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 and in Call of Duty: Black Ops. When playing Nazi Zombies while on Xbox Live, the players gamertag shows their 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
220px|center|thumb|The radio locations and the message.

Though the origin of the zombies remains unclear, various incidents leading up to the creation of the zombies can be found via radio messages found in various maps. 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 says: "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 Richtofen (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. 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.

In Black Ops, Nazi Zombies will return along with the appearance of civilian/scientist zombies and possible monkey zombies. This means that the zombies were not destroyed at Der Riese and have grown to a larger population and that they can infect other primates.

Speeds
The Zombies have varying speeds, one of which is exclusive to Verruckt, and another exclusive to Shi No Numa, another in Der Reise. They are:
 * A slow stumble with arms by their sides.
 * A normal walk with their arms waving in the air and their faces glancing upward at the sky.
 * A jog with arms straight out (like Frankenstein and in older Zombie films).
 * A sprint, with one arm in front of them pointing down and the other behind them in the air.
 * In the mission Verruckt, some zombies have a sprint-like speed with their shoulders forward and arms moving as a person would while running (although to less of an extent). These are considerably faster than any other speed, and run at roughly the same speed that the player does with a pistol (without sprinting). Any other gun class requires the player to sprint in order to not get caught by them.
 * In the mission Shi No Numa, some zombies walk in a Karate-like stance.
 * In the mission Der Reise, some zombies walk like they are marching.

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 alive 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, or another possible explanation may be that it gives the others players a chance to revive the downed player, as being killed while downed would make the game less enjoyable. It is also thought that since the player is on the ground, the zombie thinks that the player is dead. However, several lyrics from the Shi No Numa Easter Egg song, The One, may provide an answer to their behavior: Somehow, the zombies realize who they are and they don't like their life, and they realize that a fully healthy human capable of holding a weapon will kill them if they're attacked. Thus they are killed and, as the lyrics say, are set free from their wretched life. 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 "Let's eat his soul!" and scream, laugh and yell more than just moan like in Nacht Der Untoten (See here for complete sounds). 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 rib-cages.

Quotes
"Monkey."

- When a Monkey Bomb is thrown.

"No!"

- Upon trying to hit the player through a barricade.

"Yes!"

- Upon breaking through a barricade.

"Fail!"

- When attacking and missing a player.

"Sam!"

- Upon a Zombie attacking, possibly referring to Samantha. (See Der Riese/quotes)

"Damn!"

- If another Zombie is killed.

Trivia

 * On Verruckt, when a player is downed, a zombie may do a Moonwalk, similar to Michael Jackson's "Thriller". This is however, simply a glitch. 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.
 * If a grenade is thrown at a zombie about to come out the ground, they will go into a crouching stance.
 * 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 gibberish 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. This applies to Shi No Numa and Der Riese only.
 * 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 is closest to it. This is the most apparent when their head is shot off and they still move towards the player and attempt to attack them.
 * Sometimes, a zombie or zombies can get stuck in an area and stay there. For example, it is easy for the zombies to get stuck while jumping off the ledges in Der Riese. Most of the time, they cannot hit the player or any player, but when they fall down from the glitch, they will most likely die from the fall.
 * On Verruckt, it is possible to see a Zombie jump up in the air.
 * Zombies appear, to sometimes glitch in one spot and try to hit the player. If the player stands still, they can actually hit the player, even though he is well beyond the zombie's melee range. This can often happen outside a window, when the zombie arrives as the barriers have just been built (from being completely broken down)
 * If the player noclips and flies into the air beyond the zombies' reach, they will all swarm beneath the player and begin to stack over top of each other to create a ladder to reach the player. No special animation has been made for this action, making it very comical. Within a certain distance, they will occasionally fly up towards the player.
 * When in water, the Zombies lose very little of their speed.
 * Some zombies in Der Riese will scream "MOOOOONNNNKKKEYY"
 * Occasionally, a zombie will yell "TOY!" after it has said "MONKEY!"
 * Zombies are confirmed to return to Call of Duty: Black Ops.
 * Sometimes when the player shoots a zombie's head off, it will continue to go through motions (Breaking windows, Attacking and so on) for a few seconds or until shot.
 * Zombies may consume victims in Call of Duty: Black Ops. As evidence in the gknova6 10/21/10 update (at the beginning, left televisions) the new "crawler" zombies appeared to be shaking a dead scientist and do other actions that hint they're eating him.
 * Anna Donlon, Senior Producer of Black Ops for Wii, has stated there will be a 4-player co-op zombie mode for the Call of Duty: Black Ops for the Wii in a recent intel interview.