History Main / EmotionEater

* The Music/NineInchNails song "The Collector" is about one of these.

* The titular terror in the ''ComicStrip/ThisModernWorld'' strip "[[https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/12/1748054/-Cartoon-The-thing-that-ate-America-s-brain The Thing That Ate America's Brain]]" is a tentacled BrainMonster that feeds on the "chaos, anger and turmoil" generated by UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump.

* GDW's ''TabletopGame/DarkConspiracy'' supplement ''Dark Races Volume I''

** The dreamweaver monster causes sleeping people to suffer nightmares and feeds on the victim's confusion, fear and misery.

* GDW's ''TabletopGame/DarkConspiracy'' supplement ''Dark Races Volume I''. The Dread Sidhe feed on the energy of negative human emotions such as anger and despair. They receive more pleasure from doing so if they are the targets of the emotions.

[[folder: Comic Strips]]

[[folder: Fan Works]]

[[folder: Web Animation]]

[[folder: Web Original]]

[[folder: Real Life]]

A subtrope to AbstractEater. Compare TheHeartless and ExoticEntree. See also MadeOfEvil. Less closely related is GodsNeedPrayerBadly. PoweredByAForsakenChild is when some sort of mechanism uses this as a power source. AsLongAsThereIsEvil is a closely related trope, when a villain is an Emotion Eater on a human race-wide scale. An Emotion Eater may be extra-susceptible to an EmotionBomb, or they might use them on their prey instead.

* ''Fanfic/TheWorldIsFilledWithMonsters'': Dreamoras, formless parasites that infest ponies' minds and force them to relive memories of shame and weakness. They then feed on the resulting thoughts, memories and experiences until their victims are nothing but mindless husks.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': The Creatures of Grimm are drawn to negative emotion. Feelings like fear, sorrow, or anger will cause Grimm to congregate to the source. The more intense theses feelings, the more Grimm are drawn. [[spoiler: This gets exploited in Volume 3, when Cinder causes a panic by tricking Pyrrha into killing Penny on live-television: the amount of fear and anger draws in every Grimm for miles around, overwhelming Vale's defenses and leaving the city in ruins.]]

** [[TheBully Bullies]] get satisfaction from seeing other people upset and vulnerable, and unfortunately, even ignoring them is highly ineffective. It shows the bully that if someone is trying to ignore them that the bullying IS having an effect, and that they will continue to pick on that person anyway. It also gives them an excuse to pick on you as they can always pretend that it does not bother anyone. If it did work then they would move on to another target. The "just ignore them" advice is usually given by people who don't want to deal with the problem of bullying.

For all the talk about how villainous Emotion Eaters are, albeit well-deserved, it should be noted that there ''are'' comparatively rare cases of those who use their powers benevolently.

* The Demons in the ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' fanfic ''FanFic/StarsAbove'' feed on a person's emotional core, referred to as their Heart.
* ''Fanfic/ThawingPermafrost'''s antagonist Kaze is an as-of-yet-unidentified emotion eater, having left [[spoiler:Ruby for dead and drained of her emotional energy]] in the third story arc.
** Chapter 37 revealed Kaze to be a [[spoiler: Defacer]].
* ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'': Dr. Brainstorm's Fear Detector collects fear and uses it to power a fear-making machine.
** Later, a poltergeist girl is said to feed off fear as well.
* Lady Prismia's spell in the ''Fanfic/CadanceOfCloudsdale'' story ''Lady Prismia and the Princess-Goddess''. Based on [[CallForward Changeling magic]], it manifests as a green ethereal snake that attaches to a victim's heart and drains all of their love, departing to their summoner and leaving the victim a spiteful mess. Cadance, due to being a PhysicalGod [[ThePowerOfLove Manifestation of Love]], is immune to their effects.
* Fanfic/TheCadanceverse has a tagasoro, a fear-powered creature from Philippines mythology, as a minor villain
* In ''FanFic/TheChangelingOfTheGuard'', the mechanics of [[ShapeShifter Changeling]] feeding habits are described in detail by Idol. He states that it's a common misconception that they only feed on love... different emotions can serve as different kinds of nourishment.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' fan fiction ''{{Fanfic/Monstrous}}'', Suel consumes fear to survive. As such, he encourages those he hunts to be afraid of him.

** ''[[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} The Chaos Gods]]'' and [[spoiler:their successors]] are made from human emotions.
* In ''FanFic/DesertedDistractions'', demons in the Shadow Realm feed off of emotions, including negative and positive ones, and can drain happiness and warmth from their victims.
* Smoke Girl from ''Fanfic/MiraculousMarinettesBaby'' feeds on negative emotions, much of her actions done to satiate this. Since she was akumatized because of Chloe, she would keep her locked away in an underground lair to feed off of her in her off-time. Marinette's angst over her pregnancy made her a recurring target during their battles, and Adrien’s angst after Marinette breaking up with him after Gabriel essentially disowned his unborn grandchild in-front of them led to her capturing him.

* The Heart of Atlantis of ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' is a malfunctioning example, in the sense that it thrived on ancient emotions instead of recently gathered feelings.

* The Grimm from ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' are drawn to negative emotion. Feelings like fear, sorrow, or anger will cause Grimm to congregate to the source. The more intense theses feelings, the more Grimm are drawn. [[spoiler: This gets exploited in Volume 3, when Cinder causes a panic by tricking Pyrrha into killing Penny on live-television: the amount of fear and anger draws in every Grimm for miles around, overwhelming Vale's defenses and leaving the city in ruins.]]

* In ''{{WebOriginal/Mortasheen}}'', the Devilbirds all definitely fit this trope, all in many terrifying ways. ([[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Except for Sloth]])

These creatures always work to increase them, no matter how much is already in the world. EvilCannotComprehendGood or BlueAndOrangeMorality may lead to "sharing the love" in creepy ways or spreading horror that translates as {{narm}}. One way to beat the Emotion Eater can be to [[ImNotAfraidOfYou deny them that emotion,]] which can be easier said than done when the fed upon emotion is fear.

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Demattackharry101_5098.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[HorrorHunger OM NOM NOM]]]]

* Music/{{Rammstein}}'s "Mein Herz Brennt" is about a character feeding on the fearful tears of children.

* Music/{{Rammstein}}'s "Mein Herz Brennt" is about a character feeding on the tears of children.

