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Zombie (Resident Evil)

Also called: t-Virus zombie, Biohazard zombie
GamesInfected, still aliveShamblesA virus1968 to 1999

The basic enemy of Capcom's Resident Evil: a human consumed by the t-Virus, a corporate bio-weapon agent. Shinji Mikami's team took the American zombie film, Romero's above all, and rebuilt it around limited ammunition and a science-gone-wrong cause. The 1996 game was the first to be called survival horror, and it is widely credited with restarting the zombie boom that led to 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead.1234

⚔️ Battle it
First appeared
1996
Resident Evil (1996)
Source work
Resident Evil (1996)
Capcom
Age rating
ESRB M
Made in
Japan
What causes it
A virus
Umbrella's t-Virus, a mutagen developed for bio-weapons research, turns most infected humans into flesh-eating zombies; it spread through contaminated water and through bites and scratches.
How you become one
Exposure to the t-Virus through contaminated water, or a bite or scratch from a carrier.
How it moves
Shambles
Built on Romero's shambling model; the remake's Crimson Heads are described as the faster form, and the Director's Cut sped the basic zombies up.
Intelligence
Mindless
Weak spots
  • destroying the head
  • burning the body (2002 remake)

When did it first appear?

Ancient world
Middle Ages
1500 to 1899
1900 to 1967
1968 to 1999
2000 to 2009
2010 to today
1996

Resident Evil (1996)

field notes

What the sources say

1

In the lore, Umbrella researchers borrowed the word 'zombie' from Haitian folklore1234

2

Victims have rotting skin and no pulse, so they are routinely mistaken for reanimated corpses1234

3

The first zombies came out of Dr. James Marcus's human t-Virus trials1234

4

The series is credited with moving zombie fiction from supernatural to scientific causes1234

5

George A. Romero said Resident Evil and The House of the Dead did more than anything else to popularise his zombie in the early 21st century1234

6

Resident Evil 2 capped zombies at seven on screen1234

Could you outrun it?

Speed class from how the sources describe it (shambles), not a measurement.

Zombie (Resident Evil) about 3 km/h
You, walking about 5 km/h
You, jogging about 10 km/h
A fit adult sprinting about 24 km/h
A fast cyclist about 37 km/h

Sources

  1. Zombie - Resident Evil Wiki (Fandom)
  2. Resident Evil - Wikipedia
  3. Resident Evil (1996 video game) - Wikipedia
  4. Resident Evil - RAWG

Every fact on this page comes from these sources, written in our own words. Spotted a mistake? Tell us at hello@zombiewiki.app.

More from Resident Evil

NemesisResident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999)T-virus zombies (Resident Evil films)Resident Evil (2002)Cerberus (zombie dog)Resident Evil (1996)GanadoResident Evil 4 (2005)LickerResident Evil 2 (1998)TyrantResident Evil (1996)Crimson HeadResident Evil (remake) (2002)MajiniResident Evil 5 (2009)

Same era: 1968 to 1999

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