Carnivore Confusion: Difference between revisions

[[File:Donald-Duck-roast-bird_4284bird 4284.jpg|link=Donald Duck|frame|Shut up or you're next!]]

{{quote|''"[[Let Me Get This Straight...]]. You know her; she knows you. But she wants to eat him. And...everybody's okay with this? '''Did I miss something?'''"''|'''Timon''', |''[[The Lion King]]''}}

There's an [[Elephant in the Living Room|unspoken awkward issue]] in fiction involving [[Talking Animal|Talking Animals]]s. If everyone can talk, and everyone at least implicitly has the same thoughts and feeling as everyone else regardless of species, does this mean predatory creatures are forced to engage in a form of murder to eat? Or is it more like ''cannibalism?'' And then [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?|what happens when]] [[Lions and Tigers and Humans, Oh My!|human characters are added into the mix]]?

* By far the most common approach, especially in older fiction, is the [[Predators Are Mean]] subtrope. All your heroes are herbivores. All the villains are carnivores à la the Big Bad Wolf from the Three Little Pigs.<ref> In [[Real Life]], pigs and wolves are both omnivores, eating both plants and other animals. Wolves will prey uponon pigsany animal, butpigs onlyincluded, toif the extentdanger thatto they would prey on other organisms, e.g. it wouldthemselves beis rewardinglow and they couldstand pullto itgain offenough withoutfrom getting themselvestheir killedefforts.</ref> This subtrope is so strong culturally that people assume [[Real Life]] predators are mean, evil, and nasty, and all the herbivores are cute, cuddly, and friendly. Anyone with any knowledge of real animal behavior knows that's not the case at all.

* Sometimes your heroes are predatory animals. Now carnivores are okay, so scavengers often become the [[Villain by Default|Villains By Default]]. The usual ethos is that only evil weirdos eat carrion, and only cowards do not hunt. They will be depicted as ugly and intimidating. Example: ''[[The Lion King]]''.<ref> Non-exclusive scavenging and predation is rarely used in fiction. In [[Real Life]], lions scavenge off hyena kill more often than vice versa.</ref>

* AAn increasingly popular option in recent fiction has been to render the carnivore's prey in a realistic, [[What Measure Is a Non-Cute?|non-cute manner]]. The prey does not talk -- thetalk—the prey is not humanised in any way. [[No Cartoon Fish|Fish]], in particular, are nearly always a viable mealtime option, unless they're major characters.

* Similar to the option immediately above, some works such as ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'' and the ''[[Spellsinger]]'' novels make it clear that only some of the animals have human-like intelligence. In some fiction, there are explicit differences between the anthropomorphic and normal members of the same species -- bipedalityspecies—bipedality, speech, clothing, etc. It's okay for a talking lion to eat a non-talking deer, but eating a talking deer would be tantamount to cannibalism.

* Establish that the carnivore is unlucky ([[Looney Tunes|Wile E. Coyote]]) or that their chosen prey is too fast or aggressive to catch -- forcatch—for example, Jerry of ''[[Tom and Jerry]]''. This makes the point moot, since we never see the predator eat.

* ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' brings up this trope sometimes, albeit rarely. In the series, all animals -and even several plants- are Pokémon, and all Pokémon are intelligent. The cast has indeed been seen eating meat and the early games directly address this at points - Farfetch'd and Lapras are said to be near-extinct due to overhunting, and ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver]]'' has you rescuing Slowpoke from Team Rocket...who are harvesting their tails for sale as delicacies. (They grow back, but...). In the first season of the anime, curiously, there ''were'' a few [[No Cartoon Fish|non-Pokémon fish]], but they've been pretty much [[Retcon|retconnedretcon]]ned out of existence. (Much of this was before there was a Pokémon equivalent of almost everything you can think of.) Most of the characters seem to prefer to never talk about such things and enjoy the meal, including the Pokémon.

