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Originally posted by christhecynic:
I’ve just had a thought, Reavers do not appear to the type to raise their young, at all, but they must have a fairly steady supply coming in if the female Reavers are rapists too, which they probably are. If they don’t kill the infants outright that would mean that only the strong would survive, and human babies are not all that strong.

In other words for a Reaver to survive beyond infancy it would have to be a very exceptional individual. We don’t know how long the Reavers have been out there, but how many generations would it take of that kind of selection before the average Reaver was a hell of a lot stronger than the average normal human?

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I mean they go out mating almost constantly, and probably do that among themselves as well, so a female Reaver would probably have a kid almost every nine months like clockwork, that’s a large population of infants, but only a few would survive.

Isn’t that like pushing up selection to a completely new level? I’m not saying they would evolve or anything (haven’t had that much time yet) but wouldn’t the resulting Reaver race tend to be much stronger?

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Originally posted by howdyrockerbaby1:
Perhaps they don't even procreate at all?

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Originally posted by christhecynic:

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Originally posted by howdyrockerbaby1:
Perhaps they don't even procreate at all?

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Well I didn't see anything to make me think there are not female Reavers and Reavers as a whole go around raping people, so unless they say, “Please put on a condom before I rape you,”

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Originally posted by howdyrockerbaby1:
perhaps with all that mutilation they are unable to procreate... not that they don't try with all that raping...it's just not possible.

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Originally posted by howdyrockerbaby1:
Perhaps they don't even procreate at all? We saw in Bushwacked that the guy was turning himself into a reaver, perhaps they don't kill everybody, taking a few from each town they destroy for the precise reason of turning them?

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Originally posted by CALLMEATH:
Did it occur to anyone that Zoe never said the Reavers were just gonna rape the women?

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I imagine they don't do it for any need to multiply, but rather to hurt people. It is probably the worst thing that can be done to a person.

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Besides, it's not as if the Reavers can't exist with each other peacefully. They are able to operate large ships after all. While Reavers surely don't know love, it's not far-fetched to believe the Reaver females willingly give themselves to the males. They're probably like animals, procreating out of instinct, rather than any desire for pleasure or companionship.

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Also, does anyone else find all this casual talk of raping rather creepifying? I know it's fictional, but still.

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Originally posted by DeSangro:

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Originally posted by howdyrockerbaby1:
Perhaps they don't even procreate at all? We saw in Bushwacked that the guy was turning himself into a reaver, perhaps they don't kill everybody, taking a few from each town they destroy for the precise reason of turning them?

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Eh, I just can't see that as being the norm for Reaver 'reproduction'.

I can't see it as being the norm because human beings are different and respond to traumatic events differently. Not every person would respond to Reaver brutality by becoming a Reaver themselves. I personally believe that the victim in Bushwhacked was a special case; perhaps the captain of that particular Reaver ship wanted not just to kill, but to 'break' a victim. Perhaps it was an experiment on the part of the Reavers.

Considering the conditions they live under, Reaver life is probably short, harsh, and exceedingly brutal. I don't see how they could 'turn' enough people to replace numbers lost through fighting, disease, and radiation poisoning-- and since we know that they're pushing into the civilized territories, I think that their population(s) are expanding, and they're outstripping whatever resources are available on their own planets.

With these factors in mind I believe that they reproduce both through mating within their own kind and through rape of 'outsiders'-- the victims they prey upon.

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Originally posted by skantman:
Don't forget, the Reavers don't use radiation shielding on their ships. That kind of exposure to radiation is bound to start causing genetic mutations. Realistically it would be deformities and terminal sickness and the inability to reproduce, but when you apply the power of creative writing that could explain a lot. It is over 500 years in the future, who knows what they could be capable of doing.

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Originally posted by ReaverMadness:

I tend to think that the reavers are sort of like pirates with a liberal ammount of headhunter thrown in. From the episode where we learn how that one person "became" a reaver may idicate this as well. That could be the very way they propagate. Through induction. some may be just your mad dog killer types but there are also someone with brains enough to plan. (the trap that attaches itself to a ship that docks with the boobie trapped ship). So at some level somebody is thinking. That is the real scary part about the reavers. Hords of mad dogs would tear themslves apart, but someone there to "keep order"? It could be argued that it is tough-guy order. The toughest rules. But then you still have the folks who lay traps and plan such traps. So maybe, just maybe there is a mad-dog-hord class and a psycho/maniacal class.

