Line #54 Main/PickyEater


1	%% Trope was declared Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease via crowner by the Real Life Maintenance thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php?crowner_id=wqlew5tg
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3	[[quoteright:152:[[ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/CalvinThePickyEater.gif]]]]
4	[[caption-width-right:152:[[VideoGame/KingsQuestVIHeirTodayGoneTomorrow "My tongue dislikes this sour thing! And the taste of man all over it clings!"]]]]
5
6	->''"As a child, I was what is known as a 'fussy eater'. 'He's a fussy eater!' 'Fussy eater' is a euphemism for 'big pain in the ass'."''
7	-->-- '''Creator/GeorgeCarlin''', ''A Place for My Stuff''
8
9	A character, usually a child, dislikes a certain type of food, [[KidsHateVegetables most frequently a vegetable]]. In Western culture, it's usually peas, carrots, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, or essentially any vegetable you care to name. In Japanese works, it's carrots or, more commonly, green bell peppers. Oftentimes; it's the vegetables that the creator disliked in their own youth. And if it's not a vegetable, it's usually some type of seafood.
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11	This is often used to label this character as "immature," and sometimes the character gets over their distaste (a mark of growing up) as part of their CharacterDevelopment. More often, though, it's simply a character quirk to make him or her not seem so flat.
12
13	It's not uncommon in older media for a fussy child's parent to protest that there are starving people in a less-privileged part of the world. In technical terms, this response to the eater's pickiness is the AppealToWorseProblems, and in some works might get amusingly countered in some way for being a logical fallacy. This is less common today, when food scarcity is less a problem, and offending other cultures is more a problem.
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15	TruthInTelevision, as many a troper will tell you of memories of being told not to leave the table "until you've cleaned your plate." Never mind the esteemed [[Series/GoodEats Alton Brown]] suggests (in his pea episode) that the real reason kids don't eat their veggies is that the parents overcook them into inedible mush. Or, maybe they could just try to find some veggies they ''do'' like.
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17	It also doesn't help that kids have keener tastebuds than adults -- so if something tastes slightly bitter or sour to a grown-up, it'll taste ''much worse'' to them. Some assume that adults' trying stuff they wouldn't touch as kids is a sign of growing up but actually, their taste buds' sensitivity has toned down so that something they hated as a kid is now tolerable. (There is also the question of preparation.)
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19	Furthermore, scientists have discovered that people are born with a ''genetic aversion'' to specific foods, specifically green vegetables. Our evolution has left us knowing that bitter-tasting things in nature can often be poisonous to the body. Your instincts are telling you to avoid eating your Brussels sprouts because you know it's ''not'' good for you to eat. Especially if you're a child: small body size makes even ''tiny'' doses of toxins dangerous, hence little kids' greater selectivity.
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21	The genetic aversion is likely due to the fact that many edible, nourishing, healthy, and safe vegetables often do contain small amounts of toxins. Spinach leaves, for example, have about twice as much Oxalic Acid (which is even more toxic than Ethylene Glycol, a major cause of kidney stones, and which can kill someone by way of acute kidney failure) as Rhubarb leaves (which are poisonous).
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23	Sometimes it seems that adults are less picky eaters than kids merely because adults have more control over what they eat. A lot of people carry some of their culinary dislikes into adulthood, but they never have any fights with others merely because adults can't be told they aren't allowed to leave the table until they eat their carrots. If an adult doesn't like carrots, green peppers, or broccoli? They just don't buy it, prepare it or order it, and pick out the stuff they don't like if it comes with it. If a kid does it? Then they're a picky eater. A birthday card even makes fun of this, showing a woman scraping broccoli into the trash saying nobody can make you eat your broccoli.
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25	Picky Eaters also have a root in primal instincts -- typically, adventurous eaters were a subtype of TooDumbToLive, since they didn't know what would poison them in some way. Picky eaters were also ''safe'' eaters since they would stick to stuff they ''knew'' would not kill them.
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27	Certain [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]] may fall under this trope as well, based on the idea that some people's blood tastes better and/or is better for you than others.
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29	[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avoidant%2Frestrictive_food_intake_disorder Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder]] (ARFID) is a type of eating disorder in which the sufferer has an extremely selective palate and avoids the overwhelming majority of foods to the point of causing health problems, specifically not due to body image as with anorexia. This avoidance may be based on appearance, smell, taste, texture, brand, presentation, or a past negative experience with the food in question. Many of those who suffer from the disorder stay away from anything spicy, tangy, or acidic, and tend to favor generally blander foods laden with carbohydrates. The common criteria for when simple "picky eating" crosses the line into ARFID is when the restrictive diet extends past childhood, or when the sufferer would not eat outside of their "safe" foods even if there was nothing else available and/or they were starving.
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31	See also DoesNotLikeSpam, IDoNotLikeGreenEggsAndHam, KidsHateVegetables, StockYuck (things almost ''any'' kid can be expected to hate to eat), and overlaps with IfItTastesBadItMustBeGoodForYou, a common reaction/joke about this. Compare CityPeopleEatSushi, which has the pickiness showing class, and PickyPeopleEater, a far more horrifying related trope, the execution of which is also less about immaturity and more about delicacies or nutritional requirements. If they try to miss an entire meal due to their pickiness, it often leads to a MissedMealAesop. For a biologically-enforced version, see FantasticDietRequirement. Compare RidiculouslyHighRelationshipStandards.
32	----
33	!!Examples
34
35	[[foldercontrol]]
36
37	[[folder:Advertising]]
38	* Many food commercials aimed at kids and parents try to use this angle, claiming their product is something even the pickiest of eaters can enjoy (bonus points if said product is supposed to be nutritious). One of the more famous examples is Mikey, the kid who hated everything... that is until he tried Life cereal.
39	* The ''Advertising/MorrisTheCat'' campaign revolves around a finicky cat that won't eat anything but [=9Lives=] cat food.
40	* A Domino's Pizza commercial deal plays with this by presenting a roomful of kindergarteners with boxes of pizza like Philly Cheesesteak and Hawaiian. They react poorly. (The whole thing is advertising a 'Buy a specialty pizza, get a single-topping for a great price' deal.)
41	* A local hospital specializing in children has been putting up billboards with some of their success stories. One of them is some variety of playing with this trope: "We turned a boy who couldn't eat broccoli into one who wouldn't".
42	* One ad for Holiday Inn featured a father taking his eight year old daughter to various high end restaurants, only for her to reject the (rather unappetizing looking) food she's served with an uncertain "Ew". She even screams when she's served lobster. Fortunately, the advertised hotel is willing to serve her waffles, the only food she will eat without a fuss, again.
43	[[/folder]]
44
45	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
46	* Shizuka Doumeki of ''Manga/XxxHolic'' is a rare picky Big Eater. As his grandfather puts it "He won't put anything in his mouth if he's not properly satisfied with it." Unfortunately for [[SupremeChef Watanuki]], this means Doumeki [[HoYay will only ever eat his cooking or food he trusts]].
47	* Tanuki-oni from ''Literature/{{Anpanman}}'' hates umeboshi (a sour pickled and dried plum commonly found as an onigiri filling) because of how sour it is. Conversely, Battotto, his minion, loves it. Omusubiman and Komusubiman were able to weaponize his dislike of it by throwing one into his mouth when he transformed into a giant demon to defeat the two of them, but he became overwhelmed by the sourness and ended up losing control of his transformation. This dislike was only shown in the ''Omusubiman'' theatrical short, never in the actual show.
48	* Tomoyo from ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' doesn't like green bell peppers.
49	* A running gag in ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'' is that Rosette's brother Joshua Christopher hates carrots -- partially to show how child-like he is [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity because of the demon horns stunting his mental growth]].
50	* L from ''Manga/DeathNote'' exclusively eats sweet things. The most prominent example is picking off ham slices and only eating the melon underneath them.
51	* ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'' has [[spoiler: Izutsumi. When Senshi first offered to cook something for her, she immediately insisted she would kill him if it included any monster, which limited him to cooking with mushroom, rice, garlic, cheese, and butter. She quickly goes out of her way to pick out the mushrooms and dump them on the ground.]]
52	** When Maizuru organizes Shuro's party to cook for him, she specifically leaves Asebi out of it because she "wouldn't want anything strange getting mixed into the food." [[spoiler: Combined with her initial refusal to eat what Senshi was cooking (until the smell of it reached her) and her unfamiliarity with regular table manners suggests some really odd eating habits.]]
