Zombie




 * This article is for the undead enemy seen in Call of Duty: World at War. For the game mode, see Nazi Zombies.

Zombies, also known as either Nazi Zombies or Imperial Zombies depending on their origin, are the remains of dead German and Japanese World War II soldiers who were reanimated by the Element 115(Ununpentium) and Die Glocke(A secret SS experiment, Die Glocke meaning The Bell, the large device at the mainframe in Der Riese which housed the Pack-A-Punch Machine). They are featured in Call of Duty: World at War in the Nazi Zombies game mode.

When playing Nazi Zombies while on Xbox Live, the players gamertag shows his/her status as being one of the following, depending on what map is being played:
 * Nacht der Untoten: "Stopping an army of the dead"
 * Verruckt: "Slaughtering undead lunatics"
 * Shi No Numa: "Killing the undead Imperial Army"
 * Der Riese: "Bathing in Nazi Zombie blood"

Creation
thumb|202px|left|The radio locations and the message. In Shi No Numa, a radio message can be heard in the starting room by turning on three radios or by turning one radio on and pressing the use button repeatedly. The message is...

"R-4808n 37 14 06 115 48 40. I hope that you are receiving this transmission Peter, if not then all is going to be lost. You must know by now that we failed to contain the Asylum and we had to move the experiment here. Location the numbers will guide you. The giant must remain (static) at all costs, repeat, Der Riese must remain (static) at all costs. The DG experiments continues. You're our only advantage now. Find Doctor Richofen (static is in this word, but it is still audible) and Doctor Maxis, they may know what's going on. The use of 115 is dangerous at best. I'm not sure how much longer we can continue here. We've lost most of our best people. I hope you get this. I hope I happen to be there too but I'm almost out of hope. 60 54 06.96 101 55 44.94."

- Shi No Numa Radio Message

The numbers are the coordinates of Tunguska and Area 51. Dr. Max is probably Dr. Maxis. DG experiments is a reference to the Wunderwaffe DG-2. The asylum is the setting of the second level, Verruckt. 115 is element number 115 on the Periodic Table of Elements, Ununpentium, an element found in meteors and known to power the Wunderwaffe, and possibly the Ray Gun, as well as create the zombies. A meteor containing 115 is shown in the map Shi No Numa outside one of the swamp areas. It is still unknown who the person giving this transmission is and who Peter is. It can be assumed that they are American, as the person giving the transmission has an American accent. Most players believe that the man hanging in Shi no Numa is Peter.



In Der Riese, the creation of the zombies and Hellhounds is explained. Dr. Maxis was testing zombies and trying to control them. The problem was that they would always go berserk and try to kill him, resulting in their deaths. He was also testing teleporters by sending zombies through them, but they never reappeared at the mainframe. All of these experiments were done with his assistant, Edward Richtofen. When he used his daughter Samantha's dog, Fluffy, as a teleporter test subject, he accidentally created the first hellhound. The dog was not teleported, but inside the teleporter, there were growling noises. When Samantha came running in and started questioning her dad about her dog, Edward left the room. Edward then betrayed him by locking him and his daughter in the room with the hellhound, which then killed them.

115 (Ununpentium) is the name of the element that comes from the crashed meteorite. It also is the element that powers the Wunderwaffe DG-2. In one of Doctor Richtofen's quotes, he states that the meteorite is where the element comes from. It seems that the element and possibly the meteorite are important pieces to the Zombies phenomenon because the number "115" is constantly found in Shi No Numa.

In a radio message from Der Riese, Dr. Maxis says there is a large supply of 115 in "the Nevada base". The Nevada base is obviously Area 51, which is referenced in the Shi No Numa radio message. This reference is the numbers said before and after the message starts. One of those groups of numbers are the coordinates of Area 51. The American who is transmitting the message may be an "operative" as mentioned by Maxis in a Der Riese radio message.

Speeds
The Zombies appear to have three speeds. They are: A slow stumble with arms by thier sides, A jog with arms straight out (like Frakenstien and in older Zombie films) and a sprint, with arms flapping everywhere. In the misson Verruckt, some zombies have a sprint-like speed with their shoulders forward and arms back.

Behavior
One theory of how the bodies of dead Nazi or Imperial soldiers are reanimated is that, towards the end of World War II, German tests and experiments with high levels of radiation on human subjects may have led to the reanimation. The zombies seem to have reverted to a primal cognitive state, as they will attempt to kill or incapacitate any human through melee attacks. They are unable, or possibly unwilling, to use any weapons, and will neither dodge bullets nor avoid grenades. Even when both legs are blown off, the zombies will continue to crawl and attempt to kill any live human. The zombies also show an odd behavioral characteristic in the sense that they will not attack a human being that is dying, yet instead go for the humans still alive. It is unknown why this is done, but it may be a thought process in what's left of their primal mind that the humans that are still healthy pose them a threat.



As shown by the Der Riese radio messages, the zombies were meant to be controlled, but they would always end up going berserk.

Characteristics
Some zombies will die from only a few rounds from a M1911, while other zombies can withstand up to or exceeding two blasts from a Ray gun. Zombies also have varying movement speeds, from a slow stumble to an outright dash. In Verruckt, the zombies seem more evolved, being able to reach through boarded windows and swipe at the character, and can hop on and off of window sills. It can also be noted that in Verruckt, some zombies march to the windows, as if marching with an army. Finally, in Verruckt, the Zombies seem to have evolved enough to attain the ability of speech, or at least, something that can be considered speech. The zombies are often heard shouting, "Damn,", "No!", "Die, Die!" or "Lets eat his soul!" and scream, laugh and moan more than just yell like in Nacht Der Untoten. Zombies that are seen marching and some with brighter Nazi bands on their right arm (which sometimes is covered by a rolled up sleeve) are usually found to be carrying power-ups, such as Insta-Kill or Max Ammo. The zombies also look different from each other. Some look as if they were burned to death, some look intimidating, while some are missing arms, or even have exposed, bloody ribcages.

Trivia

 * In Verruckt-Der Riese, zombies say something that sounds like "Sam", which could reference Samantha, or simply "Damn" after being shot.


 * On Verruckt, when a player is downed, a zombie may do a Moonwalk, a reference to Michael Jackson's "Thriller". Zombies also make MJ's signature sounds in Shi No Numa.


 * Some Zombies are seen marching in a comedic Nazi fashion towards the windows in Verrückt and Der Riese.


 * Also, a mysterious noise will usually come out of nowhere and can be heard when a round is going to end.


 * The history of the zombies is shown in Der Riese/Radio Messages.


 * Very rarely, if a grenade is thrown at a zombie about to come out the ground, they will go into a crouching stance


 * Zombies are regularly unarmed, however a player designed map named "Dead Sand" has the zombies positioning on battleships and using rifles and machine guns against the player(s).


 * Zombies will begin running only on round 6-7, but the above mentioned map have the zombies running right on the first round, due to the map being a beach.


 * The Nazi zombies are dressed in the SS honour guard uniforms, which ironically points out their loyalty, even in death to their fuhrer, Adolf Hitler.


 * Technically, zombies are not unarmed. They are equipped with the weapon "BRAAAINS..." (see below) and it is possible to equip said weapon using the console on PC.
 * They often say things in a random moan, that are not in any language. They seem to be a mixture of German and Italian, the two main Axis languages. They may also be just saying giberish that sounds like words.
 * Crawlers will sometimes try to gurgle "sieg heil".
 * The Last Zombie starting about after round 4 will run, even if it had been walking.
 * Info on Die Glocke, and the mysterious experiments there, along with something that looks exactly like the fly trap, can be found here.
 * The Zombie AI is programed to follow and attack which ever player wounded, or is closest to it. This is the most apperant when their head is shot off and they still move towards the player and attempt to attack them.
 * On Verruckt, it is possible to see a Zombie jump up in the air.