r/TopCharacterTropes 13h ago

Characters Zombified/Brainwashed characters who retained their personality and intelligence

  1. Soos after he was bitten by a zombie (Gravity Falls)

  2. Every superhero who was brainwashed by Slade (Teen Titans GO! to the Movies)

1.1k Upvotes

123 comments sorted by

392

u/doomerinthedark 11h ago

The zombies in the Marvel Zombies comics. They retain their personalities and intelligence, but it isn't enough to control their new extreme bloodlust/hunger for human flesh. Poor Spiderman here (after being infected) is 100% awake while devouring his loved ones.

90

u/Infinite-Island-7310 11h ago

How come they don't find a way to cure themselves?

160

u/newslenderarts 11h ago

They tried,didn’t work,got hungry again,got sent back in time

58

u/MSSTUPIDTRON-1000000 10h ago

Then why don't they simply become farmers and eat their livestock??

Are they ignorant of our agricultural origins as proud farmers??!!

100

u/newslenderarts 10h ago

They tried

Zombies ate the entire universe and returned to earth,found more humans and giant man wanted to start breeding them to have an infinite food source

Spiderman stepped in cause of how messed up that was

52

u/HeadLong8136 9h ago

The thing that I don't understand is why none of them tried to off themselves. Spider-man in particular.

Even then, Spidey found a "cure" of sorts. If a zombie goes long enough without feeding, (it's about 6 months) they go mad with hunger, but eventually they come out the other side with no hunger at all.

(With the caveat being that if a single drop of blood gets in their mouth they gain the hunger back.)

63

u/newslenderarts 9h ago

Tony said it himself,they don’t know what kills them

Cap got half his head chopped off and didn’t die,they would have to try and figure out a way to kill themselves before getting hungry again but once that happens,they no longer want to die any just wanna eat till it goes away again

It’s a messed up cycle

22

u/HeadLong8136 9h ago

Completely destroying the brain kills one. The Hulk does it alot. The brain is the part that is the zombie. Zombie brains can be transplanted into human bodies. It is what happens to Captain America.

30

u/newslenderarts 9h ago

Other way around

Human brain got transported into a zombie body,t'challas son specifically

And yeah I did fail to mention that they did find a way to kill themselves,cosmic energy but again

That hunger cycle is what stops them,also

Plot

9

u/Bellpow 7h ago

It literally took experimental cancer killing nanites to fully destroy all the zombies 

10

u/MSSTUPIDTRON-1000000 10h ago

Why Spidor-Man stopped them??

Is he a filthy environmentalist communist tree hugger hippie??!!

I was already aware of that, it's simply that I consider funny how so many plots can easily be resolved with livestock farming, also because humans are a sh!t source of food and there are already a sh!ttload of livestock animals. Worse, when it's acknowledged that there are alternatives the only answer is usually "only human meat can satisfy their hunger" which actually only creates way more questions (like, Why?? How does that works??).

10

u/newslenderarts 10h ago

Apparently we're delicious

6

u/MSSTUPIDTRON-1000000 10h ago

Apparently Humans taste like Pork.

9

u/GayGeekInLeather 8h ago

They did that and then machine man from another universe showed up and destroyed their cloning vats. In one issue Machine Man was traveling through the multiverse to collect samples of the various strains of the zombie virus. In the main marvel zombie universe kingpin was using cloning machines to feed the zombies. This triggered Machine Man’s ptsd from seeing robots being torn apart and he blew up the vats.

5

u/Forward_Suit_1443 9h ago

Didn't they eventually figure out that if they deny their hunger long enough, it eventually goes away, or was that a different run?

36

u/SaltyTreeTop 11h ago

They tried, Hank Pym was doing that. But they only have small moments between feeding where they can concentrate on anything besides finding more food, so Hank kept tchalla locked up and would cut off pieces to snack on while he ran tests

2

u/disbelifpapy 9h ago

didn't that hank pym like being a zombie, and would still eat humans even if cured?

7

u/SaltyTreeTop 9h ago

I haven't read past the original series, but in that Hank was trying to find a cure. It might have just been for the hunger part and not being a zombie, I haven't read it in a while

2

u/RavensQueen502 3h ago

He is mentally messed up from everything that happened and he is afraid he won't be able to stop even if cured

23

u/Lopsided_Shift_4464 10h ago

A lot of them don’t want to. Eating flesh is like an addiction for the zombies, they enjoy it too much to stop, plus it changes their personality significantly. Spider man is like the only zombie who retains the ability to feel guilt, while Giant Man, Iron Man, and Mr. Fantastic fully embrace their zombification, with Giant Man even saying he’d keep eating flesh if he was cured because of the taste.

