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1[[quoteright:284:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zrposter_521.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:284:Yeah, under the circumstances, I'd advise running.]]
3
4->'' '''Sam Yao''': You've come down in a nest of hostiles. They've heard the noise. There are ... thirty. No, forty. No... crap. Your only safe path is toward the tower, you should be able to see that from where you are. If there's anyone alive there, just run. Run!''
5
6''Zombies, Run!'' is a 2012 iOS, Android and [=WP7=] app that falls somewhere between a game, a fitness app, and a RadioDrama. It also has zombies.
7
8The game is set around Abel Township, a small settlement that's sprung up around an old farmhouse. A few motley survivors have banded together, but the secret to the town's success are the Runners; the people whose job it is to head out into the wilderness and track down supplies, leads, and at least sometimes just draw the zombies' attention away from the town. You are Runner 5. (Though you're not the ''first'' Runner 5.) You were going to be dropping government supplies to the town, but when your helicopter was shot down by a rocket launcher, you found yourself stranded. And if running's all you can do, then you might as well do it. A lot.
9
10But that rocket launcher... who had a rocket launcher in the area? And why would they shoot down a supply chopper? Also curious: Why were you notably understocked, carrying only half the supplies you were meant to? And what is Project Greenshoot?
11
12The actual gameplay is fairly minimal; as you run, a radio play will begin sounding in your ears, interspersed with music from your playlists. This radio play tells the story of the town and draws you into the twists and mysteries of the setting. However, as you run you'll also pick up supplies that can be used to build up the township, developing key locations such as a hospital and radio tower. Doing this in turn unlocks more missions. At other times, the game throws zombie hordes at you, and you'll need to speed up 20% in order to evade them, or drop key supplies to distract the zombies and get away.
13
14In addition to genuinely being a fun and entertaining motivational tool for exercise, the game has the distinction of being an early success story in using crowd-funding to create a video game. The game was floated on Website/{{Kickstarter}} and [[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sixtostart/zombies-run-a-running-game-and-audio-adventure-for raised $72,627]]. At the time, this was considered quite remarkable.
15
16Since then, the game has received a set of [[ExpansionPack downloadable add-on]] "Race" missions that deliver story based on distance rather than time, and which also [[VillainEpisode tell the story from the point of view of an antagonist group]]. It's also received a SpinOff app called ''5K Trainer'', which is exactly that: A beginner's program that helps new runners to reach the point where they can run the standard 5K runs ''Zombies, Run!'' is based around. The UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic also saw the release of The Home Front, missions that guide players through their exercising at home. There are also New Adventures, a mixture of 5K/10K races and miniseries that has nothing to do with zombies or the world of Abel Township.
17
18The game is currently on its ninth season.
19
20[[https://www.zombiesrungame.com/ The official website can be found here.]]
21
22[[foldercontrol]]
23
24[[folder: Alphabetical list of New Adventures]]
25* ''Between The Lines:'' A man with mysterious motives, a long-abandoned house, and a secret that bled into the ground itself.
26* ''Dinosaur Dash:'' Join a top secret research exhibition and encounter the last of the dinosaurs!
27* ''Dystopia Rising:'' Guard the New Reach Caravan as it travels across the post-apocalyptic wasteland.
28* ''Grand Canyon:'' Explore the Grand Canyon and its history!
29* ''Home Run:'' A crossover with and classic game broadcast of VideoGame/{{Blaseball}}.
30* ''Journey to the Centre of the Eye:'' Enter the Eye and learn all about how we see the world around us.
31* ''Lewis & Clark:'' Embark on an epic expedition of discovery across the North American continent with Lewis and Clark!
32* ''Little Red'': As a mercenary, being hired to escort a girl to her grandmother's house should be an easy task. But are there worse thing in the woods than wolves?
33* ''Matchmaker:'' As a consultant for Silver Bells matchmaking, can you save a match made in heaven from becoming hell?
34* ''Negative Space'': The Starship Hephaestus has been silent for three months. Your team is there to investigate the transmission failure and
35* ''Nellie Bly:'' Travel Literature/AroundTheWorldInSeventyTwoDays with the titular journalist.
36* ''Olympus Mons:'' Climb the titular Martian mountain - the tallest in the universe.
37* ''Rule Britannia:'' Can you halt a terrible battle between the Picts and the Romans, and combat an ancient rising terror?
38* ''Run the Solar System:'' Train to become an astronaut, then run through the Solar System in this epic space race.
39* ''Run to the Deep:'' Explore the deepest depths of the ocean.
