History Main / CannibalTribe

* Played almost comically straight in the 1960 version of ''Literature/TheLostWorld'', when the explorers are captured by the HollywoodNatives of the [[LostWorld plateau]]. When debating their situation and what to do next, Prof. Challenger flatly states that "They're ''obviously'' cannibals" and everyone just goes along with it. He's right, too.

[[quoteright:250:[[ComicBook/ActionComics https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/clip2net_160814175919.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:250:These are the AdventureArchaeologist's stock enemies... Well, they used to be.]]

* In ''Literature/MobyDick'', Queequeg comes from one of these on the fictional South Pacific island of Rokovoko. The extent of his people's cannibalism is kept pretty vague, and Queequeg himself is presented as a NobleSavage, and he's best friend to the novel's protagonist, Ishmael, who takes a very live-and-let-live approach to Queequeg's cultural practices. Creator/HermanMelville had a great admiration for Polynesian culture.

[[caption-width-right:250:These are the AdventureArchaeologist's stock enemies... Well, [[OnceAcceptableTargets they used to be]].]]

* Chimpanzees who kill members of other clans in fights for territory often eat their dead enemies after the battle. It's only in movies that ApeShallNeverKillApe.

* ''WesternAnimation/SurfsUp'' has a tribe of cannibal [[EverythingsBetterWithPenguins penguins]] in the island where a surf competition is held. They capture Chicken Joe, and only don't eat him because he gives them Squid on a Stick, which TastesLikeChicken.

* ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'' features a former cannibal tribe that has since turned towards vegetarianism, and now commit sacrifices to their volcano god, Sherman, with human effigies made out of fresh produce. Although this has had the added benefit of halting the number of daily eruptions (Sherman has a very delicate stomach), it's also completely killed tourism on the island.

** ''TabletopGame/IcewindDaleRimeOfTheFrostmaiden'':

* The whaleship ''Essex'' - whose 1820 voyage directly inspired [[Creator/HermanMelville Herman Melville]]’s ''[[Literature/MobyDick Moby Dick]]'' - was wrecked in an area of the Pacific known as the Offshore grounds (a popular whaling destination). Stranded in lifeboats, Captain George Pollard and First Mate Owen Chase disagreed about their next move: Pollard wanted to sail to the Marquesas, but Chase believed that those islands were inhabited by cannibals and argued instead for a doubly long voyage towards South America. Ironically, because the boats were adrift for so long, the crews ended up resorting to cannibalism themselves just to stay alive.

Once upon a time, it was pretty much a given that any [[HollywoodNatives dark-skinned, non-Christian native tribes]] encountered by a [[MightyWhitey European explorer hero]] would be [[ImAHumanitarian consumers of human flesh]]. The stereotypical Cannibal Tribe are AlwaysChaoticEvil, dress in [[{{Stripperiffic}} very little]] but for the SkeletonsInTheCoatCloset, and live in wooden huts around a large fire with an [[StewedAlive enormous cooking pot]] sitting on top of it (notably this pot will usually be iron, despite the tribe otherwise seeming to be stuck in the stone age).

** ''TabletopGame/IsleOfTheApe'' is an extremely difficult Greyhawk module featuring a cannibal tribe called the Kawibusa. The island is a HungryJungle cranked UpToEleven, and the tribe have been hardened by its perils to present a serious threat to max-level characters.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' gives us a RecycledInSpace version with the Kroot, a race of bird-like aliens loosely based on various "tribal" cultures. While they don't eat each other very much, they do eat everybody else (though smart ones abstain from anything associated with [[TheCorruption Chaos and the Tyranids]]. And the Tau, usually, since they're the ones footing the bill for their gastronomic tours of the Milky Way). Because of their BizarreAlienBiology, they're able to absorb DNA from their meals, playing on the belief prevalent in cultures that practiced cannibalism that [[CannibalismSuperpower you could absorb the strength of people you ate]]. DependingOnTheWriter this may in fact be how the Kroot evolved into an intelligent life form, having been fairly ordinary birds until they started scavenging the corpses of some Orks that happened to crash on their planet.

Subtrope of HollywoodNatives. Supertrope of CapturedByCannibals and the related {{exploitation film}} genre, CannibalFilm. Contrast with CannibalClan, where the cannibals are just a family, typically from a culture where cannibalism is ''not'' acceptable. Subtrope of HumansAreBastards. And ironically, the {{Cannibal Tribe}}'s attitude towards foreigners makes them a subtrope of PoliticallyIncorrectVillain.

