History Main / EatingLunchAlone

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard.'' Fuli's friends notice that she goes off to hunt by herself, so they decide to join her to make sure she feels included. They then learn that Fuli ''enjoys'' hunting alone and needs time to be by herself sometimes. Moreover, the fact that she needs to be by herself sometimes doesn't mean she doesn't still love her friends.

* Nikki, the protagonist of ''Literature/DorkDiaries'', eats lunch alone at her new private school before she meets Chloe and Zoey.

* Justified in a tear-jerker way in ''Anime/AngelBeats''. Due to the system that the afterlife works in, Angel will always eat alone since [[spoiler: being friends with her is automatic grounds to AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence]]. [[http://i42.tinypic.com/a48zk2.jpg This picture sums her life up,]] and for all we know, she may have lived this "life" for ''years''. Granted that this was the implication, not the truth, as the members of the of the main cast found out[[spoiler: when they befriend her, it still takes quite a while before they're able to 'move on'. She would eat alone because the people she wanted to help were antagonistic towards her instead.]]

* Chloe Cerise in ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'' likes to eat lunch alone. Then, one of her classmates decides to sit next to her as an act of kindness...an act that would ultimately lead to a series of events that would take Chloe onto the Infinity Train so ''maybe'' it would've been better if Chloe was sitting alone.
* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBoilingPoint'': Willow finds Skara doing this in Chapter 6, and she decides to talk with her for a bit until she gets an idea...

* In ''Series/{{Forever|2014}}'' Jo eats most of her meals at her desk, a reflection of how she's buried herself in her work since her husband died.

* George [=McFly=], in the first ''Film/BackToTheFuture''.

** This ends up becoming an issue for a [[AlphaBitch more socially-active but mean spirited character]] named Koharu Minami. After she gets put into a separate class from her usual clique, she struggles to find people she can eat with for some time. She doesn't always want to always eat with her usual friends because she knows they'll make fun of her for not being able to find any other company, and her OnlyFriend in her current class, Mako, isn't always available. Koharu tries dining with a girl named Mike for a while, but not only does she find it awkward since the latter has a boyfriend, she's also a LethalChef who's always forcing her terrible cooking onto Koharu. Koharu eventually settles on hanging out with a GamerGirl named Shiki Futaki, but the friendship she strikes with her sets off a chain of events that causes her old clique to fall apart...and the leader of it, Sachi, to start eating lunch alone herself.

* Both played straight and subverted in ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'', where Hiccup first eats his food alone in the great hall, then ends up literally ''mobbed'' when he starts doing very well at dragon training.

When someone is eating lunch alone in a communal context (school, army, etc.), it means they're being actively shunned by everyone else, or the student is the New Kid and [[FriendlessBackground has not yet made any friends]]. It rarely ever means that they ''[[LonersAreFreaks chose]]'' to eat lunch by themselves. Often, their return into the fold will be symbolized by someone else accepting to have lunch with them. Or if they keep their outcast status, having lunch with them will be a sign of independence of mind and refusing to follow the herd. Or it could be because that person has ''[[ThePigPen very]]'' poor hygiene for days on end.

* In the first chapter of ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', we learn that protagonist Taylor Hebert has been eating lunch in a locked stall in the girls' bathroom for weeks to avoid a trio of bullies that have been targeting her for a year and a half. Unfortunately for [[BullyMagnet Taylor]], this chapter is the day they find her.

->''"I got some news for you''\\
''And you'll soon find out it's true''\\
''And then you'll have to eat your lunch all by yourself"''

* Yuuta of ''LightNovel/LoveChunibyoAndOtherDelusions'' in his middle school years, due to his AllOfTheOtherReindeer treatment (for being a extreme case of {{Chuunibyou}}). Thus he treats Makoto's offer to eat lunch with him in the first episode as [[ThrowTheDogABone a good start]].

* Momoko in ''LightNovel/KamikazeGirls'' is shown eating her (utterly adorable) lunch alone.

* ''Literature/TheScholomance'': The monster-infested WizardingSchool is so dangerous that only the most palpably repellent unconnected 'loser' (hello [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer El}}) normally risks getting stuck with a table to themselves. When a Senior year Enclaver eats lunch alone, it's only because he did something so awful -- [[spoiler:[[AndIMustScream sacrificing a classmate to the Void]]]] -- that even those from his own enclave would literally rather see him dead than associate with him.

* ''Literature/TheScholomance'': The monster-infested WizardingSchool is so dangerous that everyone eats in groups, no matter how unpopular. When a student eats lunch alone, it's only because he did something so awful -- [[spoiler:[[AndIMustScream sacrificing a classmate to the Void]]]] -- that people would literally rather see him dead than associate with him.

[[folder:Films]]
* ''Film/TheBlindSide'': Except it's not lunch, but study hall: Michael always sits alone, until Collins leaves her study table to sit with him instead.
* Used twice in ''Film/MeanGirls''. On her first day of school, Cady Herron eats lunch alone in the restroom. Later, after her fall from popularity, she has to return to brown-bagging in the bathroom.
* Private Santiago is shown eating alone during the montage that sums up his miserable experience in the Marines in ''Film/AFewGoodMen''.
* It doesn't seem to hurt Peter in ''Film/SpiderMan1''.
* In ''Film/{{Superbad}}'' there's a throwaway joke that depends on the viewer's understanding the mythos surrounding Eating Lunch Alone. Seth and Evan are eating lunch together when Evan gets up, claiming he has to leave. Seth protests, "You want me to eat lunch alone like I'm fuckin' Steven Glansberg?" and gestures to another table. We get a brief shot of a lone kid gazing into the middle distance and taking a pensive forkful of his canned peaches; then it's back to Seth and Evan, and Mr. Glansberg [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic is never seen or heard from again]].

* Both played straight and subverted in ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'', where Hiccup first eats his food alone in the great hall, then ends up literally ''mobbed'' when he starts doing very well at dragon training.

* Tuvok, the Vulcan security officer from ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. He does this through choice, though this doesn't stop him from being bothered by his human colleagues at nearby tables trying to draw them into conversation, or the [[TheThingThatWouldNotLeave excessively-chatty]] [[LethalChef Neelix]] trying to force his latest AlienLunch on Tuvok. Captain Janeway dines separately [[LonelyAtTheTop due to her rank]], though she sometimes invites her NumberTwo Chakotay [[ShipTease for a home-replicated meal.]] TheCaptain actually had her own private dining room, but Neelix turned it into a kitchen (without asking permission) early in Season One.

-->-- '''Eagles''', "Already Gone"