History Main / AddictionDisplacement

* Saito Hajime was [[HistoricalDomainCharacter historically]] a heavy drinker,[[note]]Eventually dying from an ulcer caused by excessive drink[[/note]] and the version of him who shows up in ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' is a chain smoker instead, explaining that if he drinks, he becomes AxCrazy.

* In ''Manga/BokuDakeGaInaiMachi'', Gaku Yashiro gained a sugar addiction after he stopped smoking and fills his glove compartment with candy. [[spoiler:He also uses the candy to lure and murder children.]]

-->''"I got off cigarettes by using the patch, I got off the patch by smoking cigars, I got off cigars by doing crack, so I'm pretty much tobacco-free now."''

* ComicBook/LuckyLuke, famously. Lucky Luke was created as a heavy smoker in a time where it wasn't controversial, and the way his mouth is classically drawn is designed to fit him having a cigarette in it at all times. In 1983, Creator/{{Morris}} had him munch a straw so as not to have to change his trademark mouth shape. Much later, the change was finally acknowledged in a story where someone offers Luke a cigarette, and he says that he has quit it and munches the straw as a way to deal with it. Morris received praise from the World Health Organization for having Lucky Luke quit smoking.
* [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]] was an alcoholic. After he quit, he had to be careful of displacement addiction. He became a {{workaholic}}.
** In ''Iron Man Rapture'', before the mini-series, Tony had quit drinking. After his heart attack, he built himself a new heart and had it implanted. [[spoiler:He became addicted to cyber enhancements]].
** Lately, it seems he's become addicted to [[MustHaveCaffeine coffee]]. In one issue he specifically asked for a gallon-drum with "some kind of intravenous drip."

* ''Fanfic/ThePiecesLieWhereTheyFell'': In the sequel ''Picking up the Pieces'', Chief Gordon (chief of police in the Essex region of the Griffish Isles) mentions that he switched to gum to get off cigarettes, and Wind decides to try it to help with his alcohol problem.

[[folder:Film]]

* Throughout ''Film/Constantine2005'', the title character chain-smokes cigarettes despite having been diagnosed with lung cancer. At the end of the movie, [[spoiler:his cancer is cured, and he's shown popping a stick of gum into his mouth to show that he's quitting smoking. What's particularly ironic about this is that in [[ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}} the comics]], he intentionally tricks Hell into curing his cancer. This is done in such a way that they must make sure he doesn't die for a very long while, at least -- so he goes right back to chain smoking as soon as his lung cancer's gone, swearing at the devil(s) as he does so.]]
* In ''Film/LethalWeapon3'', Riggs is trying to quit smoking. Whenever he wants a cigarette, Murtagh gives him a dog biscuit to chew instead. At the end of the film, Riggs starts smoking again, claiming to do it to displace his dog biscuit addiction.
* It's not stated outright, but one of the gangsters from OopNorth in the ''Film/LayerCake'' film seems to have a case of this. He's very jittery and has something of a HairTriggerTemper, and he's always sucking on a lollipop.

* Joey Pardella in ''Film/{{Hackers}}'' attends a court-ordered AA-style addiction support group, supposedly for computer addiction. He claims not to be an addict while smoking Merits and chugging coffee.

* Greg Focker in ''Film/MeetTheParents'', to impress his future father-in-law, the overprotective and former CIA operative Jack Byrnes, has to give up his smoking habit and chews nicotine gum to fill his need.

* Played with in ''Film/UncleBuck'' where the titular Buck Russell explains how he quit smoking cigarettes: he switched to cigars. The next three steps of his plan involve pipes, chewing tobacco, and nicotine gum.

* In ''Literature/{{Holes}}'', Mr. Sir is a former cigarette addict, replacing them with the much more benign sunflower seeds. [[spoiler:At the end of the book, he lapses back into smoking again]].

