History Main / PhlebotinumMuncher

** The [[DoomsdayDevice ultimate weapon]] of the setting was a magic disk. Powered by a simple propulsion spell with no speed limiters (and a [[RequiredSecondaryPowers secondary spell]] to keep it from tearing itself apart), it simply spun around uselessly and thus wasted ''all'' the Mana in the area. Wizards were left powerless, werewolves lost their "were-", and ageless beings suddenly began feeling their age. This is the origin of the ''MagicTheGathering'' card "[[SdrawkcabName Nevinyrral's]] Disk", which does pretty much the same thing.

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', there are interdimensional whale-like creatures who [[http://www.egscomics.com/comic/2013-01-23 feed on magic]].

* Grey Mann from the TeamFortress2 comics is kept alive by a life extension machine on his back, which requires a steady supply of [[{{Unobtainium}} Australium]] to keep working.
* Styx from StyxMasterOfShadows consumes amber, the substance used in his universe to power machinery and also as a dangerous drug, to fuel his magical abilities and is already addicted to it at the start of the game.

* In one of the interludes for ''Literature/WordsOfRadiance'', second book of ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'', we encounter the larkin, creatures that seem able to suck the titular light out of a person's body.

* Grey Mann from the TeamFortress2 comics is kept alive by a life extension machine on his back, which requires a steady supply of [[Unobtainium Australium]] to keep working.

* The energon in all incarnations of ''{{Transformers}}''. It powers their weapons and ships and is also their currency and food. This means Transformers ''eat'' money and starship fuel. And in every series except for G1 and RiD, it's a natural resource that the ForeverWar has made quite scarce, and making substitutes either is impossible or what you get comes with ''nasty'' side effects. DrugsAreBad, [[SouthPark mmmkay]]? In ''those'' series, though, it was possible to create energon from other energy sources. For ''them'' that makes it easy: oil, gas, etc. is a handy source of food and fuel. It makes them Phlebotinum Munchers to ''us'' instead. Many a G1 episode and comic revolves around raids on everything from oil wells to hydroelectric dams to ''concerts'' (the music is somehow made into energon, causing it to sound just horrible to the listeners.) for energon.

* Rock/Ice/Lava Monsters in ''Franchise/RockRaiders'' eat energy crystals, and will destroy your buildings to get at them. If destroyed the crystals they have eaten can be recovered. Slimy slugs are similar, except they suck the energy out of them instead.

* The [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=1280 atog]] from ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' eats magical artifacts, and its various relatives eat other magic-related things: the [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=4862 auratog]] eats enchantments, the [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=3635 chronatog]] eats time (you can give it a big stat boost by skipping your next turn), and the [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=31834 atogatog]] eats [[ImAHumanitarian other atogs]].

** ''Magic'' also had a reference to "The Magic Goes Away" in the form of [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=3803 Nevinyrral's Disk]]--they were more willing to pull SdrawkcabName tricks in the earlier days of the game.

* The Worm/Metroid Prime/Dark Samus from ''MetroidPrime'' (and other [[GreenRocks Phazon]] [[PsychoSerum enhanced]] [[TheVirus creatures]]) needs Phazon to live.

* ''WorldOfWarcraft'' has mana wyrms and arcane elementals that feed on {{mana}}, often appearring in locations with large amounts of loose mana.

* The Zerg in ''StarCraft'' use minerals and vespene gas as resources by metabolizing them.

* The Elders in ''{{lonelygirl15}}'' need to receive trait positive blood transfusions on a semi-regular basis to survive.

* Most creatures in {{GURPS}} that use magic naturally have a dependency on background {{Mana}} and will rapidly die if totally deprived of it.

* The [[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=1280 atog]] from ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' eats magical artifacts, and its various relatives eat other magic-related things: the [[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=4862 auratog]] eats enchantments, the [[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=3635 chronatog]] eats time (you can give it a big stat boost by skipping your next turn), and the [[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=31834 atogatog]] eats [[ImAHumanitarian other atogs]].
** ''Magic'' also had a reference to "The Magic Goes Away" in the form of [[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?id=3803 Nevinyrral's Disk]]--they were more willing to pull SdrawkcabName tricks in the earlier days of the game.

* Rock/Ice/Lava Monsters in ''LegoRockRaiders'' eat energy crystals, and will destroy your buildings to get at them. If destroyed the crystals they have eaten can be recovered. Slimy slugs are similar, except they suck the energy out of them instead.

* The main character, splicers and little sisters in ''Franchise/{{Bioshock}}'' require the substance Adam (created by a certain species of sea slug, because of reasons). At first they use it for cosmetic upgrades and fun but frivolous superpowers, then to survive a superpowered arms race as the city crumbles around them; eventually, long term use (enough to drive you mad, and possibly [[BodyHorror semi-randomly mutate you]] and get you to the point you're referred to as a "splicer") gets you psychologically dependent on it; keep going, and you need fresh intake of Adam and the occasional plasmid just to keep your body from completely breaking down into a puddle of goo. Fortunately, THAT pleasant experience doesn't show up anywhere in the games.
* The Scrin in the ''CommandAndConquerTiberianSeries'' are the aliens who created [[GreenRocks Tiberium]], and their entire race is completely and hopelessly [[DrugsAreBad addicted to it.]]
* The Corruptor demon from [[NexusWar Nexus Clash]] has the power to devour spells and enchantments in a world that is chock full of them. It eventually gets so bad that even shooting at one with a magical gun and ''missing'' is enough to forfeit the weapon's magical-ness to the demon.

