History Main / YouAreWhoYouEat

No one takes the saying "you are what you eat" literally; it's not as though being a vegetarian will make you a PlantPerson, or eating pure beef will make you a [[ALoadOfBull Minotaur]]. Some [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman non-human critters]] didn't get the memo though, because for them [[ToServeMan eating people]] means ''being'' people. For some supernatural, alien, or stranger creatures to pretend to be human at all requires that they make a periodic consumption of HumanResources. Or simply put: Ghoulie has to eat people to look like one.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'', Polyjuice potion requires a bit of the person being impersonated as an ingredient. The good news is that this only takes something small, like a hair, to work. The bad news is that the person has to still be alive when the bits are taken. So anyone attempting long-term impersonation has to keep the original alive and captive, which is what happens to [[spoiler:Mad-Eye Moody when Barty Crouch Jr. impersonates him]].

* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'', Polyjuice potion requires a bit of the person being impersonated, most often hair, as an ingredient. This is a particularly nightmarish example because the person has to still be alive when the bits are taken, so anyone attempting long-term impersonation has to keep the original alive and captive, which is what happens to [[spoiler:Mad-Eye Moody when Barty Crouch Jr. impersonates him]].

* Tamaki Amajiki, one of the Big Three of UA in ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', has the Quirk "Manifest". He can shapeshift his body into things based on what he's eaten in the last twenty-four hours. In the debut of his power, he turned his fingers into tentacles from some takoyaki, his left hand into a clamshell from some clams, and grew bird wings and talons from some fried chicken. Later on in the story, it's revealed this also works in the general CannibalismSuperpower way, where eating the flesh of another Quirk-user temporarily grants him the use of their Quirk.

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 turn FromBadToWorse 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 [[GoneHorriblyWrong Go Horribly Wrong]] if their cannibalism is also caused by a HorrorHunger, and deprivation has the nasty side effects of making them [[WarmBloodbagsAreEverywhere dangerously hungry]]. Subtrope of FaceStealer and CannibalismSuperpower.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'', Polyjuice potion requires as an ingredient a few hairs from the person being impersonated. This is a particularly nightmarish example because the person has to still be alive when the hair is taken, meaning anyone attempting long term infiltration / impersonation has to keep the original alive and captive, which is what happens to [[spoiler: Mad Eye Moody when Barty Crouch Jr. impersonates him]].
** The thing is, it doesn't have to be a hair, specifically. When Hermione brews the potion in second year, she only tells Harry and Ron that they "need a part of the person they're turning into." This implies it could literally be ''anything,'' which takes the creep-factor UpToEleven. The protagonists only used hair because it was the most convenient (and least gross) of their options.

* Youma in ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'' can take the appearance of those they eat, and this also gives them the ability to draw from their victims' memories to fool their families (and eventually eat them too). [[spoiler:Later revealed to be a lie. The Youma are really parasites that infest their victims' brains, mutating them into monsters and driving them insane with a hunger that only human entrails can satisfy.]]
* No-Face from ''Anime/SpiritedAway'' gains the personality and physical features of those he swallows (gaining frogs legs, for instance, when eating a frog-man). It's possibly one of the reasons he wants to eat kindly protagonist Chihiro.
* In ''Anime/PonyoOnTheCliffByTheSea'', also by Creator/HayaoMiyazaki, Ponyo starts out as a goldfish-like creature but is able to become human after tasting human blood.

* The Saurians in ''[[Creator/CrossGen Sigil]]'' (and the one who appears in ''Negation'') take on beneficial attributes of whatever creatures they eat, including physical and mental traits and even information. Having long ago become the apex predators of their homeworlds, this power was forgotten and rediscovered when they went to war with humans and decided not to waste the corpses of their fallen foes.
* Creator/MarvelComics villain Dirt Nap gains the appearance and powers of people he swallows. The victims can survive if he coughs them up within a certain time frame. For some reason, he can't do anything about the smiley face symbol that always appears. He also winds up stuck in the form of a rat for much of his history. Eventually he becomes an ally to ''Generation X.'' He is even able to separate M-Plate back into the twins and Emplate by sucking them up and separating them, though [[spoiler: this ends up killing him.]]

