Basic Trope: A sick character doesn't want to eat, or hunger is seen as a sign someone is healthy.
- Straight: When Alice doesn't want a slice of her Trademark Favorite Food chocolate cake, it turns out to be the first sign of her having the flu.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice not wanting the cake is a sign she has malaria.
- Alice just has a cold, and a very minor one at that, but it causes her to have absolutely zero appetite until she's completely recovered.
- Alice says she’s not hungry because she has allergies.
- Downplayed:
- Everyone thinks that Alice’s stomach bug can’t be that bad because she is still eating.
- Alice does eat the cake, but she doesn't finish it due to her flu.
- Justified:
- The flu can erase your appetite sometimes.
- Alice has a stomach bug and can’t keep it down anyway.
- Inverted:
- Alice catches a disease that causes her to become hungry.
- Alice gets over an illness and no longer wants food.
- Subverted:
- When Alice doesn't want the chocolate cake, Bob thinks she has the flu, but she's actually just sad, or already full, or doesn't like chocolate cake, or thinks sugar is unhealthy, or has diabetes.
- Alice has the flu, and initially turns down the chocolate cake ... only to change her mind and eat it anyway.
- Double Subverted:
- She was lying and actually does have the flu.
- ...Only to lose her appetite after a few bites.
- Parodied:
- Alice refuses to eat a peanut butter and haggis sandwich so everyone thinks she has rabies!
- Alice is eating, so despite her having a glowing blue rash, everyone thinks she’s perfectly healthy.
- Zig-Zagged: During her flu, Alice zig-zags between being off her food, having cravings, and having a normal appetite. And when she gets over her flu, too, she feels the same way about food.
- Averted: Alice either doesn't get sick, or her appetite stays the same when sick.
- Enforced: “We need kids to wash their hands so don’t let Alice eat the cookies while she’s sick.”
- Lampshaded: "Alice doesn't want chocolate cake!? That's not like her! We need to get her checked out!"
- Invoked: Alice gets sick so she can lose weight.
- Exploited:
- Bob eats all the snacks, knowing that Alice wouldn't want them while she has the flu.
- Alice says she’s not hungry so she can skip school.
- Defied: Alice eats constantly despite having a stomach bug.
- Discussed: "Symptoms include lethargy, loss of appetite..."
- Conversed: "Does the flu really make you lose your appetite, or is that just on TV?"
- Implied: Alice is looking very out of sorts and turning down her chocolate cake.
- Deconstructed: Alice forces herself to eat so she can fight the flu better.
- Reconstructed: ...But she then starts vomiting and has to stop eating for a while.
- Played for Laughs: Alice is seen as sick up until she gets banned from an all-you-can-eat buffet for eating everything, even the spoons!
- Played for Drama: Alice ends up malnourished due to losing her appetite from sickness.
- Played for Horror: Alice starves to death because she’s not hungry when she has mononucleosis.
Back to Appetite Equals Health.