[[folder: Web Comic]]
* ''Webcomic/{{MAG ISA}}'' -- [[http://mag-isa.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/119577 The demons in this comic feed off of negative emotions]]. That is why they like to cause pain and suffering.
* The gods of ''Webcomic/AMomentOfPeace'', are a rare example of peaceful, useful emotion eaters that have a symbiotic relationship with the mortals they feed off of. They eat gruel made of human sorrow and baked cheer, and in return answer prayers and perform metaphysical chores that benefit humanity.
* The Hadoken from ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' is fueled by ThePowerOfLove -- literally; the divorce rate goes up every time Black Mage uses it.
* The [[HornyDevils 'cubi]] in ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'' feed this way, with each demon usually having a favorite "flavor" that's more filling for them. It doesn't remove the target's emotion, though, they're sustained just by being around someone who's emitting emotion. Although it's common practice for them to provoke the emotion they want through non-supernatural means.
** For example, one who feeds best on Anxiety might take up a job in a waiting room, allowing them to feed on the patients while earning their paycheck.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Megatokyo}}'', it's suggested that the magical girls gain their power from the emotions of other people and are compelled to cause said emotions. What exact emotions seems to depend on the particular girl.
* The Demoness in ''Webcomic/{{Yosh}}'' Stated by other characters to likely not actually ''need'' emotion to survive, but that it does fuel her powers.
* Walter from ''Webcomic/WonderMark'' [[http://wondermark.com/548/ #548]] has a nutritional deficiency with this requirement.
* Slake from ''Webcomic/{{Fans}}'' claims to be an emotion eater, but it's not clear if he really is, or just a VampireVannabe.
* Every Cubi feeds of a different emotion in ''Webcomic/ProjectFuture'', a fancomic of ''Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures'' (above).
** One of the characters in the later chapter was brought BackFromTheDead as an android was Cubi who fed on Surprise
** It also mentioned that there have been Cubis who fed on Fear, Joy, Depression, etc.
* Spirits in ''[[{{Webcomic/Morphe}} morphE]]'' manipulate creatures into situations that cause them to feel a certain emotion so it can drink from them. An example was given in a [[http://morphe.thewebcomic.com/comics/1930662/chapter-3-page-37-cat-food/ magic lecture of an affection spirit which would possess a cat and cause it to seek love and attention from humans.]] Spirits are not smart enough to know that they cannot do this non-stop without killing their charge.
* ''WebComic/EerieCuties'': Tia is [[EnfantTerrible a pint-sized demoness]], who uses her powers to sow discord so she can [[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/i_am_eating_here feed on the misery of others.]] Though it isn't all fun 'n games for her, since displays of kindness and happiness can [[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/aura_of_innocence cause her to become physically ill.]] Meaning, in all likelihood, she ''[[NecessarilyEvil has to]]'' spread discord in order to [[spoiler: [[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/so_much_more_to_do sustain her existence]]]].
* ''Webcomic/{{Daniel}}'' is a vampire that drinks blood to feel life, and that includes the emotions that go with it.
* In ''Webcomic/AliceAndTheNightmare'', everything is powered by energy harvested from dreams of Earth people. As harmful as it might be to the minds of small children, most of the danger is on Wonderland's side; children don't have the mental control to fight their fears, which promptly manifest as hulking murder-monsters and hunt down the invading Wonderlanders.
* One ''WebComic/{{Oglaf}}'' strip introduces a wraith-thing that [[http://oglaf.com/withsympathy/ feeds on fear]]. [[spoiler:Notably, because it actually ''eats'' fear, its victim is left a FearlessFool, and promptly gets himself killed screwing around with a crocodile. The wraith muses that it should feel guilty about that, but for some reason it doesn't. Cue another wraith appearing, announcing that it feeds on regret.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]
* Spectra of ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom''. By posing as a school counseler, she is able to meet with teenagers, discover their insecurities, and pick at their pain and misery, which she in turns feeds on to [[VainSorceress keep herself looking young]].
* The Knights of Destruction in ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'' fed on hatred, anger, fear, and anguish. Tridart became enormous during the first attack on Kandrakar, which terrified the goodies.
** Later this became a major weakness for the Knights as the ''opposite'' emotion they feasted on weakened them [[spoiler: and in Shagon's case destroyed him]]. Not surprisingly, their boss decided to [[spoiler: phase them out for her old team, though this may have been her plan from the beginning]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Scott Tenorman Must Die", after getting revenge on Scott by [[spoiler: tricking him into eating chili made from his dead parents]], Cartman literally drinks Scott's tears of despair, and comments on [[EvilTastesGood how delicious they are]].
-->'''Stan:''' Dude, I think it might be best for us to never piss Cartman off again.
* Paddywhack from ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' devoured negative emotions.
* Bit of a twist in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' with the FaceStealer Koh. He doesn't eat emotions- but he will steal your face if you ''show'' any emotion.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is full of these. Seriously, a significant part of the ecology seems to use emotions as sustenance:
** [[RealityWarper Discord]], the spirit of Disharmony from the season 2 premiere: the Cutie Mark Crusaders' violent argument over the meaning of his statue (actually him TakenForGranite) is apparently the factor that tips his strength enough over the edge for him to break free.
** The Windigos seen during the pageant in "Hearth's Warming Eve" feed on hate and anger, and shroud the land for miles around in an endless winter. It's implied that they make a habit of [[AndIMustScream freezing their victims alive]] so that they can use them as a perpetual food source.
** [[spoiler: Changelings]], from "A Canterlot Wedding", feed on love, and use it to power their spells. [[spoiler: The love between Princess Cadance and Shining Armor was so strong that it allowed their queen, Chrysalis, to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu defeat Princess Celestia in a one-on-one magical duel]], an act that [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength even shocked Chrysalis herself]].]]
*** Issue #3 of [[ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW The Comic Book]] shows how they actually do so: [[spoiler: they just suck the green, gaseous life miasma right out of the victim's body.]]
*** The sixth season finale, "To Where and Back Again", ultimately reveals that [[spoiler:feeding on love like they do is a highly inefficient way of eating as it leaves them starving, but it makes Chrysalis stronger. When Starlight Glimmer convinces the Changeling Thorax to ''share'' love instead of ''stealing'' it, it fills them up and heals their body, showing their true forms for all to see.]]
** The Dazzlings in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks'' use their magic pendants to absorb bad vibes, which they evoke in their subjects [[BrownNote via music]].
* Mother Mae-Eye from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' is a rare villainess who gains power from being loved. Anyone who has eaten her mind-controlling pie would think she is and [[RememberTheNewGuy has always been]] their mother. She then takes care of everything until her "children" love her so much that she can bake them into a giant pie and get all of their fabricated affection without meeting any resistance.
* The giant advertising mascots in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Threehouse of Horror VI", specifically the "Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesore" segment; they live off attention. The advertising agency who created them says that advertisements lose their power when people stop paying attention to them, so simply ignoring the giant monsters and denying them attention would cause them to die. With some help from Paul Anka (who stars AsHimself in the episode) this plan works.
** Parodied in "The Canine Mutiny": Homer, after telling a tearful Bart that crying isn't going to bring Santa's Little Helper back (SLH had been repossessed in the place of [[CreditCardPlot a dog Bart purchased with money he didn't have]]), he briefly theorizes that dogs ''might'' be attracted to human tears if they smell enough like dog food. Therefore, Bart has two choices: go out and find his dog, or cry while eating can after can of dog food until his tears smell enough like dog food for his dog to come back.
* In ''WesternAnimation/WordGirl'', this is the secret to Miss Power's strength. As long as there are people in the area who are feeling upset and uncertain, she is unbeatable (or at the very least, stronger, faster, and tougher than [=WordGirl=] is). She is really good at taunting people to make them feel this way. When [=WordGirl=] finds the strength and confidence to stand up to her and ignore her taunting, Miss Power is forced to retreat.
* The Boogeyman from ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' derives his power from the fear he instills in his victims.
* In ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'', Preston Change-O is a magician who drains the joy from his audience after entertaining them, feeding himself and leaving them depressed.
* The Stone-Eyed Cyclops in ''WesternAnimation/{{Castlevania}}'' [[TakenForGranite turns its victims to stone]] with its eye to feed on their terror [[AndIMustScream while trapped in their own bodies]].
* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' has one of these employed at an alien spa that the eponymous duo visit. They enjoy the experience.
-->'''Rick:''' These things are just doing what they do in the wild. It ''loves'' swallowing stressed-out creatures for 20 minutes and then puking them up.
-->'''Morty:''' My whole body's like a baby's ass!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''Franchise/TheDCU'':
** The villain Bliss, from ''ComicBook/{{Starman}}'', is a demon who finds the despair of "special" people ([[TheFreakshow carnival freaks]]) exquisite. However, when Jack confronts him, his meal is tainted with hope, weakening him to the point Jack and Mikaal can outright destroy him by combining energy blasts.
%%** ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}
** ComicBook/{{Raven}} of ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' fame is somewhere in between; she ''does'' feed on negative emotions, like sadness, but has a hard time not absorbing ''any'' heightened emotion, such as excitement or joy. All she does is leave people feeling neutral though, so it's okay.
** Psycho Pirate a villain of the ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica''. In ''ComicBook/{{Crisis on Infinite Earths}}'', he was basically TheStarscream to the Anti-Monitor. He uses his golden Medusa Mask to control and feed off the emotions of the people who see it. Addicted to his powers, they eventually backfire when he pisses off Black Adam [[spoiler: and gets the mask rammed through his head.]]
** The Black Lanterns in ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'' feed on the emotions of sentient beings to power up their battery. They come back in the body of people with emotional connections to those that still live (heroes, villains, emotional spectrum welders, lovers, friends...) and incite emotions in many ways, usually but not always by giving them {{Breaking Speech}}es while fighting. They feed on Rage, Greed, Fear, Willpower, Hope, Compassion and Love, which means its just as dangerous to feel hopeful as it is to feel afraid. Their vision is full of black and shades of grey, and the only things with color are sentient beings full of emotions, which makes it possible to run from them if one contains his own emotions. When their targets are full of emotion, they rip out their hearts and feed on them, powering up their black power battery.
** Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}:
*** The Japanese assassins Gakidou and Sakki, The Hate Furnace in [[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 Supergirl Vol. 5]] not only have {{Intangibility}}, but can feed on negative emotions like lust and anger to boost their strengths to astronomical levels. Supergirl defeated them by simultaneously beating them up and [[UnstoppableRage overloading them]].
*** In the same story, Powerboy revealed he can channel others' emotions to fuel his abilities, but the excess emotions caused him to [[DomesticAbuser go psycho on]] Supergirl.
---> '''Powerboy''': (to a restrained Supergirl) I ''feel''. Feel everyone else's hate, love, pain, fear... and it becomes ''this''..."(forms ball of black energy) Of course, you saw what happens when it goes the other way. But I hope you understand... I did it for you.
*** In ''ComicBook/SupergirlCosmicAdventuresInThe8thGrade'', [[spoiler:Supergirl's communicator]] turns out to be an emotion-collecting machine which absorbs emotions and feelings with the purpose of [[spoiler:amplifying Mr. Mxyzptlk's power]].
** A one-off alien villain in the ''Franchise/{{Justice League|of America}}'' comic books both fed off emotions and could channel the excess to others. Fear of death was a narcotic to his species, and he destroyed entire planets for the high, but he kept a little in reserve as an EmotionBomb. (Scarecrow's failures notwithstanding, it really ''is'' possible to scare Franchise/{{Batman}} into surrendering. Franchise/WonderWoman, not so much.)
** The Emotion Entities from ''Franchise/GreenLantern''. As long as there is at least one being in the universe that can feel the emotions they embody, they will always exist. Although they do not feed on the emotions they embody. They are in fact the avatars of the combined power of each emotion (rage, greed, fear, will, hope, compassion, love) felt by every being in the universe.
*** The Entity of Rage, the Butcher, does play this straight. It chooses hosts full of grief and rage (it is first seen merging with a man who was being taunted by his daughter's killer while the killer was being strapped in the electric chair) and empowers them to vent their fury on their targets while feeding on their anger. The Butcher then leaves after its hosts' rage is spent to find new hosts.
** The 100 are an ancient order of landowners who resorted to any means necessary to render themselves immortal. This left them with two side-effects: that they need to [[FisherKing tie themselves to a plot of land to draw strength from it]], and that they need to feed on emotions, preferably negative ones. This usually results in them becoming slumlords of one stripe or another.
* ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse''
** Mangog, from ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'', depends on the emotions of others to exist. Without those it fades from existence. However, it can't just feed off anyone and needs a specific source.
** ''ComicBook/XMen'' supporting character Caliban feeds off fear as part of his mutant power. He's basically a good guy, [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor except for the times when he isn't]].
** Scatterbrain, AKA Fascination, of the Technet (and later/earlier, of the time-traveling Special Executive). Her reliance on emotional nutrition, good, bad or anything-except-indifferent, sometimes has her following around characters because they're annoyed-- which makes her follow them more closely-- which makes them more annoyed etc. etc. Which... doesn't always work that well for her, like the time she did it to [[FlyingBrick Captain Britain]], who got so irritable that he started waving his arms around as he walked. One 'KLUDD!' later, and Scatterbrain was sprawled crosseyed against the far wall.
** When she first appeared in the mutant books, mutant rock star Lila Cheney was pursued several times by an alien crime lord named Spyder who wanted to own her. (He ran several black market and slave trading operations, and had actually captured Lila for another group of aliens then arrange for her to escape on purpose simply to get out of the contact, because he wanted Lila for himself.) One of many uses Spyder had for humanoid beings was to distill their emotions and turn it into a tobacco-like substance that he smoked to experience the emotion himself, as he could not experience any emotion himself except greed. Spyder was addicted to this stuff, claiming that even experiencing negative emotions like sadness and anger gave him pleasure.
** The demon D'Spayre feeds on the fear, anguish and despair of his victims.
** ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'':
*** The symbiote apparently feeds off negative emotions. One of the side-effects of being its host is that said emotions are amplified.
*** Minor and obscure Spider-Man villain Mindworm, named for another esoteric psychic vampire mentioned below, was born a mutant with a large head that parasitically fed off the emotions of people around him. He accidentally drained his mother to death and his father was DrivenToSuicide right after. When encountering Spider-Man he was at first interested the hero's strong emotion he foiled his feeding on the neighborhood. Then he just wanted to silence that mind forever.
** ''ComicBook/CloakAndDagger''. The ''Marvel Super Heroes'' supplement ''The Uncanny X-Men'' boxed set (1990) Roster Book says that Cloak's powers are based on his control of a gateway to an extradimensional space. That space contains a monster that increases and feeds off of the fear of any being that enters the space.
* The Tuffbones in ''ComicBook/AdventureTimeMarcelineGoneAdrift'' are benevolent doglike aliens who feed harmlessly off artistic creativity and use it to power their civilisation.
* Psyklops from the ''ComicBook/AtariForce'' comic book psychically feeds off the pain of his victims, and uses his power to trap his victims into reliving painful past memories.
* ''ComicBook/CaballisticsInc'': At one point Hannah Chapter and Lawrence Verse go hunting for a psychic vampire who feeds on the loneliness and despair of its victims. It was also a shapeshifter, as it assumed the form of a deceased girlfriend of Hannah.
* Powerhaus from ''[=Dv8=]'' absorbed emotions to fuel his growth and super-strength. He ''can'' use his own emotions, but he's so mellow that it's not very reliable.
* Mister Dark from ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'' draws power from fear.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Lucifer}}'', demons in Hell distill the torments of the damned into a powder which they use like snuff.
* Like the [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E13HearthsWarmingEve Windigoes]], the Gremlins from ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyMicroSeries'' Issue #2 feed off negative feelings, and use weather to continually instill these negative emotions in a perpetuating cycle.
* The Evronians from ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'' feed on emotions and can also use them to power their technology. That's also why they're fixated on Earth: harvesting enough emotions to both feed themselves and power their technology is beyond their natural abilities and they need to use weapons that leave the victim unable to feel emotions anymore, but Earthlings [[HumansAreSpecial are so emotionally rich]] that one shot often isn't enough to drain them and they can recover from it-- [[BlessedWithSuck meaning that Earth is an unending buffet for them]].
** The final issue of the reboot also [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructs]] the part of the trope where emotion eaters tend to be evil: when Zondag [[MakeWrongWhatOnceWentRight went back in time to prevent the birth of the Guardians of the Galaxy]], the new timeline resulted in Evronians without emotion-powered technology that lived ''peacefully'' with other species, feeding themselves by just draining negative emotions when asked.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]