53	* Kaoruko of ''Manga/ComicGirls'' seems to be unused to eating food outside of her hometown. The eighth chapter (animated in the third episode) shows in addition to StockYuck such as natto and broccoli, she has a problem handling some more or less normal Japanese foods, such as tomatoes, cold tofu, or tofu dengaku (tofu grilled with miso).
54	* In one episode of ''Manga/TheDisastrousLifeOfSaikiK'', the extremely rich Saiko Metori is forced to survive for one day on what is still a large amount of money but isn't enough to buy the ridiculously expensive meals he normally lives on. He fears he will starve because he refuses to eat any cheaper food and so when he is taken to a ramen restaurant he thinks he will hate it. [[IDoNotLikeGreenEggsAndHam He apparently did like it after all because he later is shown ordering his servants to make him ramen]]. In another story arc where he and several others get stranded on an island, he ends up starving for several days because he won't eat any of the available food, although part of the latter is guilt over thinking that he got them shipwrecked since it was his boat.
55	* In ''Manga/Eyeshield21'', there's a bit of subversion and played straight: Shin won't eat junk food (and actually has a very strict diet that involves close monitoring of his calorie and nutrient intake), while Gaou has an all-meat diet and hates vegetables.
56	* ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'''s Naota hates sour drinks but comes to enjoy them at the series' end.
57	* Erina from ''Manga/FoodWars'' was naturally born with such a sensitive palate that the first words she ever spoke as a baby were to criticize the flavor of her mother's breast milk. She became known as the God Tongue for her extreme sense of taste that lets her determine with incredible precision what is wrong with a meal. During her childhood, her abusive father brainwashed her into being even more picky by making her throw away any food that wasn't absolutely perfect. Getting her to admit that she likes his food, which she really does, but is too prideful to say it because she doesn't like him, is one of Soma's goals.
58	* Downplayed with Rurune the donkey in ''Literature/TheFruitOfEvolution''; she's a [[BigEater massive glutton]] and happily consumes just about anything, even [[AscendedToCarnivorism meat]], but only if it's what she calls "human food". Having something of an ego, after Seiichi inadvertently spoiled her by letting her eat food meant for people, she decided that grazing on grass and roughage like an animal is beneath her. Fortunately, eating a Fruit of Evolution in [[TooDesperateToBePicky a moment of dire need]] resulted in her [[HumanityEnsues transforming into a human woman]], so she has every excuse to only eat "human food".
59	* Kyo in ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' hates leeks, to the extent of having to wear a gas mask when he's forced to cook with them, as well as onion and miso[[note]]though he's just fine with miso soup[[/note]]. This appears to be for a reason; all of those are foods that are potentially lethal to cats, which Kyo is [[InvoluntaryShapeshifting cursed into becoming when weak or hugged by women]]. One bit of [[AllThereInTheManual extra]] information included at the end of one of the volumes explains what it is about the textures, tastes, and smells of those foods that Kyo hates.
60	* Ed Elric from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' hates milk unless it's in a stew. It's probably why he's so short. It's also probably a joke from the artist's end, given that she's from Hokkaido (an island in Japan where a lot of cows are raised for beef and milk sales).
61	* {{Zigzagged\|trope}} regarding Kirin in ''Manga/GourmetGirlGraffiti''. She appears to be quite a carnivore and resents [[OneNoteCook her mother]]'s stir-fried produce, but she will eat whatever her SupremeChef cousin Ryou cooks.
62	* In ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'', Kyon's little sis doesn't like green bell peppers.
63	* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'': Italy is a gourmet, so he refuses to eat and/or openly insults any cooking that isn't absolutely delicious. He doesn't try to hide his dislike of Germany's sausages, [[PityTheKidnapper complains about the food every time some tries to take him captive,]] and once was extremely depressed about the lack of [[TrademarkFavoriteFood pasta]] at Austria's place but still wouldn't eat the pasta the Holy Roman Empire left for him to find because it didn't look good.
64	* In ''Manga/OtherworldlyIzakayaNobu'', Hildegarde wanted food that was not stinky, spicy, sour, bitter, hard and that wasn't bread, potatoes, rice porridge, eggs or stew but was tasty. Her uncle believes it's a combination of him spoiling her while she was young and her impeding ArrangedMarriage that is causing her to act like this. Several high-quality restaurants were unable to accommodate her until Nobu managed to succeed by serving her ''ankake youfu'' (simmered tofu with sauce).
65	* Saki from ''Manga/TheKindaichiCaseFiles'' turns out to be this, as the following dialogue taking place when the cook working in the inn where Kindaichi, Miyuki, and Saki stay in The Bloodthirsty Cherry Blossom Murder Case arc shows.
66	-->'''Cook''': Is there any food that you don't like in today's dinner?
67	-->'''[[BigEater Kindaichi]]''': No, I could eat anything!
68	-->'''Miyuki''': Me, too. There's no food I dislike!
69	-->'''Saki''': For me, it's pork, animal fat, pepper, tomato, and...
70	-->'''Kindaichi''': [[LampshadeHanging What a picky eater...]]
71	* In ''Manga/{{Kochikame}}'', Remon Giboshi, a 4-year-old girl with a gift of tasting and judging food, refuse to eat toast in one manga chapter and anime episode until she grew to like it at the end.
72	* Goemon Ishikawa of ''Characters/LupinIII'' will sometimes ''only'' eat Japanese food, thanks to him being a traditional {{Samurai}}. This especially tends to happen when the Lupin gang is overseas, often for comedy at the sake of Goemon's rumbling stomach.
73	* ''Anime/MadoKingGranzort'': Our young hero has won a vacation on the moon (one person only!) and is served his least favorite food, carrots, on the flight. Shortly after landing, he discovers that the mythical rabbit people of the moon actually exist, and one of them is a little girl with the power to summon carrots. She drives Daichi absolutely nuts.
74	* Vivio of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'' hates green bell peppers and bitter things in general. However, according to ''[[AudioAdaptation Sound]] [[AllThereInTheManual Stage M3]]'', which takes place after ''[=StrikerS=]'', she overcame her dislike of green peppers in the months between Scaglietti's defeat and the disbanding of Riot Force 6.
75	* Kou Uraki in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory'' hates carrots.
76	* Onpu of ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'' forced herself to eat a green bell pepper twice in the same episode. Heck, the goal of the second half of ''Motto~!'' was to get Hana-chan to eat vegetables to overcome a curse put on her.
77	* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
78	** Usopp hates mushrooms, much to Sanji (the resident cook)'s annoyance. However, it's actually justified -- he'd gotten food poisoning from eating them in the past.
79	** BigBad Blackbeard has never been seen eating anything except his favorite food -- cherry pies.
80	* In the third episode of ''Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries'', Misty says the three things she absolutely hates are bugs (a plot point), carrots, and bell peppers. And Ash likes all three.
81	* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'':
82	** Usagi, a.k.a. Sailor Moon has her least favorite food listed as carrots, despite her name being a homophone for "rabbit" (though carrots are also a StockYuck for Japanese children, so this also shows how childish she is).
83	** In one episode of the [[Anime/SailorMoon 90s anime]], Usagi chastises Chibiusa and Mamoru for not eating the bell peppers she's prepared.
84	* Several of the kids in ''Manga/UrayasuTekkinKazoku'' have a dislike of certain foods. Akane doesn't like carrots, Namida doesn't like peas, and Noriko doesn't like natto beans.
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Comic Books]]
88	* As the opening line of ''ComicBook/{{Chew}}'' states, "Chu is almost always hungry, and almost never eats." This can be blamed on his unusual ability to get psychic impressions of the history of whatever he eats[[note]]except, inexplicably, beets[[/note]]. Thus, when he's not being forced by his boss to [[CannibalismSuperpower eat bits of a murder victim to find their killers]], he usually sticks to a very limited vegan menu that usually involves a disproportionate amount of beets.
89	* In Creator/RaymondBriggs' ''ComicBook/TheMan'', the title character is a very fussy eater and contemptuous of healthy food, which he dismisses as "health muck". He has very selective tastes and dispatches the boy to buy particular brands of food that he likes, such as PG tips, Frank Cooper's Oxford Marmalade, Jersey cream milk, and Mother's Pride bread.
90	* Very, ''very'' heavily averted with Tenzil Kem ("Matter-Eater Lad") of the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperheroes'', who can (and does) eat literally anything, including things not normally regarded as food, like metals, rocks...
91	* In {{ComicBook/Dollicious}} Tiramisu the foodie, tend only to eat what she consider original enough to be worthy of her taste buds. One story center on Ramen, the lands SupremeChef trying to please her and proving this to be quite a challange.
