17 Death Row Requests You Won't Believe Were Made

The last meal is a customary ritual that's observed in many countries across the world. The tradition generally entails a condemned prisoner having the right to select what their final meal will be, within reason. Of course, some of the time, the requests made by death row inmates are far from reasonable.

The ritual of the last meal is most widely observed in the United States, where the tradition is still upheld in many states that support capital punishment. The practice itself dates back to pre-modern Europe, based on the superstition that granting a condemned prisoner a final meal symbolically means they've made peace with the host. Many believed that if the prisoner accepted their last meal, they would not return as a ghost to haunt those responsible for their execution.

This list takes a look at 17 of the most bizarre final meal requests from death row inmates. From abstract ideas that can't possibly be fulfilled, to gluttonous feasts that contain at least a normal week's worth of calories, these entries probably wouldn't be most people's choice for their ultimate supper.