jawless mouths lined with backward-pointing fangs.
129* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'''s rockworm, an Awakened concrete-eating giant earthworm, is depicted with this sort of mouth.
130[[/folder]]
131
132[[folder:Toys]]
133* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'':
134** Sea Squids, but DependingOnTheArtist, they may be shown with "regular" mouths.
135** The Visorak (again, depending on the artist), whose teeth come in the form of ''overlapping circular saws.''
136* The action figure of Mantenna from ''Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse''. The original toy has a lamprey mouth, although for the cartoons, Mantenna was given a watered-down, more goofy and less menacing look.
137[[/folder]]
138
139[[folder:Video Games]]
140* ''VideoGame/{{Awesomenauts}}'' has the Entins, who, despite otherwise being space caterpillars, sport these mouths. It also features more traditional {{Sand Worm}}s on planet Sorona.
141* ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'' has the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Lamprey]] boss, though the mouth is shaped more like a [[VaginaDentata vagina]].
142* Dead Lander α and the Devourer from ''VideoGame/BugFables'' can be found sporting lamprey-like mouths.
143* Promos for ''VideoGame/{{Defiance}}'' feature a giant monster with a lamprey mouth on the top of its body.
144* Deepstalkers from ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' are small, poison-spitting dinosaurs that utilize this trope.
145%%* Land worms, recurring monsters from the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series, have this.
146* The Great Serpent of Ronka, from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', is a tiny little {{Tsuchinoko}}, and therefore has one of these. It's never seen eating, just wriggling and screeing adorably.
147* The Japanese horror game ''Gloomy Room'' features a monster with (among [[BodyHorror other surreal biological deviations]]) one of these in the bathroom at the beginning of the game. It only appears if the player takes too long to complete the puzzle to escape the room, in a scene that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU0JHyYhtSE&t=9m10s plays along]] ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB5h6MUAv9c&t=3m23s beautifully]]'' with MirrorScare. The monster in question? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M52hiNngHyk&t=5m55s A stock Unity asset.]]
148%%* Barnacles from the ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' series, combined with NestedMouths in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''.
149* The Pols Voice from ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' were already plenty creepy enough for their sheer "otherness", being a limbless, bloblike creature with a few recognizably lagomorphic features like long ears and whiskers. Their 3-D appearance in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'' ups the creepiness by revealing that their ''entire underside'' consists of a huge mouth filled with sharp, concentric teeth.
150* The squid from ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' has one of these. It's much toothier than would be realistically expected, although the squid itself is completely harmless.
151* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'':
152** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter2004'': Khezu is an eyeless, pale-skinned Flying Wyvern with a large lamprey mouth which can reach great lengths when the neck stretches. Its drool can weaken hunters' defenses, and when attached to the ground it can unleash a strong electrical discharge. This also applies to its red-colored subspecies, which made its debut in the game's UpdatedRerelease.
153** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter3Tri'': Gigginox is an eyeless, pale-skinned Flying Wyvern similar to Khezu, albeit a bit more slender and while having a slightly smaller lamprey mouth. Instead of unleashing electricity, its mouth can spew puddles of poison from its mouth. Unlike Khezu, it also has a lamprey ''anus'', from which it can expel eggs sacs from which smaller Giggi come out. The subspecies Baleful Gigginox, which debuted in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterPortable3rd'', also fits the trope, though it attacks with electricity similar to Khezu.
154* The ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' evolution line Tynamo, Eelektrik and Eelektross. While Tynamo looks like a leech, its evolutions Eelektrik and Eelektross resemble lampreys and they mainly attack by discharging electricity while attaching to their victim with their lamprey mouth.
155* A couple in the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' games:
156** The final mutation of "G" (formerly William Birkin) in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2''.
157** The Grave Digger, a huge, mutated worm from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'', has a mouth like this, along with four giant teeth jutting out along the edges of its maw.
158** The Ooze from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations''.
159** [[DemonicSpiders The Rasklapanje]] from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6''. Not only does it feed by biting onto a person's face and sucking blood, but it also gives them a FaceFullOfAlienWingWong in the process.
