Real Life Superpowers: Tarrare - The Man Who Could Eat Anything

Generally, the concept of humans exhibiting supernatural abilities is usually confined to the realm of science fiction (operative word fiction). However, throughout the course of history, there have been a number of examples of people who could seemingly defy the limits of our bodily functions.

Born in the 18th century, around a decade prior to the French Revolution, a man known only as Tarrare had become homeless after demonstrating an insatiable appetite that far outstripped the meagre supplies his peasant parents were able to provide him. However, the young Lyonnais had an entrepreneurial spirit, and found that his impressive displays of devouring just about anything he could get his hands on proved to be an effective way of drawing a crowd. And Tarrare wasn't exactly picky with his dietary choices. Contemporary reports describe him eating an entire cat sans bones, before coughing up the excess fur and skin in front of amazed onlookers.

One of the reasons Tarrare's gluttonous act was so intriguing to passersby was his stature. Unlike the stereotypical gourmand, Tarrare weighed around 100lbs and looked more like someone that was suffering from malnourishment than a man that was capable of eating more than a large animal on a regular day.

As you can imagine from a person who made a habit of swallowing live animals whole, Tarrare's digestive system was working overtime, and while physicians of the days seemingly did their best to soften their descriptions of the Frenchman's defecatory process, their words still go a long way in describing the horror that he left behind, calling the mess: "fetid beyond all conception."

Gross.

Tarrare would eventually find his way into the French Revolutionary Army, consuming more than four times a regular soldier's rations on a daily basis, but was deemed essential as a figure of fascination from the leaders of the rebellion.

In a move that was, retrospectively, severely lacking in foresight, French Revolutionary general Alexandre de Beauharnais took an interest in the military possibilities of the medical marvel, believing that Tarrare's condition would make him the perfect courier in the country's war with Prussia....