History Main / MonstrousCannibalism

May result in a FoodChainOfEvil within the group. A common way for the MonsterLord to establish its dominance over its underlings. Sometimes overlapped with AlwaysABiggerFish. Done pragmatically (particularly to an individual one deems to be a rival or traitor) it can also overlap with EatingTheEnemy.

* Slimer ends up eating the possessor ghost when it inhabits a pizza in ''FilmGhostbustersFrozenEmpire''.

* ''Film/TheGreatWall'': The Taotie carry home the corpses of their slain siblings to feed back to their queen.
* Slimer ends up eating the possessor ghost when it inhabits a pizza in ''FilmGhostbustersFrozenEmpire''

%%* ''VideoGame/{{Scratches}}'': Blackwood's journal recounts a gruesome incident of this trope that he'd witnessed in DarkestAfrica.%%Which is?

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12978919/1/One-Punch-Man-Hero-s-Harem Hero's Harem]]'':

* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'', [[OurOrcsAreDifferent orcs]] will resort to cannibalism if other meat isn't available. ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers The Two Towers]]'' has a scene in which an orc captain executes one of his soldiers for disobedience, then declares "looks like meat's back on the menu, boys!" as the rest of his men tuck into the corpse. This is averted in the books, where orcs [[EvenEvilHasStandards have a very specific taboo about orcs eating the flesh of other orcs]], though they have [[ToServeMan no issues about eating other sapient races]], and don't seem to mind other creatures eating the flesh of dead orcs.

With [[NonMaliciousMonster non-sapient creatures]], Monstrous Cannibalism conveys how voraciously ''hungry'' the predators are and may indicate that their species as a whole is starving and desperate. For sapients, it demonstrates a ruthlessness that bodes ill for any other species they interact with: if their instincts or culture make eating their weaker fellows a standard practice, what hope might a stranger have of being spared? In either case, seeing them turn upon their own for food is often what pushes a species over the MoralEventHorizon into being ''monsters'' in the eyes of the audience, not just beasts or antagonists.

With non-sapient creatures, Monstrous Cannibalism conveys how voraciously ''hungry'' the predators are and may indicate that their species as a whole is starving and desperate. For sapients, it demonstrates a ruthlessness that bodes ill for any other species they interact with: if their instincts or culture make eating their weaker fellows a standard practice, what hope might a stranger have of being spared? In either case, seeing them turn upon their own for food is often what pushes a species over the MoralEventHorizon into being ''monsters'' in the eyes of the audience, not just beasts or antagonists.

Subtrope of ImAHumanitarian; often a supertrope to CannibalTribe, if the tribe eats its own as well as enemies/strangers. Compare ToServeMan, in which victims from ''outside'' one's social group are preyed upon, and NoPartyLikeADonnerParty, in which cannibalism is an abhorrent last resort. Contrast NoZombieCannibals and ApeShallNeverKillApe.

*** Orks, like in ''Fantasy'', regularly dine on Grots and Squigs3 despite all of them coming from the same type of spores (although Orks eating other Orks are rare, but not unheard of). The Squigs are this too, as they will often eat whatever they can get their maws around. The only Orkoid lifeform that doesn't eat another Orkoid is the Gretchin, and that's largely because they're too small to eat anyone else.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Elona}}'', cannibalism causes one to go temporarily insane unless one undergoes a mutation that makes them OK with eating other people. From that point on, they'll kill and eat anyone they encounter, each other included.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Charlotte Linlin unintentionally did this to Mother Carmel and her friends at the orphanage. On her 6th birthday, Linlin was presented with a giant dish of her favorite sweets. She got so excited that she [[TearsofJoy teared up]], and unable to see past the tears, started devouring ''everything'' fervently. When she finally came to her sense, all the food was gone, some of the table and chairs were gone, and everyone had disappeared, leaving behind scraps of clothes. Linlin subconsciously repressed this memory till this day.

* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', Hollows eventually devour each other to gain power and go up the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil. Adjuchas are practically forced to do this or else they will revert back to Gillian's, but lose their personalities forever.

* Implied to be why, in ''Film/{{Lifeforce}}'', there are only ''three'' intact space vampires on the alien ship when it's discovered by humans, plus dozens of desiccated BatPeople corpses.

