History Main / EvilEggEater

* ''VideoGame/AngryBirds'': The premise of the game is that the greedy Pigs stole the Birds' eggs, which the Birds are trying to get back.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBigBadFoxAndOtherTales'': Subverted. The titular fox steals chicken eggs to eat, only for the eggs to hatch and the chicks to imprint on him.

This trope often overlaps with ScavengersAreScum, another trope about ecological niches unfairly demonized in popular culture. The fact that many species associated with one also do the other may or may not help. If a human or humanoid being does it, this usually falls under EvilPoacher ([[AccidentalPun not like the cooking kind]]), though they can still have the traits mentioned here. Attempts to devour the ''seeds'' of sentient or otherwise-precious plants might qualify as a variant, if the would-be eater is sufficiently villainous. Finally, compare WouldHurtAChild, OffingTheOffspring, and EatsBabies for when after the eggs hatch.

[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_predation Ovivory]] is when animals eat others' eggs. While humans do this all the time with poultry (albeit those eggs are usually eaten unfertilized, meaning they can't hatch into anything), non-human animals who do so tend to be depicted as [[DirtyCoward cowardly]], awful thieves that eat the eggs of innocent animals; it's usually a bird, though reptiles like crocodiles, dinosaurs, and (in fantasy works) dragons and griffins can also be victims.[[note]]Make what you will that these are all creatures who lay eggs of the hard mineralized shell kind, it's fairly rare for soft-egg layers like arthropods and amphibians to be on the end of it.[[/note]] It's often a foe of the EggMacGuffin the heroes need to guard against, who don't necessarily need to be its parents who are absent for whatever reason. The angry [[MamaBear Mother]] or [[PapaWolf father]] ([[BreadEggsBreadedEggs or both]], frequently [[BattleCouple at once]]) will instead often show up at the climax [[BigDamnHeroes Big Damn Hero-style]] and terrify the thief into fleeing.

They'll usually be [[LeanAndMean incredibly thin]], filthy, and even malodorous, stand with a hunched-over posture, and [[EvilSlinks slink around]] like there's no tomorrow. In many cases, they're merely comic relief minions of the BigBad, often in duos or [[TerribleTrio trios]]. More serious cases will have lots of them ZergRush the nest and try to overwhelm the defenders.

[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_predation Ovivory]] is when animals eat others' eggs. While humans do this all the time with poultry (albeit those eggs are usually eaten unfertilized, meaning they can't hatch into anything), non-human animals who do so tend to be depicted as [[DirtyCoward cowardly]], awful thieves that eat the eggs of innocent animals; it's usually a bird, though reptiles like crocodiles, dinosaurs, and (in fantasy works) dragons and griffins can also be victims.[[note]]Make what you will that these are all creatures who lay eggs of the hard mineralized shell kind, it's fairly rare for soft-egg layers like arthropods and amphibians to be on the end of it.[[/note]] It's often a foe of the EggMacGuffin the heroes need to guard against, who don't necessarily need to be its parents who are absent for whatever reason. The angry [[MamaBear Mother]] or [[PapaWolf father]] ([[BreadEggsBreadedEggs or both]]) will instead often show up at the climax [[BigDamnHeroes Big Damn Hero-style]] and terrify the thief into fleeing.

They'll usually be incredibly thin, filthy, and even malodorous, stand with a hunched-over posture, and [[EvilSlinks slink around]] like there's no tomorrow. In many cases, they're merely comic relief minions of the BigBad, often in duos or [[TerribleTrio trios]]. More serious cases will have lots of them ZergRush the nest and try to overwhelm the defenders.

* [[SnakesAreSinister Snakes]] (heck, there are [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasypeltis_scabra even species specialized for this in real life]])

'''NOTE:''' A creature seen hunting eggs can't qualify for this trope alone. It has to be depicted and treated as cowardly and evil for it.

* ''WesternAnimation/TappyToes'': {{Subverted}} with the skuas. They appear to be antagonists at first and the narration even describes them as "nasty little scavengers". They steal Ozzy and Gertie's egg with the intention to eat it, but when it hatches before they can do so, they end up lovingly raising the chick, who they call Pingo.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresInZambezia'': The main villain is a [[MaliciousMonitorLizard monitor lizard]] who wishes to eat all of the eggs in the titular bird paradise.

** The first sequel, ''[[WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTimeIITheGreatValleyAdventure The Great Valley Adventure]]'', had a pair of ''Struthiomimus'', named [[EvilDuo Ozzie and Strut]], as the villains. They have their own VillainSong about it, simply titled "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seP1w3XPBfo Eggs]]."

