Zombies


 * For pictures of the Zombies/Walkers, click here for the Zombie Gallery.

Zombies are the main non-human antagonists of The Walking Dead.



The zombies are the classic slow walking Romero style zombies, which originated in Night of the Living Dead. Following classic Romero-rules, everyone who dies, for any reason, will re-animate as a zombie except if the brain is damaged/destroyed. Even someone killed by a gunshot wound with no zombies involved at all will re-animate as a zombie. Zombie bites are not how the "infection" is spread. Instead, zombie bites and saliva cause infections that are 100% lethal. Characters have speculated, but cannot confirm, that whatever causes zombies to re-animate is some sort of virus that everyone in the world is technically already infected with but is only triggered by death. It is known, however, that upon death, it can take anytime between three minutes and eight hours for the corpse to reanimate.

Zombies out-number humans around 5,000 to 1.

Behavior
Besides eating humans, zombies have been shown eating the horse Rick used to reach Atlanta, rats in Atlanta`s sewers, a deer in the woods outside the original survivor camp, Hannah's dog (according to Andrew, the dog was mutilated by a zombie), a stray dog in the streets of Atlanta, chickens in Hershel's barn, a steer after Carl enticed a walker to follow him back to Hershel's farm, and a woodchuck's upper jaw was found in one zombie's stomach. This also follows one of the variants of classic Romero-style zombies: some zombies from other science fiction narratives actively prefer to eat only human brains, or more generally, try to eat any part of a human but ignore animals. Romero's more realistic rules, established in 1978's Dawn of the Dead, are that zombies are just compelled to attack and try to eat any "warm bodies" they come across, regardless of whether they are humans or animals.

As far as eating habits go, zombies in both the TV show and the comics seem to only have an attraction to warm, fresh meat (Or as shown recently in the TV Series, They're also attracted to blood). Some of the more picky individuals will even neglect or hesitate to eat meat that is only a few hours old (like the Governor's daughter, Penny). Rotting or processed meat (like canned ham) will be ignored altogether. It is unknown whether or not consumed meat is digested in some way or simply continues to rot within the stomach (both explanations could explain the lack of tissue remains of the ground squirrel eaten by a walker in the forest of the TV series). If the meat is digested however, and serves in some way as fuel, it could explain how some walkers have not yet rotted while others have decomposed to the point of immobilization. Seeing how the virus (or whatever the cause of reanimation is) restarts the central nervous system and the muscles within the body, as well as the majority of sensory organs (eyes, ears, sense of smell, etc.), the idea of it restarting the digestive system to some extent might not be too far fetched. Then again, even live zombie heads can survive decapitation and risk infecting the unwary, so zombies might not actually need to digest food: classic Romero-zombies were stated in Day of the Dead to not actually need to eat to stay functional.

Zombies in the TV series somewhat differ from their comic book counterparts, but do share a hand full of characteristics. Zombies from both sides have small fragments of memory of their past life. This can be seen when Rick visits Morgan for the second time also when the little girl zombie Rick shot picked up a teddy bear. Morgan s son Duane, was bitten, and the way Morgan explained it, zombified-Duane looked at Morgan strangely, like he knew him (this could, however, simply be Morgan's own imagination as the loss of his son almost mentally ruined him; or perhaps it could be the docile nature zombies tend to experience when they have been exposed to a particular person for a long period of time), although some can argue that Sophia's behavior when she first walked out of the barn may be similar, since she looked around her, at the faces of the people she knew. Anothe rexample in the TV series is when the group searching for Sophia finds a church and enters, walkers are seen sitting at the pews praying. One of them is shown smiling when he sees the unifencted. Though both zombies may share the trait, it is obvious that memory is much more prevalent in the minds of the walkers from the TV show rather than the comic series due to the more common examples.

The biters from the comic and show (more so in the latter) display limited problem solving intellect and understanding of their surroundings, as one outside the mall took a rock to the glass door, knowing it would be effective. Whether or not this concept of smart(er) zombies will be dropped altogether, or explored further as the series enters its second season is unknown.

Weakness
Zombies can be slowed or incapacitated by significant damage to certain parts of the body, but zombies can only be killed by massive brain damage (e.g. as the result of a bullet in the head). Removing limbs from zombies can make them less formidable, but even the heads of decapitated zombies remain active until destroyed.

The threat of zombie bites can be minimized or eliminated by damaging or removing the lower jaw from a prospective assailant. Michonne renders her travel companions unable to bite her by removing their lower jaws. Alternatively, if one is able to capture a zombie and successfully remove their teeth, they can bite but will be unable to successfully penetrate a would-be victim's skin. The Governor employs this strategy successfully on his zombified daughter Penny, and is able to hand feed her and even kiss her on the lips with minimal risk.