* Sherman Alexie loves to have recovering alcoholics/smokers/drug addicts drink soda [[AuthorAppeal for some reason]].
* Brazilian writer Creator/LuisFernandoVerissimo once wrote a comedic text about addictions, specifically smoking (and diets). It ranged from simple replacements ("Gimme candy. Gimme bubblegum. Gimme a pencil to chew. Gimme your nails to bite, mine are over!") to... unorthodox methods:
-->''"I quit smoking, Chief."\\
"That's a reason to strangle 17 people?"\\
"Didn't know what to do with my hands."''
* In ''Literature/AnnoDracula 1899: One Thousand Monsters'', Captain Kostaki has quietly become a VegetarianVampire since the first book, but worries that he's reliant on sucking aniseed balls (strongly-flavored hard sweets) to maintain this, and you can't get them in Japan.

* ''Literature/TheHanSoloTrilogy'': {{Discussed}}. Bria [[TheTeetotaler refuses to drink]] because she's afraid of getting addicted again since giving up [[FantasticDrug Exultation]], as she'd learned this could happen. However, it might be felt her zeal as an anti-slavery Rebel is itself kind of an addiction itself, and she admits finding a cause was what most helped in her recovery.
* In ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'', Case was addicted to [[{{Cyberspace}} the Matrix]], but then he screwed over a client and they [[FictionalDisability altered his nervous system so that he could no longer go online]], so he switched to amphetamines and cocaine. However, after his Matrix ability is restored and his pancreas is [[BioAugmentation modified]] to [[ImmuneToDrugs neutralize his usual drugs]], his addiction to stimulants remains and he spends most of the book looking for a new drug that can get him high.

* In season 1 of ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', Nate is TheAlcoholic. When he quits in season 2, he starts drinking a truly massive amount of coffee. What's more, the other characters fear he is pulling riskier and riskier cons in order to substitute for alcohol, and worry that, if they fail one, he could fall off the wagon again. Ironically, [[spoiler:he starts drinking again to help sell a [[TheCon con]], but once he's started he can't stop]].

* On ''Series/{{Hightown}}'': Jackie uses her obsession with solving the murder to help stay sober.
* On ''Series/{{House}}'':
** Tritter, the detective in season 3, is always seen chewing nicotine gum. When he first goes to the clinic because he thinks he has an STD, House says his problem was actually caused by dehydration from the nicotine gum.
** House himself does this in Season 6 after checking himself into a psychiatric hospital. He gets high-dose ibuprofen (i.e. super-triple-extra-strength Advil) for the leg pain and replaces the psychological effects of the Vicodin with whiskey. For a little while he also tries cooking as an emotional outlet rather than [[DrJerk being an asshole to his patients]]. Cooking works, but he prefers medicine.
* Some see Count von Count, of ''Series/SesameStreet,'' as having replaced his bloodlust with obsessive counting. However, counting things is itself a common vampire weakness in mythology, though he probably isn't weak to that, seeing as how he can move around in daylight just fine.
* DS Ronnie Brooks in ''Series/LawAndOrderUK'' replaces an alcohol addiction with a sugar one and puts on two stone[[note]](28 pounds)[[/note]] of weight.
* One ''Series/MyHero2000'' episode had George become addicted to pork scratchings. [[CloudCuckoolander Tyler]] recommends substituting bacon-flavored crisps.
* In one episode of ''Series/{{Parenthood}}'', two characters say that even though they quit smoking years ago, they can't quit the nicotine gum.

-->'''Clarkson:''' ''[while testing it on track]'' '''[[BoldInflation WHO NEEDS NICOTINE]]?!!'''

** Fans of ''The X-Files'' have speculated that Mulder's habit of eating sunflower seeds came from quitting smoking. Which would draw a contrast between him and the Cigarette Smoking Man, [[spoiler: who turns out to be his [[ArchnemesisDad biological father.]]]]

