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In folklore, many different kinds of monsters kill and eat children and infants. Others merely make children seriously ill or cause them to vanish (replacing them with fairy changelings). These stories were explanations for the high infant mortality rates seen in primitive cultures.
Naturally, various media use these tales as source material for their own monsters. Some media monsters target children to use them as a slave work-force. Some drain their life energy to stay alive.
It is taken as a given that specifically targeting children, especially if you are planning on eating them, is a sure sign that you are a [[Complete Monster|monster]] in the truest sense of the word. Differs from [[Eats Babies]] as this trope deals specifically with creatures who go after babies because they specifically target children, while [[Eats Babies]] is about villains so evil they would target babies but don't go out of their way to do so. By definition, though, most (but surprisingly not all)
Given how long some of these stories have been around, this trope is [[Older Than Dirt]]. Related to [[Would Hurt a Child]].
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==▼
▲== Anime and Manga ==
* Grand Fisher in the ''[[Bleach]]'' manga. In the anime version, he preyed on women.
* The Orb of Bask from ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' took the souls of children, which the wielder could use as food.
* In ''[[Darker
** Of course, she's [[The Woobie]] because she lost her powers (and with them, her emotionlessness) and is now horribly haunted by what she did. She never harms any children during the actual series, {{spoiler|since she dies shortly after regaining her powers}}.
== [[Comic Books]] ==▼
▲== Comic Books ==
* The Walkers from the graphic novel ''[[Midnight Nation]]'' will kill, torture, and eat adults and children alike... but they prefer children.
* Lawbringer Qztr (and later on, Charon) attempts to kill baby Memi in ''Negation''. {{spoiler|They fail, because Memi has cosmic-level superpowers.}}
* One really squicky villain in ''[[
* The Corinthian in ''[[
** A taste he shares with Tojiro XIV, the {{spoiler|Asian vampire}} from ''[[Grendel]]''.
* In [[Countdown to Final Crisis]], Mary Marvel, after her [[Face Heel Turn]], briefly encounters a demon whose name illudes me so I'll call him Glashmorftigan. He claims to be the harvester of souls of stillborn children, and after introducing himself as such [[I Am a Humanitarian|threatens to disembowel her and eat the digested food from her intestines.]] In other words, [[Atop the Fourth Wall
== [[Film]] ==▼
* The witch in Hansel and Gretel planned to eat them. She even used a [[Gingerbread House]] as bait.▼
▲== Film ==
* The Child Catcher from ''[[Chitty Chitty Bang Bang]]'' kidnapped children and imprisoned them on orders of Baroness Bomburst of Vulgaria, who cannot abide the existence of children.
* Trantor, the evil [[All Trolls Are Different|troll]] from the movie ''Ernest Scared Stupid'', went after children and turned them into little wooden dolls which gave him his power.
* ''Cat's Eye'' By [[Stephen King]]: The [[All Trolls Are Different|Little Troll Monster]] sits on the little girl's chest and steals her breath.
* The [[Eyes Do Not Belong There|Pale Man]] eats babies in ''[[
** He appears to be the [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of stillbirth.
* In ''[[Hocus Pocus]]'' the three witches must eat the souls of children to survive.
{{quote|
* After his plan to become mayor of Gotham City is foiled by the Batman, The Penguin of ''[[
* [[Fat Bastard]] of [[Austin Powers]] fame.
{{quote|
== [[Literature]] ==▼
* According to folk legend, [[Cats Are Mean|cats]] steal the breath from sleeping babies. This is an explanation of Sudden Infant Death syndrome.▼
* [[Our Ogres Are Hungrier|Ogres]] are depicted as child-eaters in many stories. One variant from German folklore is even named ''Kinderfresser'', which literally translates as Child Eater.▼
▲== Literature ==
* When ''[[Dracula]]'' made Lucy Westenra into a vampire, her preferred victims were children. He also fed at least one baby to his wives.
* ''[[The Witches]]'' in Roahl Dahl's book of the same name want to kill children because they smell horrible. They eventually decide to turn them all into mice. I guess that would get rid of the smell for some reason....
** Because the parents would then poison, trap or otherwise dispatch the newly arrived rodent infestation, not realizing it was their children. The witches get sick satisfaction from tricking the parents into offing their own kids.
* The opening Little Bad of the third book from ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' was a ghost who was stuck in the same pattern of actions: trying to make her baby be quiet by singing and covering his mouth, so that her husband wouldn't lose his temper. She was haunting a hospital nursery and suffocating children.
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* One of the Mole-Men listed in ''[[More Information Than You Require]]'' is "Ms. Edna Humanchildstealer".
* The alien overlords in S.P. Somtow's ''Mallworld'' series not only eat their own children, they've been known to serve them up as the main course at diplomatic dinners. Of course, their children are non-sentient and considered vermin until they reach a certain age.
