History Main / TechnicallyLivingZombie

* The Reavers in ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' are like this, though they retain enough intelligence to operate spacecraft, and are more malevolent than other examples as they live not only to kill their victims but to kill them in the most painful way possible, often raping and flaying them before finishing them off. In fact, it's not until [[Film/{{Serenity}} the movie]] that we get definite confirmation that they fit into this specific trope, [[spoiler:having fallen victim to a HatePlague]], and aren't some kind of AxCrazy death cult.

** All the unnamed Borg drones behave in this way, despite being a part of a very intelligent HiveMind. Lacking free will or individual self-awareness, the drones' default goal is to [[TheVirus assimilate everything they come across into the Collective]], although they'll ignore nonthreatening people walking around nearby if they have something more important to do. They're like zombies [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!]].

* ''WebSite/CollegeHumor'': In "The Six Monsters You'll Have as Roommates" sketch, the "zombie" is not actually a zombie, but a [[TheSlacker lazy]], [[TrashOfTheTitans messy]] person (who is probably [[TheStoner stoned]], sleep-deprived, or both).

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': This shows up in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS21E4TreehouseOfHorrorXX Don't Have a Cow, Mankind]]", in which a zombie outbreak started when Krusty made a new burger which was made from a cow that cannibalized another cow. Kent Brockman took a bite out of one and instantly turned into a "muncher", and bit Krusty who started biting other people, soon almost everyone in Springfield were turned into munchers.

* There's an age-old thought experiment called a "philosophical zombie", which is a creature that looks and acts just like a real human (and is biologically the same), but has no actual thoughts or feelings. The main "problem" such a concept poses for philosophy is that there would never be any way to ''prove'' such a being didn't actually have any thoughts or feelings, unless we someday invent MindReading.

Zombies that retain enough survival instinct to meet their own bodily needs - functioning more like wild animals that simply prioritize human prey - can be a threat for longer, though [[NoZombieCannibals why they don't eat each other]] may need to be addressed and they probably don't move in hordes in the same way.

This is a subtrope of OurZombiesAreDifferent. It tends to appear alongside NotUsingTheZWord, but they aren't completely inseparable; zombies-in-all-but-name are often legitimately undead, and Technically Living Zombies are often simply called zombies. The combination of the two has been known to start arguments among zombie fans over whether they're really zombies or not. Which naturally overlooks the fact that the popular, Romero-esque zombies are [[NewerThanTheyThink very different]] from [[VoodooZombie traditional zombies]] too, which were basically entranced slaves of voodoo priests, and often very much alive.

* This is basically the mental effect of [[PsychoSerum Angel Dust]] in ''Manga/CityHunter'' and ''Manga/CityHunterRebirth'', making the user extremely aggressive and easily conditioned to obey someone without impairing the ability to use higher skills (and many users have previous military or special forces training), in addition to [[FeelNoPain deleting the ability to feel pain]] and [[UninhibitedMusclePower releasing all limiters on physical strength]]. This makes the users extremely dangerous opponents, as while they're killed by anything that would kill a normal person they need something that is ''immediately'' fatal (such as decapitation, a headshot, or [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill a large grenade in the knee]]) or they'll come after you until they bleed out. It also means that those who takes it ''voluntarily'' are extremely rare (aside for Ryo, who was the test subject, only the Major took it willingly, and that was because he knew he had to kill Ryo before the end of the day or he'd be murdered himself), and very few survive their mission to have it wear off - and if they survive that and the horrific withdrawal, they have then to deal with the trauma of what they did under the effect, dire enough they're known in-universe as "devastated", and possibly to permanent physical damage caused by what injuries they took and left untreated.
* A story in ''Manga/FrankenFran'' has an island seemingly suffer an epidemic and the remaining villagers trying to fight off the horde. [[spoiler:It turns out its just a mutated fever caused by a parasite that attacks the nervous system giving the subject the appearance of a zombie, but otherwise they were still quite alive, human and ''aware of what's going on but can't communicate to those unaffected''.]]

