"A zombie is a creature that appears in books, films and popular culture. It is typically a reanimated corpse, or a human being who is being controlled by someone else by use of magic. More recent stories have used a pandemic illness to explain them. Stories of zombies originated in the West African spiritual belief system of voodoo, which told of the people being controlled as laborers by a powerful wizard. Zombies became a popular device in modern horror fiction, largely because of the success of George A. Romero's 1968 film Night of the Living Dead." - Wikipedia on Zombies

It happens in just about every zombie movie -- a throng of reanimated corpses lumbers toward the farmhouse, shopping mall, pub or army base where the heroes have barricaded themselves. The zombies aren't dead, but they should be. They're relentless and oblivious to pain, and they continue to attack even after losing limbs. Usually, anyone the zombies kill returns as a zombie, so they quickly evolve from a nuisance to a plague. - How Stuff Works on Zombies

Definition of ZOMBIE

We know how to kill them. The average ZSDW user has more ways to impale, burn, smash, explode, implode, vaporize, shred, and generally tear the crap out of zombies than the average overpriced horror film.

We know how to avoid them and what buildings will and will not (Walmart) work to protect us against them.

But it seems every single new movie or game brings with it a new type of zombie. So what do the users really consider the true zombie? Add a short, preferably one-sentence definition of your iconic zombie.


(TEMPLATE) [Username] - Definition

[Jahadaz] - A flesh eating, non thinking, ex-human that is the best / or worst thing to happen to mankind depending on how you look at it.

[John_234] - The mindless, blundering wreck of a human being that most likely wants to feast on your irreplaceable ass, and should mostly likely be shot in the face. Double the last one if said 'zombie' is your boss.

[Marsden] - A zombie, in my opinion, could encompass one of several possible definitions. A traditional definition of one would suggest a corpse which has undergone reanimation, the only way to revert it to its prior state would be to 'remove the head or destroy the brain.' It would be incomprehensible to accept that such a creature would exist.

The realistic definition, in my opinion, could be defined as a human being infected with a virus causing outbursts of violence not dissimilar to rabies and which will inhibit the mental processes with effects similar to dementia. The infected individual may be partially or completely controlled by this virulent entity with the aim of infecting others to ensure the pathogens continued survival.

[Carnack] - A flesh-eating, non sentient being that wants to make kibbles out of your booty and/or spread its disease. No Paris Hilton is not a zombie and has already been shot in the face repeatedly anyway.

[DrSNAFU] - A zombie is a simple animal, an exceedingly poor excuse for an animal in actuality. It's weak, slow, stupid, predictable and gifted with only one instinctual urge. It makes up for these obvious flaws by having no requirements for continued existence. It doesn't need to eat, sleep, breathe, reproduce or even think. Every moment is devoted to the consumption of the living, which in turn swells their ranks. The body is dead yet the brain lives on. It is the finest soldier ever to walk this earth. "When the dead walk, the living will fill these graves."

[conmiro] - A zombie is any type of humanoid being, likely mutated due to a virus, that wants to either A) Spread it's disease through transfer of bodily fluid or B) Eat you to sustain itself, or both of the above. Regardless, they are a threat to my existence. There are possibly two types of zombies; Regular, infected humans, and possibly, mutated humans. The Regular zombies are like normal humans, save for the fact they want to bite you. Mutants, however, are more dangerous, as they can develop adaptations to make them harder to kill or more effective killers. The procedure is still the same, however. Shoot in the brain to stop it.

[Devilnuts] - The very idea of the Hollywood zombie began as a metaphor with strong subtext of social and political commentary. Zombies (to me) represent many of the uglier qualities of people and society and the zombie apocalypse is a fun analog to get people thinking about the collapse of government and/or societal structure.

[LJ126] - Personally, I believe that zombies already (metaphorically, not literally) exist today, in the form of any possible survival situation or life and death struggle, regardless of the form it may take. A "zombie attack" could be an earthquake, a tornado, a car accident, a medical emergency or a self-defense encounter - hell, even any other situation that requires one to immediately make grace decisions that could make a huge impact on a person's life, be it your own or someone close to you. Also, by preparing for a "real" zombie survival situation, you have taken steps to prepare yourself for any eventuality, as long as you have done so adequately.

