History Main / TooDesperateToBePicky

Compare TooHungryToBePolite, MomentOfWeakness, and AintTooProudToBeg. Might result from WouldRatherSuffer AnythingButThat, or ExhaustionInducedStupidity, and may occur to people living AfterTheEnd. Supertrope of DogFoodDiet and ReducedToRatburgers. When not even the fact that they are desperately needy will make someone accept a certain kind of donation, see this trope's inversion: EvenBeggarsWontChooseIt.

Compare TooHungryToBePolite, MomentOfWeakness, and AintTooProudToBeg. Might result from WouldRatherSuffer or AnythingButThat, and may occur to people living AfterTheEnd. Supertrope of DogFoodDiet and ReducedToRatburgers. When not even the fact that they are desperately needy will make someone accept a certain kind of donation, see this trope's inversion: EvenBeggarsWontChooseIt.

* ''Literature/LifeOfPi'': Pi describes this happening to him as he tries to survive adrift at sea. Though a pacifist and vegetarian, he soon is slaughtering fish and turtles for food, and getting moisture by drinking the animals' blood or sucking out their eyeballs. He notes that in a true life-and-death situation, humans find themselves capable of doing just about anything to survive.

* In ''Fanfic/AmazingFantasy'', Peter is dropped into Izuku's universe with nothing but the clothes on his back and his web-shooters. He has nothing to subsist off of other than a portion of Izuku's allowance, forcing him to get creative to carve out a living. He hacks into a local radio tower to cellular service, lives out of an abandoned amusement park, and tells Izuku to mix up web fluid in class since neither of them have the cash or equipment to make it otherwise.

* In ''Fanfic/KarmaInRetrograde'', Touya Todoroki isn't picky about what he wears or eats. He's buys and wears casual clothes that make him a RummageSaleReject were cheap and comfortable because [[PlayingWithFire his Quirk]] would [[ClothingDamage destroy them rather quickly.]] He prefers quantity over quality when it comes to food because [[CastFromCalories his Quirk is constantly burning through his energy reserves]], forcing him [[BigEater to keep eating to avoid starving.]] He also has no issues with getting things from a DumpsterDive because of how thrifty he is, shocking his younger brother Shouto.

* Played straight and discussed in Literature/TheMostBeautifulMomentInLifeTheNotes. Namjoon's family settled with living in any place as long as it 1. has a hospital for his ill father, and 2. gives a job to Namjoon (who had to drop out of high school to earn money). Namjoon himself and his unnamed coworker were the most desperate employees in an already highly competitive environment (a delivery service in a small village), going for the most difficult and dangerous delivery jobs under minimal-to-nonexistent security measures to earn just a little more money. Namjoon hates that poverty reduces people to this, making them give up things that should be precious, [[spoiler:being this desperation what ends up leading to his coworker's death]].

* ''Film/AKnightsTale'': After his breastplate is cracked in a joust during his first tournament, William goes to several smiths hoping to find one who'll do it on credit. He's directed to the (female) farrier, who, admittedly, turns out to be a pretty darn good smith after William picks at her professional pride to get her to help him.

* ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'': In "Wings Of Liberty", the Protoss arrive to sterilize a colony of Zerg virus-infested humans, but are willing to let Raynor purge them himself (opposed by Dr. Hanson, who's desperately looking for a cure). Going with the Protoss results in Hanson sealing herself in the lab and injecting herself with the Zerg virus to try and find the cure, transforming herself into a HalfHumanHybrid before getting put down by Raynor. The canon choice is fighting the Protoss (in which case the infestation is limited to a few people, rather than several settlements in the non-canon branch).

** When Finn and Rey have to escape Jakku, they first run to a perfectly good ship... which gets destroyed seconds later. They're forced to go with the [[WhatAPieceOfJunk "junk"]] ship nearby, that "hasn't flown in years," just to escape their enemies. [[spoiler: Luckily for them, it turns out to be [[CoolShip the Millennium Falcon]].]]