160* ''VideoGame/TheSapling'' added these as part of the Food & Fire Update's diet overhaul. They specialize in drinking blood, though they're also capable of feeding on live prey if it's small enough.
161* ''VideoGame/{{Spore}}'' has the "Leeyotch", "Gnathognasher" and "Saginaughty" mouth parts which vaguely resemble the mouths of lampreys and other animals with radial, jawless mouths.
162* The Crawlers from ''VideoGame/{{Sundered}}'' have gaping ring-shaped mouths full of sharp white teeth in their center of mass. This mouth is normally concealed under the Crawler’s robes and tentacles, but becomes visible whenever it lunges at the player character.
163* ''VideoGame/WildcatGunMachine'' have the purple slug-creature monsters having this mouth design, as does their boss, Sluggoth.
164[[/folder]]
165
166[[folder:Visual Novels]]
167* Under her ratty long hair, it's revealed that the Urashima Woman from ''VisualNovel/SpiritHunterNG'' has a giant lamprey-like mouth, with [[NestedMouths multiple sets of teeth]] beneath the first circle of them. This emphasizes her connection to the lake and her death by drowning.
168[[/folder]]
169
170[[folder:Webcomics]]
171* ''Webcomic/SleeplessDomain'': In Chapter 13, Rue encounters a a [[https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/comic/chapter-13-page-5 worm-like monster]] whose "face" appears to be an outer shell with [[ExtraEyes six eyes]] and a set of [[MonstrousMandibles large mandibles]]. She promptly throws some of her [[ThrowDownTheBomblet explosive potions]] at it, only to discover that it not only survived, but that the explosion destroyed its shell to reveal [[https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/comic/chapter-13-page-9 a gaping maw with a ring of sharp teeth underneath]]. And as if that wasn't bad enough, [[https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/comic/chapter-13-page-11 the back half of the monster]] had [[AsteroidsMonster split off from the rest of its body]] and had a ringed mouth of its own.
172[[/folder]]
173
174[[folder:Western Animation]]
175* In ''WesternAnimation/TheChubbChubbs'', [[spoiler:the eponymous chubb-chubbs]] have these. They also rotate like sawblades.
176* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'':
177** In the movie "[[Recap/FuturamaM3BendersGame Bender's Game]]", the Tunneling Horror has a lamprey mouth in which concentric rings of teeth rotate in opposite directions.
178** Leela's father, a {{mutant|s}}, has a normal-shaped mouth but teeth arranged in a ring.
179** The shape-shifting predator from "[[Recap/FuturamaS7E24MurderOnThePlanetExpress Murder on the Planet Express]]" gobbles its victims whole with an extensible example of this trope.
180* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'': In the episode "The Headsucker's Moxy", the girls fight "the Robbing Leech" (a pun on Robin Leach) who uses his lamprey mouth to suck knowledge from peoples' brains in order to steal things. He's defeated after he tries this on The Mayor of Townsville, whose brain is a more perfect vacuum than the Leech's.
181* Scraplets from ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'', essentially metal-eating flying piranhas. They look cute until they see metal, then they open their mouths and reveal rings upon rings of churning, mechanical teeth.
182[[/folder]]
183
184[[folder:Real Life]]
185* Found in lampreys, obviously.
186** Also in some extinct fish taxa, before jaws evolved and proved to be more efficient for most feeding strategies.
187* Subverted by the tapeworm's scolex, which only ''looks'' like a mouth, and functions, instead, more like an anchor.
188* Velvet Worms have teeth arranged in this format.
189* Leeches have a watered-down version of these. Still good enough for blood-sucking, though.
190* Sea urchins have teeth arranged in a ring on their undersides, although they're blunt grinding teeth rather than pointed.
191* The cookie-cutter shark, while it has actual jaws, shifts them into a position resembling this in order to bite perfectly round chunks of flesh from its prey.
192* ''Anomalocaris'', largest predator of the Burgess Shale fauna, had a tough constricting ring for a mouth, lined with bony prongs. It and its relatives are classified as Order Radiodonta, meaning "encircling-toothed".
193* Leatherback sea turtle's mouth has teeth over all the buccal wall.
194[[/folder]]
195

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