History Main / MilkingTheMonster

* A hydra is turned into a source of all-you-can-eat meat in [[https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0326.html this comic]] of TheOrderOfTheStick. The goblin responsible becomes fantastically wealthy, pun fully intended.

* In ''Literature/TheWitcher'' stort stories Gerald complains that as monster care getting rarer he can't get much work since some of them adapted pretty well- local lord allows troll to live under the bridge and take tolls for passing since it's cheaper than hiring people to maintain the construction

* ''ComicBook/Fables'': ''Jack of Fables'' combines this with the {{Masquerade}}, the Fables formerly under Mr. Revises "care" have been stuck at a diner for years and decided to turn it into a theme park based off of their presence there. It pays the bills if nothing else.

* ''[[ComicBook/Fables Jack of Fables]]'' combines this with the {{Masquerade}}, the Fables formerly under Mr. Revises "care" have been stuck at a diner for years and decided to turn it into a theme park based offoof their presence there. It pays the bills if nothing else.

Compare MonsterProtectionRacket, in which the profiteer has a more active role in the matter, and MainliningTheMonster, when the profit doesn't come from the monster's mere presence but from a substance generated from the monster.

* "The Pepper Lake Monster", an ''Eerie'' short by horror maestro Berni Wrightson, has an aspiring (crypto)zoologist hunting for the titular StockNessMonster and ultimately succeeding... only for the locals to immediately kill him and set the tourist-attracting beast free. It's implied he's far from the first one to suffer this fate.[[note]]of course, FridgeLogic kicks in soon after; while the hunter in question is something of an egotistical jerk, he points out that having the beast in captivity would mean attention from scientists and reporters worldwide, which would surely put the town on the map for ''generations'' to come.[[/note]]

* In the novel ''Star Surgeon'' by James White, the Monitor Corps goes to help a planet where disease runs rampant. Dr. Conway [[spoiler:figures out that the reason the planet has so much disfiguring disease is that the Empire that controls it is using it to get aid donations from other planets and is pocketing the donations. The Empire is also introducing new disease to keep the cash coming in]].

* One long-ago Literature/ChooseYourOwnAdventure book, ''The Dragon's Ransom'', features young heroes' quest for treasure to offer as tribute to the local dragon. Nobody in their village is sure ''what'' would happen if they didn't present it with tribute - the arrangement has stood for so long that nobody remembers how it started, and the creature doesn't speak to the people who drop off its annual payoff - but they'd rather have the dragon there to scare off potential enemy armies and other monsters than risk snubbing it.

* Inverted in ''Literature/AmericanGods'' with [[spoiler:Hinzelmann:]] he's the monster (a kobold) who has to arrange for the death of a child every year ([[spoiler:as a sacrifice to himself to stay alive, but it still makes him a SerialKiller]]) in order to prevent Lakeside from becoming a DyingTown like so many Midwestern places. He's not exactly overjoyed at the situation, given that he tries [[spoiler:and succeeds]] to commit SuicideByCop.

* Inverted in ''Literature/AmericanGods'' with [[spoiler:Hinzelmann:]] he's the monster (a kobold) who has to arrange for the death of a child every year ([[spoiler:as a sacrifice to himself to tay alive, but it still makes him a SerialKiller]]) in order to prevent Lakeside from becoming a DyingTown like so many Midwestern places. He's not exactly overjoyed at the situation, given that he tries [[spoiler:and succeeds]] to commit SuicideByCop.

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* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'': In the season 2 opener, the Bundys vacation to a Florida town with only two tourist attractions: an axe-murdering serial killer, [[AGoodOldFashionedPaintWatching and a man who met Andy Griffith]]. Naturally, [[spoiler: they're the same man, so the townsfolk are ''completely'' unwilling to let him be arrested - they could withstand losing one, but not both]].