Despite still moving, zombies still decompose as regular corpses. The zombified Hannah, encountered by Rick Grimes outside of the hospital appeared to be immobilized after some kind of decay. Zombies are shown to become frozen, but one had thawed out enough to almost bite Glenn. In Issue 55 a zombie attempted to grab Rosita, yet it lacked the strength to keep his hold, pull her or stand up. This may be a sign that zombies will eventually decay to the point where they are no longer a threat to humans which would mean that the outbreak will eventually end on its own accord.

Zombies seem to differentiate living humans from the undead via smell. Rick and Glenn are able to walk through an infested city to search for supplies after covering themselves in a zombie's entrails. Michonne is also able to walk vast distances without being mobbed probably due to the fact the two defenseless zombies she kept near her dampened her scent. However due to the disgusting odour and the possibility of it washing off it doesn’t make it very practical for everyday application.

Kirkman wrote:


 * "[Zombies cannot usually go up stairs]--it's decided on a case by case basis...I'm sure there's a zombie out there who could...but not very well...to reference this series--was it issue 8? Rick opens the door to the basement of that house--and zombies are waiting at the top of the stairs and rush him!...So based on that scene...zombies can go up stairs... but it probably took them a while."

Despite this quote from Kirkman, two zombies are shown pursuing Rick down a flight of stairs in the hospital in Issue 1 and both of them manage to use the stairs with no problem. Furthermore, in Tell It to the Frogs, an entire group of zombies are able to walk to the top of the staircase outside of which Merle is chained. Of course, going downstairs might be easy compared to walking up, and it could have taken the zombies some hours to climb up the stairs.

Strengths
Zombies main advantages over humans is that they do not need to sleep or breathe. This allows them to slowly follow the survivors around in perpetuity (or until they decay to the point of no longer being mobile or otherwise threatening). Another advantage over humans is that they can survive most situations that humans would not, I.e. they are not hindered by gunshot wounds, knife wounds or falls which affect their body (arms, legs, chest). The only way in which a zombie is permanently killed is via trauma to the head, effectively destroying the brain. An example of this is seen when Shane shoots the zombie in which Hershel is returning to the barn. Shane shoots the zombie several times in the chest. The only effect it has is the force of the bullet entering the body causes the zombie to stumble a little. It is not until Shane shoots the zombie in the head that it actually dies.

Infection
Robert Kirkman wrote:
 * ...the rule is: WHATEVER it is that causes the zombies, is something everyone already has. If you stub your toe, get an infection and die ... you turn into a zombie. UNLESS your brain is damaged. If someone shoots you in the head and you die ...you're dead. A zombie bite kills you because of infection, or blood loss ... not because of the zombie "virus.""

The most common way that people become a zombie is after dying from infection caused by a zombie bite. Symptoms of a zombie bite include:
 * Lethal Fever
 * Chills
 * Hallucinations
 * Vomiting
 * Pale skin
 * Delirium
 * Sensitive bones

While there is no zombie "virus," zombie bites cause lethal infections. Thus, a person can become a zombie from dying of any cause other than brain damage.

According to CDC's Edwin Jenner in the TV series, a corpse can reanimate between three minutes and eight hours after death. Executive producer Glen Mazzara addressed why Shane (who was not bit) became a zombie in Better Angels, much faster than Amy: "We worked hard to make sure that revelation landed. We knew what we were doing there. We knew it would land a punch. We’ve never had a main character become a zombie to this extent. Those [rapid flashes of zombie mayhem] represent the storm in Shane’s brain to some extent...Amy was a weaker character. Shane is in a murderous rage … he’s going to reanimate quicker. There’s just more life in that zombie, believe it or not. We do have internal rules for that."

Interestingly, during the second season of the TV series, as the group is stopped on the highway there are multiple dead and decayed bodies that have not reanimated. Kirkman states the reason for this is because the passengers all suffered brain trauma from the car crashes.

Amputation
A person can survive a zombie bite if the limb which is bitten is amputated. In the comic book, Dale is the only character known to have survived this process while both Morgan Jones and Allen died of blood loss.

Evolution
Robert Kirkman wrote that "Romero's evolving zombies are his spin. Mine just keep rotting."

Nicknames
While the term "zombie" does exist within The Walking Dead universe, it is used very seldomly. In the comicbook, when Rick's group discover the prison, both Rick and Tyreese discuss how it still sounds funny to use the word "zombie". The characters within The Walking Dead TV series and comic books come up with their own monikers and categorizations for the undead.

