“With the Cannibal perk, when you're in Sneak mode, you gain the option to eat a corpse to regain Health. But every time you feed, you lose Karma, and if the act is witnessed, it is considered a crime against nature.”— In-game description
Cannibal is a perk in Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 that allows the player character to engage in cannibalism.
Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas
Effects
In Fallout: New Vegas, the perk functions the same as it did in Fallout 3, except that it can be acquired much earlier (at level 4 instead of level 12). After consuming 25 corpses, the Courier will acquire the Dine and Dash challenge perk, allowing them to harvest human remains rather than eating the corpse directly.
The Lone Wanderer and Courier can only eat the corpses of humans and non-feral ghouls. In Old World Blues, the Courier can also eat the corpses trapped inside the Y-17 trauma override harnesses.
Each corpse restores 25 HP, adds 3 rads and reduces Karma by one point. Each corpse can only be fed from once. If the Lone Wanderer or Courier are caught devouring a corpse, friendly non-player characters (excluding companions) will turn hostile.
Fallout 4
“Feast on mortal flesh to heal your wounds! But don't do it around any polite folk (including companions, who aren't fans of chowing down on humans, Ghouls, or greenskin flesh), as you aren't seen in the best of lights. This is a good alternative to other forms of sustenance, though it requires you to be less caring in the way others perceive you. There's a chance you'll be openly attacked if you're gnawing on a citizen who lived in the establishment you're feasting at, too. So have some decorum, please!”— Fallout 4 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide description
As cannibalism is still such a deplorable act, all companions, with the exception of Strong, Dogmeat, Codsworth and Gage, will dislike the action if they witness it. Hancock, X6-88, Curie and MacCready react negatively, though their affinities are not affected.
The time to consume a corpse is much shorter compared to Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. The process is also more graphic, with blood spurting out of the corpse.
As of the Survival mode update (1.5.x), cannibalism has an additional penalty tacked on when in the survival difficulty level. Using it to satisfy the hunger need inflicts the player character with the Dark Craving status effect. Food will no longer sate hunger; the player character can only commit cannibalism to fulfill hunger requirements and will go straight from being satisfied to being ravenous instead of the intermediate statuses (peckish, etc.). The Sole Survivor will stay satisfied for 12 game hours before needing to commit cannibalism again (one normally needs to eat every 6 game hours). One corpse will take the Sole Survivor from ravenous to well-fed. This perk seems to ignore the "Parasites" disease. The game treats this as an addiction, which can be cured by any doctor NPC for 75 caps. This will appear as a dialogue option. Addictol, refreshing beverage and a radscorpion egg omelette will also cure the addiction.
Effects
| Rank | Requirements | Description | Base ID |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | END 8 | Feast on mortal flesh to heal your wounds! Eating human corpses restores Health.
Each corpse for this rank heals a total of 25 health. |
0004B259 |
| 2 | END 8, LVL 19 | Eating Ghoul or Super Mutant corpses restores Health
Each corpse for this rank heals a total of 25 health. |
001D1A62 |
| 3 | END 8, LVL 38 | Eating human, Ghoul or Super Mutant corpses now restores a significant amount of Health.
Each corpse for this rank heals a total of 50 health. |
001D1A63 |
Dialogue
Nearly all companions will react to the Sole Survivor eating human, ghoul or super mutant flesh.
