Vegetarian Zombie

"Graaaaaaaaaaaains... graaaaaaaaaaaaains...."

The zombies have risen from their graves. They're approaching. Is this the end? Do they want to feast on the flesh of their human victims? No, something strange happens. This zombie horde just simply walks by the humans, not interested. The people sigh in relief... and then notice that the horde has gotten into a garden and is devouring all the plants.

Not all zombies prefer meat; Vegetarian Zombies would rather have grains instead of brains for a meal. A relative newcomer in the zombie genre, these undead creatures are more at peace with plant rather than meat. The benefits for the zombies include the fact many targets, especially humans, are often armed and can run fast – plants are easier to find and catch. There are few plant species that have natural defenses, but a vegetarian zombie would still try their luck.

This is still bad news for the human survivors, though: this could cost them their food supply and, in the worst cases, their oxygen (since many plants give that off after consuming carbon dioxide).

This is a subtrope of Our Zombies Are Different.

Film

 * In the 2008 reboot of Day of the Dead, a zombie is brought along with the survivors, yet doesn't seem interested in their flesh. Private Salazar isn't thrilled at all about it, but Corporal Sarah Cross explains that the zombie they found is vegetarian. Cross theorized the zombie was likely a vegetarian beforehand.
 * The main plot of 2010 movie Attack of the Vegan Zombies.

Literature

 * Zed the Vegetarian Zombie is a children's book featuring one, written by author Adam Wallace in collaboration with a primary school teacher named Nathan Jones, who came up with the idea.

Music

 * "Vance the Vegetarian Zombie" by Canadian musical comedy trio The Arrogant Worms.

Video Games

 * The main plot of Plants vs. Zombies series.
 * In the supernatural pack of The Sims 3, zombies often appear during a full-moon. If a garden is nearby, they'll likely consume that first.

Web Original

 * Medium.com has a short comedic confessional written from the perspective of one of these.

Western Animation

 * Tofu the Vegan Zombie was created by award-winning artist William Vaughn, and debuted in an award-winning 2007 short titled "Zombie Dearest". The official Tofu website says that he was created by Professor Vost, and became vegan by accident when his brain was lost during an experiment and one of the lab monkeys replaced it with a block of tofu. This caused him to crave greens upon waking up, and as long as said block of tofu remains in his head, Tofu remains friendly and amiable. When it's removed, however...

Real Life

 * As discovered in a declassified document covered by multiple sources, the United States Department of Defense Strategic Command CONOP uses fictional Zombie Apocalypse scenarios as part of military training. The document itself explicitly mentions "vegetarian zombies" that will consume all plant life they can reach among the potential threats, even going so far as to mention Plants vs. Zombies and the commonly-made "graaaaaains" joke.