Line #81 Literature/WarmBodies


1	[[quoteright:215:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/warmbodiesbookcover_7173.jpg]]
2
3	->''I am dead, but it's not so bad. I've learned to live with it.''
4	-->-- '''R'''
5
6	''For the film version, go [[Film/WarmBodies here.]]''
7
8	A zombie romance novel, written by Isaac Marion, that originally started as a short story called ''I Am a Zombie Filled With Love'' that you can read from [[http://www.burningbuilding.com/zombie.htm here]]. After a worldwide, though gradual ZombieApocalypse, the Living have been forced to retreat to isolated safe-places as the Dead populate the outside world. Out there is our protagonist "R", a zombie who still, in a way, clings to humanity more than his kin, inhabiting a deserted airport terminal which they only leave to hunt food.
9
10	But in a hunt gone slightly awry, R eats a young man's brains and fully acquires the man's memories. This motivating him to save Julie, his victim's girlfriend, from the rest of the horde and bring her back to his "home" in the airport. After she realizes that he poses no harm to her and is vastly different from what she has known zombies to be, they start an awkward relationship that changes the futile and rigid ways of both the Living and Dead worlds.
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12	[[AudienceAlienatingPremise Don't be scared off]] by the concept similarities that it has to ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', or the review quote on the cover by Creator/StephenieMeyer.
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14	A film adaptation was released in February 2013. It stars Nicholas Hoult, Creator/TeresaPalmer, Creator/RobCorddry, Dave Franco and Creator/JohnMalkovich. '''For the film version, go [[Film/WarmBodies here.]]'''
15
16	Marion has since published two prequels: a novella called "The New Hunger" and a short story called "[[https://www.cityartsmagazine.com/issues-seattle-2011-12-boarded-window/ The Boarded Window]]" about R's first winter as a zombie. A sequel novel, "The Burning World", was published on February 7th 2017, and another sequel novel, ''The Living'', has been announced as the conclusion of the series.
17
18	----
19	!!This book contains examples of:
20	%%* AbductionIsLove: A very mild example, as it was partially done to keep her safe, and in any case, was far more wholesome than the usual stuff zombies try to do to humans.
21	%%* TheAlcoholic: [[spoiler: General Grigio]].
22	%%* ArmiesAreEvil
23	* TheBardOnBoard: The author has said that 'Warm Bodies' was in part inspired by ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet''. Pretty much every character has a MeaningfulName based on this.
24	* {{Beergasm}}: Julie, since she hadn't had a beer since the beginning of the zombie apocalypse.
25	%%* TheBigGuy: M.
26	%%* BoyMeetsGhoul: Gender-flipped.
27	* CannibalismSuperpower: With [[BrainFood brains]] come memories.
28	* CantHoldHisLiquor: R, with dramatic consequences: [[spoiler:he lost concentration and control, leading him to blow his cover and forcing him to kill a guard in self-defense]]. Drunken zombies are a big no no.
29	* ChastityCouple: R doesn't even ''kiss'' Julie until the very end. [[spoiler:When he does, there are ... [[TrueLovesKiss interesting]] [[UndeathAlwaysEnds effects]].]]
30	* CrazySurvivalist: General Grigio.
31	* CryIntoChest: Julie does this with R when [[spoiler: she explains how her mother died]].
32	* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler: Perry, since his father's death]]. Also, [[spoiler: General Grigio]], who refuses to fight off a zombie attacker in a fit of despair.
33	* DemBones: The oldest zombies are just bones with sinew attached, endlessly reliving the last moments of their lives. They're also the biggest threat, as they've abandoned any humanity and cannot have their zombification reversed.
34	* DespairEventHorizon: From the way R describes it, being a zombie has some parallels with being in a deep depression, with the only thing that can (temporarily) relieve them being eating the brains of living humans. [[spoiler: It is later revealed that it was this trope ''on a global scale'' that caused the zombie plague in the first place, as mentioned below.]] "Boneys" have completely given up on their humanity and literally became walking, desiccated corpses that will firmly and violently [[FantasticRacism reject any notion of non-hostility between Zombie and Human.]]
