Fast Zombies: Difference between revisions

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Is it weird that a Zombie has haste^[1]? Aren’t they supposed to be slow? Some people in house found it weird, but modern pop-culture zombie storytelling has opened the door to non-plodding zombies, some of which are terrifyingly quick!

—Aaron Forsythe, Director of Magic R&D.

A type of zombie^[2] that is fast. ("Fast" here means able to move at a rate equivalent to a normal human running speed -- approximately 8 miles per hour/13 kilometers per hour.) If these zombies are alive, they should count as Technically Living Zombies. If you spend most of your first encounter standing there staring at one thinking it's Not a Zombie, your chances for survival are pretty grim.

Such zombies may be able to maintain peak speeds almost indefinitely without tiring, unlike humans.

Deadly Lunge is a common middle ground between this and Zombie Gait, in which a zombie becomes fast once its prey is quite close^[3].

Examples of Fast Zombies include:

Film

Zombies in Zombieland, which is why staying in shape is more important than other zombie stories.
In World War Z, the zombies never even seem to slow to a mere sprint.
28 Days Later and its sequel contain just zombies, though they're infected with a virus rather than reanimated corpses.
The 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead featured this type of zombies.
Return of the Living Dead was the Trope Maker.
All the zombies in Nightmare City, although according to the director, the "zombies" in this case are infected humans, despite otherwise behaving entirely like zombies.

Tabletop Games

In Magic: The Gathering there are some creatures with the zombie subtype that have at least one ability associated with speed (such as haste). The page quote comes from a card developer/designer bringing up the trope on the card discussion of Blackcleave Goblin.

Video Games

Half-Life 2 has fast zombies^[4], which are not only fast, but quite agile and capable of both jumping and climbing.
The zombies in Saints Row the Third can run pretty fast for zombies, but still do so with a very pronounced stagger.
Kingdom of Loathing has a special enemy called the modern ~~zombie~~ zmobie. Far beating the other misspelled zombies in the game, the modern zmobie has initiative 300, which means that it almost assuredly will get to hit the player first.

↑ This is an game mechanic that is flavorfully associated with speed.
↑ or creature highly analogous to a zombie
↑ although Deadly Lunge isn't a strictly zombie trope
↑ as in that is what they are actually called

[1] This is an game mechanic that is flavorfully associated with speed.

[2] r creature highly analogous to a zombie

[3] though Deadly Lunge isn't a strictly zombie trope

[4] s in that is what they are actually called

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{quote|Is it weird that a Zombie has haste<ref>This is an "evergreen keyword ability". This particular ability prevents a creature from having "summoning sickness". Summoning sickness is what a creature has if it is under your control, but hasn't been their since the beginning of your turn (typically because the creature was cast that round (summoned), hence the name). Summoning sickness prevents a creature from attacking or using an activated ability with tap (or the failed untap mechanic) in its cost.</ref>? Aren’t they supposed to be slow? Some people in house found it weird, but modern pop-culture zombie storytelling has opened the door to non-[[Zombie Gait|plodding zombies]], some of which are terrifyingly quick!|Aaron Forsythe, a card designer of|[[Magic: The Gathering]]}}
 {{trope}}
+{{quote|Is it weird that a Zombie has haste<ref>This is an game mechanic that is flavorfully associated with speed.</ref>? Aren’t they supposed to be slow? Some people in house found it weird, but modern pop-culture zombie storytelling has opened the door to non-[[Zombie Gait|plodding zombies]], some of which are terrifyingly quick!|Aaron Forsythe, Director of ''[[Magic: The Gathering|Magic]]'' R&D.}}
-{{trope workshop}}
-{{tropestub}}
-A type zombie<ref>or creature highly analogous to a zombie</ref> [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|that is fast]]. If these zombies are alive, it should count as a [[Technically Living Zombie]]. If you spend most of your first encounter standing there staring at one thinking it's [[Not a Zombie]] your chances for survival are pretty grim. [[Deadly Lunge]] is a common middle ground between this and [[Zombie Gait]], in which a zombie becomes fast once its prey is quite close<ref>although [[Deadly Lunge]] isn't a strictly zombie trope</ref>.
+A type of zombie<ref>or creature highly analogous to a zombie</ref> [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|that is fast]].  ("Fast" here means able to move at a rate equivalent to a normal human running speed -- approximately 8 miles per hour/13 kilometers per hour.)  If these zombies are alive, they should count as [[Technically Living Zombie]]s. If you spend most of your first encounter standing there staring at one thinking it's [[Not a Zombie]], your chances for survival are pretty grim.
+Such zombies may be able to maintain peak speeds almost indefinitely without tiring, unlike humans.
+[[Deadly Lunge]] is a common middle ground between this and [[Zombie Gait]], in which a zombie becomes fast once its prey is quite close<ref>although [[Deadly Lunge]] isn't a strictly zombie trope</ref>.
 {{examples}}
-==Film==
+== [[Film]] ==
-* Zombies in ''[[Zombieland]]'', which is why staying in shape is important.
+* Zombies in ''[[Zombieland]]'', which is why staying in shape is more important than other zombie stories.
+* In ''[[World War Z]]'', the zombies never even seem to slow to a mere sprint.
-==Tabletop Games==
+* ''[[28 Days Later]]'' and its [[28 Weeks Later|sequel]] contain just zombies, though they're [[Technically Living Zombie| infected with a virus rather than reanimated corpses.]]
-* In ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' there are some creatures with the zombie subtype that have at least one ability associated with speed (such as haste). The page quote comes from a card designer bringing up the trope on the card discussion of [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Discussion.aspx?multiverseid=194297 |Blackcleave Goblin].
+* The 2004 remake of ''[[Dawn of the Dead]]'' featured this type of zombies.
-==Video Games==
+* ''[[Return of the Living Dead]]'' was the [[Trope Maker]].
-* ''[[Half-Life 2]]'' has fast zombies<ref>as in that is what they are actually called</ref>, which are not only fast, but quite agile and capable of jumping and climbing.
+* All the zombies in ''[[Nightmare City]]'', although according to the director, the "zombies" in this case are infected humans, despite otherwise behaving entirely like zombies.
+== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
+* In ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' there are some creatures with the zombie subtype that have at least one ability associated with speed (such as haste). The page quote comes from a card developer/designer bringing up the trope on the card discussion of [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Discussion.aspx?multiverseid=194297 Blackcleave Goblin].
+== [[Video Games]] ==
+* ''[[Half-Life 2]]'' has fast zombies<ref>as in that is what they are actually called</ref>, which are not only fast, but quite agile and capable of both jumping and climbing.
+* The zombies in ''[[Saints Row the Third]]'' can run pretty fast for zombies, but still do so with a very pronounced stagger.
+* ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'' has a special enemy called the modern <s>zombie</s> zmobie. Far beating the other misspelled zombies in the game, the modern zmobie has initiative 300, which means that it almost assuredly will get to hit the player first.
 {{reflist}}
+[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
 [[Category:Tropes of the Living Dead]]
+[[Category:Pages Original to All The Tropes]]
-[[Category:{{BASEPAGENAME}}]]