| Companion | First Reaction | Second Reaction | Third Reaction | Fourth Reaction | Fifth Reaction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MacCready | "Okay, well... that's just about the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in my life." | "Hey I... uh, think you've got a little bit of brain caught in your teeth." | "Yeah, sure... go ahead, tuck in. Don't mind me." | ||
| Codsworth | "Well, that's Commonwealth steak tartare for you." | "Next time, might I suggest a little seasoning perhaps?" | "Mind the bones, sir/mum. Don't want to chip a tooth." | "Who needs utensils, right, sir/mum. Or napkins for that matter." | "A grown man/woman needs his/her protein I suppose." |
| Piper Wright | "Ugh. I think I'm going to be sick." | "Well, at least you know it's fresh." | "Remind me never to die in your presence." | "Oh god." | "There has to be something else around here to eat." |
| Deacon | "You aren't seriously...? Yes, yes, you are." | "Yeah, sure, dig in, pal." | "There goes my appetite." | ||
| Strong | "Careful with fingers and toes. They get stuck in teeth." | "Liver and heart are best parts." | "Strong hungry too, save some for Strong." | "That one looks stringy." | "Should hang that, taste better after two days." |
| Cait | "I've seen some nasty things in me day, but I think you just topped them all." | "Oh god, do you really have to do that in front of me?" | "Look, I kicked me drug habit... how about we start workin' on your... uh, corpse habit?" | "I know we both have our bad habits, but you really need to cut down on the corpse eatin'." | |
| John Hancock | "That one's, uh, all yours." | "You, you do what you gotta." | "You sure you know where that's been?" | "At least you had the politeness to wait till they're dead." | "Suppose they're beyond caring at this point." |
| Nick Valentine | "What're you... oh." | "Now I understand why people end up vegetarians." | "This is sick." | "Come on. They don't deserve that." | "Don't let me spoil your meal." |
| X6-88 | "I hope you know what you're doing." | "I still can't understand how doing that heals your wounds." | "I'm never going to get used to that." | "Ugh." | |
| Curie | "Is this sort of... dining... common now?" | "Eating like this. Most unsanitary." | "Several rare and dangerous diseases can be caught eating like this." | ||
| Danse | "What the hell do you think you're doing? That's beneath us, soldier!" | "If that's your idea of food, I suggest you eat it when I'm not around." | "I've heard of coming up with improvised field rations, but that's just disgusting." | ||
| Preston Garvey | "Jesus, what are you doing?" | "What the hell?" | "That's just wrong." |
Fallout 76
“Feast on mortal flesh to heal your wounds!”
Effects
| Rank | Description | Base ID |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eating Human, Ghoul, Super Mutant, Scorched, or Mole Miner corpses restores Health and hunger. | 0004B259 |
| 2 | Eating Human, Ghoul, Super Mutant, Scorched, or Mole Miner corpses restores more Health and hunger. | 001D1A62 |
| 3 | Eating Human, Ghoul, Super Mutant, Scorched, or Mole Miner corpses restores even more Health and hunger. | 001D1A63 |
- This perk can still be used with the Herbivore mutation.
- The first level of this perk restores 10% Hunger.
Notes
- In Fallout 3, it expands dialogue options with The Family in Blood Ties and when speaking with Jack Smith in Andale (without the perk, the first option requires a Speech check).
- There is a fairly long animation each time a corpse is devoured - roughly the time it takes to drink water from a sink twice.
- In Fallout: New Vegas, there is a hidden challenge perk tied to cannibalism that is undocumented even in the official strategy guide. This perk is called "Meat of Champions" and, in order to gain it, the Courier must feed on Mr. House, President Kimball, The King and Caesar. After obtaining this perk, whenever eating a corpse, a notice appears on-screen, stating "The essence of champions flows through your veins. When you cannibalize corpses, you temporarily gain Caesar's Intelligence, Mr. House's Luck, The King's Charisma, and President Kimball's Strength."
- In the quest Beyond the Beef, when talking to Marjorie, there's a dialogue option that says "<lie> It's okay. I eat people too. You can tell me the truth." With the perk, the "lie" part is absent.
- In Beyond the Beef, when talking to Mortimer about the society's cannibalism, this perk can be used to convince him that the Courier will help him in lieu of a Speech check.
- In Dead Money, the Courier may ask Dog and God about how the ghost people taste.
- Jas Wilkins asks the Courier what the tastiest thing they have ever eaten is. The Courier can respond that people have a rather unique taste, to which she replies with an unsettling feeling.
- Another unique dialogue option is gained if Ghastly Scavenger has been obtained.
- When selecting "Devour," the camera will automatically go to third person and will zoom out. The Lone Wanderer or Courier cannot move, look at their Pip-Boy or draw a weapon. However, it is possible to change weapons with the quick-select menu.
- In Fallout: New Vegas, on the road northwest of the NCR Correctional Facility is a sign that says "NOTICE: Hitchhikers may be escaped prisoners" with the Cannibal Vault Boy re-skinned with black and white stripes.
- In Fallout 4, this perk cannot be used while wearing power armor.
- In the Fallout 4 add-on Far Harbor, it adds an alternate response from Malcolm when asking if he is a cannibal.
- It also allows the Sole Survivor to pass a speech check when confronting trappers in The Arrival.
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