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{{trope}}
While it's not uncommon for some people skilled in a trade to pass it on to their children, sometimes the only thing a parent is skilled at that he can teach to his kids is murder, [[Cold
This is basically [[Siblings in Crime]] but with the parents (and maybe a few other extended relatives) having a hand in the villainy, as well.
Usually,
One common variation involves an [[Outlaw Couple]] kidnapping a child or a group of children for the duo to raise as they would their own kids (typically, this either results in [[Stockholm Syndrome]], which is rare, to betraying or [[Irony|outright killing their own kidnappers]], which would be more common).
Very often, this trope might overlap with [[Cannibal Clan]], especially in the horror genre. Sometimes, they are also [[Professional Killer
Compare: [[Overlord, Jr.]]. / [[
Contrast [[Mama Didn't Raise No Criminal]].
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Compare ''and'' contrast: All forms of the [[Generic Ethnic Crime Gang]], particularly [[The Mafia]] and [[The Irish Mob]].
{{examples
* The Zoldyeck Family of ''[[Hunter X Hunter
▲== Anime and Manga ==
▲* The [[Hunter X Hunter|Zoldyeck Family]] are a family of assassins. Not exactly criminals, these guys kill [[Career Killers|strictly as a job]].
* The Mizuchi family from ''[[Sukeban Deka]]''.
* The Zabi family from ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'' are a family of militaristic politicians, with father [[Fat Bastard|Degwin]] as Sovereign and [[Big Bad]], eldest son [[The Evil Prince|Gihren]] as [[Dragon
==
* Pa, Link, Fink, Mean Machine, and Junior Angel (a.k.a. The Angel Gang) from ''[[Judge Dredd]]''. Pa Angel was apparently so committed to making sure that he raised his kids to be nothing short of [[Complete Monster
* In ''[[X-Men]]'', when The Brood attack New Orleans, they target the children of the local thief and assassin clans for assimilation, giving this trope as their reasoning: Since they are preparing an invasion they need soldiers, so hosts with the right instincts are very desirable.
* [[Mad Scientist]] Doctor Sivana and his children, Georgia and Thaddeus Jr., from ''[[Captain Marvel]]''.
* The Kravinoffs in ''[[Spider
* The Roarks from ''[[Sin City]]''.
* Evan Dorkin's ''The Murder Family''. A not-so-wholesome sitcom family who do [[Exactly What It Says
* The Daltons from ''[[Lucky Luke]]'', with the family matriarch Ma Dalton who occasionally helps her sons escaping the [[Cardboard Prison]] du jour and planning some of their crimes. Of course, given that they're in a very family-friendly title, nobody's really at risk of getting killed.
* [[Franco Belgian Comics]] ''Les Cranibales'' is, of course, about a [[Cannibal Clan]] [[Devil in Plain Sight|living in a modern french city]]. [[What Do You Mean
▲== Film ==
* ''[[Frailty]]'' has this. However, {{spoiler|two of the family members were legitimately called by [[God]] to destroy demons (seriously) while the other one becomes a straight-up [[Serial Killer]], and his first victim is his own father (who was one of the ones called by God).}}
* The Fratellis from ''[[The Goonies]]'' are never actually seen killing anybody, but have [[Locked in
* The Firefly family from ''[[House of 1000 Corpses]]'' and its sequel ''[[The
* [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] in ''[[Natural Born Killers]]'' where it's hinted that Micky and Mallory end their killing spree after they decide to settle down and have kids.
* ''[[
* ''Wedding Slashers'' involves a daughter trying to escape one of these and start her own life. Suffice to say, her relatives aren't pleased.
* ''Timber Falls'' had a family of backwoods religious fanatics who abduct couples and force them to concieve, due to the only female member of the group being infertile.
* Mother, and her sons Ike and Addley, from ''Mother's Day''. There's also Queenie, Mother's woods dwelling sister who is just as murderously insane as the rest, but hates her relatives.
* ''[[The Strangers]]'', presumably.
* The murderous family from ''[[
* ''[[
* The cannibals in ''[[
* The premise of the horror film ''[[
* The Angel Family in ''[[Judge Dredd (
{{quote|
'''Dredd''': [Later, to Fergie] l forgot to mention it. Your new friends, they're cannibals. }}
* While it turns out that [[Real Life]] Kate "Ma" Barker wasn't actually the leader of her sons' criminal gang, she still carries reputation in a lot of (fictional) stories about her life and serves as the popular inspiration for just about every fictional portrayal of family gangs lead by the maternal figure. You can find more information about her at [[That Other Wiki]]▼
* Sawny Bean, the leader of the Scottish [[Cannibal Clan]] of legend, who is [[Urban Legend|believed by some]] to have been executed for the mass murder and cannibalization of over 1,000 people sometime around the 14/1500's.▼
* Loki's family in [[Norse Mythology]], which includes Loki, god of mischief, chaos, and destruction; Fenrir, [[Big Badass Wolf]] and harbinger of the apocalypse; Jormungandr, the Midgard Serpent; Hel; and Fenrir's sons, Skoll and Hati.▼
▲== Literature ==
* ''[[The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]'' includes a [[Family Feud]] between two families who routinely kill members of the other family and teach their children to do so too.