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93	[[/folder]]
94
95	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
96	* Even for a kid his age, Calvin from ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' is a ridiculously picky eater -- pretty much the only foods he's never shown complaining about are ChocolateFrostedSugarBombs (his favorite breakfast cereal), pizza and sweets of any kind [[https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1989/04/22 (except for jelly donuts).]] He dislikes vegetables of any kind [[https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1987/05/09 (he got upset when his mom made a vegetarian meal for dinner)]] and [[https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1993/10/22 was also once turned off by burgers after discovering they were technically made from cows (he initially thought they were made of people from Hamburg, Germany).]] It's implied in some comics that a lot of Calvin's "hatred" for his mom's cooking is that he's just being fussy purely for the sake of being fussy:
97	** [[https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1987/12/07 One night when Calvin's mom claims that she's making tortellini]][[note]](small squares of pasta stuffed with meat and/or cheese and then rolled/formed into small rings)[[/note]] for dinner, Calvin throws a fit at the idea of it, complete with gagging/holding his throat and assertions that there's [[AnythingButThat nothing he hates more than tortellini]]. But after she refuses to make something else for dinner, Calvin then [[IveHeardOfThatWhatIsIt looks up what tortellini actually is.]]
98	** [[https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1988/09/04 Another night,]] Calvin dramatically acts as though he just swallowed a bite of deadly poison after trying a bite of a dish which he thinks looks like vomit, but then his mom informs him, "Knock it off, Calvin! It's hamburger casserole! There's not a thing in it that you don't like!" and he finds that he can eat it on a second try, but out of pride still insists that it hurts to eat.
99	* Petey of ''ComicStrip/CulDeSac'' will not eat foods that touch other foods on the plate, and zealously monitors his standing on the 'picky eaters' website.
100	* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' will eat anything but the following: raisins, spinach, snails, mice, fruitcake, grapefruit, and certain brands of cat food. (The raisins are justified since, in real life, they're poisonous to cats.)
101	* In ''ComicStrip/{{Curtis}}'', Curtis often argues with the cafeteria ladies, asking for foods like hamburgers or pizza, only for the ladies to tell him that the school no longer sells junk food and instead provides healthy meals. This leads to Curtis trying to guess what the piles of goop they serve him are.
102	* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}''.
103	** Snoopy is often like this. In one early strip, he's upset because his dog food needs salt; in another, he's just as upset because his bowl of water has no ice cubes. In a much later strip, Charlie Brown gives him cinnamon toast, and he gets upset because there's too much cinnamon on it. Still, other times, Snoopy is known to dance around with joy when Charlie Brown feeds him, which at one point causes Charlie Brown to say, "I must admit, he's a very satisfying person to cook for..."
104	** In another strip, Charlie Brown mixes a raw egg into his dog food to make his fur shiny. (Which does actually work for dogs in RealLife.) Snoopy looks ''very'' reluctant to eat it.
105	** Woodstock is picky too. Unlike most birds, he won't eat breadcrumbs, because it's "demeaning". Also, in one strip, Linus throws his burned toast out for the birds after Lucy says they can't tell the difference. Woodstock can, and he's upset that it's burnt.
106	* Mafalda of ''ComicStrip/{{Mafalda}}'' hates soup.
107	* Mooch from ''ComicStrip/{{Mutts}}'' reserves the right to reject any food his owners try to feed him, either because he doesn't like it or just because he feels like being difficult.
108	* German cartoonist Uli Stein drew a cartoon with an owl having caught a mouse. The kid complains: "But I want a burger with fries!" The mouse thinks: "That's the first time I like {{Spoiled Brat}}s."
109	* A 1928 ''New Yorker'' cartoon shows a mother trying to get her little girl to eat the veggie on her plate:
110	-->'''Mother:''' It's broccoli, dear.
111	-->'''Daughter:''' I say it's spinach, and I say the hell with it.
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Eastern European Animation]]
115	* ''Animation/MashaAndTheBear'': Masha can be very picky with food (even with things that look tasty) and reject what the Bear cooks her and only demand sugary things instead.
116	[[/folder]]
117
118	[[folder:Fan Works]]
119	* Sherman of ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'':
120	--> (asking Hobbes to make him a sandwich) "Now cut the turkey thin, but not too thin. Now put the mustard on the turkey in a clockwise motion, and then place a slab of cheese on top. Pour the mayonnaise on top of that, but in a ''counter''clockwise motion. Add an extra slice of turkey on top, and then place the second slice of bread on top, and make sure the two slices of bread are even."
121	* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/602600/1/Fate-Unown Fate Unown]]'' has a flashback where Spencer asks Delia for advice on how to get his daughter Molly to eat vegetables. Delia's son Ash has never had an issue eating, but Delia does know of a few tricks involving mixing foods together.
122	* ''Fanfic/{{Goldstein}}'': Yehuda eats mainly fruits and vegetables. Justified since Yehuda comes from a strict and insular Orthodox family and thus adheres strongly to kosher laws.
123	* ''Fanfic/RainbowDoubleDashsLunaverse'': Princess Luna is supposedly a picky eater, though it doesn't tend to come up much.
124	* This [[https://www.instagram.com/p/BsQ8dbZldau/ human AU]] of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' has Pink fit this trope to a T.
125	[[/folder]]
126
127	[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
128	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'', apparently Kuzco doesn't like cheese on his potatoes. He also is grossed out by the giant pill bugs served at the restaurant he goes to with Pacha, which causes him to go to the chef and demand a more normal meal. Yzma does not like gravy and so when she ends up at the same restaurant she is upset when she can't find anything on the menu that isn't swimming in gravy.
129	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'', our hero, Rémy the rat, has been blessed with remarkably acute senses of smell and taste, and as such would rather feast on the exquisite, top-notch French cuisine rather than the putrid, rotten pieces of assorted trash and rancid food his more simple-minded family enjoys.
130	[[/folder]]
131
132	[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]
133	* In ''Film/AmericanHistoryX'', a fat Neo-Nazi grabs a big bowl of jelly beans and proceeds to pick every black one out before raising the bowl and pouring all of the rest into his mouth at once.
134	* Po from ''Film/ABoyCalledPo'' refuses to eat anything except mac 'n' cheese. When David serves him a PBJ, he takes a bite and immediately spits it out. David has figured out how to mix vegetables into the macaroni in such a way that Po won't notice.
135	* ''Film/BreakingAndEntering2006'': As a young child, Bea would only eat foods of certain colors. Her food issues intensified as she grew older, and now there's hardly anything she's willing to eat, especially after her mother puts her on a quack gluten-free/casein-free diet.
136	* Randy in ''Film/AChristmasStory'' as described by Adult Ralphie. It took some creativity from his mother (and a huge mess) to get him to eat.
137	-->'''Ralphie (narrating):''' Every family has a kid who won't eat. My kid brother had not eaten voluntarily in over three years!
138	* Played for laughs in ''Film/TheHobbit''. The dwarves aren't exactly thrilled to eat Elvish vegetables and seem downright confused by the lack of meat. Ori openly states that he doesn't like green food.
139	* ''Film/JohnMulaneyAndTheSackLunchBunch'': Orson's solo, "Plain Plate of Noodles", is about how he's so picky that he only ever wants to eat plain noodles with a little butter. He's also worried about whether it will carry on into his adulthood and how it will affect his life.
140	* In ''Film/LastHoliday'', the Chef at the Hotel has become annoyed at the fact that all of the guests are picky eaters, always wanting him to change his recipes in some way. So when Georgia orders everything of his, as is with no changes, he is so happy that he personally comes out to greet her at her table.
141	* In ''Film/WhiteFrog'', Nick eats nothing but bread whenever the family eats out.
142	* Martha from ''Film/DancingTrees'' will only eat her food if it's arranged in a very particular way, with none of the foods touching.
143	[[/folder]]
144
145	[[folder:Literature]]
146	* In the ''Literature/{{Arthur}}'' book ''D.W. The Picky Eater'', Arthur's little sister D.W. refused to eat anything with spinach, only to be served a pot pie that, unbeknownst to her, has spinach in it, and to then discover that [[IDoNotLikeGreenEggsAndHam she loved it]], only to then end up horrified [[IAteWhat when she learned that she ate something with spinach in it]].
147	* I Will Never, Not Ever, Eat a Tomato! in the Charlie and Lola series by Lauren Child.
148	* "{{I do not like\|GreenEggsAndHam}} ''Literature/GreenEggsAndHam''! I do not like them, Sam-I-Am!"
