History Main / LivingBattery

* The Powermasters from ''ComicBook/TheTransformers'' are this, though are more willing than usual for this trope as it was treated as a voluntary partnership. Though they usually use normal energon as a power source, the Marvel Comics versions were also capable of providing energy directly from their own body for a Transformer, though they had to eat absolutely ''enormous'' amounts of food to do this.

* The best devices of ''Literature/TheTommyknockers'' were powered by lifeforce.

* ''Dark Conspiracy'' supplement ''Darktek''. A number of the Dark Minion items can only be recharged by draining the user's LifeForce.

* In ''Literature/TheLockedTomb'', this is the focus of a field of necromancy known as Soul siphoning. Unlike what the name implies, the battery's soul is not actually the source of power, and, in fact, has to be temporarily shunted of [[{{Hell}} elsewhere]] for it to work. After pushing out the soul, the necromancer lets the void left behind be filled up with energies of the beyond, and drains those for power. Once they're done, the soul may return. If it can. This is the specialization of the Eighth House, and is considered the most dangerous form of necromancy, as there is no telling [[DemonicPossession what might take residence in the empty body if left for too long]].

* [[spoiler:Rusty]] becomes one in [[VideoGame/SteamWorldDig Steamworld Dig 2]]. [[spoiler:Rosie kidnapped him before the start of the game, due to him being full of [[SchizoTech Vectron tech.]]]]

* In ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', the people couldn't survive on Gunsmoke without the plants, [[spoiler: giant humanoid alien things that were placed in equally giant bulbs from which energy was extracted, which powered just about everything.]]

** Everyone at Duel Academy during part of season 3 of ''Anime/YuGiOhGX''. They were forced to wear wristbands which sucked out their energy as they dueled, all to [[spoiler: give Yubel the energy to regenerate from her arm.]]
* ''Anime/SailorMoon'' villains, especially Ail and Ann, quite often extract some sort of energy directly from human victims to supply to awakening some evil BigBad.
* ''Manga/BlackBird'' has this, with a twist. The living battery (the heroine) isn't harmed by having her energy used. She just gives it off like a fire gives off heat. Though the ''other'' things that she can provide aren't nearly as non-invasive to harvest...
* ''Manga/NurseAngelRirikaSOS'' has the Flower of Life. The flowers are used to make both the Green Vaccine (the heroine's power source) and the Black Vaccine (the power source for her enemies) through a process that [[LawOfConservationOfDetail isn't discussed]], but seems to use the flowers up. Even though the flowers are supposed to grow wherever living things exist, quantities are [[{{Unobtainium}} severely limited]] and mostly in the hands of the bad guys.
* In ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}'', [[HumongousMecha Zearth]] is powered by this. [[spoiler:It sucks the LifeEnergy of the pilot after the fight is over, meaning that [[HeroicSacrifice everyone who pilots it dies.]]]]

* ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen'': 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.
** In another series called ''X-Treme X-Men'' about a multiverse traveling team of alternate X-Men (No [[ComicBook/{{Exiles}} not that one]]) had an arc where they traveled to an Earth where Magneto cracked the crust and destroyed the magnetic field out of spite. Thinking quickly, all the world's smartest scientists devised a machine capable of drawing upon mutant energy to hold the planet together. They supply it with mutants from parallel realities and have been draining them dry countless times, with their personal effects kept in storage in an [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything eerie parallel]].
* In ''ComicBook/{{BPRD}}: Hollow Earth'', The King of Fear has Liz Sherman kidnapped so he can use her life force to power his war mechas.

* One of the villains of the week in ComicBook/EMan was a millionaire who was having homeless people kidnapped to use as power sources to run his mansion off of, as it was set during the height of the energy crisis back in the 70s.
* In ''ComicBook/TheFlash'', Gregory Wolfe, [[WardensAreEvil the sadistic warden of Iron Heights Penitentiary]], used the radioactive villain Fallout to power the prison.
* In ''ComicBook/SupermanAndTheLegionOfSuperHeroes'', villain Earth-Man captures Sunboy and turns him into a battery for a device that transforms the Earth's sun into a red star.
* In ''ComicBook/ElseworldsFinestSupergirlAndBatgirl'', ComicBook/LexLuthor is the one to find [[spoiler:Franchise/{{Superman}}'s rocket]], and he turns [[spoiler:the baby]] into a battery for clean energy machines.

