Brain Food: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"All we wanna do is eat your brains''
An amazingly large number of monsters enjoy eating human ''BRAAAAAAINS!''
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The subtrope of brain-eating zombies seems to have originated with 1985's ''[[Return of the Living Dead]]'', and most of the time when it appears it is either a reference to that film, or [[Popcultural Osmosis|unknowingly influenced by]] [[Memetic Mutation|other references to that film]]. Before Romero, zombies were not expected to eat people at all, except in some fringe Haitian legends which included anthrophagy as part of a general rampage on the part of the normally passive zombies whose controlling voudun priest had died.
It should be noted that most zombies of the Romero sort just eat whatever meat off the person until they get bored. Most serious zombie movies don't have brain eating as something all zombies do, and since [[Removing the Head
A subtrope of [[Picky People Eater]]. See also: [[Zombie Gait]]. Not to be confused with [[Brainless Beauty]] (although being one may [[Your Brain Won't Be Much of a Meal|have its advantages]].)
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{{examples}}
== Advertising ==
*
== Anime and Manga ==
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* In one of the weirder scenes in the film, the apes in ''[[Princess Mononoke]]'' ask San to give Ashitaka's (unconscious) body to them so that they can eat his brain. They believe that, in eating a human's brain, they will become as strong and as smart as the humans are.
* One of the numerous [[Serial Killer|serial killers]] in ''[[MPD Psycho]]'' uses brains as plant food for his favorite flowers... by cutting open their skulls and using them as flower pots. While they're still alive.
== Comic Books ==
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* Rhona Burchill, the Mad Thinker, in ''Ultimate [[Fantastic Four]]'' {{spoiler|devised a way to increase her brain's "processing power" by grafting someone else's brain tissue onto her brain, so she killed her little brother because he "wasn't using it anyway" -- the implications are roughly equal that he was genuinely mentally deficient and that he simply had a lower IQ then his already-a-genius-but-psychotic sister.}}
** Wasn't the implication that {{spoiler|Her brother constituted some part of the Ultimate Awesome Android?}}
*** She named it after him, but there's no in-story suggestion that it is or isn't actually him.
* [[Jack Of
* In the ''[[Superman]]'' story "The Black Ring" (which in fact is a [[Villain Episode]] staring Lex Luthor) Grodd the Gorilla consumes the brains of victims, gaining the knowledge they possessed by doing so.
== Film ==
* The first zombie movie that used the brain-eating element was ''[[Return of the Living Dead]]''. Here, the zombies eat brains because they give off endorphins that kill the pain of decomposition and rigor mortis.
* In the movie ''[[Grindhouse|Planet Terror]]'', the zombie-like mutants eat Fergie's brain, prompting the gag "Looks like we've got a no-brainer." Similiarly, a repeated line throughout the film is "I'm gonna eat your brain and gain your knowledge," first said as a small boy is playing with his action figures, although by the time Josh Brolin [[Ironic Echo|starts saying it]], it gets [[They Plotted a Perfectly Good Waste|creepy/hilarious]].
* The Brain Bugs in ''[[Starship Troopers (
* In ''[[Indiana Jones and
** [[Clue (
*** Is that what we ate? HUURGH...
* The Kothoga monster from the film ''[[The Relic (
* ''[[Silence of the Lambs]]'' sequel, ''Hannibal'', has a scene with a man literally eating his own brains.
* In the Japanese movie ''Attack of the Monsters'' (AKA ''[[Gamera]] vs. Guiron''), two alien women from the planet Terra plan to [[Nightmare Fuel|eat the brains of two children]]. It actually has a scene where one of the kids is secured, with his head shaved, about to become the main course. And it's a ''kids' movie''.
** Funnily enough, at least in the dub, this doesn't seem to be part of their culture or usual plans. Just [[For the Evulz|some random idea]] that one alien sprang on the other.