149	* In ''Literature/TheChocolateTouch'', John only likes to eat chocolate, which his parents don't like. After gaining the ability to turn everything he touches with his lips to chocolate, though, he gets over this.
150	* ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'': Manny will refuse to eat certain foods if they aren't served to his standards.
151	* The stereotype of kids hating vegetables is inverted in ''[[Literature/{{Discworld}} Making Money]]'', in which protagonist Moist von Lipwig recalls how, as a boy, he used to hide his meat under the vegetables rather than eat the former. Justified, as Moist's grandfather ran a dog kennel and, apparently, had saved all the tastier bits of pigs or chickens for his dogs.
152	* In ''Literature/WinnieThePooh'' Tigger claims that Tiggers like everything but then when he actually tastes everybody else's TrademarkFavoriteFood (Pooh: honey, Eeyore: thistles, etc.), he says Tiggers like everything ''except'' that. He finally comes across the one thing he likes to eat: extract of Malt, Roo's strengthening medicine. He moves in with Kanga & Roo so he can eat it (and a spoonful of Roo's dinner, for strengthening medicine of his own).
153	* The trolls in the ''Literature/TrylleTrilogy'' are all really picky, refusing to eat meat or any processed foods.
154	* The old nursery rhyme about Jack Sprat (who could eat no fat) and his wife (who could eat no lean) dates back to the 17th Century.
155	* The three villains in ''Literature/FantasticMrFox'' are [[VillainousGlutton Villainous Gluttons]], but each is a Picky Eater who eats the same thing three times a day, and each [[BizarreTasteInFood is bizarre]]: Farmer Boggis eats three chickens smothered in dumplings for each meal (and three for dessert at dinner), Farmer Bunce eats homemade donuts stuffed with mashed goose livers, and the beanpole-thin [[MeaningfulName Farmer Bean]] doesn't eat any solid food at all, drinking gallons of fiery, home-brewed, alcoholic apple cider.
156	* Played with in Creator/MichaelRosen's poems "Tomato One" and "Tomato Two". In the former, he recalls sulking as a kid when being asked to eat a tomato, as he hates their taste and texture, which results in him not getting dessert. In the second, he points out that he grew to love them by eating them on bread with some black pepper.
157	* One of the stories in ''Literature/{{Struwwelpeter}}'' is "The Story of Kaspar, Who Would Not Have Any Soup". The kid would rather ''starve to death'' than eat his soup.
158	* In the ''Literature/MrMen'' books, Mr. Strong's diet is eggs, eggs, and more eggs, the source of his incredible strength. (With the occasional ice cream for dessert, as the final line of his book states.)
159	* In ''Literature/TheScrewtapeLetters'', Screwtape approves of people being picky with their food as a subtle but often effective form of [[SevenDeadlySins the sin of gluttony]], what he calls "gluttony of delicacy".
160	* ''Literature/{{Fudge}}'':
161	** Fudge himself proves a very picky eater in book 1, to the point where, for a while, he refuses ''anything'' he's served, even if he'd specifically asked for it. A bowl of cereal and milk [[FoodSlap dumped on his head]] by his frustrated father finally cures him of this habit.
162	** Daniel (Fudge's friend in ''Superfudge'') is one who refuses to eat peas, lima beans or onions, insists on having the crust cut off his bread, and only drinks chocolate milk. He's also extremely annoying, and at one point the only way the Hatchers can get him to go home is by taking advantage of this habit, telling him that their dinner includes peas and onions.
163	* ''You Have to Fucking Eat'', the sequel to ''Literature/GoTheFuckToSleep'', revolves around this, as a parent tries to get their child to eat, but the child refuses, even after being served what the parent thought was their favorite food, pancakes. The parent later finds the kid didn't touch their lunch, and won't eat anything when they're out at a restaurant... except for a dinner roll that fell on the floor, leaving the parent wondering how this kid is even growing.
164	* The classic children's book, ''[[Literature/FrancesTheBadger Bread And Jam For Frances]]'', is about Frances' refusal to eat anything other than bread and jam. Her parents' solution is to [[RadishCure feed her that and only that until she gets sick of it and finally wants to try other foods.]] It ends up working.
165	* ''Don't Be Picky, Clover!'' is a short children's story about a picky rabbit named Clover who won't eat anything but celery soup. After visiting her grandmother and helping her pick vegetables in her garden to make vegetable soup, Clover learns it's okay to try new foods.
166	* ''Literature/RamonaQuimby'':
167	** The Quimbys' family cat is named Picky-Picky and he lives up to it. When Mr. Quimby loses his job in ''Ramona and Her Father'', they can't afford the cat's preferred brand of food anymore, and he refuses to eat the new, cheaper brand they buy, to the point that he eats the family's Halloween jack-o-lantern instead.
168	** In ''Ramona Quimby, Age 8'', both Ramona and Beezus refuse to eat cow's tongue, [[IAteWhat even though they liked it before they knew what it was.]] Ramona also lampshades this trope early on, when she thinks to herself that healthy food is [[IfItTastesBadItMustBeGoodForYou "usually food she did not like"]].
169	* In ''[[Literature/WarriorCats The Warrior Cats Series]]'', each Clan hunts certain prey and dislikes the other Clans prey. For example, [=RiverClan=] cats love fish but can't stand voles.
170	* Newspaper columnist D. L. Stewart recounts, via his book ''Fathers Are People Too'', that his kids are not fussy eaters because they'll turn their noses up at anything. There's a particular mention of when he tried to use leftover turkey from Christmas to make soup and, while considering what to add, briefly thought of vegetables but decided against it because it was too hard finding one they'd all like (the five-year-old hates carrots, the eight-year-old hates onions, the twelve-year-old hates celery, the fifteen-year-old hates corn, and they all hate peas). When they leave the table, the dumplings and broth are gone, but not a speck of turkey meat is missing from their bowls.
171	* ''Literature/TheOneWhoEatsMonsters'': Ryn despises the taste of processed foods, animals raised in slaughterhouses, and plantation-grown fruits and vegetables. She prefers fresh fruits and meat she's hunted herself, and during the summer camp section cannot understand why the humans stick to canned food when there is perfectly good fresh game nearby.
172	* Being autistic, Literature/XandriCorelel is easily overwhelmed by strong tastes and rough textures, leaving her unable to eat most of the food at parties.
173	* ''Literature/TheKaneChronicles'': Khufu the baboon is one, only eating foods that end in the letter ''o'', such as Doritos, burritos, and flamingos. (The last one {{squick}}s out the Kane siblings when they find out.)
174	* ''Literature/ThePlaceInsideTheStorm'': Judith, [[spoiler:one of the inhabitants of the mostly-autistic separatist commune]], eats exclusively peanut butter and jam sandwiches. She has to take vitamins to stay healthy.
175	* ''Literature/AspergerAdventures'':
176	** Ben only eats plain food. He hates food with different ingredients mushed together, like pizza.
177	** Lisa likes very few foods. Most things are too lumpy or grainy or slippery or salty.
178	* Drea from ''Literature/HarmonicFeedback'' has this problem to some extent, but her mother had it even worse as a child. She used to hide pork chops and broccoli so she wouldn't have to eat them. She had to vomit on her plate before anyone believed that pork chops actually made her sick.
179	* ''Literature/MonsterOfTheMonthClub'': The monsters all have their own unique appetites. According to their individual cards:
180	** Icicle likes popsicles, frozen yogurt, and iced lemonade.
181	** Sweetie Pie likes pink bubblegum, pink flowers (and as Rilla finds out, they have to be fresh, since she won't touch one that looks as if it's even ''thinking'' of wilting -- she also spits out the stems, since they're green and not pink) and pink fruit punch.
182	** Shamrock likes clover, raw potatoes, and green ginger beer. Rilla notes that feeding this one would have been tough since clover is seasonal and she's not sure if the local convenience mart even stocks his drink preference.
183	** Chelsea (a mermaid-like monster) likes kelp, salt water, and tuna. Luckily, feeding her isn't an issue, since canned tuna is easily found, salt water can be mixed up, and Sparrow keeps kelp supplements on hand.
184	** Burly likes baseball cards (snacking on Rilla's old card collection with her permission), cracker jacks, and golf tees.
185	** Summer (a bird-like monster) likes sunflower seeds, cola, and worms. Rilla doesn't have a problem getting the sunflower seeds but is grossed out at having to dig the worms out of their yard for her (until she realizes Josh would gladly do it for her).
186	** Sparkler likes hot dogs, chips, and apple pie. Josh, luckily, is able to provide his food, since these things aren't kept on hand at Harmony House
187	** Butterscotch likes honey, granola, and tofu, all of which are easily kept on hand at Harmony House, as Rilla notes.
