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A character that doesn't require the same physical or mental needs to survive or remain healthy as humans. Or, at least, they lack one need. It could be anything from eating, " waste excrement", heat/warmth, sleep, breathing or even companionship (we're talking an entire lifetime of complete isolation here, not just being The Stoic). They just don't need it, unlike those poor old Homo Sapiens. They may still choose to do these things (if they can, for that matter), but it's not a requirement.
Super Trope of The Sleepless, Batman Can Breathe in Space, Super Not Drowning Skills and Bottomless Bladder.
Compare Perpetual Motion Monster.
Not to be confused with manga and anime NEEDLESS.
Common character types that fit this trope:
Examples:
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Anime and Manga
- The Namekians of Dragon Ball Z don't need food, only water. Justified, in that they're actually a type of humanoid, sentient plant species. On a related note, Frieza (and presumably the rest of his family) doesn't need to breathe.
- Piccolo does eat — apparently he got in the habit of it while on Earth. Justified since, unlike the rest of his species, he doesn't get as much sunlight (Namek is close enough to multiple suns that it never has night).
- Played for Drama in Fullmetal Alchemist. Alphonse Elric, whose soul is currently bound to a suit of armor, cannot eat or sleep and it brings him much sadness and frustration on his quest to get his body back.
- Angels in Neon Genesis Evangelion are said to have eaten from the "Fruit of Life", thus they require nothing to continue living, and will never die of old age or disease. Their Core, the S2 Organ, provides an inexhaustible amount of energy for them. NERV is able to control the Evas because they don't have S2 Organs. If the Evas go out of control NERV can simply cut off the power. Problems arise when Eva-01 eats an Angel to claim the Angel's S2 Organ for itself.
Comicbooks
- In comic books, "Self-sustenance" (on varying levels) is an actual superpower for many characters.
- In Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam, Black Adam has spent millenia flying through space to get back to Earth after the Wizard Shazam hurled him into deep space as punishment for his Face Heel Turn. He was not happy. Interestingly, because it was his magic based Flying Brick powers that kept him alive and at full strength, when he's forced to revert to his civilian identity, he crumbles to dust because he should have died millenia ago.
- In the post-Flashpoint continuity, Superboy states that he doesn't need to eat or sleep.
- Xadhoom.
Literature
- This is the case for the mechs in Robin Wasserman's Skinned trilogy. Being human consciousnesses uploaded into mechanical bodies, they're unable to eat, sleep, and breathe, have bodies that are self-healing and cleaning, and are unable to die. Of course, they think of it as Blessed with Suck.
- In the Land of Oz, the Sawhorse is a saw horse which Pip brought to life using Old Mombi's life-giving powder. Later Jim the (real) Cab Horse comes to Oz, and tries to convince the Sawhorse that being a meat and bones horse is better than being a wooden horse magically brought to life, but all the examples that Jim gives actually come out in the Sawhorse's favor: for example Jim says that he can bleed and that's good because people can know where he's hurt - the Sawhorse points out that he doesn't get hurt, so he doesn't need to bleed. Jim is the only animal from our world who, having come to Oz where he can talk, begs to go back to the real world where he's just a dumb animal.
- Melisandre, the red priestess of R'hollor, needs no food and barely any sleep. However, she keeps up the pretense needing a bed and eating breakfast so as not to unnerve her companions. Moqorro, another red priest, also survived several days in the sun without food or water.
- Cersei's champion and newest member of the Kingsguard, Ser Robert Strong, has never been seen eating, drinking, sleeping, or even using the privy. Unlike Melisandre, he doesn't even make a token effort to fit in, which deeply disturbs the people around him.
- The vampires in Twilight don't need to breathe, eat or sleep.
- In Wedge's Gamble, Ooryl Qrygg, a Gand, reveals that the inhalant nerve gas in the room they need to get into will have no effect on him because he doesn't breathe. Turns out Gand get all the oxygen they need from their food. When asked how he talks, he responds that the air goes in, crosses the vocal cord equivalent, and goes right back out.
- Trapped on Draconica: Kalak doesn't need to sleep. He doesn't need to rest. He used less water than his companions when crossing a desert, though Daniar put her foot down on that last one.
Live-Action TV
- On Star Trek, Vulcans are always immune to some disease or can do things "illogical humans" can't do.