40* ''Run with the Ancestors:'' Travel one million years back in time to ancient Britain!
41* ''The Signals War'': It's your job to get the message out... Hear the untold stories of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.
42* ''Spellcast'': Places please! The Prospero Theatre is open for business, and that means you, Peasant #3, need to be ready to go onstage. Watch out for your cues, and don't mind the portal in the basement.
43* ''A Study in Ichor:'' Discover the terrible secrets that stalks the streets of London: a grand tunnel, missing workers, and a great exhibition.
44* ''Track the Ripper:'' Can you catch Jack the Ripper?
45* ''Volcano Race:'' You begin your volcanology internship with some fieldwork, but can you escape a volcanic eruption?
46* ''Venus Rising:'' Save Pandora Haze's cloud city colony.
47* ''Wreck Runner:'' Explore wrecked spaceships, rescue survivors from certain death, and try not to annoy the drones!
48[[/folder]]
49
50!!This game provides examples of:
51
52[[folder: General Tropes]]
53* AfterTheEnd: The setting.
54* AlternateRealityGame: Has elements of this. Certain in-game items reveal real-world email addresses, phone numbers and Website/{{Twitter}} accounts that can be contacted for further backstory.
55* AndYourRewardIsInteriorDecorating / CosmeticAward: The running component of the game awards you with various supplies you can use between missions to upgrade your base. Upgrading your base can have substantial effects on the Radio Mode segments and makes the initial backdrop of the app more impressive, but doesn't actually affect game progress.
56* ApocalypseAnarchy: Inverted. The military takes control from the start, and most survivors live in settlements run by military personnel or, less commonly, politician types. A few people live on their own, but they appear to be exceptions. Even in small townships like Abel, there are still rules, chores, hierarchies, and knitting clubs.
57* ArcWords: Almost any permutation of "Just keep running", "Run!" or "Start running!"
58* AscendedMeme: When the game first came out players noticed they were collecting an awful lot of sports bras. A content update to Radio Mode included a segment that notes this rather odd habit.
59* BadassNormal: The Runners aren't immune to the virus or genetically enhanced- they're just fit.
60* BreatherEpisode: The Radio Segments in general, supply gathering missions and some sidequests. The Halloween episodes and side missions are also this.
61* BigHeroicRun: In almost every single damn mission. The game is built around it.
62* BrotherSisterTeam: The [[spoiler: De Luca]] siblings, before Algeria.
63* CelebritySurvivor: Players frequently run into or hear about celebrities in the game.
64* {{Cliffhanger}}: Common for multi-part episodes, as well as the finale for [[spoiler:each season]].
65* CreatorCameo: A variation - one possible item to come across is an iPhone with a "Chipotle Labs App" installed on it [[DontExplainTheJoke Chipotle Labs, of course, are one of the developers behind the game]]. Some of the creators also appear in the later Radio Abel segments.
66* DisasterDemocracy: Although, technically, they do still have a king.
67* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The Home Front series of missions are designed to be this, released to help listeners during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The characters are trapped inside due to an unusually large zombie horde, but everything they say is written to map onto the actual real-life situation.
68* EarnYourFun: The very definition of the trope. If you want the full story, you'd best be prepared to ''work'' for it.
69* EveryoneIsBi: In addition to the CastFullOfGay, nearly everyone who isn't gay casually talks about their same sex crushes and relationships at one point or another.
70* FakeInteractivity: No, the characters can't actually tell if you're changing direction. Or actually running, for that matter.
71** {{Averted|Trope}} in Airdrop mode in the second season, which will indeed give you direction specific instructions.
72* FriendlyFandoms: Zombies, Run! and The Walk. Often with a PigeonholedVoiceActor or three, as both games are produced by the same company with almost entirely the same cast.
73* FunWithAcronyms: The post-apocalypse replacement for the Internet is [=ROFFLENet=], the '''R'''adio-'''O'''perated '''F'''ree-'''F'''orm '''L'''ink-layer '''E'''mergency '''Net'''work.
74* GameplayAndStorySegregation: The items drops are randomized, which means that just as Runner Five is about to jump over the gap left by a collapsed bridge or flee from an approaching hoard, the game can inform you you've stopped to pick up a sports bra.
75* GenderEqualEnsemble: The whole show, basically. The writers keep track of how many characters of each gender are in each episode and will sometimes change the gender of a character if they realize they are creating too many male characters.
76* IncongruouslyDressedZombie: Naturally turns up often enough, as it's set in a ZombieApocalypse world where anyone who isn't very skilled and lucky can become a zombie. Zombie scouts, zombie gym rats, and even an entire zombie wedding party make an appearance.