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has Clark serve as this in the ''Mirror Image'' arc of the sequel, to his surprise (initially it was done relatively subtly, at night, via magic). It's very much PlayedForDrama, with the perpetrator referring to Clark as his 'source'. Not because he doesn't know Clark's name - [[IKnowYourTrueName quite the opposite]] - because that's all he deems Clark to be.

* The machines in ''Franchise/TheMatrix'' were powered by a mixture of fusion and the energy produced by humans which they grew and harvested in fields like livestock or produce.

* In ''Film/IFrankenstein'', Victor Frankenstein's journal reveals that he used electric eels to generate the sufficient electricity to reanimate Adam's body.

* The best devices of ''Literature/TheTommyknockers'' were powered by lifeforce.
* "Lose Now, Pay Later" by Carol Farley has aliens who powered their tech with human fat from special slimming machines they invented--and to ensure an adequate supply, they also came out with some beverage that was irresistibly delicious but also super-fattening.
* One of the dark secrets of Creator/TadWilliams' ''Literature/TheWarOfTheFlowers'' is that, with Oberon and Titania gone, the world of Faerie is drawing its power from [[spoiler:living, working class fairies, draining and discarding them]]. It's only a secret to Theo and the audience, though. The world of Faerie knows and hates it.
* In ''Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresCatsCradleTimesCrucible'', a prototype Gallifreyan time capsule is powered by the psychic energies of its crew. "Battery" is an official title of one of the crew.
* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' novel ''Dance of the Dead'', a magical riverboat turns out to be powered by magical creatures and benign spirits imprisoned in its hold.

* In the ''Literature/DresdenFiles'' novels, once Harry gains access to [[spoiler:Soulfire]], the obvious part of him is his own Living Battery.

* In the ''Literature/TowersTrilogy'', Radiants produce such immense amounts of magic energy that they are used as living batteries for the great floating {{Mage Tower}}s of the City, a process which is highly unpleasant for them.
* In the 1968 French novel ''The Ice People'' (''La Nuit de Temps'') by Rene Barjavel, the "mange-machine" (= eating-device, or "eat machine" in the English translation) is an organic device used by an ancient civilisation. It creates food, pills (and FoodPills) and drugs from nothing (working on the same principle as all their machines), and the ancient people cannot eat things that don't come from this device. They're not used anymore, physically and psychologically, to normal food, and the device is crucial to their life. The scientists who revive the [[HumanPopsicle young frozen woman]] they find in what's left of the ancient city almost lose her because she can't eat modern food.

* In ''Literature/FateStrangeFake'', Tsubaki Kuruoka's parents used her in horrid experimentation that saturated her brain matter in BlackMagic-producing bacteria, intending her to become this trope for the Servant they intended to summon. The plan went down the tubes the instant the comatose Tsubaki summoned her own Servant.
* In the ''Literature/ChaosGods'' series, this trope shows up in ''The Unified God'', when De discovers that people are being abducted en-masse and transported to the Sister Lands to be used as living batteries to power the magic of the Blessed.
* In ''Literature/AvalonWebOfMagic'', this is the role of the prophecied "blazing star". [[TheChosenMany Other chosen]] have magic. Stars have '''a lot''' of magic, so much that magical creatures [[CharmPerson instinctively flock]] to them, and that any mage linked in with one can perform feats [[HardWorkHardlyWorks far beyond]] what they're normally capable of. Notably, during Kara's SuperPowerMeltdown[=s=], she does not see herself as a human that has magic. She sees magic which has, secondary, a human identity...that is rapidly, joyfully eroding in the primeval sea of magic from whence it came.
* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'': All of the {{Magitek}} is powered by {{Mana}}. Plants will also grow much better on mana-rich land, which results in farmland needing to be topped up on a regular basis. The most powerful members of the SupernaturalElite have willingly powering the devices that protect the population among their duties. Those born with so little mana that they are pratically a MuggleBornOfMages are forbidden from attending WizardingSchool, LockedAwayInAMonastery to an extent and only allowed to use what little they have towards topping up farmland. As mana remains a limited resource, members of the SupernaturalElite that did something bad enough to be imprisoned are often used as batteries, as well. Because of several elements of the setting, MageBornOfMuggles commoner children are often enslaved to be used as mana sources.

