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Variants are zombies in AMC's Television Universe that exhibit notable differences in behavior and abilities compared to their original counterparts. Either infected with mutated strains of Wildfire or affected by their surroundings, these differences include increased speed, agility, strength, aggression, intelligence, defenses, and reduced resurrection times. Aside from the French variant, it is unknown what causes the physiological differences in those infected by the variant strains.
Incidents have been recorded of zombies being able to climb walls, open doors, and interact with objects. These particular zombies have been dubbed "climbers" by survivors. Zombies who return to places they remember are referred to as "roamers", as they display recognition of people, places, and objects from when they were alive. The most common form of variants are "lurkers", who enter a state of dormancy until alerted by an external presence.
Quick Answers
What distinguishes the Variants from the original zombies in The Walking Dead?
What are the unique abilities of the Variants in AMC's The Walking Dead?
What is the cause of the physiological differences in Variant zombies?
What are the characteristics of a Burner zombie in The Walking Dead?
Overview[]
The origin of Wildfire has been identified as a lab leak from La Biomédicine DDMI in France. The purpose for the creation of the virus is currently unknown. Wildfire leaked in early 2010 and was declared by the Center for Disease Control on 15 April 2010. While the virus spread across the globe, the evolution of Wildfire, by means of random mutations, led to mutant specimens of the virus. These were not made known until the Trials in August 2010. The variants were observed to be faster, more agile, stronger, more aggressive, and held a greater capacity of intelligence and awareness than their original counterparts.
Among the variants, one seemed to have been inadvertently created by the French. Primrose, the scientist group responsible for the creation of Wildfire, held a conference in Toledo, Ohio shortly before the fall, trapping them in the United States of America. Violet, the other scientist group still remaining in France, attempted to circumvent Wildfire's resurrective properties by using cardiac plaques as a host medium for steroidal therapies in order to jump-start the circulatory system and cause the brain to short-circuit or regain function to cause nerve confusion. This mutated Wildfire into an extremely aggressive variant by displaying a markedly reduced resurrection time of thirty seconds as opposed to the ordinary time of three minutes to eight hours after death. Zombies with this variant also display extreme agility, speed, strength, and intelligence.
As the Trials occurred and civilization ended, human survivors noted the differences among certain zombies. Stories were shared of zombies who could climb walls, open doors, and interact with objects. However, their rarity made these stories appear as rumors as opposed to fact. Some are believed to be of particular importance due to their potential for increased virulence or reduced effectiveness of defenses against them as compared to their original counterparts. Variants seem to appear mostly in concentrated areas such as cities and urban centers where the virus was able to spread easily.
In 2020, Dr. Chauncey Everett was studying a unique variant that he had dubbed a protector in the Dead Sector. This particular walker, his former colleague Dr. Moseley, displayed leadership and protective behavior over his herd. In life, Dr. Moseley had been a scientist who had studied and looked after the herd, meaning that this may have been behavior that carried over. Some of the other Dead Sector walkers also appeared to be some form of variants given their behaviors.
In 2022, a herd containing a number of variants arrived at The Commonwealth. The climbers were able to scale the walls, eliminate the guards, and open the doors - allowing the herd to enter and overrun The Commonwealth. The incident resulted in hundreds of causalities. Unable to simply redirect the herd due to the variants being too dangerous to leave intact, the Commonwealth Army lured the herd into the Estates where they rigged the houses with explosives and filled the sewer system with gasoline. The Estates were destroyed, and the herd was eliminated.
When Daryl Dixon reached France in 2023, he encountered a variant with acidic blood, tagged as "burners". Sister Isabelle explained that variants were far more common in France, noting that burners were "just one kind" of zombie present in the country. Rèmy later tells Carol Peletier that according to rumor, the burners were another experiment by the Power of the Living, a failed experiment that got loose and spread rather than a natural variant of the virus.
