Index | Ultimis and Primis | Victis and other playable characters | Mob of the Dead | Others | Enemy Types

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Introduced in World At War

Zombie

Appearances: All maps

The eponymous and omnipresent enemy of the game-mode. Zombies are human corpses reanimated by Element 115 in the Aether storyline and Prima Materia in the Chaos storyline, bringing them under the thrall of the mysterious Demonic Announcer. Their health, speed and numbers increase with every round in a match until players are inevitably overwhelmed.

Body Horror: Aside from the expected rotting flesh and Undeathly Pallor, the zombies featured in Mob of the Dead and Blood of the Dead are wrapped in barbed wire and impaled with spikes and bits of wood. Call of the Dead features zombies with missing jaws, whilst the ones that spawn inside the Apothicon in Revelations appear to be partially digested.
Boom, Headshot!: The most efficient, point-yielding and (in later rounds)only viable way to bring a zombie down, although it sometimes takes a few seconds to register.
Butt-Monkey: Whilst they can be very dangerous in large groups, a significant portion of the Zombies experience is dedicated to killing them in dozens of gruesome and creative ways, followed by the characters hurling insults and one-liners.
Creepy High-Pitched Voice: Zombie vocalizations consist mostly of high-pitched groans and screams (regardless of age and gender) with some subtle Voice of the Legion.
Fearless Undead: They will keep coming at you no matter what they're faced with. Except for Vulture Aid gas, which smells so bad that not even the un-dead can stand it.
Glowing Eyelights of Undeath: Their most prominent feature, the colour of which changes depending on whoever is serving as the Demonic Announcer.
- Yellow for Samantha Maxis/The High Priest of Chaos.
- Blue for Ultimis Richtofen.
- Orange for Ludwig Maxis.
- Red for the Apothicons.
- White for Cornelius Pernell/Avogadro.
- Green for Turned/Brain Rotted zombies.
It Can Think: Whilst apparently mindless for the most part, the zombies featured in Ascension can swerve and perform combat rolls to dodge gunfire. In the Der Eisendrache intro, one zombie appears to express fear right before Richtofen blows its head off.
Made of Explodium: Element 115 must be a highly flammable substance, because zombies set alight or wreathed in electricity will explode upon death.
Made of Iron: At higher rounds, zombies can and will tank hundreds of bullets, dozens of rockets and grenades and sometimes even multiple Wonder Weapon blasts before finally going down. Fortunately for the characters, this only applies in gameplay.
Nazi Zombies: Mostly during the World at War season. Later maps would take place in a greater variety of countries.
Our Zombies Are Different: These ones are created by Element 115, a powerful material planted throughout the multiverse by the Apothicons. Organic matter exposed to the element (either through a wound or over time) will result in either mutations, insanity or death followed by reanimation. The latter outcome results in a near-mindless Flesh-Eating Zombie that can be somewhat controlled through conditioning or by harnessing the energies of a dimension known as the Aether. They can be put down by conventional means but Feel No Pain; the zombified Ferguson in the intro to Mob of the Dead takes a dozen revolver shots before going down.
- In the Chaos storyline, zombies are instead the work of Ritual Magic powered by an ancient substance known as Prima Materia, the base matter of the universe. The activation of a Sentinel Trial will see every living thing nearby zombified, a process that can only be reversed by completing the Trial.
Removing the Head or Destroying the Brain: Shooting them in the head is the fastest way to kill them and decapitation will most assuredly do the trick despite it taking a moment or two to take effect for the stronger ones.
Tragic Monster: Just like most zombies these ones used to be regular people, now doomed to serve as mindless playthings for those who inhabit the Aether.
Zerg Rush: Individual zombies are mostly harmless to attentive players. Their main strength lies in their numbers, bullet resistance and sheer, mindless tenacity.
Zombie Gait: They start off the moving at a slow, shambling place at the beginning of the match, and even when they pick up the pace they don't move any quicker than walking speed. Earlier maps such as Shi No Numa see them perform strange, flailing marches or mimic holding rifles in their hands.

Hellhound

Flaming, zombified hounds created when Samantha Maxis' pregnant dog was placed in a teleporter. They are the second most recurring enemy in the game mode after the zombies themselves.

Body Horror: Their muzzles are rotted down to the bone, and their spines and ribs are visible. 'Die Maschine's'' Plaguehounds have faces covered in huge boils, tongues covered with teeth.
Explosive Breeder: Fluffy had enough puppies after the accident to provide a never-ending army to accompany the undead.
Fluffy the Terrible: The first Hellhound, who actually was named Fluffy.
Fragile Speedster: They move much faster than zombies, but don't do very much damage and go down quite easily.
Glowing Eyelights of Undeath: A trait they share with normal zombies.
Hellhound: Obviously, although these are the result of a teleporter accident rather than originating from Hell. Their presence in the hellish Alcatraz pocket dimension in Blood of the Dead is most appropriate.
Heroic Dog: Very much subverted, to the displeasure of Primis Dempsey.
Hybrid Monster: Die Maschine introduces the Plaguehoud, a Hellhound/N6 Crawler hybrid with the speed of the former and the Deadly Gas Action Bomb ability of the latter.
Ominous Fog: Their arrival is heralded by a sudden mist descending upon the map.
Palette Swap: Alpha Omega features a sub-species called Lightning Hounds, which are basically identical to regular Hellhounds except that they're covered in electricity instead of fire.
Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Whilst they themselves are incapable of delivering one-liners (being dogs and all), the Demonic Announcer is happy to speak for them.
Demonic Announcer: "FETCH ME THEIR SOULS!"
Sympathy for the Devil: A number of our heroes(including Primis Richtofen of all people) take noticeably less pleasure putting these dogs down than any other undead monsters they face.
Teleporter Accident: They were created as a result of one of these. They themselves possess teleportation abilities, but they only use them to enter the map.
Wreathed in Flames: Which, considering the track record of regular zombies, may explain why they explode upon death. Firebase Z Hellhounds amp this up, even leaving behind a patch of burning napalm upon death.