35	* DugTooDeep: [[spoiler:Of an interesting metaphorical variety. Apparently, Zombieism came to be after humanity hit the bottom of the proverbial "emotion barrel," then [[DespairEventHorizon grabbed a shovel and started digging]]. Chaos brought about, some dark force that causes the dead to rise and develop such a craving for human emotions that the effects of it are practically a ''narcotic.'' Since the only way for the undead to obtain these emotions is to consume the flesh of a living brain (reliving the previous owner's memories in the process) you can imagine how the ZombieApocalypse unfolded from there.]]
36	%%* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Julie's mother]].
37	* EasilyForgiven:
38	** Julie forgives R so fast for the whole [[spoiler: 'eating my boyfriend' incident that one gets the impression that she didn't care much about Perry.]]
39	** Somewhat justified in the film when she explains to R that [[spoiler: it isn't that she doesn't miss Perry, but growing up in the freaking ZombieApocalypse has made her used to losing people.]]
40	** Further justified since she admitted herself that near the end [[spoiler: they no longer loved each other, and she knew that [[DeathSeeker he really wanted to die.]]]]
41	* EmotionsVsStoicism: Inverted. It's the protagonists' passion for life that gives them the power to change their world for the better, while the antagonists' stoicism dooms them.
42	* FantasticRacism:
43	** R is put out that Julie does not see the "culturally sensitive implications" of the label "corpse". Sure, the Dead may use it among themselves sometimes, but that doesn't mean the Living get a pass. Interestingly, while one could initially understand why Grigio would see ''all'' zombies as feral, living-dead blights on humanity. The fact that he refuses to see R as anything more than such ''even as R is calmly and nervously speaking to him'' gives him some very deep shades of this.
44	** The Boneys actively [[EnforcedTrope enforce]] this trope, making it clear that they will ''not'' tolerate anything but hostility between humans and zombies, and will even attack both sides in order to keep the status quo in check.
45	* GhostAmnesia: The protagonist has more of his humanity left than most zombies, and he can't remember much of his past, how he died, or even his own name, just that it started with the letter R.
46	* HadToBeSharp: Pretty much every human left after the ZombieApocalypse fits this trope to some extent. They live in a CrapsackWorld and teach their children survival skills, TheSpartanWay.
47	* HappilyAdopted: Played with: the child zombies were given to adult zombies, who look after them.
48	* HearingVoices: Complete with visions, actually. [[spoiler: Apparently, Perry became an inmate in R's head, as did many of the other people R has eaten over the years]].
49	* HeWhoFightsMonsters: [[spoiler: General Grigio]] eventually becomes just as lifeless as the Boneys he's fighting, winding up somewhere between this and the WellIntentionedExtremist. [[spoiler: Perry]] also becomes zombie-esque when he loses his will to live, giving up on all his passions.
50	* TheHorde: Of zombies, who go on the hunt for humans.
51	* HorrorHunger: The zombies have a burning desire for human flesh.
52	* HumanityIsInfectious: It doesn't take much positive emotion for zombies to be converted to the side of good.
53	* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: An interesting variation; it isn't a specific virus or plague that turns people into zombies, but ''their own emotions'', via hitting the proverbial "bottom of the barrel" and unleashing some kind of dark force that turns them into a brain-craving undead. While a zombie can still turn other humans via a bite, there's no pathogen or virus involved.
54	* IdiotBall: Julie firmly grasps it when [[spoiler:she tries to escape from an airport infested by zombies without a weapon (or a plan). R saves her, but she reveals her presence to the Boneys, necessitating a swift exodus]].
55	* ItCanThink: R is the first zombie to string together more than four syllables, but even the Boneys are capable of [[NietzscheWannabe philosophy]].
56	%%* KarmicDeath
57	* KeystoneArmy: [[spoiler: When the lead Boney is taken out, all of them just wander aimlessly.]]
58	* LoveRedeems: First it helps R regain his humanity and then [[spoiler:largely cures the rest of the zombies outside the Boneys]].
59	* MeaningfulName: Several references to ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet''. R is Romeo, M is Mercutio, Julie is Juliet, Nora is the Nurse, and Perry is Paris.