* The Warwolves leave their victims' skins and wear them, in a manner similar to the Bug in ''[[Film/MenInBlack Men In Black]]''. "We wear who we kill!"
* In ''Comicbook/LoveAndRockets'', the monster [=BEM=] disguises itself by killing action hero detective Castle Radium and stealing his body. However, due to the brain damage it suffered while breaking out of prison, [=BEM=] gradually begins to believe it is Radium, and becomes obsessed with tracking down and capturing itself.
* Inverted for ''ComicBook/{{Revival}}'', where ordinary humans try eating reviver flesh in order to become revivers themselves. In at least one case it works.

* ''Film/{{Phantoms}}'' (1998) featured underground creatures that absorbed the memories of the humans they ate. The film claims flatworms can do the same thing but that was disproven long before the script was written.
* The vampires (or "[=NetherFolk=]") in ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0787495/ NetherBeast Incorporated]]'' eat human meat for survival and recovery.

* Attempted by the Millenians/Orga in ''Film/Godzilla2000''. The aliens use Godzilla's DNA to regenerate and conglomerate into a {{Kaiju}} called Orga, which eventually tries to swallow Godzilla to complete the process. During the attempted swallowing, Orga takes on more and more attributes of Godzilla.

* In ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresHumanNature Human Nature]]'', one of the members of the Family is a [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shape-shifter]] who can imitate any animal he's eaten part of, including humans. If he does it while they're alive, he can also gain their memories.

* This is [[spoiler:one of the secrets of the Inhumi]] in ''Literature/BookOfTheShortSun''; [[spoiler:feeding off humans is the only thing that makes them intelligent and capable of having personalities.]]
* In ''[[OurGhoulsAreCreepier The Throne Of Bones]]'', ghouls' tendency to assume the appearance and identities of those they devour -- even to the point of forgetting that they're ghouls -- is pivotal to most of the stories.

* The Nightmare's dream attack on [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]] in ''Literature/GravePeril'' is a version of this -- having consumed much of Harry's magic, the Nightmare gains the ability to both use that magic himself and impersonate Harry by taking on his appearance.

* In ''Literature/AgathaHAndTheClockworkPrincess'', it's mentioned in a footnote that that universe's counterpart to Brillat-Savarin was eaten by a monster who misinterpreted the page quote and decided that he wanted to be Brillat-Savarin. And then, after doing so, it began publishing works under his name.

* In the original Brothers Grimm version of ''Little Snow-White'', the wicked stepmother attempts to invoke this when she believes she is eating the lungs and liver of her beautiful stepdaughter.[[note]]She actually eats the lungs and liver of a young boar.[[/note]]
* ''Literature/{{Patternist}}'': The master {{Bioman|ipulation}}cer Anyanwu learns new VoluntaryShapeshifting forms by consuming a small amount of flesh or blood from unfamiliar animals. This also lets her add traits from those animals to her own body, such as an eagle's vision or a dolphin's improved ability to process oxygen. Eventually, she learns to copy people so precisely that she can have children who are ''their'' genetic descendants.

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* In one ''Series/SesameStreet'' sketch, Cookie Monster goes on a cookie binge and falls asleep. In his dream, he is confronted with a former monster who loved cookies so much that he literally became a Monster Cookie.
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* Lunar Exalted from ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' can take the form of any creature whose heart's blood they've tasted.
* Skin-Changers from ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' Monster Hunters are embodied spirits who can shapeshift into any animal (including humans) by wearing their skin. Unlike the Film/MenInBlack example, Skin-Changers are clever enough to preserve the skins, and save them in jars when they're not being worn.
* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', Mongrelmen are descended from beings that had this ability. Mongrelmen themselves are MixAndMatchCritters comprising aspects of all the humanoid creatures their ancestors consumed... and a few clearly non-humanoid for good measure.
** At least, [[DependingOnTheWriter that's one version of their backstory]]. The more common one is simply that they are what happens when you breed together enough humanoid races.
* As in the source material, some of the shapeshifting powers in ''TabletopGame/TheDresdenFiles'' work like this -- notably Mimic Abilities (and, it's at least implied, to a lesser extent Mimic Form). The former is even explicitly called out as "a bit of an "evil people eater" power" [[FootnoteFever by Will]].
* The D'Anjainy in ''TabletopGame/AnimaBeyondFantasy'' play this overlapping with {{Face Stealer}}s, as they skin the face of the person who want to copy and place it over theirs to look as the previous owner of that face. The game says nothing about what happens to the unfortunate victim, by the way.
* In the ''TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness'', [[OurSpiritsAreDifferent Spirits]] commonly consume other Spirits for their Essence; if the meal isn't a spirit of the same type or of a type that makes thematic sense for the spirit to be eating (like a wolf spirit eating a rabbit spirit), the meal's Essence can infect and alter it, sometimes to the point of creating a hybrid "Magath" mishmash of concepts.

