Faraway Lad
Senator of the UP. Permanent Ambassador to the Court of Saint James
posted
OK a disclaimer first. I am not a big fan of horror movies, and don’t really see the fun in being either frightened, or sickened by excessive gore. So this may already have been discussed and I may have just missed it.
Having said the above I have to admit to enjoying the TV show The Walking Dead.
But it does make me wonder, why do Zombies (the traditional shambling raised from the dead type, not the infected/possessed sort) eat people?
Originally Zombies were recently dead people brought back to live to work as slaves on plantations. They were under the control of an “overseer” who could command them to murder people (and often did in fiction) but that was about it.
So, thinking about it, we get a reanimated corpse shuffling around. It has no brain functions to speak of, no language, no memory of what it once was. It does not need calorific energy to power its body, its dead. It has no emotions no hate, its dead. It can’t be jealous of the living. Its dead.
So why does it want to eat the living? And when it does eat the living what happens to that food? Have we ever seen Zombie poo?
Any ideas?
-------------------- Faithfull
From: Newcastle upon Tyne England | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
Well, it's going to depend on the individual zombie fiction.
Presumably zombies who are reanimated by some sort of disease are going to be compelled to spread the disease.
For the brain-eating zombies of the Living Dead series, it seems to have something to do with the fact that ingesting of brain material helps keep their own consciousness functioning at at least a primitive level.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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cleome46
or you can do the confusion 'til your head falls off
posted
quote:... Have we ever seen Zombie poo?...
[looks around for Lard Lad and/or Fanfic Lass]
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From: Vanity, OR | Registered: Dec 2008
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posted
I forget where I read this (it may have been in Max Brooks stuff) that the Zombies there eat, but will eventually burst open under the pressure of the ingested material...as they do not actually process it.
Also, the main thrust seems to be the fight for base needs that the Zombies carry over from the living side...that of nurishment...even though they do not actually need it. Think of man's primal instinct to eat as it's origin.
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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Faraway Lad
Senator of the UP. Permanent Ambassador to the Court of Saint James
posted
But I thought (and this might be a bit gross for a board like this) that the main primal driving force in all living things is the force to reproduce. So if it’s mans primal instinct to eat that drive them then shouldn’t the instinct to reproduce take priority shouldn’t that mean Zombies try to impregnate women not eat them.
So if Zombies eat but don’t process food, and then burst how long would that take? Could humanity just wait for them to all burst then clean up the mess.
EDE if Zombies retain consciousness does that mean they know what they are doing? If so how come not one ever says no I will not do this
-------------------- Faithfull
From: Newcastle upon Tyne England | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Frank Cho did a zombie one-shot where the undead lead violated a cow Cobalt-style...
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"Anytime an awesome book like S6 is cancelled, I hope EVERY Titan is murdered." --Me
From: Up a Gumtree | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
quote:Originally posted by Faraway Lad: EDE if Zombies retain consciousness does that mean they know what they are doing? If so how come not one ever says no I will not do this
Well, at some point the compulsion to eat brains overwhelms everything else. It's not unknown for Living Dead zombies to destroy themselves before completely giving into the compulsion, however. One of the warehouse employees that originally release the zombie gas in Return of the Living Dead ends up cremating himself, while the other one basically holds out until the pain become unbearable, and then starts trying to eat his friend's brains.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Faraway Lad
Senator of the UP. Permanent Ambassador to the Court of Saint James
posted
quote:Originally posted by Pov: Frank Cho did a zombie one-shot where the undead lead violated a cow Cobalt-style...
Dont remind me. I nearly opened that Cobalt Kid website at work
-------------------- Faithfull
From: Newcastle upon Tyne England | Registered: Jul 2003
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Faraway Lad
Senator of the UP. Permanent Ambassador to the Court of Saint James
posted
quote:Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester:
quote:Originally posted by Faraway Lad: EDE if Zombies retain consciousness does that mean they know what they are doing? If so how come not one ever says no I will not do this
Well, at some point the compulsion to eat brains overwhelms everything else. It's not unknown for Living Dead zombies to destroy themselves before completely giving into the compulsion, however. One of the warehouse employees that originally release the zombie gas in Return of the Living Dead ends up cremating himself, while the other one basically holds out until the pain become unbearable, and then starts trying to eat his friend's brains.
OK. As I say I don’t watch much of this stuff so forgive the stupid questions.
But were these guys actual Zombies at this stage or were they in some form of Pre Zombie phase. Or are they some sort of 28 hours later infected humans?
-------------------- Faithfull
From: Newcastle upon Tyne England | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I knew zombie BDSM porn would get Pov to check this thread.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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Faraway Lad
Senator of the UP. Permanent Ambassador to the Court of Saint James
posted
I dont think it takes the mention of Zombies or BDSM just ..........
-------------------- Faithfull
From: Newcastle upon Tyne England | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
quote:Originally posted by Faraway Lad: But were these guys actual Zombies at this stage or were they in some form of Pre Zombie phase. Or are they some sort of 28 hours later infected humans?
Well, they are medically dead and walking around. I suppose one could argue that they don't fully become zombies until they give into the brain-eating compulsion. It should be noted that the zombies from Return of the Living Dead are among the smartest you'll find in zombie fiction, being capable of speech and even deceit to get what they want (namely, brains). As I recall there's even a scene in one of the sequels where a zombie basically gives his girlfriend a "if you really loved me, you'd let me eat your brain" speech, which she falls for.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
In the Mike Allred-drawn series IZombie, Gwen has to ingest brains about once a month or she risks becoming a shambling mindless zombie-monster. She chooses to partake of brains of the recently dead.
It's a bit awful for her too... beyond the whole "eating brains is GROSS" thing, there's the little matter of her also adopting the memories and need to fulfill last desires of the owners of those brains.
cleome46
or you can do the confusion 'til your head falls off
posted
[snip]
quote:Originally posted by Faraway Lad: ...So if it’s mans primal instinct to eat that drive them then shouldn’t the instinct to reproduce take priority...
Eh. I always thought that the whole point of zombies is that they merge the nourishment drive with the reproductive drive anyway. By nourishing themselves, they also reproduce. It's very efficient, if also very gross.
-------------------- Hey, Kids! My "Cranky and Kitschy" collage art is now viewable on flickr. Drop by and tell me that I sent you.
From: Vanity, OR | Registered: Dec 2008
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I always thought that the whole point of zombies is that they merge the nourishment drive with the reproductive drive anyway. By nourishing themselves, they also reproduce. It's very efficient, if also very gross.