Introduced in Black Ops I

Nova Six Crawler

Appearances: Kino Der Toten | Five | Moon | Classified | Alpha Omega

Also known as Crawler Zombies or Creepy Crawlers, Nova Six Crawlers are failed experiments imbued with toxic gas which is released when the Crawler dies, dealing explosive damage and leaving a lingering cloud that blur's the player's vision.

Moon features a variation that can teleport and perform a leaping attack in low-gravity areas. Die Rise features the more unique Jumping Jack, which forgoes deadly gas in favor extremely enhanced mobility. ''Alpha Omega' features two additional variants; Jolting Jacks, which can both teleport and fire balls of electricity, and Nova Six Bombers, which can use their gas to empower nearby zombies.

Combat Parkour: The main gimmick of the Jumping Jack variant, bouncing off the walls and celling and making them extremely hard to hit.
Deadly Gas: Although it doesn't kill the player (and isn't nearly as fatal as the Nova Six gas in the campaign), it can severely blur their vision and obscure potential threats.
Defeat Equals Explosion: And said explosion is what makes them so dangerous.
Dung Fu: Possibly in the case of the Jolting Jacks, whose projectiles Primis Richtofen half-jokingly suggests could be electrified scat.
Evil Smells Bad: They're said to smell even worse than Ultimis Nikolai.
Eyeless Face: Their face is taken up entirely by a maw filled with More Teeth than the Osmond Family. They actually look quite similar to the Keepers...
Half-Human Hybrid: Documents in Classified indicate that, amongst other things, Nova Crawlers contain elements of pig DNA.
Hero Killer: A Jumping Jack actually manages to kill Russman in the Die Rise intro cut-scene, but this is quickly undone by Ultimis Richtofen's influence.
Running on All Fours: Which serves to greatly reduce their hitbox and force the player to divert their attention from the rest of the hordes.
Shoot the Medic First: Whilst not exactly medics, Nova Six Bombers in Alpha Omega are extremely dangerous if left alive for any length of time, as they can perform a Status Buff on nearby zombies which significantly enhances their health and speed.
Stink Bomb: A living, deadly variety.
Teleport Spam: The Jolting Jacks and the Moon Crawlers both engage in this, which made even more annoying by their high numbers and the cramped environments of both maps.
Took a Level in Badass: The Nova Crawlers in the Black Ops IV map Classified are notably more dangerous than in previous games. Players caught in their explosions are slowed down for a small amount of time, leaving them more open to attack.
Wall Crawl: The Nova Crawlers in Kino Der Toten enter the map through holes in the ceiling and climb down the walls. The Jumping Jacks bounce off the walls, and the Jolting Jacks have a preference for attacking the player from building roofs.
Was Once a Man: Their ears and torn pants indicate that they were once normal humans, as opposed to whatever they are now.

The Pentagon Thief

See Other Characters

Space Monkey/Zombie Monkey

Appearances: Ascension | Shangri-La

Pint-sized primates infected with Element 115 appear in two different maps, displaying very different abilities each time. The Space Monkeys in Ascension have their own special round, where they will attempt to remove the players perks by attacking the Perk-A-Cola machines. The Zombie Monkeys in Shangri-La will appear whenever a power-up drop spawns and attempt to carry it outside of the map.

Bandit Mook: Both types of monkey fulfill this role, although unlike most examples the Space Monkey is more than capable of killing you itself. Zombie Monkeys will only attack you if you claim the power-up drop first, whereupon they will swipe at you once before fleeing.
Drop Pod: Space Monkeys enter the map by crashing down in Lunar Landers. Thankfully this cannot result in the player's death.
Helpful Mook: Because power-ups will cycle whilst on a Zombie Monkey's back and remain when the Monkey is killed, players with good timing can swap a power-up out for another one, and on rare occasions even obtain a free perk.
No-Sell: Space Monkeys cannot by killed by Gersch Devices, and will instead (like the player) be teleported to elsewhere on the map. They and the Zombie Monkeys from Shangri-La can also throw regular grenades back at the player.
Ominous Fog: Like the Hellhounds, Space Monkey special rounds see the map enveloped in fog, but unlike Hellhounds this fog is orange-yellow in colour.
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: The Space Monkeys are tiny even by primate standards, but are capable of releasing a powerful Shockwave Stomp and can tank a surprising amount of gunfire.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: The Space Monkeys have this.

George A. Romero

See Other Characters

Napalm Zombie

Appearances: Shangri-La

A skeletal, flaming zombie that explodes into a pile of napalm upon dying or getting close to the player.

