History Main / DevourTheDragon

* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', [[spoiler:Gluttony]] is devoured for this purpose. [[spoiler:Kimbley]] later succumbs to the same fate. However, the second victim ends up [[AssimilationBackfire biting the devourer in the ass]] later on. [[spoiler:Pride]] assumed that nobody could retain their sanity after being absorbed into him, but overlooked the fact that [[spoiler:Kimbley]] was [[InsanityImmunity already insane]] and loving it.
-->'''[[spoiler:Kimbley]]:''' These cries of agony are like lullabies to my ears!

* In ''Anime/{{Shinzo}}'', the {{mon}}s that have replaced humanity turn into cards after being defeated, and they can power up by assimilating another Enterran's card. One villainess, a general in the BigBad's army, killed five of her peers well before fighting the heroes and used them to achieve a OneWingedAngel form.
* Fall absorbs Deuce's magical power (killing her) in her final fight in ''Manga/{{Nora}}: The Last Chronicle of Devildom''. This holds something of an inverted HeroicSacrifice because Deuce throws herself in front of Nora's spell to protect Fall, then apologizes for her weakness as Fall absorbs her afterwards.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** Szayelaporro Granz has specifically designed minions which he can eat to heal himself. In the manga, he actually ''eats'' the minion, but in the anime, he turns it into a purple orb and then eats it.
** Giselle of the Sternritter injected her blood into Bambietta, converting her into a powerful zombie. After Giselle's near-death, she drank the blood out of a pleading Bambietta to restore her own health.
** When Yhwach infiltrates the Palace and his elite guard is killed, he absorbs the energy of every Sternritter [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness not directly assisting him]] and uses it to revive his guards. After gaining full mastery of his powers and draining Ichigo, Yhwach repeats this on all the remaining Quincy save Uryu.
* In the ''Manga/{{X 1999}}'' anime series, after Fuuma has had his arm and half his face blown off, he orders Nataku to liquify and became a human skin graft, restoring himself for the final battle at the cost of his last henchman's life.
* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' does this in a very strange, but very awesome way in the final episode. [[spoiler: Lordgenome, the [[HeelFaceTurn reformed]] BigBad of the previous arc, absorbs the Anti-Spiral's ultimate attack, converts it into energy, and allows the heroes to devour him for a power-up.]]
* In TheStinger of ''Anime/KillLaKill'''s episode 23, BigBad Ragyo absorbs her secretary Rei Hououmaru (who until then had done almost nothing) into her body, to power her ultimate outfit. Hououmaru stoically resigns herself to her fate. Rei had after all always wanted the entire human race, including herself, to be consumed by the Life Fibers. When she is forcefully ejected from Ragyo in the next episode, [[TheDragon Nui Harime]] feeds herself to the [[PlanetaryParasite Primordial Life Fiber]], which then fuses with Ragyo.

* Inverted in ''Manga/MegaManNTWarrior2001''. When the good guys finally get the current villains on the ropes, BigBad [=LaserMan=] decides it's best to make a strategic retreat and regroup. [=MegaMan DarkSoul=] decides he'd rather "regroup" his superior's power with his own, deals a finishing blow, and proceeds to take the "devour" portion of this trope quite literally.
-->'''[=MegaMan DarkSoul=]:''' A bit bland... but ''filling!''
* [[BigBad Mag Mel]] from ''Anime/{{Bakugan}}'' [[spoiler:kills and absorbs Mistress Sellon after she had [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived her usefulness]], using her energy to power himself as he prepares to carry out his ultimate plan. The very next episode, he does the exact same thing to Anubias.]]