60	* NoZombieCannibals: Desperate zombies that have wandered alone for a long time and gone crazy may attack and eat other zombies, but normal zombies only eat living people to sate their need for life energy.
61	* NotSoDifferentRemark: [[spoiler:Perry]] states that him and R are both victims of the plague, and in the end [[spoiler:there isn't much difference between the Boneys and Grigio]].
62	* NowOrNeverKiss: [[spoiler: R kisses Julie]] when he thinks they're both about to die.
63	* OurZombiesAreDifferent: In this series, ''anyone'' who dies (be it of zombie bite, other violence, or natural causes) will become a zombie unless they are debrained. These zombies tend to lack personal recollections but are still capable of (very limited) speech and higher thought and retain a general cultural awareness. They generally lack the coordinated movements and fine motor skills of a living being, and ''must'' eat human meat to exist. They eat brains to get high off a person's memories. It is interesting to note that undead children apparently lack the killer instinct of their elders and must be taught to hunt. They apparently originated when the human race's negative emotions reached the bottom of the proverbial emotion barrel, then went through the bottom, unleashing some dark force that turned people into zombies after death. When a zombie (or human) finally, completely gives up all vestiges of humanity, they become a type of uber-zombie called a Boney, so-called because they're almost skeletal, and have no chance at redemption or humanity.
64	* ParentalAbandonment:
65	** Julie's father is a workaholic and her mother is [[spoiler: dead]].
66	** Nora's parents [[spoiler: were drug addicts who abandoned her in the middle of a Dead-infested city]].
67	** Perry's parents [[spoiler: died as a result of the apocalypse (Mom) and a construction accident (Dad)]].
68	* PickyPeopleEater: To a degree. Body fat is useless and disgusting for zombies to eat, so a fatter person isn't more filling or delicious. R implies that the thought of eating fat completely grosses him out. However, it's unlikely that a zombie would outright refuse to eat a fat person.
69	* PosthumousCharacter: Perry, who spends most of the book as essentially a ghost haunting R's body.
70	* PosthumousNarration: The first person narration switches between R and Perry.
71	* ThePowerOfLove: [[spoiler:It plays a major role in R returning to true life.]]
72	* PretendWereDead: Average zombies recognize humans through smell and obvious mannerisms, so Julie is able to escape them by imitating their body language and letting R cover her in his blood. Inverted later in the book when R has to pretend he's alive - by imitating living posture, wearing makeup, and hiding his smell with cologne.
73	* PrettyBoy: R as portrayed by Nicholas Hoult in the movie.
74	* RaceLift: Nora is explicitly black in the books. In the movie, she's white.
75	%%* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Colonel Rosso.
76	* RebelliousPrincess: Julie is the daughter of the humans' leader. She deeply resents her father's stoic, survivalist, end-times mentality and policies.
77	* RefugeInAudacity: [[spoiler: R manages to infiltrate the humans' base pretending to be a live human chased by zombies]].
78	* RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain: It's the only sure way to permanently kill a zombie, or prevent someone from rising as one. Barring the Dead just dissolving on their own, but that's an unpredictable event.
79	* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler: General Grigio]].
80	* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Zombie version: R is the sensitive guy while M is the manly man.
81	* TearOffYourFace: One zombie in the film who's in the process of Boney-fication is seen starting the transformation by tearing off a chunk of his own face, exposing the bone and muscle layer beneath. Presumably all other Boneys seen did this at some point or another as well.
82	* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: Nice job showing [[spoiler:R post-kiss]], trailer.
83	* TheUndead: It's a story about zombies, so ...
84	* UndeadChild: They have no feeding instincts, so they ''go to school''. Zombie elders also appoint male-female pairs of mature zombies to look after them.
85	* TheUnreveal: While M is given a full name in the end, R never is.
86	* TheUnSmile: When R tried to smile, Julie told him to never do it again.
87	* ZombieAdvocate: Julie winds up becoming one after bonding with R.
88	* ZombieApocalypse: There's one going on. Nobody's quite sure what caused it.
89	* ZombieGait: By default--they can learn to imitate humans. As R points out, Julie's attempt to copy it is grossly exaggerated.
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Context Literature / WarmBodies