bitofarambler

there are a few big issues here.

1. The consistency and efficacy of that pathogen

2. those people wouldn’t be zombies, they would just be carnivores.

3. if cannibalism/societal colapse/megetables are going on, people are going to notice.

there are already pathogens that make someone vegetarian, but because of the resilience of the human body, the effect only takes hold in a very low percentage of people introduced to the pathogen (they’re not sure which mechanism in tick spit prompts the meat allergy yet, afaik).

The brain is incredibly complex and can rewire itself, so to have even 10% of the population have consistently perfectly rewired brains while maintaining all other normal functions and the coordination to conspire, cannibalize people and change the global food supply is a pretty magical scenario.

that sounds like a magic zombie scenario and the aforementioned guidelines apply.

their dead tissue will break apart and decompose very rapidly, and dehydration will prohibit any complex movement after a few hours.

if reanimations are moving their dead bodies around without connective tissue or the fuel/cell requirements needed to work those bodily systems, that’s magic.

expecting non-magic zombies to be able to chase someone or gather in a horde is like expecting a car to run without any fuel, engine, or drivetrain.

the closest thing we have to a non-magic zombie but still similar to zombies in movies is rabies, and the person becomes violent but extremely uncoordinated, aquaphobic, and then dies because the human body doesn’t function without the constant ingestion of water and fuel sources.

“they need no circulating blood nor an heart pumping it?”

yup, those are the magic zombies. real complex organisms whose muscles won’t function without energy/water/bodily structure are much more demanding.

and keep in mind that every moment after death those bodies will be decomposing, that that body is not living, then it is decomposing a piece of steak left over from a picnic in the forests decomposes.

All of the dead soft tissue is going to break apart very quickly and won’t be able to hold the body together.

“moving in hordes”

a horde could be a problem for the few hours that they are coordinated enough to move until dehydration sets in.

“Pure brain rot instead of flesh rot…what would I do…I would be throwing all the books from my personal library at them”

this is a great idea, very poetic retaliation.

I’m of the firm “no magic zombies” camp.

If the zombies aren’t magic, they aren’t going to last long, whichever form of zombie they are. Wait inside a few days, most of them should be dead or immobile.

If a zombie loses blood, they aren’t going to keep walking, their muscles won’t work without blood.

If you have a strong door, zombie arms will break before the door breaks.

Dehydration. Organisms need water to function at all, let alone move, and zombies aren’t big on water fountains.

I see zombies as dangerous for a few days, with their senses failing so they can’t track you effectively for the majority of the outbreak, then it’s over.

Anything other than that scenario is a magical zombie, who can move without energy, function without a body, or unrealistically mutate.

I love zombie movies and comics, but for real real, no magic zombies.

update: I’m going to do a podcast episode about magical zombies now.