Compare TooHungryToBePolite, MomentOfWeakness, and AintTooProudToBeg. Might result from WouldRatherSuffer or AnythingButThat, and may occur to people living AfterTheEnd. Supertrope of ReducedToRatburgers. When not even the fact that they are desperately needy will make someone accept a certain kind of donation, see this trope's inversion: EvenBeggarsWontChooseIt.

* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': During Brokenstar's time as leader of [=ShadowClan=], his warriors spent all their energy battling. This left them with no hunting skills, so cats resorted to eating the rotting crowfood left in the Carrion Place. This created a horrible plague, as the cats got sick from eating the bad prey.

Compare TooHungryToBePolite, MomentOfWeakness, and AintTooProudToBeg. Might result from WouldRatherSuffer or AnythingButThat, and may occur to people living AfterTheEnd. Supertrope of ReducedToRatburgers.

* ''Film/Venom2018'': When he's newly infected by the Venom symbiote and doesn't know how to manage its appetite, Eddie gets so desperate for food that he eats chicken scraps out of the garbage and [[spoiler:live lobsters out of a tank in the middle of a restaurant]].

** When Finn and Rey have to escape Jakku, they first run to a perfectly good ship... which gets destroyed seconds later. They're forced to go with the "junk" ship nearby, that "hasn't flown in years", just to escape their enemies.

In certain situations, this trope might overlap with a few others, including: ClosestThingWeGot, in cases where, for example, a wounded character has to get help from a dentist because it's all they have; OOCIsSeriousBusiness, if a character violates their own set standards in an act of desperation; and OneTrackMindedHunger.

In certain situations, this trope might overlap with a few others, including: ClosestThingWeGot, in cases where, for example, a wounded character has to get help from a dentist because it's all they have; OocIsSeriousBusiness, if a character violates their own set standards in an act of desperation; and OneTrackMindedHunger.

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** When Finn and Rey have to escape Jakku, they first run to a perfectly good ship...which gets destroyed seconds later. They're forced to go with the "junk" ship nearby, that "hasn't flown in years", just to escape their enemies.

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* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': Invoked in "Just the Two of Us!" When Timmy continuously gets passed over by Trixie, he ends up wishing he was the only other person besides her and his fairies on the entire planet. After avoiding him the rest of the episode, she's forced to spend time with him, but the sudden isolation [[{{Yandere}} has seriously taken its toll on her sanity]], forcing Timmy to revert his wish.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': Invoked in "Just the Two of Us!" When Timmy continuously gets passed over by Trixie, he ends up wishing he was the only other person besides her and his fairies on the entire planet. After avoiding him the rest of the episode, she's forced to spend time with him, but the sudden isolation [[{{Yandere}} has seriously taken it's toll on her sanity]], forcing Timmy to revert his wish.

Compare TooHungryToBePolite, MomentOfWeakness, and AintTooProudToBeg. Might overlap with ClosestThingWeGot in cases where, for example, a wounded character has to get help from a dentist because it's all they have. Can also overlap with OocIsSeriousBusiness if a character violates their own set standards in an act of desperation; and can also overlap with OneTrackMindedHunger. Might result from WouldRatherSuffer or AnythingButThat, and may occur to people living AfterTheEnd. Supertrope of ReducedToRatburgers.

Compare TooHungryToBePolite, MomentOfWeakness, and AintTooProudToBeg. Might overlap with ClosestThingWeGot in cases where, for example, a wounded character has to get help from a dentist because it's all they have; can also overlap with OocIsSeriousBusiness. Might result from WouldRatherSuffer or AnythingButThat, and may occur to people living AfterTheEnd. Supertrope of ReducedToRatburgers.

* ''WebVideo/{{Alantutorial}}'': During his time lost in the wilderness, Alan posts videos of himself eating from dumpster bags and getting his water from eating snow.