* The Feasters in ''Literature/LadyOfGems'' series feeds off fear.
* The White Court vampires of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' are all psychic vampires that draw power from other people's emotions. The vampires of House Raith draw power from lust, and are incubi and succubi down to the last; the vampires of House Malvora draw power from fear; and the vampires of House Skavis draw from despair, and usually try to drive people to suicide so they can feast.
** Thomas Raith presents an interesting angle on the feeding issue; his lover, Justine, suffers from derangement and schizophrenia. Thomas' feedings act as a form of psychic therapy and keep her condition under control sans the negative side effects seen with medications. Without him regularly feeding on her, she rapidly slips back into madness.
** The plot of ''Proven Guilty'' brings us more Emotion Eaters in the form of phobophages, monsters who mimic the form of a subject's fears then feast on the tasty, tasty terror. The ones featured in the book draw from the mark on the national consciousness left by horror movie monsters and wreak bloody havoc on a horror convention.
** The [[EldritchAbomination Skinwalker]] is also made more powerful by fear, and by inflicting pain.
* Speaking of vampires, Creator/RobinMcKinley's ''Literature/{{Sunshine}}'' dealt with this too. Tears stood in as a weaker substitute for blood, and anguished giving was more powerful but ultimately more destructive than 'natural' sacrifices.
* Melissa Marr.
** Specifically, this is the reasoning behind the plot of ''[[Literature/WickedLovely Ink Exchange]]''. The faeries of the Dark Court feed off the negative emotions of other faeries, and are weakened by times of peace and happiness. In order to avoid fading away entirely, its king devises a method of feeding off of the negative emotions of humans.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** Dementors drain happiness and warmth from their surroundings, and can make someone relive their darkest memories. For this reason, they're kept as guards in the wizard prison of Azkaban, so that the prisoners can't work up the will to escape. You can fight off their effects with [[WeaksauceWeakness chocolate]] (chosen because Dementors' effects are like depression, which is weakened by chocolate) or creating a Patronus; a projection of your happiest memory which at its strongest takes the form of an animal spirit.
** You can also get around them two other ways, more indirectly. If you're an Animagus, your emotions are simpler in animal form, so you won't suffer as much. They also only eat ''happy'' memories, so plans centered around unpleasant facts won't be disrupted. [[spoiler: This was how Sirius Black escaped; he took the form of a dog, and wanted revenge for being sentenced for a crime he didn't commit.]]
** The Wizarding equivalent of the death penalty is the "Dementor's Kiss," which sucks out your soul. Lupin describes it in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' as becoming an EmptyShell - you just "exist" with no memory or sense of identity.
* Vampires in the ''Literature/AnitaBlake'' series have secondary feeding methods, usually relating to drawing nourishment from a person's emotions.
* The Spectres from the ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' trilogy drain their target's attention, turning them into mindless, apathetic bodies.
** So do the slakemoths in ''Literature/PerdidoStreetStation''.
* In the [[Literature/TheWindThroughTheKeyhole last]] ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' novel, Roland and friends find that [[spoiler:Dandelo a.k.a. Joe Collins]] is one of these. Of course, the irony is they are warned several times to beware of the individual. The individual hides using Glamour.
* The ''Literature/WildCards'' series has a few psychic "Aces" who draw power from certain rituals packed with emotion. Fortunato, for instance, draws power from [[DeusSexMachina the passion of tantric sex]], while The Astronomer draws his power from the ritual torture and sacrifice of young women.
* The Creator/StephenKing novella ''The Library Policeman'' focuses on an inhuman ''thing'' posing as a librarian that feasts on the fear of little children.
* Also from [[Creator/StephenKing Stephen King]], the novel {{Literature/It}} focuses on an inhuman ''thing'' posing as a clown that feasts on the fear (and flesh) of children.
* The Hunter from the ''Literature/ColdfireTrilogy'' feeds on fear, despair and other negative emotions.
** While his is essentially parasitic, the Iezu in that universe each have a specific emotion they feed off of in a more symbiotic way. One has set up shop as the god of Pleasure, and feeds while his followers enjoy themselves. And one has set up shop as the god of Sadism, and [[HumansAreBastards nearly becomes the most powerful entity in the world]]. It's also a significant plot point that these creatures are so polarized that the opposite of their emotional attunement weakens or destroys them. Pleasure, of course, is defeated by apathy, while sadism is finally undone by [[spoiler:altruism]].
* Creator/SergeyLukyanenko's ''Literature/NightWatch'' series puts an interesting spin on this trope. As expected, the evil Dark Others draw their power from negative emotions like fear, anger, hatred, etc, but essentially make people more "good" by removing these feelings from them. Meanwhile, the good Light Others who draw their powers from positive emotions like hope, love, faith etc. leave the world a darker place as they basically suck joy out of the universe to power their magic. As such, neither side tends to be enthusiastic about seriously draining the energy of people around them. Unless, you know, the fate of the entire world rests in the balance (which seems to happen at least once every few weeks).
** The situation still is to the advantage of the Dark Ones though, since *for the most part* they don't actually care about making the world more evil. They're mostly interested in their own power, which means that they can draw as much power as they think they can get away with.
** As well as the Others, the first level of the Twilight is home to a blue moss which gains nourishment from emotion on general. Light Others kill this with fire, Dark with ice.
** Occasionally, a Light one snaps and goes on a rampage taking Power from the happy people around him. Why? In order to destabilize the status quo and make the world a better place. Naturally, the Night Watch usually tries to stop them, as this gives the Dark ones a blank check to do something bad. In ''New Watch'', one does so by going to a crowded soccer stadium and feeding off the energy of the fans of the winning team. Apparently, he amasses so much Power that not even a Mage Beyond Categorization can easily stop him. Anton uses the young mage's inexperience (the mage casts a shield that protects from any spell, instead of one to protect against spells ''and'' physical damage, which is expressly stated to be a rookie mistake most mages outgrow and ''fast'') to knock him out with a baton.
%%* Creator/MercedesLackey uses this in almost everything she writes.
* Banshees from ''Literature/TheHollows'' novels feed on negative emotions of others even unto death. In a disturbing recent development one banshee and her child learned to feed off love as well making them a double threat.
* In Nina Kiriki Hoffman's ''Spirits that Walk in Shadow'', there are the viri. Most viri feed off of many different people in a subtle way that causes very little effect, but one viri got addicted to the main character's depression and was making her perpetually depressed in order to feed on that feeling.
* [[Literature/TheSookieStackhouseMysteries Sookie Stackhouse]] meets a maenad, a wild woman who feeds off of pride and drunken violence (as well as eating meat).
* C.M. Kornbluth's short story "[[http://www.lesvampires.org/mindworm.html The Mindworm]]" had a mutant human who fed off the feelings of others, killing them in the process. He deliberately tried to induce strong emotions in his victims so he could get a full meal. Too bad for him that [[spoiler:when he starts preying on a community of recent Eastern European immigrants, they find the old ways of dispatching vampires work just fine.]]
* The vampire nobles in the ''Literature/SonjaBlue'' series feed on emotions as well as blood, and thus were closely involved with historical events like Stalinism and Nazism.
* In ''Literature/TheSecretsOfTheImmortalNicholasFlamel'', [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]] feed on emotions. Even blood-drinking vamps (who are considered the weakest class of vampire because of this. Stronger vampires don't need to drink blood to get emotions). This is used by a heroine, with permission, to make a scared and overwhelmed comrade feel better. Always nice to see a positive use of this trope.
* S.L. Wright's ''Confessions of A Demon'' has immortal shapeshifting demons who can sense and feed off of the emotions of humans as well as other demons. Some of the more benevolent demons will feed on the sorrow and pain from others in order to alleviate their anguish. Each individual demon is associated with a particular emotion that they like to feed on most of all, although they can absorb any emotion. The emotion a demon is associated with stems from what the demon's progenitor was feeling at the time that demon was spawned, and gives each demon a particular aura that makes them inspire that emotion in others. Demons usually name themselves after the emotion they are associated with, such as Bliss, Shock, Pique, etc.
* [[spoiler: Rehvenge and Xhex]] of JR Ward's Literature/BlackDaggerBrotherhood are half-vampire, half-''sympath'', and a full ''sympath'', respectively. There's even a derogatory term for their sub-species "sin-eater," though they aren't restricted to just feeding off someone's sins (they can devour any range of emotions).
* In ''Literature/TheThirteenAndAHalfLivesOfCaptainBluebear'', hobgoblins live off emotions such as fear, despair and sorrow. They keep Bluebear alive to enjoy his crying fits.
* In the book ''Literature/DemonEnvy'', the demon, Levi, feeds off of envy.
** [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Fancy that.]]
* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'':
** Tobduk grows stronger by feeding on others' anger as well as his own.
** Vamprah's Mask of Hunger lets him grow stronger by feeding off the positive emotions of others.
* Stormwings, from Tamora Pierce's Literature/TortallUniverse, feed off of fear although they don't suck it out of people. They're not evil--it's simply their nature, as they were created by a human who wanted to deter others from war.
* Lord Loss from ''Literature/TheDemonata'' feeds off of human pain and suffering.
* Rasalom from the ''Literature/RepairmanJack'' and ''Literature/TheAdversaryCycle'' books.
* ''Literature/SongAtDawn'': Estela describes Alienor's Ladies-in-Waiting as feeding off the misery of others (usually each other) and "getting fat on it".
* Molassar, the BigBad of ''[[Literature/TheAdversaryCycle The Keep]]'' is this in the original book. He pretends to be "merely" a vampire instead of an HumanoidAbomination Emotion Eater that [[TimeAbyss is older than recorded history]]. He feeds off all negative emotions, including fear, pain, misery, etc. This allows him to gain strength from both the fear of the soldiers he murders one by one, and to work towards destroying the faith of a Jewish intellectual when he pretends to be vulnerable to the cross. Interestingly enough, Molassar doesn't need to cause the emotions himself to gain strength from them, if he were not [[SealedEvilInACan trapped inside the Keep]], he could feed on all the psychic misery, pain and suffering going on all over the world... and since the story takes place in the early days of World War II, there is plenty of that to go around.
* In ''Literature/{{Pact}}'', bogeymen are former humans cut off from their connections with the world who fell into an EldritchLocation known as the Abyss, and lose their humanity in the process of clawing their way out. Now tied to the Abyss, they require connections with the world to stay in it-and the easiest way to do that is through fear. In addition, these connections feed them power.
* In ''Literature/ChildrenOfTheBlackSun'', Sympaths are mages who can draw on human experiences and sensations to fuel magic. Typically, they draw on positive things — the more pleasure around them, the more magic they generate. However, it's possible for Sympaths who are exposed to large amounts of pain to "switch" to drawing on that instead — and Sierra, the protagonist, is such a person. Naturally, the fact that her magic feeds on pain does not make her already magic-averse fellow citizens like her, but she's [[BadPowersGoodPeople not actually a bad person]].
* In ''Literature/ShamanBlues'', ghosts gain energy from strong emotions, although it apparently doesn't hurt the person the ghost leeches from.
* Creator/KimNewman's ''Literature/BadDreams'' features The Kind, who feed on humanity's emotions and imaginings. Some of them are emotional vampires who specialise in negative emotions; others act as muses to great creative minds. One way and another, they did quite well out of Hollywood.
* In ''Literature/DorothyMustDie'' (based on ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz''), the (not-so) Cowardly Lion feeds on others' fear. This has the effect of causing the person whose fear he devoured to age.
* In ''Literature/FateStrangeFake'', UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper is a Berserker Servant with a Noble Phantasm called "From Hell: The Evil Mist Will Perish With London's Daybreak". This causes Jack to transform into a demon, based on the rumors of Jack really being a demon. The demon form's strength is increased by the latent fears and unease of everyone in a 5 km radius. So if it were used in a desert, it would only be about as strong as a large beast. If used in a city, it would truly be a force to be reckoned with.
* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': The GodOfEvil Odium spends a lot of time trying to convince people to give him their guilt and pain, and his [[EldritchAbomination Unmade]] are often described as consuming various emotions. That being said, it's unclear if this is literal or metaphorical. Several people break free of Odium's control despite having implicitly given up their agency, and the final fight between [[spoiler:Kaladin and Amaram]] is all about how [[spoiler:Amaram]] still hurts over all the terrible things he's done.

