History Main / PowerupFood

* In ''WesternAnimation/CostumeQuest'', the Repugnians take on more monstrous forms from eating nougat. Unfortunately, the town that the show takes place in happens to have a lot of it.

Differs from SuperSerum and [[HealingPotion various]] [[ManaPotion types]] of magical potions in that the Power-Up Food does not seem rare, unusual, or hard to produce. As a general rule of thumb, a Power-Up Food should not look out of place if it appears at a grocery store. This power up is often [[EatingSolvesEverything the solution to whatever problem the character is having]].

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': {{Subverted|Trope}} in the episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS12E16HerpeTheLoveSore Herpe, the Love Sore]]" -- Peter grabs a can of spinach via ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' and plans to use it for strength against the thugs who took his booth. After a minute of trying to open it (cutting his thumb in the process), he finally swallows it, but it does nothing for him.

* Subverted in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' when Peter grabs a can of spinach via ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' and plans to use it for strength against the thugs who took his booth. After a minute of trying to open it (cutting his thumb in the process), he finally swallows it and it does nothing for him.

When eating food ''only'' restores health (but does not grant any other new abilities), the trope is HyperactiveMetabolism.

** Wario and Garlic:
*** Wario's first solo outing, ''VideoGame/WarioLandSuperMarioLand3'', parodies the traditional Mario power-up system by having Wario eat comically oversized heads of Garlic, which grant him [[HatOfPower hat powers]] in turn.
*** In ''VideoGame/WarioWorld'', the garlic pops up on occasion, but only as a health power-up.
*** In the ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' games it causes him to become a Super Hero, and in most of the ''VideoGame/WarioLand'' ones, it causes health restoration.
*** In some of the ''VideoGame/WarioLand'' games, eating too much turns Wario into "Fat Wario," who can defeat any enemy by touching it and breakthrough hard blocks.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'': Despite the fact that [[LethalChef Oscar's]] snacks leave those who eat them with ''very'' bad tastes in their mouths, the Proud Scary Snax in the {{Halloween|episode}}/SuperheroEpisode, "[[Recap/TheProudFamilyS2E2AHeroForHalloween A Hero for Halloween]]", strongly averts that, because anyone who eats them gains superpowers. Penny ends up gaining superpowers from those snacks and uses them to save her friends' candy from the [[TheBully Gross]] [[TerribleTrio Sisters]] and her family from a vengeful ghost. [[spoiler:Puff later gets hold of the snacks by the end of the episode just as Penny was about to reveal her true identity to her friends the next day.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'': Despite the fact that [[LethalChef Oscar's]] snacks leave those who eat them with ''very'' bad tastes in their mouths, the Proud Scary Snax in {{Halloween|episode}}/SuperheroEpisode, "[[Recap/TheProudFamilyS2E2AHeroForHalloween A Hero for Halloween]]", strongly averts that, because anyone who eats them gains superpowers. Penny ends up gaining superpowers from those snacks and uses them to save her friends' candy from the [[TheBully Gross]] [[TerribleTrio Sisters]] and her family from a vengeful ghost. [[spoiler:Puff later gets hold of the snacks by the end of the episode just as Penny was about to reveal her true identity to her friends the next day.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'': Despite the fact that [[LethalChef Oscar's]] snacks leaves those who eat them with ''very'' bad tastes in their mouths, the Proud Scary Snax in {{Halloween|episode}}/SuperheroEpisode, "[[Recap/TheProudFamilyS2E2AHeroForHalloween A Hero for Halloween]]", strongly averts that, because anyone who eats them gains superpowers. Penny ends up gaining superpowers from those snacks and uses them to save her friends' candy from the [[TheBully Gross]] [[TerribleTrio Sisters]] and her family from a vengeful ghost. [[spoiler:Puff later gets hold of the snacks by the end of the episode just as Penny was about to reveal her true identity to her friends the next day.]]

** In the 1980 live-action movie, Popeye hates spinach. Only in the climax does he learn about it as a power-up food.
%%* Franchise/{{Scooby|Doo}} Snacks, sometimes.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ShaggyAndScoobyDooGetAClue'', Scooby gains superpowers from eating special Scooby Snacks created by Shaggy's uncle Albert.

* ''VideoGame/{{Mabinogi}}'' has a myriad of dishes you can cook and eat, each dish having their own set of buffs that lasts for a good while. The higher quality the dish, the stronger bonuses they give.

* The UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor game ''[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunesCarrotCrazy Looney Tunes: Carrot Crazy]]'' lets Bugs and Lola Bunny eat different types of carrots to get assorted powers, including flight and invincibility.