* ''Brain Damage'' features a fast talking brain-eating worm named Aylmer and his current host Brian. The whole movie is a metaphor for drug addiction because in exchange for feeding him brains the parasite injects addictive blue fluid that makes him act as though high.
* The evil alien in the Dolph Lungren film ''[[I Come in Peace (
* ''Fiend Without a Face'' had invisible brain-like creatures that sucked the brains out of the skull.
* ''Faces of Death'' had people eating monkey brains right after having to kill the monkey by beating it on the head with mallets which resemble a pestle.
* There's a moment in ''[[Bloodsucking Freaks]]'' where a depraved doctor uses a straw to suck some woman's brains out.
* ''The Brainiac'' revolves around a magician who was to be executed in 1661, who then used his magic to get on a passing comet and returns to earth 300 years later as a brain-sucking monster. It also brought us the page image.
* ''The Outpost'' (aka ''Mind Ripper'') had a mutant who fed on brains to get his fix of [
* In the original ''[[The Hills Have Eyes]]'', Papa Jupiter threatens to eat the brains of the protagonists' kids.
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== Literature ==
* In ''Hannibal'', Lecter stirfried up some guy's brain. Thomas Harris lovingly describes how Lecter prepared it, table side, fresh from the source (he literally scooped out the slices of brains from the victim's skull at the table, in front of Starling). He gently coated it with breadcrumbs then sauteed it, serving with caper-berries and black truffle brown butter sauce. Just the way that Harris described it is enough to make the reader hungry, especially since he is a foodie and the recipe would actually be delicious (except the obvious part, of course).
* Deadhead, from the ''[[Wild Cards]]'' novels, absorbs the memories of creatures (and people) whose flesh he eats, getting the clearest 'read' from the brain.
* In the short story ''A Midwinter's Tale'', eating brains passes on the memories of the dead creature.
* In ''[[Nation]]'' one of the cannibal chiefs mentions he would like to eat Daphne's brains. It's a sort of compliment, it means he thinks she's very intelligent.
* The zombies in ''[[Pride and Prejudice And Zombies]]''. However, they sometimes mistake cauliflowers for brains.
* From the ''[[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]'', you have the [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Anzati Anzati], a species that eats the "soup", also called the "luck" or the "Sea of Memory" of sentient beings. They're humanlike, but with a sort of proboscis in each cheek which unfurls to jam through the victim's nostrils and into the brain, then suck it out. One Anzati claims that the brain-eating thing is the only way to get at the "soup", and apparently lucky individuals are sensed as such and are more desirable. They also have incredibly long lifespans and no natural biorhythm - no pulse, no body heat - and tend to have a hypnotic ability that makes victims submit. To hammer the point home, there are myths about Anzati victims becoming Anzati themselves, and the irreverent slang term for the species is "snot vampire".
* Mbwun from ''[[
* The zombies in Ryan Mecum's ''Zombie Haiku'' eat brains. One of the haiku is:
{{quote|
''brains brains brains brains brains brains brains''
''brains brains brains brains brains.'' }}
* One of the short stories in the book ''My Zombie Valentine'' focuses on a [[Zombie Apocalypse]] originating on the set of a zombie apocalypse film. The [[Alpha Bitch]] seems to be immune to zombie attack, and they speculate that she doesn't have any brains. However, it turns out that she's wearing a perfume that repels zombies.
* [[Older Than Feudalism]]: The tale of the ''[[Greek Mythology|Seven Against Thebes]]'' (adapted into the play of the same name by [[Aeschylus]]) includes Tydeus, a favourite of Athena and father of ''[[
* In the ''[[Starfleet Corps of Engineers]]'' series, the creators of the monster shii on the planet Sarindar fed on brain matter. A now departed race which colonized the planet centuries ago, they built artificial constructs in the shape of shii beasts to collect the heads; these decapitated victims in order to gather the brains.
* In ''[[Nightside|Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth]]'', a group of sentient zombies raised by the [[Big Bad]] and sent to slaughter the living reference this trope, debating whether or not they should eat brains and, if so, whether condiments will be required.