* In ''Ashes'' by Ilsa J. Bick, the zombies, or "Changed", are teenagers hit with an electromagnetic pulse that killed most adults, but left them severely mentally impaired. In the second book, [[spoiler: it's revealed that the zombies are just as smart as humans are, but with a taste for human flesh. They can use weapons such as guns, can communicate with each other but cannot speak, and are intelligent enough to capture humans to eat later]].
* In Alexei Doronin's ''Black Day'' series, some survivors of nuclear attacks (termed "formers", as in "former humans") degenerated to a zombie-like state due to a combination of burns, severe radiation sickness and extreme PTSD (similarly to ''Barefoot Gen'' above). Most of them are even violent like zombies.

* Feral humans in ''Literature/JanitorsOfThePostapocalypse'' are very zombielike, with their low intelligence, constant moaning, and shambling gait. Their physiology is also altered, making them almost unkillable. While they're extremely ''interested'' in living people, when those aren't present they hunt animals, consume plants and carrion, and will even try to eat each other when hungry enough. They also mate with one another and produce feral offspring. [[spoiler: When they are healthy and well fed they are also calmer, show signs of personality, and can be [[FriendlyZombie almost tame]].]] Because of all this, even a hundred and fifty years after TheVirus sweeps Earth there are half a billion ferals wandering around - perfect for aliens to [[AlienAbduction abduct]], "[[UpliftedAnimal cure]]", and [[SlaveRace press into their military]].

* The infected in D.J. Molles ''Literature/TheRemaining'' universe are a novel example of the technically living zombie. They are infected by the [[spoiler: FURY bacterium]] and are great examples of what's come to be known as fast zombies in other media. Further in the series the infected [[spoiler: evolve into what are called Primals. In the lore it's explained that these primals reacted to eating raw meat differently than the other infected and have grown supernaturally fast and strong.]]

* The Shade in ''Literature/ShadowOfTheConqueror'' are murderous undead monsters created by humans [[DarkIsEvil exposed to darkness]] for long periods, but apparently retain the need for food after they turn, judging by [[spoiler: the fact that Blackheart had to periodically throw dogs in the cage of the ones he was keeping]].
* In ''Literature/TheShipWho Searched'', [[BrainsAndBrawn Tia and Alex]] check up on an archaological dig and find that of the two hundred people who'd been there, only about fifty survivors remain and they're shambling about having lost their higher brain functions. Alex dubs them "Zombies". [[SpaceshipGirl Tia]] has to [[MissionControl guide him]] as he explores in his pressure suit and finds out that the compound was all stricken overnight, half the population dying immediately, the other half becoming Zombies and suffering from malnutrition and dysentary. The Zombies are terrified of Alex in his suit - he tries to take it off, but Tia stops him. The two manage to trap all fifty in crates in Tia's hold to take them to a medical center. [[spoiler: Happily, decontamination procedures are enough to keep the disease from spreading and it's expected that within a year of treatment the survivors will make a full recovery.]]

* ''Literature/WorldWarZ'': admidst a global zombie apocalypse, there's a fairly widespread phenomenon nicknamed "Quislings": People who, while not infected at all, cracked under the sheer scale and impossibility of the catastrophe. Their minds went completely off the deep end and became ''permanently'' warped into the feral mindset of a zombie in an instinctual, last- ditch attempt to survive by imitating them, up to and including attacking and attempting to consume any other survivors they come across. It's said to be akin to Stockholm Syndrome, or how sometimes people in countries that get invaded ''join'' the invading army and become even more fanatical than the invaders themselves. Quislings are alive physically, but mentally are no better than the dead. Even after nearly two decades not a single captured quisling has ever been rehabilitated (by comparison, at least some progress was made with feral children). Despite all they gave up, the act never even worked: while to a human they're identical to the undead (without close examination), real zombies aren't fooled and will attack them same as any other living creature. The only subtle differences are that quislings blink if you shine a light in their eyes (zombies don't), they tend to smell worse (their bodily functions are still operating, zombies don't sweat), and blood flows normally from their wounds because their hearts are still pumping. A surviving watchman says quislings created all sorts of new problems because 1 - in the early days of the pandemic, people who got bit by quislings but survived spread the false hope that fake anti-zombie vaccines worked, and 2 - quislings remain active in winter, whereas zombies tend to freeze up in the colder months. It's also explicitly cited that due to "the whole mind over matter thing", the technically-living quislings will ignore all pain, so wounds that aren't immediately fatal won't stop them, making them not much different from actual zombies.