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/RedDwarf'':
** In the episode "Polymorph" the eponymous shapeshifter drains negative emotions, such as fear and anger, from whoever they touch. It turned into a snake and tried its main form (which happened to be an eight-foot tall armor-plated alien monster to scare Lister) so it could drain his fear; it turned into a cat woman to drain the Cat's vanity; it turned into Rimmer and told Kryten that Cat getting attacked was Kryten's fault so it could drain his guilt; and it turned into Rimmer's mother and slept with Lister in order to drain Rimmer's anger. Getting their emotions sucked out resulted in the crew going through personality changes[=:=] A fearless Lister became a SociopathicSoldier obsessed with sacrificing himself in order to kill the Polymorph in the most violent way possible; The Cat losing his vanity turned him into a filthy bum who didn't care about himself in any way; Kryten with no guilt became a jerk who insulted everyone at every opportunity and wanted to hand the others over to save himself; and an angerless Rimmer became a sort of hippie who thought attacking the Polymorph meant fundraiser concerts and tee-shirts. HilarityEnsues.
** In the episode "Polymorph II: Emohawk" the Emohawk drains dominant personality traits: The Cat is turned into his geeky counterpart Duane Dibley (from losing his coolness) but Rimmer gets turned into his heroic alternate universe self [[TheAce Ace Rimmer]] [[RunningGag (What a guy!)]] because he lost his [[DirtyCoward cowardice]] as well as his bitterness and negativity.
* ''Series/JukenSentaiGekiranger'' and ''Series/PowerRangersJungleFury'' feature ChineseVampire enemies who grow stronger from the power of fear. Any enemy can do this, but the primary application is to allow {{Mooks}} to upgrade to MonsterOfTheWeek.
** ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'' and ''Series/PowerRangersSamurai'' use an indirect version: the water level of the otherworldy Sanzu River rises with humans' sorrow and despair, and the monsters need Sanzu water to survive and keep from drying out.
** In ''Series/ZyudenSentaiKyoryuger'', [[BigBad Deboss]] is one of these and his followers harvest feelings of anger, sorrow and joy for him to feed on, in order to thaw his frozen heart. Halfway through the series, they add [[ThePowerOfHate hate]] to the mix in an attempt to combat the Kyoryuger's bravery.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek''
** ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''
*** "Day of the Dove" has a big glowy entity that feeds off of negative emotions and is turned off by good ones. Kirk manages to get rid of it by ''laughing'' with a few Klingons.
*** "Wolf in the Fold". Redjac, the immortal entity that was "Jack the Ripper" and many other serial killers feeds off horror and terror (and prefers to go after women because they're more "easily and deeply terrified". Sexist much, Mr. Spock?). The episode also mentioned the Drella of Alpha Carinae V, which derived nourishment from the emotion of love.
** An inverted version occurs in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Man of the People." Rather than feeding from emotions, an alien used victims as receptacles for disposing of harmful emotions.
* On the darker and edgier side of the Toku Coin, ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'' has the [[BigBad Greeed]] which create [[MonsterOfTheWeek Yummys]] which eat whatever the victim (Greeeds drop a coin in the victim to create Yummys) desires... Well, at least Uva's. Kazari's Yummies ''possess'' the victim and force ''them'' to eat.
* The Utopia Dopant, the BigBad from ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'', doesn't actually eat emotions but rather gains power by drawing upon the positive emotions of those around. So when our heroes charge in full of righteous fury and hope...[[CurbStompBattle he pounds them into pudding]]. Eventually defeated when [[spoiler:Shotaro exploits the fact that inanimate objects don't ''have'' emotions to draw upon, and the emotion behind him and Phillip during the final battle is too much for Utopia to take. Katsumi Daido also exploits a weakness of Utopia's powers, as it can't draw emotions from dead things, and Katsumi just happens to be a [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Necro-Over]]]].
* One year prior to ''Gekiranger'', "Minus Energy", created from chaos and fear, was the primary collection goal of the Jamanga in ''Series/MadanSenkiRyukendo''.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'':
** In one of the weirder examples, there is a sort of species of ''spider'' (which could take human form, natch) that first augmented the strongest features of its prey's personality--sexuality, self-control, anger, greed, determination, logic, and intelligence, in the cases of various lead cast members at the time--and then stole them, resulting in an abrupt about-face in behavior. Chiana, for example, kissed D'Argo and had him grope her, and she didn't even feel a tingle; D'Argo didn't even get slightly angry when kicked in the ''[[UnusualEuphemism mivonks]]''.
** The EvilSorcerer Maldis; though he was primarily a Psychic Vampire, he would often encourage his victims to excesses of anger and fear as an appetizer.
* Knox from ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' could absorb the fear of others and use it to boost his own strength.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** One demon fed off of peoples' fear, and could make people hallucinate. Bad combination. Fortunately, when they actually fought him, he was three inches tall.
** When Clem returns in season 9, he reveals he [[{{Revision}} feeds from emotions]], specifically embarrassment. This becomes HilariousInHindsight when you see who he's spending all his time with in seasons 6 and 7.
* The Thesulac from ''Series/{{Angel}}'' feed off fear as well, and are known for cultivating the world's paranoia. They're not so easy to kill as Gaknar the Fear Demon.
* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "Sam, Interrupted," [[MonsterOfTheWeek a wraith]] is roaming the halls of a psychiatric hospital, feeding on the hormones produced in the brains of the patients. Its presence can also heighten latent mental instability in people, to give it more food.
* An episode of the [[ExecutiveMeddling poorly treated]] ''Series/BabylonFive'' spinoff ''Series/{{Crusade}}'' featured a mystical creature in a habitation bubble that got brought aboard the titular ship. Everyone had a different reaction to it and eventually Galen thought it was getting everyone all riled up to feed its own hunger. [[spoiler: He was proven wrong in the end.]]
* In ''Series/{{Alice|2009}}'', the Queen of Hearts keeps the residents of Wonderland happy [[spoiler:(and controlled)]] by harvesting positive emotions (with flavors like "Bliss", "Calm", "Excitement", "Passion") from captive humans and selling them to the populace as flavored "teas" through "Tea Shops", like the one Hatter owns/operates.
* ''Series/TwinPeaks''. BOB feeds on fear and pain.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E11TheGodComplex The God Complex]]'' features a minotaur alien which feeds on [[spoiler:faith, such as belief in a religion or in a person, by bringing out their greatest fear and causing the person to fall back on their strongest faith.]] The episode also uses a [[TearJerker tear jerking]] version of ImNotAfraidOfYou to cut off the minotaur's supply. [[spoiler: Amy is about to be devoured, because of her faith in the Doctor. So the Doctor purposely makes himself a BrokenPedestal- pointing out all the times he's failed, the danger he's gotten her into, the childhood he ruined, and how vain he is- so that Amy will stop believing in him and be saved.]]
** In ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E7TheRingsOfAkhaten The Rings of Akhaten]]'', the Doctor encounters another Emotion Eater in the form of a sentient star that has to be kept asleep by constant singing, and when it wakes, it seeks to devour The Queen of Years, a young girl who has been taught all the lore and songs of her people. The Doctor gives it a serious case of psychic indigestion when he force feeds it the memories of his over 1200 year life.
--> '''The Doctor''': I walked away from the Last Great Time War. I marked the passing of the Time Lords. I saw the birth of the universe and I watched as time ran out, moment by moment, until ''nothing'' remained. No time. No space. ''Just me''! I've walked in universes where the laws of physics were devised by the mind of a MAD MAN! I've watched universes freeze and creations burn. I have seen things you wouldn't believe! I have lost things you will NEVER understand! And I know things. Secrets that must never be told. Knowledge that must never be spoken. Knowledge that will make parasite gods ''blaze''. SO COME ON THEN! TAKE IT! TAKE IT ALL, BABY! HAVE IT! YOU HAVE IT '''ALL'''!
** In ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E5TimeHeist Time Heist]]'', the Teller apparently feeds on the guilt of other living beings.
* On ''{{Series/Dollhouse}}'', "The Attic" is a simulation which forces people to constantly fight horrible terrors, which are actually computer problems which the people are using their neural and emotional energy to solve.
* Barbas in ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' is the demon of fear, and feeds on the greatest fear of his victims. Hilariously, his MirrorUniverse GoodCounterpart is the demon of ''hope''.
* ''Series/TeenWolf'': The Nogitsune feeds on chaos, strife and pain.
* ''Series/CloakAndDagger2018'': Tandy has the power to see the hopes of anyone she touches. She eventually discovers she can also ''consume'' their hopes, gaining all those positive feelings for herself and leaving them angry and depressed. They seem to recover within a day or so, but it is still ''not'' portrayed as a good thing, and in fact is shown to directly parallel Tandy's drug abuse. Presumably Tyrone (who can see fears) could do something similar, though there is no reason he would want to.
* The Rowdy Three from ''Series/DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency'' feed on human fear and distress. Mostly they rile up such emotions by smashing stuff up and making a ruckus in public.