* In the UsefulNotes/{{NES}} ''VideoGame/FelixTheCat'' video game, Felix has a power-up system that allows him to stack abilities at four different levels, starting with a boxing glove, then getting a magic wand, then a car that [[WeaponsGradeVocabulary shoots out horn honks as attacks]], and then a tank. The only downside is that each power-up as a time limit for use. The good news is that in addition to getting these power-ups, you can also collect [[StockAnimalDiet Milk Bottles]] to refill the timer for each power-up.
* In the bootleg game ''VideoGame/FelixTheCatByDragonCo'', there are also milk bottles floating around, but they just serve as coins here—they don't recharge your power-ups or give you points. However, the Eggs floating around are worth 10 bottles, which makes it easier to get 1-ups.
* In ''VideoGame/ProjectDimentiaBodhisattva'' eating Dimsom restores a lot of health.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' had Silver and Golden Apples, which provided a permanent boost to HitPoints.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' had Dried Meat, which gave you 150 HP, but its real use was as a PlotCoupon to recruit [[GameBreaker Gau]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'''s food is powerful enough that it can equal the effect of several expensive pieces of equipment. For instance, many melee characters use equipment that boosts strength and attack, but leave most of the accuracy buffs to sushi.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has a plethora of cookable foods, all of which boost EXP gain for half an hour and most of which also boost up to three of your stats. Hardcore raiders tend to treat food as an equivalent to an extra equipment slot.
* ''VideoGame/FindingLight'': Roxie the spirit fox can eat meat from certain monsters, giving her the skills and elemental attributes of one monster at a time. The Divine meat dropped from the four Elementals boss battle can be used without consuming it.
* In ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'', eating various foods is the only way to permanently boost your stats, except HP.
* ''VideoGame/DarkCloud'' had these in the forms of "favorite foods" for each character that would raise their defense. Also Gourds that increased the thirst meter and Fruits of Eden that increased the health meter. (Given the [[Literature/TheBible origin]] of the term "Fruit of Eden" and associated backstory, one would expect there to be some kind of negative consequence at some point, but there never is.)

* Power-ups in ''VideoGame/{{Boogerman}}'' include the [[{{Fartillery}} "Can of Beans"]], the [[FartsOnFire "Spicy Pepper"]], and the [[BreathWeapon "Bottle of Milk"]].
* VideoGame/PacMan's power pellets allow him to temporarily eat ghosts. ''Super Pac-Man'' adds Super Power Pellets, which temporarily makes Pac-Man larger, faster, invulnerable, and able to smash locked doors.
* The mushrooms in the various ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' games. The most common one makes him larger and resistant to damage, but other mushrooms (except for the PoisonMushroom which is an inversion) will turn him into a landscape-smashing giant, make him super-small, give him bee powers, turn him into a ghost, or give an extra life.
** Though it's never specified what Mario does with them, the various flowers (fire, ice) may also qualify.
** In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand2SixGoldenCoins'', Mario can eat a carrot that gives him bunny ears and make him fly a bit.
** ''VideoGame/MarioParty8'' has candies that, when eaten, gives the player different abilities, such as zapping opponents with lightning or stealing other players' items.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'', ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'' have berries that Yoshi can eat for bonuses.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' has several examples:
** Berries grant a variety of effects when eaten by a Pokémon. Some of these effects range from restoring [[HitPoints HP]] or [[ManaMeter PP]], curing [[StatusEffects status effects]], or boosting the Pokémon's stats.
** The series also has several types of candies that can be fed to a Pokémon to help it gain experience and level up. Exp. Candy comes in various sizes that each grant the Pokémon a certain amount of experience, while RareCandy raises the Pokémon's level by one.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' introduced "Pokéblocks", candies that the player makes in a minigame. Feeding a well-made Pokéblock to a Pokémon will give them a permanent attribute boost in [[SideQuest Pokémon Contests]]. The equivalent food in ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' were "Poffins", which were pastries that resembled cookies or buns.
** And there are supplements (called "Vitamins") like Carbos, Proteins, and Calcium which raise certain stats, as well as drinks like Fresh Water, Soda Pop, Berry Juice, [=MooMoo=] Milk, and Lemonade, all of which restore health.
** There are also regional food items that act like Full Heals when fed to a Pokémon, removing status effects like poison or paralysis: Lava Cookies (from Hoenn), Old Gateaux (from Sinnoh), Casteliacones (from Unova), and Lumiose Galettes (from Kalos).
* The ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' video games grant temporary invincibility after the player gets a lollipop.
** The original ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand'' game also had "Spicy Food," which lets him [[FireBreathingDiner spit fireballs.]]
*** Many, ''many'' years later, it came back as Superspicy Curry in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' with the same effect.
** The first game also featured the Mint Leaf (or Sweet Potato in the Japanese version) that let Kirby continuously spit air pellets for its duration. It was referenced in the [[Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa anime]], but there it was more of a PoisonMushroom: it made Kirby hiccup, interrupting him from [[PowerCopying inhaling to copy abilities]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Miitopia}}'', the Miis can eat various grubs that will permanently power some of their stats. The more they like it, the bigger boost they get.
* In the Exidy arcade game ''Mouse Trap'', the player can eat bones that turn his mouse into a dog, in order to catch the cats chasing him.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has many food items that grant a temporary buff when consumed. Most give a 15, 30, or 60-minute buff that increases stamina and another stat depending on the food, but a few have other effects, like allowing you to burp fire or shoot lightning at nearby enemies or harmless critters), detect other players on the minimap (useful for [[PlayerVersusPlayer PvP]]) or change in size (a solely cosmetic effect).
** Power-Up Food is essential for near-endgame and endgame gameplay; there's a reason why most guilds have a dedicated Chef.
** The Mists of Pandaria expansion introduced the Pandaran playable race who, as a [[PlanetOfHats racial trait]] are epicurean gourmands who get double the normal stat-bonuses provided by power-up food, they also have a skill point bonus to cooking.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Soulbringer}}'', herbs and mushrooms usually grant various beneficial (or sometimes debilitating) effects.

