Zombie

The Zombie is a recurring enemy in the Castlevania series. They are rotten corpses animated by magic. They are very common and usually one of the first enemies encountered in almost all games.
==Origins==
A zombie is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in which a zombie is a dead body reanimated through various methods, most commonly magic. Modern depictions of the reanimation of the dead do not necessarily involve magic but often invoke science fictional methods such as pathogens, parasites, radiation, scientific accidents, etc.
A new version of the zombie –distinct from that described in Haitian folklore– emerged in popular culture during the latter half of the 20th century. This interpretation of the zombie is drawn largely from George A. Romero's 1968 film Night of the Living Dead, which was partly inspired by Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend (1954). However, the word "zombie" is not used in Night of the Living Dead, but was applied later by fans. After zombie films such as Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Michael Jackson's music video Thriller (1983), the genre waned for some years.
An evolution of the zombie archetype came with the video games Resident Evil and The House of the Dead in the late 1990s, with their more scientific and action-oriented approach, as well as the introduction of fast-running zombies, leading to a resurgence of zombies in popular culture. These games were initially followed by a wave of low-budget Asian zombie films and then a new wave of popular Western zombie films in the early 2000s, including films featuring fast-running zombies such as 28 Days Later (2002), the Resident Evil and House of the Dead films, and the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake, as well as the British zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead (2004). The "zombie apocalypse" concept, in which the civilized world is brought low by a global zombie infestation, has since become a staple of modern popular art.
The success of Shaun of the Dead led to more successful zombie comedies during the late 2000s to early 2010s, such as Zombieland (2009) and Cockneys vs Zombies (2012). By 2011, the Resident Evil film adaptations had also become the highest-grossing film series based on video games, after they grossed more than $1 billion worldwide. In 2013, the AMC series The Walking Dead had the highest audience ratings in the United States for any show on broadcast or cable with an average of 5.6 million viewers. The film World War Z became the highest-grossing zombie film, and one of the highest-grossing films of 2013.
==Overview==
These armies of undead corpses rise from the ground and slowly meander toward any humans that might be nearby. Zombies are mindless slaves of the dreadful Count Dracula and constitute a majority of his undead army. Zombies are common standards in the Castlevania series, often serving as the earliest hurdles in the game.
Their shambling walk makes them, for the most part, highly immobile and easy to dodge. In addition, their rotting flesh and decaying bones, added to the fact that they generally wear no armor, makes them easy to kill. They usually fall in one hit, even at low levels. Some Zombies, such as the Zombie Soldier, change this trend by being slightly more resilient and mobile, and being able to strike from a further distance with a weapon. Even with these added boons, however, Zombies are largely considered cannon fodder and are never much of a threat, even in large numbers. At higher levels, entire legions of Zombies can be destroyed with little to no effort.
==Types==
Aside from the average Zombie, there are other kinds which have appeared in various putrid and deadly forms. Ghouls often appear as more powerful versions of Zombies, but they are not actually one.
*Axe Armor
*Clinking Man
*Creeping Corpse
*Dark Armor
*Dead Crusader
*Dead Pirate
*Dead Warrior
*Dodo Bird
*Dragon Zombie
*Executioner
*Fake Trevor, Grant and Sypha
*Flying Zombie
*Gardener
*Ghoul
*Grave Digger
*Gravedigger (Lords of Shadow)
*Hand
*Hanged Man
*Headless Burrower
*Heavy Armor
*Hellhound
*Hill Guard
*Iron Gladiator
*Knight
*Mad Diver
*Melty Zombie
*Moldy Corpse
*Mr. Hed
*Old Axe Armor
*Rebuild
*Red Axe Armor
*Scarecrow
*Servant Corpse
*The Creature
*Wight
*Zombie Soldier
==Appearances==
===Castlevania/Vampire Killer===
Zombies only appear in Block 1 of Castlevania, but they also appear in both Block 1 and Block 4 of Vampire Killer. They walk at a brisk pace in a straight line along the floor. They will knock their opponent back if they hit them, while continuing along their path unphased.
In both games, the Zombies will spawn at either edge of the screen and from beyond walls. In Castlevania, they often appear clumped in close groups of two or three, while in Vampire Killer, they are more evenly spaced. They drop and continue in the same direction if they reach the edge of a platform. If they reach a wall while it is visible, they'll switch direction; otherwise, they'll exit the screen.
Killing two of them with the same sub-weapon earns the player 1,000 bonus points, while a third gives an additional 2,000 bonus points, a fourth an additional 3,000 bonus points, etc. When Zombies are clumped close together, try hitting them with a single shot of Holy Water, which is worth many more points than they individually are.
