What definies a Zombie?

Thomas_Anderson · Nov 3, 2009

I was thinking about what makes a zombie, and I found the question puzzled me. It is not the speed, because many writers are employing fast zombies (or at least regular-walking-speed zombies), since a monster you could escape by simply walking at a brisk pace isn't very frightening unless in very tight corridors or small rooms.

So I decided that the mindless nature makes a zombie a zombie. But then Piers Anthony and Terry Goodkind come up with fully sapient zombies who are essentially normal people with slowly decaying bodies.

Then there's stories such as I Am Legend that blur the line between zombie and vampire.

So just what IS a zombie?

Oberon89 · Nov 3, 2009

For some reason they tend to like eating brains, and I for one don't understand the motivation.

If their body is dead, decaying, etc., how can their digestive systems process any food, much less brains? It's not like their circulatory systems are delivering nutrients to the cells, and it's not like they're excreting anything. I've never heard of a zombie taking a dump.

Thomas_Anderson · Nov 3, 2009

Actually eating brains isn't all that common. For the most part, that was only in Night of the Living Dead, and they ate brains because being a walking corpse is extremely painful, and eating the brain somehow alleviated the pain.

Most zombies that aren't parodies just have a desire to consume flesh. Different stories vary on whether they actually need it. For example, in Zombie Survival Guide, they simply crave it, consuming it doesn't help them, starving them doesn't stop them, and if they eat enough of it, their bellies explode. On the other hand, in 28 Days Later and presumably Zombieland, they can starve to death (in Zombieland they even eat other stuff besides human flesh, as they forage through trash and go to town at a supermarket).

Paul · Nov 3, 2009

Most zombies that aren't parodies just have a desire to consume flesh. .[/QUOTE]

So your actually talking about non-parody zombies.
Well, that's completely different.

This is a long shot - but maybe being dead and wanting to - you know - not be dead - defines a zombie?
(Hence all that flesh eating business)

JMBlackman · Nov 3, 2009

It seems the easiest way to define a zombie is as a reanimated corpse. They need to have been dead, and they need to now be 'alive' again. The rest is preference, in my opinion. Like whether they're flesh eating, why they're fleshing eating, mindless vs. conscious...all of that jazz.

Thomas_Anderson · Nov 3, 2009

Ah, but the 28 Days Later zombies were never dead. It's just a virus. Ditto for Zombieland.

Mara · Nov 3, 2009

Brains are actually in Return of the Living Dead, rather than Night of the Living Dead.

The zombie/vampire crossover happens because Night of the Living Dead was inspired by "The Last Man on Earth," which was in turn based on the original novel "I Am Legend." Legend vampires and Romero zombies are both based on the old folktales about wampyrs, which are bloated, gross corpses that attack people for blood.

Really, I'd say zombies are whatever you say they are. There are several different qualifications, but meeting any one of them can be enough to qualify as a zombie. (The main qualities I can think of are undead, mindless, in a trance, or corpse-like. Nothing fits all four.)

In modern fiction, Romero-style zombies usually serve the role of the "moat." They trap people in a siege situation, helping bring about Man vs. Man conflicts. In some cases, though, Man vs. Zombie is the central conflict.

EDIT: And there are movies without any zombies that are still very much like "zombie movies." Day of the Triffids, Birds, and even Attack of the Killer Tomatoes are similar.

I guess the theme of "zombie movie" is Man vs. Nature resulting in Man vs. Man or Man vs. Himself. Zombies or their equivalent tend to have the same plot effect as blizzards, floods, droughts, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.

JMBlackman · Nov 3, 2009

Thomas_Anderson said:
Ah, but the 28 Days Later zombies were never dead. It's just a virus. Ditto for Zombieland.

1. Zombieland was the sh!t.
2. Who says they weren't dead? I don't recall them saying they didn't die as a result of the virus.
3. I never got all the way through 28 Days Later, but what I saw was freaky.

Ciera_ · Nov 3, 2009

Zombie:
1. The only mythical/supernatural creature that has not yet been portrayed as sexy in any well-known work.

For how much longer the Zombie would remain sacred, Ciera couldn't say. It was only a matter of time before the YA romance writers got wind of this majestic creature.

SPMiller · Nov 3, 2009

The same thing that defines a vampire:

Whatever you want.

Paul · Nov 3, 2009

Ciera_ said:
Zombie:
1. The only mythical/supernatural creature that has not yet been portrayed as sexy in any well-known work.

.

Are you kidding me?
Didn't you see that Thriller Video??

What... a video's not a 'work'?
Course it is.

JS Emuakpor · Nov 3, 2009

Maybe they crave flesh because they are in constant decay.

I mean, if your festering flesh keeps falling off, eventually you'll be just a skeleton, right? So maybe they eat flesh in order to regenerate their own decaying carcasses.

SPMiller · Nov 3, 2009

Okay, people have touched on Romero's portrayal of zombies without getting to the meat of the issue:

His movies were social commentary.

Take Dawn of the Dead, for instance. Took place in a mall setting, which was relatively new to American culture at the time. The zombies were supposed to stand for the mindless hordes of people who bought into the commercialization malls represented. His zombies ate brains not to alleviate pain but rather to symbolize the effect of peer pressure in accepting that commercialization. The movies were usually about small groups of survivors who tried to resist the change in society. The original ending to Dawn of the Dead showed the protagonists finally giving in and allowing the zombies to eat them.

