History Main / LivingBattery

* ''Black Bird'' has this, with a twist. The living battery (aka the heroine) isn't harmed by having the energy used. So instead of a battery, maybe she's more like a fire on a cold night.

[[folder: Visual Novel]]

* The Synchronizers in ''{{Tsukihime}}'', e.g. [[spoiler:Hisui and Kohaku]], are living magical batteries that can accumulate and transfer life energy to other people, such as [[spoiler:Akiha, who has to live off a half of normal human life energy, and Shiki, after his EvilTwin starts parasitizing him]].

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* ''DungeonsAndDragons''. The Spelljammer campaign setting had Lifejammer and Death Helms, which powered their ship's flight by draining the LifeEnergy of the victim strapped into them (in game terms they drained HitPoints).
* In ''GeniusTheTransgression'' (a fanmade module for the ''WorldOfDarkness'' setting), Geniuses can take the merit "Calculus Vampire" which allows them to drain [[MagicPoweredPseudoscience mania]] from living creatures (or other things). [[ArtificialHuman Manes]] also have the ability to do so automatically.

* ''{{Shadowrun}}''. Most cyberware is powered by the owner's bioelectric energy.

* The Psiioniic from ''{{Homestuck}}'' was forced to CastFromHitPoints to fuel the Condense's intergalactic ship.
* In ''GirlGenius'', Agatha drinks water from the Dyne and is super-charged as a temporary power source.

* ''TheVentureBros.'' Has a Mr. Fantastic knockoff using the flames of their Human Torch knockoff to power his entire facility.

* ''DoctorWho'': The titular "beast" from "The Beast Below". It was revealed that [[spoiler: the entire cityship was being powered entirely by it's own energy.]]

* In ''[[{{Hellboy}} BPRD: Hollow Earth]]'', The King of Fear has Liz Sherman kidnapped so he can use her life force to power his war mechas.

* In BenTen, Max met his future wife Verdona when a group of aliens meant to use her (an EnergyBeing) as a power source, which would be painful and eventually kill her.

[[folder: Videogames ]]

* The badniks of early ''SonicTheHedgehog'' games were powered by little animals, making it Sonic's mission to destroy them, freeing his friends inside. This played a large ([[HeroicSacrifice and tragic]]) part in E-102 Gamma's story in ''SonicAdventure''.
** In ''ShadowTheHedgehog'', Black Doom wants to use ''humans'' as a power source instead.
* In the ''MegaManZero'' series, Cyber Elves are sentient beings of energy that will sacrifice themselves to the benefit of the player. The nurse types specifically are converted into usable energy. The Dark Elf is the only one that is used as a continuous power source without dying.
* In ''MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'', the Shroobs use Toads to power their flying saucers. A used-up Toad turns into a small purple (ordinary) mushroom.
* In ''Ecco: Defender of the Future'', there's a level in the evil version of the future where evil dolphins are using humpback whales as a living power source.
* In ''VideoGame/Quake4'', we discover just what produces the energy that the Strogg use: human corpses in various stages of mutilation [[hottip:*:just the torso, the torso and the head, or sometimes the entire body. The ones with heads seem to be unaware of their surroundings]], attached to the machinery they power. Near the end of the game, the player himself has to activate the distribution of these to power up a certain facility.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Visual Novel ]]

* In the ''MegamanZero'' series, Cyber Elves are sentient beings of energy that will sacrifice themselves to the benefit of the player. The nurse types specifically are converted into usable energy. The Dark Elf is the only one that is used as a continuous power source without dying.

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' VirginNewAdventures, a prototype Gallifreyan time capsule is powered by the psychic energies of its crew. "Battery" is an official title of one of the crew.

We generally don't feel too bad if such living batteries are plants or insects, but the more intelligent, humanoid and sentient the creature, the more likely this will be PlayedForDrama. The may reveal the battery is being taken advantage of, if not outright enslaved, and the extraction of the LivingBattery's energy is harmful, traumatizing, or even lethal. Often the justification for why it is necessary is some form of Higher-Species-Rights, FantasticRacism, the fact that the parasitic species created the LivingBattery in the first place, or simple desperation and need on the part of the extracting species. Or the extractors might just be {{Villain}}s who don't care who they hurt in the name of gaining power.

* In ''GirlGenius'', Agitha drinks water from the Dyne and is super-charged as a temporary power source.

We generally don't feel too bad if such living batteries are plants or insects, but the more intelligent, humanoid and sentient the creature, the more likely this will be PlayedForDrama. The may reveal the battery is being taken advantage of, if not outright enslaved, and the extraction of the LivingBattery's energy is harmful, traumatizing, or even lethal. Often the justification for why it is necessary is some form of Higher-Species-Rights, FantasticRacism, the fact that the parasitical species created the LivingBattery in the first place, or simple desperation and need on the part of the extracting species. Or the extractors might just be {{Villain}}s who don't care who they hurt in the name of gaining power.

Keep in mind this trope is about''' using the energy contained or given off by something alive as a pure power source'''. Power generated by living things through mechanical means, such as pedaling devices or cranking, '''does not count''', the energy must be extracted directly from the creature's body to apply. These are power supplies not power generators.

[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]

[[AC:Comics]]
* In a series of issues of ''The Uncanny {{X-Men}}'', when the group first discovered the island of Genosha, they discovered that mutants had been enslaved to increase the quality of life for the human citizens. One mutant was used as a living power source for the monorail-like mass transit vehicle that he piloted.

[[AC:Film]]

* In the movie ''{{eXistenZ}}'', the biological game device runs on the energy of the user, since it plugs directly into a "bioport" (sort of an extra anus artificially installed in the lower back). It's suggested that all gaming devices operate the same way.

[[AC:Literature]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* I think the titular "beast" from the DoctorWho episode ''"The Beast Below"'' counts for this trope, as it was revealed that [[spoiler: the entire cityship was being powered entirely by it's own energy.]]

[[AC:TabletopRPG]]

[[AC:WebComic]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

[[AC:Videogames]]

[[AC:VisualNovel]]
* The Synchronizers in ''{{Tsukihime}}'', e.g. [[spoiler:Hisui and Kohaku]], are living magical batteries that can accumulate and transfer life energy to other people, such as [[spoiler:Akiha, who has to live off a half of normal human life energy, and Shiki, after his EvilTwin starts parasiting on him]].

[[AC:RealLife]]
* TruthInTelevision: Fuel cells designed to produce alcohol using yeast have existed for years and in a more literal sense [[http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/blood-battery.htm batteries that can generate electricty from the sugar in human blood]] have been developed (which has potential for cybernetic implants in the future).
* Calorie powered machines are already at the early stages of TruthInTelevision.
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!!!Examples:

* Calorie powered machines are already at the early stages of TruthInTelevision.

* The Wiioniic from ''{{Homestuck}}'' was forced to CastFromHitPoints to fuel the Condense's intergalactic ship.

A SubTrope of PowerSource. Compare LifeEnergy, PoweredByAForsakenChild, SentientPhlebotinum, HumanResources and CastFromHitPoints.

A SubTrope of HumanResources and PowerSource. Compare LifeEnergy, PoweredByAForsakenChild, SentientPhlebotinum and CastFromHitPoints.

Most {{Magitech}} and machines require some kind of PowerSource. Common sources are coal, steam, electricity, or even {{Phlebotinum}}. But sometimes, that source is something which is biological and alive, sometimes even sentient. It's a LivingBattery, which the machine or device takes the energy from almost parasitically.

A SubTrope of HumanResources and PowerSource. Compare PoweredByAForsakenChild, SentientPhlebotinum and CastFromHitPoints.