Reduced to Ratburgers: Difference between revisions

 

It should be noted that rat is a delicacy in some countries (see [[Real Life]], below), which is potentially [[Foreign Queasine|a different trope altogether]].

 

{{quote|'''Spike:''' And is it tasty?

'''Jet:''' It’s totally disgusting. People eat it anyway for status, it’s "in" now. }}

* In ''[[Time Bandits]]'', Vermin catches and eats a ''live'' rat when the characters are imprisoned. Of course, he [[Extreme Omnivore|eats anything]].

* The subterranean "scraps" who live in the tunnels under San Angelo, in ''[[Demolition Man]]'', eat rat meat.

"Do you see any cows around here, Detective?" }}

** [[Crowning Moment of Funny|He then proceeds to keep eating.]]

* In ''[[Discworld]]'', rats are a staple of traditional dwarf cuisine. There's a rat-meat section in Ankh-Morpork's butchers' market, and recipes such as rat-on-a-stick, rat pie, and rat pizza are mentioned. An occasional human character is seen dining on such meals with dwarf companions.

** Unbelievably, there's a '''real''' [[Defictionalization|rat pizza recipe]] in ''Nanny Ogg's Cookbook''! {{spoiler|Luckily, it's a human-palatable version, with sculpted "rats" made from cut-up vegetables.}}

*** The same book also plays with this as the Dwarf restaurant owner, Gimlet, apparently was unable to afford real<ref>the gnome rat-catcher charges too much for real, trap-fresh, rat</ref> rat a couple of times and was caught substituting chicken or even beef.

* ''[[World War Z]]'':

** The small dog rescued by one of the interviewees was adopted by a family, and kept them fed through the winter by killing rats for the stewpot.

* Averted by the Rat-Speakers in ''[[Neverwhere]]'', who revere such rodents far too much to even contemplate eating them, so dine on stray cats instead.

* Before the beginning of ''[[The Curse of Chalion]]'', Cazaril is in a siege where, when he's telling the story, he claims that not a rat was left unroasted within the besieged castle. Later in the book, he needs a rat for an illegal spell he wants to perform, so he exploits the fact that this is common knowledge and sends a page to catch one for him, claiming that he developed a taste for them during the siege and he's going to eat it.

* In [[Anne Rice]]'s ''[[Interview with the Vampire]]'', newly turned Louis couldn't stomach the idea of feeding upon humans, [[Vegetarian Vampire|so he feeds upon rats instead]]. This was mocked by his sire Lestat, who considered him a coward and a weakling because of it.

{{quote|'''Lestat:''' All I need to find you, Louis, is follow the corpses of rats!}}

* Referenced frequently in ''[[The Hunger Games]],'' where the starving people of District 12 are willing to eat most kinds of animals, including mice, rats, squirrels, and dogs (says one shopkeeper: "Once it's in the soup, I'll call it beef").

 

* Sometimes contemplated, or even done for real, by participants in reality shows such as ''[[Survivor]]'' or ''The Colony''.

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'': While he was atoning for his sins after being re-ensouled, Angel subsisted on rat blood. Part of his [[Vegetarian Vampire]]-ness.

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* Rat-on-a-stick is a quite common wasteland snack in the world of the post-apocalyptic game ''Mutant Future''.

 

* In ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (theatre)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]'', a variant of the trope occurs with the meat shortage driving some pie-shop owners to use their neighbors' cats and other poor animals as pie-filling. When Mrs. Lovett, one pie-shop owner, comes across the title vengeance-driven barber, his first murder and his vow to "practice on less honorable throats" following his failure to kill Judge Turpin spark [[I'm a Humanitarian|a ghoulish idea]] as to [[Human Resources|how to get her business back on track]].

 

** [[Fallout 3]] and [[Fallout: New Vegas]] also feature giant, mutated versions of mole rats, cockroaches, and ants, among other critters. All can be harvested for meat, and in New Vegas, can be cooked into what are evidently satisfying meals. Bloatfly sliders, anyone?

* Otis, the prisoner in [[Secret of Monkey Island|The Secret of Monkey Island,]] complains constantly about how there's usually nothing for him to eat but rats. Played for laughs, since he does have a piece of carrot cake his Aunt Tillie made, but he can't stand carrot cake.

 

* ''[[Freefall]]'' has (so far) two characters that enjoy the delights of entomological cookery (bug-eating): in the case of Sam Starfall, it's not clear how much of it is [[Alien Lunch]] as a result of being a [[Bizarre Alien Biology|squid in a suit]] and how much is his natural scavenger instincts. With vet Winston Thurmad it's a conscious dietary choice based on the fact that insects are healthier for you- high protein, low fat, and aside from haemovorous species, aren't likely to carry pathogens that affect humans. And of course, the [[Uplifted Animal]] engineer is quick to catch and eat rat (offscreen).

 

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Disgust Tropes]]

[[Category:Food Tropes]]

[[Category:Rodent Tropes]]

[[Category:Apocalyptic Index]]