* Liv, the zombie heroine of ''Series/IZombie'', maintains her intelligence and personality as long as she consumes human brain matter every once in a while, and she even still has a pulse, though much lower than a living person's -- 10 beats per minute compared to the normal 60-100 beats a minute. Liv is exceptionally resilient as a result of her zombified condition; when she is shot or stabbed, she feels no pain, loses very little blood and eventually heals from the wound like a normal person would. She also doesn't need to sleep, and her alcohol tolerance is greatly increased. Her condition would certainly make her CursedWithAwesome if she didn't have to ''keep'' eating human brains to avoid ''irreversibly'' becoming a mindless, Romero-style killing machine.

* ''VideoGame/DyingLight'''s Harran Virus creates zombies who are still alive, and can be killed through any means that would kill a normal human being. The more mutated EliteZombie enemies faced in the game are somewhat more difficult to destroy, because their mutations make them tougher than an average person. They still aren't undead, however. Although there are hints in some background dialogue that they are dead on a cellular level and reanimated decaying corpses, but the Virals are definitely a case of this, as [[spoiler: Jade turns into one without dying first after her infection overtakes her]].
* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'', victims of the Corprus Disease are this. Corprus victims are still living and, in-fact, are TheAgeless and have IdealIllnessImmunity. As the disease progresses, their [[BodyHorror bodies mutate]] and their mental faculties devolve to animalistic levels, driven to attack those who are not afflicted with the disease. [[spoiler: [[PlayerCharacter The Nerevarine]] is technically one of these, as they still have the disease but get the negative effects cured]]. There are actual undead zombies in the game as well, but they are known as "[[NotUsingTheZWord Bonewalkers]]" by the Dunmer people. (Elsewhere in Tamriel, they are actually referred to as zombies.)
* ''Franchise/{{Fallout}}'''s ghouls are a somewhat different example from the usual strain, because (excluding the ferals, who act like typical zombies) they're basically regular people with a ''really'' bad skin condition and [[TheAgeless biological immortality]]. It's brought on by being exposed to a huge amount of radiation and not dying from it. And maybe a radiotrophic virus created by the military, depending on what version of the {{Backstory}} you believe. The feral ghouls whose minds have been deteriorated by radiation are a more typical example, acting like mindless animals. The Feral ghouls are also far more visibly decayed and mutated than the normal ones, as they often dwell in highly radioactive areas where their bodies keep soaking up radiation, to the point that their bodies are falling apart.

** An aversion are the Lobotomites from ''Old World Blues'', who basically are cybernetically reanimated zombies, having had their brains (and then some) replaced with Tesla implants that allow them to perform basic motor functions and tasks. The player character even gets turned into one, but it's specifically noted that surviving the two gunshot wounds they took to the head at the start of the game allowed them to retain their higher brain functions after having their own brain removed and replaced [[spoiler: because the initial programming for the AI doing the surgeries had an error. The non-typical, bullet-scarred brain forced the AI to go into diagnostic mode to check for an error in the scanning, which resulted in it finding and correcting the error in the procedure]].

* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'': Darth Sion. The only measure keeping him from death is the pain and hate within him, fueling the Dark Side of the force within him, and keeping his broken, scarred, decaying body from falling apart. [[spoiler: He eventually lets go of the force and dies, after being defeated multiple times by the Exile in their final duel.]]
* ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'' uses a mutated ''cordyceps'' fungus that takes over the brain, making people "infected". While they display the typical traits of zombies, such as an uncontrollable urges to eat humans and the ability to spread their virus through bites, they are indeed still "alive", and thus anything fatal to normal humans will be fatal to them as well. Notably, the developers have said that while the infected are a threat, the primary antagonists are [[HumansAreBastards other survivors.]]
* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'''s Green Flu doesn't immediately kill its victims. According to promotional materials, it is a mutated strain of rabies. As its name suggests, in the game world it was designated a form of influenza by CEDA, though this was more of a cover-up than anything.
** The disease does prove to be eventually fatal, judging by the fact that a few zombies will collapse on their own. It's also said that children simply die instantly from the disease to explain [[HideYourChildren the absence of child zombies]].
** Officially, the victims are called "Infected"; that doesn't stop everyone non-official from calling them zombies and [[GenreSavvy referencing zombie movie tropes]]. In-universe, the survivors referred to the infected as both zombies and infected.

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' has a local-scale ZombieApocalypse when Ocelot attempts to disconnect his soldiers from the System that monitors and controls the emotions of all PMC soldiers in the area. The result is brain damage that causes them to mindlessly swarm you in packs, though "mindless" doesn't mean "emotionless" since, if you scan them with the Solid Eye, you can see their emotional states are spiking through the roof--unquenchable anger, hyper-hysterical mad happiness, bottomless sorrow and blinding terror; basically all the emotions their nanomachines were repressing suddenly being reintroduced and overwhelming them. There's even a use of "NotUsingTheZWord" since Otacon calls the zombies "Those... things!"

* In ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}'', PsychicPowers such as those from Controller mutants and Kaymanov emitters strip people of their higher brain functions, turning them into zombies ([[NotUsingTheZWord yes, it actually calls them that]]) that are hostile to everything but other zombies, psychic mutants, and Monolith members. Unlike most examples, psi zombies shamble slowly as they go and can only moan incoherently like a classic Romero zombie, and are equally resistant to any damage but a [[BoomHeadshot headshot]]; their main threat is their retained ability to use their firearms, and even then [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy they're not exactly accurate]] due to [[JustifiedTrope their crippled brainpower]]. In ''Call of Pripyat'', these zombies can sometimes be found gathered around a fire pit, engaging in a incoherent conversation and even stick out their hands into the heat in order to keep warm, suggesting that they still hold some trace of their former self.

* ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'': In "Attack of the Zombies", [[AIIsACrapshoot XANA]] unleashes a plague on the school that turns people into zombies. They take a few cues from classic depictions of the undead (green skin, white eyes and ZombieGait), not to mention they can transmit the possession via biting, making the nomenclature spot on.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': In the show's HalloweenEpisode, Kaeloo and Quack Quack are turned into zombies after they are bitten by zombies. At the end, they are restored to normal [[ItMakesSenseInContext after they throw up.]]

