History Main / IncongruouslyDressedZombie

If an undead creature's clothes look odd merely because they're old-fashioned, that's OutdatedOutfit. If the outfit was goofy ''back then'', these tropes overlap.

If an undead creature's clothes look odd merely because they're old, but they're appropriate to the creature's time of origin, that's OutdatedOutfit.

If an undead creature's clothes look odd merely because they're old, but appropriate to the creature's time of origin, that's OutdatedOutfit.

* Some ghosts in ''TheFrighteners'' wear outfits that rated as "goofy" even in their decade of origin.

* Non-zombie example: Some of the recently-dead from the afterlife waiting room in ''{{Beetlejuice}}'' are dressed quite oddly (a headhunter).

** Worker zombies in the "Dead Rain" campaign wear bright yellow reflective vests, making them easy to see in the torrential downpour. They also wear hardhats, making them immune to headshots.

* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' has your usual hordes of zombie masses, but there are also "Uncommon Commons", a step below the [[EliteZombie Special Infected]]. They all look different from usual, but also have unique properties about them.

* ''PlantsVsZombies'' has several examples. The Disco Zombie ''used'' to look like Michael Jackson up until he died and his family requested that they change his appearance. The Jack-In-The-Box zombie wears pajamas and carries an exploding Jack-in-the-box with him. The Zomboni is a guy driving around a zamboni, and he's followed by Bobsled Zombies, who carry their bobsled with them. A very unusual sight to see in the zombie apocalypse.

** Riot Gear zombies, found in "The Parish", are completely immune to guns from the front.

** Other examples include hospital patients and staff, Midnight Rider fans, Wedding Guests, and Airport Personnel.

Not necessarily exclusive to zombies: vampires, ghosts, biped werewolves, and other human-derived monsters may also be examples of this trope, provided their outfit is unexpected and/or goofy enough to surprise and amuse the audience. Distinguished from OurZombiesAreDifferent in that the IncongruouslyDressedZombie only ''looks'' unique; functionally, it's usually (though not always) your standard-issue NightOfTheLivingMooks drone.

Not necessarily exclusive to zombies: vampires, ghosts, biped werewolves, and other human-derived monsters may also be examples of this trope, provided their outfit is unexpected and/or goofy enough to surprise and amuse the audience. Distinguished from OurZombiesAreDifferent in that the IncongruouslyDressedZombie only ''looks'' unique; functionally, it's generally your standard-issue NightOfTheLivingMooks drone.

** Mudmen are are, well, covered in mud.

** There are also a variety of Uncommon Common infected that have no gameplay differences, but are only scripted to spawn in certain areas. These were present in the original Left4Dead and were the inspiration for the new Uncommon Common infected type. Notable ones include hospital patients and staff (only spawns in the Hospital level in No Mercy), Midnight Rider fans and Wedding Guests (only spawns in The Passing, where the Riders were doing a tour in town while there was also a wedding) and Airport Personnel (spawns in the last few levels in Dead Air, no guess as to why) among others.

** Hazmat zombies found in "Dead Center" run around in their still fully-sealed yellow and green hazmat suits. They are immune to fire, and you can hear the air leaking out of them like a baloon if you kill them with a melee attack. They can also drop bile bombs- containers filled with Boomer Bile.
** The Clown zombie is found in "Dark Carnival", running around with large clown shoes and a big red nose. They spot the survivors and start summoning other zombies in the area to them. Kind of like the Boomer, only without the puke.
** Mudmen are are, well, covered in mud. They appear in the Swamp Fever campaign, can run at normal speed in the water, and blind the survivors by slinging mud at them.
** Riot Gear zombies found in "The Parish", are completely immune to guns from the front. Attack them from behind with any type of weapon and they die just like the rest.
** Worker zombies in the "Dead Rain" campaign wear bright yellow reflective vests, making them easy to see in the torrential downpour. They aren't too different from a common zombie beyond that, except that they are immune to the lure of pipe bombs and bile bombs (earplugs prevent them from hearing it). Any other common zombie will flock to the bomb's beeping before it explodes and takes them all out. They also wear hardhats, making them immune to headshots.
** Fallen Survivors from "The Passing" are rare, and for good reason. They still wear their survival gear, but weren't fortunate enough to be immune to the virus. When attacked, they actively run away from the survivors (still thinking they're running away from other zombies). They have the same HP as a Witch, but if you do manage to kill them, they can drop a med kit, pills, adrenaline shots, pipe bombs, or molotovs.
** Zombie Jimmy Gibbs Jr. used to be a famous stock car racer and idol to millions of people living in the south. Unfortunately, he fell like most of the rest of the population. He still wears his racer's uniform and helmet. He is [[MetalSlime extremely rare]], only a 1/20 chance of appearing in "Dead Center", and since there's only one of him, you won't see him twice. He has the HP of the Fallen Survivor, mud slinging abilities of the mudmen (but with motor oil), and is immune to the lure of pipe and bile bombs like the Workers.
* ''PlantsVsZombies'' has several examples. The game starts with your usual zombie, but then everything after that counts to some degree. The Disco Zombie ''used'' to look like Michael Jackson up until he died and his family requested that they change his appearance. The Jack-In-The-Box zombie wears pajamas and carries an exploding Jack-in-the-box with him. It can go off at any point. The Zomboni is a guy driving around a zamboni, and he's followed by Bobsled Zombies, who carry their bobsled with them. A very unusual sight to see in the zombie apocalypse.

* ''Left4Dead 2'': Uncommon commons.
** Clown
** Riot gear
** Roadworker
* ''PlantsVsZombies'' has several examples, including the Disco Zombie.

* One ''ComicBook/HackSlash'' arc had a slasher who resurrected a bunch of dead animals as zombies, including [[DancingBear a circus bear in a tutu]].

* In ''Porn of the Dead'', one of the zombies was apparently mental patient, and is still stuck struggling with a straitjacket.

* In ''Porn of the Dead'', one of the zombies was apparently mental patient, is still stuck struggling with a straitjacket.

* ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'' has Larvae: a transitional stage between human and vampire that are functionally zombie-vampires, usually still dressed in the rags of whatever they were wearing when abducted and turned. Their sourcebook suggests that GameMasters employ this trope as a way to ramp up the creepiness. (Yes, that guy in a mailman uniform or the woman in the torn, fuzzy pink bathrobe is about to eat you!)

Not necessarily exclusive to zombies: vampires, ghosts, biped werewolves, and other human-derived monsters may also be examples of this trope, provided their outfit is unexpected and/or goofy enough to surprise and amuse the audience. Distinguished from OurZombiesAreDifferent in that the IncongruouslyDressedZombie only ''looks'' unique; functionally, it's generally your standard NightOfTheLivingMooks undead.

Not necessarily exclusive to zombies: vampires, ghosts, biped werewolves, and other human-derived monsters may also be examples of this trope, provided their outfit is unexpected and/or goofy enough to surprise and amuse the audience.

* In webisode clips spun off ''TheWalkingDead'', two child zombies wear paper birthday-party hats. Another (adult) zombie wore the day-glow yellow vest of a parking-meter reader.