* The main character, splicers and little sisters in ''Franchise/{{Bioshock}}''.
** Although this is borderline, since they need it to make themselves powerful enough to survive rather than to live.
*** Only at first: long term use (enough to drive you mad, possibly [[BodyHorror semi-randomly mutate you]] and get you to the point you're referred to as a "splicer") gets you psychologically dependent on it; keep going, and you need fresh intake of Adam and the occasional plasmid just to keep your body from completely breaking down into a puddle of goo. Fortunately, THAT pleasant experience doesn't show up anywhere in the games.

** At least it was, until it was rendered inert in the third movie. Now interstellar travel is powered by whale oil. It's debatable whether this or Nibblonian poo is the more ludicrous fuel source.
* The energon in all incarnations of ''{{Transformers}}''. It powers their weapons and ships and is also their currency and food. This means Transformers ''eat'' money and starship fuel. And in every series except for G1 and RiD, it's a natural resource that the ForeverWar has made quite scarce, and making substitutes either is impossible or what you get comes with ''nasty'' side effects. DrugsAreBad, [[SouthPark mmmkay]]?
** In ''those'' series, though, it was possible to create energon from other energy sources. For ''them'' that makes it easy: oil, gas, etc. is a handy source of food and fuel. It makes them Phlebotinum Munchers to ''us'' instead. Many a G1 episode and comic revolves around raids on everything from oil wells to hydroelectric dams to ''concerts'' (the music is somehow made into energon, causing it to sound just horrible to the listeners.) for energon.

* Ungoliant in ''TheSilmarillion'' pretty much subsists on shiny elf artifacts.
** Ungoliant will eat pretty much anything. Shiny elf artifacts just happen to be delicious.

* Inverted in ''{{Futurama}}'': Nibblonians ''excrete'' Dark Matter, which is used as starship fuel.

* ''TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob:'' Thanks to a botched scheme by her clone Golly, Molly the [[CuteMonsterGirl monster]] now has a second clone named Jolly who is [[OurGiantsAreBigger the size of a small mountain.]] Considering what [[BigEater Big Eaters]] Molly and Golly are, Jolly's potential food intake beggars the imagination. This is HandWaved with the explanation that, among her various bionic implants to help her [[SquareCubeLaw move and respirate at such a huge size,]] she has a "[[AppliedPhlebotinum Phlebotinomatic]] Food Synthotron."

* The [[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=1280 atog]] from ''MagicTheGathering'' eats magical artifacts, and its various relatives eat other magic-related things: the [[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=4862 auratog]] eats enchantments, the [[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=3635 chronatog]] eats time (you can give it a big stat boost by skipping your next turn), and the [[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=31834 atogatog]] eats [[ImAHumanitarian other atogs]].

* ''DungeonsAndDragons'' has had a number of creatures that feed on magic, such as the Disenchanter.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* What would you need with a ''complex organic molecule'', ''acidic hydroxide'' and an ''oxidiser''? Why, you must eat ''sugar'', drink ''water'' and breathe ''oxygen'' to live.
* Long term alcohol addicts might find that withdrawing cold turkey can kill them through shock. A theoretical possibility of death also exists with benzodiazepines and barbiturates, because withdrawal from them can cause seizures, but alcohol withdrawal is the only withdrawal syndrome known to have actually killed anyone.
* A common [[ConspiracyTheorist accusation]] is that drug companies will never cure cancer/AIDS/etc. because cures would eliminate demand for expensive treatments. A [[UpToEleven related accusation]] is that drug companies are in fact ''spreading'' those same diseases to make [[TakeOverTheWorld the entire world dependent on treatments.]] They technically come about because of unrealistic expectations. For example; Cancer is in fact not ''a'' disease, but ''many'', and a cure for one type would not likely have an effect on any other type. Quite a lot of research is also done by non-profit organisations who can only really "make" money in the form of further funding (although this isn't their goal anyway) by coming up with results and would have very little reason to keep it to themselves. Similarly, even a "for profit" company would have to sell a cure or risk their competitors discovering it and doing so anyway. And any researcher who discovered a cure for any form of these diseases would have no reason to hide the cure, because ''revealing'' it would make them one of the most famous and wealthy people in the history of the planet.
[[/folder]]

* There was one {{Superman}} story where he arrived at a moon of Krypton (long story short, it drifted away hundreds of years ago) and had to use kryptonite to prevent its Uranium core from exploding. On his search for enough kryptonite he came across a (space)monster that fed on it. He managed to save the planet, but since it was now made of kryptonite, he could never go there again.