Zombie Movement

[Sindatur]

Well, that's also part of the traditional method. Zombies were just the reanimated dead. People didn't turn into zombies because they were bitten, people turned into zombies after being bitten because they were dead.

Why then in the Walking Dead did they cut off Herschel's leg. It's implied but not stated that the bite itself has some kind of aombie infection that can spread.

No, Zombie bites are poisonous and lead to death if the poison spreads. Death turns you into a Zombie. Notice how some people stay dead for up to 24 hours (or perhaps more before reanimating as a Zombie)

Side Note: Although I've seen it tried in several other Zombie flicks, Herschel is the first and only time I recall seeing amputation save someone from dying/turning after a Zombie bite. Are there any other cases I am forgetting or from movies I haven't seen?

 

[RJDiogenes]

Not that I know of. I think in this case the producers just decided they wanted to keep that actor, so the amputation was successful.

 

[Gotham Central]

Not that I know of. I think in this case the producers just decided they wanted to keep that actor, so the amputation was successful.

It worked on Dale in the comics as well, thus there was a precedent in having it work in the series.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Well, that's also part of the traditional method. Zombies were just the reanimated dead. People didn't turn into zombies because they were bitten, people turned into zombies after being bitten because they were dead.

Why then in the Walking Dead did they cut off Herschel's leg. It's implied but not stated that the bite itself has some kind of aombie infection that can spread.

While someone else gave a satisfactory answer, I wasn't commenting on the Walking Dead.

 

[Sindatur]

Not that I know of. I think in this case the producers just decided they wanted to keep that actor, so the amputation was successful.

It worked on Dale in the comics as well, thus there was a precedent in having it work in the series.

Ah, that makes sense, since Herschel took over Dale's position (I don't know the comics, so, I'm not claiming he actually took over his arc, just the position of wise older man with a strong concern for what is "right")

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

. People didn't turn into zombies because they were bitten, people turned into zombies after being bitten because they were dead.

In the original Night of the Living Dead, the daughter was dying as a result of a bite she recieved sometime before the Coopers reached the farmhouse.

The 2004 Dawn remake led us to believe Luda (Andre's pregnant wife) was poisoned / slowly dying on her way to full transformation.

In TWD, Sophia's bite did not appear to be such a bleeder that it was the cause of death. It seems the bite turned her into a walker while she was alive (like Jim).

From all three examples, the implication of a bite is that a victim is actually in some mid-state of death, or "zombie-ism," so to speak while technically alive. So, they do not have to die before the disease has altered whatever brain function triggers typical zombie traits.

 

[Thestral]

Not that I know of. I think in this case the producers just decided they wanted to keep that actor, so the amputation was successful.

It worked on Dale in the comics as well, thus there was a precedent in having it work in the series.

The amputation was also immediate - the implication being that the "poison" or whatever didn't have time to spread. In The Walking Dead videogame,

Spoiler: Telltale Games spoilers

when Lee is bitten, you have a chance some time later to amputate... which ultimately has no effect, as whether or not he cuts it off he turns (assuming he doesn't die another way)

 

[RJDiogenes]

Not that I know of. I think in this case the producers just decided they wanted to keep that actor, so the amputation was successful.

It worked on Dale in the comics as well, thus there was a precedent in having it work in the series.

Okay, thanks. I haven't read the book.

 

[Silvercrest]

All I can say is: if the TV show went with fast zombies, they'd have to change the name. The Running Dead, anyone?

 

[ThunderAeroI]

I like walkers. As others have said, theyare usually harder to kill, the threat is always there and very hard to escape from. Now if real life zombies where as dumb as Minecraft 1.2 zombies then there would be no threat, in 1.4 you better have your game on.

 

[Mojochi]

In TWD, Sophia's bite did not appear to be such a bleeder that it was the cause of death. It seems the bite turned her into a walker while she was alive (like Jim).

From all three examples, the implication of a bite is that a victim is actually in some mid-state of death, or "zombie-ism," so to speak while technically alive. So, they do not have to die before the disease has altered whatever brain function triggers typical zombie traits.

I can't speak on other productions, but that's not how it works on TWD. In fact, Jim was never even shown as a zombie. They left him by a tree, still alive, & succumbing to the infection

Afterward they witness Jenner's TS-19 data. He states that TS-19 was a person (His wife) who was bitten & agreed to be used for study. He scans to the 1st event where it shows the infection "Invade the brain like meningitis" & cause death.

For 2:01:07 TS19 was dead, & then the reanimation process began, which is a phenomena that happens to everyone in their world, post-mortem.

