Zombie Gait: Difference between revisions

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[[File:zombie-~~gait_5584~~.jpg|frame]]

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{{quote|''"How many times have I told you? Dead things don't move fast. You're a corpse for Christ's sake! If you run that fast your ankles are going to snap off."''|'''Jason Creed''', ''[[Diary of the Dead]]''.}}

{{quote|''"I can't get over how FAST they all are, it's not even fair. I'm calling zombie bullshit on that, you know? They're not... ALLOWED to be so fast."''|'''Zoey''', ''[[Left 4 Dead]]''}}

Zombies usually shuffle around with both arms out in front of them, groaning "[[Brain Food|Braaaaaains]]" or something similar.<ref>The groan depends on the zombie; vegetarian zombies usually say "graaaaaains", for instance, while zombie plumbers say "draaaaaains", zombie jockeys say "reeeeeeins" (or [[The Hyena|lots of hideous laughter]]</ref>, [[Left 4 Dead 2|depending on the species]]) and theoretical physicist zombies say "braaaaaanes". It's normally brains, though. [[Gratuitous French|Or]] [[All He Ever Wanted|Cerveeaauuuux.]]

Zombies usually shuffle around with both arms out in front of them, groaning "[[Brain Food|Braaaaaains]]" or something similar.,<ref>The groan depends on the zombie; vegetarian zombies usually say "graaaaaains", for instance, while zombie plumbers say "draaaaaains", zombie jockeys say "reeeeeeins" (or [[The Hyena|lots of hideous laughter]]</ref> [[Left 4 Dead 2|depending on the species]]) and theoretical physicist zombies say "braaaaaanes". It's normally brains, though. [[Gratuitous French|Or]] [[All He Ever Wanted|Cerveeaauuuux.]]

Aside from the groaning, this is not unique to zombies. [[Mummy|Mummies]] usually do this as well, and even Frankenstein's monster has been seen to lurch in this variety of the [[Unflinching Walk]].

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*** Doubles as a [[You Watch Too Much X]], because the person who thought mummies were slow and dumb is a friend of Alex's who thought he knew what to do because of the books and comics he'd read. [[Wrong Genre Savvy|He didn't.]]

* Played straight in the ''[[Resident Evil]]'' movies until the third where Umbrella creates fast zombies.

* Also been used as a [[Flanderization]]~~--Frankenstein~~'s monster (who is made of corpse parts, but usually not thought of as undead) walks this way in the end of the ''[[The Ghost of Frankenstein]]'' and in ''[[Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man]]'' because a botched operation has left him totally blind. Thereafter, it became a defining mark of the character, even though later movies [[Retcon|returned his sight.]]

* Also been used as a [[Flanderization]]—Frankenstein's monster (who is made of corpse parts, but usually not thought of as undead) walks this way in the end of the ''[[The Ghost of Frankenstein]]'' and in ''[[Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man]]'' because a botched operation has left him totally blind. Thereafter, it became a defining mark of the character, even though later movies [[Retcon|returned his sight.]]

* Near the end of ''[[Friday the 13th (film)|Friday the 13 th]] Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan'' Jason develops a Zombie Gait after getting toxic waste hurled into his face - he stumbles around bumping into walls in a pretty comical fashion.

** Let's not forget that beginning in Part VI, Jason ''is'' in fact a zombie, and yet displays very few of the classic traits of the walking dead. He doesn't shamble, he's lethally intelligent, and while he rarely moves at more than a brisk walk, he is clearly capable of superior speed. Pretty much the only true "zombie" traits he follows are the rotting flesh and extreme resistance to/ignorance of physical damage.

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* Done with Vampires in the first episode of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. Lampshaded in the director's commentary on the DVD.

* A suspect in ''[[Law and Order: Criminal Intent|Law & Order: Criminal Intent]]'' started to walk like a zombie just before he died. In fact, witnesses described it as walking like a zombie. Also, the detectives were investigating a woman who practices voodoo.

* In Deadliest Warrior [Vampire vs Zombie] the Zombie's slow speed [~~2ft~~ per second to ~~3mph~~] was a serious disadvantage to the Vampire's superhuman speed [about ~~100ft~~ per second]. Because of this, the Zombies had to outnumber the Vampires 63-1 to make a fair fight. The fight scene showed that in lesser numbers, the Vampire would not be overwelmed by the Zombies and would kill them one at a time with great ease and speed.

* In Deadliest Warrior [Vampire vs Zombie] the Zombie's slow speed [2 ft per second to 3 mph] was a serious disadvantage to the Vampire's superhuman speed [about 100 ft per second]. Because of this, the Zombies had to outnumber the Vampires 63-1 to make a fair fight. The fight scene showed that in lesser numbers, the Vampire would not be overwelmed by the Zombies and would kill them one at a time with great ease and speed.

* ''[[The Walking Dead]]'', being [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|a show about zombies]] plays with this. While an average zombie can only shuffle or, at most, break out at a disjointed jog, and therefore be outrun, the main problem is they ''do not get tired''. In late season 2, {{spoiler|Andrea}} is overcome with exhaustion and jumped by a single [[Not Using the Zed Word|walker]], after being forced to fight and flee for hours on end.

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* The zombies of [[Jonathan Coulton]]'s "Re: Your Brains" are well-spoken and intelligent, but are still quite insistent about eating your brains. (There is at least one zombie groaning and mumbling in traditional fashion during the chorus, but even he manages to keep in tune.)

* [[Fridge Brilliance]] on LMAFO's "Party Rock Anthem" video, which presents the band's song infecting people a la a zombie apocalypse. Every day, they ''are'' shufflin'!

* The dance for 2PM's song [~~http://~~http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKtvDv7eykg "Heartbeat"] combines [[Zombie Gait]] with [[Marionette Motion]].

