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.
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.