* Invoked by [[Discworld|Terry Pratchett]] in regard to the Agatean Empire royalty - one has to be a murderous bastard to survive the court intrigues and as a result, some features get reinforced every generation.
** In ''[[
** Although a bit more civilized about it than most examples, the Selachii noble family of Ankh-Morpork have a long-standing tradition as Assassins. The Boggis family is equally well-embedded in the Thieves' Guild, though Ankh-Morpork thieves generally avoid killing their victims (because the Assassins' Guild considers that to be trespassing on ''their'' bailiwick, and because it's hard to rob someone ''again'' in the future once they're dead).
* The Grissoms from ''[[
* The book series has [[Dexter]] training Cody and Astor in the ways of [[Serial Killer Killer|serial killer killing]].
* An instance of this shows up in ''[[The Millennium Trilogy|The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo]]'' with {{spoiler|Gottfried and Martin Vanger}}.
* Tigerstar and his son Hawkfrost in ''[[Warrior Cats]]''. For a while it looked like Tigerstar's other son Brambleclaw was going to join them, but he decided against it.
▲== Live Action TV ==
* In one episode of ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' Sam and Dean are investigating a murder, and they discover that it's a crazy redneck family that has been hunting people for [[The Most Dangerous Game|the ultimate hunting experience]]. This extends to the little girl, and once the dead wife is mentioned there is a distinct note of 'this is you guys if you were evil cannibal rednecks who didn't know there were real monsters to hunt.'▼
▲* The Family of Blood and the Family Slitheen from ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]''.
▲* In one episode of ''[[Supernatural (TV)|Supernatural]]'' Sam and Dean are investigating a murder, and they discover that it's a crazy redneck family that has been hunting people for [[The Most Dangerous Game|the ultimate hunting experience]]. This extends to the little girl, and once the dead wife is mentioned there is a distinct note of 'this is you guys if you were evil cannibal rednecks who didn't know there were real monsters to hunt.'
** Also true for the Winchesters, and other hunter families, although less with the homicide. SA Henriksen, who spends a season and a half on a quest to catch Dean, thinks they are this, straight-out. A hunter mentions this phrase in episode 3x01, just before kissing his wife.
* [[Averted Trope|Averted]] in ''Scoundrels'', which is about a family of criminals who decide to go clean after the father gets a long prison sentence.
* The ''[[Criminal Minds]]'' episode "Bloodline" is about a family (a mother, father, and young son) who kill a family to abduct their daughter as a future mate for the son. {{spoiler|Gets very creepy when it turns out that this is how the family continues; ''[[In the Blood|they've been doing this for generations]]''. And then at the very end of the episode, it turns out that the family has other branches, and the last shot of the episode is another similar set (mother, father and young son) preparing to kill some other people.}}
** "Open Season" had brothers [[Hunting the Most Dangerous Game|who hunted people for sport]], having been taught to so by their uncle, a paranoid psychotic who had died some time before the events of the episode, leaving them continuing as [[Siblings in Crime]].
* The ''[[
* The infamous ''[[X
* ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]:'' Rita Repulsa, her brother Rito Revolto, and their father Master Vile during part of the third season. Much campier than most examples on this page.
* The [[Lex Luthor|Luthors]] of ''[[Smallville]]''. Patriarch [[Magnificent Bastard|Lionel Luthor]] is a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] version of the [[Rags to Riches]] story, and tries to raise his son, [[Manipulative Bastard|Lex]], to be every bit as devious, cunning, and unethical. Lex in turn mentors his illegitimate sister, {{spoiler|Tess Mercer}}, who he successfully transforms into [[The Baroness]]. And that's without taking into account their bastard brother, Lucas, who managed to become a sociopath even without daddy's involvement, or Lex's numerous clones, who cover the board from [[Enfante Terrible]] (Lx-15) to [[Axe Crazy]] [[Evil Old Folks]] (Lx-3). In the [[Alternate Universe]] of Earth-2, the family stayed together, and by adding adoptive son [[Superman|Clark]] [[Evil Twin|"Ultraman"]] Luthor to the family, transformed LuthorCorp into a [[Mega Corp]] version of [[The Empire]].
* In one episode of ''[[The Unusuals]]'', an entire ''extended'' family (all the way to third cousins) go on a crime spree together. {{spoiler|It turns out they're raising money for the patriarch of the family to get a kidney transplant.}}
== [[Oral Tradition|Oral Tradition, Folklore, Myths and Legends]] ==
▲* While it turns out that [[Real Life]] Kate "Ma" Barker wasn't actually the leader of her sons' criminal gang, she still carries reputation in a lot of (fictional) stories about her life and serves as the popular inspiration for just about every fictional portrayal of family gangs lead by the maternal figure. You can find more information about her at [[That Other Wiki]]
▲* Sawny Bean, the leader of the Scottish [[Cannibal Clan]] of legend, who is [[Urban Legend|believed by some]] to have been executed for the mass murder and cannibalization of over 1,000 people sometime around the 14/1500's.