The Power of the Living's experiments upon walkers appear to be aimed at creating their own type of hybrid variant, known as "Ampers", possibly as a weapon against their enemies. When Dr. LaFleur collects test subjects, his specifications are for no elderly, children, or anyone shorter than five foot four inches. He also seeks as many freshly turned walkers as he can find. On one occasion, the Doctor's experiments were fatal to his test subject after 18 seconds. However, another test subject displayed traits of both climbers and cohorts including the ability to climb stairs, increased speed, strength, aggression and durability. Another walker, after being shot with a dart full of the Amper Serum, visibly mutated to have black eyes, the distended veins and acidic blood of a burner, and the increased speed, strength, aggression and durability of a cohort. However, these Ampers are not yet perfected and a few weeks later, Dr. LaFleur is figuring out the perfect dose of the serum, now using it on people who have just been killed, injecting it into them before they reanimate. Genet explains to Carol that they're "creating a new subtype of hungry ones, more directable warriors. They will help bring peace back to the world." Genet subsequently uses dozens of selectees that she turns into Ampers as her first wave during the Battle of the Nest. However, the subsequent deaths of Genet and Dr. LaFleur as well as the collapse of the Power of the Living presumably brings an end to the use of Ampers.
Types[]
- Lurkers - Lurkers are variants that enter a state of death-like dormancy until alerted by an external presence in which they attack, creating a trap. Lurkers enter this state after either a prolonged period of isolation or sustaining an injury that would normally cause death to a living person, such as getting shot in the stomach or face. They are the most common variant form encountered.
- Roamers - Roamers are variants who remember aspects of their lives before they died and will roam to find people, places, and/or objects that they recognize from when they were alive. They are also able to interact with objects and sometimes share traits with Climbers.
- Climbers - Climbers are variants with the ability to climb walls, open doors, and use objects. Due to their strength and problem-solving intelligence, they are among the most dangerous variants.
- Protectors - Protectors are variants that protect and provide for the herd. They are a unique kind of variant observed by Doctor Chauncey Everett in the Dead Sector. At times they will kill their prey and leave it behind for the herd to consume.
- Burners - Burners are variants with acidic blood. Victims that are bitten, touched, or come into contact with their blood are burned significantly. They are relatively common variants encountered exclusively in France. Cauterization is the best way to treat their wounds as it spreads otherwise and victims can potentially lose limbs as a result. According to rumor, they are another experiment of Dr. LaFleur, a mistake that failed and got loose.
- Cohorts - Cohorts are variants with increased agility, speed, strength, intelligence and durability. They are notable for their resurrection time of thirty seconds after death. They are the most dangerous variants to encounter aside from the Ampers. Their durability makes them hard to dispatch, surviving blows to the head that would down a regular walker. However, actually penetrating their brain with a weapon can still finish them. It appears to be a mutated strain of Wildfire that naturally exists instead of it being induced through injections.
- Ampers - Ampers are variants with increased speed, strength, aggression, durability, intelligence, and acidic blood. They appear to be a combination of nearly all variants encountered, and are created by injecting a normal zombie with the Amper Serum. The eyes of the zombie become black and quickly turn into an Amper. Their increased aggression causes them to attack other zombies. In one case, just two Ampers were shown to be able to tear apart hundreds of zombies that were in their way. Originally, many Ampers did not last more than thirty seconds as their heads would explode, but the later Ampers had this issue fixed. The Ampers were created by Doctor LaFleur and are used as weapons by the Power of the Living.[1]
- Pets - Pets are variants that have been rendered docile after the removal of their limbs and mechanisms for biting, such as their jaws or teeth. Pets were mainly created by Michonne Hawthorne. Explained by Milton Mamet, pets lose their urge to eat after they no longer have the ability to do so. Pets are one of the few variants that are created rather than naturally existing.
- Walker King - The Walker King is a unique variant of multiple walkers stuck together, forming a super organism. It displays exceptional strength and speed by moving at a fast pace while supporting the weight of the three additional bodies conjoined to it, as well as showing traits of being a lurker as it was dormant until awoken. Only one has been encountered, in the sewers of New York.
