History Main / PerpetualMotionMonster

* The Jem'Hadar in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' are genetically engineered so that the only source of nourishment they need is [[{{Phlebotinum}} Ketracel White]], a narcotic which keeps them loyal and without which they die after going violently insane. On top of that, they are conditioned to be unwaveringly loyal (though this has proven to be slightly unreliable, hence the White as a secondary measure). And the occasional Jem'Hadar has a mutation causing them to not even need the White, meaning that nothing other than violent death can stop them.

* ''Series/SweetHome'': In the first episode, monsters that have been on the rampage and frozen in the snow for months wake up as Hyun-su walks out of the building. Aside from HorrorHunger forcing some to feed compulsively, others don't seem to need any food at all.

** Super-17 from ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' [[MasterOfAll had the best of both worlds:]] He had the "infinite energy" power source, but could ''also'' drain power through his hands to increase his power level (and conveniently enough, weaken his enemies at the same time). Unsurprisingly it takes [[spoiler:a combination of FightingFromTheInside from 17 and [[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight 18 pressuring him]] to even bring him down to the same level as the Z fighters.]]

** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Battle Tendency]]'' has [[spoiler: [[BigBad Kars]] himself. Once he evolves into Ultimate Kars, there is simply no way for him to die. The only way Joseph could get rid of him was to shoot him out of orbit.]]
** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Golden Wind]]'' has the Stand "Notorious B.I.G.". It decomposes anything it touches, moves incredibly fast, and since it emerges when its user is dead, literally cannot die. [[spoiler: Its weakness is that it can't see, so it has to use motion detection to go towards the fastest-moving object within range. Bruno's gang "defeats" it by dropping it in the ocean, so it uselessly attacks waves for the rest of eternity.]]

* The serpent that guarded the GoldenFleece, which never slept or left the tree except when drugged.

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' foe Doomsday.
* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': The Hulk cannot be stopped except by being calmed down by a close friend or loved one. Trying to subdue him by physical means only makes him angrier and his strength is proportional to his anger and has no upper limit.
* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': Reed Richards in ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies'' cites this trope as his justification for believing the zombie plague is the next step in evolution. He then proceeds to [[spoiler:infect the rest of the Fantastic Four.]] In this case, [[ReedRichardsIsUseless Reed Richards is]] [[EvilutionaryBiologist Genocidal]].

* The zombies in ''ComicBook/TheWalkingDead'' are Perpetual Motion Monsters, like most zombies. They technically don't last forever, as the characters have started to notice that more and more [[NotUsingTheZWord Walkers]] are extremely rotted, and on the verge of falling apart.
* For ''ComicBook/XMen'' foe Juggernaut, this is basically his power (mystical power in the comics, mutant power in the movie). He cannot be stopped, no ifs or buts. Heroes usually have to redirect him, evade faster than he can follow or convince him to stop. ''ComicBook/FearItself'' takes him to a whole new level. While possessed, he truly becomes unstoppable. At some point in the event, he calmly walks to San Francisco from a dozen miles away, while the X-Men try a [[CrazyPrepared bajillion]] plans to stop him. Teleporting him away does nothing, he just reappears instantly. Digging a giant trench in front of him does nothing, somehow he strolls calmly across thin air! The X-Men ultimately have to resort to [[spoiler:contacting the god that empowers Juggernaut and informing him that a second god has possessed his avatar. Cytorrak takes his power away from Juggernaut and transfers it to Colossus.]]
* Willy Pete from ''Comicbook/{{Empowered}}'' is an incredibly powerful fire elemental that eats superhuman flesh because he likes the taste, and because super-strong flesh is the only food that his mouth won't instantly incinerate. Being a fire elemental, he doesn't actually need to eat.
* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': The Dark Judges are undead foes of Judge Dredd. They don't need food or water and will chase down their victims either until that victim is dead or their own bodies have been destroyed. It's unlikely that their bodies even CAN decay on their own, as they are really being fueled by [[PossessingADeadBody their spirits' psychic power]]. When Judge Dredd has a piece of skin from Judge Death's original body analyzed by the Justice Department techs, he's told that it's several hundred years old.

