I have a feeling that this topic will not go away any time soon, and it’s our own damned fault for going down the crazy trail chasing the idea.
Feel free to add your own theories on whether the Pak’ma’ra would consume zombie flesh. Would Pak’ma’ra consider them dead, and thus carrion for the taking, or because there’s some semblance of life still present, would they avoid them?
Or would they consider it an exotic delicacy, the kind of thing that not every Pak’ma’ra would eat? Something similar to humans eating live octopus… some people like it, most wouldn’t touch it.
I throw the doors to the argument open to you all.
Link: io9: A Harvard Psychiatrist Explains Zombie Neurobiology
I would say no, that the Pak’ma’ra would not eat zombies. I don’t find moving food palletable, so I don’t imagine the Pak’ma’ra would like their dinner to wiggle either. And I’m fond of the World War Z zombies that are inedible, even the animals or fish wouldn’t devour a zombie.
I understand that there is even human precedent for eating food that’s still moving as a delicacy…but food that is actually ATTACKING you? That would make it rather difficult to eat even if you DID find them extremely appetizing… Not to mention that most zombies require some rather devastating destruction of their bodies to get them to STOP attacking you. I say even the hungriest pak’ma’ra would have a difficult time eating enough bits off of even a single zombie to render it harmless.
(And just to be an even bigger geek, you guys need to watch your nomenclature. “pak’ma’ra” should not be capitalized.)
Greg: A Pak’ma’ra Ranger would be willing to take that risk. “We live for the one, we eat for the one.”
Greg is correct: pak’ma’ra should not be capitalized. And did JMS buy a gross of apostrophes?
Gross is the right term I believe…
And as for whether or not a pak’ma’ra would eat a zombie…well of COURSE they would eat a zombie! People hunt and eat dangerous things all the time…shark, bear, quail…the list goes on. I could see hunting your first zombie being like a right of passage in pak’ma’ra culture. Like a barmitsvah only with better food. You aint a man till you’ve et yer first zombie son…now get to it!
Keep in mind that pak’ma’ra look so clumsy and slow that zombies are probably just about the only tings they can catch and get the jump on anyway. Maybe thats how they started being carrion eaters to begin with, because evreything else could just outrun them.
Just a few tangental thoughts for you all this lovely day…
All the best,
Vino Veritas, Centauri Ranger
Well, zombies have died no question about that, and pak’ma’ra eats everything that has died.
The big question though, when it comes to the pak’ma’ra who we know to be a rather religious people is wheter they consider re-animated zombie flesh to be non-kosher, so to speak. After all, the flesh have been messed with, either by virus or magic. A virus the pak’ma’ra digestive system can probably handle, but chanses are that they still considere it “un-natural” and uneatable.
Without doubt though, the pak’ma’ra will probably be avid and zealous zombie hunters. Either they consider zombies an abomination in the eyes of God and thus must be destroyed, or they have no problem with living dead flesh and actually consider it a great sport hunting down those deadly yet delishious beasts.
To pak’ma’ra, zombies would be kind of like free range turkeys: leaner, healthier, and organic. *snicker*
Thinking about it another way, what were there evolutionary pressures that created a sentient carrion eater?
Conventional earth based carrion eaters are low down on the food chain and it doesn’t require much skill (therefore evolutionary pressure) to find a dead animal and eat it.
BUT, if the animals on a planet were infected by a zombie virus, then a carrion eater would have to evolve skills (and intelligence) to catch (and eat) the “walking dead”.
A conventional(!) zombie virus is far too deadly to allow the evolution of a zombie eater, but what if the zombie virus was less deadly?
What if a living animal was infected with a zombie virus and, like most infections, they recover from the infection and carry on as normal (like the flu say), but sometimes the zombie infection would kill the host, and the (dead) animal becomes the “walking dead”.
No normal animals would want to catch and/or eat the zombie for fear of infection. But without any controls on zombie populations, over time, there would be far too many zombies walking around. In theory there could be a tipping point where there are so many zombies that the infection rates for living animals get too high and the population goes 100% zombie.
To control the zombie population, you need a zombie eater! After 1,000,000+ years of evolution, a Pak’ma’ra type species could have evolved as natures way to control the zombie population. And it would make sense for such a creature to have a very powerful immune system and not get infected by the zombie virus. (The chosen of God!?)
Also, its not inconceivable that, the sentient carrion eaters evolve to a level of intelligence and population size they they end up consuming all zombies on their home planet. So ultimately the zombie virus dies off as there are no (dead) hosts left to transmit the virus to a living host.
So, to answer the question… IMHO a zombie, to the Pak’ma’ra, would be a long forgotten, very tasty delicacy. Enter Zombie cuisine… Fillet of zombie, Zombie tartare, Cold zombie soup (think zombie decomposed ’til its liquefied), Leg of zombie served on a bed of zombie ribs, Zombie brains served in its own skull… hummmm tasty zombies…..
The Lurker’s Guide to Pak’ma’ra
One of the most infamous races of the Babylon 5 universe, the Pak’ma’ra are known as widespread lurkers, carrion eaters, foul-smelling yet consistently present everywhere in the galaxy. They are despised by many races due to others’ views on their eating habits and hygiene, with millions of people from dozens of races refusing to know anything but their own stereotypes about the Pak’ma’ra. With this book, we hope to change that image. The Pak’ma’ra may be carrion eaters and religiously-driven invaders of privacy on a galactic scale, but they have a very in depth society and government that this book delves into. Showing the many unique processes found in the hierarchy of the Pak’ma’ra Civility, readers learn the true tenets of the Great Library of Melat and exactly why there is a massive defence fleet waiting in orbit around the Pak’ma’ra homeworld. New feats, prestige classes, and equipment that is focussed on the Pak’ma’ra’s mastery of plasma technology can be found within these pages, not to mention a small collection of new starships that gives these otherwise ignored drifters an interesting new role in the Babylon 5 universe. You might just be surprised what you find. That is, if you can get past the smell.
http://j.mp/ez0zls