History Main / MetalMuncher

* ''VideoGame/DeepRockGalactic'': The reason why Loot Bugs erupt into showers of Gold and Nitra upon dying is that they eat them. If you leave your resources unguarded near a Loot Bug, it will waddle over and eventually eat the raw ore on the floor. Unfortunately for them, any mineral eaten by them gets multiplied by 1.5x, adding even more incentive to kill them.

* Matter-Eater Lad from the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' is known for [[ExtremeOmnivore being able to eat anything]], up to and including metal.

** Meltan dissolves and consumes metal for energy, [[ImAHumanitarian including other Meltan]]. While that sounds horrific on paper, it's actually how they reincarnate into Melmetal, which disintegrates into Meltan when it dies.

* ''Anime/{{Ulysses 31}}'': One of the main characters in the series is Nono, a small red robot who likes snacking on nails and always keeps a supply handy.

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

* ''VideoGame/CookieRun'' [[Giant Squid Squid Ink Cookie]], who, when dealing with PowerIncontinence, happens to wreck ships and eat any shiny things that spill out, like gold coins.

** Averted when the family goes to a petting zoo. [[WrongGenreSavvy Homer tries to get a goat to eat a tin can]] and it won't do it.

** In one episode, the family goes to an Ikea-like store and runs into their mascot Allen Wrench, who is shaped like an Allen wrench. It turns out that Allen Wrench is really an alien who was enslaved by the store and lives off of tungsten, which he confides to the family.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'', a dinosaur-like creature from Dimension X called a Zipp has an endless appetite for metal. Even worse, eating copper makes it multiply. Eating chocolate re-merges them into one, but into [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever a giant Zipp]]. The only way to make a Zipp vanish and/or shrink is for it to eat an extremely rare metal called Regidium.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Lotito Michel Lotito (otherwise known as "Mr. Eat-All")]] had pica disorder, as well as a thicker stomach lining and stronger stomach acid that allowed him to easily digest the metal he ate.

* ''Webcomic/RustyAndCo'': Rusty the {{Monster Adventurer|s}} is a ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' rust monster -- a large insect who eats by dissolving metal with his antennae. He's singleminded to the point of having "Eat [item]?" as a {{Catchphrase}}, but can put the ability to good use, like eating an attacker's blade mid-swing.

** While they're omnivorous, mercury dragons prefer a diet of metal ore.

** ''AD&D'' 1st Edition ''Fiend Folio'': The khargra is a monster from the Elemental Plane of Earth. It normally "swims" through solid rock looking for metal ores to consume. If it encounters creatures with metal items (e.g. armor and weapons), it will leap out of the surrounding rock and bite the items in an attempt to eat them.

* A variant appears in ''Literature/DarkLordOfDerkholm'': the dragons of Wizard Derk's world don't eat gold, but they do have to lie on a mound of golden things, because they absorb essential nutrients from the gold through their skin.

* ''Literature/TheBookOfDragons'': In "We Don't Talk About The Dragon", the dragon is kept fed by dropping a bucket of scrap iron in its lair once a week, which at most only ever slightly abates its hunger. In the end, [[spoiler:it turns out that it was being fed the wrong metal, as it needed to eat gold instead]].

* ''Galactic Consul'': The titular character once gets stranded on an alien planet after an indigenous creature (that appears like thick fog) consumes every metal component of his gear, including his communication device.

* In ''Manga/FairyTail'': Dragon Slayers can, in addition to normal food, consume the element that makes up their magic to quickly restore their magical power and sometimes as a substitute for normal meals. This trope thus comes into play for Gajeel Redfox, the Iron Dragon Slayer, who is often seen eating from a bowl of nuts and bolts during his downtime. At one point he even uses his metal-eating power to help take down a HumongousMecha.

* In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoon'', Ash's Meltan eats metal.

Subtrope to FantasticDietRequirement. Sometimes an example of ExtremeOmnivore, unless the character ''[[IDoNotDrinkWine only]]'' eats metal. Metal-eating character will by necessity have a SuperBite. {{Extreme Omni Goat}}s are very frequently shown eating metal; tin cans, in particular, are a staple item in their diets (though in real life, goats chomping on cans are actually trying to eat the paper labels ''on'' the cans). Metal is also a common food for GreyGoo. Compare with EatDirtCheap, which also deals with characters eating a substance that comes from the ground, and EatingMachine, where metallic robots eat the same food as organic humans. Not to be confused with TastyGold or AteTheSpoon, unless the characters really ''do'' eat the gold/spoon outright.

Subtrope to FantasticDietRequirement. Sometimes an example of ExtremeOmnivore, unless the character ''[[IDoNotDrinkWine only]]'' eats metal. {{Extreme Omni Goat}}s are very frequently shown eating metal; tin cans, in particular, are a staple item in their diets (though in real life, goats chomping on cans are actually trying to eat the paper labels ''on'' the cans). Metal is also a common food for GreyGoo. Compare with EatDirtCheap, which also deals with characters eating a substance that comes from the ground, and EatingMachine, where metallic robots eat the same food as organic humans. Not to be confused with TastyGold or AteTheSpoon, unless the characters really ''do'' eat the gold/spoon outright.

* ''''WesternAnimation/StreetSharks'': Due to [[ExtremeOmnivore being able to eat just about anything]], the Street Sharks are able to consume metal with zero indigestion involved.