A trope I dislike in the zombie genre....."Living infected" not actual corpses...
These are my own thoughts but one of my biggest annoyances the "modern zombie" era lies within the idea that the zombies themselves are not dead at all but in fact are "infected" and still technically alive but are trapped inside their bodies and can't control any of their actions. It takes away the fear of the genre in my eyes and it makes it just a generic virus theme😒
Resident Evil game franchise:
The zombies in the games within the canon lore and mythology are not dead reanimated corpses. Within the series the viruses specific for those games do not reanimate or cause you to "die" like the traditional zombie mythology. Instead your body gets hunger for flesh, necrosis for your skin, rotting skin that in turn feels itchy, yet the victims are still alive and not able to control their actions. The viruses "mutate" the host and not cause them to reanimate after death at all. I find this baffling especially when you see Elliot in Remake² being half a corpse trying to bite at your ankles, or there are corpses with their throats torn out which would've killed someone otherwise😒🤦
World War Z[Movie&Game]
These again are not "reanimated" corpses, but are just rabid victims who seek to spread the virus which is such a disappointing change compared to the OG novel/audio book which explains that these victims are in fact reanimated corpses that seek out flesh.
Dying Light 1-2/The Beast:
Once again not actual zombies. The victims still are in knowledge they are trapped but can't control their actions. It ruins the mythology of the zombie when you see the slow biters that look more corpse like...
State Of Decay 1&2:
A brain parasite that basically controls its host and takes over. Not zombies.
Days Gone:
Living infected types that sleep, defacate, drink, look for food, again disappointingly not zombies.
Left For Dead 1&2
Once again rabies infected types.
Other examples of "not traditional zombies"
Dead Rising
7 Days To Die
Call Of Duty Zombies[demonic entities looking for souls]
Dead Island 1&2/Riptide
Red Dead: Undead Nightmare
It feels like the only actual "zombies" in gaming or pop culture that aren't just infected living people are
Black Summer
Train To Busan
The George A. Romero franchise
Stubbs The Zombie
No More Room In Hell 1&2
Into The Dead 1-2
Return Of The Living Dead Franchise
All Of Us Are Dead
Dead Set
Shaun Of The Dead
Project Zomboid
Lucio Fulcis Zombi²
The Walking Dead
Blood Quantum
Dawn of the dead Remake
Anna and The Apocalypse
Why are so many filmmakers and game developers so afraid of making zombies actually reanimated, walking corpses???
Every game in the genre is always falling into their not zombies, but are people trapped infected by a parasite or virus.
Its tiresome honestly.