Zombie (monster)

The basic Doom 3 Zombie is a reinterpretation of the classic Former Human. They were once UAC civilians, now possessed by evil spirits. A scripted event early in the game shows scientist Jonathan Ishii coming into contact with a transparent "ghost skull", which turns him into a Zombie. The demonic force that creates Zombies does not differentiate between the living and the dead, slain humans will be re-animated as Zombies, and do not seem to be any less powerful than the ones created through possession of a living host.

Zombies come in differently-colored clothes like the original zombie soldiers and have other minor characteristics in common with the classic zombie soldiers, such as one zombie type having withered hair (compared to the classic Zombieman's green hair). The basic Zombies in Doom 3 do not carry firearms like the Z-Secs, though a few may use wrenches and flashlights as clubs.

They generally come in a number of flavours, each with different heads (or even, occasionally, no head) and different damage skins.

Distinct types of zombies are listed here:

Regular zombies:
 * Zombie Scientist (wears a greenish or blue lab coat, can appear jawless, headless and faceless).
 * Zombie Maintenance Worker (wears a brown-orange suit, can appear jawless, headless and faceless. May carry a wrench).
 * Zombie Marine (NOT the same as a Commando or a Z-Sec, unarmored, wears a blood-stained olive-colored tanktop).
 * Zombie Civilian (wears a blackish coat/suit).
 * Bony Zombie (naked and only found in Hell).
 * Fat Zombie (fat, barefoot, civilian wearing grey clothes. Can appear faceless and with an open stomach. May carry a wrench. Has roughly twice as much health as a regular zombie, due to the fat on the stomach absorbing bullets).

Fast Zombies:
 * Fast Zombie (wears open shirts and shambles at a noticeably higher speed than normal zombies).
 * Flaming Zombie (affectionately monikered "Bernie", this burning zombie is noticeably faster than normal).
 * Morgue Zombie (Created from a corpse in the morgue. Looks like the bony zombies but wears a pair of underwear. Only one appears in the entire game. Unlike regular zombies, he runs instead of walking or shambling, making him quite fast).

Special zombies:
 * Chainsaw Zombie (also known as "Sawyer"; a unique zombie type with a distinct appearance, significantly higher than normal health, and armed with a chainsaw).

All zombies but the last four are very quiet save the moaning.

Combat characteristics
The basic zombie types take around eight pistol bullets to the body to kill, but headshots do twice the damage. They move rather slowly and are melee enemies only. However, their melee attacks do much more damage than Imp attacks, especially if they are armed with a flashlight or wrench to use as a club.

Tactical analysis
Mostly slow-moving and entirely melee-only, these monsters are really only in the game as target practice and for putting a scare on the player when they burst from a "monster closet". Any weapon, including fists and the flashlight, can be used effectively against them, but when a melee weapon is used, it is necessary to take careful aim and back away frequently to avoid their attacks. On the other hand, when facing a Chainsaw Zombie, forget melee, it is vital that you kill the zombie before it can attack you at close range.

Zombies are ideal enemies to use the pistol or the chainsaw on. When facing a Chainsaw Zombie you should use a rapid fire ranged weapon instead of weak or slow firing weapons.

If you notice a dead body on the ground, club it with a flashlight. Some zombies play dead, and this tactic will save the hassle of being ambushed by one.

The Chainsaw Zombie can also be killed by standing still with the chainsaw spinning, and letting the Chainsaw Zombie walk into the spinning blade and kill itself. If you instead run at a Chainsaw Zombie with the chainsaw, the zombie will be able to hit you with its chainsaw before it dies.