History Main / InexplicablyPreservedDungeonMeat

* Perhaps parodied in ''VideoGame/StarTropics 2''. The protagonist uses TNT to blast a hole in a mine, searching for a gold nugget. Upon finding it, he realizes it's a chicken nugget (keep in mind this was in a cave that was completely sealed off before the TNT blast). The protagonist then eats the chicken nugget and says it's delicious!

* Zigzagged in ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'', where both killing enemies and clearing out stages will yield treasure chests that sometimes contain minor food items like milk and hot cross buns. With some of these areas it makes sense, like when you're fighting in the capital of Titania or Ragnanival, or on the Valentian battlegrounds where there's tons of soldiers running around everywhere, but then there's also the monster-infested Elrit Forest and the Volkenan Lava Pit where it's less likely to stay fresh. Once the player gets to the Netherworld, however, they quickly find that the only food items that get dropped are old and withered.
* Subverted in ''VideoGame/DungeonSiege''. Meat is a club-type weapon.

* In ''VideoGame/EarthwormJim 2'', there's a sandwich pickup called a Chip Butty that restores 200% health...even if it's been buried underground.

* The original sidescrolling shooter ''VideoGame/DukeNukemI'' has Duke roaming around eight levels of Doctor Proton's ElaborateUndergroundBase, with an occasional turkey drumstick available to add about 12% health. Interestingly, Duke's handheld WaveMotionGun can be used to "cook" a turkey drumstick into a complete turkey dinner worth 25% health. Averted with the soda, which is a sealed can of sugary acid, and could be fairly expected to last until the can corrodes.

** But then, where else would you find carrots outside of a town?

* [[ZigzaggedTrope Zig-zagged]] on ''VideoGame/{{Nethack}}'', as corpses left by the majority of enemies are initially edible (and immediately so, as you don't need to cook them), but they decay and become poisonous to eat after a while (eventually [[EverythingFades disappearing from the game]]). Fruits and vegetables, however, don't decay at all, and can be still found just lying on the floor waiting to be picked up and eaten with zero repercussions.

* Zig-zagged in ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress''. Food left around will decay and spoil, but it will be preserved almost indefinitely if put in a food stockpile -- it can still go bad, but takes years. Played straight in adventure mode, where food you find will be perfectly edible.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series always has tons of pre-war food (even in the first game, the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Great War]] happened almost 100 years ago ) that's still perfectly edible, including the inexplicably popular Nuka-Cola. ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' and ''[[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas New Vegas]]'' work to subvert this somewhat, as eating pre-war food will still boost the player's health, but also inflict them with minor doses of radiation (and explicitly irradiated food that deals even more radiation when eaten can be found.) Justified in that all pre-war food in the ''Fallout'' series appears to be [[IndestructibleEdible preservative-laded, inorganic, sealed junk food]] like chips or instant noodles, which was also sterilized by radiation. And lampshaded during "The Big Dig" quest in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'' when you run across one of the Port-A-Diners that has an inexplicably well preserved piece of 200-year old pie in it.

* A typical world in ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' has many abandoned dungeons, strongholds and mines where you can find chests containing food like bread, wheat, carrots, potatoes, melon seeds or pumpkin seeds, all fresh and edible (or in case of seeds, plantable). Averted with temples which only contain rotten flesh among edible stuff.

* Subverted with a bit of RealityEnsues with ''Film/PressStart''. While scouring Count Vile's lair, Zack is injured and in need of healing, so Lin-ku offers him some chicken he finds in the dungeon. It's cold, slimy and tastes nasty, but it does the trick.
* {{Justified}} in the [[Webcomic/MSPaintAdventures MSPA]] [[InteractiveComic Fan Adventure]] ''The White Depths'', where the 8000-year-old "archaeological site" is actually an ancient spaceship, whose fridges work by actually ''stopping time inside them'' when closed. They preserve everything completely, including live crewmembers.

* Justified in ''WebAnimation/ADayInDraculasLife'' -- Dracula is about to enjoy [[TrademarkFavoriteFood his favorite, pot roast]], when he finds out that Richter Belmont is on his way. Dracula hides his pot roast in a candle to make sure this Belmont doesn't take it from him.

* Justified in ''WebOriginal/ADayInDraculasLife'' -- Dracula is about to enjoy [[TrademarkFavoriteFood his favorite, pot roast]], when he finds out that Richter Belmont is on his way. Dracula hides his pot roast in a candle to make sure this Belmont doesn't take it from him.

* [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Necropolis Necropolis]] has different quality food from rotten food, which might make you sick to iron rations which don't.