* ''Dark Conspiracy'' supplement ''Darktek''. A number of the Dark Minion items can only be recharged by draining the user's LifeForce.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}''. Most cyberware is powered by the owner's bioelectric energy.

* The badniks of early ''VideoGame/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 ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure''.
** Eggman's been doing it as recently as ''VideoGame/SonicColors'', where his mind-control ray is powered from energy siphoned from an alien race called the Wisps. There's still huge fan-debate over whether E-123 Omega might have one of these.

* In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'', the Shroobs use Toads to power their flying saucers. A used-up Toad turns into a small purple (ordinary) mushroom.
* In ''VideoGame/EccoTheDolphin: Defender of the Future'', there's a level one of the {{Bad Future}}s where evil dolphins are using humpback whales as a living power source.

* Unfortunate humans captured by demons in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTensei'' games can look forward to being used as a power source as their eventual fate. The Mantra facilities and the Nightmare System in ''Nocturne'' and the Ashura-Kai Red Pill creation process are good examples of this, some of them crossing with PeopleFarms.
* It provides power even without this trope, but Yuri's basic power generator in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2 Yuri's Revenge'' can have its output boosted by putting infantry in it. The good news is that this doesn't do any damage to the people it uses, even if the reactor is destroyed. Although it can be a bad thing if you put mind-controlled people inside it, since they get liberated from the mind control once inside. As long as they're inside, they can do nothing but provide power to you, but once released...

* Pikachu is used as an electrical living Battery in the Subspace Emissary in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl''. Fortunately, Samus is able to rescue it from its captors.
* While the original AirborneAircraftCarrier Balrog from ''VideoGame/StriderArcade'' worked by using [[GravityMaster gravity control]], the one from ''Strider 2'' turned to this trope: its Reactor Core is a female [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent Merrow]] (an Irish mermaid-like creature) encased in the core itself, which syphons and manages the psychic energy from her body to make the whole airship function. This [[FateWorseThanDeath doesn't appear to be a pleasant experience for her]], as she begs Hiryu [[DeathSeeker to kill her]] as soon as he arrives.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'', it's implied that [[spoiler:AZ's machine]] is powered by Pokémon's LifeEnergy. It seems to be rather inefficient with its fuel too—it drains the life from "many Pokémon" just to [[spoiler:restore a single dead Pokémon to life. Though it does grant immortality to the Pokémon and AZ in the process]]. Team Flare later uses [[spoiler:either Xerneas or Yveltal]] as the primary fuel source to power [[spoiler:the same machine, now turned into the ultimate weapon]].
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', Pikachu's entry in the [=PokéDex=] says a researcher has proposed using them to provide electrical power. Additionally, Charjabug, the mid-stage of the Grubbin line, is a small Bug/Electric type shaped like a 9-volt battery... and is actually mentioned as being ''used'' as a living battery by both campers and its final form, Vikavolt.
* The entire Inkling and Octarian civilizations in ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon 2}}'' derive their electrical power from Zapfishes, electrical catfish that are a natural species in their world. In turn, the Great Zapfish is the biggest and central source of power. The Zapfishes don't seem to be sentient, and it's unknown if they mind being placed in chambers and harnessed for their electricity or not (but the Great Zapfish willingly secures itself on Inkopolis Tower). However, major conflicts between Inklings and Octarians happen due to there being fewer Zapfishes than can sustain both civilizations.
* [[spoiler:Rusty]] becomes one in [[VideoGame/SteamWorldDig Steamworld Dig 2]]. [[spoiler:Rosie kidnapped him before the start of the game, due to him being full of [[SchizoTech Vectron tech.]]]]
* The Zoltan from ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight'' are EnergyBeings who can provide power to any system they are standing in the room of, even when the system is completely ionized. This seems to be active on their part, as a {{boarding|Party}} Zoltan can't provide power to hostile ships' systems.
* In ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry3DixieKongsDoubleTrouble'', K. Rool uses Donkey Kong and Diddy as such, forcing them to fuel the robotic [=KAOS=].
* In ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles4'', [[spoiler:Angelica Farnaby and 2 other girls (with several more implied) are used to power Snow Cruisers as nuclear reactor analogue. They can also be overloaded to trigger Final Flame, which when combined with the ragnite implosion technology used on them, greatly amplifying their FantasticNuke power.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'', Machine Empires can keep bio pop as slaves in Grid Amalgamation state, which is this trope and a ShoutOut to ''Franchise/TheMatrix''. Alternatively, they can be put through Chemical Processing, which kills the pop but generate larger immediate energy yield.

