"Hungry" is the third episode of the seventh season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on November 21, 1999. It was written by Vince Gilligan, directed by Kim Manners, and featured a guest appearance by Chad Donella. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. However, unlike previous Monster-of-the-Week stories, "Hungry" is told from the monster's perspective. "Hungry" earned a Nielsen household rating of 9.6, being watched by 16.17 million people in its initial broadcast. The episode received mixed to positive reviews from critics.

The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. Mulder is a believer in the paranormal, while the skeptical Scully has been assigned to debunk his work. In this episode, a fast-food employee with unusual cravings becomes the focus of an FBI investigation under the direction of Mulder and Scully. The victims appear with no brain and a suction hole in the forehead.

Gilligan wanted to try a "different" approach to The X-Files with "Hungry" by telling the main story through the eyes of the monster. Because both David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson were filming movies, Return to Me and The House of Mirth respectively, the production company decided to film "Hungry" at the start of the season, taking advantage of the episode's concept to minimize the filming time required of the two leads. Actor Chad Donella, who portrayed the monster, was chosen because he possessed a "subtle, interesting quality," according to casting director Rick Millikan. Manners was pleased with Donella's performance, calling him a "great little actor."

In Costa Mesa, California, a young man named Donald Pankow approaches the drive-thru of a Lucky Boy fast food restaurant. Despite the restaurant being closed, Pankow angrily demands service. The sheepish fast food attendant tells the man to drive to the next window, where he is attacked and violently pulled out of his car. Pankow's body is later discovered with the brain removed from the skull. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are assigned to assist the local police in their investigation.

The only clue found at the scene is a Lucky Boy employee button. Mulder and Scully check all of the employees and discover that one of the clerks, Derwood Spinks (Mark Pellegrino), is missing his button. Scully suspects Spinks after it is discovered he has a criminal record. Mulder, however, believes that the victim's brain was removed by a proboscis, and suspects another employee, Rob Roberts, of committing the murder. Rob, who is actually a mutant human who wears a disguise to hide his true physical body, sustains himself by consuming brains. When Rob's landlady, Sylvia Jassey, is trailed by a private investigator (Steve Kiziak), Rob kills and eats him in order to placate his hunger, which begins to get more and more uncontrollable.

Spinks visits Rob at his home the following day, annoyed at being fired from Lucky Boy for lying about his criminal record. He confronts Rob with evidence of his role in Pankow's murder—a vial of Rob's diet pills with a bloody fingerprint on the lid—and attempts to blackmail him. Later that day, Rob breaks into Spinks' home to retrieve his pills, but hides in a closet when Spinks returns; noticing that someone is in his home, Spinks arms himself with a baseball bat. As Spinks heads to the closet, Rob takes off his disguise, opens the closet door, and reveals his true self to a stunned Spinks before killing him. Rob later meets with Dr. Mindy Rinehart, a counselor hired by Lucky Boy to consult the employees following Pankow's killing. In session with her, Rob admits that he is battling an "eating disorder." Rinehart sends him to an Overeaters Anonymous meeting, not fully understanding Rob's true nature.

Rob is visited by Mulder and Scully about Spinks' disappearance; Mulder then reveals about Pankow's missing brain and that a "tiny shark's tooth" was discovered by Scully embedded in his skull. At the OA meeting, Rob sees Sylvia but does not respond well to the meeting (by discreetly detailing the taste of a brain as "salty", "juicy", and "buttery" and especially visualizing a pulsing brain when a man turns to Sylvia). Rob and Sylvia bond on the trip home. Unfortunately, his hunger is far too overpowering and he is reluctantly compelled to feed upon her. To cover up her murder, Rob disposes of her body and smashes up his own apartment with Spinks' baseball bat. He tells Mulder and Scully that Spinks showed up and accused him of being the killer. Mulder then asks Rob if he recognizes Kiziak, the private investigator, but Rob says no. Both agents leave to find Sylvia.

Rinehart shows up to find Rob packing his things, intent on leaving town. After a bitter argument, with Rinehart revealing that she knew Rob murdered Pankow, he reveals his true self to Rinehart. However, before Rob prepares to attack her, she shows deep sympathy for him, throwing Rob off guard. At that moment, the agents arrive with guns drawn, having found Sylvia's body. Rinehart tells Rob to be the good person she knows he is capable of being. Instead, Rob charges at Mulder and is shot twice in the chest, committing suicide by cop. As Rob lies dying, Rinehart asks, "Why?" To which he replies, "I can't be something I'm not."