'Walker' is the most commonly used term for a zombie, appropriately named because they tirelessly walk around in search of prey. 'Walker' is a broad category that can apply to any zombie. Simply put: Zombie = Walker.
 * Walkers

Roamers are known to "roam" around looking for food. They are the most commonly encountered type of zombies.
 * Roamers

Lurkers are the zombies that just sit around playing "dead" until someone reaches them and they bite them. Lurkers can be the real threat because they can pass as dead zombies. One of them was responsible for Allen's death and Dale losing a leg. Often times, lurkers have suffered some type of major injury or are otherwise in some kind of weakened state, preventing them from walking around.
 * Lurkers

As described by Dr. Eugene Porter in the comic book, a herd is when a group of walkers act with a mob mentality. One zombie might brush his hand on a door knob and another will see this and mistake it as an attempt to get in. Then he will beat on the door to get in, and the first zombie will see this and try to get in. This will spark a chain reaction.
 * The Herd

Comic book Alice, Dr. Stevens' assistant in Woodbury mentioned that her original group of survivors referred to the zombies as "biters," because while some do lurk and some may roam they all will bite and to classify them into separate groups is a silly practice. 'Biters' is the Woodbury citizens' equivalent of 'Walkers.'
 * Biters

Floaters are zombies that became bloated after spending a long period of time in water. It was first encountered by the TV survivors at Hershel's Farm where it was found trapped in a well. Fearing that shooting the floater might result in polluting the well the survivors decide to pull it out. This proves to be futile as it gets stuck on the lip and splits in half, the bottom part of its body (and most of its innards) falling back into the well.
 * Floaters

The term 'lame-brains' was first used in the TV episode 'Nebraska' by Dave and Tony, strangers that walk in the local bar near the Greene family farm. The pair indicate that they are from Philadelphia, implying that the term 'lame-brains' may have been more widely-used in and around the Philadelphia region. It is implied that 'lame-brains' is a broad category for all zombies, equivalent to the term 'walkers.'
 * Lame-Brains

In the The Walking Dead (TV Series), T-Dog and Glenn have been known to call zombies "geeks", i.e. like "carnival geeks" from a freakshow. This name isn't used in the comics.
 * Geeks

Zombie animals
For some reason animals are not affected by zombification, but it is unknown whether or not the survivors are aware of this, because the animals encountered are eaten whole. Kirkman has stated there are no zombie animals.

However, it is mentioned in The Walking Dead Webisodes that a dog was bitten by a walker and had to be put down. It is unknown if it turned into the undead as it was never mentioned or seen after.

Trivia

 * In Issue 38 Robert Kirkman writes there is "ONE zombie who's appeared no less than three different times in the book"
 * Michonne kills a zombie going into a car with a t-shirt that says "Youngblood" (a superhero comic published by Image Comics).
 * In the TV Series, some of the survivors, notably T-Dog and Glenn, refer to the zombies as "geeks".
 * In the TV Series, the zombies are shown mainly in Guts and Bloodletting to run at a jogger's pace.
 * In the TV Series, the zombies can apparently use tools. This is shown in Guts, where a zombie is using a rock to smash open the department store doors.
 * According to Robert Kirkman in episode 2 of Talking Dead in the world of The Walking Dead the works of George A. Romero were never made and zombies do not appear in fiction.
 * In the webisodes, it is rumored that terrorists caused the "infection".

Credited Zombies

 * Addy Miller as Little Girl Zombie, the little girl found at the gas station in Days Gone Bye.
 * Samuel Witwer as Tank Soldier, the undead soldier in the tank, from Guts.
 * Joe Giles as Black Suited Zombie, the zombie wandering in the street when Rick emerges from his empty home in Days Gone Bye.
 * Melissa Cowen as Bicycle Girl Zombie/Hannah, the half-zombie crawling in the park in Days Gone Bye.
 * Max Calder as Baseball Bat Zombie, the zombie that Rick kills with a baseball bat in Days Gone Bye.

Characters That Turned (Comic)

 * Hannah
 * Jim
 * Shane Walsh
 * Shawn Greene
 * Julie
 * Chris
 * Rachel Greene
 * Susie Greene
 * Andrew
 * Penny Blake
 * Dr. Stevens
 * Otis
 * Caesar Martinez
 * Carol Peletier
 * Tyreese
 * Ford's Daughter
 * Duane Jones
 * Jessie Anderson

Characters That Turned (TV-Series)

 * Hannah
 * Jenny Jones
 * Leon Basset
 * Wayne Dunlap
 * Amy
 * Jim
 * Candace Jenner
 * Annette Greene
 * Shawn Greene
 * Lacey
 * Duncan
 * Mr. Fischer
 * Mrs. Fischer
 * Sophia Peletier
 * Randall
 * Shane Walsh