Zombie Field Guide
Not all zombies are created dead
Some are reanimated corpses, some are living people with an infection, some are under someone else's control. The Field Guide describes each zombie population with independent attributes, never a single ranking, and never one rulebook for the whole genre.
Four rules for every profile
- One profile per population. A work can hold runners and shamblers at once, or change its zombies over time. Each distinct population or subtype gets its own checklist.
- Scoped to a version. The novel, the film and the game can disagree. Traits attach to the version, scene or mode where they are shown.
- Evidence or it stays unknown. Every category allows unknown, disputed, variable and not applicable. Missing evidence never becomes a "no".
- No genre defaults. We do not assume a headshot rule or a brains-only diet. If a work shows it, we cite where.
The classification checklist
Select every value that applies, scope it, add an evidence locator (chapter and edition, episode and timestamp, or game version and encounter) and a spoiler level.
I Physical state and origin
- State
- Reanimated dead
- Living infected
- Controlled living person
- Supernatural entity
- Artificial construct
- Hybrid
- Zombie adjacent
- Cause
- Pathogen
- Fungus
- Parasite
- Magic or curse
- Experiment
- Radiation
- Alien influence
- Unexplained
- Spread
- Bite
- Scratch
- Body fluids
- Air
- Food or water
- Environmental exposure
- All dead reanimate
- No transmission
- Transformation
- Immediate
- Minutes or hours
- Days
- After death only
- Reversible
- Latent carrier possible
II Movement and cognition
- Speed
- Crawler
- Shambler
- Walker
- Runner
- Sprinter
- Variable by condition
- Mobility
- Climbs
- Jumps
- Swims
- Opens doors
- Uses vehicles
- Coordinates attacks
- Thinking
- Mindless
- Instinctive
- Learns
- Solves problems
- Retains human intelligence
- Hive mind
- Communication
- Silent
- Groans
- Speech
- Signals
- Telepathy
- Memory
- None shown
- Habit
- Personal recognition
III Behavior and senses
- Food
- Flesh
- Brains
- Blood
- Other
- No feeding shown
- Social pattern
- Solitary
- Horde
- Organized hierarchy
- Attraction
- Sight
- Sound
- Smell
- Heat
- Other
- Disposition
- Relentless
- Territorial
- Avoidant
- Docile
- Friendly
IV Durability and limits
- Body
- Decays
- Does not visibly decay
- Regenerates
- Mutates
- Special subtype
- Activity
- Day
- Night
- Both
- Limits shown
- Brain destruction
- Decapitation
- Fire
- Starvation
- Ordinary injury
- Ritual
- Cure
- No demonstrated limit
- Outcome
- Repelled
- Incapacitated
- Destroyed
- Cured
- Unknown
Every category also accepts: Unknown Disputed Variable Not applicable
What a recorded trait looks like
A layout, not a real record: no profile has been reviewed yet, so none is shown as fact.
Glossary
- Reanimated dead
- A body that has died and moves again.
- Living infected
- A person who has not died but is changed by an infection or agent. Whether they count as zombies is a classification question, and the profile says so.
- Zombie adjacent
- A creature close enough to the zombie to be worth an entry, with an explanation of why it might not be one.
- Zonbi
- The Haitian figure from which the English word "zombie" comes. It belongs to history and living tradition, not to the monster checklist, and is filed under folklore and cultural history.
- Shambler, walker, runner, sprinter
- Speed values, from slowest to fastest. Speed says nothing about intelligence on its own.
- Horde
- A large group moving together. Separate from coordination, which means acting toward a shared goal.
- Profile
- One zombie population or subtype in one work, with its traits and their evidence.
- Evidence locator
- The exact place a trait is shown: chapter and page in a named edition, episode and timestamp, or game version and encounter.
- Prominence
- How much zombies matter to the work: central, a meaningful episode or mode, or a passing mention.
The optional fan checklist Fan humor
Playful badges that sit beside the factual profile and never decide a verified classification. Hide them with the button; the site remembers your choice in this browser only.
- Door challenged defeated by a handle
- Stair critic vertical travel needs work
- Olympic hopeful surprisingly athletic
- Stealth optional groans before arrival
- Brain foodie selective eater
- Equal opportunity snacker no menu preferences
- Personal space enthusiast hugs first, asks never
- Horde mentality follows the crowd
- Career nostalgia old job habits persist
- Dress code survivor still in uniform
- Romantic potential consent and dialogue required
- Plot armor detector finds the expendable extra
Fan humor is hidden. The factual profiles are unaffected.
Each badge records who proposed it and why. Polls, like "most inconvenient zombie roommate", show totals and dates, and a popular vote never overrides sourced evidence. Jokes are about fictional creatures and genre habits, never about cultures, disabilities or real illnesses.