* The dance for 2PM's song [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKtvDv7eykg "Heartbeat"] combines Zombie Gait with [[Marionette Motion]].

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* Walking Dead in [[Deadlands]] RPG are smarter than they look (being demons from hell animating corpses). So they pose as slow, stupid zombies... And then they eat your brain out.

* The last time rules for zombies appeared in ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'', the zombies would always move as if they were going through difficult ground to represent this gait.

* In older editions of ''[[Dungeons and Dragons|Dungeons & Dragons]]'', zombies (but not most other undead) tended to be specifically slower than living beings, which was reflected in such zombie-specific rules as always losing initiative or only getting partial actions each turn. Even in Fourth Edition, which mostly does away with these special-case rules, humanoid zombies tend to have a lower base ground speed than the ~~living -- though~~ it's worth noting that for example the gravehound from the ''Monster Manual'', basically a zombie dog, still runs just as fast as a living dog or wolf.

* In older editions of ''[[Dungeons and Dragons|Dungeons & Dragons]]'', zombies (but not most other undead) tended to be specifically slower than living beings, which was reflected in such zombie-specific rules as always losing initiative or only getting partial actions each turn. Even in Fourth Edition, which mostly does away with these special-case rules, humanoid zombies tend to have a lower base ground speed than the living—though it's worth noting that for example the gravehound from the ''Monster Manual'', basically a zombie dog, still runs just as fast as a living dog or wolf.

* In ''[[Feng Shui]]'', most supernatural creatures (except for ghosts) explicitly ''appear'' to shamble, lurch or hop along slowly, but can actually move at their full speed. It's referred to as "deceptive speed."

* In [[Magic: The Gathering]], MaRo<ref>Mark Rosewater</ref> tried to capture this trope in the Innistrad block<ref>This Block was based on Gothic Horror</ref> by trying to make zombie decks slow, but having lots of creatures.

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* [[Half Life]]'s zombies follow this trope; in HL2 however they do have fast zombies along with the slower types.

* In the recent zombie invasion stage in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', players infected by the virus become zombies...who move very, very slowly. However, they do have an ability, "Lurch!" that removes snares and other movement-speed reducing effects, and allows you to run for a short period of time. Additionally, they have "Zombie Groan!" which draws near-by NPC zombies to you, as long as they are not in combat.

* Subverted in the game ''[[Left 4 Dead]]''. EVERY zombie can sprint at you with considerable speed (* slightly* faster than players...). Unnerving with the regular hordes, pants-wettingly terrifying when the muscle-bound super "tank" zombie sprints at ~~you -- and~~ knocks over several vehicles en route. Again, though, these are [[Hate Plague|Infected]] and not undead. If you observe an Infected that hasn't spotted you yet, however, they do shuffle around like traditional zombies up until the moment they make a dash for your face.

* Subverted in the game ''[[Left 4 Dead]]''. EVERY zombie can sprint at you with considerable speed (* slightly* faster than players...). Unnerving with the regular hordes, pants-wettingly terrifying when the muscle-bound super "tank" zombie sprints at you—and knocks over several vehicles en route. Again, though, these are [[Hate Plague|Infected]] and not undead. If you observe an Infected that hasn't spotted you yet, however, they do shuffle around like traditional zombies up until the moment they make a dash for your face.

** Interesting side note: If you watch them shuffle around long enough before they spot you, some will just lie down and die, right there.

* Subverted in ''[[Dead Space (series)|Dead Space]]'', where the [[Not Using the Zed Word|Necromorphs]] move really fast, even if you cut their limbs off. The twitchers (soldiers with time-altering gear who got turned into Necromorphs) amp things up to [[Super Speed]]. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u_r18aV1Sk&feature=related Ouch.] Probably [[NSFW]].

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* Zombies, shambling with arms outstretched, appear in some of the ''[[Army Men]]'' games.

* Averted in the ''[[Darkstalkers]]'' games. Leilei and Lord Raptor can run, jump, play basketball, and damn near everything else.

* Used in ''[[Fort Zombie]]'' extensively. Most zombies have an awkward shuffle that you can outdo with a ~~jog -- besides~~ these, there's football player zombies that can manage a brief tackling charge, and "fast" zombies in tracksuits that can manage roughly a jog. They also can't get over obstacles nearly as well as your character. It's highly recommended you use this to your advantage, especially in the early game before you have many weapons or other survivors.

* Used in ''[[Fort Zombie]]'' extensively. Most zombies have an awkward shuffle that you can outdo with a jog—besides these, there's football player zombies that can manage a brief tackling charge, and "fast" zombies in tracksuits that can manage roughly a jog. They also can't get over obstacles nearly as well as your character. It's highly recommended you use this to your advantage, especially in the early game before you have many weapons or other survivors.

* Most of the zombie-type enemies in [[City of Heroes]] have a hunched-over stance before being aggroed, and do a running shamble towards you when they are aggroed. However, whether this subverts the trope (as they are not slow) or follows it (as they can easily be outrun) is another matter.

* The zombies in [[House of the Dead]] both play this straight and completely subvert it. Most will move toward you slowly but shoot them in a way that isn't a headshot and they will rush up to you to attack.

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== Web Original ==

* The zombies in ''[[I Am Not Infected]]'' exhibited the traditional [[Zombie Gait]] until recently, which stopped them from being threatening. Lately they've learned to run.

* The zombies in ''[[I Am Not Infected]]'' exhibited the traditional Zombie Gait until recently, which stopped them from being threatening. Lately they've learned to run.

* Mocked in ''[[Unskippable]]'' during the ''[[Left 4 Dead 2]]'' cutscenes

{{quote|I like that, just as in old zombie moves, the only way to make slow zombies viable is to pit them against the stupidest, most lethargic humans ever.}}