# The flesh-eating equivalent to vampires as monsters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 7, 2012, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973 "2012-10-07T08:16:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973/1 "2012-10-07T08:16:18Z")
Since today’s vampires are sparkly emos, Dracula-like movies may have to move away from vampires for a bit. In the game Vampires: The Masquerade: Bloodlines, there’s a character which is much like vampires but eats flesh. I don’t remember the species being mentioned. So, is there such a thing as a recognized flesh-eating equivalent to vampires in books, movies etc? I had never heard of that type of monster before playing the game but I can see how it would make for an effective monster if it has to eat humans to survive instead of drink their blood. Except for transmission of the condition whose mechanism isn’t clear to me, it can have all the characteristics of vampires and then turn it up to 11. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973/2 "2012-10-07T08:19:12Z")
Zombies? ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973/3 "2012-10-07T08:25:25Z")
Zombies are certainly monsters which eat flesh but zombies usually aren’t anything like vampires. Vampires are often powerful individually, smart, secretive, often sophisticated and have a sexual subtext. Vampires are the 1%/liberal elite. Zombies are hobos. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973/4 "2012-10-07T08:39:26Z")
Ghouls? Or the [wendigo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendigo). HP Lovecraft had intelligent human eaters in _Pickman’s Model_ and a family with the same habits in _The Rats in the Walls_. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973/5 "2012-10-07T08:50:09Z")
Gouls (from the Arabic Ghul, as in Ra’s al Ghul) are the most well–known monsters of this type. Joe Abercrombie’s books have the Eaters, human beings - originally - who receive great and varied powers from eating human flesh, but are forced to consume huge amounts of it to survive. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973/6 "2012-10-07T09:17:22Z")
Hmmm. There’s also the Indian mythological creatures called [Rakshasa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakshasa); according to the Wiki article they “feed on human flesh and spoiled food”. I’ve seen variations of them in several works, including Dungeons and Dragons. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973/7 "2012-10-07T09:26:33Z")
Any ideas why we don’t see more of those types of monsters? The supernatural sophisticated man-eater seems like it’d be a good horror antagonist. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973/8 "2012-10-07T09:59:09Z")
DC’s Vandal Savage is pretty close. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973/9 "2012-10-07T14:32:57Z")
Werewolves. Really. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973/10 "2012-10-07T21:39:03Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Since today’s vampires are sparkly emos, Dracula-like movies may have to move away from vampires for a bit. In the game Vampires: The Masquerade: Bloodlines, there’s a character which is much like vampires but eats flesh. I don’t remember the species being mentioned. I haven’t played the computer games, but am a huge fan of the old World Of Darkness. It sounds like you’re talking about a Nagaraja. The Nagaraja happened when some Euthanatos Mages were experimenting with kindred vitae and managed to accidentally embrace themselves. The Nagaraja bloodline is strongly tied to the Shadowlands (the plane inhabited by Wraiths) has the Nihlistics discipline (later changed to a Necromancy path- IIRC the Ash Path) and serves the True Hand. Back To The Rest Of The OP A lot of EC stories (Tales From The Crypt, etc) depict ghouls as being just like vampires but feeding on flesh instead of blood. OTTOMH So does the short story Disturb Not My Slumbering Fair. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973/11 "2012-10-07T21:47:33Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > I haven’t played the computer games, but am a huge fan of the old World Of Darkness. It sounds like you’re talking about a Nagaraja. Yes; one by the name of [Pisha](http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Pisha). ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973/12 "2012-10-07T21:52:40Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Werewolves. Really. I have to disagree. In folklore and popular fiction, the werewolf is a monster who does bad things based on primal urges. But, he is not particularly known for eating human flesh. He does not need human flesh to survive etc. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973/13 "2012-10-07T22:09:05Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > I have to disagree. In folklore and popular fiction, the werewolf is a monster who does bad things based on primal urges. But, he is not particularly known for eating human flesh. He does not need human flesh to survive etc. Since when? Cite? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973/14 "2012-10-07T22:34:07Z")
Beast Within- A History Of The Werewolf by Adam Douglas ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973/15 "2012-10-07T22:45:22Z")
I think the point with werewolves isn’t that they kill people so they can eat them, they kill them so they can kill them. And then, it’s like, “hey, tasty…” ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973/16 "2012-10-07T23:14:55Z")
One episode of Kolchak:Night Stalker had a rakshasa, [Horror in the Heights](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0621537/). An odd coincedence had it that I picked up a book of assorted short stories and it had some stories from India and one of them was about a rakshasa about a week or so after the Night Stalker episode aired. I was a regular watcher when it was in first run. Excellent series for the time. I really do like ‘monster of the week’ format shows. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973/17 "2012-10-07T23:17:24Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Since when? > > Cite? It’s been a while but I don’t recall the Lon Chaney Universal Studios versions of werewolves eating anybody. That was possibly due to censorship of the cannibalism taboo, but maybe also because the stories they used for sources didn’t feature human-eating. Are there examples of werewolves that explicitly do have to eat human flesh? The closest I can think of is the ghoulish habit of European werewolves to eat corpses, but I don’t know if they did it for survival. It seems a little funny that there could be a “cite” on fictional creatures, beyond the most basic features, like there is a book somewhere with a list like ```auto Monster Eats People? Ogre Yes Nessie No Yeti Sherpas Wendigo Yes OEOHFPPE Yes Kelpie Yes Leprechaun No ``` ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973/18 "2012-10-08T13:17:43Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > Are there examples of werewolves that explicitly do have to eat human flesh? IIRC, Morrowind werewolves need to eat an NPC\* every night or take major damage upon changing back. \*Human, elves, Argonian, Khadjit; a person. Close enough to having to eat a human. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973/19 "2012-10-08T13:38:23Z")
**Der Trihs** and **Alessan** have it. The meaning of the term “ghoul” has changed through the years, but, at least by the 1950s, uit meant a flesh-eating creature. At that time Zombies weren’t meat-eaters – they were simply walking dead people (or possibly really drugged live people). It wasn’t untiol George Romero’s _Night of the Living Dead_ that zombies became predators, which added considerably to their value as monsters. Ghouls, bu compsarison, wereintelligent, thinking creatures that might be mistaken for ordinary living folks. One EC comic from the 1950s featured a man who stops at a farmhouse in the rain and meets the weird old couple who live there. She tells the man to beware her husband – he’s a vampire, and the bottle of red “wine” he has is really blood. The man, on the other hand, tells him that his wife is a ghoul. The guy spends part of a restless night before they both break into his room and reveal that they _are_ a vampire and a ghoul. Apparently they were just messing with his mind, before they ate him. The husband got all the blood and the wife got the rest, so there was no waste. An interestng sidelight is that before Polidori wrote _The Vampyre_ 9and possibly before Goethe’s _The Bride of Corinth_), vampires were imagined to be much the way we view zombies now – speechless, mentally-challenged, obsessive-compulsive\* creatures who were pretty obviously not normal living people. Polidori gave us the passing-for-human, cultured, and _titled_ vampire – probably modeled on his friend Lord Byron himself. So maybe one of these days – if it hasn’t happened yet – we’ll get the titled, cultured Zombie character, as well. \*One way to “defeat” a vampire in those pre-Count days was to upset a container of sesame seeds in its path. The vampire would feel compelled to count them all, and you had plenty of time to get away. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973/20 "2012-10-08T14:12:13Z")
I think the Morlocks deserve a mention here, dining on the flesh of the Eloi. Perhaps my memory is tainted by the film but ISTR they were basically raising the Eloi for meat. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flesh-eating-equivalent-to-vampires-as-monsters/636973.md?page=2)