77* IncurableCoughOfDeath: Infected persons will develop a cough as an early symptom before going grey. First a cough, then a rattle, then a moan.
78* JigsawPuzzlePlot: And the more you run, the more of the puzzle you collect.
79* LeetSpeak: [[FunWithAcronyms [=ROFFLENet=]]].
80* MissionControl: Sam fills this role for the majority of season 1, with other characters chipping in every now and again. Some of the DLC missions revolve around Nadia guiding a New Canton runner, and season 2 [[spoiler:has both of them working together after the settlements merge.]]
81* OurZombiesAreDifferent: Quite. Early missions in the first series revolve around [[spoiler: trying to find a vaccine]]. Additionally, early season 2 missions reveal that [[spoiler: there are different kinds of zombies- the most dangerous of these being "quite good with stairs", being able to run as fast as the player and can even ''jump''.]]
82** Taken even further in Season 3 with the introduction of [[spoiler: S-Type Zombies. Half-sentient zombies, who still retain some skills and memories from their human lives, sometimes to heartbreaking effect.]]
83** And further yet in a later season, which introduces us to V-Type zombies. [[spoiler: V-Types are strong, relatively slow, and almost impossible to kill. The first specimens encountered were infected Viking warriors, hence the designation "V-Type".]]
84** Worst of the lot is the P-Type. [[spoiler: Born of a V-Type zombie that bit Peter Necropolis in Season 7; however, instead of Necropolis turning into a V-Type, the V-Type was the on that got infected... ''with Necropolis' ability to regenerate.'' Oops.]]
85* PostApocalypticDog: Bonnie. Baxter. Definitely not Runner Five. [[https://twitter.com/NaomiAllthenews/status/723497069688827905]]
86* PreserveYourGays: [[spoiler: The lesbian and bisexual characters appear to be the only ones safe from dying, despite some close calls. As of season 5, couples such as Paula and Maxine and Jack and Eugene appear to be the only healthy relationships with both parties still surviving.]]
87* {{Pun}}: A frequent source of humour. Jack is notorious in-universe for his "Zombie Standup Comedy".
88* RealLifeWritesThePlot: In response to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the developers released a set of bonus missions, centered around Runner 5 being on lockdown to hide from the zoms.
89* ShoutOut: So very many!
90** The names of several main story missions from Season 2 onwards reference popular songs (for example, you have [[{{Music/Europe}} "The Final Countdown"]] in Season 2, [[{{Music/Metallica}} "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"]] in Season 3, and [[{{Music/DuranDuran}} "Hungry Like The Wolf"]] in Season 5).
91** One main story mission in Season 6 is called [[{{Series/Thunderbirds}} "International Rescue"]].
92** A later Season 6 mission is called "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling", and it takes place in a replica of The Village. (Yes, the Village from [[{{Series/ThePrisoner1967}} ''The Prisoner'']].)
93** The thirteenth side mission in Season 2 is called "Actual Cannibal Rescue Mission".
94** The description of the Bowie knife is chock-full of references to Music/DavidBowie.
95* SeparatedByACommonLanguage: Generally averted, but there is an amusing instance of this in the in-game codex for a sharp-eyed players. Hand-held electric lights are generally referred to as flashlights by Americans, and torches by the British. In the American version of ''Zombies, Run!'' there is a supply item appropriately named flashlight... but in the otherwise-alphabetical ingame codex, it appears in the Ts.
96** Similarly the "pot plant" supply item; a British person and an American might well have wildly different ideas about what exactly it is.
97* SliceOfLife: "Radio Mode", which focuses on the stories of the people living in and around Abel Township.
98* SoundtrackDissonance: Can be invoked by the player, depending on what music they put in their playlist.
99* SyntheticVoiceActor: Your other VoiceWithAnInternetConnection which points out what items you just collected, [[ParanoiaFuel if any zombie hordes are coming]], or when the mission is over.
100* TakeThat: In the description of one of the supplies you can pick up (specifically, the DVD):
101-->Please don't let it be another copy of ''[[{{Film/Twilight}} Twilight: New Moon]]''... please don't let it be another copy of ''Twilight: New Moon''...
102* UndeadChild: In the ''Runner's Guide'', the "graffiti wall" shows a poll asking which type of zombie is the worst. The fast moving "sprinters" are way out in front, except that a clearly scrawled in after-the-fact write in answer has earned a lot of votes too: "KIDS!". MissionControl even notes that children tend to succumb to the virus significantly faster than adults do.
103* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: [[spoiler:The motivation of every BigBad so far. Moonchild envisioned a more literal utopia, whereas Doctor Van Ark and Minister Sigrid Hakkinen envisioned more of a eugenics/evolutionary utopia.]]
104* VoiceWithAnInternetConnection: Despite there being no real internet, assorted characters use 'scanners' and security cameras to give you information on how many zombies are around you and where they are.
105* YouAreNumberSix: Or, rather, Runner 5.
106* YouRequireMoreVespeneGas: As of 2.0, the base builder minigame requires "Supplies" and "Materials" to build and upgrade the township. Subverted during version 1; it was equally possible to upgrade your food stores and armory to max level using only books.
107* ZombieApocalypse: The general setting of the game.
108[[/folder]]
109[[folder: Season 1]]
110
111* AbandonedHospital: Becomes a key location.
112* AsYouKnow: Janine is a big fan of this phrase. Sam lampshades this at one point.
113* BadassBookworm: Runner 10, Chris [=McShell=]. Better zombie killing through statistical analysis!
114* BlandNameProduct: [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Demons & Darkness]].
115* BookEnds:
116** "If there's anyone alive there, just run. Run!"
117** Runner Five... You can stop running now."
118* BreatherEpisode: Mission 14, "Virtuous Circle", comes right after one of the most emotionally gruelling sequences of the story, and instead concerns itself with lighthearted attempts to pick up games from a nearby toy shop while letting two of the main characters bond.
119** Also occurs in Season 2, crossing over with SliceOfLife: side mission 14, "Zombies, Stretch!" is centered on what the runners do during their downtime.
120* CrazySurvivalist: Discussed. Janine De Luca is suggested as being one, but she's staggeringly level-headed, keen to share her resources within reason, and hopes to save people. Still, you have to wonder: Why ''does'' her farmhouse have a massive concrete bunker?
121* DistractedByTheSexy: During the mission 'Patient 29', as Sam and Maxine are going over patient files, they both stop and admire the photograph on patient 28, more than once.
122* DrivingQuestion: Who shot down your helicopter, and why? And what caused the outbreak, and who's trying to hide it?
123* FalseFlagOperation: "Listen In" has it revealed that someone else is dressed up like Abel shooting at New Canton. It makes Sam and Janine nervous that someone is trying to make them go to war with each other.
124* FireForgedFriends: You and Runner 8. The first mission you run with her (M3) she's chilly and suspicious, but after a few runs she becomes more friendly.
125* FromBadToWorse: Hoo boy. Episode 21 begins with Abel in dire trouble, [[spoiler:with New Canton sending ten heavily armed soldiers to finally destroy the rival outpost.]] The threat is averted, however, by [[spoiler:roughly ''three hundred zombies'' inbound]]. One of whom has [[spoiler:a goddamned rocket launcher. Seriously.]] Just... what the hell. What the hell?!
126* GovernmentConspiracy: There are a lot of signs that the government is not your friend in this universe.
127* HomeBase: Abel Township.
128* ICallItVera: Jack named his trusty zombie-bashing cricket bat [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._G._Grace "W.G."]].
129* ImDyingPleaseTakeMyMacguffin: Mission 8 has New Canton Runner 38, Lem, realize he was bitten and gives Runner 5 his headset so Nadia doesn’t hear him turn into a zombie. That headset allows Abel to eavesdrop on New Canton for most of the season.
130* ImmortalitySeeker: One interpretation of what started the plague.
131** Possibly. The ending of Mission 22 (along with various supplementary material) [[spoiler:seems to imply that the zombie apocalypse stemmed from an attempt at mind control/turning humans into easily-controlled soldiers.]]
132* InMediasRes
133* IsThisThingStillOn: Sam Yao lets Janine know she just broadcast her plan for a [[spoiler: New Canton civil war]] after she gave him an AsYouKnow lecture in Mission 8.
134* NothingIsScarier: The sense of loneliness during "A Voice In The Dark" really starts to get to you, even with your VoiceWithAnInternetConnection, [[spoiler: who is constantly worried as to whether you've become a zombie or not.]]
135* ProudToBeAGeek: Sam Yao's geeky little interests come up enough that it's clear he's deliberately trying to project a geeky image. [[spoiler:Dr. Maxine Myers, on the other hand, isn't ''proud'' to be a geek, but she's very matter of fact about it if it comes up. Which surprises the hell out of Sam.]]
136* RunningGag: Abel Township is forever hunting for the last books in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series.