Occurrences[]
TV Series[]
- Hannah displayed intelligence by crawling towards the park in King County, Georgia where she sent her kids to be evacuated by the army, and how she responds to seeing Rick Grimes, especially on the second occasion where she appears to reach out at Rick in a way that may suggest she wanted help and didn't actually snap at him. (Days Gone Bye)
- Jenny Jones displayed intelligence by continually returning to the house where she died and her husband and son were still residing in, being able to turn the knob on the front door, and looking into the peephole. It's later confirmed in "King County" that she would come to the house every night and try to enter it. (Days Gone Bye)
- The first walker killed by Rick was a lurker. (Days Gone Bye)
- Summer displayed intelligence by picking up her bear, and agility by running after Rick Grimes. (Days Gone Bye)
- Several lurkers are seen in Atlanta. Two are seated in a burnt out bus, displaying intelligence from their former lives of riding in buses. Another lurker is found in a tank. (Days Gone Bye)
- Several walkers displayed intelligence, strength, and agility by being able to climb ladders, breaking the glass doors of Bradbury's with rocks, analyzing a camouflaged Rick Grimes and Glenn Rhee as the blood washed off, and climbing the chain-link fence at the Atlanta construction site to reach Rick and Glenn. Furthermore, some of the walkers seen are part of the same horde that attack the Atlanta Survivor Camp, showing their intelligence as they managed to track the group back to their camp in order to get food. (Guts, Tell It to the Frogs, Vatos)
- Some of the walkers from the horde displayed agility when chasing after the survivors, most notably those that chased after Sophia Peletier and Theodore Douglas. (What Lies Ahead)
- The RV walker displayed intelligence as he carefully looks through the RV for food before leaving, and is shown to analyze the door before he ferociously attacks it. (What Lies Ahead)
- The walkers from a church are lurkers as they were sitting motionless, and ignoring the outside noise, before the group came into the church. One zombified man showed emotional intelligence as he smiled at the sight of Rick's group. Furthermore, the female walker seems to look back and forth between Daryl and the other two walkers that are killed before being killed herself. They also displayed intelligence as they resided in the church where they once attended when alive. (What Lies Ahead)
- The walkers seen at Cranwall High School displayed agility when they were chasing after Shane Walsh and Otis. (Bloodletting, Save the Last One)
- Some of the barn walkers display agility as they start coming out the barn. Sophia displayed unusual behavior given that she seemed to be reacting to the sunlight as she was coming out the barn. (Pretty Much Dead Already)
- Annette Greene in "Nebraska" is considered a lurker as she pretended to be dead before attacking Beth. (Nebraska)
- The walker that bit Hershel Greene is a lurker, having stayed completely still until Hershel steps over him and bit him. (Seed)
- The walker that scratched Big Tiny displayed intelligence as he purposely amputated his hand by moving it through handcuffs in order to better attack him. (Sick)
- Rick encounters a walker that somehow managed to eat all of Lori's remains, including her bone. Furthermore, when Rick approached the walker, it was too lethargic to move and barely reacted to Rick's presence past some light reaching towards him. (Say the Word)
- Michonne utilizes pet walkers as camouflage on several different occasions. (Beside the Dying Fire-Walk With Me, After, What We Become)
- One of the walkers that infiltrated Woodbury, Georgia displayed intelligence when it observed the opening left in the Woodbury wall made by the escaping survivors. (The Suicide King)
- Several lurkers are shown at the King County Café. Furthermore, one of the walkers seems to notice Carl and Michonne when they enter the café, but he decides to ignore them and focuses on the caged rats instead. (Clear)
- The wheelchair walker at the Retirement Home was a lurker. (Live Bait)
- The walkers that were on the bridge may have been variants as the majority of them did not follow the car and fall off the bridge, showing some form of self-preservation. Usually, walkers have no problem going towards danger, even if it kills them, as that is something they don't think about. (Consumed)
- In a flashback to the early days of the apocalypse, Eugene tells Abraham how he thinks the walkers are getting faster. It's unknown if this was an actual observation or if it was an excuse by Eugene to explain as to why he was almost killed by three walkers before Abraham saved him. (Self Help)
- Enid kills a lurker and takes its jacket afterwards. (JSS)
- Several lurkers are seen outside and in the Smithsonian Museum. (A New Beginning)
- Multiple lurkers appear near the frozen river when the survivors attempt to cross it. (The Storm)
- A few walkers managed to climb on to the rock ledges that the survivors were standing on before being killed. (Squeeze)
