Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / InappropriateHunger

Go To

1%%
2%%
3%%
4%%
5%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
6%%
7%%
8%%
9%%
10%%
11->''"Everybody, gather 'round. Let's pray. Dear Lord, see us safely through our time of trial in this mall. And please Lord... let the food court be okay."''
12-->-- '''Coach''', ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'', while inside a mall filled with zombies
13
14The characters are in a disgusting situation. Maybe they're looking at dead bodies, maybe they're CoveredInGunge. Everyone will be disgusted... except the one guy who suddenly wants a burger.
15
16A surprisingly common RealLife trope. Who hasn't watched a movie about cannibals and felt a sudden urge to get some [=McDonald=]'s? (A particularly disturbing example is the oft-cited fact that [[ManOnFire burning human flesh]] smells like [[TheSecretOfLongPorkPies cooking pork]].) Also probably owing to the fact that the work desensitizes you, [[AutopsySnackTime it's not uncommon for doctors in minor surgeries to eat while they work]], same with examiners in morgues.
17
18Compare ObsessedWithFood, OneTrackMindedHunger, and TheSnackIsMoreInteresting. Contrast LostMyAppetite, VomitingCop, and HorrorHunger. May overlap with ImpromptuCampfireCookout. See also AutopsySnackTime. The FatComicRelief is prone to this sort of moment.
19----
20!!Examples
21
22[[foldercontrol]]
23
24[[folder:Advertising]]
25* There's a commercial for a mobile phone carrier where a morgue worker's breakfast burrito falls into the cadaver he's working on, and he blithely picks it up and continues eating it. "What, you think this is wrong? What's wrong is paying too much for cell phone service."
26[[/folder]]
27
28[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
29* In ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'', just before the FinalBattle Miaka and Tamahome decide they might not get a chance to do it later, [[PreClimaxClimax so they might as well have sex]] (completely disregarding [[VirginPower the rules]] [[NoHuggingNoKissing Miaka is held to]]). Before they get too far into the act, however, Miaka's stomach growls and totally kills the mood, so they stop.
30* The first time Manga/InuYasha eats ramen, it's in the middle of an old battlefield littered with the decaying remains of fallen soldiers. Kagome questions how he can eat in such a place.
31* In the first season of ''{{Literature/Slayers}}'', Dilgear's eulogy for a fallen fishman is marred by the rest of his men eating the body. When he finishes the eulogy he gets upset because they didn't leave any for him.
32* In ''Manga/{{Toriko}}'', Midora's undying literal and figurative hunger only stopped after Frohze fed him with her cooking and love. Then she died saving him from the mortal injuries he sustained while trying to help ''her''. As he kneels at her grave, Midora is disgusted with himself when he realizes he's starving again. He punches his own stomach telling it to shut up, but it won't stop growling. For the past ''four hundred years'', he's been futilely trying to eat away his pain.
33* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'': Koema is often scolded for chowing down whilst Yusuke fights for his life.
34[[/folder]]
35
36[[folder:Asian Animation]]
37* In episode 15 of ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf: Joys of Seasons'', Paddi asks his toy robot if it could get him something to eat... [[spoiler:during a solemn funeral for the LivingToys that saved Tibbie from Wolffy]].
38[[/folder]]
39
40[[folder:Fan Works]]
41* In the ''Dusk to Dawn'' series, given her appreciation of food in general, Selina responds to even the wildest situations with eating. Just in a 2-on-10 brawl in a bar? Steal a pop and drink from the broken beer tap. Kidnapped by terrorist organization and imprisoned with husband's ex? Raid the nearby breakfast buffet. [[spoiler:Granted, she ''was'' eating for two the second time.]]
42[[/folder]]
43
44[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
45* In the opening of ''Series/BlueCollarComedy Tour Rides Again'', Creator/LarryTheCableGuy is hungry after coming out of a restroom someone had recently sat down and gone in, while the others had all reacted with disgust to the smell.
46* In ''Film/DenOfThieves'', O'Brien is introduced stealing a doughnut from a blood-spattered box at a crime scene.
47* ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 2016}}'': As the team sees a ghost manifest in front of them for the first time, there is a loud crunch, and Erin turns to see Holtzmann nonchalantly eating Pringles.
48-->'''Holtzmann:''' "You try saying no to these salty parabolas."
49* In ''Film/MastersOfTheUniverse'', the BigEater Man-at-Arms mentions that he's feeling a little hungry while ducking behind cover before a firefight.
50* In ''Film/RoboCop2'', the doctor that removes Cain's brain to become [[EvilCounterpart RoboCop 2]] remarks that he's hungry immediately afterward.
51* in ''Film/SomeGuyWhoKillsPeople'', Sheriff Fuller surveys the crime scene where Wade Hutchinson's body has been hacked into pieces with a [[MacheteMayhem machete]] while eating a box of popcorn he takes off his deputy.
52* In ''Film/SpyKids2IslandOfLostDreams'', Carmen and Juni reach the titular island's volcano, apparently bubbling with lava a long way down. They slip and fall into the volcano and fall for an extremely long time, long enough for Juni to pull out a candy bar and start eating it while still falling.
53--> '''Carmen:''' "How could you be eating at a time like this?!"
54* In ''Film/{{Thor}}'', after [[spoiler:Thor has been banished and Loki is put on the throne]], the Warriors Three's discussion on what to do starts with Fandral calling [[BigEater Volstagg]] out for chowing down. Volstagg shouts back that Fandral should not "mistake [his] appetite for apathy."
55* Deliberately inverted and averted in ''Film/TuckerTheManAndHisDream.'' The car designer makes a point of serving ultra-rare red meat at a conference during which he shows grisly photos of accident victims. Gradually, the men at the table stop eating and start looking sick.
56* In ''Film/{{Zombieland}}'', looking at a zombie chowing down on a corpse makes Columbus sick and sad. But it makes [[CrazyIsCool Tallahassee]] hungry.
57[[/folder]]
58
59[[folder:Literature]]
60* One ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' book involves a horrific visit to a slaughterhouse for the main characters. Once they save the day they end up in the mall food court...and all decide to order burgers.
61* As in the TV series (below), the main character of the ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' novels by Jeff Lindsay is rarely ever put off his food, due to his hobby of slicing up murderers and his job analyzing blood spatters. His lack of most normal emotions also helps. He usually mopes about any missed meal, noting that his high metabolism requires regular fueling.
62* During ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'' some of the Children slog out of the swamp to grab at Zak. His companion shoots one, and the other talks them out of shooting him too, but he keeps looking at his dead comrade and once licks his lips. It looks like a nervous gesture. [[spoiler: Actually, the Children [[ImAHumanitarian are cannibals]].]]
63* Mops, during ''Literature/JanitorsOfThePostapocalypse'', is aggravated when dealing with a deceased Krakau officer whose body has been exposed to a heat-based sterilization procedure. Her mind feels grief for this long-term superior officer who she was fond of, while her body smells [[OctopoidAliens roast squid]] and drools. It's especially annoying for her because she hasn't eaten anything by mouth in twelve years, this reflex is just built in.
64* In ''Literature/MakingMoney'', Vetinari has called Moist to his office in the early morning, is eating a hard-boiled egg, and keeps offering food to Moist. He makes an offhand comment that a hanging always makes one hungry. Moist is not inclined to agree, as he's only been hanged once, and he didn't feel like eating anything.
65* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', Sam Tarly was attending the cremation of one of his brothers in the Night's Watch when he realized to his horror that the burning body smelled ''delicious''.
66* Turns up in ''Literature/BrokenHomes'' as one of Peter's anecdotes. One of the horrors policemen have to face in discovering a burn victim in an otherwise empty house is the smell, and how your mouth starts to water because it smells like someone is cooking a nice roast and then your brain kicks in with just exactly what it is that has made you feel hungry.
