The Walking Dead is one of the most popular TV shows of the past decade. Based on the comic book of the same name, the AMC show helped to revitalize the zombie genre, showing the human drama after a zombie apocalypse and the struggle that the survivors experience in restarting civilization.
Zombies are one of the most varied monsters in horror fiction. Sometimes they’re seen to be relatively clever and fast, other time they’re slow, brain dead, and solely driven by their desire for brains or flesh.
Can Do: Stagger For Miles
The vast distances covered in the Walking Dead show just how far zombies are able to stagger their way across the American landscape. While normal human beings would be unable to do so due to exhaustion, zombies are more than capable.
In fact, it is this never ending, never stopping movement that makes the zombies so terrifying in the Walking Dead. Much like a metaphor for death itself, the zombies are constantly behind the protagonists, waiting for their chance to strike.
Can’t: Talk
As apocalyptic creatures go, zombies are far from the most talkative species. Some versions of the zombie mythos do have zombies at least reacting to some stimula from their past, with Shaun of the Dead in particular showing their zombies retaining some humanity.
While talking is rare among the zombie genre, the Walking Dead zombie continue the classic brand of the mindless, untalkative zombie.
Can Do: Survive Near Fatal Wounds
When it comes to the zombie mythos, there is one particular action that is guaranteed to result in their demise - aiming for the head. The Walking Dead stays true to this idea, showing that the zombies are capable of living attacks that would render a normal human either dead or immobile.
The zombies in the show are capable of surviving shots to the body and being ripped in half, proving that they’re incredibly resilient creatures.
Can’t: Swim
Finding safety in the zombie apocalypse is obviously one of the first priorities, with survivors usually searching for an area that would be easily defensible against a zombie hoard, or in some cases, unreachable.
One area in particular that would be ideal would be some kind of oil rig, as zombies aren’t known to be great swimmers, so a sea-base would be fantastic in a zombie apocalypse.
Can Do: Survive Without Food And Water
As shown earlier, one of the only ways to kill a zombie is to destroy the brain. This allows the zombie to survive fatal wounds, while also increasing their stamina and longevity. Another mortal limitation that zombies seem to have transcended is the need for food and drink.
The show has been clear in showing that the zombies are able to survive without food, the Walker in the well is the clearest example of this.
Can’t: Die Of Disease?
On a similar note to the prior entry, it’s clear that zombies are relatively difficult to kill. However, it also seems that they don’t have many natural dangers to contend with either, with disease being a particularly noteworthy example.
Humans are capable of succumbing to various diseases, such as cancer or meningitis, whereas zombies don’t seem to be vulnerable to those hazards.
Can Do: Herd Smell
The idea that zombies are inherently able to tell zombies apart from humans is an interesting one in the zombie mythos. Some zombie movies show that they rely on sight to determine those that are zombies, whereas the Walking Dead goes by smell.
The fact that zombies are able to discern their own via smell is noticed quickly by the survivors, with Rick and Glenn covering themselves in zombie guts in the first season to through a horde of zombies.
Can’t: Heal
Despite being able to continue staggering on with some devastating injuries, the zombies of the Walking Dead are unable to physically recover from their attacks. If they are cut or shot, their wound will not heal.
While this doesn’t seem to slow them down, it is certainly an interesting piece of information. It further highlights that zombies are immune to disease, with them not succumbing to infections when wounded.
Can Do: Stealth Attack
Despite the fact that zombies are essentially brain dead creatures, driven solely by their desire for human flesh, they’re capable of moving deftly and quietly (at least in the show) being able to creep upon a human with the careful, delicate step of a tiger.
While the sneak attack of the zombie is clearly a contrivance of the show, the implications of these frequent jump attacks are certainly interesting to say the least.
Can’t: Move Quickly
While the zombie genre is vast and full of terrors, there’s one big dividing line that separates the zombie genre into two main camps: fast zombies and slow zombies. The Walking Dead opts to adopt the slow zombies.
While some believe that this makes the zombies less threatening, it also allows for the impending doom of the slow moving zombie hoard to truly build up in a way that doesn’t occur with fast moving zombies.