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'':
** The heroic version of this trope occurs twice. The first is with Jonathan Joestar and his mentor Zepelli, who gives Jonathan all of his Hamon power shortly before his death. A similar scene occurs with their grandsons Joseph and Cesar in Part 2.
** The villain Vanilla Ice, who is devoted to the BigBad Dio, a vampire, promptly decapitates himself hoping that his Master will feed on him before the final showdown against the protagonists. In a subversion, Dio rewards his sacrifice by resurrecting him as a vampire. That doesn't takes any power from him, though.
* [[BigBad Alexander]] does this to his {{mooks}} during the FinalBattle of ''Anime/YuGiOhCapsuleMonsters'', sacrificing their monsters to summon Reshef the Dark Being and making sure that when his Reshef is attacked, they take damage instead of him.
* Amon did this in ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', sacrificing his partner Echo to the spirit of Exodia to gain the power required to use Exodius the Ultimate Forbidden Lord. And Echo was [[UndyingLoyalty only too willing to comply]] to help him; given how selfish Amon was ([[RagsToRiches saved from death as a child by a rich man's generosity]], given all he ever wanted, never wanting for anything but then never being satisfied and wanting more), you have to wonder just what he ever did to earn such loyalty.
* A heroic example in ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'', where Canti powers up by devouring Naota, using him both as sort of a replacement for his missing parts and as [[FastballSpecial living ammunition for his]] BFG form. He survives each time, though, and is eventually...er...[[ToiletHumor passed out.]]
* This is the theme of the [[BlackKnight Shadow Paladin]] and [[DinosaursAreDragons Tachikaze]] Clans in ''Anime/CardfightVanguard'', with the Tachikaze taking it much more literally by actually devouring their allies (their clan's keyword is even called 'Engorge') and being 'dragons'.
* In ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', [[TheEmperor Emperor Ganishka]] attempts to ascend to godhood through a ritual that involves him [[YouWillBeAssimilated assimilating]] the lives of most of his remaining minions using his magical fog. He gains a much, ''much'' stronger form in the process, but unfortunately for him, he's still noticeably weaker than a [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Godhand]] like Femto.
* ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan'': The manga adaption of the Monster Association arc has the two leaders of the Monster Association ''pull this off on each other'' [[spoiler:as the half-dead Orochi wanted to absorb Psykos to restore his body so he could find and absorb [[WorldsStrongestMan Saitama]], while Psykos wanted the extra power boost to kill [[MindOverMatter Tatsumaki]].]] Since both of them are too strong-willed for the other to successfully fully [[TheAssimilator assimilate]], they instead result in an unstable but still incredibly powerful FusionDance.
* In ''Manga/OutlawStar'', [[BigBad Hazanko]] merges with his CoolStarship after [[spoiler: absorbing the power of the Galactic Leyline]] in the final episode. This includes assimilating his one remaining underling; the resulting [[OneWingedAngel monstrosity]] incorporates features of both of them.
* In ''Anime/SDGundamForce'', the Evil Sword Epyon allows its wielder to steal the powers of those it slays. When Tallgeese gets it, the first thing he does is kill his servants, Mercurius and Vayeate to gain their wind and lightning magic. However, it's later revealed that the Sword ''also'' turns its holder into the Berserker Epyon, which was what Deathscythe was really planning on.

* Rare ''heroic'' variant: In GirlsLove VisualNovel ''VisualNovel/AkaiIto'', Tsudura [[spoiler:eats Obana's corpse]] because she doesn't want to [[FriendlessBackground lose her only friend]] (in a battle versus [[BigBad Nushi]]'s [[TheDragon dragons]], at that). {{Squick}} doesn't even begin to describe the scene. The result is that Tsudura turns into an uberpowered [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot werefox-mage-exorcist]], or something.

-->-- '''Makuta''' (absorbing [[BrainsAndBrawn Nidhiki and Krekka]]), ''Toys/{{Bionicle}} 2: Legends of Metru Nui''

** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', a Blood Mage can drain health from other party members with "Blood Sacrifice", which is a good way to keep the Blood Mage alive since keeping "Blood Magic" active renders other forms of healing all but useless. If you're careless it's entirely possible to bring your ally to the brink of death.
*** In Origins, this is even a mechanic in a boss fight. A powerful [[ImAHumanitarian Tevinter mage]] in a later mission starts draining his minions of blood to fuel powerful AOE attacks that can really mess up your party if you're not keeping track of his health. However, if you have all four party members close in to attack the minions before he can drain them, you can kill them first, and beat him before he can really use the technique. If you kill every minion before you beat him, you even get more experience points!
** That's what the ranger's summoned pet is for. [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential Well, that and disarming traps...]]

* In ''VideoGame/ShiningForceII'', after the demon-possessed King Galam is defeated by Bowie, [[BigBad Zeon]] finally rises, having regenerated enough to assume physical form. He then absorbs Galam's dead body, as well as the essence of the demon within him, into his being before initiating the final battle.

* ''Manga/DragonQuestTheAdventureOfDai'': Near the end of the manga, [[spoiler:the secret of SorcerousOverlord Vearn's enormous power and longevity is revealed. Vearn has been going through cycles of [[CloningGambit splitting off his mind and magical power into a weaker second body]], training his magic for centuries while his original body remains in stasis, and then recombining with his body to regain his youth. Vearn's {{Dragon}}, Myst-Vearn, is actually his original body in disguise, being [[PuppeteerParasite puppeteered]] by a loyal LivingShadow named Myst. During the final battle Vearn is pressed enough by the heroes that he's forced to call back his body from Myst early, instantly going from SquishyWizard to MasterOfAll.]]