* One long-ago ChooseYourOwnAdventure book, ''The Dragon's Ransom'', features young heroes' quest for treasure to offer as tribute to the local dragon. Nobody in their village is sure ''what'' would happen if they didn't present it with tribute - the arrangement has stood for so long that nobody remembers how it started, and the creature doesn't speak to the people who drop off its annual payoff - but they'd rather have the dragon there to scare off potential enemy armies and other monsters than risk snubbing it.

* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'': In the season 2 opener, the Bundys vacation to a Florida town with only two tourist attractions: an axe-murdering serial killer, [[IncrediblyLameFun and a man who met Andy Griffith]]. Naturally, [[spoiler: they're the same man, so the townsfolk are ''completely'' unwilling to let him be arrested - they could withstand losing one, but not both]].

* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'': In the season 2 opener, the Bundys vacation to a Florida town with only two tourist attractions: an axe-murdering serial killer, and a man who met Andy Griffith.

* "The Pepper Lake Monster", an ''Eerie'' short by horror maestro Berni Wrightson, has an aspiring (crypto)zoologist hunting for the titular StockNessMonster and ultimately succeeding... only for the locals to immediately kill him and set the tourist-attracting beast free.[[note]]of course, FridgeLogic kicks in soon after; while the hunter in question is something of an egotistical jerk, he points out that having the beast in captivity would mean attention from scientists and reporters worldwide, which would surely put the town on the map for ''generations'' to come.[[/note]]

* The titular character of ''Literature/DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency'' is a frequent perpetrator of this. His philosophy as a detective is that everything is interconnected, therefore literally any expense can be written off as related to his current investigation. [[PerpetualPoverty Not that the people who hire him ever pay him]], but it doesn't stop him from taking vacations to the Caribbean and charging them to his office. (Unfortunately for him, he's AccidentallyAccurate about this idea--at least in-universe--and ends up unwillingly solving many actual problems when he only wanted VacationDearBoy.)

* [[Literature/DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency Dirk Gently]] is a frequent perpetrator of this. His philosophy as a detective is that everything is interconnected, therefore literally any expense can be written off as related to his current investigation. [[PerpetualPoverty Not that the people who hire him ever pay him]], but it doesn't stop him from taking vacations to the Caribbean and charging them to his office. (Unfortunately for him, he's AccidentallyAccurate about this idea--at least in-universe--and ends up unwillingly solving many actual problems when he only wanted VacationDearBoy.)

A foul beast from the depths of the abyss terrorizes a small peasant village. It devours their livestock, it kidnaps their children, and the less said about what it does to their women, the better. A band of purehearted heroes hears of their plight and sets off to slay the monster. The town mayor meets them at the gates to greet them...and insist that they leave immediately.

* In ''Film/PumpkinheadIIBloodwings'', [[CorruptHick Mayor Bubba]] tries to stop the sheriff from killing Pumpkinhead because he thinks having an unstoppable demon rampaging around the town would be good for tourism.

* In ''Film/PumpkinheadIIBloodwings'', [[CorruptHick Mayor Bubba ]]tries to stop the sheriff from killing Pumpkinhead because he thinks having an unstoppable demon rampaging around the town would be good for tourism.

Sometimes it happens: the monster makes money, and its purported "victims" — or a single shrewd (and often heartless) member of the public — will put up with it, or even harness it for the sake of the benefits it brings, despite the harm it causes.

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* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'', you are admonished to not kill more than five ankhegs in the area south of Baldur's Gate by a local, the reason being that ankheg tunnels areate the soil and improve crop yields by about 5%.

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* One long-ago Literature/ChooseYourOwnAdventure book, ''The Dragon's Ransom'', features young heroes' quest for treasure to offer as tribute to the local dragon. Nobody in their village is sure ''what'' would happen if they didn't present it with tribute - the arrangement has stood for so long that nobody remembers how it started, and the creature doesn't speak to the people who drop off its annual payoff - but they'd rather have the dragon there to scare off potential enemy armies and other monsters than risk snubbing it.