Wraith Food

[All Seeing Eye]

Why do the Wraith need to feed on Humans?

I mean they seem to simply suck the life force out of Humans and so why can they not equally suck the life force out of a Pig or an Elephant?

It would make more sense for the Wraith to populate entire planets with nice big juicy Elephants, or even dogs and cats because they have more than one offspring at a time.

Infact what about gorillas or monkeys? we share large percentages of DNA with them, why don't the wraith populate entire planets with nice big juicy tasty gorillas?

 

[DRMidnite]

Because Humans taste like chicken.

 

[cylkoth]

It should work as well, but the writers limited the Wraith to human feeding without ever broaching alternative sources. They've even avoided human cloning...if the Wraith can reproduce via some technological cloning process, why didn't they apply that to human replication? The human clones need not even be sentient, just grown without brains and stored in cocoons and kept viable through stasis...Or some type of bio mass that generates life energy?

Todd; There is much about Wraith you do not know...And never will, cause the idiots in charge canned our arses...

 

[that1guy]

I believe that the Wraith cull humans for more than just the nutritional value. They are a power hungry race that use fear to keep everyone in line. I don't think the writers cared to think about other means of feeding or even how the process was actually done.

Basically what I think happened is when the writers were trying to come up with an enemy, they had Goa'uld on the mind and basically just came up with the next best thing. A race that dominates the galaxy and keeps it in check through fear. They have their own version of system lords with the Queens and warring factions.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The writers never gave us a good explanation why only humans can be Wraith chow. There was some talk of Wraith being a bug-human cross (that bug that latched onto Shep way back when), and maybe it's something to do with them needed to feed on an intelligent species so animals won't do.

 

[Hermiod]

The writers never gave us a good explanation why only humans can be Wraith chow. There was some talk of Wraith being a bug-human cross (that bug that latched onto Shep way back when), and maybe it's something to do with them needed to feed on an intelligent species so animals won't do.

This came up in part in "The Gift". The reason Teyla and those like her have Wraith DNA is that the Wraith scientist who was performing the experiments on her ancestors wanted to make humans more palatable, so to speak.

Plus, humans spread out in sufficient numbers in between cullings without any need for Wraith to farm them.

 

[Crewman47]

What does the Iratus bug itself feed on and shouldn't the Wraith also feed on the same thing or is it because the Wraith are a combination of Human and Bug they need human life energy where the Iratus bug only needs the life energy of whatever other creatures live on there homeworld?

 

[Harvey]

The real question is: why do the wraith still have big scary teeth if they feed with their hands?

 

[All Seeing Eye]

The real question is: why do the wraith still have big scary teeth if they feed with their hands?

Because as kids they still need to eat like Humans. But that still doesn't answer the question of why they are razor sharp.

 

[Hermiod]

The real question is: why do the wraith still have big scary teeth if they feed with their hands?

Because as kids they still need to eat like Humans. But that still doesn't answer the question of why they are razor sharp.

Why do we still have toenails ? Why does sugar, one of the most abundant food sources on Earth, make our teeth rot ?

 

[Kirby]

I mean they seem to simply suck the life force out of Humans and so why can they not equally suck the life force out of a Pig or an Elephant?

Shepard alluded to this in a season 1 episode (maybe Poisoning the Well?)after they had captured Steve, that he tried to feed it other live stuff but he didn't want it. I assume that it's because Wraith have some human DNA and their system is attuned to human energy.
Either that or they consider humans prime rib, and everything else Jack in the Box.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

^ yes, very convenient.