[[folder:Music]]
* The Music/NineInchNails song "The Collector" is about one of these.
* Music/{{Rammstein}}'s "Mein Herz Brennt" is about a character feeding on the tears of children.

[[folder:Podcasts]]
* In ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneBalance'', [[spoiler: Edward and Lydia feed off suffering to sustain Wonderland.]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness''
** In ''TabletopGame/WraithTheOblivion'', all wraiths have a number of ruling "Passions" that define their drives in life and in death. They can draw "Pathos" (the game's unit of {{Mana}}) from humans who are exhibiting the emotional state that underlies said Passion; the stronger the Passion, the more energy they can potentially draw.
** Similarly, in ''TabletopGame/DemonTheFallen'', demons gain their power through human faith. They most often gain capital-F Faith by [[OneWingedAngel revealing their true forms]] to humans, either benevolently or... otherwise.
* ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'':
** [[OurSpiritsAreDifferent Spirits]] in the setting can be animal, machine, idea or ''emotion''. These last two feed on the emotions of humans, and work to instill them. However, even a Love spirit is unable to understand the emotion it feeds on: all it knows is ''it likes it'' and will go to manipulative extremes to get a favorite mortal to feel as much of that emotion as possible before burning them out.
** ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'': Emotion is a strong source of Glamour. A changeling who's a member of one of the Great Courts even gets bonus Glamour if he attempts to reap the Court's ruling emotion -- desire for Spring, anger for Summer, fear for Autumn, and sorrow for Winter. Unusual in that they don't actually remove the emotion from the person they're feeding on, although there are rumours about awful things happening to mortals who are regularly targeted.
** In ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'', the Formosae are vampiric beings that feed on a person's self-loathing and body issues. By absorbing such things, they're able to make others more beautiful... at the cost of some of their life. Ironically, the energy accumulates on the Formosae in the form of fatty deposits, which means they need to maintain their own pyramid schemes to appear thin.
** In ''TabletopGame/BeastThePrimordial'' Beasts, embodiments of humanity's worst nightmares, feed on fear.
* TheFairFolk in ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' feed off of human emotions and dreams. Said emotions [[FateWorseThanDeath don't grow back]], eventually leaving any long-term victim a mindless husk. Consequently, everyone who doesn't adore the Fair Folk tends to be utterly terrified of them. Which is fine with them, as either way, they find it ''delicious''. They can have ways of feeding that don't do permanent harm, or any at all[[note]]Like capturing the excess emotion on a big event. Party, funereal etc.[[/note]], the thing is those aren't as effective and they mostly just don't care.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''
** The daemons may be born from emotions, but they don't take them away from the source. Daemons actually feed on souls, but not the emotions directly (although a soul is required to have emotions).
** Dark Eldar can feed on the pain and suffering of other sentient beings. This serves many purposes in their civilisation, but most importantly, it reinvigorates them and prevents their souls from being drained by [[GodOfEvil Slaanesh]]. Also, they can apparently feed on the emotional energies of battles to become more powerful. This effectively makes them [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Space Vampires]].
* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'' setting, all of the supernatural weirdness is ultimately caused by a quartet of malevolent entities called the Reckoners, whose power is derived from negative emotions, especially fear. The Reckoners' goal is to cause enough fear on a global scale to give them the power to manifest physically on Earth, and in doing so, kick-start the apocalypse.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}''
** The game (along with ''TabletopGame/{{Earthdawn}}'') has the Horrors, creatures from the Astral Plane who live on the negative emotions of others. The Horrors can only eat negative emotions caused by their own actions.
** In addition, certain spirits, like the [[TheHeartless Yama Kings of Kowloon Walled City]], feed on the negative emotional energies of places full of despair and horror.
** [[OurVampiresAreDifferent HMHVV-type I sufferers]] drain [[LifeEnergy Essence]] through strong emotions, usually leaving the victim emotionally drained in the process. While the emotion itself isn't what they feed on, it's the vehicle by which Essence is drained so the effect is indistinguishable from the trope.
** ''Ka•Ge'' magazine Volume 1 Issue 9 short story "Wonderland". The evil monster threatening the protagonists feeds on the emotion of fear in its victims.
** Supplement ''Howling Shadows''
*** Nocnitsa are spirits that feed off of the fear they cause in young children. They cause the children to have nightmares while sleeping. When the children wake up, the nocnitsa show them their worm-eaten, rotten faces to scare them into losing consciousness.
*** Stabbers are spirits that feed on the emotional energy from pain. They inflict pain on their victims by stabbing them with their barbed tentacles.
* ''TabletopGame/DyingEarth'' RPG supplement ''Scaum Valley Gazetteer''. The Gleft are spirit creatures who gain nourishment from confusion and distress. They cause these emotions by inserting a ghostly finger inside the victim's brain and stirring it around.
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''
** Mayfair Games' Role Aids supplement ''Dark Folk''. The troll deity Lirabyth draws energy from the fear of victims sacrificed to her.
** In the TabletopGame/{{Mystara}} (Known World) setting, the Darkhood (a spectral undead monster) lived off the fear it caused in living creatures.
** TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}} setting
*** In the Nightmare Lands, the Nightmare Court traps dreamers in nightmares and lives off the negative emotions the dreamers feel: Ghost Dancer (guilt and shame), Hypnos (inadequacy, frustration and humiliation), Morpheus (misery), Mullongan (fear), Nightmare Man (any), and Rainbow Serpent (insecurity, mistrust, suspicion). Dream spawn (nightmare monsters): Ennui (fear), shadow morph (fear and horror)
*** 2nd Edition boxed set, ''Realm of Terror'' booklet. Odems are incorporeal entities that can possess living humanoid creatures and force them to cause mayhem and destruction. The odem feeds on the fear, anger and hatred in other people caused by their actions.
*** The 2E Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium III had four variant forms of the Will O'Wisp that drained emotions. The Will O'Dawn feeds on excitement and happiness, the Will O'Deep hungers for fear and desperation, the Will O'Mist consumes the emotions of people crossing the Mists of Ravenloft, and the Will O'Sea lives on panic, particularly that of drowning victims.
** TabletopGame/DarkSun Monstrous Compendium Appendix 1 ''Terrors of the Desert''. Zhackal packs feast upon the emotions of those about to die.
** 2nd Edition TabletopGame/{{Planescape}} setting boxed set, Monstrous Supplement booklet. The Spirits of the Air feed on the happiness of other creatures.
** 2nd Edition ''Monstrous Manual''. The skriaxit is a living sandstorm that delights in destruction and feeds on the terror of its victims.
** 3rd Edition supplement ''Relics & Rituals''. The ChaoticEvil magic sword Bloodlust feeds off the fear of its victims.
** TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms supplement ''Elminster's Ecologies'', booklet "The Settled Lands". Lichlings are small cockroach-like creatures spawned from the brain cells of demiliches. They consume the fear experienced by their victims.
** ''TabletopGame/{{Spelljammer}} Monstrous Compendium Appendix II''. The Allura are reptile-like monsters that take over the crews of spelljamming ships and put them in dangerous situations so they can harvest the crews' emotions.
** ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' magazine
*** Annual #2 (1997) article "Villains of Gothic Earth". The odem Praskovia Voronov possesses victims in order to feed on the emotion of hot anger. She needs it because her unlife status is sustained by her own frustration and anger.
*** Issue #271 article "Bazaar of the Bizarre". Soul masks are parasites that eat emotional energy to survive. They use their powers to cause their victims to feel a particular emotion which they then feed upon.
** ''Magazine/WhiteDwarf'' magazine
*** Issue #19 article "The Fiend Factory". The empipath is a monster that magnifies the emotions that other creatures are feeling. It then feeds off of the enhanced emotions it creates. The stronger the emotions the targets are feeling, the more likely they are to succumb to the empipath's emotion amplification.
*** Issue #47 article "The Fiend Factory". The trist feeds on hate and uses its powers of CharmPerson to cause people to take actions that cause hatred in others. The krowk is a crow-like demon found in Hell and the Abyss that feeds on the pain and torment of lost souls.
** ''Magazine/{{Imagine}}'' magazine #16 article "Goroghwen". The goroghwen is a monster that uses its power of illusion make its victims feel intense fear, which it then feeds on.
* ''TabletopGame/GURPSSupers'' supplements
** ''Wild Cards''. Both Senator Hartman (AKA Puppet Man) and The Gatekeeper (owner of the Joker's Wild cabaret) feed off emotions.
** ''Mixed Doubles''. The super villain Orgy can control other people's emotions. He must be exposed to strong emotions at least once per week or suffer damage.
* ''Hot Chicks'' RPG. Demons feed off negative human emotions such as terror and suffering.
* Mayfair Games' ''TabletopGame/{{Chill}}'' supplement ''Veil of Flesh''. The creatures known as Ganabes absorb the psychic energy given off from the terror and agony of their victims as they beat them to death.
* ''TabletopGame/LejendaryAdventures''. The Moriant inflicts a slow and painful death on its victim so it can feed on the victim's terror.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'' supplement ''Teen Champions''. The villainess Jeepers Creepers causes other people to feel intense fear. When she does so she gains nourishment from the fear.
* ''Eureka: 501 Adventure Plots to Inspire Game Masters'' adventure "Weapons Grade". A spirit of vengeance amplifies feelings of anger and aggression in people so it can feed on those emotions.
* ''White Wolf'' magazine #44 article "Gargoyles by Night...Life", which introduces the new Gargoyle race for the ''[=NightLife=]'' game. Gargoyles can feed by draining the fear of other creatures. They cause other creatures to feel fear by either using their Fear Projection power of using their scary appearance to frighten them.
* Creator/{{Chaosium}}'s supplement ''All the Worlds' Monsters'' Volume III. The Demon of Love and Madness feeds on the emotion of love. Anyone meeting the demon's gaze may permanently lose the ability to feel love.