* The [[Rodents of Unusual Size]] from James Herbert's ''The Rats'' and its sequels have a preference for brains, and often chew their way [[Eye Scream|through the eyes]] of their human victims to reach this tasty treat.
* ''[[Mogworld]]'': Averted and lampshaded. The zombies in {{spoiler|the game}} just don't eat. Using the trope to terrify the nearby populace certainly makes for a fun time on your day off, though.
* In ''[[
* In ''Terminal World'', by Alastair Reynolds, there are bio-mechanical creatures called "Carnivorgs" that survive by eating the brains of the people they capture. The front of their heads [[Nightmare Fuel|end in a drill]], which they use to punch through their victims forheads. The worst part? This process ''[[Fate Worse Than Death|doesn't]]'' [[Fate Worse Than Death|kill the victim]].
▲== Live Action TV ==
▲* The Psirens from ''[[Red Dwarf (TV)|Red Dwarf]]''.
** The only brain-eaters to use a ''straw''.
* Brain-eating by humans and aliens alike is a constant motif in the first season of ''[[Lexx]]''.
* Sylar from ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' steals the powers of others by removing their brains and doing something unspecified with them. Fans love to joke that he eats the brains. This seems unlikely, though, as on the few occasions when he's shown just after he's stolen a power, he's had blood all over his hands, but none on his face.
** [[Word of God]] says that yes, he was going to eat them, but they realized how ludicrous that would sound, so they left it vague. It remains to be seen whether they'll ever come up with a different explanation.
*** Molly does make mention that he eats brains in the season one finale. To be fair though, she was just a little girl and probably didn't understand what Sylar was doing while poking around in her father's brain.
*** There is also a suggestion that Sylar's original power was in being able to understand how things worked, which implies that he might merely need to take the brains out to study them and somehow make the required changes to his own brain. How he would do that is another matter entirely...
*** This is actually [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in the first episode of Season 3: {{spoiler|we cut back to Sylar and Claire after last having seen Sylar cutting the top off of Claire's head, and he is indeed doing something - poking at Claire's brain, occasionally stopping as though examining something. Claire asks, "Aren't you going to eat it?" His response?}}
{{quote|
* In the ''[[
* In ''[[
** After removing the neurochip from Crichton's brain, [[Magnificent Bastard|Scorpius]] finds that there's a large chunk of cerebral tissue clinging to it. [[Slasher Smile|Grinning wickedly]], he eats the piece of brain matter in a single bite.
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''
** Subverted in the
** In another episode, Buffy fights hellhounds who eat brains. She takes advantage of this by questioning the
** Glory sucks the sanity out of people's brains.
* ''[[The X
* When Data has nightmares in a ''[[Star Trek:
* [[Played for Laughs|Invoked]] on the "Bottle Bash" episode of [[
{{quote|
== Music ==
* Jonathan Coulton's ''Re: Your Brains''. It's told as a memo from an office worker who's become a zombie to one who is not yet zombified, and the chorus says "All we wanna do is eat your brains. We're not unreasonable. I mean, [[Even Evil Has Standards|no one's gonna]] [[Eye Scream|eat your eyes]]."
* As mentioned above, [[Voltaire (
* [[
* In several of the ''[[
== Tabletop Games ==
* The [[
** And the Lovecraftian coelocanth Aboleths want to eat your brain and gain your knowledge.
** Inverted by the Chuuls, who are allergic to brains and will instead peel the flesh and bone from around it and eat that. In an aversion of [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]], this often means that Illithids will train them as garbage disposals for brainless corpses.
** The Intellect Devourers eat you brain and then ''nest in your skull''.
** Can't forget the [[Killer Rabbit|Brain Mole]].
*** Though, in reality, the brain mole doesn't eat the brain, merely absorb psionic energy from it. There's little to no physical harm.