137* SanitySlippage: Discussed. Sam and Maxine both muse that while everyone at Abel is stable, no one is completely sane anymore. They're simply lucky that they've only gone a ''little'' crazy.
138* ShoutOut: Frequent. One example includes Sam Yao comparing another runner to [[Series/RedDwarf Ace Rimmer]].
139[[/folder]]
140
141[[folder: Season 2]]
142* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: [[spoiler: They throw a party after Van Ark dies.]]
143* TheCameo: [[spoiler: Creator/MargaretAtwood]]. Yes, ''that'' [[spoiler: Margaret Atwood]].
144* TheCavalry[=/=]BigDamnHeroes: New Canton, at the end of [=S2M20=] ("Galvanize"). [[spoiler: They sent fifty of their Runners out to intercept the horde of fast zombies encroaching on Abel Township.]]
145* DisneyDeath: Played straight and then subverted with [[spoiler: Sara Smith]].
146* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler: When Nadia realizes that you were the one who used Lem's headset, she tries to kill you by leading you into hostile territory. Only Sam's timely intervention saves you.]]
147* FeedTheMole: [[spoiler: One of the late-game missions turns out to be this as an attempt to narrow down the list of suspects to a specific group.]]
148* FelonyMisdemeanor: "He's sauntering? He's the man who [[spoiler: might have engineered the entire zombie apocalypse]] AND HE GETS TO SAUNTER?"
149* GreaterScopeVillain: The BigBad mentions that there are people other than him who understand the situation and may be more at fault, even though they're not directly involved in the season's main conflict.
150* IncrediblyLamePun: One of the side missions in Season 2 has you escorting a Rofflenet journalist while you're out on a supply run. The title of the episode? "Times New Roaming".
151* ItHasBeenAnHonor: Played with in Mission 20, "Galvanize". The anti-zombie spray that Maxine cooked up for you to use on Van Ark's approaching fast zombies is making them faster, Abel Township is practically defenseless, Sam Yao goes into the classic "it has been an honor" speech, there's nowhere for you to go except up some nearby trees... and then [[spoiler: [[{{TheCavalry}} fifty New Canton runners with noisemakers and pistols]] come swooping in from behind and wreak havoc on the approaching horde.]] Oh, and that anti-zombie spray that made the fast zombies faster? [[spoiler: Turns out it made them so fast [[{{ExplosiveOverclocking}} they tore themselves apart.]]]]
152* MeaningfulName: Van Ark, the BigBad of Season 2. [[spoiler: Crosses over with PunnyName, because he's a carrier for the zombie virus - and what do vans and arks do but carry things?]]
153* TheMole: It's indicated partway through the season that one is present. A fair amount of the plot focuses on dealing with the impact of their actions and trying to determine their identity.
154* OhCrap: Quite a few times in [=S2M1=], most notably [[spoiler: when Sam notes that zombies "are quite good with stairs" and can jump.]]
155* SequelEscalation: Where the original season kept itself local, [[http://blog.zombiesrungame.com/post/37838410020/introducing-zombies-run-2 season two is described as]]: "The story’s even more tense, the risks even greater, and the rewards higher - if things go right you, Runner 5, might just save the world."
156* ScoutOut: a number of Season 2 bonus missions revolve around a group of Girl Guides who use their wilderness survival knowledge to be quite adept at surviving the Zombie Apocalypse.
157* SliceOfLife: Side mission 14, "Zombies, Stretch!"; it's focused more on what the runners (and the other staff of Abel) do in their downtime. (Also counts as a BreatherEpisode.)
158* StarCrossedLovers: The universe seems to be bent on making sure that [[spoiler:Paula and Maxine]] never get to be together for more than a few hours at a time.
159* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: At the end of the first mission. [[spoiler: Also comes across when Nadia protests that she wasn't trying to kill you when she lead you into territory swarming with people who shoot on sight. This comes across as particularly empty due to the fact that she replies to Sam's accusation that she was attempting to kill you with an outraged "so what?". After that, her attempts to say that it was a joke comes across as particularly feeble.]]
160* WhatTheHellHero: [[spoiler: Sam rakes Nadia backwards across the coals after she attempts to kill you. It's awesome.]]
161[[/folder]]
162
163[[folder: Season 3]]
164* AffablyEvil: [[spoiler: Moonchild.]]
165* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler: Moonchild.]]
166* ApocalypseCult: Mission Eight: Believe has some people who worship zombies and sacrifice people to them.
167* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: Simon Lauchlan, Abel Township's Runner Three who betrayed the town to Van Ark in Season 2.]]
168* BurialAtSea: Where [[spoiler: Sara's]] ashes are scattered.