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'', BigBad Malladus was forced outside of Princess Zelda's body. With no convenient way to repossess her, Malladus opts to simply possess his not-as-compatible Dragon, Chancellor Cole, creating an unstable beast that serves as the FinalBoss.
* In ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriorsAgeOfCalamity'', [[DarkMessiah Astor]] is beaten by the heroes one too many times for his liking, and furiously orders Harbinger Ganon to devour them. However, not considering Astor anywhere near worthy of ordering it about, the Harbinger instead [[EvilIsNotAToy painfully swarms the prophet in Malice]], eventually absorbing his husk into itself and reaching its OneWingedAngel form.

** Despite being built up to be the final boss of the Dun Scaith storyline, Scathach is revealed to ultimately be a SacrificalLamb to the true BigBad, Diabolos. He revived her in a weakened condition in order for the heroes to defeat her, and afterwards he would then consume her body in order to ascend to his final form of Diablolos Hollow.

-->[[spoiler:'''Kimbley''']]: These cries of agony are like lullabies to my ears!

* In ''{{Anime/Shinzo}}'', the {{Mons}} that have replaced humanity turn into cards after being defeated, and they can power up by assimilating another Enterran's card. One villainess, a general in the BigBad's army, killed five of her peers well before fighting the heroes and used them to achieve a OneWingedAngel form.

* ''Manga/InuYasha'':

* Szayelaporro Granz from ''{{Manga/Bleach}}'' has specifically designed minions which he can eat to heal himself. In the manga, he actually ''eats'' the minion, but in the anime he turns it into a purple orb and then eats it.

* In ''Manga/{{X 1999}}'' the TV series, after Fuuma has had his arm and half his face blown off, he orders Nataku to liquify and became a human skin graft, restoring himself for the final battle at the cost of his last henchman's life.

* ''{{Manga/Naruto}}''

* Inverted in the ''Anime/MegaManNTWarrior'' manga. When the good guys finally get the current villains on the ropes, BigBad [=LaserMan=] decides it's best to make a strategic retreat and regroup. [=MegaMan DarkSoul=] decides he'd rather "regroup" his superior's power with his own, deals a finishing blow, and proceeds to take the "devour" portion of this trope quite literally.

* [[BigBad Mag Mel]] from ''{{Anime/Bakugan}}'' [[spoiler:kills and absorbs Mistress Sellon after she had [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived her usefulness]], using her energy to power himself as he prepares to carry out his ultimate plan. The very next episode, he does the exact same thing to Anubias.]]
* In ''Anime/SuitePrettyCure'' [[spoiler:Noise absorbs Falsetto to power up and cross the BishonenLine.]]
* The heroic version of this trope occurs twice in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''. The first is with Jonathan Joestar and his mentor Zepelli, who gives Jonathan all of his Hamon power shortly before his death. A similar scene occurs with their grandsons Joseph and Cesar in Part 2.

* ''WebComic/OnePunchMan'': The manga adaption of the Monster Association arc has the two leaders of the Monster Association ''pull this off on each other'' [[spoiler:as the half-dead Orochi wanted to absorb Psykos to restore his body so he could find and absorb [[WorldsStrongestMan Saitama]], while Psykos wanted the extra power boost to kill [[MindOverMatter Tatsumaki]].]] Since both of them are too strong-willed for the other to successfully fully [[TheAssimilator assimilate]], they instead result in an unstable but still incredibly powerful FusionDance.

* In ''Anime/SDGundamForce'', The Evil Sword Epyon allows its wielder to steal the powers of those it slays. When Tallgeese gets it, the first thing he does is kill his servants, Mercurius and Vayeate to gain their wind and lightning magic. However, it's later revealed that the Sword ''also'' turns its holder into the Berserker Epyon, which was what Deathscythe was really planning on.

* Seen in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' as [[spoiler:Salazar and his remaining Verdugo fuse with a Queen Plaga before his fight with Leon.]]

* ''VideoGame/WarCraft''
** In ''VideoGame/WarCraftIII'', the Death Knight hero can use the ability 'Death Pact' to sacrifice any non-Hero undead to restore health. The Lich can do the same thing for mana.