* In ''VideoGame/RuneFactory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon'', some foods provide stat changes, such as eating cheesecake to boost your intelligence. Additionally, you eat "Recipe Bread" to learn new cooking and ItemCrafting recipes.
* The Scout in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' has the Bonk! Atomic Punch energy drink that lets him dodge bullets or the Crit-a-Cola that lets him dish out mini-crits (but also take more damage). The Heavy has a Dalokohs Bar, a piece of chocolate that temporarily boosts his max HP, and the [[SatiatingSandwich Sandvich]], which restores the Heavy's [[HyperactiveMetabolism HP up to max]].
** There's also the Buffalo Steak Sandvich, another Power-Up Food for the Heavy which, when eaten, gives him a speed boost and (like Crit-a-Cola) turns all damage he gives and receives into mini-crits. However, the user is restricted to using melee weapons for the duration of the powerup.

* Wario and Garlic.
** Wario's first solo outing, ''VideoGame/WarioLandSuperMarioLand3'', parodies the traditional Mario power-up system by having Wario eat comically oversized heads of Garlic, which grant him [[HatOfPower hat powers]] in turn.
** In ''VideoGame/WarioWorld'', the garlic pops up on occasion, but only as a health power-up.
** In the ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' games it causes him to become a Super Hero, and in most of the ''VideoGame/WarioLand'' ones, it causes health restoration.
** In some of the ''VideoGame/WarioLand'' games, eating too much turns Wario into "Fat Wario," who can defeat any enemy by touching it and breakthrough hard blocks.
* In ''VideoGame/LollipopChainsaw'', as [[MeaningfulName the name implies]], Juliet has a serious SweetTooth and can use candy to refill her LifeMeter (not just lollipops, although they are her TrademarkFavoriteFood; she can also use jellybeans, [[ChocolateFrostedSugarBombs a box of sugary cereal]], and a crepe full of fruit and whipped cream).
* Much like Juliet, ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'''s powerups all come in lollipop form (but just lollipops in her case) and when she uses them, [[MsFanservice given the type of woman she is]], it borders on EroticEating.
* In ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireII'', biscuits (a fairly easy item to make) will permanently boost one character's stats by +1 per biscuit. If one doesn't mind grinding to get the proper ingredients, you can max out your party's stats, regardless of level, by the game's halfway point.
* The UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor game "WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes: Carrot Crazy" lets Bugs and Lola Bunny eat different types of carrots to get assorted powers, including flight and invincibility.
* In ''VideoGame/RuneScape'', eating food can save you from dying, no matter how badly injured you are. Some of the food also raises other stats.
** The same can be said for Wolfenstein 3D.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsOnline'', eating and drinking does many different things, from raising base stats to quickening heal rates to gaining weapon XP faster.
* In ''VideoGame/MondayNightCombat,'' bacon raises a character's attributes past their maximum limit until the end of their current life. The explanation? "[[HandWave Bacon makes you better at everything,]] [[InsaneTrollLogic just like in real life.]]"
* ''VideoGame/TeenageZombiesInvasionOfTheAlienBrainThingys'' has power-ups for each character, and the [[DeadWeight fat zombie's]] power-ups consist of eating things - rotting garbage, very spicy food, and soap/detergents.
* ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' offers this through the baking and brewing trade skills - smoked Wood Elf, anyone? The stat boosts are usually very minor, however, and the best food tends to be an ''utter'' pain in the ass to produce, due to the rarity of the ingredients and the zillion sub combines required to make the final product. Want to make a baker cry? Ask them about the Misty Thicket Picnic (24 unique ingredients; and the recipe requires several of each to make up the 23 sub combines).
* In ''Trog'', eating a pineapple causes your dino to temporarily transform into a fully grown T-rex who can eat all those cavemen. There is also a hot tamale powerup which allows your dinos to [[FireBreathingDiner spit out]] {{fireballs}}.