▲* Loki's family in [[Norse Mythology]], which includes Loki, god of mischief, chaos, and destruction; Fenrir, [[Big Badass Wolf]] and harbinger of the apocalypse; Jormungandr, the Midgard Serpent; Hel; and Fenrir's sons, Skoll and Hati.
==
* The [[Wrestling Family]] [[Eddie Guerrero|Los Guerreros]] have as their motto, "We lie, we cheat, we steal. It's a family tradition."
▲== Theatre ==
* ''The White Sheep of the Family'', by L. du Garde Peach and Ian Hay, is a comic play about a family of master thieves (father, mother, daughter and son) whose life of crime is threatened when the son falls for a police chief's daughter and decides to reform his ways.
* In ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' games, the leadership structure for a number of the [[Generic Ethnic Crime Gang
▲== Video Games ==
▲* In ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' games, the leadership structure for a number of the [[Generic Ethnic Crime Gang|Generic Ethnic Crime Gangs]] are rooted in family ties, especially in [[Grand Theft Auto IV|GTA IV]]. Unsurprisingly, a lot of them murder people. The most notable example being the McReary Family, the backbone of Liberty City's Irish Mob. Both the family matriarch and patriarch have had ties in running the gangs criminal activities, and their sons Derrick, Gerry, and Packie are all violent criminals. It seems the only people serving as an exception to the family violence are Kate and Francis, and yet Francis is a [[Dirty Cop]] and asks the player to {{spoiler|kill Derrick}}. Kate is the only one in the family without a criminal record.
* ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' {{spoiler|came painfully close to having an unwilling version. Morgan Fey asks her daughter Pearl to channel a certain spirit at a certain time, trusting Pearl to obey without asking. The spirit was [[Complete Monster|Dahlia Hawthorne]], another of Morgan's daughters, who would have used Pearl's body to murder her cousin Maya Fey. Dahlia would be at fault...but legally, Pearl would still be a murderer. Did we mention Pearl is nine?}}
* The [[Ax Crazy]] Hall clan from ''[[Dead Rising]]'' are a trio of zealous survivalist snipers, a father and two sons.
* The ''[[Fallout]]'' series contains a wide variety of examples. In the third installment, the Lone Wanderer can discover an inbred [[Cannibal Clan]] as well as the an example of the [[Outlaw Couple]] variation, called "The Family" that gets their nourishment from human blood; they can be convinced to drink it only from blood packs and cease killing other people, if so desired.
▲== Web Original ==
* The titular family in [[Strange Little Band]] are the protagonists of the story, but being very much antiheros this trope applies. Especially in the climax.
* The back story of ''[[Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker]]'' involves [[The Joker]] and and Harley Quinn having kidnapped
▲== Western Animation ==
▲* The back story of ''[[Batman Beyond Return of the Joker]]'' involves [[The Joker]] and and Harley Quinn having kidnapped {{spoiler|Tim Drake}} and having had him brainwashed and tortured for the sake of modeling him as their own son, dubbed "[[Overlord Jr|Joker, Jr.]]", and effectively becoming one of these families. {{spoiler|It didn't work.}}
** ''[[Batman Beyond]]'' also has the Royal Flush Gang, a family that makes their living on crime; however, they have an [[Averted Trope|aversion]] to killing people.
** The Mayhems, another family of robbers, from "The Eggbaby".
* In one episode of ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (
* This is what happens in [[The Simpsons]] with Sideshow Bob in "The Italian Bob",rather than shun him,his wife and baby help him kill the Simpsons. Exaggerated in "Funeral for a Fiend" when even Bob's brother and parents help him try to kill Bart, too.
* An episode of ''[[Martin Mystery]]'' featured a family (consisting of a father, mother and daughter) who made routine sacrifices to an [[Eldritch Abomination]], and in exchange they recieved [[Immortality]] and a comfy home in the being's realm.
* The Slaughters, a family of poachers, from ''[[Captain Planet and
* Parodied in an episode of [[The Venture Bros]], appropriately named "The Family That Slays Together, Stays Together."
* The [
▲== Real Life ==
* While the Benders became subjects of legend, [
▲* The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Benders Bloody Benders] were an entire family of serial killers who murdered at least 11 people between 1872 and 1873 before going into hiding and never being seen again.
* Gordon Stewart Northcott, his mother Sarah Louise Northcott, and his heavily abused nephew Sanford Clark, perpetrators of [
▲* While the Benders became subjects of legend, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnus_McVee The McVees] may never have existed at all.
▲* Gordon Stewart Northcott, his mother Sarah Louise Northcott, and his heavily abused nephew Sanford Clark, perpetrators of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wineville_Chicken_Coop_Murders the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders].
* In medieval times of war, particularly [[Badass Family|bad ass families]] not only slay and stay together, they often manage to climb up the social ladder all the way to becoming Kings/Queens over the bodies of their fallen enemies and establishing empires. Empires they keep within their family's possession by slaying and staying together...
* The trope name used to be applied to Charles Manson and his "Family".
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Family Tropes]]
[[Category:Just for Pun]]
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[[Category:Villains]]
[[Category:Horror Tropes]]
[[Category:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Family That Slays Together, The}}
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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