** And in ''VideoGame/StarCraft'': The Defiler can "Devour" another Zerg to recharge their ManaMeter.

* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}''
** In ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin'', Dracula [[spoiler:reaches his OneWingedAngel form by consensually taking Death's soul.]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Death''']]: [[spoiler:"My power! Use my power!"]]

* ''Franchise/MortalKombat''

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', when one of [[spoiler:Seymour's]] incarnations features "morticorpus", a living shield that regenerates by draining his life.
** He does play this straight right before that BossBattle, though, by absorbing the body of the recently deceased Maester Kinoc (who was killed by Seymour offscreen shortly before) along with four of his own mooks in order to jumpstart his transformation into the OneWingedAngel form that includes the morticorpus.

* ''Franchise/DragonAge''

* In ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur 4'', Tira ''wants'' Nightmare/Soul Edge to do this to her because she has a bad case of MadLove for it. In her ending, [[spoiler:the opposite happens. Nightmare's body can no longer withstand its own power and dies while Tira begs him to stay with her. Tira gets her wish when Soul Edge's power merges with her.]]

* ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'': The Sith Inquisitor has the "Sacrifice" ability, which [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin sacrifices]] your companion in order to restore health to yourself. Depending on how you play your character, your companion might indeed be TheDragon to your BigBad. The Inquisitor also consumes [[spoiler:force ghosts]] during the story to gain the power to confront his/her nemesis.
** All classes get this ability, if they get to level cap and full dark-side.

* In the final battle against Miraak in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' [=DLC=] ''Dragonborn'', Miraak fights you while three dragons fly nearby. Each time he is brought near death he will absorb one of his dragons' souls to restore his health.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}} 3'', Ogre absorbs Heihachi (or Jin if playing as Heihachi) after the first round, resulting in him going OneWingedAngel.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV''

** A more classic version plays out in the battle again [[spoiler: King Thordan]], who was made a primal through Lahabrea's machinations. Knowing that the Ascians are manipulative and would most likely use him for their own ends, the first thing [[spoiler: Thordan]] does with his new godhood is kill Lahabrea and devour his aether, destroying his immortal existence.

* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' has Dragonslayer Ornstein and Executioner Smough; whichever dies first will be absorbed by the one still alive for a significant power boost, with either Ornstein growing huge and strong or Smough gaining lightning powers. Their attitudes are very different depending on who dies: Ornstein respectfully places a hand on Smough's body, while [[JerkAss Smough]] cruelly smashes Ornstein with his hammer before he even stops twitching.

* In ''VideoGame/ShiningForce 2'', after the demon-possessed King Galam is defeated by Bowie, [[BigBad Zeon]] finally rises, having regenerated enough to assume physical form. He then absorbs Galam's dead body, as well as the essence of the demon within him, into his being before initiating the final battle.

* ''Series/KamenRiderSaber'' provides a double inversion with Storious and his most powerful monster, the Charybdis Megid, which gains all the combined powers of everything it eats. After Storious gathers up all of the components of the Omniscient Tome, he commands Charybdis to eat him and all of the components. Charybdis does this and promptly explodes, turning into a revived Storious now with all the powers of the Tome.

* ''Film/TokusouSentaiDekarangerTenYearsAfter''. In the climax, Kight Reidlich decides to absorb his CoDragons, Neo Dekarangers Assam and Mugi, to power himself up after his Muscle Gear armor proves ineffective against the original Dekarangers. None of them were aware or willing to do it, given their reactions.

!!As this is both a {{Betrayal Trope|s}} and frequently a {{Death Trope|s}}, unmarked spoilers abound. Beware.
----

* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'': The [[BigCreepyCrawlies Seltas Queen]] is always attended by a male Seltas, although [[BadBoss she’s a bit of a bitch]] and considers the males [[WeHaveReserves expendable.]] On rare occasions, when exhausted and [[DesperationAttack very near death]], she will grab Seltas with her tail, [[MetronomicManMashing repeatedly smash him into the ground until he dies from it,]] and then eat him right in front of you.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Prototype 2}}'', [[spoiler: Alex Mercer]] prepares for the final battle by consuming [[spoiler: his Evolved lieutenants]].

* In ''VideoGame/ShiningForce2'', after the demon-possessed King Galam is defeated by Bowie, [[BigBad Zeon]] finally rises, having regenerated enough to assume physical form. He then absorbs Galam's dead body, as well as the essence of the demon within him, into his being before initiating the final battle.