* Masters in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' act as batteries for their Servants, empowering their abilities and allowing them to maintain a physical form. This is a dangerous prospect for some Masters, as a reckless Servant can use so much prana that it kills their Master [[spoiler:as with [[LightNovel/FateZero Berserker and Kariya in the Fourth War]]]].

* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' Sollux's ancestor, the Ψiioniic, suffered this fate as a punishment for rebelling against the highbloods. Instead of being executed, he's grafted into the spaceship of the Condesce, the empress of the trolls and the one with the highest blood of them all, due to his innate psionic abilities being more useful to her with the Ψiioniic alive rather than dead. Thus, he became known as the Helmsman, the ex-rebel who powers the Condesce's ship at the cost of great physical pain.
* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', Agatha drinks water from the Dyne and is super-charged as a temporary power source. PlayedWith in a few ways: the power is technically from the Dyne, and not extracted from Agatha herself; and rather than her battery status being detrimental, Agatha would have [[ExplosiveOverclocking suffered]] a PhlebotinumOverload had the device she was powering not drawn off most of the energy.
* In ''Webcomic/BreakfastOfTheGods'', Cookie Jarvis the Wizard forsaw the coming of [[ItMakesSenseInContext Count Chocula and his forces]] and needed someone pure of heart to act as a battery to boost Cerelia's defenses. This turns out to be the reason [[spoiler:King Vitaman was missing for nearly the entire story]]: he volunteered to be the battery.

* The monster [[http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/abcoulix.htm Abcoulix]] from ''WebOriginal/{{Mortasheen}}'' was designed for exactly this purpose, though it also works very well at dispensing ShockAndAwe in monster fights.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'', 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.
** The Megawhatts were introduced as annoying electrical beings who play pranks on people. However, they once needed to ask Ben's help because some of them were being kept as a fuel source by the villain of the week.
* In the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', Batman and the Blue Beetle face the villain Kanjar Ro, who is harvesting the Gribble aliens because apparently their bodies can be used as fuel. The process doesn't sound particularly pleasant.
* In ''Ultraforce'', it was revealed that Prototype's PoweredArmor was fueled by his latent ultra abilities rather than having a built in power source.
* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' episode "Alive", Lex Luthor uses Tala as one of these to revive Brainiac after a failed revolt led by Tala and Gorilla Grodd. In a final act of revenge, Tala [[DyingCurse interferes with the ritual]], causing the resurrection of Darkseid instead.
* A relatively benign example: in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', [[ShockAndAwe lightning-benders]] can find work powering the generators that supply electricity to Republic City. It's depicted as exhausting work akin to manual labor, but not life-threatening.

* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'': All of the {{Magitek}} is powered by {{Mana}}. Plants will also grow much better on mana-rich land, which results in farmland needing to be topped up on a regular basis. The most powerful members of the SupernaturalElite have willingly powering the devices that protect the population among their duties. Those born with so little mana that they are pratically a MuggleBornOfMages are forbidden from attending WizardingSchool, LockedAwayInAMonastery to an extent and only allowed to use what little they have towards topping up farmland.