Exposure to even a superficial bite causes infection, which causes death. Reanimation is caused by death alone. They operate independent of one another, though perhaps not entirely unrelated. Although, since any death results in resurrection, I tend to believe they probably are unrelated

 

[DarthTom]

I like walkers. As others have said, theyare usually harder to kill, the threat is always there and very hard to escape from. Now if real life zombies where as dumb as Minecraft 1.2 zombies then there would be no threat, in 1.4 you better have your game on.

The problem with slow walkers IMO as we've seen in The Walking Dead by season 3 is individuals even without a gun are able to take them down easily. Andrea for example by season 3 is able to fight off three zombies with a simple pocket knife and take them down.

In order for us to suspend our disbelief and belielve that the whole world has gone to shit with slow walkers becomes more difficult based on individual's skills at killing them.

 

[Caligula]

The problem with slow walkers IMO as we've seen in The Walking Dead by season 3 is individuals even without a gun are able to take them down easily. Andrea for example by season 3 is able to fight off three zombies with a simple pocket knife and take them down.

In order for us to suspend our disbelief and belielve that the whole world has gone to shit with slow walkers becomes more difficult based on individual's skills at killing them.

Not entirely. It would be another matter if EVERYONE on the show had come into the zombie apocalypse already possessing the skills necessary to kill zombies without much effort, but that's not the case here. For example, Andrea was lucky the time she killed the zombie in the camper with a screwdriver. She couldn't shoot a zombie in the head until mid-2nd season. Over time, she has honed her skills. Some like Rick, Shane and Daryl already had experience through hunting or police work. Others were into protecting their own homes. As for the rest? These people have spent what.... a year, almost two in this mess? It's not that hard to believe these people know how to kill zombies with relative ease by now.

Contrarywise, you've got a lot of secondary characters (*cough* REDSHIRTS! *cough*) which our heroes have come across who still aren't that adept at self-defense. There are many in Woodbury right now who clearly have been living there pretty much the entire time and haven't made any real attempt to develop those skills. They have the misguided perception they don't need these skills because there's always going to be someone else around who can do those things for them, thus they absolutely suck when it comes to accuracy with a bow or a gun. Then there's side characters like the hitchhiker a couple of episodes ago. These are people who'd probably shit their pants and become lunchmeat before being able to stab a zombie with enough force to penetrate/destroy the brain.

Setting aside for the moment the idea that suspension of disbelief is thrown out the window upon the first mention of the word "zombie," survival and adaptation are at play here. In these types of stories, when the world goes to shit, it's rough and chaotic assuredly, but if someone goes through enough and learns how to survive along the way, you bet they're gonna make it look easy. This will never fully exempt them from eventually getting snuffed out, but at least they have what they need to give themselves a fighting chance.

As for the argument of slow vs. fast walkers as it is relevant to The Walking Dead, the conceit there is that you'd need the zombies to be slow regardless of whether or not it makes the most sense, because the show would be over really quick. With slow zombies, yes they are easier to evade, but the IDEA of them... their lingering presence... is what helps keep the chase equally compelling (for us) and terrifying (for the show's remaining living characters). They might not be breaking your doors down (unless there's a horde of them), but they're always there.

 

[Pavonis]

These people have spent what.... a year, almost two in this mess?

Barely a full year, given we know Judith was conceived around the apocalypse (either before with Rick, or after with Shane), and since pregnancy lasts about 10 months, and the baby is maybe a month old at most, it can't have been more than a year since the beginning.

Otherwise, you're right. Survivors would have to learn quickly - slow learners would perish at the hands of the shambling corpses.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I thought this was a critique of the Tea Party.

 

[Caligula]

These people have spent what.... a year, almost two in this mess?

Barely a full year, given we know Judith was conceived around the apocalypse (either before with Rick, or after with Shane), and since pregnancy lasts about 10 months, and the baby is maybe a month old at most, it can't have been more than a year since the beginning.

Otherwise, you're right. Survivors would have to learn quickly - slow learners would perish at the hands of the shambling corpses.

Thanks. I was a little unsure as to the exact timeline, but Lori's pregnancy pins it down.

 

[Mojochi]

Andrea has also been hanging with Michonne. I'm betting that is a good self defense education right there.

 

[Galileo7]

Walking, it gives the living a better chance to escape.

 

[RJDiogenes]

^^ Best answer yet.

 

[ThunderAeroI]

Fast zombies just don't seem logical, if that is even applicable to zombies in general. Most of fine motor control is not in the reptilian part of our brain.

To which I must ask a TWD question. Say I shoot a zombie in the brain they die, but why? TS-19 shows that the brain itself is not used for anything. You would think you would have to destroy the reptilian part of the brain because as we have seen severing the head just makes the head 'talk' to you and attempt to 'get' to you.