Children in Tow
How do you make an animal instantly cute and endearing? Have it being followed by babies. Usually these babies are miniature versions of the parent.
![](http://static.miraheze.org/allthetropeswiki/8/8c/Make_way.jpg)
One can make any kind of predator into a monster by targeting either the parent or one of the children, but a subversion is to give said predator babies of its own.
Don't you dare get in between the mother and her children.
Examples of Children in Tow include:
Film --Animated
- In the "Pastoral" segment of the 1940 version of Fantasia, the pegasus foals fit this trope.
Literature
Video Games
- Every creature in Spore.
- The Blooper Nanny in Super Mario Bros 3.
- The Huffin' Puffins, a species of duck-like critters in Super Mario World 2 Yoshis Island, are generally followed by a line of smaller ones. You can bump off the parent and use the children as egg substitutes.
Western Animation
- In the "Blue Danube" segment of A Corny Concerto, a mother swan and her cygnets meet a little black duck.
- An episode of The Simpsons, had the fire truck rushing to a fire only to be delayed by a mother duck crossing the road with a lot of ducklings.
- My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic has scenes in both "Griffon the Brush-Off" and "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" where Fluttershy is seen helping a mother duck lead its ducklings.
Web Comics
- In Sluggy Freelance, the psychological effect of ducklings following their mother is so strong that they are used as an emergency barrier during a car chase. Even the bad guys treat them like they are a completely impenetrable wall and make no attempt to continue the chase once they are cut off.
Real Life
- Will the ducklings be rescued? See a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming on YouTube here!
- Subverted in a way that Crosses the Line Twice here.