* The Zombies in episode "Scooby-Doo and Cyclops, Too" of ''WesternAnimation/TheNewScoobyAndScrappyDooShow'' are people under the hypnotic spell of the Cyclops.
* [[Characters/TheOwlHouseEmperorBelos Emperor Belos]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' is eventually revealed to be a [[OurLichesAreDifferent Lich]] in all but name other than the fact that he isn't dead yet. [[spoiler: After realizing he could never accomplish his goals of mass Witch genocide in a single lifetime, he started stealing and consuming [[BondCreature Palismen]] to stay alive, which had the side effect of causing his entire body to necrotize. By the time the show starts, Belos has been alive for over 400 years, and while his {{Glamour}} makes him look like a normal old man with a skin condition, he has become fully dependent on consuming Palismen Souls to retain his form, which is in truth a massive rotting skeletal aberration. Further still he is able to [[NotQuiteDead "survive"]] getting splattered across a wall and regenerate himself [[FromASingleCell from a single glob of goop]] by consuming woodland creatures like rabbits and deer after "infecting" them with himself. Later on, it is shown that if he goes too long without draining the life essence of others, his body will collapse.]]
* A tragic example from ''[[WesternAnimation/Primal2019 Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal]]'' in the episode "Plague of Madness". A peaceful ''Argentinosaurus'' becomes infected by a flesh-eating disease (which seems to be a prehistoric version of rabies) and goes into a murderous rampage and kills its entire herd. Notably, none of the deceased rise up despite several of them being horribly bitten. It then chases Spear and Fang until eventually they come across a Lava field and it falls into the lava and is finally destroyed.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', this showed up in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS21E4TreehouseOfHorrorXX Don't Have a Cow, Mankind]]", where a zombie outbreak started when Krusty made a new burger which was made from a cow that cannibalized another cow. Kent Brockman took a bite out of one and instantly turned into a "muncher", and bit Krusty who started biting other people, soon almost everyone in Springfield were turned into munchers.
* Smurfs bitten by the gnap fly turn [[http://smurfs.wikia.com/wiki/The_Purple_Smurfs purple]] and become mindless and aggressive. The condition can be spread to other smurfs by biting their tails.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' many people who were bitten by Gary thought he had mad snail disease, and that it would turn them into zombies. But it turns out that [[spoiler:the mad snail disease was just a myth, and they just thought they were zombies because Patrick said they would]].
* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'': In "Second Contact", the mindless, growling "zombies" are living people who are infected by the HatePlague. Their skin tone becomes a pallid grey, TaintedVeins appear, and they spew BadBlackBarf. The virus is spread when a diseased individual bites someone to consume their flesh.

* Despite their name literally meaning "dead person" the Shibito from ''VideoGame/SirenGames'' are not actually undead, just mind-controlled immortal humans. Averted in the sequel in which the Shibito really are corpses possessed by dark spirits.

* Despite their name literally meaning "dead person" the Shibito from ''VideoGame/{{Siren}}'' are not actually undead, just mind-controlled immortal humans. Averted in the sequel in which the Shibito really are corpses possessed by dark spirits.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'''s ghouls are a somewhat different example from the usual strain, because (excluding the ferals, who act like typical zombies) they're basically regular people with a ''really'' bad skin condition and [[TheAgeless biological immortality]]. It's brought on by being exposed to a huge amount of radiation and not dying from it. And maybe a radiotrophic virus created by the military, depending on what version of the {{Backstory}} you believe. The feral ghouls whose minds have been deteriorated by radiation are a more typical example, acting like mindless animals. The Feral ghouls are also far more visibly decayed and mutated than the normal ones, as they often dwell in highly radioactive areas where their bodies keep soaking up radiation, to the point that their bodies are falling apart.

* In ''VideoGame/GrimDawn,'' the Occultist (read: witch) has a spell called "Bloody Pox," which simply [[StatusEffects inflicts Plague on enemies]], causing damage over time and status debuffs. Its upgrade "Fevered Rage," causes them to go violently insane and attack everyone they can get ahold of, and its capstone "Black Plague" increases their aggro range (and causes them to start attacking each other if you didn't grab FR). It also causes their insides to liquefy. Lorewise, this skill tree is why Occultists get [[BurnTheWitch burned at the stake.]]

* You would think that this wouldn't apply in a game called ''VideoGame/TheHouseOfTheDead'' but no, the [[NotUsingTheZWord creatures]] are actually very much alive vat-grown clones. Accordingly they're all near-human in intelligence, being able to wield weapons and use vehicles for their drive-by kickings. More advanced ones wield supernatural powers and can even monologue more coherently than actual humans. Oddly enough getting killed by one can resurrect you as an actual undead zombie, though. [[VideoGame/TheHouseOfTheDeadOverkill Overkill]] and (the this time consistently named) ''VideoGame/ZombieRevenge'' do have the undead as their main enemies.
* The VisualNovel ''VisualNovel/IWalkAmongZombies'' has some interesting variations on this. The first is the MC, who is regarded as dead by the other zombies and can walk freely among them, but is very much alive. The second is [[spoiler:intelligent zombies, who have eaten so many humans that they have some semblance of self-awareness. While the first game ends with them only aware enough to try and emulate their pre-zombification life or setting traps to hunt humans, it's strongly implied they can become fully sentient this way]].