* The wumpa fruit in the ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' games provide power or [[AbnormalAmmo ammo for your weapons]], and [[LawOfOneHundred give extra lives at 100 you collect]].
* In ''VideoGame/NetHack'' eating a tin can of [[ComicStrip/{{Popeye}} spinach]] permanently increases strength, as will eating a lump of royal jelly or [[CannibalismSuperpower the corpse of a giant]]. Eating certain types of corpses can also permanently increase your intelligence, give you AcquiredPoisonImmunity (and immunity to a few other types of damage), and even let you [[{{Telepathy}} see the minds of monsters]] while you're blind.

* Used in ''VideoGame/SuikodenIII''. You even get to make your own foods.
* ''VideoGame/JoeAndMac'' gives us steak.
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' loves this. It's to get your mons to like you in the mon games, though.
* In ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'', shops serve many different kinds of food, which can provide permanent stat boosts.
* In ''VideoGame/BurgerTime'', collecting bonus food will increase your supply of [[EdibleAmmunition pepper]]. Never mind exactly how this is supposed to work.

* It's not easy to tell whether or not sardines actually have this ability in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 4|A Promise Unforgotten}}'', but that won't stop Valvatorez from [[MundaneMadeAwesome giving dramatic speeches on the power they no doubt provide]].
** In ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 5|Alliance Of Vengeance}}'', Valvatorez now has the Evility "Sardine Supremacy", which gives him full HP/SP recovery and a 50% ATK buff whenever he eats a Sardine in battle.

* There are a few Power-Ups like this in ''VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesAlice'' and [[VideoGame/AliceMadnessReturns the sequel]]. In addition to the well-known bottle labeled "Drink Me" and the cake labeled "Eat Me" (which make Alice small and big, respectively) there's Grasshopper Tea, which makes Alice green with bug-like eyes and antennae, and gives her enhanced jumping abilities for the duration of the effect.
* The various ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' beat-em-ups have [[TrademarkFavoriteFood pizza]], generally acting as a health boost but also occasionally enabling the use of special powers.
* In ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy: Scam of the Century'', collecting a [[TrademarkFavoriteFood jawbreaker]] makes you invincible for a short period of time.
* In ''VideoGame/DungeonMakerIITheHiddenWar'' and its predecessor, ''Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground'', this is how you get stronger. Since there is no level system (except for your NonHumanSidekick in the second game) you gain stats by eating your daily meal, with different meals offering different (permanent) stat increases.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'': Ice cream items are used as shortcuts to activate [[SuperMode Command Styles]]. If the player gets a high enough score in the rhythm minigame, they can also activate a unique style called [[AnIcePerson Frozen Fortune]].
* In ''{{VideoGame/Rogue}}'', food has a chance of being bad-tasting -- in which case eating it bestows a single ExperiencePoint.
* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'':
** Eating steaks while out hunting will increase your stamina gauge.
** Before a hunt, you can eat at the canteen to gain buffs to your stats and temporary skills (or in the case of ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterRise'', a tea shop that serves dango).
** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter2Dos'': Congalala is a Fanged Beast that can eat mushrooms to turn its belches into a BreathWeapon; Nitroshrooms give it fire breath, Parashrooms give it paralyzing gas, Mopeshrooms give it sedative gas, and Toadstools give it poison gas.
** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterWorld'': Pukei-Pukei is a Bird Wyvern that changes the attack patterns of its toxic spit depending on what it's eaten. Sporepuffs turn it into a lingering toxic mist, while Scatternuts make the poison blobs stun anyone they hit.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Summit}}'', there are endurance fruit that increase how much [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin endurance the main character has.]]
* In ''VideoGame/MouseTrap1981'', the dog bones work the same as Pac-Man's power pellets, except that the player can control when he wants to transform into a dog so he can chase after the cats.
* The PointAndClick AdventureGame ''VideoGame/NipponSafesInc'' has the example of Dino Fagioli, idiot strongman to whom beans have the same effect of spinach on Popeye (fagioli = beans in Italian).
* In ''VideoGame/BangaiO'', the EX Gauge is powered up by collecting fruit, which drops from defeated enemies.
* In ''Franchise/TouhouProject'', the MoonRabbit Ringo has the stated ability to get stronger by eating dango. ''Touhou'' can be kind of weird.
* In the Macintosh RPG ''VideoGame/TaskMaker'', eating a DagwoodSandwich or Spinach will restore all stats along with hunger, as will Home-Cooked Meal to a smaller extent. Sequel ''VideoGame/TheTombOfTheTaskMaker'' does likewise with chocolate bars, coffee, and "Bucky's Famous Beef Stew". Also inverted in both games, where the Instant Weekend potion or Instant Vacation scroll will replenish all stats including hunger.