** In one episode, James has a Magikarp, which is basically a very big koi. They narrowly escaped a sunken ship, and are starving on a makeshift raft in the middle of the ocean. Everyone wants a taste of the juicy Magikarp, except Misty who has a soft spot for Water-types. The only reason Magikarp survived was because its scales were too hard to bite through. Nobody seemed to care that Magikarp was ''alive''.<ref> That might be because of ikizukuri, a variety of sashimi in which the fish is still alive when the dish is served. The way the characters imagine the Magikarp sashimi is exactly the way ikizukuri is served.</ref>

* Averted in ''[[Wolf's Rain]]'', where in spite of the wolves' ability to replenish energy by sleeping in the moonlight, it's clearly no substitute for actual food. Kiba mentions having gone a month with only moonlight to sustain him, and consequently is much thinner than the others. They find a decomposing deer carcass in one of the early episodes (which everyone but Hige turns down, generally because it's ''rotting''). After Toboe's [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] where he kills the giant walrus, they eat the walrus--andwalrus—and in a surprisingly dignified acknowledgment, the walrus says something along the lines of, "You may have killed me, but I have saved you all."

* The [[DC Comics]] series ''[[Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew]]'' takes place on Earth-C, a parallel Earth populated solely by anthropomorphic animals. The series presents the world's populace as being vegetarian (though eggs are acceptable, and vegetarian versions of burgers, hot dogs, etc. exist), including carnivorous-in-real-life species such as felines. The comic explains that while their prehistoric, uncivilized/unevolved ancestors did eat meat, animal-kind ceased doing so once it became "civilized". A villain in one story attempts attacking the Zoo Crew with fierce prehistoric animals brought from, as he describes it, "the age of the flesh-eaters." The idea of eating another animal is viewed among Earth-C's populace as cannibalism, as seen in one story where a "[[Our Werewolves Are Different|wuz-wolf]]" -- a—a friendly wolf who, under a full moon, becomes a feral human -- attemptshuman—attempts to eat a pig.

** Which doesn't mean that [[Carnivore Confusion]] isn't played straight elsewhere in the comic. The galley of the pirate ship definitely contains pork, when one member of the crew is a talking pig.

* ''[[Douwe Dabbert]]'' features an animal kingdom populated by [[Funny Animal|Funny Animals]]s. Every single one of them is vegetarian, including normally predatory ones, such as the wolves. Two human villains then entered the kingdom. Not knowing that the animals were intelligent, they slaughtered and roasted the innkeeper, a chicken (the inn as empty at the time, and quite isolated from the rest of the kingdom). When the wolves arrive, they eat along, not knowing it's the innkeeper. When they realise it afterwards, they decide that they like the taste of meat, and proceed to conquer the kingdom with the human villains. {{spoiler|They go back to being vegetarians at the end of the story.}}

* Beast Boy of the [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]] has come to this conclusion: as he can [[Animorphism|transform into any animal under the sun]], eating ''any'' kind of meat, feels like cannibalism, with eggs having a [[Squick|squickysquick]]y [[Eats Babies|implication]]. He tries to share his [[Future Food Is Artificial|tofuburgers]] with the other Titans whenever possible(they rarely partake), and has been known to turn into particularly cute animals and quip that they should at least vow never to eat ''green'' meat.

* ''[[Bedknobs and Broomsticks]]'' features a sequence that takes place underwater, with the live-action cast dancing with a city of talking fish. All well and good -- untilgood—until the merry ball is broken up by a fisherman. Who turns out to be a talking bear. Because all the animals on this island island were made human-like thanks to a magic spell. Hello, [[Fridge Logic]].

*** Didn't the ''[[Myth BustersMythBusters]]'' successfully repel a great white with a fake dolphin?

* In ''[[Happy Feet]]'', the penguins themselves eat fish, which are [[No Cartoon Fish|rendered realistically]]. The pair of orcas encountered during the film are also treated realistically; as playful, giant dolphins that try to eat the protagonists. The Skua that try unsuccessfully to feed on juvenile penguins talk, and are depicted like bullies or gangsters. A leopard seal can speak and is treated like an intelligent, evil monster, akin to a dragon. Top this off with heavy, [[Anvilicious]] doses of [[Humans Are Bastardsthe Real Monsters]] and you've got yourself a very mixed bag on predator treatment.

* ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'' also avoids the issue, since the Furious Five are carnivores or omnivores (Monkey and Crane), but all we ever see them eating is...noodles. (Granted, it's the only thing the herbivorous Po knows how to cook, and coming from a village where all the denizens are prey species -- rabbitsspecies—rabbits, geese, pigs, sheep, etc. -- kind of makes that a no-brainer. But still...) Even Tigress, who initially refuses Po's dinner thanks to the continued chip on her shoulder, instead eats a plate of tiny tofu. Po, of course, only eats things like cookies, peaches, and dumplings, hopefully not stuffed with meat (though, thankfully, [[Animal Stereotypes|not bamboo]]). The only character we can assume to truly eat meat, due to his size, personality, and mental state, is the villain Tai Lung...and [[Determinator|rather having a bit more on his mind at the time]], we never see him eat either. The fact that, according to [[Word of God]], the villagers were deliberately designed to be prey species in order to seem more helpless and timid before Tai Lung's ravages, on the other hand, treads very close to crossing the cannibalism line of this trope -- andtrope—and purposefully so.

* The ''[[Over the Hedge (animation)|Over the Hedge]]'' cast don't seem to take into account the source of all the food items they take. [[Everything Is Worse With Bears|Vincent]] threatens to kill RJ and [[PunA Worldwide Punomenon|naturally]] is the only non-human antagonist.

* Turned on its head and parodied with the [[Let's Meet the Meat]] scene in ''[[The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy (novel)|The Restaurant at the End of the Universe]]''. The cruelty, Galactic culture decides, is not in eating animals. The cruelty comes in eating animals who probably do not ''want'' to be eaten. So they breed livestock that is intelligent enough to know what's going on -- andon—and is also disturbingly eager to be devoured. The animal even goes so far as to recommend cuts of itself to the diners. (By the way, Vore [[Fetish Fuel]]?)

** Arthur is completely [[Squick|squickedsquick]]ed out by this concept ("That's not the point! Maybe it is the point, I don't care. I don't want to think about it"), but has come to terms with it by ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy/Mostly Harmless|Mostly Harmless]]'', where he meets a whole herd of these creatures, and is quite happy to discuss barbecue arrangements with them. This time it's Random who's [[Squick|squickedsquick]]ed.

* The above-mentioned ''[[Dinotopia]]'', which takes place in a land where only [[Lions and Tigers and Humans, Oh My!|about ten percent of the population is human]] and the rest are [[Intellectual Animal|Intellectual Animals]]s of all imaginable species, has a relatively clever approach to this problem. All carnivores have switched to a diet of fish and it's implied that those who can (most notably humans) have gone entirely over to veganism. The twist is that some animals refused to make the change and have exiled themselves to the Rainy Basin and Backwood Flats, where they live as their wild ancestors did (similar to The Wild in ''Kevin and Kell''). Interestingly, this is treated by the major characters as more of an alternate lifestyle choice than a break of the rules and such characters are not vilified as one would expect. (At least, not in the book. [[They Just Didn't Care|The movie]] is another story...)

*** Gets even [[Squick|Squickier]]ier when you realize that, until the 1800s or so, books bound [http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2006/01/07/some_of_nations_best_libraries_have_books_bound_in_human_skin/ in human skin] were not entirely unheard of...

** The animals in ''[[Discworld/Moving Pictures|Moving Pictures]]'' were only able to talk because of the influence of Holy Wood. When it's sealed at the end, and they lose their human-level intelligence the cat goes right back to chasing the mouse. Gaspode regains human-level intelligence in an unrelated incident between books.

** What's very rare for animals to be able to ''speak''. Werewolves and talking dogs can both talk to normal dogs, who have been shown to be intelligent. I don't know about other animals, but I do remember once when someone mentioned to Death something about humans being more important than chickens, he responded that that's a distinction commonly made by humans. Also, dogs aren't treated particularly well. For example, in ''[[Making Money]]'', a dog became the chairman of the bank, but the employees just did what his owner said, rather than using an actual translator.

*** Because [[Selective Obliviousness|everyone knows dogs can't talk]]. And also, as established in ''[[The Truth]]'', they are basically still dogs (with exceptions for special cases) and can't really think outside the kennel.

** Note that the street dogs in ''[[Discworld/Men At Arms|Men Atat Arms]]'' seem considerably more sentient than pet dogs like Laddie or Mr. Fusspot. Justified by the intensity of natural selection on the streets of Ankh-Morpork, where a stupid dog quickly becomes an even stupider fur muff and/or takeaway stir-fry. Also, feral dogs probably scavenge off the same refuse that made the rats from ''Amazing Maurice'' into intelligent creatures, albeit not often enough for most of them to learn to speak Human.