That being said, in my mind, a "real" zombie is like one from a Romero flick - undead, hungry for the flesh of the living, and only an empty homicidal shell...

[ItsMrManCub] - In a nutshell a zombie "could" be described as me after working 6 months straight of the graveyard shift. The other option is a mindless meat corpse shuffling around moaning BRAAAIIINSSSSS.

[Maricely] - To me, a zombie is or was a human being who, for whatever reason, now has an insatiable craving for human meat. They have a limited mental capacity and spread thier condition through bodily fluids.

[SovietPrince] - I view a zombie as any human possessed/infected/controlled/reanimated by any means. My view on these zombies ranges from the hypnotized mass public that obeys blindly, to the shambling rotting corpses of tomorrow. All zombies are deadly, even the hypnotized mass public, for, they will create a panic that can only be stopped with destruction. But, let's focus on the worst. A flesh-eating zombie, whether they be fast or slow, is NO LONGER HUMAN. They no longer feel anything. And even if they are trapped souls, we'll never know, because the zombie possession is so great, that it is my belief that once one is infected, they are incurable, no hope for them except in death. They want us to not live, and we can't let that happen now, can we?

[Rocketman] The traditional zombie is a human being that has died, and been reanimated, and is left with only he basic instict to direct its wrecked body towards a living being, which it will bite to spread the disease that caused its current predicament. It can only be killed by destroying the brain.
However, the logical, more modern zombie is more like so: A human being who was bitten, and infected with a rabies-like virus. They are still alive in body, but the disease has left them with the same desires as in a traditional zombie. Because the body is alive, however, these are much more dangerous - they are fast, sometimes being able to sprint, unless physically damaged. These zombies can be killed like humans, but they have an extremely high pain tolerance, due to the need to feed overriding all other instincts and such.

[kinelta] Wordy, long-winded, and very proper:
A zombie can be classified in one of two ways.
The first type is that of a human being that has died and been reanimated.
The second type is a human being that has been infected with something that causes the person to lose all rational sense and becomes behaviorally unstable, something I believe to be the most likely scenario.
Both types are driven to inflict harm on other humans that are not zombies, causing the victim's death (in the case of type 1 zombies) or infection (type 2). This results, in both cases, with the creation of more zombies like themselves. Type 1 zombies can only be killed by headshots or decapitation. Type 2 zombies can be killed by whatever would kill a normal human being. Both types are terrible and frightening.

[khrushchev] Any enemy, or nonfriendly force that poses a threat to general survival and livelyhood after major natural disaster or attack that rends society defunct and in a state of anarchy.

[White76Knight] Metaphorically, the zombie is any person or group that threatens my survival or well being, or that of those that I care about, during or following an event (whether natural or man-made) that results in a general societal collapse. Aside from that, a zombie, in my mind, is any human being that has "died", but has since been reanimated by any of several commonly accepted means, being left with only a basic instinct to feed on living human flesh. This desire to feed originates not from an actual need for sustenance, which the zombie may no longer require, but rather is likely an evolutionary mechanism designed to spread its condition to others.

I expect that the process responsible for the reanimation of any given zombie will be infection by a naturally occurring or artificial mutation of a rabies-like virus or some as yet unknown kind of parasite. The zombie will still technically be alive in the medical sense, but no longer aware or in control of their own actions. During early stages of infection, the zombie will likely be as fast as a normal human, sometimes being able to sprint (unless physically damaged), but as the infection progresses and the body breaks down, the zombie becomes more and more uncoordinated, eventually being capable only of a slow shuffling walk, or shambling lunges at best (a condition known as ataxia, likely caused in this case by brain damage as a result of the virus or parasite).

These zombies may be killed like humans, but like humans under the influence of some mind altering drugs, they will likely possess an extremely high tolerance to pain, ignoring severe and even mortal injuries, at least for awhile. Such injuries will kill them eventually, of course, but, until death occurs, the zombies will not be unduly slowed or hampered by them, and will continue to attack until their last breath. Any destruction of the brain or severing of the spinal column will put the zombie down instantly, and so will be the recommended means of neutralization.