History Main / EmotionEater

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[[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.
* Media organisations often seek to provoke strong positive or negative emotional reactions in their users in order to keep them buying, watching and sitting through ads. That might take the form of a newspaper or television network pushing sensationalised new stories to incense MoralGuardians or a Youtube algorithm favouring polarising videos that get a large number of likes or dislikes.
[[/folder]]

* 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"]] (and its [[https://images.dailykos.com/images/858490/story_image/TMW2020-09-23color.png?1600534632 two]] [[https://images.dailykos.com/images/996225/story_image/TMW2021-10-13color.png?1633900271 sequels]]) is a tentacled BrainMonster that feeds on the "chaos, anger and turmoil" generated by UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump and his supporters.

* The Sirens from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks'' get their powers by feeding on the negative energy of those hypnotized by their MindControlMusic. The more negative energy they consume, the stronger their voices become until they have everyone under their control.

* The Merovingian's wife in ''Franchise/TheMatrix'' craves the emotions of others, especially love. This is why she keeps making people kiss her.
* The [[EldritchAbomination Harvesters]] in ''Film/TheDeathsOfIanStone'' primarily feed on fear, and encourage tales of boogeymen throughout TheMultiverse so as to have an easier time harvesting it. Some time back, they discovered that the most delicious fear comes from the instant before death, and became addicted to slaughtering their victims. [[spoiler:It turns out they're ''not '' AlwaysChaoticEvil, and if they get into an InterspeciesRomance they can also sustain themselves on love.]]
* In ''Film/GhostbustersII'', Vigo uses a river of slime beneath the city to gather and feed on people's negative emotions. [[spoiler:The slime is later used by the Ghostbusters against him after they expose it to some positive emotions.]]
* Pennywise / IT in ''Film/It2017''. He makes a point of scaring the daylights out of his victims rather than going in for the kill, for the same reason the rest of us would season a well-cooked meal.
* The monsters in ''Film/GirlVsMonster''. When they feed on their victims' fear, they will be more stronger and powerful.

* ''Film/TheTheatreBizarre'': "Vision Stains" is about a writer[=/=]SerialKiller who cannot dream. She extracts fluid from her victims' eyes as they die and injects it into her own eye so she can experience the others' lives as they flash by in their dying moments.

* The Music/NineInchNails' song "The Collector".

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

* In ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneBalance'', [[spoiler: Edward and Lydia feed off suffering to sustain Wonderland.]]
* Episode 3 of ''Podcast/DeathByDying'' has [[spoiler:the Silent Nuns who turn out to be empathic vampires who drain all of the sadness from the Greif Support Group]].
* Starting in the fourth season of ''Podcast/TheMagnusArchives'', [[spoiler: Jonathan Sims, the Archivist, develops a physical need for the statements. It is revealed that this hunger is shared among Avatars of the various Entities, as Daisy withers when actively denying her need to Hunt.]] The Entities all feed on fear in one way or another, [[spoiler: but Jon specifically is feeding on the emotions of the storytellers and making people relive their horrific encounters. He is tired and disheveled when unable to force stories out of victims for an extended period and becomes more powerful after having fed.]]

* 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".

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': [[Beelzebub Queen Bee-Lzebub]] is the ruler of the Gluttony Ring and can get ''high'' from the energy of others indulging in gluttonous acts. She can also "taste" the emotions of those who attend her parties, which are apparently distinct enough in "flavor" that she's able to immediately zero in on Blitzo's negative mindset.

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

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': The Apathy drain people's will to go on, sapping away their emotions in the process. Proximity to the Apathy can calm people down by "taking the edge off" their emotions, and increasing the number of Apathy increases the impact. With enough of them, they can cause entire settlements to stop living and die of starvation or dehydration. At closer range, the Apathy can also [[MakeMeWannaShout unleash a piercing scream]] that dramatically amplifies this effect, causing victims to collapse and lose all will to continue; they'll just lie down in front of the Apathy and wait to die.

For all the talk about how villainous most Emotion Eaters are, albeit well-deserved, it should be noted that there ''are'' comparatively rare cases of those who [[BadPowersGoodPeople use their powers benevolently]]. Examples of non-malicious Emotion Eaters usually feed by passively absorbing "excess" emotional energy from one or more targets harmlessly or only drain those who consent to the process. If they actively drain targets, they usually take care to only drain negative emotions such as anger, hate, sorrow, or fear, resulting in much more positive or clearer mindsets for the target. Alternatively, benevolent examples may feed on positive emotions ''without'' draining them, meaning the Emotion Eater thrives on other characters' happiness.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation''

For all the talk about how villainous most Emotion Eaters are, albeit well-deserved, it should be noted that there ''are'' comparatively rare cases of those who [[BadPowersGoodPeople use their powers benevolently]]. Examples of non-malicious Emotion Eaters usually feed by passively absorbing "excess" emotional energy from one or more targets harmlessly or only drain those who consent to the process. If they actively drain targets, they usually take care to only drain negative emotions such as anger, hate, sorrow, or fear, resulting in much more positive or clearer mindsets for the target.