169* DeadPersonConversation: Auditory hallucinations are a recurring gimmick to give insight into what the VoicelessProtagonist is subconsciously thinking. Starts in early season 3 with [[spoiler:Sara.]]
170* ExactTimeToFailure: Averted in ''Descent.'' [[spoiler: Veronica's zombie camouflage formula is estimated to give the player twenty good zombie-free minutes. They pick you back up again around the fifteen minute mark.]]
171* FiveSecondForeshadowing: Louise says offhand that she's never understood what the big deal about drug addiction is, since she's never had any trouble--she tried smack just because prison was boring and had no trouble kicking it. But she signed up for an addiction treatment program anyway, since participants received special privileges and time off their sentence. [[spoiler: Almost immediately after, an attack on the prison shows that Louise and all of her fellow program participants are immune to the mind control tones. The "treatment program" was actually a Comansys experiment, with the exciting effect of preventing (and curing) not only drug addiction but the mind control of the tones.]]
172* {{Foreshadowing}}: A captured [[spoiler: Moonchild]] claims to have been mind-controlled into attacking Abel by Diana, but her description of Diana getting to her is ''extremely'' vague--she doesn't offer any details about Diana that anyone else would recognize, only agrees with the description Janine provides. [[spoiler: She's lying, of course.]]
173* FunPersonified: The projected corporate image of [[spoiler: Comansys]]. They have a carousel on the roof of their building, and a giant bear the size of an escalator inside. Not to mention a roller coaster on top of their London office building.
174* GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul: The mind control process is described as making following instructions the best feeling in the world. [[spoiler:The end goal of the villain is to give everyone this sensation constantly.]]
175* HumanPopsicle: The first mission has Runner 5 and the new Runner 23 [[spoiler: Paula]] hunting for [[spoiler: Abel's missing residents.]] The runners find a bunch of chest freezers like the kind that [[spoiler: Paula]] says Van Ark used to keep his experiments in.
176* HurricaneOfPuns: Eugene Woods indulges in one during a Season 3 radio mode segment.
177* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: Sam tries this on [[spoiler: a mind-controlled Runner Five.]]
178* ImmuneToMindControl: [[spoiler:Five and some others]], albeit a bit belatedly for the former... There are a couple of different types of AppliedPhlebotinum that make one immune.
179* MassHypnosis: [[spoiler:Moonchild]] does this to a huge chunk of people and plans to do it to the rest of the world.
180* MeaningfulName: [[spoiler:Moonchild's]] real name is Cynthia Hill. Cynthia has been used as epithets for [[spoiler:moon goddesses Artemis, Selene, and Diana.]]
181* MindControlDevice: The tones. Works on zoms sometimes, too.
182* MindManipulation: One theory as to the cause of the ZombieApocalypse. In this Season, it's looking more and more like the fault of [[spoiler: Comansys]].
183* UnexpectedSuccessor: Due to some second-cousin-twice-removed genetics, [[spoiler: Jamie]] is the legal king of England.
184* WellIntentionedExtremist: What [[spoiler: Comansys]] probably started out as. Then the whole ZombieApocalypse thing happened. Also, [[spoiler: Moonchild.]]
185[[/folder]]
186
187[[folder: Season 4]]
188* BirthDeathJuxtaposition: [[spoiler: Narrowly subverted when Five tranquilizes Paula and Sam turns out to be TheImmune.]]
189* BornInAnElevator: Well, technically in an overturned van. Janine is the squeamish and totally unqualified delivery gal.
190* BrainwashResidue: Five in s4m6.
191* ClearMyName: [[spoiler: Janine and the rest of Abel attempts to do this. Unsuccessfully.]]
192* DeadPersonConversation: Five frequently hallucinates [[spoiler:Moonchild]] giving advice or commenting on the situation.
193* FugitiveArc: [[spoiler:As soon as Janine plays the incriminating tape in "Tower of Song," The Ministry paints a smear campaign against Abel and makes Janine Public Enemy Number One.]]
194* TheImmune: Revealed in "Another Brick In The Wall"
195* MaternityCrisis: Nitroglycerin/In Da Club.
196* MeaningfulName: Sigrid [[{{Literature/Dune}} Hakkinen]]. [[spoiler: Hakkinen sounds a lot like ''Harkonnen'', doesn't it?]]
197* PanickyExpectantFather: [[spoiler:Sam.]] In his defense, there are a lot of really good reasons to panic.
198* ShadowArchetype: Moonchild is this to Sara Smith.
199** Both women are voices in your head after their deaths.