* Daine, the main character in [[Tamora Pierce]]'s ''Immortals'' books, suffers from Carnivore Confusion. She's a "wildmage" who, among other things, can [[Voluntary Shapeshifting|turn into any animal she wants]]. Before she started to learn about her magic, she grew up eating meat like anybody else, and continued to hunt and eat meat for a long time after discovering it -- sheit—she says at one point that she doesn't see why this would surprise anybody, since animals kill and eat each other all the time, and it's not as if she kills for sport or uses her magic to lure prey towards her. This changes, however, after a bad experience or two when ''she herself'' is pursued in animal form by hunters -- gamehunters—game meat becomes [[Nausea Fuel]] for her, and she can't stand to eat it anymore, having felt what the animal went through. She doesn't object to it in principle or try to stop other people; she just literally can't stomach it herself. It's mentioned that she gets by okay with domesticated meat by never bonding mentally with any farm animals, and how she feels about [[No Cartoon Fish|fish or insects]] isn't mentioned.

** He had a similar problem making Christmas dinner for ''[[A Muppet Family Christmas]]''. The Chef ''invited'' the Turkey (from [[Hollywood New England|Dorchester, MA]]) for dinner. The Turkey convinces the Chef to roast up Big Bird instead. Big Bird unwittingly saves his own life by befriending the Chef, and in the words of [https://web.archive.org/web/20141012072259/http://www.toughpigs.com/myweekxmasmore03.htm this reviewer], "The Chef ends up preparing shredded wheat and cranberry sauce, which is terrific. Until the cranberries start singing 'Silent Night'..."

*** If you think about ''that'' too hard, especially in the context of sentient apple trees, you get a whole different kind of [[Squick]] (see ''[[Discworld/Equal Rites|Equal Rites]]'').

** The prime example here is Albert the Alligator, who in the early days of the comic would sometimes end up swallowing smaller animals by accident (they were usually saved, though) and would sometimes be accused of eating someone if they went missing. He'd sometimes threaten to eat the small critters if they annoyed him, and at one point even chased after the villains with a knife and fork, as revenge when they'd tried to eat Pogo -- butPogo—but he never actually went through with it. He pretty much stopped doing this in the comic's later years, but he'd still cheerfully mooch off his friends and eating their food.

* The straight version is played deliberately for laughs in ''[[Sherman's Lagoon]]'', as part of its championship of 'uncute' critters: the two starring sharks eat other anthropomorphic fish regularly, usually after chatting for awhile. They also frequently go after ''humans'' -- which—which they call "[[Puny Humans|hairless beach apes]]" -- as—as well, 'fishing' for them using lines cast onto the beach. Numerous strips discuss the best baits for the various types of human.

* In ''[[Garfield]]'', Garfield has eaten (or tried to) [https://web.archive.org/web/20111011145653/http://garfield.nfshost.com/2004/07/08/ birds], [https://web.archive.org/web/20111011145454/http://garfield.nfshost.com/1997/05/23/ fish], and [https://web.archive.org/web/20111011145810/http://garfield.nfshost.com/1988/01/31/ flowers] that are often shown to be as intelligent as he is even after holding conversations with them, and also has no compunctions whatsoever about squashing talking spiders (and their [https://web.archive.org/web/20111011145835/http://garfield.nfshost.com/1986/08/24/ grieving families].) For the most part, Garfield will eat anything but mice, established within the first week of the strip's creation. ("Show me a good mouser, and I'll show you a cat with bad breath.") He also abhors spinach (especially cooked spinach) and raisins (even in cookies). A [https://web.archive.org/web/20111011145430/http://garfield.nfshost.com/1994/10/30/ certain strip] has Garfield facing the ghosts of all the animals he's eaten, including what looks like a ''cow'' or a ''horse''. (It's probably meant to be a cow [beef lasagna], given its split hooves, although if he's ever actually eaten cat food, a horse might be possible as well.) Meanwhile, the protagonists of ''U.S. Acres'' are herbivores, with predatory animals appearing only as villains, unless you count Booker's fruitless pursuit of a worm which sometimes appears more intelligent than he is -- althoughis—although, in "The Worm Turns", Sheldon the ambulatory egg mentions that he's planning to have ''quiche'' for dinner...

