Can the Wraith feed on animals?

[_Ancients_]

So in another thread we were discussing how they would keep Todd alive on Earth if they were to keep him there. Do animals not have a life force too? Could they not take sustenance from a cow? Just curious, I can't remember if they ever explained that part of their feeding habits.

[jelgate]

Technically yes but it doesn't give them the energy they need to live

[editorguy]

Technically yes but it doesn't give them the energy they need to live

Source?

[Drizzt Do'Urden]

No they cant in season 1 (i forget the episode) when they had "steve" they said they tried all kinds of things but only one item seemed to be on the menu

[dasNdanger]

They can feed on animals, but it will not sustain them. Producer Joe Mallozzi likened it to eating only sugar/candy - if that's all you ate, eventually you would grow weak, get sick, and die.

You may enjoy reading through this thread on the same subject:

http://forum.gateworld.net/showthrea...wraith+animals


(Recently, when asked, Mallozzi said that - for a Wraith to survive - he must feed on human life energy...he made that comment after Infection aired.)

das

[WraithHumor]

So in another thread we were discussing how they would keep Todd alive on Earth if they were to keep him there. Do animals not have a life force too? Could they not take sustenance from a cow? Just curious, I can't remember if they ever explained that part of their feeding habits.

Sheppard said he tried to feed the Wraith he captured (I think Steve?) live animals but he didn't touch them. This was in Poisoning the Well and Sheppard used this fact to convince Weir that using him as a test subject was fine because he was going to die anyway. I'm sure if the Wraith could sustain itself on animals, it would have taken any opportunity to do so in order to survive.

[ciannwn]

I'm sure if the Wraith could sustain itself on animals, it would have taken any opportunity to do so in order to survive.

This would be particularly true of Ellia. She hated what she was so much that she injected herself with Beckett's prototype retrovirus because she wanted to be human. If she'd been able to feed on animals instead of humans she'd have done so.

[WraithHumor]

This would be particularly true of Ellia. She hated what she was so much that she injected herself with Beckett's prototype retrovirus because she wanted to be human. If she'd been able to feed on animals instead of humans she'd have done so.

Ah good call, I completely forgot about Ellia!

[Arrakis2013]

I'd like to see a Wraith try to feed on a bear right before the bear bites his head off.

[_Ancients_]

They can feed on animals, but it will not sustain them. Producer Joe Mallozzi likened it to eating only sugar/candy - if that's all you ate, eventually you would grow weak, get sick, and die.

You may enjoy reading through this thread on the same subject:

http://forum.gateworld.net/showthrea...wraith+animals


(Recently, when asked, Mallozzi said that - for a Wraith to survive - he must feed on human life energy...he made that comment after Infection aired.)

das

Thanks for the link to that thread. I tried looking for it earlier, but to no avail. I should have just done a search for it...

[Laura Dove]

So in another thread we were discussing how they would keep Todd alive on Earth if they were to keep him there. Do animals not have a life force too? Could they not take sustenance from a cow? Just curious, I can't remember if they ever explained that part of their feeding habits.

As other people have already said, wraith need to regularly feed on humans, Ancients or wraith in order to survive. I'm not fond of Joe Mallozzi's comparison with candy, because candy tastes good. A more appropriate comparison IMO would be like eating grass: Yes, a human can ingest grass, but if it eats only grass, it will grow sick and eventually die.

However, after "Infection":

Spoiler:

Todd doesn't feed on lifeforce any more. In EATG, we don't clearly see his hand, but in his scene with Woolsey, I don't think he has a feeding slit. That would also explain a picture of "Vegas" where his slit is in the wrong orientation: I think they added it afterwards on the photo, and the makeup department didn't give him a feeding slit in the last two episodes (although "Vegas" is an AU where Todd was never injected with a retrovirus).

[_Ancients_]

As other people have already said, wraith need to regularly feed on humans, Ancients or wraith in order to survive. I'm not fond of Joe Mallozzi's comparison with candy, because candy tastes good. A more appropriate comparison IMO would be like eating grass: Yes, a human can ingest grass, but if it eats only grass, it will grow sick and eventually die.

