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Comic Books
"He knows it won't be enough. A whole herd of burgers - hooves and all - couldn't fill the gaping beak of the giant fledgling that cries inside him. He lumbers through the evening streets, scattering wrappers behind him, like small carcasses. All is subordinate to his primal urge for food.
Oblivious to all but the urgent pain of his hunger, Henry works his way down the menu. But the more he eats, the more he needs. The fledgling is tearing at his innards. A terrible fear evaporates the last of his self-control. His hunger consumes him. Must choke it. Must stop it reducing him. Draining and shriveling his body. Anything to stop the pain".
Oblivious to all but the urgent pain of his hunger, Henry works his way down the menu. But the more he eats, the more he needs. The fledgling is tearing at his innards. A terrible fear evaporates the last of his self-control. His hunger consumes him. Must choke it. Must stop it reducing him. Draining and shriveling his body. Anything to stop the pain".
— Hellblazer: Hunger
Fan Works
Cozy Glow: It’s easy to tell. I’ve seen it so many times. These first few days are gonna be super rough on you. You’re one of those people who come from a really nice place, aren’t you? One of those countries with plenty of food, water, electricity, warmth, all that nice stuff you’ve never had to go a serious day without.
Rarity: I... confess I am fortunate to have been born in such a place. And I suppose it’d be foolish of me to deny that the prospect of dealing with constant thirst and starvation is hardly a pleasant one. But I won’t break from it that easily.
Cozy Glow: That’s what everybody thinks. The gnawing hasn’t even set in yet. The real agony. Look, you may not get this, but I’m trying to help you when I say... Don’t try to tough it out. The harder you try to act tough, the worse it hurts.
Rarity: I... confess I am fortunate to have been born in such a place. And I suppose it’d be foolish of me to deny that the prospect of dealing with constant thirst and starvation is hardly a pleasant one. But I won’t break from it that easily.
Cozy Glow: That’s what everybody thinks. The gnawing hasn’t even set in yet. The real agony. Look, you may not get this, but I’m trying to help you when I say... Don’t try to tough it out. The harder you try to act tough, the worse it hurts.
Film - Live-Action
"Let us feast... feast... feast... feast... feeeeeast!"
"You'll be back. When the hunger hurts so much you've lost reason, then you'll have to feed, and then you' need me to show you how."
— Miriam Blaylock, The Hunger
Ernie Kaltenbrunner: Why do you eat people?
1/2 Woman Corpse: Not people. Brains.
Ernie: Brains only?
Corpse: Yes.
Ernie: Why?
Corpse: The PAIN!
Ernie: What about the pain?
Corpse: The pain of being DEAD!
Ernie: It hurts... to be dead.
Corpse: I can feel myself rot.
Ernie: Eating brains... How does that make you feel?
Corpse: It makes the pain... go away!
1/2 Woman Corpse: Not people. Brains.
Ernie: Brains only?
Corpse: Yes.
Ernie: Why?
Corpse: The PAIN!
Ernie: What about the pain?
Corpse: The pain of being DEAD!
Ernie: It hurts... to be dead.
Corpse: I can feel myself rot.
Ernie: Eating brains... How does that make you feel?
Corpse: It makes the pain... go away!
Freddy: I can finally see, the one thing... the one thing that will relieve this horrible suffering.
Tina: What, Freddy?
Freddy: A live... BRAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIN!
Tina: What, Freddy?
Freddy: A live... BRAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIN!
Literature
There is simply no way to explain the awful hunger of the Taxxon. It is beyond any hunger you've ever imagined. It is constant. Like a screaming voice in your head. Screaming so loud you can't think.
Every living thing you see or smell is just meat to you. You hear beating hearts and smell rushing blood and the hunger almost takes over your body. And when someone is injured... when there is blood spilled... well then, as I knew personally, the hunger is all but impossible to resist. I had come within a haunch hair of eating an injured Taxxon myself. Not something I wanted to remember. But not something I'd ever forget.
Every living thing you see or smell is just meat to you. You hear beating hearts and smell rushing blood and the hunger almost takes over your body. And when someone is injured... when there is blood spilled... well then, as I knew personally, the hunger is all but impossible to resist. I had come within a haunch hair of eating an injured Taxxon myself. Not something I wanted to remember. But not something I'd ever forget.
— Alloran, Animorphs, "The Andalite Chronicles"
There is no breath, no pulse, no words, no hot, no cold. But there is Hunger. The Hunger is the only sharp thing in a dulled and muted world. The Hunger is all pain, all the time. And the time is always Now. A thing kneels down. It has a face. Eyes leaking liquid, mouth open as it makes the keening sound. It has a smell that names it:
Food.