* ''Literature/ThisImmortal'' has the Kouretes, a tribe of half-human mutants led officially by Procrustes and inofficially by would-be shaman Moreby from Taler. They live in wooden shacks in the mountains near a Hot Spot and engage in cannibalism of whoever they manage to capture.

* ''WebOriginal/HamstersParadise'': The AlwaysChaoticEvil Harmsters have a species wide tendency to engage in MonstrousCannibalism but one tribe of them takes it even further. The [[FrazettaMan Frazettas]] are the primitive descendants of one Harmster empire who [[EvilutionaryBiologist attempted to make themselves stronger]] by [[BestialityIsDepraved breeding]] with their Brutes ([[FormallySapientSpecies descendants of rival Harmsters selectively bred into obedient animals]]) and now the Frazettas feed mostly on feral Brutes and other Harmsters.

** ''TabletopGame/IcewindDaleRimeOfTheFrostMaiden'':

* In ''[[ComicBook/WarlordOfMars Warlord of Mars: Dejah Thoris]]'', the titular princess discovers a ruined city inhabited by a tribe of savage White Martians that eats exclusively flesh. They aren't picky about what they eat, be it wild beasts they hunt, unfortunate travelers who get lost and even their own dead. In contrast to other examples that are rife with UnfortunateImplications, these savages are blonde haired, blue-eyed and pale skinned, as they are related to the Holy Therns (who are also cannibals themselves, but far more civilized and eat only Red Martian flesh).
* Often used by ''ComicBook/{{Condorito}}'', always for humorous purposes, in fact the vast majority of jokes set in Africa involve a cannibal tribe.

* In ''Film/NateAndHayes'', King Oatapi's people on the island of Ponape.
* CannibalFilm ''Film/CannibalWomenInTheAvocadoJungleOfDeath'' parodies this trope. It's about two [[StrawFeminist feminist]] [[AmazonBrigade tribes]] who have fallen out over whether [[{{Gendercide}} men should]] be eaten with guacamole or clam dip.

* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest'', Jack has been declared the god of a Cannibal Tribe--who want to eat him to release him from his weak mortal form.
* Played straight in ''Film/TheNavigator'', in which Creator/BusterKeaton and his girl, who have been adrift on the open ocean in a cruise ship, run aground on an island inhabited by cannibals, who then try to eat them.

* The Kzamm, a fearsome horde of paleolithic man-eaters are major antagonists in ''Film/QuestForFire''. [[Literature/QuestForFire The original novel]] elaborates that they are they only cannibals known to the protagonists who find their habits repulsive.
* The Ewoks in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' could be considered the JustForFun/SciFiCounterpart of this trope. They're technically an example of ToServeMan, since they're not the same species as their victims, but they play this role in the movie when they capture and try to eat Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. This tendency is swept under the rug as the film goes on (they aren't shown eating the dead Stormtroopers, for example), and ignored in [[Film/StarWarsEwokAdventures all subsequent]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Ewoks}} media]] to feature the Ewoks.
* In ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'', M'Baku implies that the Jabari are this to scare Agent Ross. He then reveals that [[SubvertedTrope they are in fact vegetarians]] and [[LaughingAtYourOwnJokes has a good laugh]].