* [[Dungeons and& Dragons|AD&D]] Planescape ''Kings of the Wild'' accessory: The creatures of Beastland hunt and eat each other - ''c'est la vie''. Because the possibility of being devoured by Owl is just part of what it means to be Mouse. Moreover, to kill an animal without subsequently eating it is "the ultimate insult" ''to the whole species'' (and possibly all other species under the same Beast Lord's rule). "[[Predators Are Mean]]" was invoked once, and even this ultimately was [[Humans Are Bastardsthe Real Monsters|the stupid mortals' fault]]. Initially at least the Beast Lords themselves (who can [[Humanity Ensues|assume humanoid form]]) were exempt from the menu, but [[It Got Worse|times changed]]. On the other hand, Mouse Lord, being ''[[Anthropomorphic Personification|the ultimate]]'' "sneaky rodent", is so good at hiding and escaping that only Owl Lord can hunt him down.

* Subverted in the [[Ravenloft]] setting's domain of the Wildlands, where ''all'' the [[Talking Animal|Talking Animals]]s have a mean streak regardless of ecological niche.

* ''[[Spore]]'' pretty much averts this entirely -- asentirely—as a Carnivore or Omnivore creature, you can socialize with the same creatures you are capable of killing and eating. The same holds true in the Tribal stage, and any other tribes don't seem to mind if you're slaughtering other sapient creatures and consuming them. (Not averted so much if you're playing Tribal as a straight carnivore and offer a gift basket of meat to a tribe of herbivores...)

*** The eating-fish-is-okay thing is referenced in [https://web.archive.org/web/20101229160302/http://www.brawlinthefamily.com/?p=1738 This] [[Brawl in the Family]] strip.

* In the ''[[Jak and Daxter]]'' series, the majority of the [[Talking Animal|Talking Animals]]s are either [[Heel Race Turn|reformed]] [[Mooks|Lurkers]] or [[Weasel Mascot|ottsels]] like [[Snarky Non-Human Sidekick|Daxter]]. However, there is one [[Polly Wants a Microphone|bird]] named [[Embarrassing First Name|Pecker]]. There's a scene in the racing spin-off ''[[Vehicular Combat|Jak X]]'' where he sees [[Combat Commentator|Blitz]] eating poultry and objects, saying that that could be his uncle. So apparently macaw [[Expy|expies]] are food in that universe.

== WebcomicsWeb Comics ==

* The above-mentioned ''[[Kevin and Kell]]'', for those who aren't familiar with it, is about a "mixed marriage" between a rabbit and a wolf. As such it addresses this issue with surprising frequency and from several different angles. Kell, the wolf, actuallyruns works"Dewclaws Fine Meats" and previously worked for HerdThinners Inc., atwo predatory ''corporationcorporations'' that huntshunt other animals and sellssell the meat. Young carnivores are specifically taught ''not'' to talk to their prey, as it may result in befriending them. However, you need to eat the animal that you kill, otherwise it's murder.

** There's also a rule that states that predators are unable to track down and eat ''specific'' prey, meaning they can't kill an eat anyone they know, or have business dealings with.

** In a post about a [[Gender Swap]] comic for April Fool's day of 2007, Holbrook mentions that there would be [[Unfortunate Implications|a considerable]] [[Unequal Pairing|power imbalance]] if "Kelly" was the predator and "Kevina" was the prey. He admits that George and Danielle are a couple with a female prey species and a male predator, but notes that they're secondary characters. (It probably helps that Danielle {{spoiler|was originally a human, meaning that she's not instinctively scared of George and she eats meat}}).

* In ''[[Freefall]]'', the only furry is a she-wolf, and she [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff100/fv00023.htm has] [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff200/fv00183.htm been] [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff300/fv00228.htm shown] to eat other animals. She [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff200/fv00193.htm justifies] this by explaining nature's natural food cycle, but latelylater on she seems to just [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1100/fv01081.htm go to restaurants] instead.

** It's probably easier to go to restaurants than deal with Helix's apparently Disney-fied view of how nature works. [[Fridge Logic|Also, the planet they live on is still being terraformed, and Florence is an engineer by training; she probably doesn't want to eat an animal that's important to the terraforming process.]]

* In ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140103201336/http://fesandernst.com/ P.S.I.]'', the only non-sapient land animals are insects. This has [https://web.archive.org/web/20080907181935/http://fesandernst.com/Guest_DebtOn01.htm obvious] implications on the food supply in the comic's universe.