* In the ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' novel ''The Night Parade'', the eponymous demons kidnap children in order to transform them into beings like themselves. Nobody knows why exactly, but it has been theorized that they are a [[Dying Race]] trying to repopulate their world.
== [[Live Action TV]] ==▼
* In the ''[[Star Trek:
▲== Live Action TV ==
* The ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' episode "Something Wicked" features a Shtriga, which sucks life force from children, leaving them in comas.▼
▲* In the ''[[Star Trek the Original Series (TV)|Star Trek the Original Series]]'' TOS episode "And the Children Shall Lead", the Gorgon orphans all of the children living on one planet because orphaned children are more easily influenced by parental figures... such as the "friendly angel", as the kids call the Gorgon.
▲* The ''[[Supernatural (TV)|Supernatural]]'' episode "Something Wicked" features a Shtriga, which sucks life force from children, leaving them in comas.
** The demon Lilith likes to drink the blood of newborn babies. She even has a personal chef.
* Also, the ''[[
** There was also a season 2 ep with a demon in Lorne's karaoke bar who was announced as Durthok the Child-Eater. Another child-eating species popped up in early season 5. Angel killed it but later learned he was supposed to be meeting with it.
* ''[[
** According to Anya Santa Claus is real, but instead of leaving presents, he comes down chimneys to disembowel children on Christmas.
** Olaf the Troll demanded he be brought babies to eat. Spike at first suggested they check the hospital, and then suggested onion flowers as an alternative.
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** In the third season episode "Band Candy," the demon Larconis requires a tribute in the form of a ritual feeding every thirty years. What does it feed on? Newborn babies.
** In "I Only Have Eyes For You" Angelus is so disturbed by being forced by feel love (he and Buffy were possessed by the ghosts of dead lovers) that he insists on going out and killing a child to bring back a sense of evil in himself.
* In the ''[[
* In the first episode/movie of ''[[Lexx]]'', the Cluster Lizards prove to be this. However, the kids they're eating happen to be the cream of the crop chosen by [[Complete Monster|His Divine Shadow]], so arguably this isn't such a bad thing in this case.
* In the second season of ''[[
== [[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], Myths and Legends ==
* Lamia in Greek mythology stole other women's children as vengeance for the theft of her own.
* Lilith in Hebrew tradition is supposed to feed on babies, as well as being a [[Horny Devils|succubus]]. It's only relatively recently ([[Older Than Print]]) that she's been known as the first wife of Adam who wouldn't stay in the metaphorical kitchen.
* In Mesopotamian mythology, the she-demons Lamashtu and Akhkhazu (Dimme and Dimme-kur in Sumerian) liked to harm, kidnap, kill, maim and/or eat children and babies, just [[For the Evulz]].
* Gello and Abyzou of Mediterranean myth and folklore, out of [[Green-Eyed Monster|jealousy]].
* The Buddhist goddess [
* Atavaka was originally a baby eating demon until Buddha converted him. He then became an attendant to Bishamonten and protector of the south-west.
* The [
* In Danish mythology, they have the Valravn, a raven that has eaten the corpse of a man who died in battle and gained his intelligence, but they are only able to fly at night. To break this curse, the Valravn has to eat the heart of a child, so they regularly tried to kidnap children or make deals with mothers for their firstborn. If they succeeded, then they would be turned into either a knight or a wolf/raven hybrid.
▲* According to folk legend, [[Cats Are Mean|cats]] steal the breath from sleeping babies. This is an explanation of Sudden Infant Death syndrome.
▲* [[Our Ogres Are Hungrier|Ogres]] are depicted as child-eaters in many stories. One variant from German folklore is even named ''Kinderfresser'', which literally translates as Child Eater.
▲* The witch in Hansel and Gretel planned to eat them. She even used a [[Gingerbread House]] as bait.
* In ''[[Exalted]]'', the ancient and mad sorceress Raksi is known for feasting on babies.▼
==
* The Dark Dragon God, Loputousu, and its current host in ''[[Fire Emblem]] 4'' demand [[Human Sacrifice|sacrifices of children ages 7 to 13]]. LARGE Sacrifices.