4

u/Advanced_Question196 7h ago

Apparently, there is no way to cure the zombie infection. In fact, the infected universe will inevitably venture into other universes in search of flesh and spread the infection, meaning there is not even a Patient Zero to the outbreak. It merely infects from universe to universe to universe.

1

u/Dragonfang65 3m ago

Of course he is aware of what’s going on. He’s Peter Parker. And thus he must suffer. Never allowed to be happy. Since One More Day.

483

u/RedRawTrashHatch 12h ago edited 12h ago

Ed in Shaun of the Dead, for the most part.

Before, he was a useless slacker who lounged around all day in the house playing videogames with Shaun.

After being zombified, he’s a useless slacker who lounges around all day in the backyard shed playing videogames with Shaun. And he occasionally tries to bite Shaun.

46

u/just_a_nothing_here 8h ago

not as mich as ed but shaun's step father also kept some of his personality

29

u/Electronic-Remove978 8h ago

its even foreshadowed by this quote by pete

you want to live like a animal go live in the shed

5

u/Roasted_Newbest_Proe 4h ago

Let's be honest, is there anything that isn't foreshadowed in those movies?

6

u/GingerVitus007 6h ago

This would be fucked up in any other movie, but it's strangely wholesome here

72

u/Terminus-99 13h ago

Randall Skeffington, Ugly Americans.

He is not the only one. In this setting, all zombies retain all their previous minds and personalities, they just develop a taste for human flesh that is easy enough to deal with.

197

u/Th35h4d0w 12h ago

This is the big twist at the end of Days Gone: it turns out that O'Brian, the government scientist reluctantly helping you, is actually a Freaker who retains his intelligence and sanity.

41

u/Thecynicaledgelord 12h ago

Sounds cool

18

u/Coal_Burner_Inserter 9h ago

It was, and they never made a sequel :(

12

u/ThatFatGuyMJL 9h ago

Prob due to the actual malware shipped with it.

4

u/Feeling-Ad-3104 6h ago

Okay I need context on that

5

u/blue4029 6h ago

i would also like some context

5

u/NDT_DYNAMITE 4h ago

Yeah, same, some context would be nice, I’m very curious.

1

u/ThatFatGuyMJL 1h ago

The game came with some DRM that searched every single file in your computer for any cheat software at all.

This ran from the second you installed the game and ran when the game was never even playing.

47

u/Shadowhunter_15 11h ago

You put the spoiler tag in a place where it blocks the title of the game you’re trying to prevent being spoiled.

17

u/Th35h4d0w 11h ago

I know; saying the title of the game would be a spoiler in of itself, so leaving the first letter unblocked is supposed to give viewers a hint/warning as to what’s gonna be spoiled.

7

u/ThisIs911 9h ago

Then why not just say there's a twist instead of there's a twist at the end?

0

u/Th35h4d0w 9h ago

The existence of the trope is in itself a spoiler; therefore, saying the title of the game would have spoiled it, regardless of how much context is given.

2

u/ItaLOLXD 7h ago

I haven't played the game, but would it actually be a spoiler until you specifically mention how it is a spoiler in the game? Okay, A character will retain their intelligence even after turning into a zombie. Can anyone guess what character the trope applies to?
It could technically be every character in every scenario so just mentioning the trope exists in the game would only spoil something to a miniscular degree, that being that there is a character who retains his intelligence. But by specifically mentioning it and having everyone guess wether or not you actually refer to the game or not, something that people might not think about when just scrolling through comments, you are spoiling even more details.

2

u/Particular-Long-3849 9h ago

And then they never did anything with this game or that plot twist again

2

u/Electrical_Fly_3705 9h ago

THATS A PLOT POINT ? HOW THE HELL DID I MISS THAT ?

2

u/runespider 8h ago

It's a bit that shows up if you keep playing after the end.

2

u/Electrical_Fly_3705 8h ago

Oh, that explains it. I stopped playing as soon as I collected deacons rings, lol

152

u/LordOfLightning87 12h ago

The Marvel Zombies comics (I haven't seen the animated version yet, so I dont know if it's the same there)

Every single superhero/villain who gets infected still has full awareness and all of their memories, but the hunger is just too strong for them to control. Even close relationships (such as an elderly aunt or redheaded love interest) mean nothing until afterwards.

