Mythical Creature Saturday - Zombies

I was reading my blog posts and the post of some other bloggers and I decided to diversify my blog somewhat. I thought about doing something funny, but I don’t do funny very well. At least not while I’m typing. So I decided to do something a little different.

If you can’t already tell, I don’t really have a life (:p) and I spend a lot of time on the internet researching random stuff, mostly on Wikipedia. From time to time, I come across articles about mythical creatures and monsters that are actually pretty cool. So starting this Saturday and continuing every week, I’ll feature one creature that I find interesting right here. And seeing as how I’m writing a zombie story, I thought that there’s be no better way to start that to write about zombies.

What is a zombie?

A zombie is typically a corpse that has been reanimated by means of magic or by a pandemic virus. They can also be created by living persons falling under the effect of the two factors mentioned above. In this state, they are generally robbed of their higher brain functions, being unable to complete even the most basic on operation like speaking or turning a door handle. They tend to move in large groups and crave human flesh, despite not needing it to survive. In the case of a pandemic virus, they usually spread it by biting uninfected humans.

Zombie Origins

The idea of the zombie most likely came from the West African belief of Vodou (commonly know as Voodoo). It was believed that a powerful sorcerer could hold the spirit of a person in an urn, and hence rob them of their will. The ‘zombi’, as it was called,was completely under the control of the sorcerer, or ‘bokor’. It was believed that after a while, God would reclaim the soul of the person, hence allowing the person the die.

Zombie Abilities

Depending on the factor that changes them from human or corpse to zombie, the zombie could have various abilities ranging from simple longevity to random superpowers. The latter is generally not common . Typically zombies gain no special abilities due to their transformation. However, since they crave flesh, their bodies adapt by increasing their five senses to be better at hunting their prey (which are usually humans). As their upper brain functions have been shut down, they do not feel pain, and therefore can continue moving and attacking while sustaining wounds that would severely hamper a human. It can be also theorized that since they are immune to pain, they can accomplish feats of strength that cannot be attained by humans, since the human body uses pain limit the use of strength to prevent muscle damage. This however, would result in permanent damage to zombie’s muscles, leaving them unable to repeat that action. Traditionally, zombies tend to move very slowly and shuffle when they walk. However, recently zombies have been portrayed as being able to move with quick and frenzied motioned (see 28 Days Later)

How to defeat a zombie

Because zombies do not feel pain, it is pointless to attempt to wound them. The only surefire way to kill a zombie is to destroy or damage it brain. This can be done in a variety of ways, from decapitating the zombie to a gunshot to the brain. Destroying the leg and/or hand muscles of a zombie would render them permanently immobile. One should note that when a zombie has been killed, it’s body should be destroyed to prevent further infection. This can usually be done by cremating the corpse.

Why Zombies are awesome

They have a couple of big advantages over humans:
1) They are immune to pain, so they are not hampered or slowed down by injury.
2) They may crave flesh, but they do not need it to survive. As such, they can live for extended periods of time without sustenance.
3) They do not required any of their organ systems beside their brain, making it their one and only weak point.
4) They travel in hordes, making it near impossible to kill just kill one and escape.
5) They have heightened sense making them better hunters.

Why zombies suck

1)The fact that they can’t feel pain allows them to incur injuries to their legs and arms, which would render them immobile, without attempting to avoid such injuries.
2) They have no higher brain functions so they are unable to navigate slightly complicated terrain and avoid pitfalls.

All in all, I think zombies are pretty resilient creatures. I mean, they have to be, if they’re gonna take over the world. What do you think? Leave a comment below to tell me. And while you’re at it, tell me what you think about “Mythical Creature Saturday”? Is it good? Is it bad? Is it just stupid? Your input is appreciated.

Note: This is not meant to be a serious post. Please do not give me the scientific reasons as to why zombies cannot exist. You will be ignored.

See you tomorrow guys!!