Undead

For other uses, see Undead (disambiguation).

The ghost of Barbara Radziwill by Wojciech Gerson: ghosts are a common form of undead in folklore

Undead is a collective name for mythological beings that are deceased yet behave as if alive. Undead may be spiritual, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies. Undead are featured in the legends of most cultures and in many works of fiction, especially fantasy and horror fiction.

Bram Stoker considered the term "The Un-Dead" for the original title for his novel Dracula, and its use in the novel is mostly responsible for the modern sense of the word. The word does appear in English before Stoker but with the more literal sense of "alive" or "not dead," for which citations can be found in the Oxford English Dictionary. Stoker's use of the term refers only to vampires, and the extension to other types of supernatural beings arose later. Most commonly, it is now taken to refer to supernatural beings which had at one time been alive and continue to display some aspects of life after death, but the usage is highly variable.

Creation

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus introduced a new variant of undead, the dead brought back to "life" by science, though Frankenstein's creature bears some similarity to a golem. Similar works include H. P. Lovecraft's short story "Herbert West—Reanimator" and the Re-Animator film franchise inspired by the story.

Both legend and popular culture discuss various methods for creating undead creatures. Most involve the reanimation of a corpse, as with zombies, skeletons, and ghouls. Regarding ghosts, the spirit lives on after death, forming an intangible physical body that often mirrors the one the spirit had in life.

In some cases, the undead, especially skeletons and zombies, are under the control of a Necromancer. In other cases, such as zombies as depicted in film and vampires, the undead existence is passed on like a curse or disease. With liches, the powers of undead are sought after by the participant of a magical ritual that turns them from a living being to a lich. Ghosts are said to be kept in their undead state by willpower, either from a keen desire to remain with the living or from a wish to see something completed that they could not do during their lifetime.

Vulnerabilities

In fiction and folklore, undead creatures are often hostile toward the living. Defending against the undead is often portrayed as difficult; most zombie movies, for example, usually depict zombies as being resistant to normal attacks. In such movies (e.g. Night of the Living Dead), only a direct shot to the head seems to stop them. They are often shown as vulnerable to sacred or blessed objects, such as crosses and holy water. This is seen in Dracula, wherein a crucifix burns the vampire. In some games, undead are damaged by magic spells that normally heal a living being and by fire-based attacks. Additionally, a line of salt is sometimes shown as a suitable barrier to the undead.

Vampires are traditionally depicted as being susceptible to a stake through the heart or decapitation, though various traditions have different means of dealing with them. Zombies are often portrayed as able to attack when dismembered, although the zombie-like ghouls in Night of the Living Dead could be dispatched by a "shot in the head, or a heavy blow to the skull".

Incorporeal undead are frequently shown as being difficult to defend against, as in most depictions normal physical weapons pass harmlessly through their forms. In some games (such as Dungeons & Dragons) ghosts can only be dispatched by enchanted or silver weapons. However, in other fiction the only way to get rid of them permanently is to discover what duty or task they failed to complete in life (such as in Chapter 4 of The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis).

Undead are often depicted as vulnerable to sunlight and fire. They may also perish when their creator is likewise dispatched, and may be unable to cross certain symbolic boundaries or even natural barriers like running water. Mummies are depicted as being exceptionally vulnerable to water as it dissolves the flesh and dampens the bandages, destroying them by using the damp bandages to crush its dusty core.

In some cultures, various plants are said to repel the undead. Examples include garlic and wolfsbane, as well as rosewood, rowan, hazel, willow, and holly. This modern tradition appears to be based on pre-Christian belief that some plants are sacred. Wolfbane, in fact, is a powerful poison, and should be handled with extreme care.

Fiction and films

See also: Vampire fiction and Zombies in popular culture

Many films have been made about the undead, usually vampires, zombies, and mummies, including such fiction as Dracula, The Crow, Night of the Living Dead, and The Mummy. The Evil Dead series also largely deals with the undead, but in a broader respect.

Games and popular culture

Undead are a popular adversary in fantasy and horror settings. They feature prominently in many role-playing games, computer role-playing games, MMORPGs and strategy games. In such games, special rules are often given for the undead.

In Dungeons & Dragons and similar systems, clerics can attempt to "turn" undead by invoking their patron deities or channeling "positive energy" (other-dimensional life energy, which animates and heals living creatures, and is the antithesis of negative energy, which animates and heals undead creatures.) This forces the undead creature away from the cleric; powerful clerics are capable of completely destroying weaker undead creatures with this ability. Although the act of turning away the undead relies primarily on power of faith, a holy symbol is usually required as a focus for the divine power being invoked. This is derived from the traditional notion that vampires could be repelled by the cross. Clerics of evil gods can rebuke and control the undead in a similar fashion, by means of necromancy.

In Dungeons & Dragons and other games such as Final Fantasy, undead can be damaged by using magical effects that heal normal living beings.

Undead characters appear in many roles, be it a mindless horde of opponents (such as zombies or skeletons) or a thoughtful, plotting villain (such as vampires). Some games feature undead playable characters, such as Vampire: The Masquerade and World of Warcraft. Others, such as Diablo 2 and Guild Wars, allow the player to take on the role of a Necromancer and raise undead from corpses.

In some stories and settings, such as the Lorien Trust LARP, the word "unliving" is used as a preferential synonym. In reference to the political correctness movement, the undead are sometimes jokingly referred to as the "living-impaired". Vampires were sometimes likewise referred to as "Undead Americans" by characters in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the spin-off Angel.

In philosophy

Jacques Derrida used the myth of the undead as a means to deconstruct the binary opposition between life and death.

See also

• Monster
• Afterlife
• Maschalismos
• Philosophical zombie
• Death and death (personification)
• List of species in folklore and mythology
• List of species in folklore and mythology by type
• List of species in fantasy fiction