* There's a Cannibal Tribe in ''Literature/{{Nation}}'', but aside from being terrifying raiders who take human prisoners for slaves (and dinner), they're really quite reasonable... and not nearly as terrifying as First Mate Cox.
* Elements of this turn up in the South Seas Treasure Game from the 1981 novel ''Literature/DreamPark''.
* ''Literature/HeartOfDarkness'': one of the only African characters Marlow describes as an individual is among a group of rowers for the European explorers (for lack of a better term), and they are described as being cannibals, but considerate enough not to practice that while Europeans are watching.
* Friday's tribe in ''Literature/RobinsonCrusoe''. Despite his friendship with Friday, Crusoe remains convinced that Friday's people [[CapturedByCannibals will eat him if he ever ventures over there]], despite Friday's insistence otherwise. They later rescue a Spaniard and Friday's father from being eaten by another group of cannibals.
* The natives of Tsalal in ''Literature/TheNarrativeOfArthurGordonPymOfNantucket''.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' the Wildling Ice-river clans are known for being this (''not'' the Thenns, unlike in the show) as they live north of The Wall which is nothing but ice and snow. They are more savage and primitive than the rest of the Free Folk, who view them with fear and disdain.
** The people of Skagos are said to be this, they once raided the nearby isle of Skane and ate all the men in a fortnight. Rickon Stark went there in hiding with Shaggydog and Osha, and Davos Seaworth dreads having to go there to find him, as the island and its inhabitants are infamous among sailors.
* The Candy People from ''Literature/TheCannibalsOfCandyland''.
* ''Literature/ThisImmortal'' has the Kouretes, a tribe of half-human mutants led officially by Procrustes and inofficially by would-be shaman Moreby from Taler. They live in wooden shacks in the mountains near a Hot Spot and engage in cannibalism of whoever they manage to capture.
* The Tcho-Tcho of the Franchise/CthulhuMythos are a Southeast Asian cannibal tribe composed entirely of {{depraved dwarf}}s.

* Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian's Hyborian world has Darfar, one of the [[DarkestAfrica Black Kingdoms]] south of Stygia. They're not very popular with their neighbors (most of whom are actually quite civilized [[FairForItsDay by the standards of when they were originally written up]]).
* ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'': Pick a tribe of reptiles or amphibians, they will be played this way. From King Glagweb's toads to Lask Frildur's monitors, almost every cold-blooded animal in the series lives in a tribe and eats other sentient beings. The only exceptions are the adders, who are still cannibals, but loners (or in the case of the triplets in ''Triss'' a CannibalClan).
* In ''Literature/{{Odtaa}}'', the Pituba Indians are reputed to be cannibals, but we never see evidence of it, and Rosa says their reputation is overstated: "They don't eat all the babies they're credited with. They may munch a finger here and there."

* A regular threat in ''Series/SirArthurConanDoylesTheLostWorld''.
** Averted, though, in ''Series/TheLostWorld2001'', where the plateau natives are a pretty okay bunch. When they [[spoiler: do eventually turn against the British explorers, they have a pretty decent reason for it.]] There's also a brief scene early on, before we've even reached the Plateau, when Prof. Challenger casually points out an Amazonian tribe as cannibals, but they seem content to leave our heroes alone.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' has the Thenns, who are a clan of cannibal Wildlings that even [[BloodKnight Tormund Giantsbane]] [[EveryoneHasStandards finds appalling]].
* The ''Danger Island'' live-action segments from ''WesternAnimation/TheBananaSplits'' had ''three'' separate cannibal tribes in an island archipelago.

* Music/{{Voltaire}}'s song "Cannibal Buffet" is a [[HurricaneOfPuns punny]] song about the narrator's encounter with a cannibal tribe who end up devouring him.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' has the Ogre Kingdoms who are an entire race of this, as they have no quams on eating their own kind should food become scarce. Its not uncommon for Ogre clans to fight each other and the victor eating the defeated clan.
* Nearly every evil humanoid race in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has been portrayed as cannibalistic at one point or another, but orcs, ogres, hill giants, ettins, trolls, goblins, and gnolls are especially prone to this depiction.
** In the ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'' setting, halflings are depicted as this trope. They remain a playable race, though, for those wishing to create a BarbarianHero type character (though the Barbarian [[FantasyCharacterClasses character class]] isn't always an optimal fit for halflings, depending on the edition you're playing).
** ''TabletopGame/IsleOfTheApe'' is an extremely difficult Greyhawk module featuring a cannibal tribe called the Kawibusa. The island is a HungryJungle cranked UpToEleven, and the tribe have been hardened by its perils to present a serious threat to max-level characters.

* Deconstructed and played for drama in ''VideoGame/FarCryPrimal''; while the more brutal Udam do indeed eat their captured prisoners and are vilified for it by the Wenja, [[spoiler:they have begun to eat far more in an attempt to cure themselves of what they call "skull fire", believing that uninfected human flesh will give them the strength to drive away the sickness slowly killing their tribe. Sadly, the affliction they suffer from is actually the prion disease, Kuru, with several Udam tribesmen showing increasing signs of neural degeneration -- meaning that the more they eat, the greater the symptoms eventually become.]]