With the opening of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, you might think that Nicolas Cage has hit his crazy peak. It's hard to believe that anyone would choose to star in a sequel of this comic book movie after the first one received such terrible reviews. But this film actually seems to be a step back into the mainstream for the actor, who has given us more than his share of jaw-droppingly bad moments in film that make Ghost Rider look like a good career move. Even his over-the-top acting and poor role choices are overshadowed by these insane real-life Cage stories. (Photo source: Nicolas Genin)

1. The revelation of his sex-based food selection

   Most people don't like to think about the meat they eat as a living, breathing, mating animal, but Cage bases his diet on the sex habits of the creatures on his plate — he only eats animals who have "dignified" sex. As he told The Sun, "I love all animals. I have a fascination with fish, birds, whales — sentient life — insects, reptiles. I actually choose the way I eat according to the way animals have sex. I think fish are very dignified with sex. So are birds. But pigs, not so much. So I don't eat pig meat or things like that. I eat fish and fowl." He obviously isn't aware of the horrific mating habits of ducks.

2. The purchase of his post-life pyramid

   It's a very small pyramid, but a pyramid nonetheless, and Cage plans on using it as his final resting place. Cage's history of weird property purchases includes a couple of private islands, a medieval German castle, a haunted home in New Orleans, and now a 9-foot pyramid that sits in a New Orleans cemetery. Cage hasn't explained why he wanted the tomb erected in such an odd shape, but we speculate he either believes himself to be an ancient Pharaoh or there is more to the symbols in National Treasure than we know.

3. Naming his kid after Superman

   It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Nic Cage's poorly named, bound-to-be-made-fun-of son. Kal-El Cage was named after Superman, whose name on his home planet of Krypton is Kal-El. This probably shouldn't come as a huge shock since Cage is obviously a comic book fan. Besides starring in Ghost Rider, he also changed his real name, Nicolas Kim Coppola, to Cage in reference to the Marvel superhero Luke Cage. There's a pretty good chance that he actually believes he has a super powers and that his son is from another planet.

4. Using a two-headed snake for good luck

   While in New Orleans to film Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Cage apparently felt he needed a little more luck on his side than usual. In that film, he plays a corrupt, drug-addicted cop. Maybe he was worried the karma of his character would catch up with him (there's got to be some seriously bad juju for threatening an old lady at a nursing home)? Cage bought a two-headed gopher snake as his good luck charm, though it's hard to say whether it worked. He has since donated the freaky creature to the Audubon Zoo.

5. The magic mushroom staring contest with his cat

   If you find your cat eating magic mushrooms, the only logical solution is to join him! Cage revealed to David Letterman that he had a particularly trippy bonding moment with his kitty, Lewis, in the good old days when he used to keep shrooms in the back of his fridge. Lewis got into the stash and wouldn't stop eating them, so Cage decided it would be best if they took that journey together. The two sat staring at each other for hours, Cage said, "and I had no doubt that he was my brother."

6. Buying a dinosaur skull

   Just what every celebrity who owes back taxes needs — a 67-million-year-old dinosaur skull! In 2007, the less-than-thrifty actor won the tyrannosauras bataar fossil at auction, outbidding Leonardo DiCaprio and paying $276,000. That probably seems like chump change for an actor whose movies gross billions of dollars, but added up with the rest of his purchases, including yachts, 50 cars, and "on-set drinking-consultant-poet" for Leaving Las Vegas, Cage ended up owing almost $15 million in back taxes by April 2011. That dino skull seems slightly less useful now, huh?

7. The "naked man with a Fudgesicle" story

   While promoting the film Trespass, Cage shared his own home invasion story at the Toronto film festival. He woke up once at 2 a.m. to find a man, wearing nothing but Cage's leather jacket, at the end of his bed eating a Fudgesicle. The actor was able to coax the man out his house and ended up not pressing charges because the man had a mental condition. While strangely disturbing, this story doesn't seem to even come close to the intensity of the situation in the movie, where Cage and his on-screen wife Nicole Kidman are held hostage in their home. That might explain Cage's terrible performance. All we really want to know is, what did Cage do with that leather jacket?

8. Proof showing that he's a vampire

   He may have denied the fact on Late Show with David Letterman, but everything makes a lot more sense if Cage is actually a vampire who's been alive since at least the Civil War era. The proof, recently circulated around the Internet, is a photo of a man from that time period who looks strikingly like Cage. Further proof: Cage was caught having a major meltdown at a Romanian club in 2010, where he yelled things like, "See my eyes? Respect them as you'd respect me." The official reason for his presence was that they were shooting Ghost Rider there, but we think the only real excuse for going to Romania is to attend a Transylvania blood-suckers convention.

9. Being appointed U.N. Goodwill Ambassador for Global Justice

   In light of all the other things we know about Cage, this might be the most shocking moment of his career. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime thought Cage would be a good representative because his characters have exposed the world "to some of the darkest aspects of human nature," and he's donated an admirable $2 million to start a fund for former child soldiers. It also doesn't hurt that he's known world over, even if it is for his crazy antics and bad acting. We can only hope Cage gets as angry over the injustices in the world as he does in his movies.