* Creator/GamesWorkshop games:
** ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'':
*** The Ogres' Chaos-resistant metabolism is such that they are perpetually hungry and can eat vast quantities of food, while their society is tribal and social status is usually earned [[KlingonPromotion by fighting and killing your superiors]] (often your siblings, parents -- or on the flipside ambitious children and grandchildren trying to usurp you). Add to this that they live in the bleak and inhospitable Mountains of Mourn, where resources of all kinds must be carefully husbanded, and in ancient times they were cursed with an angry god of gluttony and consumption called the Great Maw, and cannibalism becomes an endemic part of their lifestyle and culture. This is so common that having a body part eaten is a common penalty for losing a contest -- a friendly match will typically result in the winner just taking an ear or a finger, but a serious competition will end with the winner beating the loser to death and devouring his cooling corpse.
*** The Skaven also practice this kind of cannibalism, but with them it's played up as much more to do with low viciousness, culling the weak, dark warp-driven hungers, and the fact the race is constantly on the verge of starvation because it breeds so explosively. Newborn Skaven are also known to devour their siblings, which is seen as a sign that they will grow to be strong and notable.
*** Many Orc and Goblin tribes also behave this way, though in their case it's simply a matter of pragmatism and a complete lack of sentimentality over the remains of the dead.
*** Beastmen have no compunctions whatsoever towards eating the flesh of their own kind. Dead Beastmen can expect no particular burial rites beyong being devoured by their living kin.
** ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
*** The Tyranids consume all lifeforms, including their own units once they're no longer needed. A number of Tyranid subspecies actually ''don't have digestive systems'', as they're not intended to survive after the battle they were spawned for, but to be consumed as soon as it's complete. Hive Fleet Hydra is particularly known for this, intentionally seeking out the remnants of previous defeated Hive Fleets to consume as fuel for their infamously exceptional reproductive abilities.
*** Played straight with Chaos Space Marines, but averted with loyalist Space Marines, some chapters of which have flesh-eating or blood-drinking as part of their rites for millennia, and aren't about to explain or justify themselves (Astartes can absorb memories from what they eat) to an outsider, leading to mistaken impressions and Inquisitorial attention.
*** For the Kroot, eating other sapients is their way of life, as they're able to modify their DNA based on their diet. Consequently, in addition to eating their enemies, they also consume their own dead in a highly ceremonial manner. They're very aware of the effect they have on other species and like to play up this aspect to ensure they're left to their own devices.
*** Orks, like in ''Fantasy'', are this as well, dining on Grots and Squigs regularly despite all of them coming from the same type of spores (although Orks eating other Orks are rare, but not unheard of). The Squigs are this too, as they will often eat whatever they can get their maws around. The only Orkoid lifeform that doesn't eat another Orkoid is the Gretchin, and that's largely because they're too small to eat anyone else.

* ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'':
** [[spoiler:The gigantic [[MonsterLord Red Death dragon]]]] is introduced by devouring a small Gronckle dragon when it fails to deliver food.

* The Taotie from ''Film/TheGreatWall'' carry home the corpses of their slain siblings to feed back to their queen.
* In ''Film/GalaxyQuest'', when the team comes across a group of blue Teletubbie-esque creatures, one of them is injured so is offered some water by its friends, until the others immediately jump it and start to eat it.

*** Orks, like in Fantasy, are this as well, dining on Grots and Squigs regularly despite all of them coming from the same type of spores (although Orks eating other Orks are rare, but not unheard of). The Squigs are this too, as they will often eat whatever they can get their maws around. The only Orkoid lifeform that doesn't eat another Orkoid is the Gretchin, and that's largely because they're too small to eat anyone else.

* ''WebOriginal/HamstersParadise'': The [[MeaningfulName maniacal ripperoo]] is willing to sometimes work in coordinated groups to take on more difficult prey but most of the time they will cannibalize one another to remove competition with even the mothers encouraging their pups to use their own weaker siblings as hunting practice. These cannibalistic tendencies are carried over to their sapient AlwaysChaoticEvil descendants, the Harmsters, but one tribe in particular, the [[FrazettaMan Frazettas]], take this even further and feed almost exclusively on smaller Harmsters or on the Brutes, the [[FormerlySapientSpecies animalistic descendants of rival Harmster species]]. However, this trope is also given a {{Deconstruction}}/SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome as this propensity to eat the flesh of their own kind gives rise to a horrific disease that is spread by eating infected flesh and by biting that destroys the Harmsters after a massive world war weakens them.

** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter3Tri'': The Deviljho is a giant predatory Brute Wyvern that will eat anything and everything, including other Deviljho and its own tail. It's theorized that this is what causes it to turn into a ''Savage'' Deviljho.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Rodents:
** '''Hamsters.''' [[OffingTheOffspring Especially mother hamsters]]. No wonder ''"[[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail Your mother was a hamster!]]"'' is truly a grave insult.
** In Australia, the decimation of rodents' natural predators in a farming community caused an explosion in the rat population. In desperation and starvation, the stronger rats preyed on weaker ones until they virtually died out.
** Happens often on ships that are adrift. Once the resident rats have eaten all the victuals, they turn upon each other. In the end, the rat population is decimated by such cannibalistic predation, with the last few hardy fighters starving when there are no more weaklings to kill or rat carcasses to scavenge.
** ''Pet'' rats or mice are sometimes found dead and half-eaten by their companions. Usually a subversion, as such rodents will often "clean up" the remains of a companion which dies of natural causes, in an instinctive effort to prevent the carcass from attracting scavengers and insects to the communal nest.
** And [[TruthInTelevision squirrels are]] [[https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/red-squirrel-infanticide-Yukon-cannibalism/ cannibals.]] [[Fanfic/PokemonXNimjaPlayTheGame They eat eekhoorns.]] [[note]] [[FunWithHomophones And acorns]]. [[/note]]
* Ant colonies regularly "recycle" injured or dead colony members as food. Averted if a dying ant suffers from an infectious disease its fellows can detect by smell, in which case it's killed and dumped outside the nest to prevent sickness from spreading. Sometimes it's also averted because slightly injured ants will have their wounds treated by fellow ants, one of the only known examples of non-human animals doing so.
* OlderThanDirt: There is good evidence to suggest that cannibalism happened among many dinosaur species, including the famous ''UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex'' and ''[[FeatheredFiend Velociraptor]]''. Also, interestingly, inverted by Triassic carnivore ''Coelophysis''; it was once thought that the tiny reptiles found in the stomach of one [[http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/2/5/1233863331280/Fossil-of-Coelophysis-004.jpg spectacularly preserved]] specimen were [[EatsBabies baby]] ''Coelophysis'' that the adult had cannibalized during a food shortage, but [[ScienceMarchesOn it was later discovered]] that they were actually small adult reptiles.
** The abelisaur ''Majungasaurus'' has been almost ''stereotyped'' as a cannibal in most prehistoric media, due to evidence of bite marks found on the bones of the same species. Tellingly, there are bite marks found on some with ''signs of healing'', implying that they not only scavenged their dead, they actively ate one another ''alive''.
* Crocodilians in general are often known to add their own kind to their diet. Normally, the smaller ones stick around those who are roughly their own size and avoid the larger reptiles. Often enough, however, when a bigger crocodile gets ahold of a smaller one... messy cannibalistic eating ensues.
* Also true of predatory lizards. Young Komodo dragons, in particular, are arboreal in their habits ''because'' of this trope: climbing trees keeps them out of reach of hungry adults. They're also prone to covering themselves in dung to be as unappetizing as possible.
* Most predatory fishes or carnivorous frogs probably don't even bother to ''recognize'' whether prey is of their own species before gulping it down. If it fits in their mouth, they eat it.
* Tiny predatory mammals, like shrews and moles, have such rapid metabolic rates that they can die of starvation within hours or minutes if food isn't available. Therefore, they don't hesitate to kill and gobble down ''any'' potential food source, even members of their own species or (in a pinch) potential mates.
* Schools of sharks and piranhas will turn on and eat members who are wounded, resulting in a feeding frenzy.
* Ovoviviparous sharks (ie - sharks that give live birth rather than lay eggs) have two uteruses, but they lack a placenta. This means that, once their yolks are exhausted, the unborn sharks turn on each other...while ''still in the womb''. No matter how large the litter the mother produces, usually only one from each uterus actually gets born because of this.
* Much like hamsters, sharks have a tendency to eat their own young. That said, being mostly solitary creatures with limited cognitive capacity, it isn't an ''intentional'' case, and at the very least mother sharks that just recently gave birth have their appetite suppressed by hormones, and often instinctively swim far away after giving birth to reduce the risk of them encountering and subsequently preying on their offspring.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interacting_galaxy#Galactic_cannibalism Galactic cannibalism]], when a large galaxy rips a smaller one apart and [[FusionDance absorbs it]][[note]]Our galaxy is now doing that to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittarius_Dwarf_Spheroidal_Galaxy another much smaller one]][[/note]]. Some of them still have visible the core(s) of the assimilated galaxy or galaxies.
* Spotted hyenas normally give birth to twins, which already have teeth as newborns. This is because twins of the same sex immediately start fighting each other, with the stronger one killing and sometimes eating the weaker.
* If multiple chickens are put in a very small space and not fed regularly enough they will sometimes rip apart and eat the weak or injured, or if two chickens fight and the loser dies it might be eaten by the other chickens.
* Probably one of the more well-known examples is the praying mantis, famous for the male being eaten by the female after mating. This behavior is not as common as most people may think. Most media tend to portray this as something that always happens after mating; in reality, although it has been observed it only happens if there's scarcity and the female is very hungry, but it's probably one out of ten times.
* Domestic pigs are notorious for eating many things in general, [[FedToPigs including people,]] so it's not uncommon for them to eat each other.
* Male bears are notorious for hunting down cubs within their territory, often to force females to mate. Frequently, cannibalism occurs, and like many other prey animals targeted by ursines, the unfortunate youngsters are often still alive when being consumed and eaten. Bears are also close in cognitive functions to primates which adds a whole level of nightmare fuel when one realizes that the creatures almost certainly know they are harming other members of their own kind (though this is at least a case of simple territorial instinct as opposed to true malice, unlike orcas that are known to kill dolphins and other orcas ''purely for sport''.) It's also likely merely intentional disposal of potential competition that may threaten their future survival.
* [[{{Autocannibalism}} The body does this to itself]] in a process known as "apoptosis." Old cells are broken down into their component proteins and carbohydrates, and parcelled out like other nutrients. When it's disrupted, the result is [[BodyHorror necrosis,]] [[MakeThemRot which means that body part is rotting while still alive]].
* Some species of caecilian (worm or eel-like limbless amphibians) and the Rabbs' fringe-limbed treefrog (which is sadly, recently extinct) represent an unusual subversion. The caecilian mothers and treefrog fathers grow a layer of nutrient-rich skin and let their children ''eat them alive''. This is a subversion because it clearly shows the animals as being caring parents rather than anything monstrous (the process is also harmless to the parents, as the skin continuously regrows).
* Chimpanzee tribes regularly clash with each other. The victorious tribe will cannibalize any chimps who are killed in such fights. On top of that, when chimpanzees hunt, other primates like colobus monkeys and bushbabies are some of their favorite prey.
** Chimps are also known to cannibalize newborn chimps as a show of dominance, which is exactly the reason pregnant female chimps leave the troop when they give birth: one unfortunate female was documented failing to do so, in which a male chimp immediately snatched the baby within minutes of its birth and ''promptly devoured it alive and screaming in full view of the mother'', which becomes especially terrifying when you consider that chimps are highly intelligent and ''are knowingly committing'' such ghastly acts on their own kind.
* Under rare circumstances, lions have been known to prey on their own kind. In one infamous example that was caught on camera, during a particularly intense drought, a pride of lionesses cornered a leopard in a tree. One lioness was desperate enough to climb into the tree after the leopard and pulled its kill down, where her sisters promptly ate it. Unfortunately, when she tried to get out of the tree, she fell and broke her back. When her dead body slipped out of the tree the following morning, her sisters ate it as well.
** And male lions, who are known to eat cubs that aren't theirs in order to force the females into mating with them.
* With a few exceptions, spiders are not social and if two or more of the same species meet, they will either retreat or fight to the death with the winner eating the loser. During mating season, the males often risk getting eaten by the females.
[[/folder]]