* [[Characters/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy Drax the Destroyer]] was originally created specifically to kill ComicBook/{{Thanos}}. His [[ArtificialHuman artificial body]] doesn't need to eat, drink, sleep, or breathe, doesn't age, is incredibly difficult to seriously injure, and if destroyed, regenerates from his own remains (or from the soil where he was originally created, if there isn't enough of his former body left). Unfortunately, in the decades since Drax's original creation, Thanos has had [[PowerCreepPowerSeep several power-ups]], reducing Drax from his original "grim avenger" status to a perpetual ''annoyance'' (for Thanos, not his [[MookHorrorShow minions]]). These days, he doesn't even rank among the Mad Titan's top ten enemies (though he did manage to score the coup de grâce during {{ComicBook/Annihilation}}).
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: Circe raises Artemis, Diana's long dead predecessor in the role of the Amazon Champion, as a [[DemBones skeletal figure]] who needs no sustenance and cannot seem to be harmed nor reasoned with as she attacks the Amazons seeking "revenge" for her abandonment and lonely death in the outside world.

* [[LivingShadow Enjin]] works this way in ''FanFic/TheBridge''. Being composed of solid dark magic, it need not rest, eat, or drink to continue pursuit of its quarry. [[spoiler:Its only weakness is that if separated from its master Bagan for long periods of time, its body will start to deteriorate.]]

* Jovian and Jacqueline Kikion of ''FanFic/RosarioVampireBrightestDarkness'' are this, thanks to being enhanced with Alucard's blood. They have no known limit to their power levels, and can fight non-stop without ever tiring.

* The eponymous army in ''Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy'' is a positively inhuman combination of perpetual motion monster, TheJuggernaut, and ''[[PullingThemselvesTogether regenerating]].'' It was an ancient weapon GoneHorriblyRight to the point the elf king who commissioned it sued for peace after it massacred a human army.
* The monster from the movie version of ''Film/PeterBenchleysCreature'' survived locked in a cage on the sea floor without any food or room to move for decades without any debilitating effects. The book version averts this by having it stalk out of its cage in a deep sea trench ever so occasionally.
* The [[Film/TheTerminator original]] ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' movie made the eponymous cyborg sound like this trope, until the [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay second film]] subverted it by revealing that his power cell would eventually run out....[[DownplayedTrope after 120 years.]]
* In the ''Film/Underworld2003'' film series, the first Lycan William Corvinus was sealed in a tomb for 600 years. Once he's out of his coffin, he's at full strength. He clearly wasn't in suspended animation.
* Referenced in ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'', when undead Barbossa banters with an equally-undead Jack that they could keep fighting their duel for eternity.

* The ComicBook/IncredibleHulk cannot be stopped except by being calmed down by a close friend or loved one. Trying to subdue him by physical means only makes him angrier and his strength is proportional to his anger and has no upper limit.

* The cauldron-born from ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'' are deathless zombies animated by the Black Cauldron. They do not eat, sleep, breathe, or get tired, and they feel no pain.

** Lampshaded at one point; when a stalker expert is asked by Fever Crumb(who is rather confused about how Stalkers are possible) how they work, she responds with "molecular clockwork". Fever instantly identifies it as an In-Universe HandWave.

* For ''ComicBook/XMen'' foe Juggernaut, this is basically his power (mystical power in the comics, mutant power in the movie).
** Taken to an interesting new height in ''ComicBook/FearItself''. While possessed, he truly becomes unstoppable. At some point in the event, he calmly walks to San Francisco from a dozen miles away, while the X-Men try a [[CrazyPrepared bajillion]] plans to stop him. Teleporting him away does nothing, he just reappears instantly. Digging a giant trench in front of him does nothing, somehow he strolls calmly across thin air! The X-Men ultimately have to resort to [[spoiler:contacting the god that empowers Juggernaut and informing him that a second god has possessed his avatar. Cytorrak takes his power away from Juggernaut and transfers it to Colossus.]]

* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' actually has tags for these including [NOEXERT], [NO_EAT], [NO_DRINK], and [NO_SLEEP]. In-organic creatures like bronze colossi and iron men don't need any, while Goblins just don't need to eat or drink (due to the idea that all of them should die a violent death).

** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo Vento Aureo]]'' has the Stand "Notorious B.I.G.". It decomposes anything it touches, moves incredibly fast, and since it emerges when its user is dead, literally cannot die. [[spoiler: Its weakness is that it can't see, so it has to use motion detection to go towards the fastest-moving object within range. Bruno's gang "defeats" it by dropping it in the ocean, so it uselessly attacks waves for the rest of eternity.]]

* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': The Dark Judges are undead foes of Judge Dredd. They don't need food or water and will chase down their victims either until that victim is dead or their own bodies have been destroyed. It's unlikely that their bodies even ''can'' decay on their own, as they are really [[PossessingADeadBody being fueled by their spirits' psychic power]]. When Judge Dredd has a piece of skin from Judge Death's original body analyzed by the techs, he's told that it's several hundred years old.

* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':

** Elves do not sleep (in fact they ''cannot'' sleep - spells that magically put creatures to sleep do not work on them) and suffer no ill effects for it. However they are stated to need roughly 4 hours of trance-like meditation every day.
* Artifacts in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' usually have this quality, as do a lot of undead. Phyrexians in particular are prone to combining the two.

* Vampires in ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'' need blood to awaken in the evening but not to function normally. In theory, one could be perfectly happy in a sun-proof room for as long as it can force itself to stay awake at dawn.
** One particular covenant of vampires, the Ordo Dracul, have a way to increase the amount of sustenance from the blood they drink, increasing to 1.5X what they get when they drink from humans and ''doubling'' blood drunk from vampires. Two such vampires can (canonically!) make infinite blood by feeding off of each other, becoming this trope. The downside is it leads to blood addiction and/or MoreThanMindControl and/or FoodChainOfEvil kicking in. So to keep its members from trying this the elders in the covenant seal all such vampires in steel boxes which they dump into the ocean, whereupon said vampires spend ''eternity'' feeding from each other. [[note]]Unless one eats the other, at which point it's an eternity of starvation.[[/note]]
* In the ''TabletopGame/LegendSystem'', the feat By Will Sustained can produce this or TheDeterminator depending on whether it's taken by a monster or a player character. At level ten breathing and sleeping become optional.
* ''TabletopGame/RedMarkets'' mentions that one of the things that makes studying the Blight so [[GoMadFromTheRevelation maddening]] is the blatant disregard for thermodynamics shown by the [[NotUsingTheZWord Casualties]] it reanimates. There's also a survivor enclave that uses Casualties on treadmills to generate electricity.
* Generally not the case in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}''; most undead need necromantic magic to sustain themselves, and are destroyed if it's cut off, while vampires require blood. One notable exception, however, is Abhorash, vampiric founder of the Blood Dragons. In one of the biggest feats of badassery in the story, he defeated a dragon in single combat and drained it of blood. This had the side effect of permanently removing his need for blood, making him the sole creature in the setting with absolutely ''no'' need for any form of sustenance.

* Androids 16, 17, and 18 in ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' are "infinite energy models" according to their creator, Dr. Gero (compared to Androids 19 and 20 who must absorb energy from people instead). 17 and 18 thus specialize in VictoryByEndurance fights, because unless they get overwhelmed or badly injured, they'll always win by virtue of never getting fatigued.

** Majin Buu is also this. One of the most dangerous things about him is that he ''never'' loses strength, and his HealingFactor is [[FromASingleCell so powerful]] that giving him a few free seconds will result in Buu healing completely, just as ready to fight as before. You need to consistently pressure him with powerful attacks until he is reduced to subatomic particles, or it will ultimately not matter.