188	** Owl likes poetry, numbers, and literature. Rilla soon finds out this means he eats ''paper'' with these things printed on it, including her school books.
189	** Goblin likes candy corn, hot cocoa, and spiders. As with Summer and worms, Rilla doesn't like the thought of having to get spiders for her.
190	** Cranberry likes acorns, pumpkin seeds, and apple cider.
191	** Bow likes eggnog, pine needles, and ribbons.
192	* Sam from ''Literature/ABoyMadeOfBlocks'' is only willing to eat four meals, which have to be prepared in just the right way. He's also willing to eat fruit, but it has to be cut into cubes of exactly one centimeter.
193	* Cory from ''Literature/LanguageArts'' has eaten the same thing for dinner every night since he was thirteen: partially thawed peas, mashed potatoes, room temperature fried chicken, and a vitamin smoothie.
194	* ''Literature/EyeContact'':
195	** Adam eats the same five things for dinner -- rice, peanut butter, chicken, ham, and carrots -- despite his mother's efforts to get him to eat more things.
196	** Morgan is picky about food and even water -- he can't stand unfiltered tap. When he [[spoiler:runs away to live with Cara and Adam]], he brings his own food supply because he doesn't think he'll be able to eat any of theirs.
197	* Amanda from Literature/Ripper2014 eats a vegetarian diet (she is repulsed by meat) but hates vegetables and has a SweetTooth. At dinner with her family and friends, she orders three desserts and a Coke.
198	* Charlie from ''Literature/TheSomedayBirds'' hates most food served outside his home. He orders chicken nuggets whenever possible since those are usually edible, but even then he rejects nuggets that look bad.
199	* ''Literature/TheCatWhoSeries'': The cats. Due to Koko's original owner being a gourmand who fed him only the best, the cat has acquired a taste for fancier food, to the point where he outright refuses anything less (such as regular cat food when Qwill tries to switch him to it in book 4), while Yum Yum insists on equality and won't accept any less than what Koko gets. Qwill swears more than once that the cats can read price labels and go out of their way to eat expensive.
200	* Peta from ''Literature/PetaLyresRatingNormal'' is very particular about food. When she eats burgers, she has to layer them so that certain ingredients don't touch.
201	* ''Literature/RoysBedoys'': Zigzagged for Roys himself. In “Be Grateful, Roys Bedoys”, he claims to only like chocolate for his cake, in “Respect People’s Opinions, Roys Bedoys!”, he gets angry over whether red or purple ice pops are better, and in “Don’t Be a Picky Eater, Roys Bedoys”, he refuses to eat unfamiliar-looking food. On the other hand, in “It’s the Last Day of School, Roys Bedoys”, he wants to eat cupcakes with mac and cheese, broccoli, and hot dogs!
202	* Oscar from ''Literature/TheRealBoy'' eats bread and sometimes cheese, and nothing else.
203	* ''Literature/TruthOrDare2000'': Patrick Jordan, a boy with undiagnosed autism who lived in TheFifties, wouldn't eat anything for breakfast except marmite toast cut into fingers. If his toast was cut wrong, he wouldn't eat it at all.
204	* ''Literature/ThePlantThatAteDirtySocks'': Stanley prefers dirty socks, while Fluffy only eats clean ones (unless he's desperate -- in book 2, he does eat a dirty sock and gets slightly sick from it). Some of the plants, including Jason's, also display a preference for certain colors, such as white with brown stripes (which the characters refer to as fudge ripple flavor). Stanley also prefers Michael's socks over anyone else's, though he does eat socks worn by other people in books 2, 3 and 6 out of necessity.
205	* Consort Lishu from ''Literature/TheApothecaryDiaries'' doesn't like fish or honey; her ladies-in-waiting, who already have no respect for her, tend to bully her by forcing her to eat foods she doesn't like while assuming she's just being picky due to her young age (she's the youngest of the Emperor's consorts, being only 14). However, her dislikes are justified since [[PlotAllergy she's allergic to seafood]] and she almost died from being fed honey as a baby[[note]]In general, babies younger than one year can't consume honey since they are still vulnerable to any bacteria in the honey[[/note]].
206	[[/folder]]
207
208	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
209	* ''Series/AllThat'' had the cafeteria sketches with pea-obsessed Ms. Piddlin, who would foist mounds of the green orbs on the children, whether they wanted them or not. She would get [[BerserkButton rather red-faced]] if they said they didn't want them.
210	* One episode of ''Series/BabylonFive'' has Doctor Franklin putting the rest of the senior staff on diets. Every one of them ends up with something they hate, but one of the others loves. This culminated in one scene where they traded plates; the Captain took the Chief of Security's steak, the Chief of Security took the XO's pasta, and the XO took the Captain's salad...[[CantGetAwayWithNuthin only for the doctor to show up]] and force them to return the plates to their rightful owners.
211	* In the old ''Series/Batman1966'' series, the villain Egghead is ''very'' picky. Not only does he only eat eggs, but he also insists on "Grade-AAA" white eggs. (He won't eat brown eggs.) Unfortunately for the villain, this helps Batman catch him at the end of one two-parter; the hero assumes Egghead is going to stock up on supplies before fleeing town, and only one chicken farm has eggs that meet the criteria.
212	* Raj Koothrappali from ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' hates Indian food. In spite of being from India. Possibly ''[[FridgeBrilliance because]]'' [[FridgeBrilliance of being from India.]]
213	* ''Series/BizarreFoodsWithAndrewZimmern'': Andrew Zimmern would try anything on the menu and always give a second chance even if he didn't like it, but he won't even touch spam or walnuts. And damn, is he infamous for how much he hates "his enemy"... the durian.
214	* ''Series/TheElectricCompany1971'' has a sketch on hating [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnTu7QrqG_A broccoli]].
215	* ''Series/ExtraordinaryAttorneyWoo'': Young-woo, who is [[JustifiedTrope neurodivergent]], doesn't like unfamiliar foods so she will only eat gimbap, as the rolls let her see exactly what's inside. When she realizes that her father is using a different brand of ham in his gimbap restaurant, she carefully picks out each piece and arranges them in an "X" on her plate to express her displeasure.
216	* There's a British {{reality TV}} series called "Freaky Eaters" which focuses on real people who have ''extremely'' limited diets. One person could only eat cheese and crisps ("chips" to Americans), another person could only eat meat, and a third person could only eat tinned ("canned") spaghetti hoops and toast, etc. A chef -- as in someone one would expect to have a wider palate -- could only eat sweets, chocolate bars, and biscuits ("cookies"). The whole point of the program[me] is to get the person to widen their diets, or at least attempt to do so, by [[ScareEmStraight showing the damage their eating habits are doing to their bodies]]. Harry Hill has, in the past, had a fantastic time poking fun at these people and the program itself on ''Series/HarryHillsTVBurp''. It later got an American remake on Creator/TheLearningChannel.
217	* Lorelei Gilmore from ''Series/GilmoreGirls'' dislikes most healthy food.
218	* Alton Brown from ''Series/GoodEats'' poses the (woefully ignored) suggestion of, instead of breeding resentment by forcing your child to eat vile-tasting slop, finding a vegetable (or a way of preparing the one you're making) that your child will eat.
219	* ''Series/LeaveItToBeaver'': The Beaver hates Brussel Sprouts. The first episode of the fourth season focuses on his hatred of green vegetables.
220	* Larry Fleinhardt from ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}'' spends a couple of years eating only white food as an experiment.
221	* Richard Hammond from ''Series/TopGear''; his dislike of seafood caused issues on trips to Japan and Vietnam. In addition, his ExtremeOmnivore co-presenters often take advantage of this on the overseas specials to torment him with local fare such as [[ForeignQueasine snake soup and lamb testicles]].
222	* An episode of ''Series/{{Tremors}}'' had a critter having become this as a complicating factor -- ass-blasters, if they over-gorge on food, enter a food coma, so when one comes to Perfection a trap is rigged using Burt's [=MREs=] (the ass-blaster was ''owned'', so they couldn't just kill it). Unfortunately, this particular ass-blaster had been in captivity for the last few years and had been fed with gourmet foods, developing a taste for it, so when it came on the [=MREs=] it took a few bites and then decided it didn't want any more.
223	* There was a special on Food Network about adult picky eaters. Rather than just being averse to certain foods, these people raise picky eating to a disorder that's not unlike OCD. Limited to a diet of perhaps three different dishes at best and finding anything else abhorrent, these people make what one usually thinks of as "picky eating" look normal (which they are, usually; even the most adventurous eaters have at least one or two things they just can't stomach).