* ''VideoGame/Necropolis'' has different quality food from rotten food, which might make you sick to iron rations which don't.

* ''Necropolis'' has different quality food from rotten food, which might make you sick to iron rations which don't.

* [[ZigzaggedTrope Zig-zagged]] on ''VideoGame/Nethack'', as corpses left by the majority of enemies are initially edible (and immediately so, as you don't need to cook them), but they decay and become poisonous to eat after a while (eventually [[EverythingFades disappearing from the game]]). Fruits and vegetables, however, don't decay at all, and can be still found just lying on the floor waiting to be picked up and eaten with zero repercussions.

* In the opening of ''Sir, You Are Being Hunted'', the [[Main/Narrator]] explicitly tells the player finding food powerups to "Don't look at it TOO closely.." as the robot patrols have exterminated the human inhabitants some time ago and the food has probably spoiled.

* In the opening of ''Sir, You Are Being Hunted'', the ''Main/Narrator'' explicitly tells the player finding food powerups to "Don't look at it TOO closely.." as the robot patrols have exterminated the human inhabitants some time ago and the food has probably spoiled.

* In the opening of ''Sir, You Are Being Hunted'', the [[Narrator]] explicitly tells the player finding food powerups to "Don't look at it TOO closely.." as the robot patrols have exterminated the human inhabitants some time ago and the food has probably spoiled.

* In the opening of ''Sir, You Are Being Hunted'', the [[The Narrator]] explicitly tells the player finding food powerups to "Don't look at it TOO closely.." as the robot patrols have exterminated the human inhabitants some time ago and the food has probably spoiled.

* In the opening of ''Sir, You Are Being Hunted'', the [[TheNarrator]] explicitly tells the player finding food powerups to "Don't look at it TOO closely.." as the robot patrols have exterminated the human inhabitants some time ago and the food has probably spoiled.

* In the opening of ''Sir, You Are Being Hunted'', the [[The Narrator]] explicitly tells the player finding food powerups to "Don't look at it TOO closely.." as the robot patrols have exterminated the human inhabitants some time ago and the food has probably spoiled.

* In the opening of ''VideoGame/{{Sir, You Are Being Hunted}}'' the ''The Narrator'' explicitly tells the player finding food powerups to "Don't look at it TOO closely.." as the robot patrols have exterminated the human inhabitants some time ago and the food has probably spoiled.

* The presence of food in the apocalypse is explained in ''[[NexusWar Nexus Clash]]'' by the fact that most of it is canned or preserved, or is fresh fruit that continues to grow in orchards. The only exception is Chunks of Salted Meat, but the fact that they're found in [[FireAndBrimstoneHell Stygia]] offers one very [[ImAHumanitarian easy explanation]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Recettear}}'' lampshades this with many of its item descriptions.

* In ''Videogame/TheElderScrollsOnline'' your character will usually eat prepared food, but even ignoring the fact that this food never spoils, the ingedients used to make it are usually found inside random boxes and barrels or sometimes laying on top of tables or hanging from walls for no reason, as the Provisioner skill line depends on materials only found this way. There's little reason to trust food made from poultry found hanging inside of a damp, earthen floor dungeon, but your character will only actually get sick [[CutsceneIncompetence during quests]].

* You can find food, drinks, and potions in ancient crypts in the various ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games, some of which have been explicitly been sealed for years with nothing but withered (and occasionally ambulatory) corpses for company. Even those with no bandit presence to explain away the presence of food will still have consumables in them. Feel free to scarf down the half-dozen decades-old potatoes you find if you're low on health, your character won't know the difference. Though ''you'' might have sympathetic indigestion.
** Still happens in {{Skyrim}}. Though MOST of the sealed-off dungeons don't have food laying around, you're still likely to run into fresh food just lying around in old abandoned castles and caves. Some of these can be excused that they've been inhabited by bandits or other enemies who have been squatting in the ruins, but others don't have any inhabitants that would have bothered with stocking up on human food.

->''"Yeah...I wouldn't touch that pie. I don't trust anything that looks that perfectly preserved after 200 years."''

* Justified in ''WebOriginal/ADayInDraculasLife'' - Dracula is about to enjoy [[TrademarkFavoriteFood his favorite, pot roast]], when he finds out that Richter Belmont is on his way. Dracula hides his pot roast in a candle to make sure this Belmont doesn't take it from him.

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** ''[[http://www.vgmuseum.com/mrp/cvgb3/game-cvlegends.htm Legends]]'', a game that was retconned out of the main timeline, suggested that the Belmonts had struck a deal with a friendly supernatural power to provide them powerups and supplies through the candles in the Castle.