[[folder:Theme Parks]]
* The storyline for ''Ride/DoctorDoomsFearfall'' at [[Ride/UniversalStudios Universal's Islands of Adventure]] involves Doom gathering people to ride his "Tower of Doom", so he can use the fear generated from those riding as a power source for his ultimate weapon, the "Fusion Dynamo".

[[folder:Video Games]]
* The flavor text in the [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pokédex]] paints Shuppet as one that feeds off of grudges and deceit, [[DarkIsNotEvil in the sense that they remove those emotions]]. "Victims" of a Shuppet's feeding tend to experience much more pleasant moods for a time afterwards.
** Misdreavus feed off of fear, as well, which explains why they like to startle people and scream at them.
** From the ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' series, [[spoiler:the Bittercold, the BigBad]] in ''Gates to Infinity'' feeds on the negative emotions of all the Pokémon in the world.
* An NPC named Unfulfilled-Desire in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' feeds off of desire, and will literally drain you of whatever wants you describe to her. It's apparently quite a disturbing experience, but you can use it to [[spoiler:help someone overcome his alcoholism if you know about her beforehand]].
* In ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'', Dark Gaia gets power from the negative emotions of everyone on Earth. Even though he's basically just a mass of anger and hate, though, he somehow oozes green blood.
* The Guardian Lords in the ''VideoGame/WildArms'' series are a cross between this and GodsNeedPrayerBadly. One of the themes is that since the world is dying, Love, Courage and especially Hope are disappearing and therefore the Guardians of those emotions are doing badly and can't help to fight back. Until our plucky heroes inspire them of course. Desire is doing perfectly fine in the dying world though.
** The spinoff TurnBasedStrategy game introduces the opposite of a Guardian, specifically an entity that both feeds off and promotes fear, fitting the trope a bit better.
* Demons in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' fit this to a certain extent; it's not the emotions themselves that feed them, but the power that they create, called Magatsuhi. Angels and other lawful demons tend to feed on the Magatsuhi created by adulation and faith, while devils and other chaotic demons tend to feed on the Magatsuhi created by terror and anguish. Make no mistake, however - [[GodIsEvil neither]] [[GreyAndGrayMorality side]] is particularly positive.
** Nyarlathotep from the ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona'' series also feeds on ''every single negative emotion'' of humanity, being the representation of humanity's negative emotions. His rival Philemon, in contrast, represents humanity's positive emotions.
* Demons in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' fit this to a tee. Desire demons in particular seem to relish the chance to experience mortal life.
* The BigBad in ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Season One'' is an emotion feeder, and [[spoiler: he specifically establishes a ChurchOfHappyology to supply himself with blissful emotions.]]
* Kogasa of ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' eats surprise. Unfortunately, she's not very good at surprising people. On a wider scale, youkai are at least partly dependent on human fear; the tenuous balance between the Human Village and the youkai is laboriously maintained by Yukari and the most powerful factions.
** Hata no Kokoro, the main antagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}} Shinkirou ~ Hopeless Masquerade'', starts to absorb the hope of people around her when she loses her Mask of Hope. While she stopped doing so, she's still capable of eating the emotions of others.
* In some ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' games, it is stated that Dracula can come back just by absorbing the negative emotions of humans.
* The BigBad of ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'', [[spoiler:Terumi Yuuki]], sustains himself through other people's despair and hatred of him. Which is especially problematic for those trying to end him, as he is ''very, very good'' at doing [[KickTheDog horribly]] [[MoralEventHorizon hateworthy]] [[{{Troll}} things]] to people ForTheEvulz.
* Obscure UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance game ''CIMA: The Enemy'' uses this trope. The eponymous villains are said to feed off of the emotion of hope. To do this they drag humans into an extra-dimensional dungeon where the thought of escape gives them hope.
* The Ruina from ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsDestiny'' feeds on negative emotions like despair, hatred, etc. Thus they do everything to ensure the world is in a dark state thus the negative emotions of these humans would be fed on them. And their leader, Perfectio, is... practically immortal.
* [[Characters/SuperRobotWarsX Hopes]] frequently comments on the taste of the emotions of various X-Cross members during Vault scenes in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsX''. Unlike many examples of the trope, he doesn't actually drain the emotions he eats, but he does rely on their presence for sustenance.
** Unlike Hopes, Ende doesn't actually rely on human emotions for sustenance, but likes the taste of them anyway. Also unlike Hopes, [[spoiler:he's gluttonous enough to suck them out and leave the victim a soulless husk, and even when he doesn't do that, his favorite emotions are hate, fear, and anguish.]]
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has the Sha, who feed on whatever negative emotion they (and their offspring) represent. The most powerful Sha, however, doesn't need the emotion to be a negative one. After all, [[spoiler: Pride can sometimes be good, and Pride is the most powerful of all seven Sha.]]
* The Pkunk of ''[[VideoGame/StarControl Star Control II]]'' are an interesting inversion. Being a very psychic race, they designed their ships to use psychic energy as a power source. In a fight, they continually insult and trash-talk their opponents, working themselves into a frenzy of psychic rage that feeds their weapons systems. In other words, they have literally weaponized hate.
* In ''Videogame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'', a quest involves saving a nobleman from a monster known as a "hym," which is a demon that feeds off feelings of deep guilt and remorse. In this case, [[spoiler: the man in question murdered his brother]], and the deep guilt from that drew the hym in and caused it to latch onto his soul and generate "visions" while he slept that he interpreted as the will of unspecified gods. Geralt can either draw the hym out to fight it directly, or trick it into leaving its host to find a new victim to latch onto, with the latter involving [[spoiler: a companion fooling Geralt into thinking he murdered a child]], then revealing it didn't happen at all, leaving the hym hostless and banishing it.
* Investigation of the notes in ''[[VideoGame/ThePark The Park]]'' reveals that Atlantic Island Park itself is one of these. [[spoiler: Basically, Nathaniel Winter found out that Solomon Island possesses a vast reservoir of dark power hidden deep beneath its soil; believing that this power source would be able to imbue him with magical abilities and make him immortal, he found that the power could only be unlocked through an influx of emotional energy - ideally positive ones. So, he built an amusement park on Solomon Island, augmenting it with siphoning machines to draw off the joy and happiness of any guests: as a result, people who visit the place end up walking away feeling scared... unless of course you're already experiencing depression or other emotional problems, in which case the park might just drive you insane, hence the massive amounts of murders and suicides that plagued Atlantic Island Park during its time in the spotlight. Main character Lorraine Maillard begins to suffer this particular side-effect herself as the game continues.]]
** Later on in ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' proper, it's revealed that [[spoiler: as a result of unlocking the power he desired, Winter's been transformed into the Bogeyman - and now feeds directly on human fear.]]