200** Moonchild frequently mimics Sara in an attempt to gain Five's trust, perhaps. "Never Let Me Go" is an easy example.
201*** "Just finding the right neuron to press, honey." (Compare to Sara frequently calling Five "Hon."
202*** "Just imagine..." Moonchild says it repeatedly near the end of s4m7, whereas Sara said it in [=S1M9=].
203** Both women retreated to their favorite nature spots to think: the ocean for Sara and the forest for Moonchild.
204*** Both women guide Five to secret hiding places in these nature spots to pick up a master keycard.
205* ShoutOut: Sam Yao lets loose with one to ''[[{{Series/Firefly}} Firefly]]'' in Mission 24, when an erstwhile ally leaves you to fend for yourselves against an angry militia group:
206--> '''''Sam:''' Curse her sudden but inevitable betrayal...''
207** Another in Mission 24: [[{{Film/Sneakers}} "My voice is my passport. Verify me. Janine DeLuca."]]
208** Yet another in Mission 34: [[{{Film/Serenity}} "They can't stop the signal!"]]
209** Furthermore, several of the missions share titles with classic rock songs: [[{{Music/TheBeatles}} "With A Little Help From My Friends"]], [[{{Music/BonJovi}} "Livin' On A Prayer"]], and [[{{Music/CultureClub}} "Church of the Poison Mind"]] to name just a few; at this rate, Season 4 is well on its way to becoming ReferenceOverdosed.
210* VillainTeamUp: [[spoiler:Sigrid and Moonchild.]]
211[[/folder]]
212
213[[folder: Season 5]]
214* AlasPoorScrappy: No one really loved [[spoiler:Owen, and many people vocally despised him, but the consensus of s5m18 seems to overwhelmingly be "Poor dude didn't deserve that."]]
215* AntagonistInMourning: [[spoiler:Sigrid.]]
216* BatmanGambit: Janine's in s5m10 relies on Amelia and Sigrid behaving in predictable ways.
217* CrashIntoHello: [[spoiler: Sigrid and Van Ark]] met this way.
218* EvilIsOneBigHappyFamily: [[spoiler:Apparently they were all either friends with or married to each other before the apocalypse.]]
219* EvilutionaryBiologist: Van Ark's motivation for starting the apocalypse.
220* FrameUp: Not only is [[spoiler: Sigrid]] attempting to discredit Janine, but Abel is now being blamed for starting the apocalypse.
221* FugitiveArc: [[spoiler: Janine]] and company are still fugitives, and now [[spoiler: Sigrid has control of Abel.]]
222* HateAtFirstSight: [[spoiler: Sigrid and Van Ark.]] She later claims it was LoveAtFirstSight, however. Quickly morphs into BelligerentSexualTension.
223* KansasCityShuffle: Janine, Jody, and Runner Five pull a brilliant one against Amelia in "Wrong Song."
224* LaResistance: [[spoiler: Janine]] and those loyal to her.
225* MarriageOfConvenience: Specifically of the CitizenshipMarriage variety. [[spoiler: Van Ark proposes this so Sigrid can stay in the U.K.]]
226* MercyKill: Ian Golightly's fate at the end of [=S5M40=]. [[spoiler: While attempting to escape Abel Township after you and the Abel expatriates retake it, he falls into one of his own booby traps and ends up infected with the zombie virus... and shortly before he succumbs to the IncurableCoughOfDeath, he asks Sam Yao to kill him before he turns. Sam, naturally, obliges.]]
227* PresidentEvil: [[spoiler: Sigrid]]
228* PropagandaMachine: Hoo boy. s5m8.
229* VillainTeamUp: [[spoiler:Sigrid, Van Ark, and Moonchild to create the apocalypse.]]
230* VillainWithGoodPublicity: [[spoiler: Sigrid. Ian Golightly is one of her publicists.]]
231* VoiceOfTheResistance: Zoe and Phil appear to be serving this role from Radio Cabel on the road.
232[[/folder]]
233[[folder: Season 6]]
234* BrainUploading: [[spoiler: More and more, it looks like those afflicted with Moonchild Syndrome actually have at least ''partial'' copies of Moonchild's mind stored in their brains; Runner Five in particular appears to have the most complete one.]]
235* CaptainObvious: Dr. Myers, in [=S6M32=] ("Under Pressure"). You, she, and Veronica [=McShell=] infiltrate a Ministry-run science vessel to gather information on Moonchild Syndrome, when she spots your old backpack (lost during an earlier season [[spoiler: while you were under Moonchild's mind control]]). Naturally - and logically - she surmises that you must have been on the ship before. This would be a Big Reveal... ''if it weren't for the fact that [[spoiler: you opened one of the ship's security doors with your thumbprint moments earlier!]]''
