History Main / MetalMuncher

* ''Film/TheAdventuresOfGalgameth'': The eponymous Galgameth eats metal, [[Miracle-Gro Monster growing larger and stronger]] with each meal.

* ''Literature/TheBookOfDragons'': In "Literature/WeDontTalkAboutTheDragon", 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]].

* ''Literature/GalacticConsul'': 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.

* ''VideoGame/JumpStartAdventures3rdGradeMysteryMountain'': The Robot Kitchen mini-game requires you to prepare meals for the robot Mort. While some of the ingredients include regular human food, there are also metal ingredients such as gears and gold bullion.

* ''Fanfic/MyLifeAsATeenageVonNeumannDevice'' combines this with WackyCravings, as Jenny's pregnancy compells her to consume raw materials for her developing baby. Highlights include taking a bite out of [[BrainUploading Sheldon]], popping pennies out of the air like a trained seal, and eating a tub of metal fillings like ice cream.

* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' features a race of hat-like alien {{Puppeteer Parasite}}s that love to eat metal whenever they possess a host.

Such metal-eating creatures often present a unique threat to many of the constituent parts of human civilization compared to other entities with strange diets. After all, automobiles, I-beams, electrical wires, and computers all need metal to manufacture, so a metallivorous monster that devours such objects can throw people's lives into disarray even if the people themselves are unharmed. Heroes can also find it difficult to fight [[MooksAteMyEquipment monsters that can eat their weapons and armor]]. At other times, however, metal-eating organisms can be beneficial to humans, such as by recycling or refining the metals through digesting and expelling them in a way that can be gathered. There's also an occasional overlap with NuclearNasty; radioactive elements such as uranium and plutonium are metals, and irradiated monsters are likely to seek out such substances for a meal. Hard science fiction likes to make these creatures ExtremophileLifeforms, though more fantastical works tend to just depict creatures that resemble those in real life aside from the metal eating.

-->--'''Hogarth Hughes''', ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant''

* ''Literature/AgeOfFire'': The dragons' metal diet is what makes their scales so strong, and failure to include a steady amount of metal in one's diet is equivalent to vitamin deficiencies. In fact, [=AuRon=] is special for averting this, as he is a rare scaleless dragon and so doesn't need to eat any, allowing him to live far from the hominids who mine the stuff.

Such metal-eating creatures often present a unique threat to many of the constituent parts of human civilization compared to other entities with strange diets. After all, automobiles, I-beams, electrical wires, and computers all need metal to manufacture, so a monster that devours such objects can throw people's lives into disarray even if the people themselves are unharmed. Heroes can also find it difficult to fight [[MooksAteMyEquipment monsters that can eat their weapons and armor]]. At other times, however, metal-eating organisms can be beneficial to humans, such as by recycling or refining the metals through digesting and expelling them in a way that can be gathered. There's also an occasional overlap with NuclearNasty; radioactive elements such as uranium and plutonium are metals, and irradiated monsters are likely to seek out such substances for a meal. Hard science fiction likes to make these creatures ExtremophileLifeforms, though more fantastical works tend to just depict creatures that resemble those in real life aside from the metal eating.

* Because gold is usually a non-reactive element (as well as soft enough to bite without it damaging teeth, hence the TastyGold trope), it is safe for humans to consume and has occasionally been incorporated into food and drink for millennia. But the non-reactivity also means that it has no nutritional value or ''flavor'' either, so any chefs who put gold into/onto their dishes do so only for the visual aesthetics and/or ConspicuousConsumption.

* ''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 lootbug, it will waddle over and eventually eat the raw ore on the floor. Unfortunately for you, you don't get the ore they eat back if you kill them.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Sun and Moon'' anime, Ash's Meltan eats metal.

* Because gold is usually a non-reactive element, it is safe for humans to consume and has occasionally been incorporated into food and drink for millennia. But the non-reactivity also means that it has no nutritional value or ''flavor'' either, so any chefs who put gold into/onto their dishes do so only for the visual aesthetics and/or ConspicuousConsumption.

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. 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.

** The [[FantasticVermin scraplets]] are mechanical parasites that transform between a humanoid form and nuts and bolts. They appear in [[ComicBook/TheTransformers Genaration 1 comics]] published by Creator/MarvelComics and the ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' cartoon.

** 1[[superscript:st]] Edition ''AD&D Monster Manual''. The Xorn is a creature from the Elemental Plane of Earth that can smell metals up to 20 feet away. If it encounters PlayerCharacters who are carrying metal (copper, silver, gold and so on), it will demand that they hand over the metal(s) so it can eat them. It will try to take the metals by force if the characters refuse.

* ''Literature/LillyQuench'': Dragons eat metal, but different sorts are needed for a well-rounded diet. Queen Dragon attacks the factory for iron to eat despite having plenty of gold in her cave because gold is like chocolate to dragons and not as filling as iron. The knights she ate gave her indigestion; she only wanted their metal armor.

Subtrope to BizarreTasteInFood. 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. 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.

** Then there's the two-headed crime-solving goat. One head eats tin cans and the other eats health food.

* In Evgeny Filenko's ''Literature/GalacticConsul'' series, the title 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.

* A Glacidae in ''Literature/JanitorsOfThePostapocalypse'' has a weakness for a salsalike food made with copper.