Another trope that overlaps: instead of a virgin, it's the god/king that is sacrificed, often to a volcano, sometimes just cannibalized. The outsider character would gladly accept to be wrongly believed a god/king and treated accordingly until he discovers he'll be sacrificed. I can't pinpoint specific occasions but the trope is frequent enough to be parodied (for example recently in [1]).
Okay, this has been bugging me for a while. I keep thinking of a certain trope, but it doesn't seem to exist as far as I can tell. The closest approximation is Appease the Volcano God, but the wording of the trope here excludes the idea I have in mind. Much like Appease the Volcano God, a tribal village somewhere is busy sacrificing beautiful maidens. Unlike Appease the Volcano God, it's an actual monster that they're sacrificing to. The monster may either be demanding sacrifices, or the villagers may just be drawing assumptions. A merry band of adventurers from out of town comes in, figures out that the monster can be slain, and promptly does so, thus earning the thanks of the villagers (or perhaps not, if the villagers fail to figure out it wasn't actually a god).
From my limited understanding of Japanese mythology (read: I've played Okami), it seems to draw its inspiration from the Yamato no Orochi myth. I've seen it in Okami, in Golden Sun: The Lost Age, in Rogue Galaxy, in Tales Of Symphonia, and even in One Piece. There are probably others I can't think of at the moment, possibly because I've subconsciously blocked them from memory (this particular plot irks me like few things in life can).
Now the question is, does this particular plot actually have a trope attached to it? If so, please tell me what the trope name is. If not, is this worthy of YKTTW, or should we just amend Appease the Volcano God's description?
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Can prisoners be used to appease the volcano god? I mean, the island natives can blame the volcano erupting on foreign visitors they captured and throw them into the volcano.
Edited by kkj12345