Pretend We're Dead



When characters are facing the Zombie Apocalypse and need to get from point A to point B and the only way is through a mob of hungry undead, what is the proper thing to do? Act like a zombie! Shuffle and moan with your arms outstretched, and if you've got access to some cosmetics, give yourself a pasty makeover. After all, there are No Zombie Cannibals so you'll be safe, right? Just hope that the zombies don't see through your disguise by being able to detect your delicious living flesh in other ways!

Typically, this is a sign that a work is closer to the "comedy" end of the Sliding Scale of Comedy and Horror, since most "serious" horror realizes this ploy is about as effective as putting a mustache on a hamburger. It may also be used in non-zombie-related contexts, such as situations where they are surrounded by people who have been Brainwashed, body snatched or assimilated into a Hive Mind.

The Trope Namer is the song by L7, which was used in the trailer for Shaun of the Dead, despite the song having nothing to do with zombies. Not to be confused with Faking the Dead. A Sub-Trope of Dressing as the Enemy.

Anime and Manga

 * In Pokémon Special, Dia notes the Galactic mooks with their Hive Mind don't even notice him marching with them after he knocks out a stray one and steals his uniform. His cover only gets blown after he stops a moment to plan his next move...thus showing that he isn't a brainless mook like the rest of them.

Comic Books

 * The Walking Dead is a rare example of this trope being used seriously. Rick and Glenn cover themselves in zombie muck to smell like zombies, effectively becoming invisible to them. They manage to clear out a gun store in the middle of a horde using the tactic. But then it starts raining and washing the scent off.
 * It is also possible Michonne used this tactic by wandering around the Dead States of America with her zombified boyfriend and friend roped to her. In the comic it is unclear if the two zombified sidekicks were able to retain a memory of Michonne so they would not attack her since their jaws were removed to prevent them from feeding.
 * When asked about it, Michonne claimed that she chopped their arms and jaws off as a precautionary measure and that due to their inability to attack her, they eventually gave up on trying.
 * One of a series of short zombie stories had a survivor act like a zombie to prevent himself from being eaten, including limping gait and dirty appearance. However, it is implied to have taken a serious toll on his sanity as he is not even allowed to engage in the most basic grooming and is forced to kill other survivors with the zombies to protect his cover.

Film

 * Shaun of the Dead has the heroes pretending to be zombies in order to get to the pub.
 * In the low-budget movie The Dead Hate the Living, two characters even make themselves up with stage makeup to try and pass off as the undead.
 * In Zombieland, pretends to be a zombie (complete with professional makeup) so that he can play golf, and he uses his disguise to scare and play around with the main characters.  It's a little strange that the ploy works given the nature of the zombies involved...
 * Rule of Funny.
 * Happens twice in Dance Of The Dead... with poor results.
 * In Serenity, the ship gets a Reaver makeover so it can pass through Reaver-infested space. In this case it works, until they deliberately blow their cover to draw the Reavers after them.
 * In The Mummy 1999, Jonathan tries to blend in with the crowd of mind-controlled minions by walking in lockstep with them and chanting "Imhotep! Imhotep!" unconvincingly. It not only works, but even calms down their possessed rage somewhat.
 * The '78, '93 and '07 versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The alien pod people (who have killed and replaced many humans) never show any emotions. When the protagonists need to mingle with them, they act emotionless as well in order to blend in.
 * In the second House of the Dead film (which was made for TV, and Uwe Boll wasn't involved), zombies are revealed to hunt by scent. One of the main characters soaks his clothes in zombie blood to get rid of his scent, and then proceeds to walk slowly through a zombie filled room, trying not to do anything distinctly un-zombie.
 * In the first Scooby Doo movie, Shaggy and Scooby do this to blend in with the possessed tourists during a ritual.
 * In Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D., Tom the constable does a laughably-bad demonstration of this trope, trying to blend in with a group of Robomen who act in unison and constantly falling out of step. Luckily, the Robomen are so severely brainwashed by the Daleks that they don't notice.
 * In the zombie romantic comedy (no, really) Warm Bodies (2013), R urges Julie to "act dead" when they are surrounded by other zombies who detect her presence. When she overdoes it, he then rasps, "Tooooo... muuuuuuch."  He then quickly coaches her on how to do it right.