224	** See [[http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Recipes/extremely-picky-eaters-struggle-fear-foods/story?id=11721435 this link]] for more info.
225	** There was a study done by a college that was trying to identify if picky eating really was a form of OCD. It wasn't asking what kinds of stuff that people liked/disliked to find what was the most disliked food (other studies were done on that since even adventurous eaters have their own dislikes), but more about whether or not unfamiliar food being served at a social event caused people to feel uncomfortable.
226	[[/folder]]
227
228	[[folder:Music]]
229	* Steve Bent's infamous "I'm Going To Spain" features the line "She packed me up some sandwiches -- I hate the cheese and pickle". This was not included in the cover by Music/{{The Fall\|Band}}.
230	* Music/BryanAdams' "I Think About You" includes the line "Oughta be drinking, but I can't stand the stuff".
231	* Music/TheSmiths' "Meat Is Murder".
232	* In ''CitizenShip'', Music/PattiSmith makes the point that poverty practically kills this trope
233	-->''If you're hungry you're none too particular about what you'll taste!''
234	* Music/WeirdAlYankovic's ''Eat It'' is sung from the perspective of a picky eater complaining about the stock phrases used to try and persuade him to eat more.
235	* The subject of the Lancashire Hotpots song "Fussy Eater" has multiple foodstuffs he refuses to eat:
236	-->Won't eat a peach, cuz it's furry of course\
237	Can't touch a steak if it comes with a sauce\
238	If there's coleslaw on his plate he sends it back\
239	Every single meal is a panic attack!
240	[[/folder]]
241
242	[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
243	* In the ''Series/AllegrasWindow'' episode "The Zootabaga Caper," Allegra refuses to try a blue zootabaga, even though it's everyone else's favorite vegetable. In the end she finally does taste one, however, and learns to love them too.
244	* In the ''Series/UnderTheUmbrellaTree'' episode "Yuck!" Jacob refuses to eat anything with zucchini in it, which means that he refuses Holly's fresh-baked zucchini loaf, and goes to bed without dinner when she serves zucchini casserole. But when he finally gets hungry enough, he eats the rest of the zucchini loaf and finds that he likes it.
245	* In the ''Series/TheWubbulousWorldOfDrSeuss'' episode, "The Feed You Need", Terrence [=McBird=] refused to eat birdseed brickle in any color other than red. He eventually tried both pink and blue birdseed brickle near the end of the episode and found out it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.
246	[[/folder]]
247
248	[[folder:Radio]]
249	* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': In "Mr. Boynton's Barbeque" this is part of the plot. Osgood Conklin hates Codfish Balls. Yet, once a week Martha Conklin makes them for dinner. Mr. Conklin goes so far as to "accidentally" vacuum the fishy dinner up, and get himself invited to the eponymous barbeque to avoid them.
250	* Radio/SarahKennedy got much mileage on her early morning show out of brussels sprouts and her listenership's responses to them. The general opinion was that the great British accompaniment to Christmas dinner, for maximum effect, should be stewed non-stop from around October for service on December 25th.
251	[[/folder]]
252
253	[[folder:Roleplay]]
254	* In Roleplay/WeAreOurAvatars, Falken hates eating eggs and poultry because he is a [[HarpingOnAboutHarpies Harpy]].
255	[[/folder]]
256
257	[[folder:Stand Up Comedy]]
258	* ''Creator/GeorgeCarlin'' admits to having been one of these as a child. And says the word is a euphemism for "big pain in the ass".
259	[[/folder]]
260
261	[[folder:Video Games]]
262	* In ''VideoGame/{{Bookworm}}'', we have Lex. Being a bookworm, he eats paper but will only eat scraps of paper with a single word on them. [[JustifiedTrope Of course if he didn't adhere to this, the game would be ridiculously easy.]]
263	* ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'': Tiny Tina usually eats only crumpets, a horribly unhealthy diet that has left her NothingButSkinAndBones with ExhaustedEyeBags. Lilith has to force-feed her something healthier during the fourth DLC.
264	-->'''Tiny Tina:''' I hate salad! It's what adults eat!\
265	'''Lilith:''' ''[laughing]'' Tina, three adults are playing your game where we just collected ''imaginary crumpets'' because we thought it'd be fun. There is no such thing as adulthood.
266	* [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Demitri Maximoff]] in ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'' only drinks blood from beautiful, young women. So much so he has [[GenderBender a special spell that turns males into females]] so he can feed on them.
267	* ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea}}'':
268	** ''VideoGame/Disgaea4APromiseUnforgotten'' has a small bit of dialogue where [[ChildMage Emizel]] brings up a dislike of fish, which puts him at odds with the sardine-praising [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Valvatorez]].
269	** In ''VideoGame/Disgaea5AllianceOfVengeance'', a visit to Toto Bunny's garden brings up the fact that Zeroken hates carrots and Usalia doesn't like them. This leads to a scene where [[FunnyBackgroundEvent Zeroken is force-fed a carrot by Red Magnus later on]]. [[spoiler:This takes a particularly dark turn as Usalia reveals that while eating curry, which she hated when she was cursed, stalls the curse's effects, eating carrots ''accelerates them''.]]
270	* ''VideoGame/DontStarve'' has a number of characters which dislike certain foods. In order to, well, not starve, the player must work around their different food requirements:
271	** Wagstaff has a delicate stomach and will take damage from eating raw or dried food.
272	** Wigfrid insists on only eating meat due to her constantly acting out the part of a [[{{Valkyries}} Valkyrie]], and because vegetarian food is "nöt fööd fit för a warriör".
273	** Warly is a chef and so likes his food to be properly prepared. In single-player he gains less hunger, health and sanity from food that isn't prepared in a crockpot, while in ''Don't Starve Together'' he will outright refuse to eat non-crockpot foods. He also likes variety and gains less from eating a dish that he's already eaten in the last two days.
274	** Wortox is an imp whose natural diet consists of [[SoulEating souls]]. He finds most mortal foods repulsive and only gains half of the usual hunger, health and sanity from eating them.
275	** Wurt is a vegetarian [[FishPeople Merm]] and so won't eat anything containing meat (or eggs, which count as a meat item in-game).
276	* Poo in ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'' dislikes western foods which barely recover his health. He only prefers eastern foods, and water happens to recover more of his PP.
277	* In ''VideoGame/EvolutionWorlds'', one of the characters in your party hates bell peppers.
278	* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
279	** Locke from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' hates mushrooms. [[AllThereInTheManual Not that we ever find out in the game.]]
280	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'': The first episode of ''Brotherhood'' shows Noctis disdainfully plucking all the vegetables from his hamburger, putting them on Ignis's plate. Apparently, poor Ignis has been trying to get him to eat his veggies for years.
281	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'':
282	** It doesn't get pointed out much, but Felix is quite picky about what he eats -- he doesn't like sweets of any kind (much to [[SweetTooth Lysithea's]] horror) and dislikes three out of the four vegetable-based dishes and is merely neutral on the fourth one (which also has a heavy cheese and fish component). It seems meat is the only food he actually likes.
283	** Lysithea mentions disliking vegetables a number of times and complains that she wishes she could just eat nothing but sweets. She has the most disliked dishes out of any character and the second-fewest liked dishes behind [[spoiler:Dimitri, who [[SenseLossSadness lost his sense of taste]] following the death of his father]].
284	* ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'': Ironically for someone who loves experimenting with dishes while cooking, Tammy serves them to Cal because she prefers simple foods like plain soycakes, simple broths, well-cooked vegetables, and [[TrademarkFavoriteFood her most favorite of all -- cake.]]
285	* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'':
286	** The Avatar of Jarlsberg challenge path is such a germaphobe that he won't eat or drink ''anything'' he didn't make himself. No, this doesn't mean you can get away with not buying outside food or booze -- he won't touch anything not made with his special Cosmic Foods in his Cosmic Kitchen.
287	** The main feature of the Cosmic Kitchen is a portal to deep space: Jarlsberg doesn't just prepare his food personally, he only uses ingredients whose base atoms ''have never been part of any organic compound''.
288	* ''VideoGame/LogicalJourneyOfTheZoombinis'' has the Pizza Trolls Arno, Willa, and Shyler, who will only let you pass if you make each of them a pizza (and an ice-cream sundae, on higher difficulty levels) that they like. The trick is, each troll has toppings that only they like and which the other ones will refuse, so you have to figure out who likes what in as few moves as possible. Otherwise, the trolls get testy and start [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom knocking your Zoombinis back to the start]]. On higher difficulties, you have more ingredients to choose from, and more trolls to satisfy.