67[[/folder]]
68
69[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
70* In an early episode of ''Series/BabylonFive'', [[NumberTwo Lieutenant Commander Ivanova]] finds [[DaChief Micheal Garibaldi]] at a restaurant "eating like a man starved" after he had found a missing passenger transport that had been destroyed by [[SpacePirates Raiders]]. [[DiscussedTrope He explains]] that seeing death makes him hungry, he figures that it is his way of reminding himself that he is still alive. Given [[TheAlcoholic other details we know of Garibaldi]], it's also possible that he gorges himself on food as an [[AddictionDisplacement alternative]] to [[INeedAFreakingDrink falling back into the bottle.]]
71* ''Series/{{Bones}}'': Temperance Brennan is so used to dealing with gruesome dead bodies that her appetite isn't put off by it. Of course, Agent Booth does not have the same (lack of) reaction.
72* Provenza of ''Series/TheCloser'', is usually seen snacking even in the presence of rotting corpses.
73* In a flashback in ''Series/DarkMatter2015'', Three is shown eating dinner, completely unfazed by Two fighting (and killing) their crewmates Shrike and Jasper right in front of him. Even when Shrike tries to strangle Two on the mess table, and Two shoots Jasper who is lying on the floor right behind Three.
74* One episode of ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' has Dexter explaining his forensic analysis of a bloody crime scene, with details on exactly how the victims were killed, then gleefully announcing that he's going to lunch.
75-->'''Uniform on scene:''' What now?\
76'''Dexter:''' Now I ''eat!''
77* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
78** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E3TheSeaDevils The Sea Devils]]", the Doctor steals the Master's sandwich... in the middle of a sword fight with the guy.
79** In one episode, the Doctor feels he wants a hotdog while running from [[BodyHorror Cybermen]].
80** In "[[Recap/DoctorWho2016CSTheReturnOfDoctorMysterio The Return of Dr. Mysterio]]", a [[ComicBook/{{Superman}} Lois Lane]] {{expy}} is hiding in the bad guy's office when she notices The Doctor, standing next to her eating sushi because he is now "bringing snacks to these sort of things".
81* ''Series/{{Eureka}}'': While watching an autopsy on a mystery body found burned and fused into a metal door, Allison comments that she's "craving rib meat...beef jerky". Even though her weird cravings might be justified by her pregnancy, it's still enough to make Jack want to throw up.
82* In ''{{Series/Firefly}}'', Jayne mentions to Shepard Book that seeing dead people gives him an urge to just ''do something'', whether it work out, or get into a fight, or try to get laid. [[ThatCameOutWrong Not that seeing dead people makes him flush]]... Book reasons that it's natural to want to feel alive after witnessing death.
83* ''Series/{{Fringe}}'': Walter Bishop is well known for this, to the point of it being a RunningGag. Somewhat {{justified|Trope}}, in that he'd been in a mental institution with terrible food for 17 years straight.
84* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
85** A brutal torturer called the Tickler snacks on a pear while torturing his victims.
86** Played for BlackComedy when the Hound kills several Frey soldiers after threatening them by drinking their ale and demanding their chicken, then helps himself to their meal.
87** Oberyn casually drinks and snacks before his duel with Gregor. Tyrion is quite alarmed by the drinking, but Oberyn states that he always drinks before he fights.
88* One episode of ''Series/{{House}}'' had him ordering his team to get a stool sample (with [[{{Squick}} unnecessarily graphic detail]]), then muttering "That reminds me, I want a bagel..."
89* Happens once on ''Series/HouseOfAnubis''.
90-->'''Amber:''' Alfie, how could you possibly be eating at a time like this?\
91'''Alfie:''' I always eat when I'm scared. Or nervous. Or... happy, come to think of it.\
92'''Amber:''' Or any day with a 'y' in it...
93* ''Series/TheInvisibleMan'': In order to save themselves from dying horrifically of a bacterial infection, The Official, Claire, and Darien have to [[ItMakesSenseInContext give themselves food poisoning.]] This results in the three of them in various bathrooms vomiting out their guts while Hobbes and Monroe stand outside and casually discuss Alex's recent flight. The two then decide to go eat a meal.
94* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'': Stoic surgeon Hiiro often eats sweets or drinks coffee between operations. Early into the story, newbie doctor Emu is greatly upset by this and it adds to his perception of Hiiro as callous and cynical. Even though this is a matching description, it applies because Hiiro has a lot of stuff to work out and no healthy coping mechanisms whatsoever instead of simply being a jerk.
95* In the ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' episode "Christmas," a MallSanta was supposed to parachute into the new mall and drop gift certificates, but a strong wind blew him off course, and he landed on the Bundys' roof and fell on the backyard, dead. As the coroners are investigating the scene and packing up the body, the Bundys are calmly eating pizza, and ask Steve to calm Marcy down who's hysterical thanks to the cadaver.
96* On ''Series/{{Misfits}}'', after a mild breakdown during the season finale, Simon relaxes in a deserted backroom, eating pizza while gazing at the frozen corpse of [[spoiler: Sally the probation worker]].
97* On ''Series/{{Passions}}'', heart-recipient Charity is in a coma fighting for her life. While her doctors, loving family and boyfriend Miguel are holding a vigil over her, her disinterested cousin and rival for Miguel's affections, Kay, eats some doughnuts in the lobby just outside of her room in the intensive care unit, which her best friend Simone calls her out on.
98* In ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', a young Sameen Shaw once reacted to learning that her father had just died in the car accident they were both in by asking the rescue workers for a sandwich. Some years later, her habit of snacking while discussing the prognosis of terminal patients with their families destroyed her medical career. This behavior of hers seems to be based in her limited capacity for emotion and logic: The fact that someone is dead/dying means that there's nothing more that can be done there. But the fact that she's hungry can still be remedied. So she eats something.
99* ''Series/{{Psych}}'':
100** An ad for the show shows Shawn snacking on a donut that he took from the corpse at the crime scene he's investigating. It ends with him licking something red off his finger and nonchalantly saying "That wasn't a jelly donut."
101** In one episode, Gus goes really far beyond the line of common decency when he starts talking about how he could use some waffles with strawberries and syrup ''while at a crime scene of a near-mythical serial killer''. Of course, he's doing it to [[spoiler: help keep Shawn from freaking out]], but even ''Shawn'' says that it's getting really weird.
102* ''Series/TheTerror'': In a rare example that's not PlayedForLaughs, in episode 7, Henry Collins describes being at the burning Carnivale, watching his friends roasting around, and beginning to salivate due to hunger.
103--> '''Collins:''' My nose and my stomach, they don't know [[TitleDrop horrible from supper]]. But I do! ''(bursts into tears)''
104* ''Series/TheXFiles'': In the episode "[[Recap/TheXFilesS05E12BadBlood Bad Blood]]", Scully's autopsy of a victim reveals his last meal was pizza. Scully thinks that sounds pretty good, and orders one when she goes back to the hotel.
105[[/folder]]
106
107[[folder:Video Games]]
108* Adopting one of the [[CreepyChild Little Sisters]] in ''VideoGame/BioShock2'' usually results in some interesting battle commentary; for example, if you use the [[PlayingWithFire Incinerate Plasmid]] to set an enemy on fire, the Little Sister will start asking for marshmallows.
109* Unaccountably Peckish is one of the menaces of ''VideoGame/FallenLondon''. Among other situations, it can potentially increase from visiting a butcher's shop full of disorganized meat and gory bits that came from... we don't really get to know what sort of creature, but probably something [[EldritchAbomination eldritch]].
110* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', when the party is trying to stop the Phantom Train from taking them to [[TheUnderworld The Other Side]], Sabin stops for a full course meal of ''ghost food''.
111-->'''Sabin:''' Food! Food! Bring me everything ya got!\
112'''Cyan:''' A... are you going to be okay if you eat THIS?\
113'''Sabin:''' Worried? Can't wage war on an empty stomach!\
114'''Cyan:''' Hmmm... Sir! I won't hear any more of this kind of talk!\
115'''Sabin:''' Well! I've stuffed down all I can... Let's go!
