Zombie

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 unknown means. They are featured in Call of Duty: World at War in the Nazi Zombies game mode.



Creation
thumb|202px|right|The radio locations and the message. It is never clearly explained how the zombies were reanimated, (it might be explained in Der Riese) but an easter egg in Shi No Numa could tell us a little about it. If the player activates all radios in the starting room by walking up to them and pressing the action button, a message can be heard. The message is the following: "R-4808n 37 14 06 115 48 40. I hope that you are receving this transmission Peter, if you are not, then all is hope is lost. You must know by now that we failed to contain the asylum, that 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 *static* (be contained) at all costs. The DG-2 experiments continue. You'll be our only advantage now. Find Doctor (Richtofen-barely audible) and Doctor Maxine, they may know what's going on. The use of (element) 115 is dangerous at best. I'm not sure if we can continue here. We've lost most of our best *static* -tists. I hope you get this. I hope it hasen't happened there too, but I'm almost out of hope. 60 54 06.96 101 55 44.94."

The text mentions a couple of numbers, such as 1-1-5. These numbers can be seen on a box in a room in Shi No Numa. It also confirms that the zombies are of artificial creation, as they call the zombies an "experiment." Plus, another thing that supports that zombies were created artifically, a radio in the Comm Room, when activated, says in a robotic voice "Guess I created too much...". The numbers above can be translated to the location of Area 51 and the tunguska meteor crash site. Although this is the best lead we have on the zombie's creation, it is still unknown who the person giving this transmission is, who Peter is, and who Doctor Max is. It can be assumed that they are American, as the person giving the transmission has an American accent. Some people believe that the man hanging in Shi no Numa is Peter.

There is a crate saying 115 in the warning room, in Shi No Numa

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 possiblythe meteorite is an important role to the Zombies phenomenon because the number "115" is constantly found in Shi No Numa.

As the appearance of the different factions may show, possibly the backstory could be that in the opening cinematic to Nacht der Untoten, the meteorite was what caused the marine's plane to crash. Also, in Verruckt, Dr. Richtofen, or any other doctor, be that as it may, tried to use the element found in the meteorite for medical/psycholigical/chemo-therapeutical research on the insane and enfermed. As in WWII, Asylums were taken over and used as Army hospitals/rest centers. but the element could possibly have worsened things(Increased rate of insanity, instant death, social deterioration,what have you)and the meteorite was deemed non-beneficial, so it was brought to Shi no Numa for storage, a kind of makeshift area 51, until it killed or drove the Japanese soldiers and doctors insane, thus bringing our characters to the present time. The music in the trailer for Shi No Numa is also the music that plays after activating the telephone in the Comm Room.

Element 115 may possibly be in the crate that says 115.

The hel(p) from Nacht Der Untoten appears numerous times in this map. GXZvqbLpAxM

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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.

It is possible that the zombies attack the humans because the zombies used to be Nazis and Japanese and that they were killed by allied soldiers, so they use what is left on their mind is to seek vengeance on the allies. However, this seems unlikely because Takeo in "Shi No Numa" is Japanese, like the zombies; Richtofen is German, however, and the Germans were Japan's allies during the war, yet the zombies attack him as well. It's most likely that the zombies have no true allegiance and attack any living human beings regardless of their faction.

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 are usually found to be carrying power-ups, such as Insta-Kill or Max Ammo.

Trivia

 * It is possible that the Hellhounds are also Zombies, just Zombie Dogs.
 * On Verruckt, when a player is downed, a zombie may do a Moonwalk, a reference to Michael Jackson's "Thriller". Zombies also make MJ sounds in Shi No Numa, like choo-cha!
 * On January 29, 2009, someone hacked into an American electric construction roadsign, changing it to alternate between displaying "NAZI ZOMBIES AHEAD!", and "ZOMBIES! RUN AWAY!!!!!". It is very possible that the hacker was referring to Nacht der Untoten, if not just combining Nazis with zombies, both of which are famous in popular culture. A few drivers actually thought that the dead came back to life and that the government was trying to warn everyone, while most just got a big laugh out of it.
 * In the game Wolfenstein 3D, some of the enemies are zombified German soldiers. The zombies in World at War may be a reference to them, but there is nothing official to indicate that.
 * Some Zombies are seen marching in a comedic Nazi fashion towards the windows in Verrückt.
 * It is could be possible the Nazi Zombie levels pays a tribute to the European Nazi Zombie films of the 1970s and 80s, such as Zombie Lake, Oasis of Zombies, Shock Waves, and so on. The Imperial Zombies pays a tribute to the horror movie genre "J-Horror".
 * Also, a mysterious noise will usually come out of nowhere and can be heard when a round is going to end.