* In ''VideoGame/EccoTheDolphin: Defender of the Future'', there's a level one of the BadFutures where evil dolphins are using humpback whales as a living power source.

* In ''VideoGame/EccoTheDolphin: 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.

* Shows up ''three times'' in ''[[FanFic/SovereignGFCOrigins Origins]]'', a MassiveMultiplayerCrossover.

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 story may reveal the battery is being taken advantage of, if not outright enslaved, and the extraction of the Living Battery'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 Living Battery 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 another series called ''X-Treme X-Men'' about a multiverse traveling team of alternate X-Men (No [[ComicBook/{{Exiled}} not that one]]) had an arc where they traveled to an Earth where Magneto cracked the crust and destroyed the magnetic field out of spite. Thinking quickly, all the world's smartest scientists devised a machine capable of drawing upon mutant energy to hold the planet together. They supply it with mutants from parallel realities and have been draining them dry countless times, with their personal effects kept in storage in an [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything eerie parallel]].

-->-- '''[[TheStoic Arlon the Serene]]''' (discussing the [[ThatsNoMoon Lunar Sanctum]]), ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising''

* While the original AirborneAircraftCarrier Balrog from ''VideoGame/{{Strider}}'' worked by using [[GravityMaster gravity control]], the one from ''Strider 2'' turned to this trope: its Reactor Core is a female [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent Merrow]] (an Irish mermaid-like creature) encased in the core itself, which syphons and manages the psychic energy from her body to make the whole airship function. This [[FateWorseThanDeath doesn't appear to be a pleasant experience for her]], as she begs Hiryu [[DeathSeeker to kill her]] as soon as he arrives.

* In ''VideoGame/Stellaris'', Machine Empires can keep bio pop as slaves in Grid Amalgamation state, which is this trope and a ShoutOut to ''Franchise/TheMatrix''. Alternatively, they can be put through Chemical Processing, which kills the pop but generate larger immediate energy yield.

-->-- '''[[TheStoic Arlon the Serene]]''' discussing the [[ThatsNoMoon Lunar Sanctum]], ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising''

[[folder:Anime And Manga]]

[[folder:Comics]]

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

* ''FanFic/FantasyOfUtterRidiculousness'': [[spoiler: Reimu willingly turns herself into one of these temporarily to give Megas access to her power set, and thus provide it with the means to do meaningful damage to Yuuka.]]
* ''FanFic/TheBridge'': Enjin tries to absorb Aria Blaze and the human form of Monster X into its crystalline core in a bid to get enough power to return to its true form. [[spoiler: Aria manages to give her necklace to X and shove him out of the way so Enjin would only get half of her magic and he'd get the other half, causing them both to return to their kaiju forms and duke it out. Aria fights to remain conscious inside Enjin and launches an internal attack to wound it and give the weaker X a power boost. Monster X finally manages to destroy Enjin by damaging its core and safely yanking the part of it containing Aria out, but he barely manages to resuscitate her after.]]

[[folder:Film]]

* In ''Anime/FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'' some of the weapons and equipment used organic power cells containing bacteria from which "Bio-etheric energy" was extracted. [[spoiler: The power pack of some long dead RedShirt's weapon turns out to be one of the [[PlotCoupon spirits]].]]
* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''

* In ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresCatsCradleTimesCrucible Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible]]'', a prototype Gallifreyan time capsule is powered by the psychic energies of its crew. "Battery" is an official title of one of the crew.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* In the fourth season of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', there was an episode where Buffy and Riley were living batteries in a frat house via nonstop sex.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion "The Christmas Invasion"]], the Doctor says that the "pilot fish" could run their batteries off his excess regeneration energy for "a couple of years".

* In the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Equinox", the USS ''Equinox'', like ''Voyager'', had found herself trapped in the Delta Quadrant. Her crew had discovered a faster way to get home by torturing the alien of the week. Janeway was not pleased.
** The rest of the victims' race [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge were even less pleased]].

[[folder:Tabletop RPG]]
* ''TabletopGame/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).