- A walker displayed intelligence as he is seen to sniff out Alpha before he goes on to attack Daryl Dixon. (Stalker)
- Gabriel and Aaron discover a horde of lurkers, none of them moving until the clock timer that they throw goes off and the walkers move towards it. (One More)
- The group discovers a horde of lurkers inside Fort Connors. One of the walkers "wakes up" when some of Daryl's blood drips onto him. This walker "waking up" motivates the rest of the horde to get up and attack the group. Furthermore, two of the lurkers killed by Magna and Kelly at Fort Connors displayed unusual behavior as they reacted to being stabbed in the head. (Acheron: Part I)
- A mass grave discovered in the subway tunnel is full of lurkers who don't react until Daryl examines one of the bodies. When Daryl puts down the lurker, all of the rest of the lurkers begin reacting and moving around. Maggie's team puts down all of the lurkers while they're restrained by the plastic that they're wrapped in, but a large bloated lurker nearly kills Gage before Negan saves him. (Acheron: Part I)
- Several other lurkers are discovered to be living in the subway tunnel. (Acheron: Part I, Acheron: Part II)
- Walkers somehow manage to overturn a moving vehicle, suggesting that there were one or more climbers in the horde. (Lockdown)
- A walker manages to track down Aaron's group and lead the herd to their camp. The walker climbs the wall and opens the gates from the inside to let the herd in. When Lydia impales the walker with her staff, it pulls itself onto it to get closer to Lydia. When retreating inside a building, the walker then opens the door. After Aaron and the others go upstairs, the walker climbs onto the roof and grabs a rock to kill Jerry. After killing the walker and clearing the herd, Aaron and Jerry discuss the variants. Aaron reveals that he has heard of walkers who could open doors and climb walls, but dismissed them as rumors. (Variant)
- After the group's encounter with a climber, Elijah expresses worry that a walker that Lydia takes out at close range might've been another climber, having become much more cautious about variants after encountering one, but Lydia is sure that it was just a regular walker. (Faith)
- A walker displayed intelligence by dropping to the ground and picking up the knife that was dropped by Lydia and wielding it. (Faith)
- A number of zombies in the horde that attacks the Commonwealth are climber variants, although not all of them. A climber manages to climb on the back of the Commonwealth's jeeps before attacking the occupants of the car while three climbers climb over the Commonwealth's walls and attack Livits, removing his helmet to better get at him and causing Livits to accidentally open the gates. Other climbers in the horde display intelligence and strength by opening doors, using rocks to break windows, and climbing walls and vehicles. Ultimately, these walkers were deemed to be too dangerous to risk leading away and, as such, the entire herd was lured into the Estates which was then blown up, completely destroying the herd. (Family-Rest in Peace)
Fear the Walking Dead[]
- The car crash victim showed intelligence, speed, and aggression as he attacked a paramedic while he was distracted before biting into them, and then quickly and aggressively went on to attack the rest of the paramedic and officers surrounding him before being killed. (Pilot)
- A walker seems to know that there are people inside Salazar's Cuts and is at the front door for a while before leaving. (The Dog)
- The two walkers that Chris found inside the Plane were lurkers. Furthermore, they were both aggressively trying to get to him despite them being restrained. (Ouroboros)
- A walker displayed intelligence when trying to sniff out a camouflaged Nicholas Clark. (Ouroboros)
- Several walkers were shown to climb over the counter to try to attack both Madison and Strand. Furthermore; despite being locked inside the bar, several of the walkers managed to find a way out and chased them outside. (Pablo & Jessica)
- Walkers seen are shown to have enough strength to hold on to a helicopter that is taking off. (Eye of the Beholder)
- The little girl walker is a lurker as she was motionlessly hiding in the ball pit before attacking Alicia. (El Matadero)
- The father walker seems to analyze Alicia before he begins to advance towards her. (Close Your Eyes)
- Malcolm reanimated seconds after dying during an appendectomy by June Dorie and displayed strength and extreme aggression when attacking her. (Bury Her Next to Jasper's Leg)
- A walker displayed intelligence when he purposely smacked the gun out of John Dorie Sr.'s hand. (Sonny Boy)
- The walker that bites Grace is a lurker, hiding in the ruins of the Drake Family Home before suddenly popping out and biting Grace and attempting to bite Mo. (King County)