Literature

 * Can YOU Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? has a group of Zombie Walk participants disguise their smells and attempt to escape the city this way.
 * In Cell, a one-scene character tells the protagonists about witnessing an attempt by a "normal" to evade a group of "phoners" by trying to imitate their body language. Sadly for her, it doesn't work.
 * In The Little Vampire, Anton frequently disguises himself as a vampire to be able to attend the festivities of his vampire friends.
 * Played straight and inverted in Warm Bodies where Julie pretends being a zombie while covered by zombie blood that covers her smell and when R the zombie has to pretend being alive inside a human settlement.
 * Subverted in World War Z, where the Quislings (people driven insane by the Zombie Apocalypse who have come to believe that they are zombies, and moan and shamble accordingly) are attacked by the zombies along with everyone else.

Live Action TV

 * The Degrassi: The Next Generation Halloween special Degrassi of the Dead has Peter and Manny doing this to get to a school bus.
 * In one episode of So Weird, the characters need to do this to keep their bodies from being claimed by the inhabitants of the town.
 * Not actually zombies, but an episode of Doctor Who had the Doctor and his companions pretending to be mind-controlled civilians to fool the Cybermen.
 * The Walking Dead TV show plays out the scene from the comic, including the inevitable rainstorm.
 * In Wednesday, this is played for laughs. The heroine is snooping around in the Jericho town morgue, looking for clues as to the identity of the serial killer, when she hears the coroner and the sheriff coming. She hides in one of the lockers, pretending to be a corpse. The elderly coroner finds her, but is for some reason, fooled by this, and fortunately, seeing as he does realize she is not cold yet, decides to wait until the next day to conduct an autopsy. Hilariously, when Thing nudges her to remind her they still have a job to do, she says, “Give me 5 minutes I just got comfortable."
 * In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Help", Buffy, Xander, and Dawn sneak into a funeral home (to stake a vampire before she rises) by hiding in the coffins. Dawn is really upset because she had to use a child's coffin (it was cramped) and has a hard time getting out, wondering if they had child-proof lids. (Which ironically, in Sunnydale, might not be a bad idea...)

Newspaper Comics

 * Played with in Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin the Zombie is one of his many alter egos, this one created for the purpose that the undead don't need to do homework. Eventually, Hobbes decides to join in, saying "When in Rome..." Unfortunately, their game is ruined when they get the giggles by looking at each other.

Video Games

 * In Dead Rising, you get an ability to "zombie walk", which allows you to move through the crowds of zombies ignored and unhindered. Later in the final sections of the game, a pheromone is developed that effectively masks Frank and Isabella's scent and from the zombies and repels them. They manage to wade through an entire tunnel filled with them before the stuff runs out.
 * You do this at the start of the mall level in Monster Madness, where you have to lead certain zombies back to a Leprechaun in order to get the key to the maintenance room. Afterwards, you can do this at will to slip past zombies (although other monsters still attack you).
 * Ghouls in Fallout 3 are actually pretty spry, and some are just as lucid as normal humans, so the Lone Wander doesn't even have to act any differently than usual when wearing the Ghoul Mask to fool feral ghouls.

Web Comics

 * In Unlife Is Unfair, a character caught by a zombie pretends to be a zombie herself and overdoes the charm a bit, ending up being stalked by the zombie for different reasons now.
 * In The Order of the Stick, Celia has to pose as a Necromancer, which involves Belkar switching from posing as a corpse to posing as a zombie.

Western Animation

 * In The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror III sketch "Dial Z for Zombie", Homer spots Barney eating an arm and exclaims "Barney, you're a zombie too!" to which Barney replies "Naah, but when in Rome..."
 * A variant in Static Shock: A Control Freak with Mind Control powers calls everyone out of their bed at midnight. Virgil, who wasn't affected due to his powers, follows them by acting like them.
 * The Amazing World of Gumball episode "The Joy" is a parody of a Zombie Apocalypse. Miss Simian plays the role of the protagonist and invokes this trope at one time.

Real Life

 * Many cities stage annual "Zombie Walks" where people walk like zombies across town.
 * There are insects adapted to prey on ant larvae, which smell just like fellow colony-members to adult ants. This only works because an individual ant isn't much brighter than a zombie.