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* The webcomic ''MachineGunAngel'' has the MegaCorp who took over the world AfterTheEnd running power plants on energy harvested from genetically manipulated humans (originally, they used sentient human clones, but they caved to public pressure and made clones that were {{Empty Shell}}s).
* In ''{{Webcomic/Homestuck}}'' Sollux's ancestor, the Ψiioniic, suffered this fate as a punishment for rebelling against the highbloods. Instead of being executed, he's grafted into the spaceship of the Condesce, the empress of the trolls and the one with the highest blood of them all, due to his innate psionic abilities being more useful to her with the Ψiioniic alive rather than dead. Thus, he became known as the Helmsman, the ex-rebel who powers the Condesce's ship at the cost of great physical pain.
* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', Agatha drinks water from the Dyne and is super-charged as a temporary power source. PlayedWith in a few ways: the power is technically from the Dyne, and not extracted from Agatha herself; and rather than her battery status being detrimental, Agatha would have [[ExplosiveOverclocking suffered]] a PhlebotinumOverload had the device she was powering not drawn off most of the energy.
* In ''Webcomic/BreakfastOfTheGods'', Cookie Jarvis the Wizard forsaw the coming of [[ItMakesSenseInContext Count Chocula and his forces]] and needed someone pure of heart to act as a battery to boost Cerelia's defenses. This turns out to be the reason [[spoiler:King Vitaman was missing for nearly the entire story]]: he volunteered to be the battery.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Battery from ''Literature/{{Phaeton}}'' is this in every sense of the word, being a quadriplegic who produces more energy than he or anyone else knows what to do with it seemed like a good idea. It is no secret and no one, not even Battery himself has a problem with this. He is even nick named "The God of the Orphanage".
* The monster [[http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/abcoulix.htm Abcoulix]] from ''WebOriginal/{{Mortasheen}}'' was designed for exactly this purpose, though it also works very well at dispensing ShockAndAwe in monster fights.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novel]]

->''I cannot tell you the reasons WHY this sanctum was built. But I can say that it runs on my powers. Without me, it's just a husk, an empty shell, an orbiting house of cards.''

* ''Frachise/{{Pokemon}}'':

* The badniks of early ''Franchise/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 ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure''.

* Pikachu is used as an electrical living Battery in the Subspace Emissary in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl''. Fortunately, Samus is able to rescue it from it’s captors.

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'', it's implied that [[spoiler:AZ's machine]] is powered by Pokémon's LifeEnergy. It seems to be rather inefficient with its fuel too—it drains the life from "many Pokémon" just to [[spoiler:restore a single dead Pokémon to life. Though it does grant immortality to the Pokémon and AZ in the process.]]
** Team Flare later uses [[spoiler:either Xerneas or Yveltal]] as the primary fuel source to power [[spoiler:the same machine, now turned into the ultimate weapon]].
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', Pikachu's entry in the [=PokéDex=] says a researcher has proposed using them to provide electrical power. (Not unfathomable, seeing as power plants tend to have Electric Types a lot.) Additionally, Charjabug, the mid-stage of the early bug Pokémon, is a small Bug/Electric type shaped like a 9-volt battery... and is actually mentioned as being ''used'' as a living battery by both campers and it's evolved form, Vikavolt.

* Pikachu is used as an electrical living Battery in the Subspace Emissary in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl''.

* In the story "Fountains of Youth", in issue #22 of ''The Vault of Horror'', an elderly woman that went through a series of young female companions turned out to be a centuries-old creature that was sucking the life force from them.
* The Powermasters from {{Transformers}} are this, though are more willing than usual for this trope as it was treated as a voluntary partnership. Though they usually use normal energon as a power source, the Marvel Comics versions were also capable of providing energy directly from their own body for a Transformer, though they had to eat absolutely ''enormous'' amounts of food to do this.

* In the WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck fanfiction ''FanFic/NegaverseChronicles'', [[ShockAndAwe Megavolt]] of the [[MirrorUniverse Friendly Four]] is captured by [[MadScientist Gyro]] specifically to use as a power source to charge up his new invention. [[spoiler:And he's not very concerned about the survival of his power source...]]

[[folder:Web Comic]]