Zombies are reanimated undead corpses that shamble around looking for the living.
Background[]
Zombies inhabit many lands. They dig up out of the ground when they sense the presence of the living, often popping up behind them. Shuffling undead rise from their graves in order to find the flesh of the living. Zombies smell of damp earth and decaying things that are best left nameless.[1]
In the legion of the undead, zombies are the opposite of ghosts. Ghosts have distinct personalities, but no bodies; Zombies have bodies, decaying though they may be, and no personalities at all. Zombies are animated corpses--walking appetites for human flesh, especially brains. The only way to stop a zombie is to destroy its own brain, or whatever is left of it. The rule is "Kill the brain, kill the ghoul," and it is a good one to keep in mind--so to speak. If one ignores this rule, they could hack a zombie to pieces, but the pieces would still move on their own.[2]
Zombies plague the graveyards around the Whateley Manor at night. Their victims become members of the walking dead themselves.[3] They are repelled by the Obsidian Scarab, which makes them return to their graves. Zombies, Ghouls and their shadowy cousins Zuvembies also wandered across the surface of the Isle of the Dead, their touch, corrosive.
The coming of the cataclysm disturbed the dead buried in the Kingdom of Daventry, this included areas near Daventry town; including the Church graveyard, Farmer Simms's House and mountains near the village. The dead arose to seek out the living. Zombies could also be found wandering the halls of the Dimension of Death, in tunnels of the Underground Realm of the Gnomes, and even in one of the chambers of the Realm of the Sun. While they are dumb and very slow moving creatures, they often pack a powerful punch. Some even take a lot of punishment before being ripped apart. Connor had to defend himself from zombies many times throughout his quest to save Daventry. The Zombie were former people of Daventry. Sadly, the chaos in the land had affected even the revered dead, pulling them from their well-deserved rest.
There is a caution to the traveler who ventures through the graveyards, tombs, and ruins of Daventry, for these are the lairs of the undead. One false step on the wrong grave may call forth a shroud-draped horror. Like Skeletons, a single Zombie is relatively simple to defeat, but a band of them can pose quite a challenge. A vanquished Zombie will leave behind a pile of moldering bandages. If one is lucky, those bandages might contain the fruits of the earth-- a particular type of restorative mushroom.[4]
Another form of zombie appears to occur when a spirit possesses the living. The ghosts can then control the individual leading them to them to their doom. The victim takes on a strange pallor, raises his arms, and is lead to their death. This has been known to occur in Kolyma, caused by the ghosts guarding Dracula's Castle.[5]
Behind the scenes[]
In KQ4 Hintbook the zombies are called 'The Zombies'. In KQ8 Hintbook, they are called 'Zombies'.
The KQ8 website offered more detail than the manual for KQ8, or the game.