* On ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', Sylar meets his biological father who, like himself, was driven by a HorrorHunger to seek out other superpowered people and [[TheAssimilator steal their powers]], but who has since given it up. His father tells him that if he wants to quit, too, he should find "something to keep your hands busy," and this is why he became a taxidermist.
* Discussed in ''Series/{{Cheers}}''. Sam (a former alcoholic) notes he's seen other addicts recover this way, and seems to constantly be drinking coffee or bottled water in most of his scenes. In the penultimate episode, Sam realized that he was addicted to sex.
* Discussed in Season 3 of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', where Oliver accuses Laurel of using the vigilante lifestyle as a replacement for her drug/alcohol addiction (kicked the previous season). She furiously tells him that is ''not'' a card he gets to play against her (especially given that he's thrown this in her face before), and if anyone is using vigilantism to hide from their feelings, it's him.
* ''Series/MidnightCaller'': While trying to quit smoking, Jack tries chewing gum and playing with wooden balls.
* ''Series/{{Southland}}'': A post-rehab [[TheAlcoholic Dewey]] switches from drinking alarming amounts of cheap whiskey to drinking alarming amounts of coffee. Cooper (who is ''really'' not in a position to pass judgement, incidentally) wearily notes that this is going to make working with him rather trying. He's not wrong.
* A recurring problem on ''Series/{{Mom}}'' as characters inadvertently pick up new habits while trying to stay sober. Christy has become addicted to gambling and cigarettes at different points in the series, while Jill started overeating.
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'': In "The Pez Dispenser", Jerry hosts an intervention for a drug-addicted friend named Richie Appel. The morning after, Jerry tells George that Richie saw [[ChekhovsGun the eponymous Pez dispenser]], which triggered a childhood memory and led to him deciding to go to rehab. Jerry reveals that Richie, now sober, is hooked on Pez.
* ''Series/NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'': In "Bad Habits", the main trio are trying to kick various habits. Cookie in particular spends the episode trying to replace his hoarding habit with healthier ones, including chewing gum which quickly transitions into munching on three packs of gum in one go, and chewing pencils which turns into him painfully chewing through his fingernails.
* ''Series/PeepShow'': Super Hans tries to kick his myriad drug habits by filling his time with a bunch of new hobbies, including running. This backfires when he becomes so hooked on the endorphin rush of exercise that he runs non-stop ''all the way to Windsor''[[note]]Assuming he started in Croydon, this journey would take roughly ''nine hours'' to complete on foot.[[/note]], before collapsing in the street from exhaustion and having to phone Jez for help.
--> ''"[[ICantFeelMyLegs My legs are gone, man!]] I'm a jelly! I'm paralysed! It feels fucking brilliant!"''
* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'': In "[[Recap/CSINYS08E13 The Ripple Effect]]," Mac reveals to Christine that her brother, Stan, who was his partner back in the day and had been killed in the line of duty pre-series, had been trying to quit smoking at the time and had taken up the habit of chewing on ink pens instead.
* ''Series/FeelGood'': Mae uses sex and relationships to fill the void of cocaine addiction, and their sponsor Maggie drinks copious amounts of strong coffee and has dozens of hobbies to do every day, but these are shown to not be real substitutes for actually working on your addiction with a group and addressing the root causes.

* ''VideoGame/AceAttorney'': Implied in the first Ace Investigations game with Detective Badd, who is always shown with a cigarette in his mouth. [[spoiler:When he gets passionate talking about the Yatagarasu, he takes it out, revealing it to be a [[RealMenWearPink pink lollipop]]. That he proceeds to gesticulate with.]]

* There was an arc of ''Webcomic/{{Starslip}}'' where Cutter Edgewise was forced to give up drinking. He took up smoking--several cigarettes and a cigar stuffed into a pipe. Eventually, he was allowed to go back to alcohol.
* ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}:'' [[http://www.shortpacked.com/comic/sesame-street/ Ethan's mom got him to stop playing]] with ''Series/SesameStreet'' toys by getting him hooked onto Franchise/{{Transformers}}.

* In ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'' a scientist invents a pill that can cure addiction to any substance, and which turns out to be [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2009-08-23 itself addictive.]]