The Hunger burns and twists and scorches and slashes. Saliva spills. There is only one thing that will make the agony of Hunger go away. To bite food. To chew food.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
The food screams. Spurt of blood. Gobble down the fingers. Flesh is the only good thing ever.
Food.
The Hunger burns and twists and scorches and slashes. Saliva spills. There is only one thing that will make the agony of Hunger go away. To bite food. To chew food.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
The food screams. Spurt of blood. Gobble down the fingers. Flesh is the only good thing ever.
— At First Only Darkness, by Nancy A Collins
My throat felt like it had been baked in a kiln, and as soon as I could manage it I took the keys out of my black nylon sports pouch. There were several keys on the ring, and I fumbled at them one at a time. After the third wrong guess I had the brief, sharp urge to break the window and grab the bottle of water I'd left sitting in the driver's seat. I managed to force myself to try the keys methodically until I found the right one.
I opened the door, grabbed the bottle, twisted off the cap, and lifted it to ease the parched discomfort of my throat.
I took my first gulp, and the water felt and tasted like it had come from God's own water cooler. It took the harshest edge off the burning thirst, but I needed more to ease the comfort completely
Before I could swallow again, Thomas batted the water bottle out of my hand. It arched through the air and landed on the sand, spilling uselessly onto the beach.
I spun on Thomas, staring at him in surprised anger.
He met my gaze with weary grey eyes and said, 'It's like that.'
I stared at him.
'It's exactly like that.
I opened the door, grabbed the bottle, twisted off the cap, and lifted it to ease the parched discomfort of my throat.
I took my first gulp, and the water felt and tasted like it had come from God's own water cooler. It took the harshest edge off the burning thirst, but I needed more to ease the comfort completely
Before I could swallow again, Thomas batted the water bottle out of my hand. It arched through the air and landed on the sand, spilling uselessly onto the beach.
I spun on Thomas, staring at him in surprised anger.
He met my gaze with weary grey eyes and said, 'It's like that.'
I stared at him.
'It's exactly like that.
— Harry Dresden learns what fighting the hunger feels like from a vampire, Dead Beat
Elders' wisdom has it that they inherit the curse, generation to generation. And that may be. It may be true; Ploy could just be the victim of her aunt, uncle, parent. She gobbles up what she must – chicken's blood, Phma innards. She may be as virtuous a woman as any other. But I cannot bring her to Prachinburi. There will be pigs butchered and she'll hunger. There will be women in childbirth and the blood will summon her to consume mother's insides and infant freshly born. So many things a krasue
may not resist, so much evil just one may commit.
may not resist, so much evil just one may commit.— Fade To Gold, by Benjanun Sriduangkaew
I'm shaking. I swear I'm shaking, lying here on the carpet, feeling the warm, soft, crunching things all around the building, flickering lights against the infinite darkness of un-life, and it would be so easy to kill them all, the constellations of neighboring warehouses and the distance galaxy of terminals 1-3 and beyond them the M25 motorway. And I could extinguish them for her, I would distinguish them all in a heartbeat and go flying to her rescue if I couldn't already see the look on her face when she learned what I'd done -
(Does this make me a monster?)
Seconds that feel like minutes slide into minutes that feel like hours as I lie there shivering, not trusting myself to move a millimeter or twitch a finger, silently weeping with the strain of holding back the infinite hunger. I distantly realize that I'm overloaded, irrational and suddenly unable to cope. The breakdown on Mo's shoulder in the safe house was a warning temblor, not the earthquake itself: I don't trust myself not to kill thousands of people by accident and I'm paralyzed with fear of what I have the potential to become, if I haven't become that thing already.
(Does this make me a monster?)
Seconds that feel like minutes slide into minutes that feel like hours as I lie there shivering, not trusting myself to move a millimeter or twitch a finger, silently weeping with the strain of holding back the infinite hunger. I distantly realize that I'm overloaded, irrational and suddenly unable to cope. The breakdown on Mo's shoulder in the safe house was a warning temblor, not the earthquake itself: I don't trust myself not to kill thousands of people by accident and I'm paralyzed with fear of what I have the potential to become, if I haven't become that thing already.
Hunger: I've tried water, food, fire, blood, flesh, skin, hair, bone, organ, breath – I've tasted them all. I was wondering where he hid his life; it was something hard to fathom, or perceive, but now I've tasted it, it seems... unsatisfying. A drop of water on my thirst, a corner filled in my stomach, but my appetite is still... desiring. Still hungry.
Matthew: I don't think you'd like me. My diet is unhealthy.
Hunger: It's not your blood I desire. Just your fire.
Matthew: I don't think you'd like me. My diet is unhealthy.
Hunger: It's not your blood I desire. Just your fire.
Live-Action TV
"You know what happens to vampires who don't get to feed? Living skeletons, mate. Like famine pictures from those dusty countries, only not half as funny."
