History Main / FoulMedicine

* In the first book of ''Literature/TheImmortals'', Daine's given a tonic to help with her sunburn and muscle strain after she's been up on a wall firing arrows for hours. It's tomato juice "laden with salt and other things". Whatever those other things are, she chokes and exclaims at the taste and has to brace herself to gulp it down.

* ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'': PlayedForLaughs when the orcs help Marcille and Laios recuperate from a bad fight. The orcs' medicine is a glorp mashed up from strange fruit, strange bugs, a monster leg, and some slime, administered mouth-to-mouth because they're too weak to move -- yet it works, though Marcille might have preferred death.

* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainFlamingo'': In "[[Recap/CaptainFlamingoS1E13SnotFunnyFlowersAndCandy Snot Funny]]", in order for Milo to go outside to help a kid in trouble due to him getting a bad cold, his mom feeds him some cough syrup which can relive the cold for only 2 hours, which causes him to cringe from the bad taste.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBus'': In "Inside Ralphie", Ralphie's mother gives him some medicine, which he claims "smells like grape shoe polish" and which causes him to cringe from the taste. Since his class is depending on him to come up with an idea for broadcast day, [[FeigningHealthiness Ralphie claims he's feeling better already]], but she just tells him to go back to bed.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': Downplayed in "Mid-Life Crustacean", where Mr. Krabs hates taking his pill, not because it smells or tastes bad, but because it's very big and it makes him feel old.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBus'': In "Inside Ralphie", Ralphie's mother gives him some medicine, which he claims "smells like grape shoe polish" and which causes him to cringe from the taste. To avoid having to take more of it, [[FeigningHealthiness Ralphie claims he's feeling better already]], but she just tells him to go back to bed.

* Averted in ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'': In ''Storm Rising'', young Karsite priest Karal collapses from stress and is dangerously close to developing a stomach ulcer. The healing drinks and drugs he's given taste wonderful. The Healer explains that they're deliberately made that way -- after all, she has to trust him to take them as directed, and if they tasted bad, nobody would want to take them.

Usually PlayedForLaughs. The character dishing out the medicine may be TheMedic, the TeamMom, the NurseWithGoodIntentions, or (especially if the patient doesn't really need it) a MyBelovedSmother archetype, BabysitterFromHell, or at worst a DrJerk or a MadDoctor. Compare StockYuck; IfItTastesBadItMustBeGoodForYou; NondescriptNastyNutritious; DisgustingVegetarianFood; ATankardOfMooseUrine, and BadToTheLastDrop for other bad-tasting foods and drinks, and AfraidOfNeedles for another trope about characters dreading a medical treatment.

* ''Literature/AscendanceOfABookworm'': Ferdinand's homebrewed medicinal potions tend to sacrifice taste for efficiency to the point that they often become the gold standard for "bad-tasting" for anyone else who consumes them at least once. At some point, he makes a better-tasting version. At a later point, Charlotte is horrified by her first time tasting one of Ferdinand's potions, to the point that she later mentions she mistook it for an act of antagonism from Ferdinand. Then a chapter from someone else's point of view clarifies that the potion Charlotte drank was the one with the taste upgrade.

* ''{{VideoGame/Neopets}}'': The Elephante Unguent is a Battledome healing item that heals 50% of an Elephante's maximum hit points, but is said to taste like drinking bilge water.

---> '''Eric:''' The situation is very simple, Evangeline. The nanny, who I believe is a witch, made us ill, and fed us boiled-down toads all day.

* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'': Polgara {{invoke|dTrope}}s this with her herbal medicines, claiming that the terrible flavour motivates people to recover faster.

-->'''Bruno''': It's [[BabyTalk welly]] extremely nasty!
-->'''The Professor''': Nasty? Why, of ''course'' it is! What would Medicine be, if it wasn't ''nasty''?
-->'''Bruno''': Nice.

-->'''Leland:''' ''(after choking some down)'' It tastes like chalk.
-->'''Natalie:''' What's in it?
-->'''Monk:''' ''(reading the label)'' [[ShapedLikeItself "Chalk extract."]]

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': Most alchemical concoctions, especially the ones used as medicine, are said to taste awful. In one quest, the Warrior is asked to deliver some energizing medicine to some guards, who all recoil at the horrendously bitter taste. The doctors then have the Warrior drink some themselves, keeping the Warrior in the room to make sure they down it all because of [[{{Workaholic}} how much they've been overworking themselves]].
* ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonMoreFriendsOfMineralTown'': The Doctor's Black and Purple heart events involve the Doctor offering the farmer to try some new medicines that supposedly restore strength and alleviate fatigue at the same time. In the first test, the farmer finds the medicine's taste disgusting, but reluctantly admits that it is effective. The second one is so bad that it causes the farmer to pass out. After this, the Doctor agrees to stop asking the farmer to be a guinea pig for his incomplete medicines.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': Herbs are a form of medicine which helps heal Pokemon, such as curing them of status conditions and reviving them. However, they're also extremely bitter and usually decrease a Pokemon's friendship stats for this reason.
* ''VideoGame/TheEndTimesVermintide'': [[HealingPotion Healing draughts]] do their job well, but the taste leaves much to be desired, according to the Ubersreik Five[[note]]Well, Four. Sienna doesn't seem to mind the taste.[[/note]]. Even Bardin, who sometimes comments that it tastes good, can recoil in disgust when he drinks one.

'''Kruber:''' I wish you were an ale!

Usually PlayedForLaughs. The character dishing out the medicine may be TheMedic, the TeamMom, the NurseWithGoodIntentions, or (especially if the patient doesn't really need it) a MyBelovedSmother archetype or BabysitterFromHell. Compare StockYuck; IfItTastesBadItMustBeGoodForYou; NondescriptNastyNutritious; DisgustingVegetarianFood; ATankardOfMooseUrine, and BadToTheLastDrop for other bad-tasting foods and drinks, and AfraidOfNeedles for another trope about characters dreading a medical treatment.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'': In one strip, Jon is chasing Garfield, who is doing everything he can to get away from him. At the end, Jon yells at him to take a pill, indicating that Garfield hates the taste of them.

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e59brtjx.png]]]]

* ''Fanfic/ReflectionsInACloudySky'': In the fifth chapter, Camilo is given bitter-tasting medicine, which he hates.
* ''Fanfic/ShiningAndSweet'': In "Cough Up", Aran has a cold and stubbornly refuses to take cough medicine that Disco Kid claims is "a little sour", so Brigit [[LookBehindYou distracts him by saying there's a moose outside]] and Disco Kid shoves a spoonful of it into his mouth. Aran admits it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.

* ''Film/NannyMcPhee'': When the Brown children [[PlayingSick play sick]] as an excuse to [[NotAMorningPerson stay in bed]], Nanny [=McPhee=] punishes them by feeding them a thick, black, bubbling medicine that's implied to taste terrible judging by the expressions Simon makes when he takes it.

* ''WesternAnimation/ChopSockyChooks'': In the episode "Kobura Strikes", The main characters were poisoned by the villain Kobura. When they finally got their hands on the antidote, they drink it and find that it tastes terrible. Chick P even mentioned that it tasted like cough syrup.

* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'': Ferdinand's homebrewed medicinal potions tend to sacrifice taste for efficiency to the point that they often become the gold standard for "bad-tasting" for anyone else who consumes them at least once. At some point, he makes a better-tasting version. At a later point, Charlotte is horrified by her first time tasting one of Ferdinand's potions, to the point that she later mentions she mistook it for an act of antagonism from Ferdinand. Then a chapter from someone else's point of view clarifies that the potion Charlotte drank was the one with the taste upgrade.