Characters

Characters

Usually there are different types of characters that always appear in every zombie film. These characters are usually in groups that either have never met before and get together to survive. These people usually have different qualities and work well together to survive however because they’ve never met they find it hard to trust each other and often fight and argue. So who are the average characters in zombie films?

The Leader

The leader, often the main character is usually someone who was in a job that involved protection before the outbreak and takes charge in looking after the group as they are responsible and caring and has a good heart making them good for looking after the other characters. These leaders often have to make decisions for the good of the group and have to make sure they’re the right ones. An example of a good leader in a zombie TV show is Rick Grimes. He fits my profile as he was a policeman before the outbreak meaning he looked after the community and then becomes the leader in the group making good decisions and the right ones.

The Expert

The Expert is often someone who is good with weapons and could have had military training or body training in general. In other words they are prepared for the apocalypse and know what they are doing. They are usually the best with guns and weapons and have some sort of enjoyment from the new world and killing the zombies. This expert can sometimes be quiet but is usually a loud and expresses his feelings quite bluntly. An example of an expert is Tallahassee in Zombieland he is fearless and takes great pleasure in killing the zombies.

The Troublemaker

The Troublemaker is someone who can’t seem to get along with anyone in the group. Maybe someone who was strong or in authority in the past life or maybe someone who has always liked to cause trouble. This person either dies because of their need to cause trouble, gets into trouble or becomes so bad that the group have to leave him. Sometimes the character might not die but at his/her last minutes has a change of heart and turns to the good guy often getting you to love the character. This Character often appears in zombie films because it relates to real life as there is always someone who is a troublemaker and they often turn him good in the end to get the most emotions out of the audience. An example of this in a zombie TV show is Merle Dixon in The walking dead. He fits my profile perfectly as he is a troublemaker in the camp and gets left behind but later returns to them and does a courageous act of kindness and helps the group.

The Eye Candy

The Eye candy is usually a girl who is very attractive and not fit for the post apocalyptic world as they have no experience or strength and are girly and feminine and often can’t live without their make up or straighteners. She is usually in the right place at the right time to be able to survive without any skills just is lucky but usually the person either goes through a change and has to develop a different personality in order to survive in this world. If the character doesn’t go through this change they often die because they’re not suited for this life. An example of this type of character is Amy in the walking dead. She fits the profile as she is an attractive female that isn’t accustomed to the post apocalyptic world which makes her vulnerable and unfortunately dies.

The Kid

People often forget that in films after a zombie outbreak there are still children often very few due to the fact that children are weaker, slower and scared of a zombie post apocalyptic world therefore often die quickly but in a most zombie films there is one child who doesn’t get to have the childhood they’re supposed to and start out as vulnerable and childish but develop into strong courageous human beings. However this isn’t always the case as some children just can’t mature and often die in this world and not get to live their life. An example from the walking dead is Carl. He starts off as a young boy that isn’t strong or fit for the world yet transforms into a man earlier than he should where as Sophia doesn’t quite mature and grow quick enough and dies. This also relates to the (quite sexist) stereotype that men are stronger than women however most zombie films do contradict this stereotype.

The John Smith

Whenever you watch a zombie movie you always see yourself. The average Joe that has an average day job an average life and is average, even in the zombie world they are the average ones of the group. This character is used to connect with the viewers because they are average and just normal. An example of this is Columbus in zombieland, Despite being a funny character he is normal and average.

To conclude looking at the characters in these films that always seem top appear I will act upon my research and incorporate some of these stereotypes in our film. However these stereotypes aren’t always correct and can be wrong. Just because a type of character appears in zombie films often it doesn’t mean that it’s the correct way to portray the character. So maybe in our film we could go against the stereotypes to be different. But we want everyone to know it is a zombie film so maybe portraying our characters in the way that is common in most zombie films will be better for us in order to let people know what kind of film and genre it is.