* WebVideo/GameGrumps: Dan has said that Skittles have become this for him after a recent sickness left him somehow unable to drink alcohol.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', Dale tries to quit smoking and replaces that habit with chewing tobacco. He later quits chewing tobacco and decides to simply inhale the tobacco leaves' aroma instead, by loading his chewing tobacco into a paper tube. Boomhauer lights the tube and Dale declares it a "marvelous new invention." Finally, he gives up and goes back to smoking.

** The episode "Bloody Mary" goes farther to say that Alcoholics Anonymous is this, and that it manipulates people to feel like they're powerless to do anything about their addictions. This is actually a heavily-debated topic, since numerous people have compared A.A. to a cult in RealLife
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': In the second segment of "Anthology of Interest I", Leela (in a potential reality where she's more impulsive) becomes a serial murderer. After killing the Professor and Hermes, she vows to curb her habit by chewing gum, but then Amy says something that offends her, and Leela she asks her if she has any gum. She didn't.
* Parodied on ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'', where Mr. Cat says he gave up on carrots (considered in universe to be a GRatedDrug) and developed an addiction to torturing [[NighInvulnerable Quack Quack]] instead.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ClassOfTheTitans'', the Greek god Dionysus has discarded his love of booze and replaced it with a near obsession with chemistry and science.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'':
** In "Undie Pressure", the siblings undergo a bet to never engage with their most annoying habits. Luna, whose bet is to never speak in a British accent, decides to circumvent this by speaking in a Swedish accent.
** In "Candy Crushed", Lola undergoes a bet to never have sweets for a week. Under her mom Rita's advice, she eats celery sticks instead whenever she craves sweets. Unfortunately for Lola, the one day she ''doesn't'' bother to bring celery sticks with her, her class has a field trip to a ''[[ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere candy factory]]''.

* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'': In season 8, Mac reveals to Christine that her brother, Stan, who was his partner back in the day and had been killed in the line of duty pre-series, had been trying to quit smoking at the time and had taken up the habit of chewing on ink pens instead.

* ''Series/FeelGood'' Mae uses sex and relationships to fill the void of cocaine addiction, and their sponsor Maggie drinks copious amounts of strong coffee and has dozens of hobbies to do every day, but these are shown to not be real substitutes for actually working on your addiction with a group, and addressing the root causes.

* Social media. How many people have given up Website/{{Facebook}}, only to move to Website/{{Tumblr}}, or Website/{{Twitter}}, or Website/{{YouTube}}, or....

* In the ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' episode "False Alarm", Nutty manages to kick his sugar addiction but quickly finds himself becoming addicted to video games instead.

* A variant occurs in the ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' stories. Rather than kicking one habit and replacing it with another, Holmes alternates between workaholism and cocaine, depending on whether he has a case to deal with or not. He insists that he's only addicted to mental stimulation, and doesn't need the cocaine when he actually has something to do, but Watson is skeptical of the viability of this coping mechanism. In a later story ("The Missing Three-Quarter"), he mentions that at some unspecified time, he had to wean Holmes off his drug habit and make him cut it out completely, so it's likely Holmes did develop a more serious addiction to cocaine that required Watson's intervention at some point.

* In an [[TheEighties eighties]] ''[[ComicBook/ArchieComics Archie]]'' [[VerySpecialEpisode story]] on the dangers of smoking, three teenagers unintentionally create a false fire alarm by chain-smoking in the boys' washroom at school. At the end, they apologize to the principal, Mr. Weatherbee, and inform him that from now on, whenever they have nicotine cravings, they'll chew gum instead.

* There's a fairly common phrase: "Nature abhors a vacuum." It's recommended for people trying to kick an addiction to replace it with a "healthy" addiction, such as exercise, learning some type of art form (art, music) or developing a craft (knitting).

* ComicBook/LuckyLuke, famously, caused by ExecutiveMeddling from the MoralGuardians. Lucky Luke was created as a heavy smoker in a time where it wasn't controversial, and the way his mouth is classically drawn is designed to fit him having a cigarette in it at all times. When the MoralGuardians complained and had the authors scrap the cigarette, they had him munch a straw so as not to have to change his trademark mouth shape. Much later, they finally acknowledged the change in a story where someone offers Luke a cigarette, and he says that he has quit it and munches the straw as a way to deal with it.

