10 Most Creative Zombie Origins In Gaming

Summary

• The evolving origins of zombies in video games explore creative and terrifying twists, such as Cordyceps and Element 115.
• From zombie queens in Dead Rising to Storm Zombies in Fortnite, each game offers a unique take on the undead with intricate backstories.
• The diversity in zombie origins, from parasitic mind control to extraterrestrial infection, adds depth and intrigue to the world of video game zombies.

Zombies have taken the world by storm. Since Night of the Living Dead, zombies have evolved and become a subject within many horror games. In newer stories, the undead may be a result of a botched experiment gone wrong or even interdimensional beings trying to crack the fabric of space-time.

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These new twists for the undead are not only creative but terrifying as well, as they explore different territories within the genre. So, turn down the lights and get ready to face a new threat. Here are the ten most creative zombie origins you will find in the world of video games.

10 Dead Rising - Queens

Stinging Terror

Spending 72 hours inside a shopping mall infested with zombies is no easy feat. Try not to get bitten, or worse, get stung by a strange wasp. In Dead Rising, a mysterious breed of wasps is uncovered in South America and used to enhance meat production. However, they also have a side effect of infecting hosts that come into direct contact with them.

These killer queens soon reproduce and become vital parts of the zombie life cycle. Luckily, killing one of these wasps also destroys any zombies in the area as the connection with the queens is severed.

9 The Last Of Us - Cordyceps

Fungal Frights

Zombies have always been seen as the dead coming back to life or a new infection that takes hold. The Last of Us adds a creative twist with the introduction of Cordyceps. This plant-based zombie plague is not only transmitted through bites but also through particles in the air.

It then causes the Zombies, here known as Clickers, to grow fungi-like features as the infection takes hold. Clickers also have various forms depending on how long the host has been infected, giving this incarnation of zombies their own unique identity.

8 Call Of Duty Zombies - Element 115

Meteor From The Future

Call of Duty Zombies has enough maps to fill a standalone game. The original storyline began with a meteor carrying a mysterious new element that reanimated the dead. It was later revealed that the discovery of element 115 was no accident.

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An interdimensional race sent the meteors across time, knowing that humans would use it to advance their technologies. This in turn would create the undead and fuel the discoveries needed to set the Lovecraftian race free from the Dark Aether as the timeline progressed.

7 Left 4 Dead - The Green Flu

This Isn't Your Regular Flu

The Green Flu is possibly one of the most realistic portrayals of a Zombie outbreak and one of the most well-documented in a videogame. The Green Flu is prominent in Left 4 Dead being an airborne virus that constantly mutates and reacts to the host and any preexisting health condition.

This caused the emergence of special infected like the boomer, the hunter, and the dreaded witch. Information given through quotes and environmental storytelling shows players where the virus originated and how it quickly consumed half the United States.

6 Fortnite Save The World - Storm Zombies

More Than Rain In This Storm

Fortnite wasn’t always a battle royale. It originally launched as a base-building fortress-defending game. In Save the World, zombies were created by the storm, which would lead to constant assaults on survivors. They came in a variety of different elements, each one even deadlier than before, and they were all under the command of the storm king.

This is one of the few incarnations of Zombies where the undead aren’t exactly dead or reanimated monsters. Fortnite has also featured other monsters within the battle royale, such as cube monsters and more undead-like zombies during various Fortnitemares events.

5 Resident Evil 7 - The Mold

Not Your Average Fungus

The Mold in Resident Evil 7 is the perfect blend between the supernatural and the scientific. The Mold had always been around and contained the consciousness of many individuals who had been assimilated into it.

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This distinct ability of the mold allowed for Resident Evil 7 as a whole, to include elements of Supernatural Horror such as ghostly apparitions and demonic possession. It would later be discovered that Ethan Winters had been a Mold zombie throughout the entirety of Resident Evil 7 and Village.

4 Dead Space - Necromorphs

Nothing Can Escape

Zombies are scarier in space. In Dead Space, necromorphs were created by an extraterrestrial race hell-bent on creating something far worse. Many who come into contact with necromorphs are infected directly and twisted into deadly shadows of their former selves. This creates a wide variety of necromorphs each deadlier than the last.

They are created by a signal meant to generate more necromorphs. Once enough necromorphs are created, the ultimate goal is to transform into a moon-sized abomination known as a Brethren Moon.

3 Half-Life - Headcrabs

Mind Your Head

Half-Life is known for its creatures, and headcrabs are possibly one of the most iconic. These alien organisms latch onto a human’s head and controls them. This also leaves the human body mangled with elongated, clawlike fingers.

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Half-Life 2’s Ravenholm level takes advantage of its creepy nature to add even more horror elements to the franchise. Interestingly enough, the noises they make are the distorted voices of their host, implying that they may still be sentient during the zombification process.

2 Halo - The Flood

The Only Escape Is Death

The first half of Halo: Combat Evolved features the fight against the covenant. This conflict soon leads to the discovery of a parasitic organism known as the Flood. These are not your regular zombies though, they assimilate all living organisms into their hive mind.

If enough organisms are assimilated, they eventually form the Gravemind, an even more terrifying monster. Nearly unstoppable, the Forerunners, an ancient race as old as the flood, were left with no choice but to use the Halo Array to destroy all life in the Galaxy.

1 Resident Evil 4 - Las Plagas

Parasitic Mind Control.

Resident Evil is a franchise that evolved past the original Zombies that made it popular. To keep things fresh, new viruses were introduced and no virus is more iconic than Resident Evil 4’s Plagas. These parasites were fossilized deep within the earth, only to be rediscovered by miners in Spain.

Tiny particles would be just enough to start infecting new hosts as Las Plagas ran rampant through the tiny Spanish village. It was later discovered that Las Plagas came in two forms, a subservient strain and a dominant strain which allows for a strong host to control the weaker ones.

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