Action Bomb: It's most infamous trait is how it will explode upon death or getting too close to the player.
Helpful Mook: Although situational, the flames left behind after the Napalm Zombie explodes can harm zombies as well as the player.
Interface Screw: The edges of the screen will be engulfed in flames when it gets close, which is useful for alerting the player to danger but can also impair one's vision.
Mighty Glacier: It takes a good number of bullets to take down, but moves at a slowing walking pace and is only a threat up close. Unless its the final zombie in the round, whereupon it Turns Red and runs the player down at a terrifying speed.

Shrieker Zombie

Appearances: Shangri-La

An emaciated zombie with the power to deliver loud, piercing shrieks that can hurt the player.

Glass Cannon: It can easily screw the player over with it's blinding screams and moves much faster than a regular zombie, but isn't all more sturdy.
Dynamic Entry: Crawling out of the ground, unleashing it's signature shriek as it does, gives the player plenty of warning of it's arrival.
Make Me Wanna Shout: It's whole thing; unleashing an Interface Screwing scream in the player's face, blurring their vision and leaving a ringing in their ears.
Undeathly Pallor: Even morseo than regular zombies, which helps make it stand out from them and the surrounding jungle scenery.

Astronaut Zombie

Appearances: Moon

A mysterious zombie who periodically menaces Ultimis during the events of Moon.

Bandit Mook: If it grabs ahold of you, it will steal a Perk from you.
Creator Cameo: It occasionally takes the ID of Zombies developers such as Jason Blundell.
Defeat Means Explosion: Although unlike Nova Crawlers or Napalm Zombies, the explosion will only inflict knockback on the player.
Jump Scare: Can inflict this on complacent players passing through Griffin Station's airlocks, who won't see nor hear the Astronaut Zombie inside until it's right on top of them.
Mighty Glacier: It ambles very slowly after you thanks to the lower gravity of the Moon, but if it catches you, you could lose a Perk that you may not be getting back very soon thanks to the rotating Perk at Area 51. It also becomes sturdier after each death, and it's health is multiplied further by the presence of every additional player in the game.
No-Sell: They are not affected by Nuke and Insta-Kill powerups, nor can they be killed by the Wave Gun or Gersch Device. They can, however, be insta-killed by the Q.E.D's default explosion.

Introduced in Black Ops II

Avogadro

Avogadro/Cornelius Pernell

Appearances: TranZit | Alpha Omega

For tropes relating more to Avogadro's original identity, see Other Characters.

Denizen of the Forest

Appearances: TranZit

Also known as Screechers. Diminutive gremlins that are abundant in the foggy areas of Hanford, WA in 2035.

Beast with a Human Face: They are tiny, with Four-Fingered Hands and a rat-like tail, but their faces are a gross exaggeration of a human being's.
Fragile Speedster: They are impossible to outrun or dodge, but can be one-shotted by firearms.
Hell Is That Noise: Their piercing, extremely loud shriek is part of what makes them so damn annoying.
Eye Scream: Implied, as they go for the face when they attack you, which gradually blurs one's vision.
Zerg Rush: If you leave the main areas of the map, you will be immediately rushed by them, one after the other.
Weakened by the Light: They will not pursue the player into non-foggy areas, and will borough into the ground if the player passes under an active streetlight, creating a usable portal.
Weaksauce Weakness: Galvaknuckles are capable of killing a Denizen in two hits, making them a must-have for anyone who chooses to brave the fog.

Brutus/The Warden

Appearances: Mob of the Dead | Blood of the Dead

In life, he was the Warden of Alcatraz, but now he serves an eternal sentence as the guardian of the Alcatraz purgatory. For more information, see his folder in Other Characters.

Ghost Women

Appearances: Buried

Panzersoldat/Krasny Soldat

Appearances: Origins | Der Eisendrache | Revelations | Outbreak | Mauer der Toten

Hulking, reanimated Group 935 (Panzer)/Omega Group (Krasny) soldiers in deadly robotic suits.

Attack Its Weak Point: Killing it requires the player to shoot off it's facemask and expose the zombie head inside. Additionally, players who are being pulled in by it's grapple claw will have a chance to shoot an exposed red light in the arm's stump and break its grip.
Breakout Villain: They became a quick fan-favorite due to their cool design, menacing attacks, and challenging difficulty, and subsequently returned for Black Ops III and Black Ops Cold War.
Diesel Punk: It and much of the technology featured in Origin's takes some cues from this visual style.
Hammered into the Ground: Panzer's which are caught under a Giant Robot's foot in Origins will be subjected to this, leaving them stuck and extremely vulnerable for a few seconds.
Hell Is That Noise: The impending arrival of a Panzer Soldat is announced with an extremely ominous siren.
The Juggernaut: They're difficult to take down without Wonder Weapons.
No-Sell: They will simply disable any trap you try to lead them through, and will not react to Monkey Bombs.
Powered Armor: This is their schtick, and why they're so dangerous compared to normal zombies. Their suits not only allow the otherwise normal zombie inside to withstand large amounts of punishment, but it also comes equipped with a Jet Pack, a flamethrower and either a grapple claw, shock-mine launcher or napalm launcher.

Introduced in Black Ops III

Margwa

Appearances: Shadows of Evil | Revelations

Ferocious three-headed Apothicons.