** Music/{{Eminem}} swapped Ambien, Vicodin and Valium for a running addiction that nearly wrecked his knees. While he needed to lose weight, he also developed an obsession with [[DyeingForYourArt losing as much weight as possible]], though he returned to a healthier weight as he recovered.

** Music/{{Eminem}} swapped Ambien, Vicodin and Valium for a running addiction that nearly wrecked his knees and [[DyeingForYourArt extreme weight loss]], though he returned to a healthier weight later.

--->"The smokers are drinking, the drinkers are smoking, and the gamblers are having sex with AnythingThatMoves."

* On ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', Kenny eventually stops getting high on cat urine...and gets high by sniffing flowers.
** ''South Park'' goes farther to say that Alcoholics Anonymous is this in one episode. And you're powerless against the addiction. (This is actually a heavily-debated topic, since numerous people have compared AA to a cult in RealLife.)
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', Leela asks the Professor's What-If Machine what it would be like if she were more impulsive. She winds up murdering people. She decides to curb her addiction by chewing gum. When Amy annoys her, Leela asks her if she has any gum. Amy doesn't, and she is promptly killed.

--> ''"[[ICantFeelMyLegs My legs have gone, man!]] I'm a jelly! I'm paralysed! It feels fucking brilliant!"''

* ''Film/{{T2Trainspotting}}'': On Renton's suggestion, Spud attempts to kick his heroin addiction by replacing his habit with something more productive. He eventually takes up writing and pens his memoir.

** Vimes has replaced alcohol with cigars -- and, maybe, police work.

* Subverted in ''Film/{{Clerks}}''. Someone comes into the store to accuse the clerks of being "Death-Merchants" for serving people with cigarettes. He tries to convince every smoker to quitting smoking and start buying Chewlie's gum instead. He is then revealed to be a Chewlie's representative, merely out to sell more gum. Everyone gets kicked out of the store, and one smoker buys a pack of cigarettes before leaving.
* ''Film/{{Constantine}}'': Throughout the movie, the title character chain-smokes cigarettes despite having been diagnosed with lung cancer. At the end of the movie, [[spoiler:his cancer is cured and he's shown popping a stick of gum into his mouth to show that he's quitting smoking. What's particularly ironic about this is that, in [[ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}} the comics]], he intentionally tricks Hell into curing his cancer. This is done in such a way that they must make sure he doesn't die for a very long while at least. So he goes right back to chain smoking as soon as his lung cancer's gone, swearing at the devil(s) as he does so.]]

* In ''VideoGame/Disgaea4APromiseUnforgotten'', [[VegetarianVampire Valvatorez]] has replaced his need for human blood with sardines. While it doesn't provide any of the benefits of drinking human blood (he's gone through a rather massive {{Depower}} since he's stopped), he's at least not dealing with [[WarmBloodbagsAreEverywhere the warm bloodbags issue]].
* Loosely implied in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' in the scene where the protagonist Leon first meets his HandsomeLech ally, Luis Sera. Luis asks Leon if he's got a smoke, to which Leon replies "Got gum."
* In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'', when you meet Hariti, she rhapsodizes about how she no longer needs to eat human flesh. Talk to another demon nearby, however, and he tells you that she gets a little weird on full moons. Turns out that she's taken to eating pomegranates instead, and there's a side quest where you have to fetch one for her.
* Played with in ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' lore: High Elves have been addicted to magic for at least 10,000 years. Their addiction hasn't changed too much, but since the Sunwell was destroyed in ''Warcraft 3'', the Blood Elves (who had a complete reliance on the Sunwell) had to find a new source to channel their magical power or suffer from a debilitating withdrawal. They did this by absorbing magic from creatures, getting them addicted to Fel energy instead of Arcane energy.
** The few remaining High Elves have long since learned to replace their reliance on the Sunwell with meditation, or being within range of a Night Elf Moonwell, playing this trope a little straighter.