289	* ''VideoGame/MoshiMonsters'' has a weasel-like character named Shrewman who only likes blue berries mixed with yellow berries. Give him one or the other and he's not interested, and give him red berries, even if they're mixed with a different colour berry, and he'll reject the whole lot.
290	* ''VideoGame/NekoAtsume'' has Tubbs, the BigEater who eats entire food bowls at once. The catch is, they only eat food that the player had to pay for; they won't eat the free Thrifty Bitz.
291	* Gami Gami Devil in the ''VideoGame/PoPoLoCrois'' game kidnaps Jilva and tries to make her eat vegetables that she doesn't like because they're healthy. And these vegetables are Green Peppers and Carrots.
292	* Referenced in ''[[VideoGame/MysteryCaseFiles Return to Ravenhearst]]'', where one of the rules their abusive stepfather imposed upon the two little girls is "No broccoli until you finish your cauliflower".
293	* In ''VideoGame/RuneFactoryFrontier'' when you ship fruits Rosetta likes she'll applaud you when she comes to pick them up, but if it's Danny's turn to collect shipments and you've got just about any vegetable in your bin he'll whine, expressing a desire to not even ''touch'' them.
294	* ''VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland'':
295	** Used as a plot device. Otis, the prisoner on Melée Island, really hates carrot cake. He was sent one by his aunt as a gift. He trades it to the player character, Guybrush, who later finds that there is a file inside it. This file was intended to be used to help Otis escape from prison, but Guybrush instead uses it in a bizarre, off-camera scene in the Governor's Mansion.
296	** Guybrush really hates mushrooms. When he's in the hellish labyrinth below the Giant Monkey Head on Monkey Island, there are some wild mushrooms, and when you 'look at' them he remarks "I always knew in hell there would be mushrooms".
297	* Ryo from ''VideoGame/{{Shenmue}}'' didn't like carrots as a kid. Until his father gave him a stern talking to, involving hard-working farmers and such...
298	* In ''VideoGame/TheSims4'':
299	** Sims with the Foodie trait get uncomfortable moodlets from food or drink that is of normal or lower quality.
300	** If ''Parenthood'' is installed, Picky Eater is a potential childhood phase. During this phase, Sims will prefer their favorite quick meal as opposed to any other food.
301	** And as of ''Get Famous'', your famous Sims will have a chance of gaining the Refined Palate fame quirk when eating excellent quality meals. Similarly to Sims with the Foodie trait, these Sims will also become uncomfortable when eating food of normal or lesser quality.
302	* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'''s Vyse hated bittermelon as a kid; apparently, his parents used to yell at him for flicking it off his plate. Judging by his reaction when he relates this bit of information, he still doesn't like it.
303	** That said, they probably would have done less yelling if he hadn't been, you know, flicking his bittermelon all over the place.
304	* ''VideoGame/SlimeRancher2'': Flutter Slimes only eat Moondew Nectar, which can't be grown on the ranch, and only a few spawn every night in Starlight Strand.
305	* Wart from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' hates vegetables so much that they actually make an effective weapon against him (his minions don't fare much better, but in their case, it seems to be related more to size).
306	* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'':
307	** ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'':
308	*** [[ShelteredAristocrat Luke fon Fabre]] is very much this not liking all kinds of sketchy meat, carrots, mushrooms, milk, rappig meat, and all kinds of fish. [[spoiler:This in retrospect makes sense; aside from his noble and spoiled upbringing, Luke is actually seven. Trying to get a kid of that age to eat things they get into their head to dislike is a chore and a half.]]
309	*** All party members except Anise have something they dislike to eat and will avoid: Tear doesn't like carrots, Jade doesn't like pork and rappig meat, Guy doesn't like lemon and tofu, Natalia doesn't like octopus, and Asch doesn't like carrots and octopus.
310	** ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'':
311	*** Colette dislikes green bell peppers. When she eats food containing them in a skit, the others think she's developing "an adult sense of taste". [[spoiler:She's actually losing her sense of taste entirely.]]
312	*** There's also Kratos and [[TheHero Lloyd's]] mutual hatred of tomatoes.
313	** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfArise'', Law really [[RealMenEatMeat only likes meat]]. He is called out in one of the skits for being a picky eater and leaving food on his plate, the others, particuarly Alphen and Kisara, pointing out their own past life circumstances in whhich they simply couldn't afford to be picky eaters because they needed all the energy they could get.
314	* The titular heroine of ''VideoGame/YggdraUnion'' hates mushrooms so much that she still refuses point-blank to eat them at seventeen years of age.
315	** The cast of ''VideoGame/BlazeUnion'' is a lot pickier than that of ''VideoGame/YggdraUnion'', between the mushroom-haters, the milk-haters, the people unable to tolerate extremely sweet things (nearly half of the party!), and Nessiah--who just seems disinterested in (most) food as a whole, actually.
316	[[/folder]]
317
318	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
319	* In the first scene Natalya has in ''VisualNovel/MissingStars'', she's trying to avoid eating lunch and giving it to Erik instead. Though, considering the theme of the novel, it might not be [[WeightWoe picky eating]].
320	* Lilac in ''The Mermaid of Zennor'' eats very little food, mostly subsisting on plain, dry foods like cut raw vegetables. The reason for this is that she is autistic and has an aversion to wet foods, which encompasses most of her mother's cooking.
321	[[/folder]]
322
323	[[folder:Web Animation]]
324	* ''WebAnimation/HunterTheParenting'': In the first audio log, after noticing that they're out of jam, which Marckus apparently needs to eat porridge with, Big D and Kitten have a bit of a bonding moment joking about how picky an eater Marckus is.
325	--> '''Kitten:''' Agh, God, Marckus won't eat his porridge without jam.\
326	'''Big-D:''' Gaargh, what a child! He wants his porridge, but only with jam! He'll eat the beans, but not the sprouts! He wants his leek soup, but with absolutely NO MARMITE!!
327	[[/folder]]
328
329	[[folder:Webcomics]]
330	* Joyce in ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge'' has ''very strong'' feelings about what she's prepared to eat. She won't eat food that's touching, her hamburgers have nothing but ketchup (she freaked out when she learned the white things on [=McDonalds=] burgers were onions), bacon is only for breakfast, and she orders sausage pizza, but with the sausage picked off and put in a bowl. She's also got annoyed when Taco Bell discontinued red strips, because it meant she'd have to start liking a third thing to replace it (she deconstructs her tacos before eating them anyway). In one Patreon strip she has a [=YouTube=] video where she reviews "all 36 flavours of [[BlandNameProduct Nachitos]]". Her review is that regular Nacho Cheesier flavour is pretty good, "and I've never had any other flavours of Nachitos, but they all sound gross and weird so ''no thank you''."
331	* ''Webcomic/KimchiCuddles'': Marco discovers this when they try to cook dinner for three different people.
332	-->'''Marco:''' Surprise! I made everyone dinner!
333	-->'''Crystal:''' Is there MEAT in this? I'm vegan, remember?
334	-->'''Marco:''' Opps
335	-->'''Baxter:''' And I'm doing the super paleo thing, so I only eat RAW meat
336	-->'''Marco:''' Oh
337	-->'''Soliloquy:''' That stew looks gross. I only eat white bread with gummi bears on it
338	* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': According to Tuuri, Lalli "doesn't really like anything". This is confirmed on-panel by Lalli being quite thin and when stealing food from someone else, only taking the meat out of a sandwich in which it's the only garnish.
339	[[/folder]]
340
341	[[folder:Web Videos]]
342	* Coco from ''WebVideo/{{Kittisaurus}}'' is one, as he will refuse to eat anything that smells strange to him. When Claire asks the vet about this, he simply states some cats are more sensitive to smell and taste than others, and Coco is obviously one of them.
343	** Chuchu used to be this before she has surgery to widen her nostrils. After surgery, she became more of a BigEater, and started stealing food from other cats as well as manipulating Claire into giving her extra grub. (Although she's still nowhere near as bad as Lulu, Lala and Dodo.)
344	* ''WebVideo/SearchForSandvich'': According to "The search goes on, mate!", the Medic apparently refuses to eat any food that isn't German, leading the Sniper to find him almost starved to death since they couldn't find a wiener schnitzel.
345	* ''WebVideo/SML'': Jeffy hates Green Beans.
346	[[/folder]]
347
348	[[folder:Western Animation]]
349	* The Earl of Lemongrab of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' will ONLY eat foods that are bland and tasteless. "Whatever you made, I hope it's as mild as kitten milk!"
