To prevent large chunks of white text for years-old spoilers, all spoilers up to the end of Black Ops III will be unmarked.
Though it started off as a plotless game mode with generic grunts as the playable characters, Call of Duty: Zombies soon found itself expanding into a vast lore with numerous memorable characters, playable and non-playable.
- Ultimis and Primis note "Tank" Dempsey, Nikolai Belinski, Takeo Masakai, and Dr. Edward Richtofen
- Victis and other playable characters note Victis (Misty, Marlton, Samuel, and Russman), John F. Kennedy, Robert McNamara, Richard Nixon, Fidel Castro, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Robert Englund, Danny Trejo, Michael Rooker, Nero Blackstone, Jack Vincent, Jessica Rose, Floyd Campbell, Diego Necali, Scarlett Rhodes, Bruno Delacroix, Stanton Shaw
- Mob of the Dead note Salvatore DeLuca, Billy Handsome, Finn O'Leary, Al Arlington, Brutus, Stanley Ferguson
- Other Characters note Ludvig Maxis, Samantha Maxis, Sophia, Groph, Schuster, Arthur, Ghost Women, Doctor Monty, The Shadow Man, The Apothicons, The Keepers, Marines, Peter McCain, Cornelius Pernell, Rushmore, George A. Romero, Brock and Gary, Sally, George Barkley, Pablo Marinus, Alistair Rhodes, The Order, The Oracle, Pegasus, Requiem, Omega Group, The Forsaken, T.E.D.D
- Enemy Types note World at War (Zombie, Hellhound), Black Ops I (Nova Six Crawler, The Pentagon Thief, Space Monkey/Zombie Monkey, George A. Romero, Napalm Zombie, Shrieker Zombie), Black Ops II (Avogadro/Cornelius Pernell, Denizen of the Forest, Jumping Jack, Brutus/The Warden, Ghost Women,Panzer Soldat), Black Ops III (Margwa, Parasite, Insanity Elemental, Thrasher, Spider, Russian Mangler, Valkyrie Drone, Apothicon Fury), Black Ops IV (Blightfather, Catalyst, Destroyer/Marauder, Tiger, Stoker, Nosferatu, Werewolf, Gegenes, Spartoi), Black Ops Cold War (Megaton, Demented Echoes, Mimic, Orda, Tempest, Disciple, Abomination), Vanguard (Boom Schreier, Sturmkrieger, Zaballa), Modern Warfare III (Mercenaries)