* ''Manga/DragonQuestTheAdventureOfDai'': Near the end of the manga, the secret of SorcerousOverlord Vearn's enormous power and longevity is revealed. Vearn has been going through cycles of [[CloningGambit splitting off his mind and magical power into a weaker second body]], training his magic for centuries while his original body remains in stasis, and then recombining with his body to regain his youth. Vearn's {{Dragon}}, Myst-Vearn, is actually his original body in disguise, being [[PuppeteerParasite puppeteered]] by a loyal LivingShadow named Myst. During the final battle Vearn is pressed enough by the heroes that he's forced to call back his body from Myst early, instantly going from SquishyWizard to MasterOfAll.

** Also, in ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'', [[spoiler:Lucemon does this to Crusadermon and Dynasmon shortly after their defeat by the Digidestined.]]
** Happens ''all the time'' in ''Anime/DigimonFusion'' due to the villains having the ability to Digi Xros with their underlings, whether the poor Digimon want to or not.
*** An interesting subversion is when [[spoiler: [=DarkKnightmon=] tries to forcibly fuse his superieor, [[BigBad Bagramon]] into himself, in order to gain full power. He actually succeeds...for about one second before Bagramon reverses the Digi Xros from within, becoming the devourer]].

'''As this is a betrayal trope and frequently ends in death, beware of spoilers.'''

!Examples:

* As noted in the page quote, Makuta absorbs [[BrainsAndBrawn Nidhiki and Krekka]] in ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}: Legends of Metru Nui'', as well as his pet FeatheredFiend Nivawk after he [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness found the need for their services irrelevant]]. This was a mixed blessing however; he later claimed that he had trouble suppressing their minds within his own, distracting him enough for the heroes to win.

* In {{Webcomic/Homestuck}}, [[TheChessmaster Dr]] [[TheOmniscient Scratch]] had to [[ThanatosGambit die]] because [[spoiler: he was the host body for [[BigBad Lord English]]]].

** Also, [[spoiler: Kabuto later integrates Orochimaru's]] remains into his body to make himself stronger. It was ambiguous for a while who had devoured who, but [[spoiler:Kabuto]] seemed to be more-or-less in control. [[spoiler:Orochimaru ''still'' came back, just via a different route. He then reabsorbed the bits of himself in Kabuto]].
** Possession of the Rinnegan falls under this. After Pain's death, Tobi killed Konan and stole the Rinnegan from Nagato's corpse in order to gain a massive power boost for the upcoming war. Much later [[spoiler:Madara used Black Zetsu in order to take the Rinnegan from Obito for himself, though with TheReveal Nagato's Rinnegan was actually his to begin with in life, it was more a matter of taking back what was always his]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}} 3'', Ogre absorbs Heihachi(or Jin if playing as Heihachi) after the first round, resulting in him going OneWingedAngel.

* A variation occurs in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersGeneration1''; Megatron's plan was to lure the Autobots to their doom using a device that created a clone of Optimus Prime, but the plan was jeopardized when the real Optimus showed up. Then Megatron had a good idea; in order for the clone to win the trust of the heroes, he'd have it fight - and ''kill'' one of the high-ranking Decepticons. Meaning Starscream. Then he figured, [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou he didn't have to sacrifice Starscream]], he'd use the same device to clone ''him''. (Well, maybe he ''could'' have stood to get rid of Starscream, but that was another issue.) And to make it even more convincing, he had Starscream control it remotely. (So it would be just as arrogant [[EvilIsHammy and loudmouthed]] as the real one.) In fact, this almost worked, the thing that gave the clone away being it disregarding Spike as "unimportant", [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness a serious faux pas that ruined the whole thing.]]

** In the crossover with ''Fanfic/EquestriaGirlsFriendshipSouls'' called ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/447956/hunters-and-hollows Hunters and Hollows]]'', The Storm King brands each of his Hollow followers, claiming it is a symbol of unity. When Tempest Shadow starts to get rebellious and he sees his troops are more loyal to her, he activates his [[OneWingedAngel Resurreccion]] and everyone wearing his brand gets their energy drained into him to fuel his transformation. His new monstrous form then sprouts tentacles that can absorb the Hollows into his mass. Fittingly, the release command for his Zanpakutou is "Cannibalize". He explains that he was ''always'' planning to do this in order to get enough strength to defeat his arch-enemy Tirek, which was why he had Tempest gather as many followers as possible, but Tempest's little rebellion caused him to do it early.