He ate George! [Warning, Vile]

[Hand of Evil]

The taking of the spirit or soul into you is a good one. You can then say that it prevents undead and the person will be born again in the off-spring. You can work a whole myth around this one.

Lack of resources. If a land is too poor or has been used too heavily then it may happen. War, chaos and hardship are prime examples when this happens. (1800 whaling ships when they would start to run out of food would cut a mans hand or leg off and cook it, calling it long pork.)

 

[WayneLigon]

Try this...
A large city (probably with a Lawful Evil government base) is faced with the double problem of overpopulation and lack of a prevalent food source. The solution: eat the babies of poor people! Demiurge

It's Halflings! Soylent Green is Halflings!

 

[Rich34]

The book Courtship Rite (Donald Kingsbury) has several cannabilistic socities in it. Well, all the societies were cannabilistic (out of necessity - lack of food sources), but they differed in how they approached it. Some practiced continuous culling, eating their weak. Others only practiced it only during famines. It's a good read.

Richard

 

[Tonguez]

IMC (Mythic Polynesia which is neolithic ie everyone is a 'Barbarian') those of the Barbarian class (called Savages) are all Cannibals who gain their abilities (ie Rage, fast movement) from their eating of human flesh. They run raids for the express purpose of eating 'long pig' and do so because they enjoy it.

Polynesia is well kjnown as a 'cannibal' culture with cannibalism widespread, although the status of cannibals varied from Island to Island. So in the Marquesas (and Fiji) it was openly practiced whereas in Tahiti is was frowned upon as distatseful and something only the most vile would do (ie witches). In other places (like New Zealand) it was practices during war time and 'tolerated' at other times (but practiced only by vile characters during peaceful times).

As to reasons - enjoyment is a valid excuse! As is the defilement of ones enemies (by treating them as food). The 'lack of protein' argument has been used in Polynesia (ie no large mammals so human was used as a replacement)

 

[Zulkir]

Folks,

I can't believe I am posting to this thread. okay, so far we have:

1) To gain the power of your foes

2) To memorialize your dead loved ones and keep them "near" you (by the way that was one of Jeffrey Dahmer's motivations *brrr*)

3) As a means of population control and/or provisioning for the living (soylent green).

4) As a religous act.

5) As a means to "pollute" the ruling class and justify their deaths

6) As a ritual means of removing a king or ruler (in that case the replacement monarch should probably eat the former monarch which puts us back at #1)

We've missed one. In many cultures the rulers take part in behaviors that are considered aberant by the populace as evidence that they are closer to the gods. Thus Cleopatra was the offspring of multigenerational incest. It is possible that the rulers of a soceity, in order to show themselves superior to the rest of the soceity, would eat members of the lower class. Partially to invoke fear or awe.

AV

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

Just go for real world examples:

2) New Guinea: Eat your dead relatives. This is supposed to let them live for ever, and let their memories be alive in the family.

Anne Rice does a slight variation on this in Queen of the Damned. It's been a long time since I read that book, but I think it went something like this. The religious/spiritual leader(s) of the community eat the hearts (and possibly other parts) of the leader(s) who died, so the power & knowledge is transferred to the next generation of leader(s).

It is the cannibalistic ritual which the invaders (Queen Akasha and King Whats-his-name) interrupt, I think to stop the "barbaric" practice of cannibalism. The twins who were about to eat their mother's body parts get dragged back to court, something happens with a demon, everyone becomes a vampire, and that's where it all started 6000 years ago. At the end of the book, when everyone has banded together and killed Akasha (the first vampire), all the vampires start to die. Until one of the twins eats Akasha's heart, thus gaining Akasha's power and allowing all the vampires to continue living since the first vampire was no longer dead. Ah, redemption through cannibalism. Always brings a tear to me eye.

 

[green slime]

Anthropoligists I have spoken to have talked about it being an almost purely mythical occurance. That is, the local tribe will almost always accuse their nasty evil neighbours of cannibalism, whilst themselves protesting that they never did.

Of course you are always going to find wierdo's and cults that go off the deep end, but in general, according to these guys, it isn't half as common as modern folklore would have us believe.

Same goes for the sexlife of some of these pacific islanders as well. They managed to tell some pretty hairy stories to the gullible white priests who came around to document "How the deed was done." I mean, imagine yourself working away, in the kumera plantation, and along comes this white fella, block and pen in hand, and starts asking all sorts of wierd personal questions about you sex life and your eating habits.

 

[Stormprince]

We actually have an entire race of cannibalistic warriors in Sovereign Stone, the Taan.

The Taan believe that what they eat becomes an integral part of them. The Taan are very careful of what they eat, selecting only that food which will help them become strong. "Strong food" comes from any creature with the intelligence and/or strength to fight or escape the taan. Intermediate food is considered animals that any one with half-skill could kill (deers, sheep, cattle, etc.), while "weak food" are plants (or those creatures deemed wholely unsuitable to eat because they are unclean and foul).

- Christopher

 

[Darklance]

I just had a fairly cool idea.

In a isolated community...say a large island or peninsula separated by a mountain chain...a fairly...advanced culture practices selected cannibalism.

Hundreds of years ago there was a trait that came up once per generation. A man or woman would arise in early adulthood after a perfectly normal childhood. Their minds were slowly corrupted by some unknown force and they gained power over the world itself. Thousands would die in the ensuing bloodbath before a brave few arose to defeat them. This evil was overcome and the corpse buried in the ground. This went on for many generations until a wise man made the revelation that only when the evil was contained in a prison of the peoples flesh would it finally abate.

The next time this evil arose, a group of the bravest citizens from all calls of life answered the calls of justice and slew it after a long hunt. The entire corpse was consumed by the 112 surviving heroes.

Upon their death, portions of their skin and flesh would visual blacken at various depths. Tradition dictates the eldest son, or daughter if none are present, must consume this tainted flesh.

They absorb the evil and pass it down the next in their line. If the line has no heirs than someone must step forward to take the taint into their bloodline. In some cases this is impossible to pass it down from father to son such as with the high priest of (insert god of good here) who has his corrupted flesh eaten by his elected successor.

Over the years, some of the corpses have been lost in wars, at sea, and disappeared under mysterious circumstances. There are currently 84 corrupted lines left. The escaped taint has not been inactive however. More and more of the lines are finding mysterious things happen to them and the remains of the current holder are frequently disappearing.

The holders range from such prestigious ranks as a high priest and a duke to several lowly commoners such as a baker and a blacksmith.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

I attempted a poll on this subject, but it was closed by the moderators.
Cannabalism is, indeed, a touchy subject.

Before it was closed, I saw a fair number players state they ran PC elves who were cannabalistic.