350	* In the ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'' episode "Mission: Imp Possible", Nefir the imp's scheme to make Aladdin's friends help him steal the golden silk cocoon of a giant silkworm backfires horribly because the silkworm had metamorphosed into Mothias, one of the legendary giant moths of yore that ravaged cities, spread plague and pestilence, and ate imps -- and ''only'' imps. When Mothias accidentally ate Iago, it immediately spat him out in disgust.
351	* ''WesternAnimation/AngelaAnaconda'':
352	** An episode centers on the fact that Angela hates broccoli despite the fact that it's her town's main export and thus they have a "broccoli day" every year. When Angela wins a broccoli-based art contest and must talk about her "love of broccoli" she faces a dilemma, should she lie about this or come clean and probably lose the contest. In the end, she decides to fib and is made to eat some broccoli while on a podium in front of the entire town... and then blurts out that it was better than she thought. She'd never actually tried it before.
353	** Angela also dislikes Tuna Noodle Casserole. The dish actually looks somewhat unpleasant the way it's presented on the show.
354	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' on PBS played with this: Arthur's little sister D.W. refused to eat anything with spinach, only to be served a pot pie that, unbeknownst to her, has spinach in it, and to then discover that [[IDoNotLikeGreenEggsAndHam she loved it]]. The opening of the episode shows she really just hates trying anything new. This was based on the ''Arthur'' book ''D.W. The Picky Eater'' (see the Literature section), which had the same plot but ended with [[IAteWhat D.W. looking horrified when she learned that she ate something with spinach in it]].
355	* Zack from ''WesternAnimation/CarmenSandiego'' loves food in general, but he doesn't want to go anywhere near fish, and for God's sakes, don't even ''mention'' the topic of caviar!
356	* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' centered many of its plots around foods that children hate to eat. These include various vegetables, tapioca pudding, etc. Ironically, [[BigEater Numbuh 2]]'s probably the least picky when it comes to his eating habits, as he will eat pretty much anything--[[StockYuck one of the few things that he doesn't seem to like is anchovies on pizza]].
357	* Kuzco on ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewSchool'' seem to only eat Meat Mugs...and generally nothing that contains cauliflower.
358	* Alastor the Radio Demon in ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'' is described by WordOfGod as a food snob. He's very particular about how his food is prepared and loathes all processed foods like canned cheese, colored ketchup, Easy Mac, and other such fare. When getting venison from a butcher shop in the comic "A Day in the After Life", he insists that the butcher skin the meat very carefully.
359	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Histeria}}'':
360	** An episode poked fun at George Bush Sr.'s dislike of broccoli by doing a version of ''Green Eggs and Ham'' with Loud Kiddington in place of Sam-I-Am and broccoli instead of the green eggs and ham.
361	** Additionally, a sketch about Florence Nightingale included a part where she advises all the troops be put on a vegetable diet, during which she takes away the burger Froggo was about to eat. His response to what she gave him in its place:
362	--->'''Froggo:''' A turnip?!? Yeeugh!! Now I'm ''really'' sick!
363	* ''Irmão Do Jorel'': In one episode, Jorel's brother is forced to eat his broccoli by his mom, but he refuses to eat it and gets grounded without playing with toys.
364	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'': In the "Chickenhawk" Merrie Melodies music video (part of "[[Recap/TheLooneyTunesShowS1E4FishAndVisitors Fish and Visitors]]"), WesternAnimation/FoghornLeghorn tries to get Henery Hawk to eat something other than chicken, given that he's a giant rooster, but as a chickenhawk, Henery insists on eating chicken. After unsuccessfully trying to convince Henery to eat Chinese food, fish tacos, honey buns, a hot dog with mustard and sauerkraut, and even [[WesternAnimation/PorkyPig Pork(y)]], Foghorn does manage to get him to try his grandmother's baked beans. Henery ends up enjoying the beans, [[HereWeGoAgain but decides that he needs some chicken to go with them]].
365	* Lampshaded and averted in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984''. Gonzo threatens Kermit that he'll make Kermit eat all of his green vegetables. Kermit just points out that he ''likes'' green vegetables because they put color in his cheeks.
366	* ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies2018'': Sam the Eagle is revealed to be this in "Kitchen Catastrophe". He doesn't like crust on sandwiches, gooey cheese on pizza, and especially Gonzo's pickled pineapple and sourkraut sandwiches. Once he actually tries Gonzo's sandwich, however, he discovers that he likes it and it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.
367	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''
368	** "Putting Your Hoof Down" had Fluttershy's pet bunny Angel, refusing to eat anything other than a fancy gourmet salad -- the exact gourmet salad, actually. He went ballistic after realizing Fluttershy had missed the cherry on top.
369	** Zesty Gourmand from "Spice Up Your Life!" is [[CausticCritic a stern, snooty critic]] with very particular tastes for not only food (bland, tiny portions) but decor and presentation. She ultimately refuses to even try the food at the Tasty Treat, despite seeing how popular it is even without her approval, and instead leaves in a huff.
370	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': In the episode "A Tale of Two Tables" when Lincoln gets in the grown-up table, he gets served with liver instead of chicken nuggets which Rita says that is from younger kids, much to Lincoln's disgust.
371	* Played with the ''WesternAnimation/PeppaPig'' episode "Lunch" in which the title character and her family visit her grandparents' house for ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin where George refuses to eat some vegetables. So Grandpa Pig then rearranges the vegetables to look like a dinosaur, and because of that George eats them and loves it.
372	* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Powerpuff Girls\|1998}}'' and all the other kids in town refused to eat broccoli. Thus only the kids of Townsville were unbrainwashed unlike their parents when the evil alien Broccoloids invaded, though they were helpless against them... 'till the girls realized they could ''[[ImAHumanitarian eat the]] [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman Broccoloids]]''. In the end, all the kids started eating their greens [[SpaceWhaleAesop to ensure that they weren't aliens]].
373	* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' episode "Pickles vs. Pickles" uses this. When Drew and Charlotte send Angelica to her room without dessert for refusing to eat her broccoli Angelica sues them, the surrounding media circus warps things and blows them out of proportion and the judge is taken in by Angelica's cuteness and sides with her. Drew goes crazy and is dragged off to prison screaming "I'm a good father!". Of course, it was AllJustADream, but the episode ends with Angelica being apologized to and it is implied that Drew has a very weak will which Angelica can manipulate this way for every vegetable.
374	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
375	** As it turns out, for all of his BigEater-tendencies, Homer Simpson's also a fairly picky eater--he loves pork chops, donuts and all sorts of junk food, but usually avoids fruits and vegetables whenever he can. In one episode, Marge and the kids started a food blog after finding some excitement trying out more exotic foreign foods--Homer struggled to see them having fun doing something he doesn't like.
376	** Homer burned his tongue and when his taste buds grew back, he'd become super-sensitive to flavor. He had to resort to really bland school lunches [[HalfwayPlotSwitch which led to another plot...]] And just a few minutes in the next plot, he ate a jar of mayonnaise (Popeye fashion) [[NegativeContinuity without any problems]] besides his stomach.
377	* In ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'', [[MadScientist Entrapta]] only eats tiny food. Her chefs specifically only make this, and it's a RunningGag throughout the series. It contributes to her [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything behavior]] being similar to an autistic person.
378	* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'':
379	** Pearl is a [[SiliconBasedLife Gem]] and [[EatingOptional doesn't actually need to eat]]. Consequently, she finds the whole '''[[ExaggeratedTrope concept]]''' of eating and drinking [[HumansThroughAlienEyes revolting]] and refuses to entirely.
380	** Onion seems to refuse to eat at all, preferring to waste any food he's given by either throwing it away or spitting it out. Unlike Pearl, Onion is human (though Steven [[AmbiguouslyHuman isn't so sure sometimes]]), so one has to wonder how he can get by while eating next to nothing. The only food item he's been seeing actually consuming and liking is a repulsive guacamole-flavored soda that everyone else in town hated.
381	--->'''Steven:''' Why do you hate food?
382	* ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' had "Real Kids Don't Eat Broccoli", a WholePlotReference to Film/BladeRunner where Buster (as the protagonist) figured out which characters were really robots because they ate broccoli.
383	* The ''WesternAnimation/{{TOTS}}'' episode "Koala Kuisine" has KC dealing with Henry the baby hippo, who won't eat anything she gives him unless it's Hippo Ohs. She eventually gets him to at least try to eat new foods until he finds something he likes.
384	[[/folder]]
385

Context Main / PickyEater