However, after "Infection":

Spoiler:

Todd doesn't feed on lifeforce any more. In EATG, we don't clearly see his hand, but in his scene with Woolsey, I don't think he has a feeding slit. That would also explain a picture of "Vegas" where his slit is in the wrong orientation: I think they added it afterwards on the photo, and the makeup department didn't give him a feeding slit in the last two episodes (although "Vegas" is an AU where Todd was never injected with a retrovirus).

I totally forgot that Todd's feeding habits have been altered. Duh!

[Laura Dove]

(spoilers for "Infection")

Spoiler:

I totally forgot that Todd's feeding habits have been altered. Duh!

Actually, we don't know for sure whether the iratus bug reverted the effect of the retrovirus or not. The point was not addressed at all; we didn't even get a clear shot of Todd's right hand. But in the scene with Woolsey, we don't see a feeding slit, and while we could just assume that his thumb hides the slit, I don't thing so.

[dasNdanger]

(spoilers for "Infection")

Spoiler:

Actually, we don't know for sure whether the iratus bug reverted the effect of the retrovirus or not. The point was not addressed at all; we didn't even get a clear shot of Todd's right hand. But in the scene with Woolsey, we don't see a feeding slit, and while we could just assume that his thumb hides the slit, I don't thing so.

Back a couple weeks after Infection aired, this question was put to Mallozzi:

Halo Luver writes: “1. Are Wraith capable of drawing nourishment from other rational creatures besides humans? Perhaps Asgard or Goua’ld symbiotes?

2. Does mass have an effect on how much nourishment a wraith takes from its victim?”

Answers: 1. Although a wraith is able to derive some nourishment from other creatures (like, say, an Asgard), in the long run it will need to feed on humans to ensure its survival. 2. Good question. I think it’s not so much mass but maturity.

So...unless Todd is unique and he has both cured himself and maintained his ability to eat normally, and survive...it seems we are right back to where we started - they must feed on humans to ensure their survival.

In a way it's kind of sad, because if Todd's feeding ability has been restored and that's the only way he can survive right now, then we know he DID seek another way...a way to break his dependence on human life force - and it failed. So, just like Ellia, even if in his heart he wants to stop feeding on humans, he can't.


das

[Laura Dove]

I think JM was only talking about normal wraith, and their ability, or absence thereof, to take lifeforce from other animals. After "Infection" and EATG,

Spoiler:

we don't know whether Todd is back to full wraith or if the primary effects of Keller's retrovirus still apply. I tend to think they do, and Todd still has no feeding slit, because I can't see any in EATG and because I suspect the makeup department didn't make one in "Vegas" either. (I say that because of a promo pic that looks weird; in the episode, we don't see his palm.) We already know Todd is unique because he's the only wraith still alive who took Keller's retrovirus.

Anyway, I agree with you in the case he's back to life-feeding wraith: It would be more than a little bitter, and unjust, to condemn him for something he risked his life and his entire hive to change.

Edit: Okay, Paul Mullie's Q&A on JM's blog give us the definite answer:

Spoiler:

Todd is very much back to being a full-fledged human life sucker at the beginning of this episode. I realize it wasn't that clear, and a lot of people have asked the question. What happened was, originally in the first scene, when Todd said the treatment was successful he added something about being "fully restored." Woolsey then asked him "does that mean you're back to feeding on humans?" To which Todd responded "I am exactly as I was," or something like that, meaning "damn right I'm back to feeding on humans." But then the network wanted a scene with Keller earlier in the show (as it stands, she only shows up about three quarters of the way through and it's a little jarring), so I cut that dialogue and added a whole separate scene at the top of Act One where Sheppard goes to Keller, who's done an exam on Todd, and SHE tells him he's back to feeding. But then it got cut for time.

So it may be a makeup mistake if we don't see his feeding slit in EATG.

So long SGA, you gave me 4 seasons of awesome entertainment and several wonderful screenshots during the last year. See you again in fanfiction.