Horror is popular in the video game world, and the gruesome minions of the undead come in a wonderful variety. Adventurers get attacked by vampires, ghosts, and ghouls at every turn, and the post-zombie apocalypse survival trope has become a genre all its own.
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Regarding zombies in video games, it’s generally agreed that these are a variety of undead that can’t talk, but instead hobble around grunting. They’re usually not sentient on any level, but mindless and rabid, something the player needs to cut down, blow away or burn as opposed to conversing with. However, every so often a zombie appears in a video game with the power of speech. What they have to say might vary in importance or coherence, but these are still zombies that can talk.
6Skelly — Hades
A game called Hades might have more zombies in it, but in a world of gods, monsters, ghosts, and radiant spirits, Skelly might be the only zombie here. Some ofthe soldiers in Elysiumcould be zombies since they rise again if you don’t kill them twice the first time, but they aren’t interested in talking.
Zagreus' self-appointed punching bag fromHadesappears to have a few bits of skin and hair left to be more than a skeleton, and he does come from the land of the undead. Once he reveals who he works for, a zombie is even more likely, but that’s a spoiler that can stay hidden for now.
5The Draugr — Skyrim
This isn’t an individual zombie but a certain type of them that can be found throughout Skyrim. Not all Draugr can speak, and when they do it’s not exactly conversational, but the ones that can speak a few coherent words do so in order to cast spells.
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There’s also the matter of their appearance, and maybe it’s the northern climate that preserves them, but with the skin and hair that’s almost always hanging off those bones, the Draugr look exactly like zombies. Their speech varies from the simple, monosyllabic battle cries of warriors to the more complex curses and spellcasting of the mages and necromancers.
4Staunton Vhane — Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
For those adventurers that walk the dark Path of the Lich, there are options for resurrecting certain NPCs as zombies to be members of your party. They’re all capable of speaking and have some limited things to say when the player addresses them, but Staunton Vhane is the only one that has computer-generated dialogue that’s triggered at certain prompts, like meeting someone orarriving in a new location.
The disadvantage to having a party of zombies inPathfinder: Wrath of the Righteousis that the undead aren’t as chatty as the living. All of the zombies in this game are capable of speech, but with the exception of the War Priest, they usually don’t.
3LeChuck — The Secret Of Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge
The protagonist kills him at the end of the first game, so when he comes back in the second, he’s undead. Largo, a former member of LeChuck’s crew, steals a bit of LeChuck’s beard to resurrect him. This isn’t a zombie pirate of few words either and doesn’t even try to keep his plans or living-impaired condition a secret.
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There are two goals for the hero Guybrush Threepwood in the second game; to find the treasure of Big Whoop and to defeat Zombie LeChuck. The story ends on one of the most infamous cliffhangers in gaming history, one that lasted more than six years before another sequel finally resolved it with LeChuick’s final defeat.
2The Forsaken — World of Warcraft
World of Warcrafthas a whole faction of undead that have a lot to say thanks to the Forsaken,one of the Horde allies. These are a type of zombie that broke free from the grip of the Scourge, which players will note has legions of undead minions, none of which can talk.
The Forsaken can, however, and there’s a whole city of them that speak freely in this game. They’re even bilingual, speaking Orcish as a vernacular and their own Gutterpeak for a private conversation. Their Queen is Sylvanas Windrunner, who was a Banshee at first, but when the grip of the Lich King weakened she broke free from his mental control. After recovering her wits, she found and reanimated her body. Not only does she talk, but she also sings and gives out quests, just like the subjects over which she rules.
1Jack Baker — Resident Evil 7
Given the lore of theResident Evilfranchise, some players don’t consider Jim Baker to be a zombie specifically because he can talk and seems capable of some sentient thought. He was also turned by the Mold virus as opposed to being bitten by another zombie or infected by one of the many viruses that were made by Umbrella.
On the other hand, he’s considered a zombie, and the rise of “hybrid” undead in the course of the game means that some zombies can talk now and Jack Baker is just one example of how hideous that can get. If consumers decide that talking zombies are even scarier than mindless ones, prepare to see even more of them in video games.
