Is the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk a cannibal, or is he of an entirely different species than humans?
(Also, I never understood why we’re supposed to sympathize with Jack–he’s a total ass. I get it, he’s poor–but after you had the golden eggs, why would you come back for the harp?! He didn’t need the harp, he had golden eggs! And what’s up with the giant’s wife? Is it just me or was there always something sketchy about her?)
If not a different species, what do Muslim giants eat, as cannibalism is haraam?
related: mermaids
the fatal feminist 
Muslim giants are vegetarians.
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I thought it was an ogre.
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In some versions, he is an ogre.
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Giants are a different species, according to D&D, the source of all monster knowledge, although it is possible to be half-giant.
Fairy tales are speciesist.
As they are a different species, Muslim giants can eat humans.
Species is singular; blame the Romans. Specie means “coinage.”
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I must inform Muslim giants that it is not very polite to eat sentient beings.
I wonder if half-giants can reproduce? Hagrid would probably not appreciate me asking such personal questions.
*scoff* The Romans! They were systematic engineers so busy with expanding their empire and conquering all that they didn’t even have time to invent their own religon! =P
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The giant isn’t human, but is some species of mythical creature from old British folklore- trolls, ogres, giants, they’re all mixed up with each other. They are supposed to be a different species from humans, but according to some stories they can interbreed with us. Apparently the troll ladies like kidnapping human dudes and having their beastly way with them, from which half-breed offspring result.
Some have speculated that these stories are based on ancient memories of the time when modern humans lived in Europe alongside other humanoid species like Neanderthals. So the trolls, etc. could be Neanderthal, Homo erectus or whatever. While it’s a fascinating idea, it has no scientific evidence to support it and probably isn’t true.
Yeah, I always thought Jack was a really unpleasant character as well. You know, some versions of the story say that the giant killed Jack’s father and stole the magical objects from Jack’s family, which would make Jack’s actions justified. But that’s not what the earliest versions of the tale say. It looks like someone realised that Jack was a nasty character: a thief, murderer and vandal (and I always thought there was something dodgy going on between him and the giant’s wife), and not a very good role model for children. So they changed the story to make it seem that Jack was avenging his father and reclaiming his family heirlooms, rather than being a greedy violent criminal.
What would Muslim giants eat? Well, if they are the giants from British folklore who converted to Islam, they would probably have to change their diets. I’m trying to think of the Islamic/Arabian equivalent of giants (I know Islam is not equal to Arabic, but there’s a big overlap between the two cultures), Obviously there are the jinn, and I remember from one story in the Arabian nights there are the ghul/ghouls. There was a man whose beautiful new wife never ate anything during the day, so one night he followed her as she went to the graveyard, where met a hideous monster, and together the two of them dug up graves and started eating the corpses! I guess that would be haram, so ghouls probably wouldn’t make good Muslims…
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