* In the [[DoujinSoft doujin]] FightingGame ''VideoGame/EternalFighterZero'', [[VisualNovel/{{Kanon}} Nayuki Minase (Sleepy), Makoto Sawatari]] and [[VisualNovel/OneKagayakuKisetsuE Rumi Nanase]] are able to use, respectively, strawberry jam, meat buns and kimuchi noodles during the duels:
** Every time [[HeavySleeper Nayuki]] consumes jam, her offense and mobility slightly increases; she can take the jam gauge up to 9.
** [[ShortRangeLongRangeWeapon Makoto]] is able to use a meat bun during her Final Memory to recover some health, useful to turn the tables at critical moments.
** [[NerfArm Rumi]] uses kimuchi noodles during her Final Memory to activate her SuperMode: She gains extra offense, speed and SuperArmor for several seconds, and she comes back to normal when her kimuchi gauge depletes.
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series, almost all food items have minor health regeneration in ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', ''[[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas New Vegas]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/Fallout4 4]]'', with rare or [[ItemCrafting home-cooked]] meals healing more and buffing stats.
** The ''Fallout 4'' DLC "Nuka-World" allows players to craft their own variations of Nuka-Cola. Each flavor of soda has its own benefits, from the defense-buffing Nuka-Lixir to the strength-enhancing Nuka-Bombdrop. To do so, however, they’ll need to find the various recipes hidden around Nuka-World.
* ''VideoGame/Postal2: Paradise Lost'' adds "Habib's Power Station" soda, which when consumed allows the Postal Dude to go GunsAkimbo for a minute or so.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfTanks'': Nation-specific food items are available as consumables on a per-match basis, boosting the player's stats for one match.
* ''VideoGame/MasterOfTheMonsterLair'': The two human characters increase their stats by eating, with different meals raising different stats.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** Several games feature milk as a poor man's Red Potion. It doesn't heal as much as the potion (which is usually a full heal), but it's cheaper to buy, there's usually a way to get it for free beyond that, and there's two servings to a bottle instead of one, which is very useful in the early game when Link doesn't have very much health in the first place.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'' has Chateau Romani, which is milk that is heavily implied to have been mixed with booze. It's absurdly expensive, and for good reason. Drinking it will not only heal Link to full health, but give him ''infinite magic'' for the rest of that 3-day cycle.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' has Grandma's homemade soup, which not only fully restores both health and magic when Link drinks it, but also doubles his attack power until he gets hit.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' features an entire elaborate cooking system that allows Link to cook up a wide variety of delicious meals that provide effects like raising attack, defense, or elemental resistance in addition to recovering health and/or stamina, depending on the ingredients used. Or, if you'd rather have Link subsist on the series staple magic potions, Link can also cook those up with all of the same effects... except they're made from [[EyeOfNewt bugs, lizards, and monster organs]] instead of more palatable ingredients.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Patapon}}'' you can play a minigame to make stew which you can give to the Patapons before starting a mission. This will give the Patapons more hitpoints during the mission. How many they get depends on how well you make the stew.
* In ''VideoGame/FantasyLife'', there are various food items that one can eat to not only restore health, but also gain a temporary boost to at least two stats. The Chef [[JobSystem Life]] centers specifically around ''making'' such items. With a high enough proficiency in cooking skills, it's even possible to make a "superior" version of each food item that grants further health recovery and can be sold at a higher price.
* Downplayed in the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' games. Bananas don't do anything special on their own, but collecting 100 of them grants you an extra life.
* The main shtick of ''VideoGame/DungeonMunchies'' is to hunt monsters, use their remains as ingredients to cook magical food, and eat that food to become more powerful and capable of killing even stronger monsters. This is all to become your boss's new apprentice and future successor. [[spoiler:At least, initially.]]
* In ''VideoGame/BloodstainedRitualOfTheNight'', ingredients can be found or purchased throughout the game that can be crafted into food items. These not only restore your health and mana, the first time you eat a specific food you'll also get a permanent stat buff. Eating a bunch of different foods will see Miriam get quite substantial stat bonuses.