As with any thing else, zombies are what you make them. I posted about vampires for a reason. What defines vampires? Well, they drink blood, except when they don't. They die in sunlight, except when they don't. They hate garlic and the cross, except when they don't. They need to drink human blood, except when they don't. They are evil, except when they're not. They're not sexy, except when they are. And so forth.

therooster · Nov 3, 2009

I think a zombie HAS to be something other than a reanimated corpse. Otherwise, vampires are zombies too. Zombies have to eat brains or consume flesh and they have to be decaying as well. I agree with ciera, zombies aren't sexy. When i hear the word zombie I think of a disgusting corpse with no control over its primal instincts(whatever they maybe) and only a vague sense of the surrounding world. But all in all zombies are like vampires make em whatever you want and nobody will really have anything to say about it.

Don Allen · Nov 3, 2009

Actually, the best definition of a zombie was my ex-wife in bed....Cold, Dead Eyed, and drained of emotion. Think Shark..

SPMiller · Nov 3, 2009

Ciera_ said:
Zombie:
1. The only mythical/supernatural creature that has not yet been portrayed as sexy in any well-known work.

For how much longer the Zombie would remain sacred, Ciera couldn't say. It was only a matter of time before the YA romance writers got wind of this majestic creature.

Isn't well-known, but: http://www.ravenousromance.com/fantastica/hungry-for-your-love-an-anthology-of-zombie-romance.php

Could be the start of a trend, and that scares me.

vfmom · Nov 3, 2009

Ciera_ said:
Zombie:
1. The only mythical/supernatural creature that has not yet been portrayed as sexy in any well-known work.

For how much longer the Zombie would remain sacred, Ciera couldn't say. It was only a matter of time before the YA romance writers got wind of this majestic creature.

They are way ahead of you

Generation Dead
http://www.nypl.org/blogs/2009/03/15/generation-dead-review

Rhys Cordelle · Nov 3, 2009

For vampires I'd say there are 4 key things that are consistent. First, they are always undead. Secondly, sunlight is always a factor, even if it just makes them sweat or *cringe* sparkle. Third, they have longevity, if not immortality. And lastly, and most importantly, they crave blood. They may not always drink it but they always hunger for it

Thomas_Anderson · Nov 3, 2009

Ciera_ said:
Zombie:
1. The only mythical/supernatural creature that has not yet been portrayed as sexy in any well-known work.

For how much longer the Zombie would remain sacred, Ciera couldn't say. It was only a matter of time before the YA romance writers got wind of this majestic creature.

Funny you mention that. In the Zombie Survival Guide, it mentions several means of infection, from bites to their blood getting into your wounds. Then it lists sexual transmission, and notes that it is unknown if the virus is transmittable that way, but it's irrelevant to warn people either way because anybody willing to have sex with a zombie is so screwed in the head that any warning will fall on deaf ears.

jennontheisland · Nov 4, 2009

SPMiller said:
Isn't well-known, but: http://www.ravenousromance.com/fantastica/hungry-for-your-love-an-anthology-of-zombie-romance.php

Could be the start of a trend, and that scares me.

This is not the first one. So if there's a trend, it's not the start. This was the first one I noticed (released like 2 years ago now I think):
http://www.loose-id.com/prod-Zombie_Jack-557.aspx

And there are more. MOoooooore. (you know, like braaaaains)

Shadow_Ferret · Nov 4, 2009

Thomas_Anderson said:
So just what IS a zombie?

Traditionally, a zombie is a corpse reanimated through Voodoo. Generally mindless, they do simple tasks for the person who brought them back to "life."

Everything else is a modern retelling.

Dicentra P · Nov 4, 2009

I would think that the mindlessness/control by some other person is more defining of the zombie than what it eats or even the rotting part. but again this is my opinion and I'm sure there are self aware independent zombies out there too. Its just what comes first to my mind at the word.

Tasmin21 · Nov 4, 2009

Ciera_ said:
Zombie:
1. The only mythical/supernatural creature that has not yet been portrayed as sexy in any well-known work.

For how much longer the Zombie would remain sacred, Ciera couldn't say. It was only a matter of time before the YA romance writers got wind of this majestic creature.

And doesn't Mark Henry have a series where the main character is a zombie?

ETA: Ah yes, here we are. Happy Hour of the Damned is the first book.

For my own personal preferances, zombies are anything that scares the absolute bejeezus out of me. I have a zombie phobia.

SPMiller · Nov 4, 2009

jennontheisland said:
This is not the first one. So if there's a trend, it's not the start. This was the first one I noticed (released like 2 years ago now I think):
http://www.loose-id.com/prod-Zombie_Jack-557.aspx

And there are more. MOoooooore. (you know, like braaaaains)

Noooooo.

SPMiller · Nov 4, 2009

I went looking and found moooooore examples.

This is not goooooood.

What definies a Zombie?

The Druid you're looking for

I’m trying.

Clever User Title

I’m trying.

Ciera_

Prodigiously Hanged

I lurk. Therefore, I am.

Prodigiously Hanged

Seeking a Sanctuary of Intelligence

Prodigiously Hanged

the world is at my command

Court Jester

Help!!!!

They will come from below...

Prodigiously Hanged

Prodigiously Hanged