[[folder: Web Animation]]
* The Grimm from ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' are drawn to negative emotion. Feelings like fear, sorrow, or anger will cause Grimm to congregate to the source. The more intense theses feelings, the more Grimm are drawn. [[spoiler: This gets exploited in Volume 3, when Cinder causes a panic by tricking Pyrrha into killing Penny on live-television: the amount of fear and anger draws in every Grimm for miles around, overwhelming Vale's defenses and leaving the city in ruins.]]

[[folder: Web Comic]]
* ''Webcomic/{{MAG ISA}}'' -- [[http://mag-isa.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/119577 The demons in this comic feed off of negative emotions]]. That is why they like to cause pain and suffering.
* The gods of ''Webcomic/AMomentOfPeace'', are a rare example of peaceful, useful emotion eaters that have a symbiotic relationship with the mortals they feed off of. They eat gruel made of human sorrow and baked cheer, and in return answer prayers and perform metaphysical chores that benefit humanity.
* The Hadoken from ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' is fueled by ThePowerOfLove -- literally; the divorce rate goes up every time Black Mage uses it.
* The [[HornyDevils 'cubi]] in ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'' feed this way, with each demon usually having a favorite "flavor" that's more filling for them. It doesn't remove the target's emotion, though, they're sustained just by being around someone who's emitting emotion. Although it's common practice for them to provoke the emotion they want through non-supernatural means.
** For example, one who feeds best on Anxiety might take up a job in a waiting room, allowing them to feed on the patients while earning their paycheck.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Megatokyo}}'', it's suggested that the magical girls gain their power from the emotions of other people and are compelled to cause said emotions. What exact emotions seems to depend on the particular girl.
* The Demoness in ''Webcomic/{{Yosh}}'' Stated by other characters to likely not actually ''need'' emotion to survive, but that it does fuel her powers.
* Walter from ''Webcomic/WonderMark'' [[http://wondermark.com/548/ #548]] has a nutritional deficiency with this requirement.
* Slake from ''Webcomic/{{Fans}}'' claims to be an emotion eater, but it's not clear if he really is, or just a VampireVannabe.
* Every Cubi feeds of a different emotion in ''Webcomic/ProjectFuture'', a fancomic of ''Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures'' (above).
** One of the characters in the later chapter was brought BackFromTheDead as an android was Cubi who fed on Surprise
** It also mentioned that there have been Cubis who fed on Fear, Joy, Depression, etc.
* Spirits in ''[[{{Webcomic/Morphe}} morphE]]'' manipulate creatures into situations that cause them to feel a certain emotion so it can drink from them. An example was given in a [[http://morphe.thewebcomic.com/comics/1930662/chapter-3-page-37-cat-food/ magic lecture of an affection spirit which would possess a cat and cause it to seek love and attention from humans.]] Spirits are not smart enough to know that they cannot do this non-stop without killing their charge.
* ''WebComic/EerieCuties'': Tia is [[EnfantTerrible a pint-sized demoness]], who uses her powers to sow discord so she can [[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/i_am_eating_here feed on the misery of others.]] Though it isn't all fun 'n games for her, since displays of kindness and happiness can [[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/aura_of_innocence cause her to become physically ill.]] Meaning, in all likelihood, she ''[[NecessarilyEvil has to]]'' spread discord in order to [[spoiler: [[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/so_much_more_to_do sustain her existence]]]].
* ''Webcomic/{{Daniel}}'' is a vampire that drinks blood to feel life, and that includes the emotions that go with it.
* In ''Webcomic/AliceAndTheNightmare'', everything is powered by energy harvested from dreams of Earth people. As harmful as it might be to the minds of small children, most of the danger is on Wonderland's side; children don't have the mental control to fight their fears, which promptly manifest as hulking murder-monsters and hunt down the invading Wonderlanders.
* One ''WebComic/{{Oglaf}}'' strip introduces a wraith-thing that [[http://oglaf.com/withsympathy/ feeds on fear]]. [[spoiler:Notably, because it actually ''eats'' fear, its victim is left a FearlessFool, and promptly gets himself killed screwing around with a crocodile. The wraith muses that it should feel guilty about that, but for some reason it doesn't. Cue another wraith appearing, announcing that it feeds on regret.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original]]
* The Franchise/{{Godzilla}} FanFilm ''Godzilla vs the Kaiju Killer'' has Gabara reimagined as an entity created by Stalkkus to feed on the fear of his victims.
* In ''{{WebOriginal/Mortasheen}}'', the Devilbirds all definitely fit this trope, all in many terrifying ways. ([[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Except for Sloth]])
* More than a few interpretations of the [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos Slender Man]] suggest/theorize that he consumes the fear of his victims. What a [[SarcasmMode shocking development]].
* Nightmares, the MonsterClown archenemy of The ''Podcast/TheThrillingAdventureHour's'' Frank and Sadie Doyle, feeds off fear to grow powerful. This turns the Doyles into his personal kryptonite. Sadie finds clowns hilarious, so she can't take him seriously enough to be afraid and, thanks to Sadie, Frank no longer fears Nightmares despite his being Frank's childhood boogeyman. His second and third appearances focus on him finding ways to generate enough fear to make him powerful enough to manifest after being previously vanquished.
* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation''
** There is some speculation among Foundation personnel that [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-589 SCP-589]] "The Price of Obsession" feeds off of the intense anguish it causes its obsessed victims after it leaves them.
** [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-708 SCP-708 ("The Big Orange Forklift")]]. Some Foundation scientists believe that SCP-708 feeds on its driver's enthusiasm.
** [[http://scp-wiki.net/scp-932 SCP-932 ("Night Feeder")]]. These creatures find a sleeping person, pin them down and wake them up. They then consume the fear the victim feels at the situation they're in.
** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1293 SCP-1293 ("Squeedle Deedle Dee!")]]. These creatures trick human beings into feeling certain emotions so they can feed on them. Type A feeds on feelings of unease and perturbation, and Type B feeds on feelings of confusion and bewilderment. Namely, As have convinced the researchers that they have to hand over their kids, so they can [[ItMakesSenseInContext draw them something to reproduce from]], and the author puts forwards the possibility even the supposed "real" reproduction the new doctor observed was an attempt at putting him off too, and Bs simply show up in front of someone and do an impromptu musical act with no rhyme or reason.
** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1457 SCP-1457 ("Mourning Cloak")]]. The butterfly that is SCP-1457 absorbs sad memories from people and gives them to other people. The recipients feel emotions of loneliness and abandonment, which SCP-1457 then eats for sustenance.
** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1655 SCP-1655 ("Sorrow Tick")]]. Foundation scientists believe that SCP-1655 causes negative emotions in its victims in order to feed off those emotions.
** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2018 SCP-2018 ("Museum of You")]]. SCP-2018 used to absorb the emotions that the museum visitors felt as they looked at the exhibits. It was inspired to create its own virtual museum to create exhibits relevant to the lives and memories of its visitors.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]
* Spectra of ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom''. By posing as a school counseler, she is able to meet with teenagers, discover their insecurities, and pick at their pain and misery, which she in turns feeds on to [[VainSorceress keep herself looking young]].
* The Knights of Destruction in ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'' fed on hatred, anger, fear, and anguish. Tridart became enormous during the first attack on Kandrakar, which terrified the goodies.
** Later this became a major weakness for the Knights as the ''opposite'' emotion they feasted on weakened them [[spoiler: and in Shagon's case destroyed him]]. Not surprisingly, their boss decided to [[spoiler: phase them out for her old team, though this may have been her plan from the beginning]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Scott Tenorman Must Die", after getting revenge on Scott by [[spoiler: tricking him into eating chili made from his dead parents]], Cartman literally drinks Scott's tears of despair, and comments on [[EvilTastesGood how delicious they are]].
-->'''Stan:''' Dude, I think it might be best for us to never piss Cartman off again.
* Paddywhack from ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' devoured negative emotions.
* Bit of a twist in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' with the FaceStealer Koh. He doesn't eat emotions- but he will steal your face if you ''show'' any emotion.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is full of these. Seriously, a significant part of the ecology seems to use emotions as sustenance:
** [[RealityWarper Discord]], the spirit of Disharmony from the season 2 premiere: the Cutie Mark Crusaders' violent argument over the meaning of his statue (actually him TakenForGranite) is apparently the factor that tips his strength enough over the edge for him to break free.
** The Windigos seen during the pageant in "Hearth's Warming Eve" feed on hate and anger, and shroud the land for miles around in an endless winter. It's implied that they make a habit of [[AndIMustScream freezing their victims alive]] so that they can use them as a perpetual food source.
** [[spoiler: Changelings]], from "A Canterlot Wedding", feed on love, and use it to power their spells. [[spoiler: The love between Princess Cadance and Shining Armor was so strong that it allowed their queen, Chrysalis, to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu defeat Princess Celestia in a one-on-one magical duel]], an act that [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength even shocked Chrysalis herself]].]]
*** Issue #3 of [[ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW The Comic Book]] shows how they actually do so: [[spoiler: they just suck the green, gaseous life miasma right out of the victim's body.]]
*** The sixth season finale, "To Where and Back Again", ultimately reveals that [[spoiler:feeding on love like they do is a highly inefficient way of eating as it leaves them starving, but it makes Chrysalis stronger. When Starlight Glimmer convinces the Changeling Thorax to ''share'' love instead of ''stealing'' it, it fills them up and heals their body, showing their true forms for all to see.]]
** The Dazzlings in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks'' use their magic pendants to absorb bad vibes, which they evoke in their subjects [[BrownNote via music]].
* Mother Mae-Eye from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' is a rare villainess who gains power from being loved. Anyone who has eaten her mind-controlling pie would think she is and [[RememberTheNewGuy has always been]] their mother. She then takes care of everything until her "children" love her so much that she can bake them into a giant pie and get all of their fabricated affection without meeting any resistance.
* The giant advertising mascots in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Threehouse of Horror VI", specifically the "Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesore" segment; they live off attention. The advertising agency who created them says that advertisements lose their power when people stop paying attention to them, so simply ignoring the giant monsters and denying them attention would cause them to die. With some help from Paul Anka (who stars AsHimself in the episode) this plan works.
** Parodied in "The Canine Mutiny": Homer, after telling a tearful Bart that crying isn't going to bring Santa's Little Helper back (SLH had been repossessed in the place of [[CreditCardPlot a dog Bart purchased with money he didn't have]]), he briefly theorizes that dogs ''might'' be attracted to human tears if they smell enough like dog food. Therefore, Bart has two choices: go out and find his dog, or cry while eating can after can of dog food until his tears smell enough like dog food for his dog to come back.
* In ''WesternAnimation/WordGirl'', this is the secret to Miss Power's strength. As long as there are people in the area who are feeling upset and uncertain, she is unbeatable (or at the very least, stronger, faster, and tougher than [=WordGirl=] is). She is really good at taunting people to make them feel this way. When [=WordGirl=] finds the strength and confidence to stand up to her and ignore her taunting, Miss Power is forced to retreat.
* The Boogeyman from ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' derives his power from the fear he instills in his victims.
* In ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'', Preston Change-O is a magician who drains the joy from his audience after entertaining them, feeding himself and leaving them depressed.
* The Stone-Eyed Cyclops in ''WesternAnimation/{{Castlevania}}'' [[TakenForGranite turns its victims to stone]] with its eye to feed on their terror [[AndIMustScream while trapped in their own bodies]].
* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' has one of these employed at an alien spa that the eponymous duo visit. They enjoy the experience.
-->'''Rick:''' These things are just doing what they do in the wild. It ''loves'' swallowing stressed-out creatures for 20 minutes and then puking them up.
-->'''Morty:''' My whole body's like a baby's ass!
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life]]
* There are plenty of people who "feed off of" another person's emotional responses, to one degree or another. Often times this is when the Emotion Eater is in a relationship with someone and will purposely instigate fights or other such acts in order to satisfy themselves, caring little or nothing for the other party involved.
** [[TheBully Bullies]] get satisfaction from seeing other people upset and vulnerable, and unfortunately, even ignoring them is highly ineffective. It shows the bully that if someone is trying to ignore them that the bullying IS having an effect, and that they will continue to pick on that person anyway. It also gives them an excuse to pick on you as they can always pretend that it does not bother anyone. If it did work then they would move on to another target. The "just ignore them" advice is usually given by people who don't want to deal with the problem of bullying.
** Internet {{troll}}s get a kick out of people's emotional reactions to them, and the best way to stop them is not to respond ("don't feed the trolls").
** Real people are a lot more likely to "feed off" of ''positive emotions'' than fictional people though. This is also known as [[GoodFeelsGood liking to make someone happy.]]
* It is claimed that Creator/GeorgeRRMartin is sustained only by the tears of his fans. He denies it, claiming that he also drinks wine.
[[/folder]]