* In ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewHorizons'', eating fruit provides players with a stack of strength that allows them to shatter rocks or dig up whole trees. If the player wants to discard their stacks of strength, they can do so by [[ToiletHumor sitting on a toilet]].
* The core aspect of gameplay in ''VideoGame/CreatureCrunch'' is that Wesley can transform into stuff to eliminate the monsters in his way by eating various things, though most of the items he can eat [[ExtremeOmnivore are not usually considered edible]].
* In ''VideoGame/DragonBallZKakarot'' you can catch fish, hunt various land animals and buy ingredients to create food dishes that give you permanent stat boosts. You can also cook meats and fish on campfires individually to gain a couple points of whatever stat they impact at a time; this is the only reasonable way to slowly build up your Ki Defense as few dishes offer that sort of upgrade, and you would be fishing for the ingredients regardless. You will likely have stats that are, in effect, several levels above what your base stats are for a given level if you rigidly use this mechanic, which the game entirely expects you to do.
* In ''VideoGame/GianaSistersDS'', grabbing a piece of candy turns Giana into her Punk Form.
* Demons in the ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' series gain power from human blood. ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'' introduces the Qliphoth, a tree in the Underworld that produces a special fruit that condenses the blood of humans it drains which grants any demon who eats it a '''massive''' power boost. Retroactively, this also meant Mundus became the ruler of the Underworld in the past after he ate a Qliphoth fruit. The BigBad of ''5'', Urizen [[spoiler:aka Vergil's split off demonic nature]], seeks to do the same.
* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage'', one of the services offered by the Duke is "The Duke's Kitchen", where he can prepare food for Ethan if Ethan brings him the recipe ingredients. Each meal gives Ethan a permanent passive boost to his abilities, such as increasing the damage reduction granted by his block.
* ''VideoGame/PathfinderKingmaker'' has a number of collectible recipes and ingredients for these, which are cooked while the party is camping and grant stat bonuses for a set period of time. ''VideoGame/PathfinderWrathOfTheRighteous'' allows recipes to be prepared while resting in the current HubLevel as well.
* The cooking system in ''VideoGame/CavesOfQud'' lets you combine various ingredients to create meals that provide temporary benefits. Possible meal effects range from a small boost in saves against disease to gaining a fire breath ability to becoming intangible every time you use a healing tonic.
* In ''VideoGame/DCUniverseOnline'', there's Soder Cola, a consumable that restores health and power. The normal, Classic, Plus and Supreme types restores a set number of HP and PP. The Extreme type restores a random percentage. The Infinite type restores a random number and can only be used in PVP matches. The Ultimate type is sometime found in Time Capsules and restore you to full health and boosts up your stats for a few minutes. You can find other consumable foods that give greater stat boosts as well.

** The ''Fallout 4'' DLC "Nuka-World" allows players to craft their own variations of Nuka-Cola. Each flavor of soda has its own benefits, from the defense-buffing Nuka-Lixir to the strength-enhancing Nuka-Bombdrop.

* In one [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJwFUNHtCJQ "Got Milk?" commercial,]] two kids are playing ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' and trying unsuccessfully to get Mario up a steep wall. After they give up and leave, Mario leaps out of the television, goes to their refrigerator, and drinks a carton of milk, growing to giant size. Then he returns to the game and scales the wall with ease.

* Eigetsu from ''Literature/TheStoryOfSaiunkoku'' turns into Yougetsu when he drinks sake. At first it seems he's just a CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass with a side-order of DrunkenMaster, but it eventually becomes clear that Yougetsu, in addition to badass Kung-Fu skills, has inhuman strength, reflexes, stamina, and rapid regeneration. At one point, Eigetsu reverts into Yougetsu after having spent weeks being starved and tortured to the point where he can't stand unsupported, and in addition to being strong enough to sprint on the spot, when he's seen a brief while later, all his wounds are healed... It's eventually revealed that Yougetsu is [[spoiler:one of eight immortal sages, specifically the Sage of White; he possessed Eigetsu to save his life. Sake brings him out because he really likes sake.]]

