The Morality of Playing Sapient Animals

[David Johnston2]

In a situation where you have talking animals, some of whom are predators and the others their prey, it's absurd for the two kinds to band together on an ongoing basis of course. This is a significant handicap to roleplaying.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

In a situation where you have talking animals, some of whom are predators and the others their prey, it's absurd for the two kinds to band together on an ongoing basis of course.

Like a Lion, a Meerkat and a Boar? Yeah, that would never work.

[Hans Rancke-Madsen]

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

And there would probably be omnivores who were vegetarians in a 'realistic' Narnia. But suppose you were a tiger and a meatless diet was a slow, painful death?

Narnian talking omni- and carnivores has the advantage that non-talking animals exist too.

There's a scene in The Silver Chair where Puddleglum is happily munching on some venison when he overhears his host mentioning that the deer who'd supplied it had been a liar (it had claimed that it wasn't tender). Puddleglum has a violent reaction to finding out that he has been eating meat from a talking animal, but meat from a non-talking animal doesn't bother him one little bit.


Hans

[Hans Rancke-Madsen]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

There are many horrible traits we can play, and many we can't.
It is interesting which are which though.
I can play evil characters, but only if it's made clear up front that it will be an evil game.

This came up in another discussion I had not so long ago (but long enough that I can't remember where (CotI, I think)). A lot of people will happily play pirates but draw the line at slavers. Morally I don't see much difference, but I still get it. The ickiness of piracy is more intellectual than visceral. You have to stop and think about how horrible the things you are pretending to do actually are. With slavers there's a squick factor that doesn't apply to pirates.


Hans

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Like a Lion, a Meerkat and a Boar?

Warthog? 10 character limit!

[Hans Rancke-Madsen]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Like a Lion, a Meerkat and a Boar? Yeah, that would never work.

Or a mammoth, a tiger, and a sloth.

The movie Madagascar explores that problem a bit. The lion and the zebra lives in a zoo and are best friends. The lion gets its meat delivered by the zookeepers and don't ever think of the zebra as food. Until they are marooned on an island with no friendly zookeepers delivering steaks...

(The solution is that someone figures out how to fish fish from the sea that the lion can live on; no one cares about the fishies.)


Hans

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Like a Lion, a Meerkat and a Boar? Yeah, that would never work.

They had him change prey preferences just to deal with the problem.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

In a situation where you have talking animals, some of whom are predators and the others their prey, it's absurd for the two kinds to band together on an ongoing basis of course. This is a significant handicap to roleplaying.

Indeed, though there is such a thing as absurdist roleplaying.

I mind a long-running webcomic (Kevin & Kell) about a rabbit married to a wolf. The wolf even works for "Herd Thinners Inc.".

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Hans Rancke-Madsen

(The solution is that someone figures out how to fish fish from the sea that the lion can live on; no one cares about the fishies.)

The good news is that I've found Nemo!

The bad news is that Simba found him first.

[Irish Wolf]

Originally Posted by Brett

Indeed, though there is such a thing as absurdist roleplaying.

I mind a long-running webcomic (Kevin & Kell) about a rabbit married to a wolf. The wolf even works for "Herd Thinners Inc.".

That's actually a potential solution there. Herd Thinners Inc. is employed to keep the herbivorous animals from out-reproducing their food supply; it's considered perfectly ethical from their point of view, as without that the herbivores would begin to starve.

Of course, when one of the predators falls in love with her prey, things get a little more confused...