116* In one of the early missions of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'', Big Smoke quietly eats his and his friends' takeout meals in the backseat while the rest are caught in a drive-by shootout with a Balla gangcar. [[spoiler: This is actually a hint that Smoke is now working for the Ballas.]]
117-->"If you can eat your food, while everybody's losing theirs and blaming you, you straight, homie!"
118* In ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend Holiday Star'' the [[UpliftedAnimal fantail pigeon]] Yuuya [[TakingTheBullet Takes The Tank Shell]] / {{Diving Save}}s the protagonist and is burned bad enough that he can't stand in the process. In the first game, there was the possibility that [[spoiler: another character would kill him and serve him to the protagonist as food]], which is probably where this line comes from. "Yuuya, wait! [[AttackTheTail Your tail!]] Your tail is burnt! It smells delicious!"
119* ''VideoGame/JaggedAlliance'' has a few examples:
120** When your mercenaries come across a decaying corpse with ravens pecking at it, they'll comment on it. Most will react with revulsion or disgust, but the AxeCrazy Meltdown will say
121--->'''Meltdown:''' Would you look at that! Hey, when do we eat?
122** Making an enemy's head explode also results in a comment from the responsible mercenary. Many tend to be quite impressed, though Stogie's is a bit odd.
123--->'''Stogie:''' Reminds me of soup. I like soup.
124* Coach from ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' '''is''' this trope.
125-->"Man, if I find a [[LawyerFriendlyCameo Burger]] Tank in this place, Im'a be a one-man cheeseburger apocalypse!"
126-->"I could roll up a whole pizza right now and eat it sub style!"
127-->"Elephant ears... corn dogs... this is bringing back some memories!"
128-->"Ah, cotton candy. The wise pharaoh of food, sittin' atop the food pyramid, passing judgment on all the lesser foods."
129* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'':
130** During the Omega Quarantine Zone mission, you come across a pile of diseased bodies being burned in the street. If you brought Grunt along, he'll comment "Anyone else hungry?" Depending on who you have in your party, he'll be called out on this.
131** Becomes a RunningGag for him, [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by Zaeed at least once.
132--->'''Zaeed''': Is there any smell that ''doesn't'' make you hungry?\
133'''Grunt''': I don't know yet.
134** It's well-established that krogan will eat just about anything (the better to survive when hungry on a battlefield)... except, apparently, ramen noodles.
135--->'''Grunt''': Looks like worms. ''Dead'' worms. This is a human thing?
136* Eddie Dombrowski in ''Videogame/SilentHill2''. In the middle of the infamous deserted town, he inexplicably had conjured a fresh, hot pizza out of nowhere when James meets him in the abandoned bowling alley, and sits and eats it rather than help him find Laura.
137-->'''James Sunderland:''' This town is FULL of monsters! How can you sit there and eat pizza?!
138* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'': After the player has escaped Grout's burning mansion and gone back to the Venture Tower to report to the Prince, [[DonutMessWithACop Officer Chunk]] will notice the smell of burnt flesh and starts rambling on about delicious hamburgers.
139* In ''Videogame/VisceraCleanupDetail: [[VideoGame/ShadowWarrior2013 Shadow Warrior]]'', chucking body parts in an incinerator will occasionally make the janitor think "Is it weird how that smell makes me hungry?"
140[[/folder]]
141
142[[folder:Web Animation]]
143* ''WebAnimation/McBusters'': The second video ''[=McBusters=] 2'' has Mayor [=McCheese=] address this when he comments that witnessing the carnage caused by the pink sludge Grimace puked into the sewers is making him hungry for UsefulNotes/McDonalds food while also acknowledging that something might be wrong with him to think that way.
144[[/folder]]
145
146[[folder:Webcomics]]
147* ''Webcomic/FifteenMinds'': In ''Blue Moon Blossom'', a few villagers were still stuffing their faces as they turned to stone, surrounded by their fellow villagers taking up swords against the snake-demons, crying, running in terror, praying in desperation, or clutching their terrified children.
148* One of the [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Jaegermonsters]] in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' gets hungry ''[[{{Squick}} while traipsing through a sewer]]''.