- Speaking of Trek; on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine the Jem Hadar, soldiers of the Dominion, don't need to eat or sleep. Instead they need a very specific chemical for the rest of their lifes, or they'll die.
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine also has Changelings, a race of shapeshifters who do not need food, water, or oxygen. Laas travels in space without the aid of a ship, suggesting that they do not need heat or pressure to survive. Subverted with Odo, who needs to rest in his default liquid form every sixteen hours or suffer ill effects.
- In Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Borg are also an example, as we see them travel around in the vacuum of space with no difficulty. It's left vague what food sources they need to sustain their biological components. Data, being an android, also doesn't need the regular biological neccesities to sustain himself.
- Although side material explained that Data did require a kind of special nutrient compound to fuel himself. It was still however much more energy efficent than a humans food needs and he otherwise required nothing else to function, like air or rest. He couldn't self heal however, so any damage to his body needed to be manually repaired.
Multiple Media
- In BIONICLE, the Makuta race lost almost all their needs after their evolution into Energy Beings. The only thing they do need to survive is an intact armor to house this energy.
Tabletop Games
- In Dungeons & Dragons, many types of creatures do not need food or sleep, such as Constructs, Elementals and Outsiders (beings from other planes). Elves meditate instead of sleep (even when hungover). Players can take advantage of some spells for the same effect, and there is the Tattooed Monk whose Ocean Tattoo causes him not to have adverse effects from not eating, drinking, or sleeping. They still can, but they don't need to. The Vow of Poverty from The Book of Exalted Deeds restricts a character from owning almost anything but also gradually gives advantages making sure they don't need to, including freedom from the need to eat. The psychic race Elans can spend one Power Point to sustain themselves for 24 hours.
- The "Life Support" power in Champions.
- A slew of advantages in GURPS. Doesn't Eat/Drink, Doesn't Breathe, and Doesn't Sleep are only the beginning.
- In Exalted, various Adorjan charms will remove an Infernal's need to eat, sleep, and breathe (most of these charms are Powered by a Forsaken Child, requiring that the Infernal kill someone every so often to use them).
- Malfeas can also remove your need to sleep, except to recover Willpower; sadly, when you do, you suffer hellish nightmares.
- Yozi charms have 'transhuman transcendence' theme in them. By learning those charms (most of which are permanent), one can far exceed the limitation of humans while getting closer and closer to the nature of the source Yozis. And all Yozis are sustained by existing according to their nature (e.g. by being a wind, or a desert, or an ocean, or a backstabbing super-dick).
- Most of the Abyssal charms to do this have names like "Corpse Needs No Food"; they can be used in temporary form, or taken as Taints to have permanent effects and equally permanent drawbacks (in the listed case, you don't need to eat - but that's good, because you physically can't).
Videogames
- This is part of why Wiseman wants to turn everyone into Magnus in Baten Kaitos Orgins.
- In Touhou magicians who are turned into youkai don't need food or sleep, though they do both out of habit or leisure. They don't age, either.
- Most player characters don't have normal needs but Fallout New Vegas has a optional hard core mode where you need to eat, drink and sleep to stay healthy.
- Dwarf Fortress has a number of tags deciding if a creatures needs to breath, eat, drink, sleep or stop exerting themselves. Goblins, for instance don't need to eat or drink, but still sleep and get physically exhausted while a number of inorganic creatures are full Perpetual Motion Monsters.
Webcomics
- Sluggy Freelance: Though Aylee the alien certainly needs to eat, and has quite an appetite, there are some funny-unless-you're-the-human moments when she forgets that unlike her, humans need to do things like sleep and breathe.
Western Animation
- In the Men In Black animated series, it's revealed that Jeebs (whose species can regenerate from being blown to pieces) and his Psycho for Hire brother don't need to eat. Then the former brags that they don't even need to breathe oxygen to live, only to regenerate. Since they're in space at the time, J promptly opens the airlock and shoots said brother.
- Action Man: After assuming his metallic form in the series finale, Dr. X no longer needs food, water, or air to survive.
Real Life
- Anaerobic Organisms
 may qualify depending on how you define this trope, as they do not need Oxygen in order to survive (and in fact it typically is toxic to them). However, they use other chemicals in place of Oxygen, which Aerobic organisms use as a waste electron acceptor, meaning while they don't use Oxygen, they use other chemicals to fulfill the same function.
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