Attack Its Weak Point: The only way to kill a Margwa is to fire into one of its open mouths.
Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: The Void and Fire variants of the Margwa in Revelations are coloured black with glowing purple and orange mouths respectively.
Elite Mook: They're much harder to deal with than the other Apothicon enemies and zombies.
Homing Projectile: The Void Margwas in Revelations can open a portal and summon a horde of floating Keeper skulls, which will pursue the player until they collide with something.
Multi-Armed and Dangerous: They have four Combat Tentacles with which they can perform a devastating Ground Punch, which will instantly down a player if they don't have Juggernog.
Turns Red: Margwas will move at a slow walking pace until it's first head is destroyed, whereupon it will pick up the pace.
No-Sell: They are unaffected by the black holes created by the Apothicon Servant, and will teleport through any traps in their way.
Weaksauce Weakness: Players using the Pop Shocks Gobblegum (which electrifies their melee attacks) will be able to instantly kill Margwas, regardless of whether or not the beast has a mouth open. They are also quite vulnerable to the Apothicon Sword, which can destroy a head with a single hit.

Parasite

Appearances: Shadows of Evil | Revelations

Tiny, distracting enemies who are a nuisance by themselves but dangerous in large numbers.

Airborne Mook: The first major example to appear in Zombies.
Palette Swap: They change colour with each map; yellow in Shadows of Evil are yellow, red in Revelations, and purple in the Dead Ops II: Cyber's Avengening game mode.
Proportionately Ponderous Parasites: They're almost as big as the player, but they aren't called Parasites for nothing. They will emerge from a Margwa whenever one of its heads are destroyed, and they spawn on a frequent basis inside the Apothicon in Revelations.
Zombie Puke Attack: Their only attack is to spit globs of acid at the player.

Insanity Elemental

Appearances: Shadows of Evil

Screaming, ball-shaped creatures that will explode upon making contact with the player.

Action Bomb: Their primary function as an enemy, exploding upon making contact with the player.
Asteroids Monster: The Insanity Elementals that appear in the Dead Ops Arcade game mode will split into multiple smaller ones upon death.
Elemental Embodiment: Of insanity as their name would indicate, and which is made more obvious by their constant screaming and lack of regard for their presumably torturous lives.
In-Series Nickname: Referred to as 'Meatballs' by several characters and practically the entire Zombies fanbase. Even the head developer Jason Blundell refers to them as such, admitting to having forgotten their original name.
Reused Character Design: They are reskins of the robotic R.A.P enemy type from Black Ops III's campaign and multiplayer, which themselves make an appearance during Gorod Krovi's easter egg boss fight.
Too Many Mouths: The only major features on their round bodies, aside from a number of short tentacles.

Thrasher

Appearances: Zetsubou No Shima

Gruesome, hulking plant monsters and leftover byproducts of Division 9's research. An especially large one who is actually a transformed Ultimis Takeo serves as the Final Boss of Zetsubou No Shima's main quest.

Attack Its Weak Point: The three large orange spores that dot a Thrasher's body need to be popped with bullets in order to kill it quickly.
Deadly Gas: Releases a lingering cloud of this whenever one of their spores are popped. Passing through it will force the player to cough and leave them unable to use their weapons, and zombies passing through it will occasionally be transformed into more Thrashers.
Flunky Boss: The giant Thrasher is this. It is immobile and incapable of doing more than occasionally swinging its large vine arms; the real challenge is popping it's spores whilst being swarmed by zombies in a cramped room.
Losing Your Head: Destroying a Thrasher's head will not kill it, and will in fact only serve to piss it off more.
Plant Person: A grotesque and malicious variation.
To Serve Man: They can actually eat a downed player using a Belly Mouth, trapping them inside and eventually killing them if the other players don't help out. They will also eat other zombies in order to restore their own health.
Tragic Monster: The giant Thrasher, by virtue of being Ultimis Takeo.

Spider

Appearances: Zetsubou No Shima | Revelations

Giant, mutated inhabitants of the Pacific island where Division 9 corrupted the water supply with Element 115. An even larger mother spider serves as a mid-boss for Zetsubou No Shima.

Animorphism: It is possible for the player to transform into a spider themselves by consuming the Spider Bait wonder weapon, granting them temporary invulnerability and the ability to spit webs.
Big Creepy-Crawlies: A species of Giant Spider the size of dogs. The mother spider is around the size of an elephant.
Proportionately Ponderous Parasites: Their presence inside the Apothicon in ''Revelations" implies that they can serve as a version of this, as this is the only place on the map where they appear.

Dragon

Appearances: Der Eisendrache | Gorod Krovi | Outbreak

A species of ancient, extinct beasts resurrected by Group 935 and Division 9 for use as living weapons. Dragons serve more as an environmental hazard than a regular enemy type in Gorod Krovi, but ignoring them will only result in being roasted alive. One of them serves as part of the easter egg boss fight, and another as a form of transportation to the Pack-a-Punch.