** Should be noted that brain-eating is one of the Illithids' greatest weaknesses, because killing a humanoid per illithid per month (any less and they'll die, and more is preferable) draws a LOT of attention.
** Actually averted by zombies for a change; they don't eat people at all, just kill them because as mindless undead they hate all living creatures. Ghouls and Ghasts fit Hollywood's conception of cannibalistic undead better, but they just eat flesh in general, and don't seem to have any particular fondness for brains.
*** In ''[[Ravenloft]]'', one strain of vampires feeds on cerebrospinal fluid, which is close enough to this trope.
* [[Super Soldier|Space Marines]] in ''[[Warhammer
** The vat-spawned Grit stormers of ''[[SLA Industries]]'' are created with a similar ability.
** Also from ''[[Warhammer
* The fan-made ''[[
* ''[[All Flesh Must Be Eaten]]'', a game entirely about zombies, has "Braaaaaaaains" as an option for a zombie's diet. Because this takes effort and means the zombie needs to eat more people to stay active (as opposed to "All Flesh Must Be Eaten", where they can eat any part), it reduces the zombie's power level.
* In [[White Wolf]]'s ''[[
== Video Games ==
* Inspired by ''[[Dungeons
* The main character of ''[[Prototype (
** By ''beating them into a fine paste and absorbing it with his Cthulhu-tendrils.'' It is awesome.
* Combine Advisors from ''[[Half Life]] 2'' take the memories and knowledge of their victims by consuming their brains. Or at least we assume that's what they're doing. They ram their tongue in through the brainstem. Of course, they are psychic so it could just be some form of alien data transfer rather than NOMNOMNOMKNOWLEDGE.
* The [[Jonathan Coulton]] song quoted at the top of this page is one of the songs that will play on the jukebox in ''[[Left 4 Dead]] 2.'' Despite the fact that the game's zombies don't ''seem'' to eat brains, the song's chorus ("All we wanna do is eat your brains...") summons a horde of them to attack the Survivors.
** [[Word of God]] explains it. The zombies have an advanced form of rabies. Think rabies symptoms x10. This induces insanity, and loud noises and bright lights give them extreme pain. This is why they attack when car alarms are set off, as well as why they attack pipe bombs. It's their way of saying "SHUT UP/TURN THAT LIGHT DOWN, IT HUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTSSSSSS".
* Zombies want to eat your brains, so in order to stop them you... [[Plants vs. Zombies
** In addition, the game features a take off of [[Pop Cap]]'s ''[[Insaniquarium]]'', where the fish are replaced by snorkel zombies, and the fish food is replaced by brains.
** [[Ear Worm|There's a zombie on your lawn!]]
*** [[Memetic Mutation|DON'T WANT ZOMBIES ON MY LAWN]]
* Uh, ''[[Stubbs the Zombie]]'' anyone?
* Parodied in ''[[
* In ''[[Office Jerk
* In the ''[[Shantae]]'' series, [[Cute Monster Girl| cute zombie girl]] Rottytops often makes light of this, jovially expressing a desire to eat Shantae's brain; she keeps this craving in check by drinking coffee. In the "Friends to the End" DLC of ''Half-Genie Hero'' this is a game mechanic. She can use [[Mana| Dream Magic]] to consume a brain (presumably taken from [[Hammerspace]]) to refill the team's Health Bar completely.
== Web Comics ==
* Annabelle in ''[[The Spider Cliff Mysteries]]'' must eat brains to prevent the decay of her own.
* Parodied in ''[[Narbonic]]'' when Zombie Dave keeps saying "Braaains", even though Helen informs him there's no reason he needs to eat brains.
* In ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'', one of Gwynn's jobs in recent arcs was as a waitress at Zomblebees. The daily special? "BRAAAAAINS".
** One of her co-workers was revealed to be an actual zombie. She explained that while zombies don't have a particular preference for brains, you are what you eat, and that to keep command of her mental faculties, that's exactly what she eats. Biting into Sam's brain later left her feeling stupider (being a vampire who doesn't much use his brain, he felt just fine.)
