History Main / LifeEnergy

Spiritual [[PowerSource fuel]] that runs the body and mind, generally invisible to ordinary folks (but not those with AuraVision). Life Energy may be the same thing as the spirit, or rather just some sort of spiritual LifeMeter. Even the hardest of television ScienceFiction can't seem to help but use this trope at one point or another.

* ''Series/{{Tracker}}'' used this heavily. Each fugitive was in the form of a life force that took over a human body and killed the original occupant. Cole sucked out the life force into his collector when he caught up with them. Apparently, they were drained of life force when they were put in prison, and the life force was slowly returned as the sentence was served.

* At the end of the second season of ''[[Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato Star Blazers,]]'' [[spoiler: Trelaina resurrects Mark Venture by transferring her life force to him, through tubes like a blood transfusion of glowing energy. It's implied this will kill her, and it's her last act before she sacrifices her life to savethe Earth from Prince Zordar.]]
* In [[Anime/Transformers Super-God Mastwrforce]] life enegy called Chōkon Power can be utilized by Godmasters a type of Transformers bonded to humans on a super natural that can use three types of it called Tenchōkon Heaven Super Soul that can use aultimate energy of the univeree,
Chichōkon Earth Super Soul that uses the energy of the Earth, and Jinchōkon Super Humsn Soul that uses the life enegy of humans to keep on going. The Legends mangs would explore and discover more typed of it like Beast and Dream typed of Chokon Power.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "The Lorelei Signal". The females of the second planet in the Taurean system can only survive by draining the life energy of male humanoids, which causes the males to age and die.

* ''Film/{{Lifeforce}}'', the naked space vampire movie, is all about Life Energy vampirism. [[MsFanservice And boobies.]]

* This is, to all intents and purposes, the source of ComicBook/CaptainAtom's power; he's plugged into the quantum field, the life energy of the universe, allowing him to manipulate all forms of energy. (This is why Nathaniel ended up [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu fighting Nekron]]--because he's integrated with the quantum field, Nekron could use him to drag the quantum field into his realm, and every living creature in the universe with it.)
* This may be what the planet-eating ComicBook/{{Galactus}} feeds on.
* The Life Entity of the Franchise/GreenLantern mythos is the embodiment of life, and thus, is a EnergyBeing using this energy.
* ''ComicBook/LegendsOfTheDeadEarth'': In ''[[Franchise/TheFlash Flash]]'' Annual #9, Tristan Mallory imprisoned his brother Bryan in a special chamber for 300 years after he received his speed. The chamber siphons off Bryan's life energy in order to make the once frozen planet lush and green and to keep Tristan alive indefinitely. As the process is unstable, Tristan gathers his people together for Green Day once every 20 years and uses Bryan to siphon off their energy in the same manner. After Tristan's follower Deborah releases Bryan from his confinement, Tristan is forced to drain the people's energy to the point that most of them become elderly and decrepit within hours.
* In ''ComicBook/LoriLovecraft: Into the Past'', Raoul Reichmann runs a PathOfInspiration ashram where he drains life energy from the attendees and funnels it to the Cabal to power their magic.
* Creator/MarvelComics villain Selene is a mutant who can psychically drain life energy from people to sustain and empower herself. Her lifespan can be measured in millennia thanks to this power. If she ever stopped feeding for too long, [[NoImmortalInertia those millenia would catch up to her in an instant]].
* In Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} story ''Comicbook/DemonSpawn'' villain Nightflame tries to suck Supergirl's life-force out of her.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: The Nazi that Zenna Persik is hunting creates a machine [[PoweredByAForsakenChild powered by the life force of captive children]] that gives him telekinesis.

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': In this ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' Franchise/MonsterVerse fanfiction; dominating, killing and/or consuming an opponent to gain its power is a recurring literal and metaphorical symbol throughout the story. Besides Monster X and Ghidorah's VampiricDraining, ancient Bone Singers believing that to claim a person's head means to claim their soul. Word of God also states that Ghidorah's severed pieces are reliant on an internal power reserve to remain animate, and this reserve can be fueled by absorbing energy from their surroundings, but it can otherwise run out and render the piece dormant.