- Several climbers are in the herd that attacks Madison and Victor Strand in the Wymberley Jones De Renne Georgia Library as some of the zombies can be seen physically crawling on top of and over bookshelves that were being used as a barricade to get at the two, displaying greater intelligence than the regular walkers that are trying to reach through the shelves or get around them. However, the herd is all shot down by one of Troy's Group with a machine gun. (Anton)
- Hildy reanimated mere seconds after he died. (Keeping Her Alive)
World Beyond[]
- A lurker that has a beehive in its head is seen and only moves when the Endlings attempt to interact with it. (The Blaze of Gory)
- A walker that Elton Ortiz tags with spray paint showed signs of possible intelligence as it proceeds to stalk the group over a long distance up to the Treehouse where it's trapped in a swimming pool by Hope Bennett. Despite this, the walker somehow escapes from the trap, displaying further intelligence, and stalks the Endlings again to the Blaze of Gory where it is finally put down by Felix Carlucci. (The Blaze of Gory)
- When Iris Bennett becomes trapped inside of a dumpster, she is attacked by two lurkers who were hidden amongst the garbage. After Felix finally gets the dumpster open, he grabs one lurker off of Iris and stabs it in the head while the other lurker is dispatched by Percy who had unexpectedly returned to help. (Shadow Puppets)
- Elton and Percy, while trying to flee from Asha and Dev, encounter a small herd of lurkers who are covered in moss, flowers, leaves, mushrooms and other things that allow them to perfectly blend in with their surroundings, only becoming active when Elton literally trips and falls onto one. With the help of Asha and Dev, Elton and Percy dispatch the lurkers. Although one bites Elton in the arm, he is protected by his tuffy stitch suit. (Exit Wounds)
- The herd drawn to the Civic Republic Research Facility may contain one or more variants as they managed to break through the glass window of the building to devour Webb after he made too much noise and drew attention to himself. (Death and the Dead)
- A French scientist reanimates thirty seconds after being shot in the back by a vigilante, displays intelligence by remembering where the man came from, and agility and strength by running after him and beating the metal doors down. (The Last Light)
Tales of the Walking Dead[]
- The walker that kills Gilligan sidesteps past Joe's traps while the rest of the herd walks right into them, displaying intelligence in avoiding the walker traps. (Evie / Joe)
- Chauncey Everett researches the behavior of several different walkers. He's been able to study the difference between different walkers, noting how one of his walkers has a better sense of hearing and another one is seemingly stronger than the rest of the pack as it's survived many attacks by predators and humans alike. (Amy / Dr. Everett)
- As stated by Everett, Dr. Moseley has displayed unusual behavior as it's been noted to kill at least two dogs but not eat it, instead letting the rest of the horde eat the dog. Everett dubs Dr. Moseley a Protector, a variant of walkers that looks after the herd's needs before its own. (Amy / Dr. Everitt)
Dead City[]
- Several lurkers are seen in the New York City Subway System. (Everybody Wins a Prize)
- The walker that Maggie and Negan find in Penn Station is a lurker as it doesn't move until Negan touches it. (Everybody Wins a Prize)
- Several lurkers are seen in the New York City Sewer System. A small herd of them attacks Maggie, Ginny, Amaia and Tommaso, killing the latter two before Maggie managed to take them all out. (Stories We Tell Ourselves)
- Multiple walkers form together in the New York City Sewer System to form a superorganism dubbed the "Walker King", similar to a rat king. The main walker of this superorganism displays strength and agility by being able to host numerous walkers in its body and crawl at the speed it displayed. The Walker King was also a lurker because he became active when Maggie and Ginny started making noise. Maggie was only able to dispatch it by stabbing the Walker King in each of its four heads. (Stories We Tell Ourselves)
Daryl Dixon[]
- In the Midi-Pyrénées Market, Daryl Dixon fights a small herd of 14 burners, a variant that he has never encountered before. Also the burners were lurkers as they didn't move until Daryl made a noise. Using one of his knives and a boat hook, Daryl manages to put all of burners down, but he gets grabbed on the arm and burned by one. Afterwards, Daryl is shocked by their acidic blood. His wound is later cauterized by Isabelle and the nuns with Isabelle telling Daryl that he's lucky to have kept the arm and that cauterization is the best way to prevent the spread of the wound. (L'âme Perdue)
- Isabelle reveals to Daryl that variants are common in France, noting that burners are "just one kind" of zombie in France. (L'âme Perdue)
- Dr. LaFleur's test subject is one of the Power of the Living's Amper variants, ripping its chains free of the concrete walls that they are anchored to in an inhuman display of strength and rushing the glass before whatever the Doctor's assistants injected it with causes blood to explode out of its head and chest, putting it down. (Paris Sera Toujours Paris)