* ''[[Something
* ''[[
** Also a [
* In ''[[
** The Mind Flayer's [[Meat
** Zombies in OOTS also seem capable of saying nothing but "Brains...". When Xykon re-animates his dead dog in one of the prequel books, the first thing it does is kill a bird and eat its brain.
* In the ''[[Goats]]'' comic, [https://web.archive.org/web/20130605155711/http://www.goats.com/archive/991108.html one of the characters decides to capitalize on the zombie plague] by selling brains to zombies over the Internet on a site called Brains4Zombies.com. The comic's creators then [[Defictionalized]] the site [http://www.brains4zombies.com/ here].
* One ''[[Brawl in
== Web Original ==
* In ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'' (a special feature), the blue team pretends to be zombies. Caboose does the Zombie Gait with everyone else, but moans "Brians! Brians!", as he read the script wrong.
* In ''[[Cox and Combes Washington]]'' George Washington is said to have eaten opponents' brains.
* ''[http://www.theonion.com/articles/zombie-nutritionist-recommends-allbrain-diet,1391/ Zombie Nutritionist Recommends All-Brain Diet]'', on ''[[The Onion]]''
* In ''[[Cradleland]]'', the {{spoiler|''ba'thulaz''}} eat brains, preferably those of sapient creatures like humans.
* Spoofed in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The
** "he has the voice of a zombie-angel"
** It turns out Zombie Boy is in fact capable of regular speech.
{{quote|
'''Zombie Boy:''' Oh gee, let me think. [[No Fourth Wall|Maybe it's because it's in the F[bleep]ing script!]] }}
== Western Animation ==
* The Brain Slugs from ''[[
** Then there's the first resolution we see between the Brainspawn and the Nibblonians...
** Similarly, [[The Simpsons (
*** Also when Lisa tricked Bart and Homer into thinking they had caught leprosy, they shambled to the home of their smart neighbour for his help:
{{quote|
'''Homer:''' Use your brains to help us! Your delicious brains... }}
*
** The brain-eating meteor. Billy (of course) was found inedible, so was recruited to bring it food. Bringing it Mandy was a mistake.
** And then there was Billy's pet chupacabra...
{{quote|
'''Mandy:''' Poor thing's gonna starve. }}
:* Subverted in "Brown Evil"; Mandy thinks Billy can safely fight the zombies for the same reason, but ''these'' zombies are ''not'' after brains, but rather the brownies Grim is hiding in his skull.
* Parodied and subverted in ''[[My Gym Partner's
* In the ''[[
*
* The Oni from ''[[
* ''[[Roughnecks
* Subverted on ''[[Phineas and Ferb]].'' The zombies moan for brains, spleens, pancreases, kidneys, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|cucumber sandwiches.]]
== Real Life ==
* Eating human brain is (or was) a practice of several cultures, either as a funeral rite or just part of eating people. It's usually for the purpose of taking knowledge, gaining immortality, or whatever.
* Brain (of animals) is actually a delicacy in several countries, which probably makes humans [[Humans Are Cthulhu|kind of monstrous]] to them
** Note that the current edition of ''The Joy Of Cooking'' omits all recipes that contain animal brains, and states that this is due to concerns over mad cow disease (see above).
** If you do feel like eating some, like say scrambled pork brain, keep in mind that this type of food is ''amazingly'' high in cholesterol and fat; a little over a 100 g can easily exceed 1000% of the recommended daily cholesterol intake.
* There's an account of a rogue baboon killing people and eating their brains.
** A cryptid, the Nandi Bear, is alleged to do this as well.
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''<small> ...BRAAAAAAINS...</small>''
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Tropes of the Living Dead]]
[[Category:Otherness Tropes]]
[[Category:Food Tropes]]
[[Category:Horror Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Brain Food]]
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