A name for human-eaters

^^I think the problem is that "homovore" sounds more like someone's sexual preferences.

edited 5th Oct '10 1:55:04 PM by jewelleddragon

For those of you who are interested, here's a few sketches of the creature for reference. Note the nictitating membrane and claws, which can be broken and regrown as easily as human fingernails.

I'm sorry, Toodle, I forgot to address the anatomy issue. I dislike biology failures greatly, and I really want to make these creatures as believable as possible, but the arms were the one place where I had to cave in to artistic license. Anthropophages (I like that term the more I hear it,) are based on a combination of human and insect, (dryad), biology. They have partial endoskeletons and partial exoskeletons, and places where the two are indistinguishable. I'm no anatomist and I don't claim to be one, but if the bones in the arms have been replaced with an extremely light yet strong shell, and the pectoral muscles have been multiplied and rerouted a bit, could it be even vaguely plausible?

Deuxhero, what jeweleddragon said pretty much sums it up. Eating people is gross, but then, so is all predation. Lions and hyenas kill their prey by literally eating it alive. Brrrr. But my concern is that even though homovore is linguistically correct, it still sort of comes off as a sexual term, which could make it very hard for people to take these things seriously.

edited 5th Oct '10 5:18:49 PM by Takwin

Those look good!

Have you gotten any farther in writing this thing? it looks really interesting!

Well, that's some good nightmare fuel.

So, are these things venomous? They really seem like the type. And "I'm paralyzed but still concious while the thing eats me" just adds to the potential horror.

Aw, thank you, dontcallmewave. I've been kind of flirting on and off with this project lately, but it's not on the chopping block yet. Although Red Right Hand may not make it, I assure you that these awful things will definitely get recycled into a story somewhere.

Nightmare fuel is exactly what I'm going for, petrie. <3 Actually, I hadn't thought to make them venomous, but it might be a good idea. These critters have no trouble stalking and overpowering humans, but the only problem with us is that we tend to be noisy. All that kicking and screaming, even in a secluded area, is bound to draw unwanted attention. A little dose of paralytic venom might be just what the doctor ordered for keeping your prey quiet and manageable while you eviscerate them. The anthropophages have two sets of jaws: exterior, centipede-like mandibles that open horizontally and are used as tools/weapons, plus an interior set that moves vertically (more like a vertebrate jaw) that splits off chunks of food and pulls it into the mouth. Perhaps the interior jaws have some kind of venom-delivery mechanism, like the fangs of a spider, that renders their prey immobile in only a few minutes.

"Homs." Short, sweet, gets the point across.