* The [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil4 Ganados]] and [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil5 Majini]] in the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil 4'' and ''5'' count, as they're infected with a parasite that takes control of the still-living host. The zombies of earlier in the series are also suggested to be this. While the graveyard areas in ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis 3]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica Code: Veronica]]'' seemingly prove that the T-Virus does in fact kill and then reanimate, supplementary materials and WordOfGod claim that these zombies were not actually dead but simply assumed to be dead due to symptoms of the virus and then buried alive. The G-Virus (''[=RE2=]'''s final boss) and C-Virus (''[=RE6=]'') are the only ones capable of actually reviving the dead.

[[folder:Web Original]]

* Website/TaerelSetting: Well, Technically Living Vampire, in this case, Kin'toni. The kin'toni are living beings infected with a virus/malformed prion of sorts that turns them into blood-thirsty sun-fearing beings who drink blood They are able to be killed like living beings, the wiki has kin'toni die of such things as sickness, bloodless and one who died of a heart attack. Spread like a zombie outbreak though.

* ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'': a number of Dentist Clowns and Clown Dentists were banished to the forest after their business model was found unsuccessful. (ItMakesSenseInContext... kinda.) They contracted rabies and became aggressive and bite-happy.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'''s ghouls are a somewhat different example from the usual strain, because (excluding the ferals, who act like typical zombies) they're basically regular people with a ''really'' bad skin condition and effective immortality. It's brought on by being exposed to a huge amount of radiation and not dying from it. And maybe a radiotrophic virus created by the military, depending on what version of the {{Backstory}} you believe. The feral ghouls whose minds have been deteriorated by radiation are a more typical example, acting like mindless animals. The Feral ghouls are also far more visibly decayed and mutated than the normal ones, as they often dwell in highly radioactive areas where their bodies keep soaking up radiation, to the point that their bodies are falling apart.

** A famous vampire variation occurs in the pages of ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' and ''ComicBook/{{Blade}}'': ComicBook/{{Morbius}}, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the Living Vampire]], who has none of the regular vampire weakness aside from the hunger for blood itself and some ''very'' [[JustForPun light]] photosensitivity in lieu of a weakness to sunlight, due to having been transformed by science instead of being bitten by an actual vampire ([[FantasyKitchenSink which do exist in the Marvel Universe as well]]).

This generally happens because it's somewhat more scientifically plausible -- at least broadly speaking -- that a plague turning infected people into crazed cannibals (or slow, lumbering cannibals) could exist in reality than that the dead could rise, so it gets past skeptics' WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief more easily. Or, as with many works featuring fast zombies, it may be used to justify why they don't act like the classic image of moaning, slowly shambling undead. Or perhaps the story simply takes place in a pre-existing setting that doesn't allow for supernatural zombies.

Since they ''are'' living people instead of animate corpses, these zombies are almost always easier to kill than the undead kind. They may disregard nonfatal (or not-immediately-fatal) wounds, but unless zombification comes with more factors than "acts rabid", anything that would kill a human will kill them. It does run into a bit of a problem if you want a true ZombieApocalypse in which the zombies act like classic zombies only driven by hunger. It's easy to handwave a supernatural zombie that's a PerpetualMotionMonster, but living creatures require food, water, and usually rest. Without those, within a few weeks the original living zombie infectees should be dead (in the permanent sense) as a lack of resources causes their bodies to fail. Zombies that retain enough survival instinct to meet their own bodily needs - functioning more like wild animals that simply prioritize human prey - can be a threat for longer, though [[NoZombieCannibals why they don't eat each other]] may need to be addressed. This can be worked around if the story has a short timeframe, and it's accepted that the zombies ''will'' die out shortly, but they're still an immediate threat to the protagonists. In fact, this trait can be even integrated in the story by making the zombie plague a man-made biological weapon designed to rapidly turn the population into a mob of frothing monsters that would tear itself apart.

