Group,
Cannibalism came up tangentially in this thread, so this may as well go here. Cannibalism exists in real life, but it's inclusion in fiction is typically cliché, especially in post-apoc fiction and gaming. That is, a horrific practice by bestial sub-humans or gangs of degenerates, usually involving degradation and torture to emphasise the "evil" nature of the act, even taking centre stage in recent "nuke porn".
But it does exist, and I there are articles to support at least the biological and even evolutionary rationale of cannibalism:
http://www.slate.com/id/2278240/
My objection is not that cannibalism happens as a part of famine or ritual, as these are well-documented. Merely as a kind of symptom of being feral or uncivilised on some level, symbolistic of a fall from grace or profound loss of humanity. Speaking of survival/famine cannibalism and documentation, new evidence (or the lack thereof) casts doubt on the story of cannibalism among the Donner party (denied by most of the survivors themselves):
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.co...-donner-party/
Tony