Zombie Cliche Lookout: Injured/Reserved
In movies and video games, characters can suffer horrific injuries that would permanently maim or kill a real person (we’ve discussed the closed head injured here a time or two). Are they horribly injured? Nah. They just limp for a while and maybe have some short-term cosmetic damage. Unless, of course, whoever is writing it is trying to make some sort of point, in which case all bets are off and characters would be well advised to be a little more careful.
While not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, Last Action Hero is a great example of this. When Arnold is critically injured in the real world, he is saved by going be into the world of the movies, where his once-terrible injury is treated as completely minor.
About this Episode:
One thing that I’ve been really happy about lately is how Lou is being viewed by you guys. Some of you find him dangerous and super creepy, while others are defending him by pointing out that he may just be super cautious, and that he hasn’t said anything too incriminating just yet. This is all sorts of awesome.
Discussion Question:
Here’s another great one from BrickVoid: “If someone who’s about to become a zombie sustains an injury like that which Inez gave ol’ Lou, and said injury applied to a zombie would kill that zombie outright, would this mean he’s been saved from becoming a zombie? If he’s infected, that is.”
BrickVoid also wanted to see this addressed in the comic, which I’m starting to do in today’s script. I’m not sure if this is what he had in mind, but I’ve been spinning around this idea in my head for quite a while now, and have been looking forward to exploring it in the comic.
Chances are he’d still become a zombie, just with the physical damage. But I could be wrong. And BTW, Dave, please don’t forget about my question! 🙂
And what do you think about the internet? You just need the network to be up and you don’t need all of the routers and components to have it work (Hopefuly the silly government didn’t nuke everything in site so the network is mostly intact). If you had a computer, do you think you could get on the internet (assuming both sides have power)?
“Just” needing the network to be up is a pretty big deal though. I doubt the internet would stay up that long. The overall infrastructure might last a bit, but I’d imagine hosting companies would start falling like dominoes as the grid went down, taking down thousands of sites as they went.
Remind me of your question again, Nom Zoms.
In discussion questions forum. It was: Hey Dave, possible discussion question: How would you find things out like a vaccine against getting the Z-bug or whatever you want to call it (infected, I guess) or where other strongholds and survivors are if there was no news service? No ones gonna walk through distroyed cities and towns ringing the bell or knocking on the door saying “Hi, are there any humans???” There’s a possibility that people hidden without a radio or something could miss the anounment that the world was cured, just like soldiers in the Phillipines. Years after the end of WW2 they found out it was over. But this is just a thought and I’m curious what others think!
Ah yes. I’m definitely planning to use that one.
Thanks!
They’d become a zombie then immediately die of the injuries. Zombie is a turning of the cells, infection, virus who knows? I didnt realize zombies heads were more fragile than human heads
Re: zombie heads
I don’t believe they are. However, someone might receive a horrific injury that would kill them and open them up to becoming a zombie, but the nature of the injury might make the zombie completely useless. Think of someone who dies from a broken neck that severs the spinal cord. They might reanimate, but wouldn’t be able to do anything.
This kinda feels like something I thought of. In a ZA where you zombify no matter how you die, someone dies. But before they come back as a zombie, someone else brings them back to life (ie: CPR, chest paddles, gods will, etc). So assuming this newly revived person doesn’t try to eat you right away and their brain succsessfully restarted, does this mean they were somehow immune already, lucky, or cured?
So you’re talking about a near death experience? The white light and all that?
Yeah. When ur considered dead but not biologicoly dead yet.
Got it. I’d have to think that – if you were revived – nothing would change. Just as susceptible.
Sorry to be posting a bit late for the episode but Wednesday has been a busy day for me! 😀
Regarding the direction you’re taking head injuries, it’s looking good so far – well at least where the direction is going, not so much the injury – and I highly recommend you follow it through to whatever your logic for zombies in your webcomic dictates. 😀
Thank you sir. I shall also do my best to avoid head injuries.
What I mean is that his head injury, whilst it can be inferenced from his position and the flow of the word balloons, is not that readily apparent.
If someone gets hit in the head with a sledgehammer, there should be at least some blood or majorly visible bump on his head somewhere. Even if hit from behind that large a blow should tilt his cap or something! 😀
Well, his has was a bit askew when he was lying on the floor 🙂
I always thought if a person lost a head or the brain was damaged to the point that it would kill a zombie that the person would reanimate as some kind of super zombie immune to being killed O.o
Hah, that’s something different.
Ehehe.. Ehh.. Oooh goodness… He’s paralyzed. Well this calls for immediate reaction and only holds 2 options. You either treat him like a lame horse and kill him, or hope that he’s knowledgeable enough to be of great use as a mind.
Interesting.
Not entirely sure i’m reading the question right. If you kill someone, in a way that removes the head of destroys the brain, then yeah, you totally skip the zombie phase. That person is just straight up dead. Its open to interpretation whether or not that is considered “saved”.
The Walking Dead did a cool thing with that, near the end of this last season. [SPOILERS, is that a thing?] It was clearly considered more inhumane when the Governor killed someone by NOT shooting them in the head, because he was forcing them to die in a way that we knew would reanimate. [END SPOILERS, if in fact that is a thing]
What about something like decapitation? That could possibly leave a zombified head.
poor zombie head just lying in the middle of the street, hoping to snack on some poor unsuspecting passing ankle.
Hah, makes you almost feel bad for it.
Oh no.
I liked him…
He was just trying to conserve his supplies…
Maybe he really thought he could survive…
🙁
Well he’s not dead just yet.
Donkey’s spittle n’ banjo polish!! He must be be pulling a fast one on our heroes!
So let me get this straight: An unknown party breaks into a guys shelter. He holds them, the aggressors, at gunpoint, and one of them hits him in the head with a blunt instrument. Am I getting that right?
Our intrepid band of heroes are no longer the heroes, but the villains.
Looters will be shot on sight. Survivors will be shot again.
That’s the exact thing I was thinking.
Thank you for pointing this out, Bo. I was thinking people were going to be ready to crucify Inez after her (as far as we know) unprovoked attack.
If the new world is where people kill people for showing a mild interest in a person they have yet to see.. Well.. Might as well start shooting strangers on sight.