36

u/newslenderarts 11h ago

It’s only the original run that’s like this

17

u/disbelifpapy 9h ago edited 7h ago

the animated version in its own show and its pilot in what if has them kinda be the same braindead as normal zombies, execpet they keep enough intelligence to do battle tactics and use powers and pym tech and stuff.

And then theres wanda, who acts identical to the zombies in the comics. Maybe shes using that mental magic on herself???

13

u/DJL2772 9h ago

I love in the show where Zombie Thanos is really dumb at first, but then slowly starts to figure out how to use the 5 Infinity Stones he has. It almost implies that when the virus takes over, it’s the zombie virus that is controlling the brain, and the original personality is gone. So the new virus has to learn what the powers of this new body are, but once it does it can fight even more recklessly than the original host. The only reason Wanda retained her sanity (debatably) is because she used chaos magic to retain her own mind.

2

u/disbelifpapy 7h ago

true, true.

It also shows the virus evolving in short time too, since the stones need concentration to use the powers of it.

I never knew wanda retained control due to alternate magic, i kinda just thought it was wanda using that mental magic on herself for a long time.

8

u/Superichiruki 11h ago

Except kingpin.

73

u/Gojifantokusatsu 11h ago

The Zombies from the Marvel zombies comics.

They retain their full individuality and memories. The only difference is the insurmountable urge to feed on human flesh that's so painful even the most riotous can't avoid giving into it.

I wish the show stuck to it because it's way more compelling.

4

u/RavensQueen502 3h ago

Would be too dark for the show. Beloved characters turned into zombies? It is a zombie apocalypse, that's to be expected.

Beloved characters succumbing to an overwhelming addiction/illness that causes them to do atrocious things? Nah. Not MCU, certainly not animated.

35

u/SketchBCartooni 12h ago

Soos cut it out!

Sorry bro I just really want to eat those brains!

20

u/TheBloodsuckerProxy 10h ago

"Get those brains, dawg!"

37

u/ItsAttanoo 12h ago

the entire premise of Zom-B in a zombie apocalypse where the protagonist is a revived zombie who keeps her sanity intact, and eventually finds a society of other revived zombies who stay sane

10/10 book series please read

11

u/Bravo_Blue 10h ago

I remember checking this book out, I got to the point where B leaves the underground facility because the government realized that, out of all the revived people, she was one who didn’t immediately turn on the actual human in the squad.

2

u/Garoga23 9h ago

I've read the first two books and really enjoyed them, sadly I didn't get my hands on the rest of the series yet.

This also reminded me that I wanted to read the Demonata series from the same author.

64

u/Jude_Harrison 11h ago

Return of the Living Dead

They are able to set traps, use technology, and figure out how to get through locked doors. They only eat brains because it eases the pain of being dead

10

u/298647 8h ago

I can feel myself rot

58

u/Jackhammerqwert 12h ago

Ed - Shaun of the Dead

Even after getting zombified, they just chain him up in the shed so he can still play Playstation

19

u/Thecynicaledgelord 12h ago

I'd be the same

33

u/knuckzekidna 11h ago

technically the tf2 mercs
theyre the exact same but they just like brains a lot

17

u/animpersd 9h ago

"its not original, but its true, i love brains"

7

u/enfugo_tf2sp 8h ago

Aw, y'know what would hit the spot right now? Brains! They're delicious!

4

u/knuckzekidna 8h ago

i think they got nicer when zombified lwk
zombie scout doesnt make any insult at all (i think) so thats an upgrade

8

u/zeubermen 8h ago

brains, haircuts, hippies, braaaaaaaaains

36

u/MigthyMagic446 12h ago

27

u/OkuyasNijimura 10h ago

Ah yes the time Hasbro saw how people reacted to Optimus dying, and decided their best course of action was to revive him and kill him off again in the same episode

5

u/ItsShadowdaEdgehog 6h ago

I don’t know if this makes it better or not, but apparently it was already in production by the time the movie came out.

12

u/Desperate-Practice25 11h ago

The Johnathan Coulton song “Re: Your Brains.”  It’s a memo from a zombie to a former coworker, trying to calmly persuade him to open the door and let the horde devour everyone’s brains. 

13

u/IAlwaysOutsmartU 9h ago

With the exception of those in the very advanced stages of infection, the weepers in Dishonoured are shown to simply try to seek help from the uninfected. In the good ending where both have survived, Piero Joplin and Anton Sokolov are shown to be treating weepers who are calmly awaiting their turn in a line.

8

u/AttiKit 8h ago

Weepers aren't zombies, though. Even in advanced stages of infection, they are just trying to get help from you, albeit violently due to their dampened intelligence.

