# Why do zombies want brains? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078 "2007-05-14T19:25:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Olive\_The\_Other\_Reindeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Olive\_The\_Other\_Reindeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olive_The_Other_Reindeer)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078/1 "2007-05-14T19:25:09Z")
I was watching the [Boston Zombie March"](http://www.myfoxboston.com/myfox/pages/Entertainment/Detail?contentId=3188931&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=7.1.1) and there was an interesting part when the zombies all started chanting “Brains!” Where did the concept that zombies want brains come from? Was there a long standing tradition of brain eating by zombies? Did zombies hold a rally to decide? Zombie Maker: What do you want? Zombies: BRAAAINNNS!! Zombie Maker: When do you want them? Zombies: BRAAAINNNS!! Or, is it a more recent phenomenom, with the Zombies gradually working their way up from severed limbs. Any help in this mater would be appreciated. Olive ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078/2 "2007-05-14T19:33:15Z")
From one of those zombie movies (and from memory) - “Why do you want brains?” “To stop the pain” “It hurts to be dead?” “Yeeeessss” ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078/3 "2007-05-14T19:34:57Z")
Didn’t the brain-craving thing get its start in _Return of the Living Dead_? It seems to me that earlier zombies just ate random body parts. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078/4 "2007-05-14T19:38:00Z")
It’s worth noting that in folk tradition, revenants (those who have come back from the dead) are not especially focused on brains. The popular American perception of the Haitian zombie is of a person whose body has been re-animated, but who possesses no soul / individual personality. Since the seat of one’s selfhood is always either the heart or the brain in Western culture, it makes sense that zombies would be after a new one if their goal is to become a fully functional person again. Conversely, if they just want to make more zombies, they’d go after the hearts / brains of the living and destroy what makes them them. In any case, I think your answer is in whatever 20th-century zombie movie first introduced the concept. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2007, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078/5 "2007-05-14T20:03:26Z")
Zombies have evolved, as have all horror tropes. Originally, Zombies were simply The Walking Dead. They didn’t want to eat you or anything – they were just creepy. For further info, read Wade Davis’ **The Serpent and the Rainbow** and criticisms of the book. Zombies moved slowly and, aside from the severe _ick_ factor of having a walking corpse near you, not harmful or threatening. With George Romero’s **Night of the Living Dead** the zombies started getting more aggressive. They moved faster and for the first time attacked people, eating them and infecting them. The movie drew a lot of inspiration, I think, from a slightly earlier science fiction film, **Invisible Invaders**. Romero kept it up with the two subsequent chapters of his opus, **Dawn of the Dead** (arguably his best) and **Day of the Dead** , with better FX from Tom Savini, and more thought put into the rationale and reactions. As **pinkfreud** notes, the thing about eating brains comes from **Return of the Living Dead** , which is non-Romero. Its zoombies, unlike his, speak, are animated by chemical means rather than space radiatioon or whatever, and they can move pretty fast. As you can see, zombie threats have been evolvingtowards something more threatening. It ain’t no fun if you can just outrun them, and they don’t want to kill you. ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078/6 "2007-05-14T20:04:05Z")
I know you’re up there because I can smell your BRAAIIIIIN! sorry 😛 ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078/7 "2007-05-14T20:22:56Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud] Didn’t the brain-craving thing get its start in _Return of the Living Dead_? It seems to me that earlier zombies just ate random body parts. [/QUOTE] Dan O’Bannon (writer/director of The Return of the Living Dead) had his zombies eat only brains (instead of flesh like Romero zombies) because he thought it would make it easier to tone down the gore and secure the R rating the studio required. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078/8 "2007-05-14T20:25:07Z")
Tas-ty. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078/9 "2007-05-14T20:29:04Z")
Why do zombies want brains? Because they don’t have any. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078/10 "2007-05-14T20:29:11Z")
Maybe zombies are descended from scarecrows? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078/11 "2007-05-14T21:03:49Z")
[QUOTE=cmkeller] Maybe zombies are descended from scarecrows? [/QUOTE] If they were, they’d be satisfied by giving them diplomas. I figure those prestigious non-accredited universities that kindly send me e-mails might want to get a piece of this action. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078/12 "2007-05-15T00:21:08Z")
[QUOTE=cmkeller] Maybe zombies are descended from scarecrows? [/QUOTE] That’s a straw man. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078/13 "2007-05-15T00:25:47Z")
Actually, a zombie won’t eat your brain unless ordered to do so by his zombie master. A lot of people get that wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078/14 "2007-05-15T00:26:35Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] That’s a straw man. [/QUOTE] :rolleyes: What a cowardly line. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2007, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078/15 "2007-05-15T00:38:29Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] From one of those zombie movies (and from memory) - “Why do you want brains?” “To stop the pain” “It hurts to be dead?” “Yeeeessss” [/QUOTE] IIRC it was “The pain, the pain of being dead. Brains ease the pain of being dead.” “It hurts to be dead?” “I can feel myself rot.” ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078/16 "2007-05-15T00:48:26Z")
From _The Zombie Survival Guide_: > [@](#): > > Recent evidence has once and for all discounted the theory that human flesh is the fuel for the undead. A Zombie’s digestive tract is completely dormant. The complex system that processes food, extracts nutrition, and excretes waste does not factor into a zombie’s physiology. Autopsies conducted on neutralized undead have shown their “food” lies in its original, undigested state at all sections of the tract. This partially chewed slowly rotting matter will continue to accumulate… Interestingly, while this guide clearly states that the prefered food of zombie’s is human flesh, I can find no specific mention of human brains. Unless this is some subcategory of zombie’s that the book fails to mention, I am led to believe that the whole “I want to eat your brains” phenomenon is completely concocted by Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078/17 "2007-05-15T01:14:48Z")
[QUOTE=DocCathode] IIRC it was “The pain, the pain of being dead. Brains ease the pain of being dead.” “It hurts to be dead?” “I can feel myself rot.” [/QUOTE] Ok. I saw it in the theater when it first came out, so my memory is not to be trusted. I need to see this one again, truly a TFC - “Send more cops” ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078/18 "2007-05-15T02:02:51Z")
Let’s move this to Cafe Society, where most movie discussions thrive. **samclem** General Questions moderator ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078/19 "2007-05-15T02:38:09Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] Ok. I saw it in the theater when it first came out, so my memory is not to be trusted. I need to see this one again, truly a TFC - “Send more cops” [/QUOTE] Actually it’s “_Send more **paramedics**._” ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078/20 "2007-05-15T02:49:59Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] Actually it’s “_Send more **paramedics**._” [/QUOTE] Actually, it’s both. Keep in mind that _Return of the Living Dead_ is an absurdist comedy, not really a horror movie. The weirdest thing about the movie is the studio’s insistence that the otherwise completely nude Linnea Quigley wear a flesh-colored patch over her _mons pubis_. Sick bastards. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-zombies-want-brains/404078.md?page=2)