Beast of Battle: They were resurrected from extinction specifically to be used by the Germans against the Russians.
Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: The non-hostile transport dragon is coloured/painted bright red.
Foreshadowing: Dragons were alluded to for a significant duration of the Black Ops III season up until their reveal in Gorod Krovi. Der Eisendrache references them in its title (which translates to 'The Iron Dragon') and the quest to acquire the Wrath of the Ancients involves feeding zombies to three mounted dragon heads. Part of Zetsubou no Shima's main Easter Egg involves teleporting into a room containing hatched dragon eggs as well as anatomical diagrams.
Ludicrous Gibs: The dragon fought during the Easter Egg explodes in a bloody mess upon dying, which is presumably the result of damage to whatever organs they use to produce their fire breath.
The Magic Versus Technology War: Although they themselves are the result of advanced science, the dragons form the Magic side of the eternal Battle of Stalingrad, with the Russians and their Humongous Mecha forming the Technology side. Interestingly, the dragons are the ones who are winning, as no fully functioning mecha can be seen around the map aside from the one piloted by Ultimis Nikolai.
Nigh-Invulnerability: It is impossible for the player to kill a dragon under normal circumstances. During the boss fight, Ultimis Nikolai first has to skewer the boss dragon with a electric harpoon before any meaningful damage can be done.
Our Dragons Are Different: These possess a body shape more reminiscent of a wyvern (two legs and a pair of wings, instead of four legs and a pair of wings), are treated more like a natural prehistoric species than anything mythical, appear to only possess animal-level intelligence and have been genetically modified and enhanced with cybernetic parts by Group 935.
Super-Persistent Predator: It's implied that the dragon in the intro, the one fought in the boss fight and the ones that attack the player during gameplay are all in fact the same dragon, who for whatever reason seems to hold an extreme grudge against our heroes.

Russian Mangler

Undead Russian soldiers who have outfitted with cybernetics and advanced weaponry, including an Arm Cannon and wrist-mounted sickles.

Cyborg: They're enchanced with cybernetics.
Elite Mook: Of Gorod Krovi if one does not count the dragons.
Friendly Fire Proof: Their cannon attacks merely knock down any zombies caught in its path. Give it the Brainrot effect though, and its Cannon attacks will now annihilate all Zombies in its path.
King Mook: Outbreak features red-coloured Manglers with distinct names and titles during HVT missions. They behave identically to regular Manglers but are much tankier and, like other HVT enemies, will teleport away every time they lose a third of their health.
Nerf: The Firebase Z Manglers are much tankier, but their cannon blast no longer tracks their target and the cannons themselves serve as much bigger weak-spots.
No-Sell: They enter the map like a regular zombie but simply destroy any boards in their way with one cannon blast. They also cannot be set alight by dragon breath.
Mighty Glacier: Slow, but their attacks can cause an instant red-screen for players without Juggernog.
Sinister Scythe: They're equipped with two sickles, with which they can reduce you to a corpse quite easily.
Turns Red: Destroying its arm cannon or simply dealing enough damage will convince a Mangler to forgo its Ominous Walk and instead charge after and cut you down with its sickles.

Valkyrie Drone

Appearances: Gorod Krovi

Cyber Cyclops: They see through a single "camera" which can be destroyed. If they later initiate a Suicide Attack, then rather than tracking the player they will fly at their last location.
Enemy Summoner: In the later special rounds, a few of the Drones will hold back and summon several electric zombies from the ground.
Hell Is That Noise: Like the Spiders (who share the same sound effect) and the Panzer, the beginning of a special Drone round will be announced with an ominous siren.
Literal Disarming: Their three mechanical Combat Tentacles can be shot off, rendering them incapable of using their electrical attacks.
Taking You with Me: It will attempt to fly at the player and explode if it loses its arms.

Apothicon Fury

Appearances: Revelations | Alpha Omega^noteIntro cutscene only | Tag Der Toten^noteOutro cutscene only

A dark coloured, quadruped Apothicon enemy, and one of their basic foot soldiers alongside the Margwas.

The Cameo: Many can be spotted in crowd shots of the First War during the intro Alpha Omega and outro of Tag Der Toten.
Dash Attack: Their unique method of attack is a sort of teleport dash, which they use to close the distance between them and the player and deal collision damage.
Turns Red: After performing a teleport dash, they will become Wreathed in Flames and move at a quicker pace.

Introduced in Black Ops IV

Blightfather

Appearances: Voyage of Despair | IX | Ancient Evil

Attack Its Weak Point: Destroying the large sacs on a Blightfather's back and elbows is the key to taking them down as quickly as possible, and will disable its ranged projectile attack.
Chest Burster: Provides a much more dramatic example than the Catalysts, with its long spiked limbs tearing their way out first before the rest of the creature.
The Dreaded: Its arrival always triggers alarm in the player characters.
Elite Mook: It appears to be a heavily mutated Catalyst, possessing a similar transformation sequence and characteristics such as an Eyeless Face, but it is significantly more dangerous than any of them.
Zombie Puke Attack: It will use this on players it manages to drag in with its Overly-Long Tongue, dealing gradual damage until the player can break free. It will also puke on utilities such as wall-buys and render them unusable, forcing the player to spend points to unlock them.

Catalyst

Appearances: Voyage of Despair | IX | Dead of the Night | Ancient Evil

The main and most prevalent special enemy type in the Chaos story, Catalysts are elemental variations of normal zombies that each possess a unique ability; Fire Catalysts explode when near the player, Electric Catalysts blind the player with a scream, Acid Catalysts surround themselves with a poisonous cloud and Water Catalysts buff regular zombies, increasing their health and damage.