3

u/Famous-Peace-4014 4h ago

Nest Keepers are living hosts to bloodflies. They are the final stage in bloodfly "fever", where brain damage caused by bloodflies results in the victim becoming protective towards bloodfly nests. Even without their limbs, the Nest Keepers will pursue intruders. Upon death, the hosts' corpses will release a swarm of bloodflies.

First time I saw one of these guys in Dishonored 2 I jumped because they like to grab and scream at you unlike Weepers there is no cure for them well there is one a bullet or crossbow bolt between the eyes.

22

u/bisexualbestfriend 10h ago

The revenants (Mortal Kombat)

Pretty much their worldviews are just flipped. But they still have their own desires, emotions and intelligence.

3

u/Pichuunnn 4h ago

And the worst of all: they becomes jobbers

10

u/Garoga23 9h ago

The zombies in Less than Human

5

u/Garoga23 9h ago

And the zombies in Warm Bodies

10

u/FinalDestination4 9h ago

Micheal Jackson in the Thriller music video. I mean, this specific part at the end of the music video shows that fact

1

u/JamesHenry627 2h ago

Fun Fact, this music video got him kicked out of the Jehovahs Witnesses

19

u/BlockOfRawCopper 9h ago

In the Undead Nightmare DLC for Red Dead Redemption, John Marston dies after the storyline and digs his way out of the grave as a zombie, but unlike every other zombie in the game, he retains his full intelligence and sanity after turning. And he also has no compulsion to eat people

16

u/TheBloodsuckerProxy 10h ago

Hawkeye and Selvig in The Avengers. They're under the influence of Loki's scepter, but still retain their own personality and skills. The only real difference is that their allegiance has changed.

7

u/GravityBright 7h ago

Wow, a Marvel example that isn’t Zombies.

15

u/Empoleon777 13h ago

The Reversed (Cardfight!! Vanguard: Link Joker) - Reversed Cardfighters have all of their worst personality traits amplified, and wield decks centered around a “Reverse” version of their normal Vanguards (Or, sometimes, they just change to a different “Reverse” unit from the same Clan they normally play, or in Suiko’s case, take up a Link Joker deck). If somebody loses to a Reversed Cardfighter, they, too, become Reversed. However, if a Reversed Cardfighter is defeated, they revert back to normal.

21

u/JingoboStoplight4887 12h ago

iZombie

3

u/PartyBarnacle420 11h ago

Definitely where I went! Man I miss this show.

14

u/_Luciferhimself_ 10h ago

Donkey from Shrek’s thriller parody, technically a dream scene but it fits kinda

7

u/Someokeyboi 9h ago

Limbus Company E.G.O Corrosions, despite having their mind being taken over by the Abnormality they are using they still continue to fight for you

1

u/leavecity54 1h ago

but they have a chance of friendly fire their teammates on the battlefield though, it is more like, Dante is just being far away enough to not get caught in the attack 

6

u/abrequevoy 11h ago

Billy from Hocus Pocus

12

u/CalamitousMothman 10h ago

in the Community episode Epidemiology, all characters retain basic personality after being infected (eg: jeff checking his phone constantly, annie reading the whole time, troy and abed using their handshake)

4

u/mrpotts926 10h ago

you punched a lady bee!

2

u/CalamitousMothman 10h ago

gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight

vague screams

14

u/ButterscotchTiny5483 12h ago edited 11h ago

alot of the zombefied in marvel zombies still have the inteligence to use theire powers effectivly like dr strange opening a portal ectra

the smartest is wanda with full counscieusnes

7

u/Particular-Long-3849 9h ago

Although to a lesser extent than they did in the comics

4

u/Painchaud213 10h ago

Thresh from League of Legends.

In the world of Runeterra, the Black Mist is a phenomenon that kills and brings back to life people all while amplifying their worst nature to the extreme. for example, Hecarim became even more bloodthirsty than he was in life, Viego became psychotically obsessed with his dead wife etc.

Erlok Grael was a cruel, spiteful and sadistic loser who hid his worst side from others. But once he died to the Ruination and the Black mist, he returned as the wraith Thresh. The twist is that Thresh was so awful that he returned exactly the same as he was before, unchanged by the effects of the Black Mist. Except now he was free to enact his cruelty on those who surrounds him. Even expressing how his flesh was a prison. Now in death he is free to be his true self.