[[folder:Films — Live Action]]

* In ''Film/VictorFrankenstein,'' the Lazarus Fork device is an alloy that tirns electricity into "Vital Force."

* Magic in ''Literature/TheBrokenEarthTrilogy'' works like this, and thus can be used for things like healing or killing someone by draining it. However, it can be also found in anything that once was alive, however long ago, such as rock like limestone that originated as living organisms. [[spoiler: It's also in the Earth, which is actually alive and sentient.]]
* In Creator/HPLovecraft's short story "Literature/TheColourOutOfSpace", the title monster feeds on the life energy of creatures that live near to where it lairs.

* Gets mentioned in Literature/{{Discworld}} occasionally. In ''Literature/ReaperMan'', DeathTakesAHoliday, meaning the excess life energy is piling up and things don't die properly. Cue compost piles coming to life and the dead rising up and being very cranky. One or two characters muse that the passing of the seasons is sort of the planet's "heartbeat", causing life energy to flow in and out of the ecosystem.
* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', living things have a magical essence that is necessary to sustain life, but can be fed on by White Court Vampires and some other things. As a result anyone with magical talent also tends to be a tastier snack for such predators. It also allows Wizard (or presumably anyone with sufficient magical talent) can tap into to power a 'Death Curse', an incredibly powerful spell cast at the cost of one's life, effectively used as a DeadMansSwitch to discourage trying to kill the Wizard in the first place.

** And, in ''Literature/GhostStory'', we find that ghosts can only attack or defend by using their memories---and all a ghost is, is memories, so...

* In the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' universe, Dementors require (and enjoy) feeding off people's happiness, making them quite depressing to be around. (Aptly, considering they are based off of J.K. Rowling's period of clinical depression following the death of her mother.) The effect seemed to be amplified based on how much sadness you've experienced, so most people "just" feel horribly depressed, like they'll never be happy again, while people with more traumatic lives (like Harry) become nearly-catatonic with. they can give someone a "kiss" by sucking out their soul and leaving behind an EmptyShell.