Action Bomb: The Fire Catalyst serves this role.
Area of Effect: The Acid Catalyst's constant gas cloud functions like this. It deals only Scratch Damage but delays the player's healing.
Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Each catalyst is easily distinguishable from the zombie hordes by their colours; red for Fire, blue for Water, yellow for Electric and Green for Acid.
Dem Bones: Each Catalyst is actually a regular zombie's mutated skeleton, which emerges Chest Burster style during their transformation sequence.
Elemental Powers: Each catalyst is associated with one of the four achlemical elements, although in this case Air and Earth are replaced with Electricity and Acid.
Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: Every catalyst has a specific elemental Pack-a-Punch effect that they're weak against that causes them to explode violently, harming and even killing zombies besides them. Fire is weak to acid, acid is weak to water, water to electricity and finally electricity to fire.
Expy: The Fire and Electric Catalysts are essentially (nerfed and buffed, respectively) Chaos versions of the Napalm and Shrieker Zombies from Shangri-La.
Eyeless Face: The Acid and Electric Catalysts have no visible eyes, only skin and sores.
Make Me Wanna Shout: The scream of the Electric Catalyst can white out a player's entire screent for a few seconds.

Stoker

Appearances: Voyage of Despair

Attack Its Weak Point: Shooting the open wound on its chest will deal increased damage and result in a Stoker dropping a key used to obtain the map's Wonder Weapon.
Evil Is Burning Hot: They appear to have been forcibly merged with the hot coals from the ship's engines.
Shovel Strike: Their melee weapon of choice, a holdover from when they maintained the Titanic's boilers.
Turns Red: Not that aren't very red already. The Stoker will periodically enter a rage stage, running the player down at high speeds and whacking them with their shovels.

Destroyer/Marauder

Destroyer and Marauder

Appearances: IX

Berserk Button: Shooting off a Destroyer's helmet will cause them to forgo ranged attacks in favor of charging at you with their axes.
Deadly Lunge: Maruders' main attack is a long jump followed by a succession of swipes in front of them with their wrist claws. It actually functions as a small AOE attack, meaning even if the player is stood behind them they can still catch all the slashes and go down.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Both are still bloodthirsty undead monsters, but the Destroyer is more of a Blue Oni compared to the Marauder's Red Oni; the former is a ranged, heavily armoured Mighty Glacier, whilst the latter is a fast, aggressive Close-Range Combatant.
It Can Think: Aside from their use of weapons they can sometimes be heard speaking, usually mocking and taunting the Chaos crew.

Tiger

Appearances: IX

Artificial Brilliance: At least in comparison to Hellhounds, who simply sprint directly at the players. Zombie Tigers will often run around the player in an attempt to flank them, or hold back at a distance and other zombies run forward.
Cats Are Mean: It is likely that even if these weren't zombified, they would still pose quite the threat to any gladiators trapped in the arena.
Deadly Lunge: This attack does high amounts of damage, making it extremely dangerous for injured players. Early in Black Ops IIII's lifecycle it could even potentially One-Hit Kill players on normal and above difficulties, but this was quickly nerfed.

Nosferatu

Appearances: Dead of the Night

Also known as the Teihiihan or the Abhartach, these feral vampiric creatures have more in common with their namesake than they do with Twilight.

Anti-Regeneration: Nosferatu attacks have the ability to stall the player's health regen, which is signified by the edges of the screen turning bloodied.
Elite Mook: The Crimson Nosferatu, distinguishable by its blood-red skin, is significantly tankier than it's kin and possesses a deadly jump attack. Players caught by said attack will be pinned in place and have their throats torn out.
Feral Vampires: Nosferatus are definitely not anything but animalistic.
Our Vampires Are Different: These seem to be little different the mindless zombies they fight alongside, and give no indication of having even been human. They also lack any extreme/supernatural abilities aside from the ability to transform into a bat (which they do so only to enter the map).
Wooden Stake: Nosferatus (or Nosferati?) suffer a One-Hit Kill at the hands of the map's melee Wonder Weapon, the Stake Knife. They are also vulnerable to the bolt-firing Savage Impaler.

Werewolf

Appearances: Dead of the Night

Achilles' Heel: A classic Silver Bullet does increased damage to werewolves. Killing one via this method causes it to drop Werewolf Chaos Material, which is needed to upgrade the map's Wonder Weapon.
Elite Mook: Serves as this alongside the Crimson Nosferatau in Dead of the Night.
Lightning Bruiser: They are capable of leaping a great distance to reach the player; the first one encountered just after opening Pack-A-Punch performs a Dynamic Entry in the form of rapidly jumping from tree trunk to tree trunk.
Our Werewolves Are Different: These ones are mostly bipedal, three times the size of a human, have ties to Celtic folklore and their presence is linked more with the Sentinel Trial than a lycanthropic disease, though their torn clothes still indicate they were indeed once human. The Shadow Werewolf fought at the end of the map's easter egg is even larger and has the power of invisibility.
Rugged Scar: The Shadow Werewolf possesses a scar over it's eye, made even more obvious by its species' case of Red Eyes, Take Warning.

Gegenes

Appearances: Ancient Evil

Beard of Barbarism: Possesses a long, wild, two-pronged beard.
Damage-Sponge Boss: Not technically a boss, but they take a great amount of punishment even when you're shooting their weak-spots, the wound on their torsos.
Dynamic Entry: Picking up the Golden Bridle will spawn in a Gegenees; if the Bridle is in the Intersection of Treasuries area, the Gegenees will appear by busting open a nearby door.
Elite Mook: For Ancient Evil alongside the Blightfather.
Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Has three pairs of arms, although they only use two of those pairs to hold their weapons.
Multi-Melee Master: Wields a sword (for close range attacks), a spear (to throw when at range) and a shield (which both protects its weak-spot and can unleash a stunning blast).
Our Giants Are Bigger: Stands at just over the height of two people.

