Would it be cannibalism to eat a polymorphed chicken?

[Merkuri]

In the beginning of the Helm of Opposite Alignment thread, someone mentions that it would be cheaper to buy a wand of polymorph and turn criminals into chickens.

Assume you have a government who decides to implement this punishment as a replacement for the death penalty. Perhaps because there is a famine, or simply because it's convenient, the government also decides to cook these once-human chickens and feed them to its citizens.

Is that cannibalism?

 

[blargney the second]

Don't they revert to their natural form when they die?

 

[howandwhy99]

Soylent Green is... finger-licken' good!

 

[Merkuri]

Don't they revert to their natural form when they die?

Strangely enough, it doesn't say they revert in the Baleful Polymorph description, unless I missed it.

For the sake of the question, though, assume they will not revert.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

In my opinion, yes.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

What about chickens polymorphed into humans?

 

[blargney the second]

I'm pretty sure the chicken doesn't like it one way or the other. Let's go with yes, it's cannibalism. Magic be damned.

 

[Lord Rasputin]

Is that cannibalism?

Depends on how tasty it is.

 

[JDJblatherings]

It is cannibalism. It was cannibalism if Odysseus and men ate some of the crew that had been turned into pigs , it'd be cannibalism to the chickens.

 

[Nifft]

I'd smite you just for trying it.

-- N