History Main / SapientEatSapient

!!'''[[{{AssociationFallacy}} Please]] note that all ''sapient'' animals are ''sentient'', but not all ''sentient'' animals are ''sapient''.'''

** The Grand Duke has no qualms about eating a [[ToServeMan human boy]], but [[BalefulPolymorph transforms]] Edmund into a kitten as a matter of preference: "Kittens are more digestible."

!!'''[[{{AssociationFallacy}} Please]] [[YouKeepUsingThatWord note]] that all ''sapient'' animals are ''sentient'', but not all ''sentient'' animals are ''sapient''.'''

* ''Primal'' is set in a fantasy version of history where many animals demonstrate human levels of intelligence, from giant bats living in symbiosis with a monster-sized spider to mammoths with advanced ceromonial burials to ''T. rexes'' that can plan, reason and emote. The show makes little distinction between these animals and non-sapient ones, with predation being treated as a brutal but expected part of daily life.

* Probably not the intention and more likely due to limited dialogue, but in ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingPocketCamp'', during the ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}''-themed events, players could catch the [[FunnyOctopus squid and octopus forms]] of [[FishPeople Inklings and Octolings]] and give them to Chip, who would talk about them the same way he'd talk about any other fish in the game: with hunger.

** This is part of the backstory for the Zoq-Fot-Pik, an alliance of three alien races that are able to be recruited in the second game. On their planet, four sapient races evolved simultaneously: The Zoq, the Fot, the Pik, and the Zebranky. Unfortunately, the last race were predators of the other three. The solution was to team up and exterminate the Zebranky.

* Sometimes crops up in the works of Creator/BeatrixPotter, most starlingly in ''The Tale of Little Pig Robinson'', in which, after describing how Pig Robinson's aunts own a farm and take in washing, she matter-of-factly concludes that they ended up as bacon.

** In ''Star Control Origins'', the Phamysht engage in eating other intelligent species all the time... while the victim is concious and alive, at that. They claim that being eaten alive is a great honor among their own species... but even if this is true, they force members of other species into the role with no hesitation, and everybody considers them psychopaths. [[spoiler:Even their allies, the Xraki, turn on them and reduce their civilization to a broken shell as soon as the Phamysht have served the Xraki's purposes. It's noted that the Xraki seem to have a particular hatred of the Phamysht, even though they plan on annihilating all other races too.]]

* This is part of the backstory for the Zoq-Fot-Pik, an alliance of three alien races that are able to be recruited in the video game ''VideoGame/StarControl''. On their planet, four sapient races evolved simultaneously: The Zoq, the Fot, the Pik, and the Zebranky. Unfortunately, the last race were predators of the other three. The solution was to team up and exterminate the Zebranky.

* ''Film/{{Babe}}'': It takes some help from the other animals on the farm, but Babe eventually figures out that humans eat the animals who don't have another job.

* Safe/Mock Predation - Well, there's possibly a special place for it, like a DenOfIniquity of sorts. Might possibly be modeled after a nice restaurant, like an exclusive or high end club. Or, maybe it's a CasualKink between friends or lovers, and all that's needed is a dining room table, condiments, seasoning, and a cunning tongue.

* Reporting/Fees - Predation might have to be reported by the Predator, and they might have to pay off any debts that the Prey owed.

* Safe/Mock Predation - Well, there's possibly a special place for it, like a DenOfIniquity of sorts. Might possibly be modeled after a nice restaurant, like an exclusive or high end club.

* Safe/Mock Predation - Well, there's possibly a fetish for it.

* Safe/Mock Predation - Well, there's possibly a [[FetishFuel fetish for it]].

Likewise, it's possible that the predators have rules about who is, or isn't, on the menu, to say nothing about other things, with the possibility that failing to follow the rules could lead to a murder charge:

* Terminally Ill, who have been through all of the other options, and nothing works, and they'll die anyways - they might want an end to their pain.

* Safe/Mock Predation - Well, there's possibly a fetish for it.
* Protecting the victim of a violent crime, like rape or murder - the aggressor ends up in a stomach.

* In a world run by humans with [[NearlyNormalAnimal Nearly Normal Animals]] or [[CivilizedAnimal Civilized Animals]], only the audience and human characters will be informed of the animals' impending doom, and blatant AnimalTalk will prevent the animals from finding out their fate. (Unless perhaps a precocious child who SpeaksFluentAnimal tells them.) If the animals ''do'' find out, this can an element of drama.

While this does not strictly count as [[ImAHumanitarian cannibalism]] (such as a talking wolf eating a talking sheep), anthropomorphism by definition puts an animal on a level of humanity that the audience is meant to identify with. An intelligent animal ceases to be an environmental hazard and becomes [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman a character.]] "That bear is trying to eat that rabbit" transitions very quickly to "That man is trying to eat that little girl" when the audience identifies with both bear and rabbit. This makes a very short road to PredatorsAreMean, particularly if the predator takes the time to taunt its prey with their intended fate, or if they decide to be 'sporting' and invoke HuntingTheMostDangerousGame. People will naturally wonder why are sapient animals any different in rights than humans, and predators will come across as consciously cruel if not outright sadistic for knowingly killing creatures with the same rights as them.

* In a world run by humans with [[NearlyNormalAnimal Nearly Normal Animals]] or [[CivilizedAnimal Civilized Animals]], only the audience will be informed of the animals' intelligence, and blatant AnimalTalk will prevent human and animal from speaking. (Barring perhaps a precocious vegetarian child who SpeaksFluentAnimal.) This can add an element of drama to the animals' plight; if they could just get the humans to understand, maybe they wouldn't be killed and eaten.

* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'': Narnia contains both sapient and non-sapient animals. Any sapient creature eating another sapient creature is considered cannibalism in-universe and an abomination (which some villains, like the Northern giants, are capable of). In Literature/TheSilverChair, [[spoiler: the MainCharacters]] reactions to being tricked into eating [[spoiler:a talking deer]] is used to illustrate the cultural differences between them and Narnians. [[spoiler: Jill, who is from our world]] is sad an animal suffered. [[spoiler: Eustace,]] who is also from our world, but has been friends with talking animals looks at it as a murder. [[spoiler: Puddleglum, who is]] a native Narnian, becomes almost suicidal and feels like he had just ate a baby.

** Subverted, in that The Amazing Maurice does not eat any sapient creature *after* he achieves sapience, only before. Additionally, even though he was just a cat when it happened, he feels extreme remorse for having eaten a sapient rat, something which he cannot really be held responsible for.