Just a thought.

When I die I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my grandpa. Not screaming and yelling like everyone else in the car he was driving.

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Originally posted by christhecynic:
You know Eskimos (not politically correct but I have forgotten the correct term) have biology that is different from all other humans on earth.

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Originally posted by ReaverMadness:
Through induction. some may be just your mad dog killer types but there are also someone with brains enough to plan. (the trap that attaches itself to a ship that docks with the boobie trapped ship). So at some level somebody is thinking. That is the real scary part about the reavers. Hords of mad dogs would tear themslves apart, but someone there to "keep order"? It could be argued that it is tough-guy order. The toughest rules. But then you still have the folks who lay traps and plan such traps. So maybe, just maybe there is a mad-dog-hord class and a psycho/maniacal class.

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Select to view spoiler:

The Reavers attack settlements by repelling out of their ships much like modern Airborne troops (think 'Black Hawk Down') so even the "front line" kill, rape and eat (in any order ) Reavers are intelligent enough to utilize complex tactics and skills.

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Originally posted by christhecynic:
I have been told that the German language has one of the smallest vocabularies of modern languages. If this is true I find it hard to believe that it is a coincidence that Germans, who show no evidence of being inherently smarter than other human beings, have been on whole the best engineers of the recent century.

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Originally posted by ReaverMadness:
1) It was said (no I don't have the qoutes) that Reavers were once (or are) men. Perhaps too long from civilization, but men. No special breed here. Those types of comments along with the fact that Joss has elected to show no "aliens" (non human) should stomp on that line of thought.

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2) Some have said: "Don't forget, the Reavers don't use radiation shielding on their ships." That ship was a reaver ship the way a pirate ship is a pirate ship. Not 'cause they made it. 'cause they took it. Remember: they are running without containment... that's suicide... THat doesn't leave room to think that it is low dose radiation... but deadly ammount. So no good (controlled) sort of mutations going on here.
That sort of behavior alsao limits the thoughts about a breeding class or any real type of family type units. They just wouldn't live long enough.

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I tend to think that the reavers are sort of like pirates with a liberal ammount of headhunter thrown in. From the episode where we learn how that one person "became" a reaver may idicate this as well. That could be the very way they propagate. Through induction...

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...some may be just your mad dog killer types but there are also someone with brains enough to plan... So maybe, just maybe there is a mad-dog-hord class and a psycho/maniacal class.

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Originally posted by GreenFaerie:
In regard to another poster's idea that raping the crew of an attacked ship or settlement can produce Reaver offspring: doubtful. They don't just rape their victims. Their victims also end up dead, and worse.

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Originally posted by GreenFaerie:
Would the one example we are given of assimilation be common? What would happen if the human-turned-Reaver we know from "Bushwhacked" ran into a Reaver ship? Would he be accepted as a fellow Reaver crew member? I wonder. As an outsider, he would probably be challenged, or killed outright. In the natural world, such rogue males are often considered outcasts.

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Originally posted by Doran:
No, this is not true. Your premise is off.

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Through breeding - mutations are selected, fixed, and become mainstream genome. "Traits" are nothing more than phenotyped mutations, fixed or not.

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Originally posted by Plin:
I really don't think that the emergence of a new "breed" of human would be possible in the time frame given, even with a possible accelerated mutation rate.

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Originally posted by Doran:
but that doesn't change the fact that your not getting a cat that can take down a human and hunts in packs in space while disfiguring itself.

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Originally posted by GreenFaerie:

I think the most likely method for Reaver reproduction is the same method used by all species, breeds, and even races. Unfettered and fully natural reproduction. The Reavers must have some sort of pecking order, and therefore a class or caste system. It may be that the "Alpha" Reaver is the only one permitted to reproduce within a tribe. Among wild animals, there are many predator species that form a "pack" where only the alpha male is allowed to breed with the females. I suspect the Reaver society is like this. The males go out to hunt, the alpha breeds with the females, and a society is perpetuated.

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