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, some [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]] bloodlines have an unusual inversion of this trope. The longer they go without feeding, the ''more powerful'' they become, as well as becoming more [[GlamourFailure monstrous]] in appearance, which tends to give away their vampiric nature. Further, they risk going irrevocably insane and feral if they go ''too long'' without feeding, becoming "Bloodfiends". The vampire bloodlines the PlayerCharacter can join in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', vanilla ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline Online]]'' function in this way. (The ''Dawnguard'' DLC for ''Skyrim'' changes up the functionality, giving access to the Vampire Lord SuperMode form instead.)

* In ''VideoGame/DeadSpace3'', the Feeders are creatures that have become Necromorphs because they were desperate enough to eat Necromorph flesh.
* The unreleased arcade game ''VideoGame/ChimeraBeast'' as the VillainProtagonist as one of a HordeOfAlienLocusts appropriately known as Eaters. By using your bite move on organic enemies, you can gain similar abilities to them.

* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', zombies have to [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/weekly/071219 eat the brains]] of the living or they'll lose their own intelligence.
* In ''Webcomic/DemonEater'', this is the main way of growing in the demon world. Demons must eat demons, or be eaten themselves.
* This is apparently the method that Vel'akar (sentient demons) in ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'' use to appear more humanoid, since by default they resemble {{Blob Monster}}s. Khaless, Snadhya'rune's protector twin, is actually such a demon that devoured the original Khaless and seems to have taken over her role, and she later inflicts the same thing on [[spoiler:Lulianne and Sael Dutan'vir]] and is able to pose as them without anyone noticing.
* Changelings in ''Webcomic/CharbyTheVampirate'' change by absorbing whomever they are changing into, taking on their memories and often seeking their previous form since they appear to have gone missing without realizing that they've killed someone in a very BodyHorror fashion whom they probably considered a friend.

* ''Ollie! The Boy Who Became What He Ate'' is a Canadian cartoon about a boy who turns into whatever healthy food he eats.

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

For the non-human, this will allow them to {{shapeshift|ing}} into a human form, potentially [[CannibalismSuperpower that of the eaten]], though it may only allow them to become a human version of themselves. The non-human may use non-cannibalistic methods as well, for example a [[TheFairFolk fae creature]] might steal [[TheShadowKnows the shadow of a human]] to maintain their {{Glamour}}, a {{Mutant}} might graft skin or [[AppendageAssimilation new appendages]] from healthy humans to avoid PowerDegeneration, a robot or alien may use ReplicantSnatching, and a vampire may have to drink blood to avoid [[OneWingedAngel turning]] into a [[EvilMakesYouMonstrous hideous monster]]. It's worth noting that perfectly normal humans may be able to do this through a spell, ritual, or if they have the CannibalismSuperpower.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', several alien species have this trait, [[TropeOverdosed as you'd expect in a game like this]], but the two most prominent are the Kroot and the Tyranids.

* ''Series/FromDuskTillDawn'''s version of {{Vampire}}s, culebras, have this as an ability. After drinking someone's blood (as well as their soul, based on Carlos' description), they can shapeshift into that person's form, complete with their memories and the ability to mimic their attitudes and behavior.

* [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier Ghouls]] in ''Podcast/LessIsMorgue'' are able to transform into anything they've eaten recently.

* In ''Disney/WreckItRalph'', Cy-Bugs become whatever they eat. In the beginning, a Cy-bug eats a gun and sprouts {{ArmCannon}}s. [[spoiler:A Cy-Bug who starts eating the landscape of ''Sugar Rush'' becomes candy-coated. In the finale, a glitch-infected King Candy/Turbo is eaten by a Cy-Bug. Ralph then has a show-down with a terrifying glitch-infected King Candy/Turbo/Cy-Bug monster.]]

* In the music video for [[Music/BestFriend]] a supermodel devours other supermodels whole and alive and so she can take on desired aspects of their appearance and further her career. Over the course of the video she eats a woman for her BeautyMark, another so she can have her [[ShesGotLegs legs]] among others. However over time with all the clashing body proportions she starts to look less like a beautiful woman and more like a [[BodyHorror spindly, freakishly tall, disproportioned alien.]] By the video's end she winds up barfing up the dress of a woman she had eaten, chokes on it, loses her newly acquired features, and dies on the catwalk.

