History Main / PickyEater

* ''Madou King Granzort'': Our young hero has won a vacation on the moon (one person only!) and is served his least favorite food, carrots, on the flight. Shortly after landing, he discovers that the mythical rabbit people of the moon actually exist, and one of them is a little girl with the power to summon carrots. She drives Daichi absolutely nuts.

* ''VideoGame/LogicalJourneyOfTheZoombinis'' has the Pizza Trolls Arno, Willomaen, and Shyler, who will only let you pass if you make each of them a pizza (and an ice-cream sundae, on higher difficulty levels) that they like. The trick is, each troll has toppings that only they like and which the other ones will refuse, so you have to figure out who likes what in as few moves as possible. Otherwise, the trolls get testy and start [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom knocking your Zoombinis back to the start]]. On higher difficulties, you have more ingredients to choose from, and more trolls to satisfy.

** [[https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1988/09/04 Another night,]] Calvin makes a huge fuss over what his mom made for dinner before his mom says, "Knock it off, Calvin! It's hamburger casserole! There's not a thing in it that you don't like!"

It's not uncommon in older media for a fussy child's parent to protest that there are starving people in a less-privileged part of the world. This is less common today, when food scarcity is less a problem, and offending other cultures is more a problem.

** Usagi, a.k.a. Sailor Moon has her least favorite food listed as carrots, despite her name being a homophone for "rabbit".
** In one episode of the [[Anime/SailorMoon original anime]], Usagi chastises Chibiusa and Mamoru for not eating the bell peppers she's prepared.

* Alastor the Radio Demon in ''WebAnimation/HazbinHotel'' is described by WordOfGod as a food snob. He's very particular about how his food is prepared and loathes all processed foods like canned cheese, colored ketchup, Easy Mac, and other such fare. When getting venison from a butcher shop in the comic "A Day in the After Life", he insists that the butcher skin the meat very carefully.

* The ''Literature/{{Arthur}}'' book ''D.W. The Picky Eater'' Arthur's little sister DW refused to eat anything with spinach, only to be served a pot pie that, unbeknownst to her, has spinach in it, and to then discover that [[IDoNotLikeGreenEggsAndHam she loved it]], only to then end up horrified [[IAteWhat when she learned that she ate something with spinach in it]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' on PBS played with this: Arthur's little sister DW refused to eat anything with spinach, only to be served a pot pie that, unbeknownst to her, has spinach in it, and to then discover that [[IDoNotLikeGreenEggsAndHam she loved it]]. The opening of the episode shows she really just hates trying anything new. This was based on one of the ''Arthur'' books, which had the same plot but ended with [[IAteWhat DW looking horrified when she learned that she ate something with spinach in it]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' on PBS played with this: Arthur's little sister DW refused to eat anything with spinach, only to be served a pot pie that, unbeknownst to her, has spinach in it, and to then discover that [[IDoNotLikeGreenEggsAndHam she loved it]]. The opening of the episode shows she really just hates trying anything new. This was based on one of the ''Arthur'' books, which had the same plot but ended with DW looking horrified when she learned that she ate something with spinach in it.

* A commercial deal plays with this by presenting a roomful of kindergarteners with boxes of pizza like Philly Cheesesteak and Hawaiian. They react poorly. (The whole thing is advertising a 'Buy a specialty pizza, get a single-topping for a great price' deal.)

* Steve Bent's infamous "I'm Going To Spain" features the line "She packed me up some sandwiches -- I hate the cheese and pickle". This was not included in the cover by Music/TheFall.

** Pearl is a [[SiliconBasedLife Gem]] and [[EatingOptional doesn't actually need to eat]]. Consequently, she finds the whole '''concept''' of eating and drinking [[HumansThroughAlienEyes revolting]] and refuses to entirely.

* Coco from ''WebVideo/CreamHeroes'' is one, as he will refuse to eat anything that smells strange to him. When Claire asks the vet about this, he simply states some cats are more sensitive to smell and taste than others, and Coco is obviously one of them.

See also DoesNotLikeSpam, IDoNotLikeGreenEggsAndHam, KidsHateVegetables, StockYuck (things almost ''any'' kid can be expected to hate to eat), and overlaps with IfItTastesBadItMustBeGoodForYou, a common reaction/joke about this. Compare CityPeopleEatSushi, which has the pickiness showing class, and PickyPeopleEater, a far more horrifying related trope, the execution of which is also less about immaturity and more about delicacies or nutritional requirements. If they try to miss an entire meal due to their pickiness, it often leads to a MissedMealAesop. For a biologically-enforced version, see FantasticDietRequirement.

See also DoesNotLikeSpam, IDoNotLikeGreenEggsAndHaM, KidsHateVegetables, StockYuck (things almost ''any'' kid can be expected to hate to eat), and overlaps with IfItTastesBadItMustBeGoodForYou, a common reaction/joke about this. Compare CityPeopleEatSushi, which has the pickiness showing class, and PickyPeopleEater, a far more horrifying related trope, the execution of which is also less about immaturity and more about delicacies or nutritional requirements. If they try to miss an entire meal due to their pickiness, it often leads to a MissedMealAesop. For a biologically-enforced version, see FantasticDietRequirement.

Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is a type of eating disorder in which the sufferer has an extremely selective palate and avoids the overwhelming majority of foods to the point of causing health problems, specifically not due to body image as with anorexia. This avoidance may be based on appearance, smell, taste, texture, brand, presentation, or a past negative experience with the food in question. Many of those who suffer from the disorder stay away from anything spicy, tangy, or acidic, and tend to favor generally blander foods laden with carbohydrates. The common criteria for when simple "picky eating" crosses the line into ARFID is when the restrictive diet extends past childhood, or when the sufferer would not eat outside of their "safe" foods even if there was nothing else available and/or they were starving.

* In {{ComicBook/Dollicious}} Tiramisu the foodie, tend only to eat what she consdier original enough to be worthy of her taste buds. One story center on Ramen, the lands SupremeChef trying to please her and proving this to be quite a challange.

* In ComicBook/Dollicious Tiramisu the foodie, tend only to eat what she consdier original enough to be worthy of her taste buds. One story center on Ramen, the lands SupremeChef trying to please her and proving this to be quite a challange.

* In the third episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', Misty says the three things she absolutely hates are bugs (a plot point), carrots, and bell peppers. And Ash likes all three.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* A koala's diet consists almost entirely of eucalyptus leaves. They therefore fill an important ecological niche, because very few other animals can digest the leaves of the plant. They are such picky eaters that they'll refuse to eat eucalyptus from a tree that isn't the one they've already learned to subsist on. They're such specialized eaters that they'll only eat it off the branch, if a leaf is laid flat on a table for them they won't even acknowledge it as food anymore. Some joke that this is because the leaves are poisonous and eating nothing but them literally rotted their brains.
* Stacy Irvine of Britain ate practically nothing but Chicken [=McNuggets=] since she was 2 and suffered a variety of health problems including anemia and shortness of breath. However, [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2092071/Stacey-Irvine-17-collapses-eating-McDonalds-chicken-nuggets-age-2.html#ixzz1km22ZtBF as seen in the photos]], she still looks as thin and youthful as ever despite her ailing health. It just goes to show you that picky eating can be dangerous no matter what foods you eat, and that [[http://www.good.is/post/fat-doesn-t-mean-unhealthy-obesity-judgment-and-chicken-mcnuggets/ being "fat" and "unhealthy" aren't always the same thing.]]
* Done to the extreme with Kurt Gödel, who only ate food cooked by his wife. Justified, since he was paranoid that he would be poisoned. But when his wife was hospitalized, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Godel he refused to eat and thus starved to death.]]
* Creator/AndersonCooper appears to be the supertaster-type of a picky eater, he does not eat hot food or drinks, alcohol, or anything strong tasting. He also has a habit of taking a liking to a single dish and eating only that dish for weeks on end before moving onto something else. Producers on his talk show (''Anderson Live'', not to be confused with his nightly news broadcast ''Anderson Cooper 360°'') seem to take perverse pleasure in feeding him everything he hates.
* Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is a type of eating disorder in which the sufferer has an extremely selective palate and avoids the overwhelming majority of foods to the point of causing health problems, specifically not due to body image as with anorexia. This avoidance may be based on appearance, smell, taste, texture, brand, presentation, or a past negative experience with the food in question. Many of those who suffer from the disorder stay away from anything spicy, tangy, or acidic, and tend to favor generally blander foods laden with carbohydrates. The common criteria for when simple "picky eating" crosses the line into ARFID is when the restrictive diet extends past childhood, or when the sufferer would not eat outside of their "safe" foods even if there was nothing else available and/or they were starving.
* According to Creator/RogerMoore, former Film/JamesBond producer Harry Saltzman was incredibly fussy in restaurants, often sending food back, along with everyone else's portion, prompting Moore to hold on to his plate for dear life. Creator/AlbertRBroccoli said that if Harry had been at the Last Supper, he would have sent it back.
* Creator/RexHarrison was very picky about wine. He would arrange the wine list for lunch, the butler would serve it, then would come the cry of, "How dare you serve me corked wine!?"
-->'''Roger Moore''': Rex always sent the wine back in restaurants. And he's the only person I know of who did it in his own home, too.
* Music/MichaelJackson was one according to those who knew him. He was a junk food lover as a child, especially of KFC fried chicken. Oddly, he didn't care for chocolate. His mother recounted that when the family would go out for hot fudge sundaes, Michael was the only one who wouldn't get one. In his early adulthood, Michael decided to stop eating meat and become a vegetarian in order to develop a slimmer build that would help him dance better. Despite being a vegetarian, he reportedly hated vegetables and rarely ate them. He also didn't like pasta either. Michael was eventually forced to add meat back into his diet in order to keep his stamina up during tours, but he eventually got to the point where he barely ate at all, especially during the child molestation allegations.
* Apparently, Emperor Jie of the Xia Dynasty (an all-arount [[TheCaligula madman in charge]]) had ''very'' specific tastes in food: his meals were to be made exclusively with vegetables from the northwest, fish from the East Sea, seasoning made from ingredients found in the south and sea salt coming from the north, as well as drinking only a custom-made liquor known as 清醇 (pure alcohol wine). Thousands of people were employed to prepare his meals accordingly and, of course, were mercilessly executed it they did anything wrong.
* People on the autistic spectrum are extremely prone to being sensitive to different flavors, textures, and smells of foods and consequently are often extremely picky about what foods they will or will not eat. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the aforementioned Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) can also be comorbid with autism.
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