[[folder:Comicbooks]]

* [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Reed Richards]] in ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies'' cites this trope as his justification for believing the zombie plague is the next step in evolution. He then proceeds to [[spoiler:infect the rest of the Fantastic Four.]] In this case, [[ReedRichardsIsUseless Reed Richards is]] [[EvilutionaryBiologist Genocidal]].
* [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Scrooge McDuck]] once had an immortal zombie ([[PunnyName called Bombie]]) go after him for very long time, often walking nonstop across oceans, being frozen in ice for long time, and so on.

* Doomguy in ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' and onward is a player equivalent of this. Canonically he does not need rest, food, or even hydration thanks to the enhancements in his body allowing him to subsist off of the essence he absorbs from the demons he slays. The result is a OneManArmy running on a perpetual RoaringRampageOfRevenge to slaughter Hell and its forces whenever they arise. He's so unstoppable and unceasing in his crusade that ''[[TheDreaded Hell itself fears his brutality.]]''

* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': The Dark Judges are undead foes of Judge Dredd. They don't need food or water and will chase down their victims either until that victims is dead or their own bodies have been destroyed. It's unlikely that their bodies even ''can'' decay on their own, as they are really [[PossessingADeadBody being fueled by their spirits' psychic power]]. When Judge Dredd has a piece of skin from Judge Death's original body analyzed by the techs, he's told that it's several hundred years old.

* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': The Dark Judges are undead foes of Judge Dredd who have ruled their dimension for centuries as living dead. It's unlikely that their bodies even ''can'' decay on their own, as they are really [[PossessingADeadBody being fueled by their spirits' psychic power]]. When Judge Dredd has a piece of skin from Judge Death's original body analyzed by the techs, he's told that it's several hundred years old.

* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': The Dark Judges are undead foes of Judge Dredd who have ruled their dimension for centuries as living dead. It's unlikely that their bodies even ''can'' decay on their own, as they are really [[PossessingADeadBody being fueled by their spirits' psychic power]].

** A more traditional version, also a golem, is Mr. Pump in ''Literature/GoingPostal''. As Moist's parole officer, it's explained that even though he can only walk while Moist can run, get a horse, or a cart, he will never tire, and never stop until he catches up to him. After one demonstration of this, Moist gives up on trying to run away.

This is usually a JustifiedTrope for [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Ghosts]], DemBones, and {{Elemental Embodiment}}s since they aren't really biologically based, so they don't need traditional food sources. Although, they may need some ''other'' form of energy or material as a PowerSource ([[GodsNeedPrayerBadly like prayers]] or lighter fluid), thus [[AvertedTrope averting this trope.]] For MechaMooks and other technology based creatures they usually incorporate some near infinite PowerSource (or a means to tap into an external one) and some form of {{Regeneration}}.

* ''VideoGame/TouhouProject'' has Kaguya Houraisan and Fujiwara no Mokou, who drank an inmortality elixir that works by putting their bodies in a state of permanently perfect stasis and [[NoSell making the very concept of death not apply to them]]. As a result, they do not need any food. They do, however, feel hunger and suffer after not eating for long enough.

It's worth noting that a character with the right type of {{Immortality}} who eats and drinks can still be a Perpetual Motion Monster -- or rather, a Perpetual Motion '''''Man''''' -- their form of immortality specifically preventing them from dying due to starvation and dehydration, though they probably [[ImmortalityHurts won't enjoy it]]... unless it's a case of them [[EatingOptional not actually needing to eat or drink]], and thus will not feel hunger or thirst in the first place. Such a character can make for a truly ImplacableMan -- nothing can keep him from his goal, not even the ravages of time!

->''"My lord,"'' it was the master of the goblin blacksmiths, offering to build the king a new army, a mechanical army ''"seventy times seventy soldiers that can never tire, never know hunger or pain, and never be stopped."''

* In the ''Podcast/FriendsAtTheTable'' series ''PARTIZAN'', one of the antagonists is Motion, a machine god (or “Divine”) with the power to drive movement. It heads the Black Century, an elite unit of 100 soldiers and HumongousMecha who serve 100-year terms, during which Motion keeps them alive and fighting no matter how much damage they take. Troops nearing the end of their century tend to be just a few steps removed from corpses, but are not allowed to die until Motion releases them.