Why don't flesh eating zombies eat each other?

[Wicht]

In movies like the Night of the Living Dead, 28 Days Later, and Resident Evil flesh eating zombies terrorize normal folks in their undead quest for food. But the question arises in my mind every time I watch these shows – why don’t they violently attack and eat the mindless fool next to them?

Maybe live meat taste better, but in the absence of live meat why not just eat each other?

Any rationalizations?

 

[barsoomcore]

*smacks Wicht with the Hong stick*

But seriously, I don't believe the "angry people" of 28 Days Later were ever actually shown to be eating people. They just... made you angry.

What a stupid movie.

Anyways, maybe flesh-eating zombies have more refined palates than you or I.

Maybe the secret sauce that animates flesh-eating zombies makes them taste not so very good.

Maybe it's not so much the flesh as the mortal soul bound to the flesh that they eat -- taking a chunk out of your leg is just a side-effect.

 

[shilsen]

Eat each other? You sicko! That would be like ... er ... cannibalism and stuff. It's so much more sanitary to go eat living people. They already have that nice red ketcup running through their veins, so it's not like you have to carry condiments or anything. And it's fun to hear them scream too.

 

[BOZ]

zombies don't taste as good as living people. mmm, living people...

 

[SylverFlame]

Night of the Living Dead the zombies were after brains, which if you had yours eaten you would rise as a zombie (it was in one of them, the first only I think).

As for the more general question... it violates Zombie Local rule 17.A-03, no eating of licenced members.

I'd say it has something to do with the nature of zombie flesh. Maybe whatever is keeping them running is also a deterent to their tastes. It would make sense since they are a voracious species that would quickly eat themselves into extinction. It also sounds more scientific than "it's in the script".

 

[barsoomcore]

Night of the Living Dead has no mention of brains. You're thinking of Return of the Living Dead -- no connection between the two.

Brains, brains...

 

[JoeGKushner]

Ah, a spin off of the old, why don't the spawning undead take over the earth!

Well, in some instances they do. I Am Legend, the book on which 28 Days After, Omega Man, and Last Man on Earth are based on, has the vampires actively feeding on one another.

In simple terms though, it's all about the life force. It's all about the fresh blood. It's all about the unspoiled meat.

 

[barsoomcore]

So if I don't bathe am I safe from flesh-eating zombies? I can get pretty, ehm, spoiled.

 

[Wicht]

So if I don't bathe am I safe from flesh-eating zombies? I can get pretty, ehm, spoiled.

But then the question arises, if you don't bathe, can you still DM Wild Stewardesses?

 

[Wicht]

. It's all about the unspoiled meat.

So how long does it take a zombie to spoil?

Are zombies more likely to eat fresh zombies then putrid zombies?

Will a salted zombie stay fresher longer?