*** The Tyranids consume all lifeforms, including their own units once they're no longer needed. Hive Fleet Hydra is particularly known for this, intentionally seeking out the remnants of previous defeated Hive Fleets to consume as fuel for their infamously exceptional reproductive abilities.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' has ''something'' show up from the depths of the Metaplanes in 5th edition, an eldritch entity that is briefly brought into the world because a group of researchers decided to see what would happen if ghouls were made to eat their own. Given that there's a lot of talk about the drastic measures the ghoul nation of Asamando has resorted to in order to avoid famine, it's strongly implied that this happening to a ''nation'' is a matter of "when," not "if."

->''"Looks like meat's back on our menu, boys!"''
-->-- '''Uglúk''' (after cutting off the head of another orc), ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers''

** One of ''many'' reasons Tarantulus is viewed with disgust and repulsion by [[EvenEvilHasStandards even his Predacon comrades]] is his loathsome habit of eating other creatures purely because [[ForTheEvulz he enjoys it]]. He even makes a very serious attempt to ''eat Cheetor'':
---> '''Cheetor:''' This is a dumb plan, Web-head! I don't have any real blood! Just mech fluid!
---> '''Tarantulus:''' Oh, my filters will adjust. It is the ''act'' I enjoy more than the nourishment!
** Though it's largely PlayedForLaughs, Dinobot eats the corpse of his beast-mode-only clone after defeating it.