Spartoi

Appearances: Ancient Evil

Boom, Headshot!: Although they eventually die after a few resurrections, they'll stay down permanently if the player lands a headshot.
Dem Bones: They're nothing more than skeletons covered in Prima Materia crystals.
Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Their shields can deflect bullets, as can their helmets.
Shout-Out: Their Resurrective Immortality and deliberately janky animation are homages to the skeleton warriors from the 1963 film Jason and the Argonauts.
Stylistic Suck: They move around at a lower frame-rate than the rest of the game, in an attempt to emulate stop-motion.

Introduced in Black Ops Cold War

Megaton

Appearances: Die Maschine | Outbreak

The Megaton Boss.

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The Megaton Blaster and the Megaton Bomber.

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The Megaton Overlord / Mayak

A large, hazmat-suit wearing zombie that can throw radioactive balls and split into two when their health bar is depleted.

A Nazi by Any Other Name: All of its quotes sound like they would come straight out of Hitler.
One land, one army, one mission.
Asteroids Monster: Its most prominent ability is to split into two separate enemies (the Megaton Bomber and Megaton Blaster) upon depletion of its first health bar.
Destructible Projectiles: Its blast attacks can be neutralized using either the Ring of Fire Tier II upgrade, or the secondary vacuum fire of the D.I.E. Machine.
Elite Mook: Of Die Maschine.
Hazmat Suit: They wear nuclear Hazmat Suits.
King Mook: The Mayak/Megaton Overlord, which only spawns during the main quest. It is coloured red and has more health, but lacks the splitting ability of the regular variant.
Mighty Glacier: Slow, but by far one of the tankiest and deadliest enemies in Zombies history. Its Bomber and Blaster forms, despite being much skinnier and missing a limb each, have just as much health.
Nuclear Mutant: Radioactivity is its main thing, complete with a Sickly Green Glow and its arrival being heralded by the crackling of a Geiger counter. Even its splitting ability can be compared to the splitting of an atom.
Ominous Latin Chanting: Their appearances are marked with this.
Punched Across the Room: They have the ability to do this to players, sometimes even sending them up in the air for a few seconds. (Haha.)
Red Is Violent: The Megaton Overlord is red in colour and is far stronger than the regular Megaton.
Token Good Teammate: Orlov, a member of Omega Group, is resurrected as a friendly Megaton during the main quest, where he then performs a Heroic Sacrifice to deactivate the Cyclotron machine which caused the zombie outbreak.
Was Once a Man: They're revealed to be mutated clones of Orlov, an Omega Group Member.

Demented Echoes

Appearances: Die Maschine | Outbreak

Jump Scare: Very rarely, they will jump out of the Mystery Box and scream in the face of unsuspecting players, who will likely need a change of pants afterwards.
Patrolling Mook: If on of these spots you in Outbreak, they will let out an ungodly screech and alert nearby zombies to your location.

Mimic

Appearances: Firebase Z | Outbreak | Mauer der Toten | Forsaken | Operation: Deadbolt

A tentacled ambusher with the ability to disguise itself as random item drops.

Call-Back: Their eyeless, More Teeth than the Osmond Family heads are very similar to those of Margwas and Nova Six Crawlers from previous Zombies experiences.
Combat Tentacles: Has a pair sprouting from its back which it can use to pull you in and deliver a deadly bite.
Elite Mook: Of Firebase Z alongside the returning Russian Manglers.
Throat Light: The inside of their mouths glow blue, and like Margwas this is their weak-point.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: Their main gimmick; they can disguise themselves as items such as dropped salvage, scorestreaks, loot chests and even perk machines. Intel recounts how a captured specimen breached containment by disguising itself as a gun to fool an uninformed guard.
Was Once a Man: They are humans who have spent a prolonged amount of time in the Dark Aether, twisting them into monsters. Multiple, half-formed heads can be seen emerging from the creature's neck.

Orda

Appearances: Die Maschine | Firebase Z | Outbreak

A rotting, fleshy giant which appears starting from the third Assault Round of Firebase Z, as well as during its main quest.

Advancing Wall of Doom: When it appears during Assault Rounds, it will slowly make its way towards the Aether Generator and drain it completely if it isn't killed first.
Early-Bird Cameo: Reaching round 40 on Die Maschine and entering the Dark Aether will cause it to appear in the distance, walking past outside the map.
Eldritch Abomination: Described as an "Elder God" by scattered communities within the Dark Aether. This title is also used for one variant of the Apothicons...
Expy: Has a very similar design to the Panzermorder from WWII Nazi Zombies, being a giant Body of Bodies with a gaping chest-hole serving as a "face".
Final Boss: Of the Firebase Z main quest.
Flunky Boss: Most of its attacks aren't too dangerous by themselves, but add up significantly alongside the large zombie hordes that spawn in alongside it.
Mook Maker: Can fire Hellhounds at the player from the bizarre, baggy appendage it has in place of a left hand.
Pest Controller: It can also fire hordes of insects which track the player and do damage over time.
The Worm That Walks: It is said to be made of hundreds of rotting corpses.