149[[/folder]]
150
151[[folder:Web Original]]
152* Far from being afraid or grossed out, [[https://notalwaysright.com/the-hungry-dead/28569/ this girl]] on ''Website/NotAlwaysFriendly'' got hungry during a marathon of ''Series/TheWalkingDead''. "Hey, doesn't [[{{Gorn}} that]] look like sausage links to you guys?"
153[[/folder]]
154
155[[folder:Web Videos]]
156* Emily Grasile of ''WebVideo/TheBrainScoop'' frequently talks about being hungry or what she wants for lunch while dissecting and preparing specimens in the lab, despite complaining of the horrific stench.
157[[/folder]]
158
159[[folder:Western Animation]]
160* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'':
161** Pam, as the show's BigEater, had a moment like this.
162--->'''Pam:''' (standing over two burning bodies) Is it weird that I'm kind of hungry now?\
163'''Malory:''' It would be weirder if you weren't.
164** In ''Lo Scandalo'', the characters are called over to Mallory's apartment to find that the Prime Minister of Italy has been killed in rather suspicious circumstances, and they need to get rid of the body and cover it up. But all the talk of Italian makes Archer hungry, and he goes into the kitchen to make spaghetti. This actually comes in handy later on, when the police show up and the characters eat the spaghetti while pretending to be throwing a diner party.
165--->'''Lana:''' So, we've got a dead Italian prime minister in the living room which—-\
166'''Archer:''' ''[while cooking]'' Sucks, because I bet he knew how to make sauce.
167* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': After jamming a man in a coffin and dumping him into bubbling acid, The Joker has one thought on his mind:
168-->'''The Joker:''' ''(To his henchmen)'' Well, that was fun! Who's for Chinese?
169* In ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' episode "[[Recap/KimPossibleS1E4TickTickTick Tick-Tick-Tick]]", while trying to escape Dr. Drakken and Shego who want the nano-tick bomb that's [[ClingyMacGuffin stuck]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext on Kim's nose]], Ron drives him and Kim to Bueno Nacho.
170-->'''Kim''': What makes you think we're safe in here?\
171'''Ron''': I don't think we're safe anywhere, but chases make me hungry. Chimiritos?\
172'''Kim''': No thanks. I'm trying to focus on the thing on my nose that's gonna blow me up!
173* In a first season episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'', the band gets hungry while watching a pack of wolves eat their evil therapist's arms.
174* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has Homer and Bart, and later Lisa, watching a show called "When Surgeries Go Wrong". After the show is over, Homer says that watching the stomach surgery made him hungry.
175* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': When the boys visit a farm and see all the baby cows in constrictive pens because they're destined to become veal, everyone is {{Squick}}ed except Cartman, who says they all look delicious.
176* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': {{Downplayed}} example in "Watermelon Steven"; when holding Baby Melon's watermelon slice (not mashed pulp) remains just like a fruit bowl, Steven takes a bite out his juicy flesh. The Crystal Gems are understandably disgusted.
177* One of the ''[[ChristmasSpecial Twelve Tiny Christmas Tales]]'' is described as "too scary" by the grandmother reading to her grandchildren. The children ask for it anyway, and it turns out to be a version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" that ends with the true love and his lady killing and eating all the birds. This ending makes two of the children burst into tears, but the third licks his lips and declares, "I'm hungry!"
178[[/folder]]
179
180[[folder:Real Life]]
181* "Formaldehyde hunger" is an effect widely reported by medical students whereby exposure to formaldehyde fumes starts to cause a powerful appetite. The effect notably does not reduce the revulsion of being around a corpse, resulting in some unpleasant mixed feelings. So far, the effect is only anecdotal and its mechanism has not been proven.
182* A handful of people find that instead of becoming seasick, they are possessed by hunger, which completely squicks out those unfortunate souls that suffer from seasickness. Occasionally, the lucky hungry person may have a craving for a particular food - chicken and chips, for example. The action of this food craving is relatively unknown.
183[[/folder]]
184

Top