* The Chitauri of ''ComicBook/TheUltimates,'' DarkerAndEdgier versions of the main universe's Skrulls (though in the comics only; every adaptation makes them a standard AlienInvasion and just uses the ''real'' Skrulls if Skrulls are needed) can only shape-shift into the body of somebody by eating that person. Herr Kleiser threatens to do this to the Wasp, but is interrupted before he gets an opportunity.

* In the music video for [[Music/FosterThePeople Best Friend]] a supermodel devours other supermodels whole and alive and so she can take on desired aspects of their appearance and further her career. Over the course of the video she eats a woman for her BeautyMark, another so she can have her [[ShesGotLegs legs]] among others. However over time with all the clashing body proportions she starts to look less like a beautiful woman and more like a [[BodyHorror spindly, freakishly tall, disproportioned alien.]] By the video's end she winds up barfing up the dress of a woman she had eaten, chokes on it, loses her newly acquired features, and dies on the catwalk.

* Tamaki Amajiki, one of the Big Three of UA in ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', has the Quirk "Manifest". He can shapeshift his body into things based on what he's eaten in the last twenty-four hours. In the debut of his power, he turned his fingers into tentacles from some takoyaki, his left hand into a clamshell from some clams, and grew bird wings and talons from some fried chicken.

No one takes the saying "you are what you eat" literally; it's not as though being a vegetarian will make you a PlantPerson, or eating pure beef will make you a [[ALoadOfBull Minotaur]]. Some [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman non-human critters]] didn't get the memo though, because for them [[ImAHumanitarian eating people]] means ''being'' people. For some supernatural, alien, or stranger creatures to pretend to be human at all requires that they make a periodic consumption of HumanResources. Or simply put: Ghoulie has to eat people to look like one.

* Buu of ''Manga/DragonballZ'' can absorb his enemies whole, which grants him their powers, intelligence, and appearance.
** The heroes assumed he grew stronger with each absorption and so freed their comrades from Buu to revert him to a less powerful state. Unfortunately, they went too far and freed Fat Buu (who Evil Buu had absorbed), causing him to revert to his original state, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero which was even more psychotic than the others]].

* The Nightmare's dream attack on [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]] in ''Grave Peril'' is a version of this -- having consumed much of Harry's magic, the Nightmare gains the ability to both use that magic himself and impersonate Harry by taking on his appearance.

* ''Literature/{{Patternist}}'': The master {{Biomanc|y}}er Anyanwu learns new VoluntaryShapeshifting forms by consuming a small amount of flesh or blood from unfamiliar animals. This also lets her add traits from those animals to her own body, such as an eagle's vision or a dolphin's improved ability to process oxygen. Eventually, she learns to copy people so precisely that she can have children who are ''their'' genetic descendants.

[[quoteright:159:[[WebComic/BrawlInTheFamily https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kirbytransforms_copy_4869.png]]]]

* In ''Literature/AgathaHAndTheClockworkPrincess'', it was mentioned in a footnote that that universe's counterpart to Brillat-Savarin was eaten by a monster who misinterpreted the page quote and decided that he wanted to be Brillat-Savarin. And then, after doing so, it began publishing works under his name.

* Hive from ''[[Series/AgentsOfShield Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.]]'' gains the memories of everyone he consumes, and can also take on their appearance.

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E1SmithAndJones "Smith and Jones"]], there's a plasmavore who already looks human, but has to drink human blood in order to scan as human.

* Jasmine, on ''Series/{{Angel}}'', who had to eat people in order to heal herself and maintain her human appearance.
* A two-part episode on ''Series/{{Sliders}}'' involved the logistics behind moving a select portion of the population before their Earth is destroyed. It turns out that the man in charge has to ingest brain tissue from compatible donors due to treat a fungal brain infection. Injecting the tissue causes him to temporarily morph into the person while the donor goes into a coma. The list of people he handpicks to move on to the new world are all compatible; he intends to use them all to stay alive.

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In the episode "The Voyage Home", there's a shapeshifting alien which assumes the form of the people it eats.
* ''Series/{{Ghoul}}'': The ghoul takes on the form of its last victim. Initially, it looks like Ali Saeed, but later starts impersonating other people, causing no small amount of paranoia among the DwindlingParty.

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* 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 causes his DNA to be rewritten and turn him into a pig]].