Tempest

Appearances: Outbreak | Mauer der Toten

Crystaline humanoids with the ability to shoot lightning at high velocities.

Call-Back: Somewhat reminiscent of the Avogadro, who is also a teleporting electrical specter with ranged attacks. The key difference here, however, is Tempests can be taken down with conventional firearms and not just melee attacks.
EMP: Vehicles struck by their projectiles will be disabled for a short time.
Teleport Spam: Will employ this liberally to keep a distance from you, or to chase you down when you're driving a vehicle.
Was Once a Man: According to Kravchenko in Mauer der Toten, Tempests used to be humans.

Disciple

Appearances: Mauer der Toten | Outbreak | Forsaken | Operation: Deadbolt

Floating humanoids that can enhance a standard zombie's speed and strength.

Humanoid Abomination: Initially appear as such, their inhuman nature only visible in their Creepy Long Fingers. Dealing damage and destroying their clothes will reveal their more eldritch true forms, with tentacles in place of legs and screaming human faces covering their torsos.
Power Floats: The Disciples levitate across the battlefield, holding sway over the undead hordes from above.
Skull for a Head: Wears a balaclava with the visage of a glowing orange skull. "Unmasking" them will reveal a Keeper-esque Eyeless Face with a Throat Light and More Teeth than the Osmond Family.
Squishy Wizard: Capable of Status Buffing zombies and damaging the player with a lock-on laser beam, but not particularly tanky by special enemy standards.

Tormentor

Appearances: Mauer der Toten | Forsaken

Abomination

Appearances: Forsaken | Operation: Deadbolt

A three headed creature that bears a resemblance to the Margwa from Black Ops III. A new class of enemy, the Mega Abomination, is introduced in the Zombies mode of Modern Warfare III.

Attack Its Weak Point: Like the Margwa, the best way to damage it is to shoot it in one of its mouths whenever one starts glowin.g

Introduced in Vanguard

Boom Schreier

Appearances: Der Anfang | Terra Maledicta | Shi No Numa (Vanguard Reimagining) | The Archon

Shrieking, crystallized zombies that bum rush the operators and explode on them.

Expy: They’re basically the ancestors of the Tormentors from 1985.

Sturmkrieger

Appearances: Der Anfang | Terra Maledicta | Shi No Numa (Vanguard Reimagining) | The Archon

Hulking zombies wielding huge Gatling guns to shoot back at the operators.

Gatling Good: Their weapon of choice.

Zaballa the Deceiver

Appearances: Der Anfang | Terra Maledicta | Shi No Numa (Vanguard Reimagining) | The Archon

One of Kortifex's assassins from the Dark Aether, and capable of copying herself to harass the operators.

Attack Its Weakpoint: Her masks, meaning that you will need to know how to aim at her head... Or you could use the Ray Gun or Saraxis' Energy Mine.
Attention Deficit... Oh, Shiny!: Double Subverted. She's not dumb enough to be distracted by the Decoy... but she will think that the Monkey Bombs are an Operator and deal with it accordingly.
Doppelgänger Attack: One of her explicit abilities, and why she can appear as herself outside of the Dark Aether without an artifact. This is a double edged sword though, as killing a copy hurts her a lot.
Evil Counterpart: To Saraxis, sharing many of the same abilities such as the use of energy mines.

Introduced in Modern Warfare III

Mercenaries

Appearances: Operation: Deadbolt

The soldiers of Terminus Outcomes, a PMC organization founded by Jack Fletcher and hired by Viktor Zakhaev. They come in different varieties: Grunts, Soldiers, Snipers, Recon, Shock Troops, Anti-Tanks, and Elites. In a first for Zombies, they're all humans.

Glass Cannon: They're very hard hitters, but the lower-tier mercs will go down like flies.
Private Military Contractor: Natch. They have several camps and strongholds stationed across Urzikstan.
Unexpected Gameplay Change: They stand out from the other enemies in Modern Warfare III (and Call of Duty: Zombies as a whole) by virtue of them all being regular humans. As such, they're one of the few non-boss enemies to use firearms.

Characters / Call Of Duty Zombies Enemy Types

Edit Locked

Index | Ultimis and Primis | Victis and other playable characters | Mob of the Dead | Others | Enemy Types

Introduced in World At War

Zombie

Hellhound

Introduced in Black Ops I

Nova Six Crawler

The Pentagon Thief

Space Monkey/Zombie Monkey

George A. Romero

Napalm Zombie

Shrieker Zombie

Astronaut Zombie

Introduced in Black Ops II

Avogadro/Cornelius Pernell

Denizen of the Forest

Brutus/The Warden

Ghost Women

Panzersoldat/Krasny Soldat

Introduced in Black Ops III

Margwa

Parasite

Insanity Elemental

Thrasher

Spider

Dragon

Russian Mangler

Valkyrie Drone

Apothicon Fury

Introduced in Black Ops IV

Blightfather

Catalyst

Stoker

Destroyer and Marauder

Tiger

Nosferatu

Werewolf

Gegenes

Spartoi

Introduced in Black Ops Cold War

Megaton

Demented Echoes

Mimic

Orda

Tempest

Disciple

Tormentor

Abomination

Introduced in Vanguard

Boom Schreier

Sturmkrieger

Zaballa the Deceiver

Introduced in Modern Warfare III

Mercenaries

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