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{{trope}}
Due to illness, environment, biology or a deliberate design decision (or flaw), a character has a '''Phlebotinum Dependence''' -- they must receive regular or continuous doses or exposures to some unusual substance or energy just to maintain a baseline healthy state. If they fail to receive their necessary doses, they are not (or not just) [[Brought Down to Normal]] -- the phlebotinum is usually responsible for keeping them ''up'' to normal. No, without it, they will quickly weaken and start dying, the latter often slowly and painfully.
In theory, anyway. Realistically, we'll probably get to see a few [[Red Shirt|Redshirts]] with a similar handicap kick the bucket in order to emphasize just how agonizingly awful it would be to skip a dose. But fortunately our protagonists have [[Heroic Willpower]], so expect them to keep being awesome right to the end (with much panting, grimacing, and comments of "[[You Can Barely Stand]]", to let us know how much pain they're in).▼
This is similar to (and might even be seen as a [[Sub-Trope]] of) [[Phlebotinum Muncher]], but the key difference is the level (and severity) of the dependency. In the case of the Muncher, the Phlebotinum is a nutritional requirement, and like any other nutrient, its absence will of course adversely affect the Muncher -- perhaps robbing it of its powers or unusual size -- and like any other deficiency eventually causing it health problems up to and maybe even including death. (And it's often implied that the Phlebotinum is a ''natural'' and ''normal'' part of the Muncher's diet; it's just unusual or dangerous from ''our'' point of view -- the monster version of carbohydrates or vitamin B-12.)
In the case of the character with a Phlebotinum Dependence, though, the phlebotinum is ''not'' normally part of his diet or environment, but for whatever reason is now directly and actively responsible for keeping the character alive (and sometimes empowered as well), and its absence will have a far more ''immediate'' and ''drastic'' effect on the dependent individual. Missing doses will usually case pain, insanity or death -- and sometimes all three, either in sequence or all at once.
▲
See also [[Phlebotinum Muncher]], [[Bottled Heroic Resolve]], and [[Withholding the Cure]]. See also [[Fantastic Drug]], which could be the phlebotinum in question. Compare/contrast [[Addiction-Powered]], which can pair up nicely with this trope, as seen in a couple of the examples below.
{{examples}}
== [[Comic Books]] ==
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* In the recent{{when}} [[Green Lantern]] titles Sodam Yat must now permanently wear a power ring, despite being the bearer of the Ion, to keep him from dying of lead poisoning he received at the hands of Superboy Prime.
** Likewise, bearers of the red power rings will die if their rings are removed, because the red light replaces their blood with its energy. Only a Blue Lantern can purge it from their bodies.
* In [[Daniel Clowes]]' [[Captain America (comics)|Captain America]] parody ''The Battlin' American,'' the super
== [[Film]] ==
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** Tretonin, a chemical used to remedy the Jaffa's dependence on the Goa'uld for survival.
** The Ilempiri were incapable of being used as hosts by the Goa'uld, so they were fed a highly addictive drug that only the Goa'uld could manufacture, until the entire species was addicted.
* The title character of the Sci-Fi Channel's ''[[The Invisible Man (TV series)|The Invisible Man]]'' series needed periodic injections
* Paul Turner on ''Strange World'' was pressured to work as a double agent in exchange for a serum that would keep his aplastic anemia in remission. {{spoiler|Subverted when it turned out it wasn't the serum that was responsible.}}
* The Jem'Hadar of ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' are addicted to the substance Ketracel White, to keep them loyal to the Founders. It provides all the sustenance they need to survive, removing the need to eat or drink, but they also ''can't'' take nourishment from any other source. Depriving a Jem'Hadar of the White causes them to go [[Ax Crazy|violently insane]] and then drop dead. There are a few very rare mutants who don't need the White, but in general even they don't know it.
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* In the [[BioShock (series)|''BioShock'' games]], people taking ADAM will go insane if they do it too often... and if they stop after that, there's a good chance it'll kill them. And worse still, Rapture's various businesses used it for almost everything, from sport to cosmetic surgery - up until people started going crazy and attacking other citizens for their ADAM.
* [[Mage Killer|Templars]] in the ''[[Dragon Age]]'' series develop Lyrium addiction over time, officially, because their [[Anti-Magic]] powers run on it. Unofficially, it's pretty clear that the [[The Church|Chantry]] hooks them up on Lyrium on purpose to keep them on a short leash.
* In ''[[Deus Ex: Human Revolution]]'', all augmented humans (with the exception of the main character) must take Neuropozene regularly. Otherwise, their body rejects the augments, and the results are... not fun. This is [[Truth in Television]] for many [[Real Life]] recipients of organ transplants.
* The ''[[Fallout]]'' games are full of a wide assortment of [[Fantastic Drug]]s (and mundane ones), any of which can potentially become addictive after only a couple of uses, with the withdrawal symptoms causing stat debuffs whenever you aren't on the drug in question. Luckily, it's pretty straightforward for any doctor to rid you of your addictions (and in ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'' there's a consumable item that does it for you).
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== [[Real Life]] ==
* What would you need with a ''complex organic molecule'', ''acidic hydroxide'' and an ''oxidiser''? Why, you must eat ''sugar'', drink ''water'' and breathe ''oxygen'' to live. All three, in inappropriate concentrations and/or locations, can be deadly. (Excess free water can lyse cells, to say nothing of water shifting to places it shouldn't, as in pulmonary edema; oxygen can cause free radical damage to tissues, and oxygen toxicity is heavily implicated in retinopathy of prematurity; and either too little or too much circulating glucose—known more prosaically as diabetes<ref>Or, if you're Wilford Brimley, [[Memetic Mutation|Diabeetus]]</ref>—can cause metabolic derangements leading to irreversible brain damage, coma and death.)
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]
[[Category:Phlebotinum Dependence]]
[[Category:Weaksauce Weakness]]
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