— Spike, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Pangs"
"I am so hungry."
— The Master, Doctor Who, The End of Time
"The Wraith must feed in order to live. For Wraith, hunger burns like a fire. Tell me, Sheppard, if you found yourself burning alive, would you settle for just one drop of water... or would you take more?"
— Todd, Stargate Atlantis, "Common Ground"
Tabletop Games
"Some undead have no 'bodily' requirement to feed, and could continue to exist solely on negative energy, but are driven to their diet all the same by inescapable cravings. These cravings, denied too long, could turn even a sentient undead to mindless hunger. Once the feeding is accomplished and the hunger sated, the intensity of the craving drops back to a tolerable level, but it is a cycle doomed to repeat itself. [...] The hunger felt by an undead with the need for sustenance is akin to an addiction. Like living creatures with an extreme craving for some chemical substance, hungry undead are prone to erratic, violent, and sometimes self-destructive behavior if they are denied their preferred morsels."
— Dungeons & Dragons, Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead, "Chapter 1 - All About Undead"
"Day 16: Third use of ritual. As my connection to my lord deepens, I leave my old concerns behind. His hunger is all that matters. It is greater than me; it is greater than us all. It is His mark. He made us. He drives us. He eats what we eat. He kills what we kill. He will come if we eat well. He will come if we kill well. He will come if we eat well. He will come if we kill well. He will kill and He will eat, and we shall be He and He shall be we, never alone, never afraid, never hungry."
— From the journal of a cultist of Yeenoghu, Dungeons & Dragons: Volo's Guide to Monsters
"Blood is foul, the flesh dross. My ascendance thirsts for life itself."
— Crovax, Magic: The Gathering, "Vicious Hunger"
"Where there's death, there's food. And where there's food, there's life - your life. Eat to live. Live to eat. Dead things don't know any better. They're dead. They taste better that way. Death. Food. Life. Nothing else matters."
— Roleplaying hints for Harpies, The Bygone Bestiary
"The wracking pain and utter misery of a vampire not feeding when the hunger is upon him is terrible indeed - worse by far than any mortal's cravings for food and water. We must feed to drive back the creeping chill of our wasting souls and to lift the weight within our hearts and minds, lest we slow and collapse, or until we begin to willingly draw into our deepest selves the blackest magic and gradually lose our beauty and our sanity."
"What do you know of needs? You are young, the Thirst has a shallow hold on you. I will tell you of need; a deep, unfaltering emptiness that grows larger and more demanding with every passing of the night. You have heard tales of how I consume a hundred souls a day. That is but the morsel to whet my appetite. A hundred times that number die every day to quench my desire, my need. Spirits unnumbered are distilled in agony and torture to the peak of exquisite taste to fill the chasm of my soul. Do not confuse needs with ambitions."
Theatre
"I don't need their milk and honey
They can keep their fine herb teas
I don't need their chocolate, hot and sweet
It's thick and red for me!"
They can keep their fine herb teas
I don't need their chocolate, hot and sweet
It's thick and red for me!"
— Claudia, Lestat: The Musical, "I Want More"
" Video Games
"Maaan... I'm starving... c'mon... let me eaaat you... even just a nibble is fine... someone... someone... someone please... MAKE THE HUNGER STOOOP!!"
— Stratos, the Gluttonous Fly, Azure Striker Gunvolt
"Rend... slaughter! Devour your enemies!
It is the only way to survive...
You cannot escape your hunger, Warriors of Purgatory!"
It is the only way to survive...
You cannot escape your hunger, Warriors of Purgatory!"
"So few of them know what you are. You speak and eat and smile like any other. Even your friends may not suspect. But sometimes it all gets too much. You are hungry.
Eat. Just eat.
You need something rare. Something rich and red. If it were still moving, perhaps? Oh God yes."
Eat. Just eat.
You need something rare. Something rich and red. If it were still moving, perhaps? Oh God yes."
"'It's your mouth.'
'Can you stop dribbling?' she asks peevishly. Of course. You're salivating. It's difficult to stop. Soon the teeth in your jaw will reside cosily in your gut. Oh God. It will almost be as if you have two mouths. You will be able to consume - consume-"
'Can you stop dribbling?' she asks peevishly. Of course. You're salivating. It's difficult to stop. Soon the teeth in your jaw will reside cosily in your gut. Oh God. It will almost be as if you have two mouths. You will be able to consume - consume-"
"Always yell at Dog. Yell at Dog because he gets hungry. Can't stop it. Always need more."
— Dog, Fallout: New Vegas - Dead Money
"Actually, I'm really starving, Barney. Do you... do you have some food? Anything?"
"Well now, I got a half a sandwich left over from my luAAAIIIIEEEEEE!"
