Zombie
| |
| Zombie | |
|---|---|
| Powers and Abilities | Superior strength, cannibalistic urges. |
| Vulnerabilities | Staking in their coffin, beheading or obliteration of the head. |
| Appearance | Human. |
| Episode(s) | 2.04 Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things 4.07 It's The Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester 5.15 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid |
If the definition of zombie is any person raised from the dead - then many characters on Supernatural would fall into that category - including Sam and Dean!
See: Dead...or are they? for more information on characters who've come back to life.
Zombies in Supernatural come in a variety of forms - raised from the dead by a Greek spell,[1] , by the demonic power of Samhain,[2] and even raised by Death himself.[3] Another group of beings that behave in a zombie-like manner are humans infected by the deminically engineered Croatoan virus.[4][5][6][7] and those affected by the Leviathan food-additive [8]
Zombies do like the other, other white meat.
– Dean, 3.15 Time Is On My Side
When first raised, their memories and personalities may be intact, and they can behave like normal, rational beings for several days before becoming violent and cannibalistic.[1][3] Methods of dispatch generally involve beheading, staking, or fire. Depending on the zombie, Sam and Dean appear to have varying success with each method. When Sam and Dean first encounter a zombie, a woman named Angela Mason, they seem overwhelmed by the amount of lore on the walking dead and how to kill them:[1]
- Dean: We can't just waste her with a head shot?
- Sam: Dude, you've been watching way too many Romero flicks.
- Dean: You're telling me there's no lore on how to smoke 'em?
- Sam: No, Dean. I'm telling you there's too much. I mean, there's a hundred different legends on the walking dead, but they all have different methods for killing them. Some say setting them on fire, one said... where is it... right here: feeding their hearts to wild dogs. That's my personal favorite. But who knows what's real and what's myth?
- Dean: Is there anything they all have in common?
- Sam: No, but a few said silver might work.
They shoot Angela in the chest and head with silver bullets, which seems to slow her down but has no lasting effect other than making her angry. Other lore Sam finds suggests "nailing the undead back into their gravebeds," so Dean stakes Angela in her coffin, finally dispatching her.[1] When they encounter zombies a second time, Dean stakes two zombies in their coffins to dispatch them.[2]
The next time they encounter zombies is in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Sam says that they can be killed with a headshot from a shotgun.[3] Like ghouls, it seems that obliterating their heads, not something that Sam and Dean attempted with Angela,[1] can kill them.[3] Those infected with the Croatoan virus can also be killed by shooting.
Appearances
2.04 Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things
Angela Mason is raised from the dead by a friend who had a crush on her using an ancient Greek ritual. She goes around killing those who have wronged her. Her presence causes plants in the vicinity to die. Eventually Sam and Dean kill her by luring her back to her grave, and staking her in her own coffin.
Croatoan
Good luck stopping the zombie apocalypse.
In 2.09 Croatoan, 5.04 The End, 5.20 The Devil You Know and 5.21 Two Minutes To Midnight, people infected with the Croatoan virus - called "croats" by Future!Dean - could be classed as zombies as they lose their sense of reason and become unthinking murderous creatures. They are part of the demonic plan for the Apocalypse.
Widespread distribution of the virus is planned using a new vaccine being produced by Niveus Pharmaceuticals - one contaminated with the Croataon virus. The vaccine is being rushed to stem an outbreak of flu caused by Pestilence. This potential disaster is prevented when Bobby, Sam and Castiel blow up the distribution warehouse - although only after battling some zombies.
4.07 It's The Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester
Samhain raises the Dead from their graves in the mausoleum.
5.15 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Townfolk are raised by the horseman Death and come back perfectly normal, until about 5 days later when they begin to kill.
Trivia: Elizabeth Marleau who played Karen Singer in 3.10 Dream a Little Dream of Me was unable to reprise the role for 5.15 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid as she was very obviously pregnant at the time, and the production team thought a "pregnant zombie wife...would have been more than the episode could handle"S5Com
7.09 How to Win Friends And Influence Monsters
File:Leviathancreatedzombie.png|300px|thumb|left|Gerald Browder after eating too many Turducken slammers]] The Leviathan's develope a plot to control the population. Dr Gaines synthesises a food additive which he has put into turducken which is served in a sandwich at a Biggerson's Restaurant in New Jersey. It is very addictive, and consumption leads to weight gain, and dampens people's emotional responses until they are very apathetic. After cooking, the tainted turducken will revert back to the grey goo state.
However in 0.03% of cases consumption results in "hyper-adrenalised cannibalism" in which people turn become super strong, homocidal and cannabalistic.
Pad of Definitions
An undead person commonly found in the spiritual belief system of Voodoo. Zombies are humans who have had their soul stolen by supernatural means and are forced to work for their "zombie master". Another more morbid version, that are often portrayed in horror films, depict Zombies as cannibalistic beings.
– Pad of Definitions,(2.04 Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things), Official Website
Zombies in Lore
Zombie is a term used to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli. Of voodoo origin, the word initially referred to a curse cast by sorcerers (or bokors) allowing them to take control of a person's mind, therefore affecting his or her actions. However, due to significant influence of Haitian Vodou and New Orleans Voodoo on witchcraft mythology, this meaning soon morphed into that of a human corpse mysteriously reanimated to serve the undead. Since the late 19th century, zombies have acquired notable popularity, especially in North American and European folklore.[9]
In popular culture, zombies take a number of forms. There are those raised from the dead by a spell or ritual or reanimated by some supernatural event (such as the movies of George Romero), or people turned into mindless violent cannibals by a virus (such as in the movie 28 Days Later or the Resident Evil franchise). Some are mindless, shuffling monsters - others cunning and quick. Methods of dispatch generally involve beheading, staking or fire.
Links
- What do zombies mean? by Mark Dery
- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
- The Zombie Shuffle phenomenon
- A comprehensive guide to zombies
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 2.04 Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 4.07 It's The Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 5.15 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
- ↑ 2.09 Croatoan
- ↑ 5.04 The End
- ↑ 5.20 The Devil You Know
- ↑ 5.21 Two Minutes To Midnight
- ↑ 7.09 How to Win Friends And Influence Monsters
- ↑ Wikipedia.org
