Life Energy: Difference between revisions

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The victim of Life Energy theft may recover if only a little of it is taken, or else may end up in a [[Convenient Coma|coma]] that is unexplainable to mundane doctors. Other results include becoming a walking [[Empty Shell]], or outright dying as the body becomes a skeleton or even [[No Body Left Behind|crumbles to ash]].

In the west, stealing Life Energy tends to be less common than giving Life Energy. Infusing someone with Life Energy (or sometimes [[Pure Energy|Generic Energy]]) can be used to revive those who are critically injured, or to grant temporary superpowers. Watch out for [[Phlebotinum Overload]], however.

It's connected to [[Our Souls Are Different|souls]], [[Hermetic Magic]], [[Ki Attacks]], [[Psychic Powers]] and other superpowers; see also [[Mana]]. In [[Role Playing Game]] terms, it's the combination of Hit Points, Magic Points, and Experience. Transferring it may cause physical changes that are [[Liquid Assets]]. Occasionally, part of an [[Equivalent Exchange]] to power an [[Artifact of Doom]] or [[Evil Weapon]].

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* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'''s second season had the antagonists stealing magical power from mages (magical beasts when they could, though) in order to complete "the Book of Darkness." Fortunately, people can recover from that, and depending how young they are, their powers can also completely replenish.

* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', the anime. {{spoiler|Sacrificed life energy is revealed to be the actual source of alchemic power, with a twist: it's not even people from Al and Ed's universe who are providing it.}}

** A different twist occurs in the manga. While alchemy largely draws on natural energy, such as plate tectonics, the greatest source of energy is {{spoiler|the Philosopher's Stones which are in fact [[Powered by a Forsaken Child|concentrated liquid souls]]. Ed soon realizes that if the soul of others can be used as energy, so can his own; since then he has shown the ability to transmute using his own soul to achieve normally impossible human transmutations}}.

* ''[[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 manga even hints that the younger the person, the more life energy he/she has, and the more powerful Zearth becomes.

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** Seeing that he's half-demon and can pretty much reincarnate at will, this tactic is pretty cheap.

* Michel of ''[[Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch]]'' steals it from powerful beings. This usually means absorbing them into himself (as he tried to do with Seira), but he left Kaito alive to blackmail Lucia with. Near the end, {{spoiler|his [[Villainous Breakdown]] propels him to kill his own followers to take their energy, even when they ''haven't'' [[You Have Failed Me|provoked it]].}}

* Chakra in ''[[Naruto]]'' is a combination of a person's physical and spiritual energy. While it can be used to power jutsus and enhance the body, it is also required to keep the body functioning. If you use up enough that your body has less than the minimum needed for the body, you suffer from chakra exhaustion. If you use up absolutely ''all'' of it you die.

** Natural energy found in the world acts as a third component of chakra if a person is able to learn how to use it. It's present wherever there's life and greatly enhances the body, but drawing too much will overwhelm the user's own chakra and [[Taken for Granite|transform them into stone]].

** In a twist, it was revealed that {{spoiler|the Tailed Beasts are composed of the fragmented chakra of an [[Eldritch Abomination]] defeated centuries in the past. When free of the Beast's influence, their chakra is so potent that it can cause trees to burst into leaf}}.

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* ''[[Kamen Rider Kiva]]'' features Fangires, a stained glass-based [[Our Vampires Are Different|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 [[Gratuitous English|always in English]] for [[Rule of Cool|some reason]].)

* In ''[[Tin Man (TV series)|Tin Man]]'' {{spoiler|the Witch possessing}} Azkedellia kills at least two people with this ability and {{spoiler|murders DG as a child}} While she got better, {{spoiler|their mother had to give up most of her magic to do it, leaving her powerless later to defeat the Witch.}}

* The Dark Kingdom in ''[[Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon]]'' stole energy from people in various ways, just as their animated counterparts did.

* ''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.

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** ''[[Spelljammer]]'' also included lifejammers -- a spelljamming helm was a chair which allowed one to pilot a vessel into space by draining spell energy; a lifejamming helm ... well, you can figure it out from there. Lifejammers were particularly popular among evil beings such as neogi and undead, who were fond of subjecting their slaves and captives to this.

* ''[[GURPS]] Aliens''. The Gloworms feed on [[Life Energy]] by touching other living creatures. They can feed on animals but prefer sentient victims.

* ''[[Call of Cthulhu]]''. The Colour Out of Space monster feeds on [[Life Energy]], just like the original version in the [[H.P. Lovecraft]] story.

* ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]''. The Colour Out of Space monster feeds on [[Life Energy]], just like the original version in the [[H.P. Lovecraft]] story.

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** However, Samus's suit is able to see and absorb the life energy of defeated enemies for use as shielding or ammunition, likely due to both the suit and Metroids being created by the Chozo.

* ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' series commonly refers to Link's HP as "life energy." Whether or not this is a link to a spiritual force really hasn't been said, except if you maybe count ''Phantom Hourglass''.

** In ''[[Minish Cap]]'', the [[MacGuffin|Light Force]] was directly tied to Princess Zelda's Life Energy. Draining away the Life Force from her body can kill her, which leads to a [[Scrappy Level|timed section]] near the end of the game.

* The Chromotap device in ''[[Syndicate]] Wars'' draws Life Energy from the recently dead to heal your agents (who probably killed them.)

* One character in the ''[[Chzo Mythos]]'' is able to draw out the life energy of others by using a sacrificial knife.

* Raziel from the ''[[Legacy of Kain]]'' series typically feeds on the souls of the slain, but he can also snack on friendly humans. If he only drains a little, they'll get tired but eventually recover. Too much and they'll die, and then the other humans stop being so friendly.

* Life Energy was first offhandedly mentioned in the [[Fire Emblem]] series in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' under the name Aegir, but had a much bigger role as the [[Big Bad]]'s main power source in the seventh game, where its name was localized as "Quintessence".

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== Web Comics ==

* [[Our Vampires Are Different|Tristram's]] power in ''[[Earthsong]]'' is the draining and replacement (thereby, healing) of Life Energy.

* In ''[[Thunderstruck]]'', it is explained that vampires don't feed on blood per se, but on the Life Energy it carries.

* Medicine in ''[[Girl Genius]]'' seems to rely on "Galvanic energy," which is usually fed through big machines, or from the waters of the [[Meaningful Name|Dyne]].

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* In ''[[Wakfu]]'', the Life Energy is called... [[Title Drop|wakfu]]. It is the power source of all magic, and present in every living being, plants like animals. Nox, the [[Big Bad]] of the first season, aims at draining as much wakfu as possible, to next feed it to the Eliacube, an [[Amplifier Artifact]] that can boost his powers beyond those of any time-magic user before, or even beyond those of his god, Xelor.

* The Parasite in ''[[Superman: The Animated Series]]'' is basically a male villainous [[Expy]] of [[X-Men|Rogue]]. Humans usually wind up unconscious and twitching a little. He can also gain access to their memories, and [[Voices Are Mental|sound like them]]. When he does it to [[Super Empowering|Superman, however...]]

** The Parasite is hardly an expy of Rogue, as he is far the older character; he was around in the 60s.

* ''[[Star Trek: The Animated Series]]'' 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.