You leap backwards in shock, letting go of the old man, who slumps to the ground with blood pouring from his neck. You put your hands to your face, and they come back red. Swallowing convulsively, you feel a warmth flow down your throat. The overpowering hunger abates, ever so slightly.
The urge to completely freak out comes back, rather stronger than before.
"Well now, I got a half a sandwich left over from my luAAAIIIIEEEEEE!"
You leap backwards in shock, letting go of the old man, who slumps to the ground with blood pouring from his neck. You put your hands to your face, and they come back red. Swallowing convulsively, you feel a warmth flow down your throat. The overpowering hunger abates, ever so slightly.
The urge to completely freak out comes back, rather stronger than before.
— Kingdom of Loathing, "Dawn of the D'oh"
"Hungry! So hungry! HUNGRY! GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
— The description for the Ravenous Lunge skill, Kingdom of Loathing
"This insatiable appetite... If I was to follow my primal urge to feast, the humans around would all perish before my hunger was no more. That was merely a jest... or so I thought. Unfortunately, my hunger is, indeed, very real."
— Merkava, Under Night In-Birth
"The city was paved in blood and flesh. Yet, what would have appalled in my life only tempted me in death. Once I would have felt horror; now only hunger remained."
— Kain, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
"May 19, 1998
Fever gone but itchy. Hungry and eat doggy food. Itchy Itchy Scott came. Ugly face so killed him. Tasty
4.
Itchy.
Tasty."
Fever gone but itchy. Hungry and eat doggy food. Itchy Itchy Scott came. Ugly face so killed him. Tasty
4.
Itchy.
Tasty."
— Excerpt from the Keeper's Diary, Resident Evil
Webcomics
"You think my plight merely one of pallor? If you know why plods are masked and bound you know what that girl's blood was to me. My clothing reeks of it. It crowds my thoughts... every inhalation is flavoured red. God help me, I could have dipped my face in her wounds and..."
— Duane, Unsounded, Chapter 3 p.34
Web Original
"Are you hungry?" Evan asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yes!" blurted Connor. "My stomach hurts so bad! I've never been hungrier in my whole life, it's horrible! I…I ate a spider right after I woke up. It was crazy, I didn't even think about it! I just grabbed it off the wall. Isaac brought me an apple and I ate the core, seeds and all. It didn't even help, I'm still so hungry!"
"Well, get used to it," Evan told him flatly. "This disease empties your stomach faster than you can fill it. No matter how much you eat, you'll never be satisfied. So, you better learn to make peace with pain real quick. If you don't, the hunger can drive you to lunacy. You think eating a spider is scary? Wait 'til you're fighting the urge to eat your pets, or your friends, or even your own family"
"My what? No! That's not real, don't mess with me!" gasped Connor.
"You don't have to believe me. You'll feel it yourself soon enough," Evan told him grimly.
"Yes!" blurted Connor. "My stomach hurts so bad! I've never been hungrier in my whole life, it's horrible! I…I ate a spider right after I woke up. It was crazy, I didn't even think about it! I just grabbed it off the wall. Isaac brought me an apple and I ate the core, seeds and all. It didn't even help, I'm still so hungry!"
"Well, get used to it," Evan told him flatly. "This disease empties your stomach faster than you can fill it. No matter how much you eat, you'll never be satisfied. So, you better learn to make peace with pain real quick. If you don't, the hunger can drive you to lunacy. You think eating a spider is scary? Wait 'til you're fighting the urge to eat your pets, or your friends, or even your own family"
"My what? No! That's not real, don't mess with me!" gasped Connor.
"You don't have to believe me. You'll feel it yourself soon enough," Evan told him grimly.
— Looming Gaia, "Hereditary"
Western Animation
Kevin: Your powers don't scare us!
Dracula: I'm so happy to hear that. You know, fear makes de blood taste terrible.
Dracula: I'm so happy to hear that. You know, fear makes de blood taste terrible.
Yogi: Wait a sec! D-Did I just eat Boo Boo? Why would I do that?!
Cindy: I guess it's possible that, since the [nuclear] stomach is limitless and you can never feel full, that your appetite might grow... uh... exponentially?
Yogi: You mean I'm gonna go crazy with hunger?
Cindy: Well, only if you have zero self-contr--Oh, gosh.
Yogi: [his tummy rumbles] I GOTTA EAT SOMETHING NOW!
Cindy: I guess it's possible that, since the [nuclear] stomach is limitless and you can never feel full, that your appetite might grow... uh... exponentially?
Yogi: You mean I'm gonna go crazy with hunger?
Cindy: Well, only if you have zero self-contr--Oh, gosh.
Yogi: [his tummy rumbles] I GOTTA EAT SOMETHING NOW!
—Jellystone!, "Yogi's Tummy Troubles"