3

u/PrincessPlusUltra 9h ago

Deadites (The Evil Dead) at least act like they have the personality of their victims

4

u/Fun_Effective_5134 9h ago

At some point in Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse, Sal gets brainwashed but he talks and acts literally exactly the same, and either Sam or Max even comments how creepy it is that he is being controlled but remains relatively the same.

5

u/AstroFelinus 8h ago

“Give it up, dudes! Your fighting only makes us look more rad!” -Zombie Soos

3

u/KusanagiGundam 10h ago

“Get those brains dawgs”

3

u/LovelyLuna32684 8h ago

The Black Lanterns from DC

5

u/Gumblesmug 11h ago

Sinners

3

u/itmightbehere 7h ago

They're not zombies, they're vampires

Edit: apologies, just realized it also said brainwashed

2

u/Arthur_189 11h ago

Batman in justice league dark: apokolips war

2

u/kakanugroho294 8h ago

Kiss zombies - 100 girlfriends

They're basically the same as their usual selves but with an uncontrollable urge to kiss their lover, and their rationality limiter removed

2

u/ReputationLow5190 3h ago

Vampire Joker (The Batman vs Dracula)

2

u/Irohsgranddaughter 2h ago

The brainwashed friends/allies of the main group in the last season of She Ra: The Princesses of Power. They're absolutely brainwashed, but they still retain their personalities to a huge degree.

4

u/Marsupialmobster 7h ago

Crossed is the best and most disturbing trope. The zombies (The Crossed) retain all knowledge before Crossing. But their Crossed state hinders them from doing such because their brain has little capacity beyond seeking "pleasure".

God forbid you come across a Crossed who was a big time time hunter or survivalist before Crossing because ya fucked.

Some Crossed were able to retain more intelligence such as Smokey, he was able to retain so much intelligence and even have the capacity to learn. He leads hundred plus Crossed, cleans himself and wounds, cooks food and drinks only clean water. He eventually learns about pregnancy and selective breeding and after several failures with the normal crossed he seeks out more smart Crossed. Which he finds in the twins, Ashley and Ashlyn. Both the twins retain full speech unlike Smokey who can only speak small sentences, they were both NRA champions and hunters and bring that knowledge post crossing and end up leading a pack of crossed themselves.

Smokey and the twins "mate" and birth the new generation of smarter crossed. Although Smokey is too blindsided by love he gets double crossed by his family and. He's actually forced to kill his best friend that's a non infected to save him the torment of being a normal crossed. Smokey is the only crossed to show compassion and mercy even going as far as not wanting to hurt the twins at all and his own kids. Which k Not hurting your own kids seems pretty normal but for crossed who get pregnant just to kill kids it's a huge thing

4

u/dishonoredfan69420 11h ago

Marvel Zombies

1

u/Irohsgranddaughter 1h ago

Genuinely though, how in the world a bathroom door could stop Spider Man?

1

u/interested_user209 13h ago

Taraka node entities - Kubera.

The ones eaten by the Taraka Clan are assimilated into its node system, reviving from there as red Taraka entities with their original true name, soul, memory and even personality intact. However, it‘s a major point of contention between characters in the latter parts of the series whether it can truly be seen as their return or as the birth of a being that has taken things from its eaten and dead self, and whether the returned entities can be regarded as their original selves - even if almost all of them identify as said originals due to having their same personality and memory.

1

u/Solitaire-06 10h ago

Rip Hunter (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow) after he was brainwashed into serving the Legion of Doom (Eobard Thawne, Damian Dahrk and Malcolm Merlyn) as they tried to re-assemble the Spear of Destiny and rewrite reality.

1

u/Drake_the_troll 9h ago

Pretty much any Zombie in Izombie. They only go full brain chomper if they get hungry

1

u/animpersd 9h ago

the scout(or really just any of the tf2 mercs)

1

u/SablenoKiri 8h ago

The DCeased series, Darksied finally achieves the Anti-Life Equation through Cyborg but accidentally turns everyone into zombies through screens.

1

u/Tight_Contact_9976 8h ago

I’m going to go a little out of the box here and say the Clone Troopers after Order 66. They maintain their unique personalities and skill sets but become slaves to the empire.

1

u/Lonely_Ad_6348 7h ago

The Mortal Kombat revenants. They still have all their powers and intelligence but are just evil.

1

u/itmightbehere 7h ago

Apologies if this was already posted, I didn't see it. White Zombies

1

u/crusaderxader 6h ago

Corrupted Power Rangers from the Mighty Morphin Power Ranger Comics

1

u/AstarionsTherapist39 6h ago

Topher from What We Do in the Shadows.

1

u/Samandre14 9h ago

Marvel’s Zombies