The Zombies as a Character

[Gunslinger]

So, this isn't a new idea by any means... but the zombies are, in a fashion, a character in the story. I'm sure there must be a lot of theories about the zombies and what they all mean or even what they represent. That's some of what I'd like to hear in this thread, if this is kosher in this forum area...?

I find the Ground Zero idea, and even its name, kind of fascinating. Seems to be leading towards an origin story, eventually. The sickness and everything is certainly interesting... for some reason I'm thinking of something having hit and possibly spread a spore or something of the sort. Not sure if its a bomb, a meteor, or whatever. It could be anything... but it might explain the proximity and the seeming effect in the air.

The construction/experimentation idea is interesting as well. The focus on the scars from the initial zombie descriptions being an interesting thought as well.

The variations, whether evolving, constructed, or some sort of mutation from some influence is certainly also interesting.

Just trying to get the ball rolling on this without going into my own diatribe on it. =)

[Dr. Hatchet]

I think that the zombie are the new black death, I mean it is an idea

[Gunslinger]

That's kind of the deal, no matter the source, isn't it? A new dedicating plague.... But what it represents, as both antagonist and as background, is always the question. As a villain, its often presented as a black and white moral dilemma. It really seems to represent a more neutral force at first, but as the story progresses, it seems like more of a malicious intent is being brought forward.

Is it a man vs nature story, a man versus himself, or a combination? Seems like it has a lot of elements together. I just wonder as to its eventual progression.

[reaper239]

i think it's more along the lines of the 28 days later plague, or the Quarantine plague, i mean the speed with which the infection takes hold, the way it modifies the infected, makes them fast and strong, some of them are smart. if you've read Eden by Tony Monchinski, there seem to be a lot of similarities between WAZ and Eden zeds: brains, sprinters, howlers, etc.

[Zombiehead]

I find the Ground Zero idea, and even its name, kind of fascinating. Seems to be leading towards an origin story, eventually. The sickness and everything is certainly interesting... for some reason I'm thinking of something having hit and possibly spread a spore or something of the sort. Not sure if its a bomb, a meteor, or whatever. It could be anything... but it might explain the proximity and the seeming effect in the air.

The initial explosion in the beginning has me wondering the same thing. I keep wanting to believe it was radiation, the scars, the colored eyes, the mutations. A chemical explosion of some sort would seem like the most logical explanation, but that being said, it's likely incorrect. It bugs me not to know!

[bohemianroxie]

To me the zombies are nothing more than a metaphor or a back drop for the real characters..and after having read apocalyptic fiction of every kind..it's nearly impossible to come up with much that would be new under the sun.
So, I'm not sure I personally care that much about what caused it. But I do think the characters should be very, very interested in what caused it..and that I think should be reflected in the story.
The characters themselves should all have a deep concern of discovering the roots of the outbreak..as much as they do just surviving..

[Gunslinger]

To me the zombies are nothing more than a metaphor or a back drop for the real characters..and after having read apocalyptic fiction of every kind..it's nearly impossible to come up with much that would be new under the sun.
So, I'm not sure I personally care that much about what caused it. But I do think the characters should be very, very interested in what caused it..and that I think should be reflected in the story.
The characters themselves should all have a deep concern of discovering the roots of the outbreak..as much as they do just surviving..

Certainly that's the gist of it here, but it kind of turned into an origin discussion from the beginning because that was what was going on in the show at the time I started this. The zombies are sort of a villain and sort of just the environment they live in. An impetus to push the story of the characters and to give them goals and an antagonist. Its the nature of it, and the puzzle, that invites certain types of stories into the fray. At this point, the story has gone back to the narrative of the Tower versus the Mallers, but I look forward to when it goes back to their discovery of the source of their change of environment.

[Devilish Pizza]

The way I see it, the Zombies are building more on the army focus of the series.
(I have no idea of the actual chain of command in an army, so all my classes are just guesses of superiority)
They have the pimp ass zombie as an army general, telling all the others what to do.
Then I see the little ones and smart ones (that aren't as smart as pimp ass) as sergeants, in charge of small platoons of normals and some specialists (behemoths, runners etc).

One way that I like to think of the evolution of this zombie mythos, is each zombie army (the one in LA, or one in NY for example) is it's own army entirely, and later on in the series, different armies could meet and not be friendly to one another. They could have all out zombie vs zombie wars.
I think this because I can't see any other way of the humans (world wide) getting rid of the zombies, as they are way too numerous and dangerous to be eradicated by rag tag groups of survivors.