236* KillTheLights: The unidentified creature in [=S6M22=], "Every Breath You Take". It not only disables lighting fixtures and shorts out cameras, but somehow manages to douse ''one of Janine's military-grade illumination flares''.
237* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Pit Viper. The organization is comprised entirely of highly-competent and very professional assassins, and their leader - who is ''also'' called "Pit Viper" - is the best of the lot. [[spoiler:And said leader also happens to be Janine [=DeLuca=].]]
238[[/folder]]
239[[folder: Season 7]]
240* [[{{ChekhovsGun}} Chekhov's Artifact]]: Burn cubes. A highly unstable incendiary device, first mentioned in "The Jellicle Ball". [[spoiler: One is retrieved by a scavenging team from Fort Blackmoore prior to the events of "Castle Full Of Rascals", and subsequently used against a horde of V-Type zombies in "Castle's Burning".]]
241* HiveMind: One of Veronica's theories on why V-Type zombies seem to coordinate better the more of them there are.
242* OhCrap: The general reaction to being bitten by a zombie (regular or Typed; see OurZombiesAreDifferent, above). Exaggerated, however, when [[spoiler: a V-Type zombie bites Peter Necropolis... and instead of turning Necropolis into another V-Type, the V-Type gains his ability to regenerate. Even the smallest piece of this new "P-Type" has that ability, as demonstrated in the Season 7 missions "Out Of Hand" and "Dead End".]]
243* RashomonStyle: The Season Seven missions "Don't You Remember?" and "Easy To Forget".
244* ShownTheirWork: One of the Season 7 Radio Mode segments compares the zombie apocalypse to the spread of grey squirrels in the UK, and makes mention that grey squirrels carry a virus that's lethal to the British red squirrel. [[spoiler: The virus is real, and it's called "squirrelpox."]]
245[[/folder]]
246
247[[folder: 5K trainer]]
248* AngerBornOfWorry: At the end of Week Two, [[spoiler: Janine]] is very unimpressed by Runner Five's ability to [[spoiler: escape a pack of zombies]]... and then gives Five an axe as an emergency defense weapon, 'just in case.'
249* AllUpToYou: About once a week, you'll be the only person handy for a mission outside Abel Township which you shouldn't be asked to do yet, but they're going to ask anyway. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in two ways: First, a lot of the other runners are noted to be out of action due to smoke inhalation, and second, the tasks are generally lower-risk tasks. Nearly always the third session of each week.
250* ForScience: The general reason behind Week Three, Exercise Two. Stated word for word in the wrap-up notes by Runner 5.
251* {{Foreshadowing}}: In Week Three, Exercise Two, you discover that the thing zombies hate even more than uneaten brains are [[spoiler:knee lifts.]] In Week Four, Exercise Three, this knowledge is put to good use to help you [[spoiler:lead zombies away from an injured runner. By performing knee lifts in front of them.]]
252* InsistentTerminology: Dunderwood is ''not'' crawling with undead, it's ''shambling'' with them.
253* MauveShirt: In the 5k trainer, ''you'' fill this role. With your training not yet complete and the more capable runners busy with critical missions, you manage to be very valuable to Abel Township... by the virtue of being expendable, not otherwise busy, and just competent enough that sending you outside isn't a death sentence.
254* ScarfOfAsskicking: According to Week Four, Exercise Three, a red one of these is awarded as a badge of honor to any runner who [[spoiler: saves the life of another runner.]]
255* ShoutOut: After [[spoiler: Sam finds Frances]], he notes that she is far North "beyond the wall, [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire with the wildlings."]]
256* SpinOff: After getting a number of ExpansionPack downloads, the game now has a genuine spin-off in a 5K Trainer. [[{{Interquel}} Set between missions 1 and 2]], the story is toned down to allow more specific instruction on good running behaviour and training exercises for novice long-distance runners.
257* TookALevelInBadass: Near the beginning of the player's training, MissionControl notes that the player [[GameplayAndStorySegregation only barely outpaced]] the zombies and made it back to base safely. They will begin to speak much more positively as your training progresses, indicating that you are outrunning the zombies with increasing ease.
258[[/folder]]
259----
260
261[- '''''BZZT-BZZT-BZZT'''''-]
262
263[-'''[[SyntheticVoiceActor MISSION COMPLETED.]] [[BreatherEpisode STARTING RADIO MODE]].'''-]

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