Line #19 PlayingWith/HorrorHunger


1	'''Basic Trope''': A character feels a supernatural and irresistible hunger for other humans.
2	* '''Straight''': After becoming a vampire, Alice gains a thirst for blood.
3	* '''Exaggerated''': If Alice spends more than an hour without drinking blood, she's instantly plagued with VeinOVision and WarmBloodbagsAreEverywhere.
4	* '''Downplayed''':
5	** Though after becoming a vampire, Alice's cravings for food are replaced with those for blood, the hunger is actually ''less'' than what she felt before she changed.
6	** Alice's cravings are satisfied by drinking blood from any mammal, but she's not so uninhibited as to attack a human. Just never leave Alice alone with your cat or dog.
7	* '''Justified''': As a TechnicallyLivingVampire, Alice has to drink blood in order to stay nourished, heal any wounds, and use superhuman powers, otherwise she slowly starves and weakens.
8	* '''Inverted''':
9	** Alice is plagued with a supernatural ChronicHeroSyndrome, and she has to constantly resist becoming a MartyrWithoutACause.
10	** Alice is a vorarephile and is letting her twisted fantasies run wild.
11	** A human somehow [[PhlebotinumDependence needs to eat monsters in order to survive]].
12	* '''Subverted''':
13	** Alice has a massive lust for blood... because her kink is {{Hemo Erotic}}ism, not anything supernatural.
14	** Alice isn't a vampire; that's just a nasty rumor someone started after seeing her JabbaTableManners. She's merely severely hypoglycemic, eats a lot, and likes her meat barely cooked and bloody. Owing to the rumors going around, expect someone to confuse "steak" for "stake" in conversation.
15	* '''Double Subverted''':
16	** ...Which is the lie she tells human groupies to trick them into thinking she's human as well, she really ''does'' have a Horror Hunger.
17	** Though this turns out to merely be a convincing excuse for Alice's true medical problems, [[OurVampiresAreDifferent which makes her rather vampiric for all intents and purposes]].
18	* '''Parodied''': After becoming a vampire, Alice develops an unquenchable thirst for blood... ''oranges''.
19	* '''Zig Zagged''':
20	** Becoming a vampire has made Alice ravenous for blood, except it's actually a hypnotic suggestion by her sire, but once she's {{deprogram}}med it's revealed that her sire put it there to ease Alice's conscience since all vampires ''do'' have a Horror Hunger.
21	** Alice’s dependency on blood is directly proportionate to her physical condition, being a PerpetualMotionMonster when healthy and uninjured, but after she’s injured past a certain point, the hunger comes back until she drains enough blood to properly recover from her injuries.
22	* '''Averted''': While vampires can gain sustenance from human blood, there are plenty of {{Vegetarian Vampire}}s who suffer no physical or psychological ill effects.
23	* '''Enforced''': It's a {{Horror}} story so having Alice suffer implacable hunger for those she loves [[PlayedForDram adds drama]].
24	* '''Lampshaded''':
25	** "The biggest problem with siring new vampires in the 21st century is finding converts with self-restraint. Otherwise they'll leave a trail of corpses and then wonder where that stake in their heart came from."
26	** "You have to kill Alice; no matter how {{nice\|Girl}} she was as a human, she's not going to be able to resist her thirst for blood. It may be hard, but she'd thank you herself."
27	* '''Invoked''': In order to dissuade the VampireVannabe from pestering her to become a vampire, Alice invokes this trope and pretends resisting tearing out her throat is like an addict talking to a line of cocaine.
28	* '''Exploited''':
29	** Knowing Alice attacks ambulances, [[VampireHunter Dr. Van Helping]] steals an ambulance and spikes the blood packs with [[VampiresHateGarlic garlic]].
30	** Alternatively, [[VampireHunter Dr. Van Helping]] recruits Lucy (whose TrademarkFavoriteFood happens to be garlic) as TheBait, knowing that Alice can't stop herself from pouncing on Lucy.
31	* '''Defied''':
32	** Alice uses HeroicWillpower to avoid killing or becoming a monster.
33	** Alternately, Alice buy/invents a cloned [[VegetarianVampire blood substitute]] that makes her thirst easy to manage and helps humanity.
34	* '''Discussed''': "An 'irresistible thirst for blood?' What do you take me for, an alcoholic? Vampires aren't soccer hooligans, we're wine connoisseurs."
35	* '''Conversed''': "So if every vampire has this massive thirst for blood, why would an elder vampire ever sire? The younger ones would just be competition."
36	* '''Implied''': Most vampires are remorseless monsters not because vampirism is TheVirus; it's because only by becoming evil can a normal person cope with the insatiable thirst for blood.
37	* '''Deconstructed''': A drug-like addiction to blood makes vampires so [[SlidingScaleOfVampireFriendliness inherently hostile]] and unable to plan that they quickly burn out. They either commit SuicideBySunlight, leave an easy trail for a VampireHunter to follow, or run out of food. Because of this, vampires went extinct centuries ago when human populations were much smaller.
38	* '''Reconstructed''':
39	** The hunger comes with a subtle TranshumanTreachery, making the victim ''want'' to drink blood while keeping TheMasquerade intact.
40	** Alternatively, Alice quickly realizes her hunger is basically a drug addiction, so she uses all the existing tools available (self help books, support groups, "substitutes") to mentally strengthen her resistance to the hunger while avoiding killing.
41	* '''Played for Laughs''':
42	** Alice is a {{Friendly Neighborhood\|Vampire}} VegetarianVampire with an [[GoodAngelBadAngel impish]] EnemyWithin constantly making snide suggestions about who to eat, and to top it off everywhere she goes [[WarmBloodbagsAreEverywhere people are suffering cuts and bleeding profusely]].
43	** Bob manages to draw Alice out of a crowd by [[SchmuckBait putting a blood bag]] on a [[RodAndReelRepurposed fishhook]].
44	* '''Played for Drama''': [[TragicMonster Alice]] tries her best to be a {{Friendly Neighborhood\|Vampire}} VegetarianVampire, but this is no easy task, so she lives in constant fear of losing all self-control and attacking innocent people or even her own loved ones...
45	* '''Played for Horror''': ...Eventually, Alice does end up attacking her friends and family in a ravenous fugue; either killing them as a result, [[FateWorseThanDeath or turning them into more bloodthirsty monsters like herself]]. Needless to say, she's burdened by [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone the guilt of what she did]] and [[IAmAMonster the self-loathing of what she became]].
46	* '''Played For Symbolism''': Alice's condition causes her literal bloodlust, which makes it look almost identical to sadism. Throw that in with becoming a vampire via injury and how it spreads epidemically as a result, and vampirism becomes disturbingly reminiscent of many real-life examples of ThePowerOfHate.
47	----
48	We know you can't resist the hunger... go back to HorrorHunger.

Context PlayingWith / HorrorHunger