- One of the zombified residents of the Parisian Apartment Building is a burner. After dropping from the window of its apartment, the burner attacks Isabelle before being impaled in the back with a makeshift spear by Daryl. Daryl then uses the burner to get through a door, pressing it up against the vines covering the door, causing them to burn away. Once the door opens, Daryl stabs the burner in the back of the head with his makeshift spear. (Paris Sera Toujours Paris)
- Daryl kills two burners while he's inside a pool of water. (La Dame de Fer)
- A burner is amongst the zombies to attack Daryl's group's camp and is dispatched by Azlan. (Deux Amours)
- On the Power of the Living Ship, one of the Doctor's test subjects displays characteristics of the climber and cohort variants, including increased speed, aggression and the ability to climb stairs. The variant viciously tears apart Juno and quickly recovers from a blow to the head by Daryl that would dispatch a normal walker, forcing Daryl to flee overboard. He also demonstrates intelligence by not jumping after Daryl, realizing that he might crash. (Deux Amours)
- After being shot with a dart containing the Amper Serum, one of the Power of the Living's walkers visibly mutates, gaining black eyes, the distended veins and acidic blood of a burner and the increased speed, strength and aggression of a cohort. During a fight with Daryl, this Amper charges him several times, gets back up from blows that would down a normal walker and burns him with its acidic blood when Daryl stabs it through the chest with an axe. Despite its increased durability, Daryl is able to dispatch the Amper by using a flagpole as a makeshift spear to flip it to the ground and then literally planting the flagpole in its head. (Deux Amours-Coming Home)
- After Daryl's victory, Genet has him shackled by the wrist to Quinn and then four more walkers shot with darts. One's head explodes rather than mutating and a second is aggressively torn apart by another Amper. By working together, Daryl and Quinn are able to fight off the remaining two, although they struggle against one as its metal headband protects it from attacks aimed at finishing it off. By wrapping the chain connecting them around the Amper's throat and pulling together, Daryl and Quinn are able to decapitate it and Daryl throws the head at Genet's feet. (Coming Home)
- Having suffered a wound to his back from one of the Ampers, Quinn dies and reanimates, becoming a cohort variant. Quinn quickly moves to attack and is able to withstands a heavy blow to the head with a pipe from Isabelle and charges at her. However, on Daryl's urging, Laurent puts Quinn down by axing him in the head. (Coming Home)
- Daryl encounters a large herd of lurkers on Omaha Beach who only emerge from the grasses where they had been laying when Daryl draws their attention by signaling a boat offshore. Daryl manages to fight his way through the herd onto the beach itself, but discovers that Laurent had secretly followed him. As Daryl is caught between the chance to go home and Laurent, the herd closes in on the boy (Coming Home) and Daryl ultimately chooses to save Laurent and return to the Nest with him for the time being. (La Gentillesse Des Étrangers)
- In Greenland, two lurkers attack Carol as she fights off a small herd using Daryl's Crossbow. In addition, one of the lurkers shows intelligence by grabbing Carol's hand and stopping her from stabbing the other lurker, effectively restraining Carol for the first lurker's attack. Ash saves Carol and they take out the lurkers while Hanna saves them from the last of the walkers. (Moulin Rouge)
- Hanna later mentions that the field that Ash's Plane had landed in is full of the undead, suggesting that most of them are lurkers as there aren't anymore walkers seen aside from one later wandering the field at nighttime. (Moulin Rouge)
- Emile tells Daryl and Isabelle that while he was Genet's prisoner, he was forced to witness her experiments into creating Ampers. (Moulin Rouge)
- Carol and Rèmy watch Dr. LaFleur's experiments on perfecting Ampers. Rèmy explains that according to rumor, Genet is trying to create a stronger breed of zombie as a weapon and the burners were another experiment, a mistake that got out rather than being a natural variant. (L'Invisible)
- During the Battle of the Nest, Genet has dozens of selectees gunned down and then injected with the Amper Serum, turning them all into Ampers. Chasing after Carol and Stéphane Codron through the blown open gate to the Nest, the Ampers attack the Union soldiers and Nest residents as the Guerriers follow behind them, resulting in many deaths. Although the Ampers are eventually eliminated, the Guerriers are able to take control of the Nest. (Le Paradis Pour Toi)
- Genet attempts to have Theo and Didi turned into Ampers in order to find Daryl and Carol, but Carol's attack thwarts this. (Le Paradis Pour Toi)
