History Main / VegetarianCarnivore

* An EnforcedTrope in ''Manga/{{Beastars}}'', as it takes place in a WorldOfFunnyAnimals where all animals are sapient and meat is illegal. Carnivores typically eat plant or dairy-based proteins, while chickens and cows can get paid for their unfertilized eggs and milk to be sold for food.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': Pretty much ''all'' Pokémon are shown to love eating berries (mostly because they also help heal various status effects in-game). This even includes what should be strictly carnivorous Pokémon like Mightyena (a hyena), Liepard (a leopard), Arbok (a cobra) and Rowlet (an owl). This is in the series' Bible. Pokémon are forbidden from being depicted eating each other. A few early episodes didn't follow that rule, however later games do. This is an anime exclusive thing as the games have no issue discussing Pokémon dietary habits.

* Green sea turtles start out omnivorous, but become herbivores in adulthood.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'' establishes the anthropomorphic mammals don't [[SapientEatSapient eat each other]] anymore, and shows Nick (a fox) as liking blueberries, while Officer Clawhauser (cheetah) constantly eats [[DonutMessWithACop donuts]] and [[SweetTooth other sweets]]. In Nick's case this is [[JustifiedTrope justified]], as foxes are omnivores ([[TruthInTelevision and they really do like blueberries]]). WordOfGod has specified that they intentionally decided to leave insects and fish as non-sapient to allow for a socially-accepted source of protein for the carnivores.

* The Creator/DreamWorks film ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale'' had Lenny, a shark that decided to go vegetarian (even the very thought of eating meat made him nauseous). He disguised himself as a dolphin in order to prevent other fish from fearing him, even though dolphins are also predators.

* In Literature/TheBible, Isaiah prophesies that when the Messiah comes to reign, "the lion shall eat straw like the ox," and animals will live together in peace. As this is mentioned to be a state of paradise similar to Eden, some theologists think this means that the cycle of predation only came about as a result of The Fall and all animals could once subsist on the plantiful fruits and greens in the garden.

* In Literature/TheBible, Isaiah prophesies that when the Messiah comes to reign, "the lion shall eat straw like the ox," and animals will live together in peace.

* ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'' establishes the anthropomorphic mammals don't [[SapientEatSapient eat each other]] anymore, and shows Nick (a fox) as liking blueberries, while Officer Clawhauser (cheetah) constantly eats [[DonutMessWithACop donuts]] and [[SweetTooth other sweets]]. In Nick's case this is [[JustifiedTrope justified]], as foxes are omnivores ([[TruthInTelevision and they really do like blueberries]]). WordOfGod has specified that they intentionally decided to leave insects and fish as non-sapient to allow for a socially-accepted source of protein for the carnivores.

* An EnforcedTrope in ''Manga/{{Beastars}}'' as it takes place in a WorldOfFunnyAnimals where all animals are sapient and meat is illegal. Carnivores typically eat plant or dairy-based proteins, while chickens and cows can get paid for their unfertilized eggs and milk to be sold for food.

In RealLife, vegetation isn't necessarily the best source of food. It's hard to digest, low in some essential nutrients and requires a specialized digestive system in order to properly process it into anything useful for the animal eating said vegetation (symbiotic bacteria in the gut may even be necessary to digest some types of plants). On the plus side it's low in fat, usually easy to find and can't run very fast. Because of this, most carnivorous animals are not well-adapted to eating plant materials (unlike herbivores, naturally).

* Many paleontologists believe that the [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs cave bear]] was almost entirely herbivorous, much like the panda, as evidenced by their dentition and isotope analysis. Also like the panda, however, it may have eaten meat if given the opportunity.

* The children's book ''Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas'' is about Brian, a piranha that likes fruit, much to the annoyance of his friends, who insist that they have to eat meat.

* Heart from ''Anime/YouAreUmasou'', at first. When he finds out he actually enjoys the taste of meat, he's horrified since he thought he was a herbivore.

* ''Literature/ArashiNoYoruNi'' has this as a driving conflict of the plot, because the wolf Gabu is a carnivore but doesn't want to eat his goat friend, Mei. He tries to avoid eating meat, but finds he can't do it.

-->''"I am a nice shark, not a mindless eating machine. If I am to change this image, I must first change myself. Fish are friends, not food."''
-->--Bruce, FindingNemo

* Many insects are carnivorous in their larval stage and become nectivores in their adult stage. Most wasps for example. The few that aren't are an example though. Fig wasps do not eat meat in part of their life cycle, instead feeding on figs and their secretions.

** Note that, with the exception of polar bears, bears in general are more inclined to scavenge carcasses or hijack smaller carnivores' kills than to actively hunt down prey. Giant pandas take their preference for browsing on edible plants or grubbing for insects to an extreme, but their diet isn't ''that'' far from an ordinary black bear's, just a lot less diverse.

* In ''Gigantosaurus'', all the carnivorous dinosaurs are capable of eating plant material and nuts, including the titular character who is a ''Giganotosaurus''.

** An interesting variation occurs with the various pterosaurs ("fliers") in the films such as Petrie. Petrie is a ''Pteranodon''. ''Pteranodons''' diet consisted mainly of fish. However, Petrie and his family are vegetarians, yet it's never stated why [[note]]Ironically the fish are the only species [[NoCartoonFish never portrayed as sentient]][[/note]].

* Baby T. in ''VideoGame/CrashBandicootWarped'' is often shown to eat grass in his IdleAnimation, despite being a predator. This is more apparent in the ''[[VideoGame/CrashBandicootNSaneTrilogy N. Sane Trilogy]]'' version.

In RealLife, vegetation isn't necessarily the best source of food. It's hard to digest, low in some essential nutrients, and requires a specialized digestive system in order to properly process it into anything useful for the animal eating said vegetation (symbiotic bacteria in the gut may even be necessary to digest some types of plants). On the plus side it's low in fat, usually easy to find, and can't run very fast. Because of this, most carnivorous animals are not well-adapted to eating plant materials (unlike herbivores, naturally).