Talk:Classic Zombie

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Standardizing the titles

In the interest of simplicity and standardizing the titles of the zombie articles, I think we should rename this page "Zombie". The terms "Headcrab Zombie" and "Zombie" are pretty much interchangable, but "Fast Headcrab Zombie" and "Poison Headcrab Zombie" are very uncommon terms and I've already caught myself creating broken links that lead to the universally accepted titles of "Fast Zombie" and "Poison Zombie". What next? Combine Soldier Headcrab Zombie? :P

It just strikes me as a pedantic and overly complex way of naming them, and this non-standard way of doing things has already caused me quite a bit of confusion. Especially since all these zombie variants are referred to in the various templates as all sorts of other names as well: "poison zombie", "fast zombie", "classic zombie", and "standard zombie". --MattyDienhoff 15:53, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

Does anyone have any objections? --MattyDienhoff 04:06, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

I don't; I think you're completely right about the terminology. EVula // talk // ☯ // 06:16, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

Rewrite or Cleanup?

Does anyone else think this article could do with a small rewrite? The entire middle section doesn't really seem to be discussing the zombie but rather the headcrabs themselves and contains a portion that would be better suited to a Triva section:

The headcrab is vaguely similar to the facehugger in the Alien movies, although their purposes for their hosts are different. The headcrab's parasitic ability is also speculated to be inspired by the capability of the Emerald Cockroach Wasp to paralyze and control "zombie" cockroaches, in a manner that could be similar to how a headcrab controls its host.

Similar plot devices are used though fiction such as in Ian Livingstone's fighting fantasy book Island of the Lizard King, involving a creature called a "Gonchong" whose proboscis would burrow into the head of a host to control it, Clark Ashton Smith's short story The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis features slug-like creatures that eat away human skulls, then control their victims through neural stimulus; unlike the "Gonching", the headcrab does not actually bury into the skull of the host. In the Star Trek film The Wrath of Khan, Ceti eels are used. In all these examples an animal is used to control the thought and or actions of a human host.

Also, the section that discusses the two headcrab variants being able to create zombies should probably also be removed, since it doesn't really have anything to do with the main article (perhaps a separate article should be made to provide an overview of all headcrab zombies?)

(Strat-N8 04:09, 27 December 2008 (UTC))

I must say, you have a good idea. The bit with the in-depth information on the headcrabs is out of place for this article; it doesn't belong. Headcrabs have their own articles for a reason, and the same goes for other types of headcrab zombies. Perhaps a disambiguation page of sorts, maybe called "Zombies" or something to that effect, going briefly over all of the headcrab zombies, and their icing. -Stigma-231 ↓we don't go there↓ ^[Talk] _[Cont] 06:16, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Of course remove the headcrab stuff and put it on the headcrab article. You should also thank the users who spend their time adding misspelled quotes and lists. Klow 13:07, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

I worked on the article a bit, how does it look? (Strat-N8 22:17, 28 December 2008 (UTC))

Images

Maybe someone could add the Zombie beta models. The same goes to the other zombies and headcrabs. Mega Sean 45 21:57, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

Half-Life versus Half-Life 2?

I'm not sure if this is a good idea, but I suggest there should be a Half-Life section and a Half-Life 2 section to this article.

I have two reasons for suggesting this: Firstly, the Half-Life 2 zombie seems much different in both appearance and gameplay compared to the Half-Life Zombie. Secondly, the phrase "In Half-Life 2" being repeated after just about every comparison seems a bit messy to me. If there is a separate section to cover both game's Zombies (and their gameplay), I think it might make the article look cleaner and more organized. (Strat-N8 07:21, 15 January 2009 (UTC))

Yeah, we need A scientist zombie page different from this one. The Half life and Half Life 2 zombies are different in many ways, and this article has practically nothing about the scientist zombies, just a ton of beta pictures.--Dfskelleton 19:16, February 7, 2010 (UTC)

The zombies are designed to be similar. They are both standard zombies, so adding a new page would be needlessly complicated. Admittedly, there could be some more images about the Half-Life zombies, but why not go ahead and add that yourself? --Bramblepath 19:37, February 7, 2010 (UTC)

I agree with the initial suggestion for one important reason; in Half-Life and Opposing Force, it is heavily implied that the headcrab doesn't simply latch onto the host's head, but physically melds with their flesh; there is no visible division between the bottom of the headcrab and the original neck of the host, suggesting that the host body becomes a physical extension of the headcrab itself. Considering the mutations exhibited by the gonome, it's possible that the host is ultimately absorbed completely into the headcrab, which might explain where the gonarch comes from. Xeno the Hedgehog 09:32, March 8, 2011 (UTC)

PS3 Question

Someone added this I don't know if this is true or not:
In Half Life 2 when you travel down the canal to the rebel base with a the zombies in it on the PS3 I saw a zombie eating the dead rebel,proably works on PC and Xbox.
I don't have a PS3 so can anyone confirm this?GordonGMan 14:15, 28 May 2009 (UTC) I think I saw something like that, But He attacked me before I could get a good Look. I have the 360 version.--Dfskelleton 19:18, February 7, 2010 (UTC)

Zombies have been known to consume corpses. I wouldn't be surprised. --Bramblepath 19:56, February 7, 2010 (UTC)

Armored zombie

Should armored zombie have a separate page or there are not enough unique qualities to distinguish it from a classic zombie? --Vitaly12345 23:07, June 5, 2020 (UTC)

The information is pretty easily buried here, so it may warrant its own article. However, we don't have any official name for this zombie type. We only know it as a Zombie with an Armored Headcrab on it. Marphy (talk) 07:35, 5 June 2020 (MSK)

Armored Zombie should be the name surely, honestly already assumed it would be? Classic Headcrab = Classic Zombie. Fast Headcrab = Fast Zombie. Poison Headcrab = Poison Zombie. So Armored Headcrab = Armored Zombie I'd imagine. Could always give it the same treatment as the Antlion Soldier did, just say it's not the official name but we don't have another name for it? — Unsigned comment by Jaroch2

Based on how it's defined in the code, there's no apparent explicit intention to classify a Zombie with an Armored Headcrab to be its own unique zombie type. Similarly, Half-Life: Alyx also includes a zombified Combine Ordinal, but it's not specifically regarded as a "Zombine" as we know it either. As the commentary makes no specific mention of Zombies with Armored Headcrabs as well, there's nothing to warrant the creation of a dedicated "Armored Zombie" article. Marphy (talk) 09:45, 7 June 2021 (MSK)