!!Examples

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]
* The BigBad in ''Anime/{{Mnemosyne}}'' likes the taste of suffering. He also has an army of monstrous angels and godlike powers at his command. Not a good mix.
* In ''LightNovel/CoffinPrincessChaika'', Arthur Gaz' ultimate plan [[spoiler:upon resurrection]] is to plunge the continent into a new war, then use a network of magical satellites to feed off the [[WarIsHell resultant negative emotions]] and become all-powerful.
* The nightmares/shin of ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'' trap their victims in never ending nightmares and feed on the fear they feel.
* All mazoku from ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' draw power from negative emotion. [[CareBearStare Cheerful and happy emotions]] cause them pain. To feed himself Xelloss riles up the main anti-heroes.
* The [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]] of ''Manga/{{Karin}}'' nourish themselves with emotions taken along with the victim's blood. In something of a subversion, [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire they exclusively drain negative emotions (such as despair, pride, or taking pleasure in lying), and leave their victim better off than prior to the bite (albeit a bit weak from blood loss)]]. The effect is only temporary, however.
** However, this trope is also played somewhat straight - there do exist vampires that feed on positive traits. [[spoiler: Elda's grandmother drains love from her victims and suffered greatly a few hundred years before the show started because of it.]]
** In the manga, at least, it's also noted that this isn't necessarily a good thing. Calera drains the ability to lie, which could be dangerous. Before the story started, Henry drained someone's pride, making her needy, according to her boyfriend. He broke up with her.
* Near the end of the anime version of ''Anime/{{Pretear}}'' [[BigBad Takako / Fenrir]] summons a huge tree that is powered by the feeling of despair, and makes sure she has a power source for it by using [[spoiler:Mawata's feelings for Sasame, who already underwent an EvilCostumeSwitch,]] to drive the victim into the required state. This backfires in the last episode, when [[spoiler:Sasame sacrifices himself to save Takako]], which upsets her just enough to become the new victim of the tree.
* One of the demons near the beginning of ''Manga/YuYuHakusho''
* No Face in ''Anime/SpiritedAway'' feeds off of the greed in the bathhouse and goes nuts. However, he gets better.
** In fact, the reason why he kept following Chihiro because she was probably the only one who was nice to him and thus, probably the best tasting.
* Feeding off negative emotions is a [[BigBad Godhand]] trademark from ''{{Manga/Berserk}}''. Slan in particular enjoys feeding off the negative emotions that she can elicit from Guts.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': This seems to be part of Hidan's reason for being a Jasshinist. The more pain he causes his victims before finally killing them, the more he seems to enjoy it. When he finally killed [[spoiler: Asuma]] it was a narcotic high.
* While they do not necessarily feed off them, Franchise/{{Digimon}} can be greatly affected by their [[KidWithTheLeash Human Partner/Tamer's]] emotions, both positive and negative, resulting in different kinds of evolution.
** ''Anime/DigimonSavers'' and ''Anime/DigimonXrosWarsTheYoungHuntersLeapingThroughTime'' take this further, with Digimon being able to feed on random people's emotions and pulling themselves into the real world by doing so. The emotions in question tend to be negative ones such as ambition, pride or greed, though. ''Savers'' even had the SevenDeadlySins as the emotions that the [[MonsterOfTheWeek the 'mons from the first several episodes]] had been homing in on. Only the partner Digimon seem to use positive emotions to get stronger.
* ''Anime/FushigiboshiNoFutagoHime'' has the [[EldritchAbomination Black Crystal]], which feeds off of despair, unhappiness, misery, and anger. The more it feeds, the bigger and stronger it becomes, and [[AsLongAsThereIsEvil as long as it can feed]], it ''will'' continue to exist.
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' [[spoiler:has the cute and adorable mascot devour the negative emotions given off by [[EldritchAbomination Witches]] to stop the universe's entropy.]]
** And in a roundabout way, [[spoiler:Magical Girls are also this. They need the Grief Seeds made from the despair of Witches to cleanse their Soul Gems and keep from becoming Witches themselves.]]
* In ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'', the runaway spirits hide in girls to feed off of their negative emotions. [[spoiler: The Goddesses feed on love instead to get stronger.]]
* ''LightNovel/{{Inukami}}'' has [[spoiler:Jesei]] who feeds on despair. He says [[EvilTastesGood nothing is more delicious than provoking despair.]] Naturally this means pushing people past the DespairEventHorizon.
* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', Ichigo's Hollowification grows more powerful as he sinks deeper into despair. [[spoiler: It's later revealed that it's like an overprotective brother. Hollow!Ichigo/the real Zangetsu only gets stronger when Ichigo despairs in order to completely annihilate that source of despair.]]
* The Ultimaguil from ''LightNovel/GonnaBeTheTwinTail'' are a goofy, comedic version of this, but rather than emotions per se, they drain "zokusei" (a concept that has no direct equivalent in the West) — the pleasure a sentient being feels when doing something they like.
* [[spoiler:Neo]] from ''Manga/{{Toriko}}'' [[ExtremeOmnivore can eat virtually anything, not only matter, but also energy, souls and even luck]], but his favorite flavor is despair, which is bad news for his victims, since he prefers to terrify and torture them before eating in order to make them tastier. His ability to taste feelings is also his greatest weakness, since he absolutely can't stand the taste of [[spoiler:anger]], which ultimately leads to his defeat.
* In an [[DarkIsNotEvil oddly heroic]] variation, Maoh Satan of ''LightNovel/TheDevilIsAPartTimer'' is able to [[spoiler: regain his full powers when large numbers of people are in danger]] by feeding off of their fear.
[[/folder]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/WordGirl'', this is the secret to Miss Power's strength. As long as there was people in the area who are feeling upset and uncertain, she is unbeatable (or at the very least, stronger, faster, and tougher than [=WordGirl=] is). She is really good at taunting people to make them feel this way. When [=WordGirl=] finds the strength and confidence to stand up to her and ignore her taunting, Miss Power is forced to retreat.