* Kataoka Yuuki of ''Manga/{{Saki}}'' fame might apply, as eating enough tacos appears to be a prerequisite for her to maintain her mahjong-limited probability manipulation powers.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** Devil Fruits in general; eating one gives you a super power, but takes your ability to swim. Exactly which power you get depends on the fruit, which are divided into three major categories; [[ElementalShapeshifter Logia]], [[{{Animorphism}} Zoan]] or Paramecia, which is "anything goes". If you train and hone your Devil Fruit power long enough, you can unlock a NextTierPowerUp. Also, eating more than one will cause you to explode. It's worth noting that the rarity of Devil Fruits varies a lot geographically: In the Four Blues and Red Line regions, Devil Fruits are a once-in-a-lifetime chance, and few people even get that chance. In Paradise, the first half of the Grand Line, Devil Fruits are still once-in-a-lifetime chances, but one can expect to eventually come across one if one stays in Paradise for long enough. In the New World, the second half of the Grand Line, Devil Fruits are pretty common (though very valuable) and seem to be casually given out as prizes.
** Luffy can recover from just about any injury so long as he's [[HyperactiveMetabolism eaten enough meat]]. At one point this is even [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Nami collecting as much meat and booze as she can to help Luffy and Zoro recover from injuries faster.
** Chopper has invented Rumble Balls, small candies similar to rum balls that, when eaten, gives Zoan-type Devil Fruit users additional transformations for a few minutes. As he himself has demonstrated, these are not meant to be used casually, as distorting the nature of a Devil Fruit power is dangerous. Thus far, he has displayed four different types.
** Brook is a living skeleton, so he drinks milk to heal himself, because everybody knows milk is good for bones. It doesn't actually work, unless [[RuleOfFunny it would be funny]].
** Franky's cyborg abilities are literally powered by cola.
** Sanji spends half of his TrainingFromHell during the 2-year time skip learning how to make this, mastering the 99 secret "Attack Cuisine" recipes of the Kamabakka Kingdom. The other half is spent running from the hideous {{Drag Queen}}s of the Kamabakka Kingdom, lest they turn him into one of them.
* The majority of chefs in ''Manga/FightingFoodons'' use "Power Toppings" on their Foodons to power them up, sometimes even giving them added special effects or recovering from status effects.
* Rock Lee from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' turns into a (drunken) berserker from just one sip of alcohol.
* Quent Yaden from ''Anime/WolfsRain'' gains ability to [[GlamourFailure see through the wolves' illusions]] after consuming some alcohol, making him pretty much the only regular human who can.
** It's implied that this is a result of either him being in a constant drunken stupor (and thus immune to telepathic control), or because he has blurry vision (other characters are shown to catch glimpses of the wolves in their true forms via electronics or the lenses in the helmets worn by the soldiers hunting the wolves, or when "punch drunk").
*** An elderly couple is also able to easily tell that the wolves are wolves, suggesting that perhaps visual impairment may, indeed play a roll in seeing through their disguise.

** Goku gets a power boost merely on a full stomach. Conversely, an empty stomach [[WeaksauceWeakness left him weak and vulnerable]], though this was shown to be psychological rather than than physical.
** This seems to be a common trait with Saiyans, their game improves on a full stomach.
** Inverted during the World Martial Arts Tournament just before [[spoiler:Majin Buu comes in to the story]] Vegeta reckons he could defeat Goku by punching him in the stomach when he is full and possibly make Goku throw up.

** The same goes for for God Slayers and appearantly [[spoiler:Devil Slayers]].

* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' has the legendary [[AppliedPhlebotinum Super Strength Soba]] noodles, which confer herculean strength to whoever eats them. After Akane mistakenly ate Happōsai's, she is able to lift, toss, juggle, and ''split in half'' multi-ton, two-stories-tall iron bells. Unfortunately, they have the side-effect of sprouting whiskers on her face until she takes the antidote.
** The trope is also parodied in two storylines. Firstly, the Dragon's Whisker storyline centers around a dragon's whisker that can be used as stock to create a porridge which will cure male baldness. Secondly, in a late manga story, when the Nekohanten inadvertently buys a massive amount of foul-tasting noodles, they creatively dispose of them by claiming to have hidden a magical noodle that grants the user 100-fold strength somewhere in amongst the bad noodles. Ranma eats it... only to find out it actually gives 100-fold ''digestive'' strength, stimulating the user's appetite to prodigous levels.
* A virtual staple of ''Manga/{{Toriko}}''. If Toriko eats a food that his Gourmet Cells crave, it'll lead to an immense power-up for him.
* In ''Kare wa Diablo!'', Meiko activates her SuperStrength when she eats an anpan.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' gives us [[spoiler: Kirio Hikifune]], a SupremeChef who charges the meals she makes with her own reiatsu to power-up the people who consume them. It's also kind of a subversion: she can do this with ''any'' meal she cooks.

* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearl'' had Ash's Grotle accidentally swallow EnergyBall whilst it was charging it up during a fight with a Rhyperior. It then pushed said Rhyperior, which usually weighs in excess of [=620lbs=], nearly out of the ring. Even when Rhyperior used its tail as a brake, it only inconvenienced Grotle.
* Averted with Suppaman from ''Manga/DrSlump''. He eats pickled plums when he transforms, claiming they give him superpowers, but in reality he has absolutely no powers and he's a humongous coward to boot.
* Used in a disturbing fashion in ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'', via CannibalismSuperpower. Eating another ghoul will strengthen the cannibal, at the risk of developing a mutation that drives the user insane. Kaneki in particular also has a habit of ripping chunks out of his opponents in combat, human or ghoul, to give himself a boost.
** During the battle in the abandoned church, a wounded [[ActionGirl Touka]] bites a chunk of flesh out of Kaneki's shoulder to boost her strength, allowing her to overpower and defeat Tsukiyama. The next time he shows up, Tsukiyama explains that he survived his mortal wounds by taking Touka's advice to [[AutoCannibalism eat himself]].
** After 10 days of imprisonment and torture, Kaneki regains his strength by biting chunks of flesh from his captor. In pursuit of further power, he spends the next several months hunting other ghouls and becomes addicted to the power it gives him.
** In the sequel, a horrified Ui comes across Sasaki eating the remains of a fallen opponent. He quickly explains that he was badly injured, and needed to eat to replenish his strength.
* In one episode of ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', Simon and Kamina find themselves unable to pilot their mecha and at an enemy's mercy due to severe hunger, until Simon's pet mole pig, Boota, tears off his tail to feed them, which Simon splits between himself and Kamina. Even though it was but a mere morsel, it was enough to restore their fighting spirit and give them the edge they need to emerge victorious.

* ''Manga/BungoStrayDogs'': Inverted by Kenji Miyazawa. He has super strength, but only while he is hungry.
* A [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] example happens in Part 7 of ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]''. The main protagonist of the Part, Johnny, has the Stand ability to shoot his fingernails like bullets. They grow back quickly in mere seconds, but using the aureal rotation to power them up extends the regrow time to a few minutes. Johnny finds out the process is faster if he munches herbs or drinks tea, though this is mostly used out of combat.

* In ''Anime/DeliciousPartyPrettyCure'', the heroines are shown eating an energy version of a food item to start off their transformation.
* The titular fruits from ''Literature/TheFruitOfEvolution'' act like healing potions when consumed individually. However whenever an individual consumes their tenth consecutive fruit, either in one sitting or through accumulation, they undergo an evolution into a higher state. Aside from [[RPGMechanicsVerse gaining a considerable ability score bonus]], this can have other effects as well; the protagonist Hiiragi Seiichi, originally a very {{gonk}}y character, [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatHotness becomes much more physically attractive after evolving]], whilst two members of his harem begin as (sapient) animals but [[HumanityEnsues are transformed into human girls as a result of evolving]]; Salia the gorilla and Rurune the donkey.
* Inverted in ''Anime/ElHazardTheMagnificentWorld''; the transplanted teacher Masamichi Fujisawa is given an inverted form of the AddictionPowered trope, so his SuperStrength ''dwindles'' when he drinks alchohol (or smokes). Given he's a chainsmoking alchoholic, he's less than thrilled, especially since the usefulness of his SuperStrength means he's compelled to avoid booze as much as possible.

* ''Film/ThatManFromRio'': Adrian has pursued his girlfriend's kidnappers to a bar in a floating village deep in the Amazon. He sees them departing as he's stuck in a full-scale bar brawl. After repeated failed attempts to get to the door, he grabs a big glass of liquor and downs it, perks up, and fights his way through the melee like a booze-driven Popeye.

* The ''WesternAnimation/BugsBunny'' cartoon "Super-Rabbit" has Bugs (temporarily) gaining Franchise/{{Superman}}-like [[FlyingBrick powers]] by eating experimental "super carrots". When Bugs loses his carrots, the villain (a CaptainErsatz of Lyndon Johnson, a US Representative at the time) eats them and gets superpowers as well.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonBallZKakarot'' you can catch and eat fish to gain a tiny permanent boost in your stats. You can also cook them for slightly better stats but best is to have Chi-Chi cook full course meals for you.