* The [[Web Comic]] ''Shivae'' has this as an important, if not main issue: most characters are non-anthropomorphic animals, the protagonists are predators, and all carnivores seen so far are sapient (and mostly sympathetic). Herbivores seem to be split between sapient and non-sapient within each species, and sapient herbivores show little respect or concern for non-sapients, even those part of their own herd, and allow predators to hunt the latter. It is considered taboo to kill another sapient animal, but since they can all communicate with each other, it's easily avoided. Then the [[Petting Zoo People|very anthropomorphic]] colonists show up, and for some reason can't communicate with the non-anthropomorphic cast members, who they consider to be all dumb beasts...oh, and did I mention their society [[Bambi|is advanced enough to have guns]]?

* A variation occurs in in [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20031203.html2003-12-03 this] ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' strip, which takes place after a very near tragedy occurred between two species who didn't recognize each others' sentience. But, hey, "Food that talks is not food". Schlock looks for [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20031130.html2003-11-30 loop]-[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20040307.html2004-03-07 holes]. Sometimes, he doesn't even bother with the pretense.

* In ''[[Gene Catlow]]'', [[Word of God]] says that all meat comes from donors -- furriesdonors—furries who donate their mortal remains to be processed as food, much like [[Real Life]] organ donors. This is explicitly mentioned in the fanfic The Basalt City Chronicles, where Eugene Catlow says he wishes he could thank the donor of the meat he is eating for keeping himself in good shape.

* ''[http://www.cookingschoolnewspbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF112-112/ Mr._Rex.jpg ThisRex]'' strip from ''[[The Perry Bible Fellowship]]''.

** Also [httphttps://wwwawesomesquad.cookingschoolnewswordpress.com/?cid=PBF1642008/09/26/perry-Lumberjack.jpgbible-fellowship-the-lumberjack/ Lumberjack], [http://www.cookingschoolnewspbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF218comics/the-The_Great_Circle.jpggreat-circle/ The Great Circle], probably a few others...

* ''[[Doc Rat]]'' [http://www.docrat.com.au/default.asp?id=strip&thisItem=230comic/regarding-the-meat-truck/ Regarding the Meat demonstratesTruck].

* ''[[The Kenny Chronicles]]'' seems to avert this, herbivorous [[Funny Animal|Tarneki]] seem to have no problem with their non-anthro cousins being on the menu.

* In ''[[Horndog]]'', Tommy, a rat, and Leonard, a cat, engage in a conversation about Tommy's fear of being eaten. Also, a recent storyline involves Charlene becoming romantically involved with a Jewish lesbian mouse, which gives new meaning to the phrase "[[PunA Worldwide Punomenon|eating pussy]]".

* In ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' Trog tries very hard to stop Aylee (an alien from like from, you know, alien''[[Alien]]'') from eating humans. The cast at one point have an intervention for her in which she eats John a man who went through cannibals anonymous. A strip later Torg enrolls her in the program. She eventually stops eating humans just in time for riffRiff and Torg to get trapped in the 1999 annual cannibal convention. Torg realizes trying to change Aylee's nature is pointless and unleashes Aylee on the cannibals this fails but they all survive due to a damn heroes moment. ironically a few arcs later Aylee transforms into a dragon that eats potatoes nullifying the whole process. As far as we know she hasn't eaten humans since.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101229160302/http://www.brawlinthefamily.com/?p=1738 This] ''[[Brawl in the Family]]'' strip puts an anthropomorphic fish into [[Animal Crossing]]. He is not impressed.

* ''[[Panthera]]'' gives us [http://www.pantheracomic.com/?p=1620 this gem] about a freshly killed deer.

* Frequently brought up in ''[[Subnormality]]'' as, despite being higher in the food chain than people, the Sphynx frequently holds discussions with people and integrates into modern society as best she can. Especially notable in that she later becomes good friends with the Pink Haired Girl (and even goes as far as {{spoiler|saving her life}} in a more recent comic), yet continues to eat humans regularly.

** The real [[PunA Worldwide Punomenon|meat]] of the episode however focuses on popplers, which resemble popcorn chicken, and are apparently delicious. Everybody happily devours the things until one hatches, and they realize that popplers are the eggs of the Omicron Persei 8 people.