* Creator/MercedesLackey's works:
** The ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' series uses a fairly [[MagicAIsMagicA well-developed magic system]] that is based almost entirely around this concept. All living beings generate Life Energy, which drains away from them [[BackgroundMagicField into the ambient environment]], eventually collecting into {{Ley Line}}s. Where two or more Ley Lines meet, you have a [[PlaceOfPower Node]], which is a massively powerful energy source that only [[PowerLevels Adepts]] can hope to use without burning themselves out. The ultimate destination of this energy is the nether plane, from which it then reenters the world through living beings. Mages are people who have the innate capability to store additional magical energy within themselves, see this energy, and instinctively manipulate it. It's also possible to manipulate it without mage talent via rituals or BloodMagic. A person wholly drained of life energy, whether from BloodMagic or [[CastFromHitPoints spellcasting beyond their capacity]], will lapse into a coma and die. Accordingly, it can also be used to [[LiquidAssets heal people]], although this is most efficiently performed by those with the [[HealingHands specific talent]] for it.
** ''Literature/ChildrenOfTheNight'' has '[[OurVampiresAreDifferent psi-vamps]]' who drain energy from others. In this case the energy is [[EmotionEater tied to emotions]] -- they drain excitement at first, and later hate and fear. Also, a completely drained victim is usually not physically dead, but is [[TheStoic emotionally/mentally burned out]] (described as a mindless hulk, with no chance of recovery).
** In the ''Literature/DragonJousters'' series, the Magi are deliberately encouraging the war between Tian and Altan to continue, as they're using the deaths of the fighting soldiers to extend the lifespans of themselves and the Altan rulers. They also start seeking out those priests/acolytes that are 'god-touched' and [[HealingHands Healers-by-touch]] in order to drain them for power to fuel their spells. After enough draining, the victims either die or end up stripped of their powers.
* The ''Literature/NightWatchSeries'' of novels has the "Others", a group of superpowered and supernatural humans forced to choose between good and evil when they first gain knowledge of their gift, can get energy from taking the emotions of normal humans and store it for later use. Some are actual vampires, and do need blood in addition to any life energy they get, albeit not necessarily human blood. [[spoiler: The good Others take happiness and joy, leaving those they take power from depressed and likely to kill themselves, while the evil Others take fear and depression away, leaving their victims happier and feeling more capable of dealing with problems. Although when it's not a simple one time feeding they establish a cycle where the Others create the emotions they feed off in their actions. So a famous Pioneer Camp is used as a rest resort, the Light feed during the days while helping the kids have fun, while the dark ones feed of the same kids fears at night.]]
* In Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/PaladinOfSouls'', this is happening to Illvin [[spoiler:to keep powering up his DeadAllAlong brother]].
* In Bujold's ''Literature/TheSharingKnife'' books, Lakewalkers' magic is all about the manipulation of Life Energy.
* Literature/SimeGen, the human race has become divided into Gens who produce large amounts of life energy (called "selyn"), and Simes who don't produce it and must take it from Gens. Unfortunately the process of taking it is almost always fatal to the Gen. The plot of the series revolves around "channels" -- Simes who can take selyn from Gens without hurting them in the process and pass it on to other Simes. Unfortunately, by the time the first channel is discovered Simes have been killing Gens en masse for centuries and therefore there is a lot of FantasticRacism on both sides to be overcome before the two kinds of people can finally live in peace with each other.
* In ''Literature/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'', Abyss are monsters which can absorb the life energy of living things by eating them. This is first demonstrated when Yggdrasil consumes hundreds of other Abyss in order to fuel its HealingFactor and AdaptiveAbility. [[spoiler:It turns out that this is the original purpose of Abyss, to gather life energy in order to create the SuperSerum Elixir.]]
* In Brandon Sanderson's ''Literature/{{Warbreaker}}'', Life Energy is measured in "Breaths", which can be removed from a soul with consent of that soul (Everyone starts with one Breath). Once accumulated, these Breaths enhance you in specific ways, allowing you to discern colors and musical tones with higher fidelity, "sense" other lives around you, and become functionally immortal. Furthermore, these Breaths can be placed in an inanimate object, animating them to follow a specific Command. However, the sheer number of Breaths required to achieve these powers (200 to achieve perfect musical tone recognition, all the way up to 2000 Breaths to become immortal), and the state of those left without Breath, make the practice of accumulating Breath highly controversial in some cultures. The book mostly takes place in an area where there's no taboo related to trading breath, although it is very valuable.

* ''Series/KamenRiderKiva'' features Fangires, a stained glass-based [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]] race that materializes crystal fangs in midair, sticks them into their human targets' neck, and drains the life energy out of their bodies for food, leaving the victim as a glass corpse that can be shattered with a single touch. (The words Life Energy are [[GratuitousEnglish always in English]] for [[RuleOfCool some reason]].)

* Emotions get drained in ''Series/RedDwarf'', too. A polymorph snacks on the most powerful emotion from four distinct characters. Never explored what would happen if multiple emotions got drained from the same character, but when you strip away the hero's sense of fear, you get suggestions like: "Why don't we take a nuke and strap it to my head -- I'll head-butt the monster into oblivion!"

** Also Tom Riddle was able to absorb Ginny's soul via his [[SoulJar old diary with a little bit of his soul in it] during ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets Chamber of Secrets]]'', causing him to regain physical form while she was reduced to a coma-like state.

* In ''Manga/InuYasha,'' there are two kinds of souls: one is your true self, and one is the power that animates the body. Seeing how nobody reacts to Kikyo as a soul-stealer, she is presumably surviving on this second kind.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' features Aura (described by Mei Ling as "life force") which is normally used by Lucario and, to a lesser extent, Riolu (oh, and there's the occasional human with Aura abilities). Needless to say, an awful lot of cool powers come with it. How about unlimited vision when you've got your eyes closed, so you'll technically never go blind? Or a cool ball of energy that you can summon out of nowhere?