* ''Series/PrehistoricPlanet'':
** Combined with MonstrousCannibalism in Season 1. One of the most shocking scenes in the "Fresh Water" episode has a mother ''Quetzelcoatlus'' briefly leaving her nest to go hunting, only to return and find that another female ''Quetzalcoatlus'' has raided the nest and eaten most of her eggs.
** Season 2's episode "Badlands" features ''Kuru kulla'', a dromaeosaur relative to ''Velociraptor'', sneaking into a nest colony of ''Corythoraptors'', a relative of ''[[{{Irony}} Oviraptor]]'', at night and feasting on their eggs in one of the unattended nests before the ''Corythoraptor'' fathers notice the thief amongst their midst. However, the segment later subverts the evil stereotype by revealing that ''Kuru'' is actually [[MonsterIsAMommy a parent of its own]], giving the stolen egg to its babies to teach them how to open it and eat the contents for their survival.

* In ''Spiny'', a ''Struthiomimus'' named Mr. Struths tricks a ''Spinosaurus'' family and successfully steals one of their eggs. Subverted when Mr. Struths later returns the uneaten egg out of guilt, and the baby is named after him as a thank-you.
* ''Literature/TalesOfKaimere'': While egg-eating non-therian mammals only ate dinosaurs eggs in moderation, the Dire Badger, a relative of the wolverine, is an outright glutton. It will eat any eggs and hatchling it finds in surplus, which drove many dinosaurs to endangerment or extinction. The dinosaurs that were able to successfully rear their offspring (and thus pass down their genes for future generation) were the ones with heightened instincts to preemptively kill any Dire Badger or similiar animal from getting close. This means that they see ''any mammal'' (humans included) as potentially this trope, and will attack them outright to protect their nests.

* The origin of ''Oviraptor's'' infamous reputation comes from how when it was first found during the 1920s, fossil specimens were found sitting on long cylindrical eggs. It was thought these belonged to the ceratopsian ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursOrnithischianDinosaurs Protoceratops]]'', so depictions of it usually bowing over a nest and cracking open the eggs or fleeing with them in its hands as the ''Protoceratops'' was nearby were commonplace. More often than not, it was depicted as green-skinned, grotesque, and standing in a hunched-over position. [[ScienceMarchesOn Thanks to discoveries of a related genus in the 1990s]], we now know ''Oviraptor'' was sitting on its own eggs as a protective, nurturing parent, with depictions following suit (usually feathered and looking like a bird). While it's certainly possible that they ate eggs on occasion, the notion that ''Oviraptor'' and its relatives were particularly prone to egg-eating is now considered outdated.

[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_predation Ovivory]] is when animals eat others' eggs. While humans do this all the time with poultry (albeit those eggs are usually eaten unfertilized, meaning they can't hatch into anything), non-human animals who do so tend to be depicted as [[DirtyCoward cowardly]], awful thieves that eat the eggs of innocent animals; it's usually a bird, though reptiles like crocodiles, dinosaurs, and (in fantasy works) dragons and griffins can also be victims.[[note]]Make what you will that these are all creatures who lay eggs of the hard mineralized shell kind, it's fairly rare for soft-egg layers like arthropods and amphibians to be on the end of it.[[/note]] It's often a foe of the EggMacGuffin the heroes need to guard against, who don't necessarily need to be its parents who are absent for whatever reason. [[MamaBear The angry]] [[PapaWolf parents]] will instead often show up at the climax [[BigDamnHeroes Big Damn Hero-style]] and terrify the thief into fleeing.

[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_predation Ovivory]] is when animals eat others' eggs. While humans do this all the time with poultry (albeit those eggs are usually eaten unfertilized, meaning they can't hatch into anything), non-human animals who do so tend to be depicted as [[DirtyCoward cowardly]], awful thieves that eat the eggs of innocent animals; it's usually a bird, though reptiles like crocodiles, dinosaurs, and (in fantasy works) dragons and griffins can also be victims.[[note]]Make what you will that these are all creatures who lay eggs of the hard mineralized shell kind, it's fairly rare for soft-egg layers like arthropods and amphibians to be on the end of it.[[/note]] It's often a foe of the EggMacGuffin the heroes need to guard against, who don't necessarily need to be its parents who are absent for whatever reason. The [[MamaBear angry parents]] will instead often show up at the climax [[BigDamnHeroes Big Damn Hero-style]] and terrify the thief into fleeing.