* Feral humans in ''Literature/JanitorsOfThePostapocalypse'' are very zombielike, with their low intelligence, constant moaning, and shambling gait. Their physiology is also altered, making them almost unkillable. While they're extremely ''interested'' in living people, when those aren't present they hunt animals, consume plants and carrion, and will try to eat each other when hungry enough. They also mate with one another and produce feral offspring. [[spoiler: When they are well healthy and well fed they are also calmer and can be [[FriendlyZombie almost tame]].]] Because of all this, even a hundred and fifty years after TheVirus sweeps Earth there are half a billion ferals wandering around - perfect for aliens to [[AlienAbduction abduct]], "[[UpliftedAnimal cure]]", and [[SlaveRace press into their military]].

* In ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'', neural imprinting technology is used to turn millions of people into mindless killing machines called "butchers" in the BadFuture. (And no, this future is ''not'' prevented.) This is one of the few types of zombism that isn't either supernatural ''or'' a pathogen, and it's not contiguous in any way. They are simply reprogrammed people (via sound waves transmitted over the phone network that overwrote their memories and personalities), and they can be reprogrammed back, or at least reprogrammed into something else.

* ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeonII'': the Flagellant has been ''wrecked'', with most of his body decaying. His skill lineup includes names like Fester, Sepsis and Necrosis, and he actually looks worse than some of the ghouls you run into on the road. He's alive only because when Death showed up to take him, he ''refused to go'', and sometimes on a run she'll come back for another try.

* A famous vampire variation occurs in the pages of ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' and ''ComicBook/{{Blade}}'': Characters/{{Morbius}}, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the Living Vampire]], who has none of the regular vampire weakness aside from the hunger for blood itself and some ''very'' [[JustForPun light]] photosensitivity in lieu of a weakness to sunlight, due to having been transformed by science instead of being bitten by an actual vampire ([[FantasyKitchenSink which do exist in the Marvel Universe as well]]).

This generally happens because it's somewhat more scientifically plausible -- at least broadly speaking -- that a plague turning infected people into crazed, flesh-rotten cannibals (or slow, lumbering cannibals) could exist in reality than that the dead could rise, so it gets past skeptics' WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief more easily. Or, as with many works featuring fast zombies, it may be used to justify why they don't act like the classic image of moaning, slowly shambling undead. Or perhaps the story simply takes place in a pre-existing setting that doesn't allow for supernatural zombies.

* In Creator/NomnomNami's universe, Undeath is an incurable illness caused by a virus that infects witches and feeds on their magic, causing their body to rot and fall to pieces until they eventually die. It makes its first appearance in ''VisualNovel/FirstKissAtASpookySoiree'', while ''Astra's Garden'' goes more into detail about its effects.

* ''WebOriginal/HamstersParadise'': The [[AlwaysChaoticEvil harmsters]] are plagued by a disease called Severe Infectious Harmster Transmissible Tumor (or [[FunWithAcronyms SIHTT]] for short), which is actually a form of transmissible cancer that is spread by either biting or by eating the flesh of the infected ([[MonstrousCannibalism which is fairly common among harmsters]]). It causes [[FacialHorror cauliflower-like growths to emerge on the victim's face]] as well as allowing bacteria to breed in the harmster's body which causes them to lose their fur and even makes them start rotting alive, resulting in them resembling walking corpses. However, they're still alive and will usually die after several months when their body finally gives out. After the Second Harmster World War, an even more deadly Neuro-Ocular strain (NO-SIHTT) emerges that infects the victim's brain to make them disoriented and aggressive, allowing it to propagate even further, eventually resulting in a massive ZombieApocalypse that destroys the weakened harmsters, rendering them extinct.

* The Zombies in ''VideoGame/DeadIsland'' are the result of a mutated strain of Kuru (a real disease associated with cannibalism) and the game goes into fair detail about it. Unless you're one of the lucky few who's immune, getting scratched or bitten will infect and turn you within 72 hours. A note found in ''VideoGame/EscapeDeadIsland'' suggests the zombie virus concentrates living cells around the spine and nervous system while allowing everything else to die off, indicating the zombies are basically rotting flesh attached to a still-functioning motor system.