History Main / GettingEatenIsHarmless

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': Being eaten by a ketesthius is harmless ''per se'' -- creatures trapped in one's gut still have to deal with thin, dank air, a lack of food and the beast's digestive juices -- but a ketesthius' stomach spares its inmates the usual acid and bludgeoning damage normally dealt when a creature is SwallowedWhole, and its inmates can survive more or less indefinitely in there as long as they find a way not to die of thirst or hunger.

* One episode of WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown sees our heroes (plus Jack Spicer and Wuya) swallowed by Dojo in his giant dragon form. The place they end up resembles less a stomach and more a fleshy tunnel with various devoured items strewn about, and they're coughed up a little later grossed out but otherwise fine.

* Happens twice to Baron Munchausen during his numerous adventures.
** First time he’s swallowed whole by a giant fish (giant shark?) while swimming in the Mediterranean. While inside its stomach, he starts to move around and create a commotion, which results in the fish swimming frantically onto the surface and getting harpooned by the fishermen. The Baron emerges from the creature’s sliced stomach without a scratch.

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In real life, stomachs are designed solely to break down food. They are hot, churning sacks full of acids and digestive enzymes and short on breathable atmosphere. Most creatures unfortunate enough to be EatenAlive only survive inside it for a few minutes at best. Not to mention that most predators tend to chew on, rip apart or grind up their prey into digestible chunks of meat before it even gets that far. However, in fiction, stomachs are often just [[StomachOfHolding fleshy bags of holding]] or prisons for those who wind up inside them. So being EatenAlive is not nearly as perilous as one might assume. Once whatever or whoever ate a character spits them out or gets destroyed said character will be able to go about their life as if nothing happened.

* In ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'', Falin gets eaten by the Red Dragon at the start of the series. The rest of her party figure out that this particular type of dragon digests food very slowly and so, if they're quick, they may be able to rescue her before she's digested. [[spoiler: Unfortunately a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome occurs and they arrive too late, finding Falin already just a skeleton in the dragon's gizzard. They still manage to resurrect her.]]

* Some plant species actually ''benefit'' from this trope, as having their fruits' fleshy outer tissue digested by an animal is the only way for their seeds to germinate from said animal's feces.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' episode "Pet Feud", the girls' genetically engineered pet, BEEBO, grows incredibly large and starts to devour everyone in Townsville, including The Mayor, Miss Bellum, and finally the girls themselves. After eating too much though, BEEBO explodes, releasing everyone he has devoured, unharmed.

* Justified example in ''Anime/DoraemonNobitasGreatAdventureInTheSouthSeas'', when Doraemon and the main villain, Cash, gets SwallowedWhole by the [[KrakenAndLeviathan Leviathan]]. Cash realize he's going to be dissolved soon, but Doraemon, being a robot cat from the future made with 22nd-Century tech, could survive it. Cue Cash revealing his nature as a DirtyCoward as he ''begs'' for Doraemon to save him.

* Two species of the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastric-brooding_frog Rheobatrachus]]'' genus of frogs had[[note]]The gastric-brooding frog has been unfortunately driven to extinction for uncertain reasons within merely a decade of being formally described in 1973[[/note]] the unique trait of incubating larval offspring within the mother's stomach (as in, the mother actually '''swallows''' the eggs or newly hatched larva), which is made possible by the eggs being coated in a special substance that induces the stomach to turn off the production of hydrochloric acid, and the larva themselves producing the same substance after hatching from said eggs.
* In another species of frog known as Darwin's frog, the father takes the tadpoles into his mouth and holds them in his vocal sac (the organ under the throat that inflates when a frog croaks) until they turn into little froglets, at which point he spits them out.
* A number of fish species engage in mouth-brooding behavior, in which the male, female, or occasionally both parents will incubate eggs inside the mouth. Most species expel the young after hatching, but a few (cichlids, arowana) allow their young to retreat to the safety of a parent's mouth when danger approaches.

* Similarly, many parasitic organisms need to be eaten alive in their larval or egg forms, in order to invade a host's body.

[[MonsterWhale Whales]] are [[AnimalStereotypes commonly invoked by writers]] for this trope across various media, simply because the huge sea mammals were poorly understood for most of human history. Many cultures, even those that have hunted them, hold the cetaceans in awe and feature them in their mythologies. [[OlderThanDirt Stories of whales destroying ships and swallowing humans are often heard in many folklores' tales]], even though nowadays we know whales [[GentleGiant are generally shy and easily spooked by people]]. Not to mention that, despite their immensity, [[RealityIsUnrealistic it's mostly impossible]] for one to devour large prey such as us. Despite all this, whales are still used, since they continue to captivate the imagination. [[SpaceWhale Oceans are not required]]. Large fish and sharks are a common alternate option.

* Happens twice to Baron Munchausen during his numerous adventures. First time he’s swallowed whole by a giant fish (giant shark?) while swimming in the Mediterranean. While inside its stomach, he starts to move around and create a commotion, which results in the fish swimming frantically onto the surface and getting harpooned by the fishermen. The Baron emerges from the creature’s sliced stomach without a scratch.
Next time, Munchausen and his ship are SwallowedWhole by an enormous sea monster, only to discover a village of swallowed ships inside, along with their still-alive crew members. Baron and other prisoners escape by putting a large mast between the monster’s jaws and sailing out.

Next time, Munchausen and his ship are SwallowedWhole by an enormous sea monster, only to discover a whole village of swallowed ships inside, along with their still-alive crew members. Baron and other prisoners escape by putting a large mast between the monster’s jaws and sailing out.

* ''WesternAnimation/Disenchantment'': The character [[GiantWoman Tess]] swallowed Turbish's horse off screen. When she finally coughed the horse up, he's no worse for wear. Though justified in that he was never actually in her stomach, just stuck in her throat.

* ''WesternAnimation/Disenchantment'': The character [[GiantWoman Tess]] swallowed Turbish's horse off screen. When he finally coughed the horse up, he's no worse for wear. Though justified in that he was never actually in her stomach, just stuck in her throat.