* In an episode of ''[[CatDog]]'', Dog tries to answer the question of where meat comes from. He explains how there's a guy who plants ''meat plants'' -- meanwhile—meanwhile, Cat just explains slaughter. Of course, Dog goes crazy at the idea of eating sapient beings, who he thinks are friends, and turns vegan. Then, Dog starts to become delusional as he imagines that vegetables ''are'' his friends. After all that, Dog then tries to eat Cat, [[Insane Troll Logic|because he's not his ''friend'' but his ''brother'']]. Fortunately, [[The Cuckoolander Was Right|the guy who plants meat plants]] appears and solves the problem.

* ''[[The Fairly Odd ParentsOddParents]]'' ' "Crash Nebula" episode has the hero, Sprig Speevak, tell his alien classmates a story about the time he rescued an alien princess, which included a part where his kid sister Sprout calls him in for dinner, which is turkey, and it makes the alien turkey mad, so Sprig revised that part to Sprout telling him that their mom made the turkey a sweater.

* In an episode of ''[[Krypto the Superdog (animation)|Krypto the Superdog]]'', Krypto and his cat friend Streaky (who also has the same powers) are exposed to red kryptonite and turn into fish versions of themselves. Not only are the sharks portrayed as being mean bastards preying on innocent fish, there's actually a DOLPHIN who is APPALLED that Streaky eats fish, and even has the nerve to call him (along with a bunch of other fish who find out the truth) a "fish eater". Both [[Carnivore Confusion]] AND [[You Fail Biology Forever]] since both dolphins and whales are treated as if they are related to fish. It's even worse when you consider that Dolphins feed primarily on fish.

* A stunningly brutal aversion in a one-off gag on ''[[Tuff Puppy]]''. When looking into Kitty's past, they see her sixteenth birthday where her mother hired a very sentient (yet normal sized) mouse magician, Kitty ate him without even a second thought, understandably [[Squick|squickingsquick]]ing out the partygoers.

** Speaking of backyard birds, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110910113040/http://www.audubonmagazine.org/journal/journal0809.html this article], recently published in ''Audubon'' magazine, theorizes that ''one painting'' brought the Blue Jay of all animals under the Carnivores Are Mean banner. This isn't anything new for [[Crows and Ravens|Corvids]] (poor crows; they're like the hyenas of the avian world), but it's weird that the one member of the family generally agreed to be [[Beauty Equals Goodness|the prettiest]] is under this big tent too.

* Paleoartist Mark Witton has brought this subject up for discussion in his online portfolio/blog. The discussion, which has been rather lively so far, accompanies his admittedly surprising illustration that depicts [http://www.flickr.com/photos/markwitton/522293984 carnivorous scavenging behavior in ceratopsians]. Even though he [[Shown Their Work|explains the thinking behind the piece]], several posters can't quite wrap their heads around the idea of a meat-eating Styracosaur -- whichStyracosaur—which just underlines his point.

* Have you ever heard of David Pearce? The Abolitionist Project? This [https://web.archive.org/web/20120507181710/http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/08/predatory_animals_are_bad.php Tetrapod Zoology] post will explain all. Or try to.

* While adult humans are (almost) immune to [[Carnivore Confusion]], most children are horrified when they first learn (or figure out) where meat comes from. Even adults are not completely free from it - people tend to be squicked out by eating animal species that are, in the given culture, usual pet species or otherwise held in high regard. That's the reason people in the West often think that eating cats, dogs, parrots, small mammal pets, or horses is terrible (though horse is eaten in France), while it's perfectly fine to eat pigs, which are at least as intelligent as any of the above, and certainly more similar to humans socially.

*** Well, FYI guinea pigs were kept and bred for eating originally in South America (curtseycourtesy of the[[The otherOther wikiWiki]]), so are we supposed to think that we "adopt a brother" just to plan to eat him later on originally? in most societies where cats and dogs are eaten, they aren't taken from someone, but are raised just for the purpose, similar to the reason I won't want to eat your dog... And about the bred for stupidity comment, when breading, the trait to look for is obedience rather than less in intelligence. The sheer notion that obedience=stupidity is totally human centric and doesn't make much sense in natural content.

* In Western societies, the Great Apes are considered to be highly intelligent, and their close resemblence to humans make the idea of eating them seem to most people almost equivalent to cannibalism. This is far from the case in the regions of Africa where apes originate. There, they are commonly eaten -- andeaten—and referred to as "bush meat" -- despite—despite various laws and protective regulations forbidding the practice. The current best explanation of the origin of HIV/AIDS is that it mutated from SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus); and was first contracted through the practice of eating "bush meat", due to the physiological similarity between humans and apes.