The Walking Dead

[Cinjin]

The real truth is that in reality, even if it were possible to create a walking zombie immediately after death they would have a very short shelf life.

The biggest problem to overcome is that a dead body left outdoors decays extremely quickly, and the reanimated brain stem that supposedly powers a zombie would decay as well. At the very most, a zombie might have a month long life span but even then, it is likely that his legs would not be able to move him around for that entire duration either. The muscles would become useless as they quickly putrefy.

Nonetheless .... I LOVE zombie movies.

It depends on the type of zombie. If they are traditional undeads, that would indeed be a problem. Virus pseudo-zombies, though, bring up plenty of other problem, like how the host can survive the infection at all and why they suddenly want to bite people. But, yeah, zombie movies aren't about the realism.

We should make a list of the inherent problems with zombies.

Another would be (from resident evil) "the need to feed"
If only the most basic of functions are reanimated, why wouldn't zombies feed on eachother? In nature, every animal when hungry, scavenger or not, will feed on dead flesh. A zombie with only "basic functions" isn't going to have any idea what flesh is infected and what is not.

... I have others

[frankiej]

A zombie with only "basic functions" isn't going to have any idea what flesh is infected and what is not.

In some films and series they can smell people, so perhaps they can identify the infected by smell.

[TaraJo]

We should make a list of the inherent problems with zombies.

Another would be (from resident evil) "the need to feed"
If only the most basic of functions are reanimated, why wouldn't zombies feed on eachother? In nature, every animal when hungry, scavenger or not, will feed on dead flesh. A zombie with only "basic functions" isn't going to have any idea what flesh is infected and what is not.

... I have others

*raises hand*

How about energy? Going through all these biology classes is teaching me something: to live, our bodies need to produce ATP energy (in fact, a teacher commented that a lazy doctor could list any 'cause of death' as 'lack of ATP'). Our bodies produce ATP from a combination of respiration and digestion of food, yet zombie stories have shown zombies still going, long after they haven't eaten anything for months.

[Cinjin]

We should make a list of the inherent problems with zombies.

Another would be (from resident evil) "the need to feed"
If only the most basic of functions are reanimated, why wouldn't zombies feed on eachother? In nature, every animal when hungry, scavenger or not, will feed on dead flesh. A zombie with only "basic functions" isn't going to have any idea what flesh is infected and what is not.

... I have others

*raises hand*

How about energy? Going through all these biology classes is teaching me something: to live, our bodies need to produce ATP energy (in fact, a teacher commented that a lazy doctor could list any 'cause of death' as 'lack of ATP'). Our bodies produce ATP from a combination of respiration and digestion of food, yet zombie stories have shown zombies still going, long after they haven't eaten anything for months.

That's yet another inherent problem.


Another:
No stomach or intestines ... no hunger pains. Why would a zombie need to feed an empty hole?

Another:
Vocal chords would decay very very quickly. If a zombie could make a noise it would be minimal and there would certainly be no growling or screaming without air being pushed up our of your lungs ( which the walking dead has made it clear they do not have)

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A zombie with only "basic functions" isn't going to have any idea what flesh is infected and what is not.

In some films and series they can smell people, so perhaps they can identify the infected by smell.

A fair point, but one would have to assume that a dead human is not going to have any better smell than he had when he was alive. I can smell red meat. Can you smell cancer? The flu virus? Cause I can't.

---

Here's another one that even the zombie film makers should keep in mind because it's so obvious.

Zombies popping out of the ground. Utterly ridiculous even assuming that zombies could exist.
Biggest problem: The dead are buried in a reinforced heavy wooden box 6 to 8 feet under ground with 4000 pounds of dirt and a concrete slab stacked on top of them. Even if one or two somehow managed to reanimate, there's no way they could pop up out of the ground.

[Darkstar]

How are the dead reanimated? If they had suffered a fatal wound, they would just die again, and if vital organs had decayed it would be the same. There would have to be some unknown energy source keeping them 'alive', kind of like the dark troopers in Metroid Prime 2 which were not actual zombies but possesed corpses.

The virus type zombie has many varieties, including how the virus is spread. I tend to think of the 'zombies' in I am Legend. The incredible heartrate would have given them the physical capablilites they displayed, but how did it not kill them? (and after three years...)

[Cinjin]

How are the dead reanimated? If they had suffered a fatal wound, they would just die again, and if vital organs had decayed it would be the same. There would have to be some unknown energy source keeping them 'alive', kind of like the dark troopers in Metroid Prime 2 which were not actual zombies but possesed corpses.

The virus type zombie has many varieties, including how the virus is spread. I tend to think of the 'zombies' in I am Legend. The incredible heartrate would have given them the physical capablilites they displayed, but how did it not kill them? (and after three years...)

Viral "zombies" (ie. 28 Days Later, I Am Legend, etc.) are even more of a stretch in my mind. A virus would have to be brutally powerful to take over a persons mind so much that he would want to attack and eat other people, and a virus that strong would certainly kill you. Also, lets pretend for a moment that the virus didn't kill you. You wouldn't always be eating people because your body is still alive ... and lets face it, once you eat a corpse - you're not going to still be hungry.

Even in the movie 28 Days Later, where the toxin in question triggers pure rage it leaves several questions to be answered:
How could any virus or toxin be all so encompassing within mere seconds of contact??
Why does "rage" make you want to eat people??
Why do those inflicted with the virus suddenly forget everyone and everything they have ever known and why do their eyes become "zombiefied" ??


As much as I love zombie flicks, I think it's safe to say that the human race will never experience a zombie apocalypse.
The closest thing would be some sort of ultra-deadly virus that leaves the corpses stacked up like cord wood, but people walking around eating each other, as fun as that is ... is just not plausible in any scenario.




..... which isn't to say that our society couldn't collapse and everyone start shooting each other. That actually is very plausible.

[Ben Davis]

Anyone else saw the first episode of season 3? what did you think?

NOOOOOOOO!!!!! LALALALALALALALALALA!!!!! I'M NOT LISTENING!!!!!!!

Season 3 doesn't kick off in the UK til this Friday, 19th October. Please can everyone clearly mark any spoilers? Cheers.

[Mister Agenda]

They didn't spell it out, but from the comics I would think they got through the winter without having to do much zombie-fighting because the zombies froze solid.

[Cinjin]

They didn't spell it out, but from the comics I would think they got through the winter without having to do much zombie-fighting because the zombies froze solid.

Can you imagine what a winter and spring thaw would do to a rotting corpse in the open elements?

There'd be nothing left of their bodies to move themselves around with.

[Darkstar]

They didn't spell it out, but from the comics I would think they got through the winter without having to do much zombie-fighting because the zombies froze solid.

Can you imagine what a winter and spring thaw would do to a rotting corpse in the open elements?

There'd be nothing left of their bodies to move themselves around with.

And what about their brains? If they rotted, then what would be moving them? In most cases, headshots take out zombies, but there are some rare exceptions. What about the eyes? Wouldn't they decay beyond? Not to mention that smell is the weakest human sense and yet some zombies find you via smell.