History Main / YouAreWhoYouEat

* ''{{Kirby}}'' is able to [[PowerCopying assimilate the special abilities]] of many of his enemies by swallowing them. Fan works often exaggerate this to Kirby assuming the characteristics of anyone ''and/or anything'' he eats -- notably, this is the RunningGag of ''BrawlInTheFamily''.

* German Band ''Knorkator'' has the song "Ick wer zun Schwein" (I turn into a pig). It's about a man who ate a really large steak all by himself, [[YouFailBiologyForever which cause his DNA to be rewritten and turn him into a pig]].

Most non-humans do this in order to maintain a {{Masquerade}}, and pose as human. Especially {{Tragic Monster}}s may be doing this because they want to BecomeARealBoy. Especially monstrous ones will enjoy ShowingOffTheNewBody. If the non-human ''doesn't'' eat people, whether out of [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire niceness]] or inaccessibility, they will revert to their ShapeShifterDefaultForm. Things may [[ItGotWorse get worse]] from there though if that entails turning into an [[FateWorseThanDeath unthinking ]], horrific monstrosity that can never fit in among humans. And of course things will GoHorriblyWrong if their cannibalism is also caused by a HorrorHunger, and deprivation has the nasty side effects of making them [[WarmBloodbagsAreEverywhere dangerously hungry]].

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* Everyman of the DCUniverse actually only needs to eat a tiny bit of whoever he wants to turn into. But it turns out he really ''likes'' the taste of human flesh.

** Particularly skilled kandra can assume someone's form without having eaten them. They still need the skeleton, though, since they're basically big blobs in their true forms and don't have any rigid bones of their own.

* In ''{{Prototype}}'', Alex Mercer's disguise ability works like this. When he consumes the individual, he uses their genetic code to reproduce their appearance and voice while their memories are directly absorbed.

* ''{{Kirby}}'' is able to [[MegaManning assimilate the special abilities]] of many of his enemies by swallowing them. Fan works often exaggerate this to Kirby assuming the characteristics of anyone ''and/or anything'' he eats -- notably, this is the RunningGag of ''BrawlInTheFamily''.

* ''{{Kirby}}'' is able to [[MegaManning assimilate the special abilities]] of many of his enemies by swallowing them. Fan works often exaggerate this to Kirby assuming the characteristics of anyone and anything he eats -- notably, this is the RunningGag of ''BrawlInTheFamily''.

* ''{{Kirby}}'' - but only when he eats certain specific enemies.

->-- Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, gastronomy expert (quote from a [[IronChef particular cooking show]])

* The vampires in ''{{Daybreakers}}'' have to drink blood or else they transform into subhuman monsters.
** Specifically, drinking human blood keeps them humanlike. Starving vampires who drink vampire blood turn into bat-like creatures.

** The heroes assumed he grew stronger with each absorption and so freed their comrades from Buu to revert him to a less powerful state. Buu reverted to his original state, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero which was even more psychotic than the others]].

** The heroes assumed he grew stronger with each absorption and so freed their comrades from Buu to revert him to a less powerful state. As it turned out, absorbing other people actually ''weakened'' his power; once his victims were free, [[ItGotWorse Buu reverted to his original state]], [[NiceJobBreakingItHero which was even more powerful and psychotic than the others]].

* Lunar Exalted from {{Exalted}} can take the form of any creature whose heart's blood they've tasted.

* TheThing is based on this trope.

* In the ''FearItself'' episode "The Eater", the eponymous SerialKiller Claude Mellor consumes parts of his victims in order to assume their forms. It works.

** Specifically, drinking human blood keeps them humanlike. Starved vampires who drink vampire blood turn into bat-like creatures.

* Skin-Changers from {{GURPS}} Monster Hunters are {{Embodied Spirits}} who can shapeshift into any animal (including humans) by wearing their skin. Unlike the {{Men in Black}} example, Skin-Changers are clever enough to preserve the skins, and save them in jars when they're not being worn.

* In ''MenInBlack'', the alien roach skins a farmer near its crash site and wears him to pass as human. As the film wore on the skin decayed more and more, making the impersonation all the creepier. They call it an "[[MobileSuitHuman Edgar-Suit]]".