* ''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.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'': The city of Monstropolis is powered through the screams of terrified little children. [[spoiler:The monsters later discover that children's laughter is ''far more'' powerful.]]

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.

See IKnowWhatYouFear for how one particular emotion may be 'encouraged'.

For all the talk about how villainous most Emotion Eaters are, albeit well-deserved, it should be noted that there ''are'' comparatively rare cases of those who [[BadPowersGoodPeople use their powers benevolently]]. Examples of non-malicious Emotion Eaters usually feed by passively absorbing “excess” emotional energy from one or more targets harmlessly or only drain those who consent to the process. If they actively drain targets, they usually take care to only drain negative emotions such as anger, hate, sorrow, or fear, resulting in much more positive or clearer mindsets for the target.

* 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"]] (and [[https://images.dailykos.com/images/858490/story_image/TMW2020-09-23color.png?1600534632 its identically-named sequel]]) is a tentacled BrainMonster that feeds on the "chaos, anger and turmoil" generated by UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump.

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* GDW's ''TabletopGame/DarkConspiracy'' supplement ''Dark Races Volume I Compendium''
** 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.
** The dreamweaver monster causes sleeping people to suffer nightmares and feeds on the victim's confusion, fear and misery. It also feeds on the anxiety the victim's friends feel.
** The wendigo torments and terrorizes its human prey in order to absorb the emotions of fear and terror it needs to survive.
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc.'': The city of Monstropolis is powered through the screams of little children. [[spoiler:It turns out laughter works ''a lot'' better.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc.'': The city of Monstropolis is powered through the screams of little children. [[spoiler:It turns out laughter works a lot better.]]

* The Heart of Atlantis of ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' is a malfunctioning example, in the sense that it thrived on ancient emotions instead of recently gathered feelings.
* The monsters of ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc.'' power their society through the screams of little children. [[spoiler:It turns out laughter works a lot better.]]

* Creator/RayBradbury's ''Literature/SomethingWickedThisWayComes''.
-->'''Mr. Dark:''' Your torments call us like dogs in the night. And we do feed, and feed well. To stuff ourselves on other people's torments. And butter our plain bread with delicious pain... Funerals, bad marriages, lost loves, lonely beds, that is our diet. We suck that misery and find it sweet.

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''FanFic/StarsAbove'': Demons feed on a person's emotional core, referred to as their Heart.
* ''Fanfic/ThawingPermafrost'': The antagonist Kaze is an unidentified emotion eater, having left [[spoiler:Ruby for dead and drained of her emotional energy]] in the third story arc. Chapter 37 reveals 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.
* ''Fanfic/CadanceOfCloudsdale'': Lady Prismia's spell in ''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'': Tagasoro are fear-powered creatures from Philippine mythology, one of which features 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.
* ''Fanfic/{{Monstrous}}'': Suel consumes fear to survive. As such, he encourages those he hunts to be afraid of him.
* In ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'':
** Shinji has PsychicPowers and he can feel other people's emotions. When he meets Asuka, he thinks her emotions are delicious and addictive.
--->Oh Asuka, your jealous rage is to my palette like a sweet summer’s wine in comparison to the various emotionally repressed idiots I have been subjected to.
** ''[[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 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.
* ''Fanfic/MiraculousMarinettesBaby'': Smoke Girl 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.
* ''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.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' fanfic ''Fanfic/WhatYouWishFor'', the demon feeds on negative emotions. It says that its favourite is regret.
* In ''Fanfic/ForTheGloryOfIrk'', the StarfishAliens known as Parasites feed on emotional energy, usually focusing on the negative stuff. Q, the primary Parasite featured in the story, particularly loves [[{{Troll}} screwing with people just to rile them up]] so that he can feed on them more easily.
[[/folder]]

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* 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]]" (and [[https://images.dailykos.com/images/858490/story_image/TMW2020-09-23color.png?1600534632 its identically-named sequel]]) is a tentacled BrainMonster that feeds on the "chaos, anger and turmoil" generated by UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump.