Zombie

Zombie was the term employed to refer to human corpses that had been reanimated through magic. Zombies were commonly mindless, undead creatures capable only of certain physical actions, such as walking and killing, though certain spells could create zombies that retained their memories, personalities, vocalization, and free will.

The only way to kill a zombie is to permanently sever the brain's communication with the body. This can be achieved through decapitation or completely destroying the head or brain.

While undead, beings like Adam, Forrest Gates and Daryl Epps were not zombies. All of them were reanimated through scientific procedures.

Zombie-related episodes

• Some Assembly Required: Though zombies do not appear in this episode, this is the first time they are mentioned in the series. Zombies are described as being created by voodoo practitioners out of corpses. Rupert Giles tells Xander that real zombies do not normally eat flesh and only do so if commanded by their masters.

• Dead Man's Party: The demon Ovu Mobani raises all the dead in Sunnydale. These mindless zombies are attracted to the mask that holds the demon's spirit, killing every living creature in their path, who also then become zombies. Once one of them puts on the mask, it becomes the demon incarnate and the other zombies cower before it. Destroyed once Buffy kills Ovu Mobani. These zombies were mentioned again in the episode The Prom.

• The Zeppo: Jack O'Toole is reanimated through a spell that invokes a spirit called Uurthu the Restless. O'Toole then reanimates Bob, Dickie and Parker. All of them retain their memories, personalities, and free will, and the ability to talk. They looked as they did before being reanimated, so O'Toole was only identifiable as a zombie by the bullet holes in his chest, whereas the others were more clearly dead. Destroyed by Xander.

• The Thin Dead Line: Captain Atkinson revives the dead officers of Precinct 23 through a spell that involves the Idol of Granath, the "Zombie God". These zombies regain the ability to talk and an illusion of the appearance they had before they were killed, though they have no free will and their actions are controlled by Atkinson. Atkinson reanimated them in an attempt to control the crime rates in L.A., either unaware or uncaring that zombies use excessive force to deal with even minor crimes like jaywalking. Returned to their normal dead state when Angel smashed the Idol.

• Provider: Brian was poisoned by his girlfriend and somehow returned as a zombie. Just like Jack O'Toole and his cronies, Brian retained his memories, personality, free will, and speech. He was clearly dead-looking.

• Habeas Corpses: The security protocols of Wolfram & Hart Los Angeles in case of an attack involve a spell that causes every dead creature in the building to arise as a mindless zombie and kill every other living creature. When Angel and his crew take over Wolfram and Hart, the zombies are gone, having been apparently gotten rid of by the Senior Partners after the threat was over.

• Smile Time The demonic puppets who run the show "Smile Time" may use zombies as janitors and cameramen. The janitor doesn't notice Angel intruding the set of the show, even when Angel waves his hand in front of the janitor's face. The puppet dog Groofus identifies the workers as "zombies", however this may just be a figure of speech. The Puppet Girl brings up the possibility of lifting the spell from a couple of the workers so that they can identify intruders. This seems to imply that the human worker drones are enslaved to do menial tasks by the Smile Time Nest Egg rather than being true, undead zombies.

• You're Welcome: Four zombie warriors are kept in the lowest level of the Wolfram & Hart building as part of the security system guarding the Failsafe.

• In IDW's After the Fall series the entire city of Los Angeles is sent to Hell. This has many side effects on the creatures there, one of which is that some of the dead start to rise as zombies. Angel finds the zombies to be "tacky." He breaks his spine jumping from a rooftop in an attempt to slay a zombie. A group of zombies are caught up in the fray after the Lord of Westwood is killed. Wesley is brought back from the afterlife by the Senior Partners as a ghost in order to watch over Angel. The Senior Partners state that they could just as easily summon up a zombie of Lindsey McDonald or Eve, however Wesley states that Angel would never listen either of those people, and would quite possibly decapitate them.

• In a later issue of Angel by IDW entitled "Boys and Their Toys", Angel and Spike are attending the San Diego Sci-Fi Festival. Two of the staff there call upon the god Janus to cast a chaotic spell that forces all the attendees of the convention to take on the traits of the costume they are wearing. One of the panels at the convention was offering a promotion to give away free t-shirts to those that dressed as zombies. Because of the spell, everyone dressed as a zombie became a zombie. Although regular zombies do not pass on their disease through bites, Angel was unsure what would happen if these pseudo-zombies bit anyone seeing as how magic was involved. The zombie convention attendees reverted to their regular, human selves once the bust of Janus was destroyed.

• In Buffy Season Eight: The Long Way Home, the witch Amy raises an army of zombies to attack Buffy's castle. The Slayers fight off the zombies to the best of their ability, but are outnumbered. Willow is eventually able to use magic to turn the zombies back into regular corpses.