===Castlevania: Bloodlines===
Two versions appear in this game, one is surrounded by flies and the other one isn't.
The European Castlevania: The New Generation versions of the Zombies are blue and less gory.
===Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance===
Sometimes, a Zombie surrounded by flies (they look like green dots due to hardware limitations) can spawn among normal Zombies. Killing this type of Zombie will cause the flies to fly upward, but otherwise, they are the same.
===Castlevania: Lament of Innocence===
In addition to regular Zombies, Flame Zombies, Poison Zombies and Frost Zombies also appear. Some zombies are able to vomit a dirty puddle, which is able to damage the player if they step on them.
===Castlevania: Curse of Darkness===
Zombies are common enemies in this game and are also very easy to steal items from. They move slowly but mostly come in packs.
===Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin===
One of the most unique aspects of Zombies in this game is that when dealt damage by fire, the flesh comes off, turning the Zombie into a Skeleton.
In addition, some rooms will have many Zombies spawning. Killing enough Zombies in these areas will make a Wight appear.
===Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia===
As usual, these enemies are pretty harmless on their own, although they are a bit more resilient than in previous games. They appear in the Monastery and in Ruvas Forest. The Necromancer is capable of summoning these enemies, and by absorbing his glyph, Shanoa can summon up Zombies to fight for her.
In the Monastery, if the player stands on a platform in a room where Zombies continuously spawn and summons a familiar, the spirit will go after them. If the game is left on this way for a prolonged period of time, the familiar will level up by itself to the maximum level (does not work with the Polkir and Gorgon Head familiars).
===Castlevania Judgment===
Zombies appear as random or event encounters. They usually appear in pairs, and in some cases, paired with a Merman. They attack only by punching anyone close to them; this attack is slow but does quite a lot of damage, especially when handicapped. They are slow moving, and when killed, they burst into a pool of poison with a random item in the middle. In order to get the item without suffering from poison, the player can use a dodge move to skip the green slime and get the item, or wait for the effect to wear off.
During random encounters (only in Castle Mode), Zombies are lesser enemies fought before an immediate battle against the Iron Gladiator or the Minotaur. In an event encounter (again, only in Castle Mode), Zombies may appear in a stage with a specific victory condition (activate stage hazard, defeat opponent, defeat enemy using a sub-weapon, etc.).
===Castlevania: Harmony of Despair===
Appearing in the Chapter 10, Zombies will spawn from the ground along some of the upper platforms that they did not appear on in the original Castlevania game, including those containing Black Panthers.
Obtaining its soul will allow Soma to summon a Retro Zombie as an ally, which will arise from the ground and move forward to attack.
==Other appearances==
*Pixel Puzzle Collection: A Zombie nonogram puzzle appears in this Konami mobile game.
==Enemy Data==
==Item Data==
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
*According to an employee who worked for Hitoshi Akamatsu in the development of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, the zombies that appear in that game originally hopped around, similar to the Jiang Shi, a mythological Chinese vampire which moves in such manner. However, during play testing it was concluded that these enemies were too strong and Mr. Akamatsu reluctantly decided to tone them down to common zombies that simply paced around. Nevertheless, vestiges of the Jiang Shi design can still be seen in the peculiar design of these particular zombies.Castlevania – Developer Commentary at Shmuplations.
*In the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise (also owned by Konami), there is a card named Skull Servant (named Wight in Japan) that resembles the iconic Zombie enemy from Castlevania, even wearing the same type of purple cloth. The card's text mentions it "can mean trouble in large numbers", which could reference how multiple zombies onscreen can prove dangerous to the player.
==See also==
*Creeping Corpse and Headless Burrower - Interpretations of common zombies in the Lords of Shadow series.
*Ghoul
*Zombies (category)
==References==
==External links==
*Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow Enemy Data FAQ at GameFAQs
*Castlevania: Circle of the Moon Monster List at GameFAQs
*Castlevania: Curse of Darkness FAQ by Jim Freedan at GameFAQs
*Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow Monster List at GameFAQs
*Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow Bestiary at GameFAQs
*Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance Monster Encyclopedia at GameFAQs
*Castlevania: Lament of Innocence Encyclopedia Listing FAQ at GameFAQs
*Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin – Bestiary by Darth Nemesis at GameFAQs
*Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Bestiary FAQ at GameFAQs
*Zombies at Mr. P's Castlevania Realm
es:Zombi
pt-br:Zumbis
ru:Зомби
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