* There's a type of caterpillar whose armor is so thick that it can walk right into an ant colony, eat its fill of larvae, and walk out -- and there's nothing the ants can do about it. To ants, this beast is a horrific baby-eating tank.▼
** Many predators will target the young first, just because they are easier to catch and kill.▼
* In ''[[Icewind Dale]]'' ''2'' the witch Limda is a particular sadistic variant. To preserve her youth, she drains lifeforce from the children of a nearby group of fur-traders and turns them into minks as a side effect. Minks that are hunted and skinned by their own unwitting parents. She gets sick kicks from watching the traders murder and skin their own missing children.▼
* Ovivores such as humans and certain dinosaurs eat the eggs of other creatures, in essence, eating their babies. ▼
* Arioch from ''[[Drakengard]]'' is a psychotic [[Serial Killer]] who eats children, and only children. While she'll ''kill'' adults, children are the only ones she cannibalizes due to psychosis from having lost her family to [[The Empire]] and rendered infertile by a [[Deal
** To be fair, though, the eggs at grocery stores aren't fertilized, so they aren't actually baby chickens.▼
* ''[[The Last Guardian]]'' {{spoiler|reveals that the barrels you have been feeding Trico this whole time are the recycled remains of the [[Powered by a Forsaken Child|children used to power the facility]]}}
*** This is true. When eating eggs, one eats chicken menstruation.▼
*** Well, I'm never eating eggs again.▼
*** There is also [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_%28egg%29 Balut], which really is a foetus.▼
* Many humans eat lamb and sometimes veal and duckling.▼
* Unfortunately, there have been people who were ''human'' child-eaters. [[Serial Killer|Albert Fish]] is a famous example.▼
== [[Web Comics]] ==▼
* ''[[No Rest for The Wicked (
* One storyline of ''[[
* Harvestman of ''[[Daddy Long Legs (
==
▲* In [[Exalted]], the ancient and mad sorceress Raksi is known for feasting on babies.
▲== Web Comics ==
▲* ''[[No Rest for The Wicked (Webcomic)|No Rest for The Wicked]]'': Saying anything would spoil the fuel.
▲* One storyline of ''[[And Shine Heaven Now (Webcomic)|And Shine Heaven Now]]'' features an Adze, a vampire that feeds on children and can take the form of a firefly.
▲* Harvestman of [[Daddy Long Legs (Webcomic)|Daddy Long Legs]] is, amazingly, a ''heroic'' example. (Partly justified since neither he nor the children in question are [[Carnivore Confusion|human]].)
* Black Annis, a villain from the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'', is a fey creasture who specifically targeted children to kidnap, terrorize, and eventually devour whole.
== [[Western Animation]] ==▼
* In ''[[Teen Titans (
▲== Western Animation ==
▲* In ''[[Teen Titans (Animation)|Teen Titans]]'', Cardiac only targeted children, because, according to [[Word of God]], he was supposed to be more of an [[Animesque|anime-style]] villain.
* The Salem Witch trial parody in a ''[[Simpsons]]'' Halloween episode had Marge and her sisters, being witches for the act, take up the Flanders idea that they would eat children. They even ate a bunch of kids off-screen before they reached the Flanders.
* In the animated version of ''[[Doctor Strange]]'', [[Big Bad|Dormammu]] uses children to try to enter the human world.
* ''[[Monsters, Inc.]]'' features an entire world powered by the screams of children frightened by professional "scarers" who believe that what they are doing is good and just. {{spoiler|Since screams aren't providing enough energy to sustain their world in the long run, the [[Big Bad]] decides to ''kidnap'' children and drain them dry.}}
== [[Real Life]] ==
▲* There's a type of caterpillar whose armor is so thick that it can walk right into an ant colony, eat its fill of larvae, and walk
▲== Video Games ==
▲** Many predators will target the young first, just because they are easier to catch and kill.
▲* The Dark Dragon God, Loputousu, and its current host in ''[[Fire Emblem]] 4'' demand [[Human Sacrifice|sacrifices of children ages 7 to 13]]. LARGE Sacrifices.
▲* Ovivores such as humans and certain dinosaurs eat the eggs of other creatures, in essence, eating their babies.
▲* Kusaregedo from ''[[Samurai Shodown]]'' is a rather monstrous version of this.
▲** To be fair, though, the eggs at grocery stores aren't fertilized, so they aren't actually baby chickens.
▲* In ''[[Icewind Dale]]'' ''2'' the witch Limda is a particular sadistic variant. To preserve her youth, she drains lifeforce from the children of a nearby group of fur-traders and turns them into minks as a side effect. Minks that are hunted and skinned by their own unwitting parents. She gets sick kicks from watching the traders murder and skin their own missing children.
▲*** This is true. When eating eggs, one eats chicken menstruation.
▲* Arioch from ''[[Drakengard]]'' is a psychotic [[Serial Killer]] who eats children, and only children. While she'll ''kill'' adults, children are the only ones she cannibalizes due to psychosis from having lost her family to [[The Empire]] and rendered infertile by a [[Deal With the Devil]].
▲*** Well, I'm never eating eggs again.
▲*** There is also [
▲* Many humans eat lamb and sometimes veal and duckling.
▲* Unfortunately, there have been people who were ''human'' child-eaters. [[Serial Killer|Albert Fish]] is a famous example.
{{reflist}}
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