* Goes by the name "Power of Existence", or just "Existence", in ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana''. Losing any amount of it turns a human into a Torch at best, doomed to eventually [[RetGone have never existed]].

* In ''LightNovel/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'', Abyss are monsters which can absorb the life energy of living things by eating them. This is first demonstrated when Yggdrasil consumes hundreds of other Abyss in order to fuel its HealingFactor and AdaptiveAbility. [[spoiler:It turns out that this is the original purpose of Abyss, to gather life energy in order to create the SuperSerum Elixir.]]

* At the end of the second season of ''[[Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato Star Blazers,]]'' [[spoiler: Trelaina resurrects Mark Venture by transferring her life force to him, through tubes like a blood transfusion of glowing energy. It's implied this will kill her, and it's her last act before she sacrifices her life to save the Earth from Prince Zordar.]]

* ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}''. The giant robot is powered by the Life Energy of the pilot. [[spoiler:Win or lose, the pilot dies after the battle -- it just isn't followed by the ''the entire universe dying'' in case of a win.]]

*** The Tree of Might from the [[Anime/DragonBallZTheTreeOfMight Dragon Ball Z movie of the same name]] absorbed the life energy of everything on the planet. However, unlike Goku's Spirit Bomb, which generally requires a voluntary contribution of small amounts, the Tree of Might siphoned just about everything it needed for itself.

** In a twist, it was revealed that [[spoiler:the Tailed Beasts are composed of the fragmented chakra of an EldritchAbomination defeated centuries in the past]].
*** In an even bigger twist, [[spoiler:''all'' chakra has been revealed to originate from the Ten-Tailed Beast when it existed as the God-Tree. The Beast is attempting to reclaim its stolen power and will drain a shinobi completely dry of chakra in seconds. As noted above, losing all your chakra is fatal]].

* In ''Manga/Reborn2004'' there's Dying Will, which started out as just something that tapped into your hidden potential to keep you from dying without fulfilling some desire. Later on though, it became the basis for all forms of attack and even has [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience seven differently colored]] types with various powers and appearances, and is accessed through your personal resolution. They have a sky theme (Sky, Sun, Storm, etc).
** Now there are [[ArcNumber seven]] more flames with an Earth theme (Earth, Forest, Swamp, etc).

* The premise of ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' implies that life energy is essentially the same as spirit energy but is the necessary portion reserved to keep the body running. It seems to be a fair amount, to the point that a person drained of spirit energy can still throw a large enough energy attack to win a battle, provided that they're okay with being dead afterwards. All but one of the four major characters are guilty of this at one point or another, and the main character employs it as a reliable backup strategy.
** Seeing that he's half-demon and can pretty much reincarnate at will, this tactic is pretty cheap.

* Magic in ''Literature/TheBrokenEarthTrilogy'' works like this, and thus can be used for things like healing or killing someone by draining it. However, it can be also found in anything that once was alive, however long ago, such as rock like limestone that originated as living organisms. [[spoilers: It's also in the Earth, which is actually alive and sentient.]]

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'', the [[MacGuffin Light Force]] was directly tied to Princess Zelda's Life Energy. Draining away the Life Force from her body will kill her, which leads to a [[ScrappyLevel timed section]] near the end of the game. If you fail the timed section, Vaati [[NonStandardGameOver succeeds in draining all of the Light Force from her]].

** A different twist occurs in [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]]. [[spoiler:Sacrificed life energy is revealed to be the actual source of all alchemic power, and it's not even people from Al and Ed's universe who are providing it]].

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation''

[[AC:"Life Force" redirects here. For the NES game, [[VideoGame/{{Gradius}} go here]]. For the 1985 film, [[Film/{{Lifeforce}} go here]].]]
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