- Cornered by a herd in an SUV at Maison Mère, Daryl shoots two zombified Guerriers with the Amper Serum, causing them to mutate into Ampers. The two Ampers then tear apart hundreds of walkers to get at Daryl, Carol and Ash, breaking through the windows of the vehicle. However, they are quickly dispatched by Carol and Daryl, allowing the group to escape. (Vouloir, C'est Pouvoir)
- Part of the parking garage beneath the Hippodrome is overrun by a herd of burners. Anna Valery leads Jacinta and her forces into the burners, resulting in three of Jacinta's men getting devoured while Jacinta herself in bitten. Furious, Jacinta locks Anna in to be devoured by the burners. Jacinta's bite and her subsequent loss of Laurent causes her to commit suicide. (Au Revoir Les Enfants)
- A number of bioluminescent lurkers are in the Chunnel near the British Military checkpoint on the French side when Daryl's group passes through it. When the effects of the bat guano on the group causes them to make noise, the lurkers become active and attack alongside several nearby walkers. However, they are all dispatched by Daryl, Carol and Stéphane. (Au Revoir Les Enfants)
The Ones Who Live[]
Webisodes[]
- Judy displayed intelligence by returning to her husband's home and being able to open the closet door to get to her stepchildren, Billy and Jamie. She also displayed characteristics of a lurker after being shot in the stomach by her husband. Her body fell into a death-like dormancy and was wrapped in a rug, but later awoke when alerted to the sounds of Billy and Jamie arguing. (Step-Mother)
- Hannah displayed intelligence by continuing her journey to the park where she sent her children to be evacuated. (Everything Dies)
- Harris showed unusual behavior as he was still holding on to the machete he had when he died. (Parting Shots)
- Marcus momentarily stops moving or making sounds while his wife Suzanne is talking to him. This gave him enough time for her to open the door so that he can attack her. He also showed large amounts of aggression during his reanimated state. Furthermore; after being shot several times by Anthony, instead of trying to immediately pounce on him as most walkers would do, he just glares at the man who shot him and before moving towards him.
Dead Reckoning[]
- Robb Spanner is noted to have been sitting still with the occasional moan, despite Gary Taylor being locked in the same cell as him; and he only decided to attack after Don opened up the cell. (First Blood)
Survival Instinct[]
- An unnamed biker is a lurker as he is not shown to move until Daryl reaches for his knife. (Barksdale, Georgia)
Characters[]
The following is a list of characters from The Walking Dead Television Universe that are believed to be variants upon reanimating.
TV Series[]
Fear the Walking Dead[]
World Beyond[]
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Tales of the Walking Dead[]
Dead City[]
Daryl Dixon[]
Webisodes[]Dead Reckoning[]
Survival Instinct[]
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Trivia[]
- While not discussed in-universe until over ten years after the outbreak, it was confirmed by showrunner Angela Kang and producer Scott Gimple that the variant zombies have existed since the beginning of the series.
- On the variant zombies, Angela Kang said: "In some way, it is a throwback to some of the walkers we saw back in the very, very first season of 'The Walking Dead'. But not everybody ever encountered those walkers. It's almost like it was a variant that just was regional. And anytime there is a change to the rules, that means that people just need to be that much on their game because they're realizing that the methods that they used to survive don't quite work the same way. Our survivors need to be very, very smart and try to adjust to that, and that is one of the many conflicts that they will be dealing with in the final block of episodes."
- Regarding the intelligence of the variant zombies, Scott Gimple clarified: "'World Beyond'-wise, I just would say, I wouldn't co-sign on the word 'smart' for the walkers. There's something going on there."
- Despite the idea of Variants being an nearly an exclusive TV Universe concept, variants have been shown to appear in other pieces of media across the franchise. These includes the Bloaters in Overkill's The Walking Dead, exploding walkers in Betrayal, and alarm walkers and heavy walkers in Destinies.
References[]
Themes
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Abstract | Betrayal • Cliffhangers • Denial • Depression • Discrimination • Distrust • Envy • Fear • Foreshadowing • Forgiveness • Hallucination • Heroism • Hope • Humanity • Humor • Leadership • Pride • Regret • Religion • Revenge • Sacrifice • Sanity • Secrecy • Symbolism |
Realistic | Amputations • Bad Weather • Camouflage • Cannibalism • Decapitations • Framing • Illness • Mercy Killing • Murder • Nicknames • Pregnancy • Punishment • Substance Use • Suicide • Teamwork • Unexpected Survival |
Miscellaneous | A's and B's • Antagonists • Continuity • Cultural References • Deuteragonist • Episode Title Meanings • Groups • Herd • Protagonists • Tritagonist • TV/Comic Death Comparisons • Variants • Wildfire Virus • Zombies |