A Zombie, as it appears in Resident Evil.
Zombies are generally Humans who have been reanimated with much if not all of their higher brain functions removed and with minimal activity in their bodies. In some cases, they never died at all, but instead lost their higher brain function and their flesh began to rot. In most universes, this is due to some sort of Virus. Most famously, the T-Virus from the Resident Evil series is responsible for Zombies.
- Prior to becoming a staple of modern Science Fiction zombie stories that explain Zombies as the result of a horiffic virus, Zombies were characters in folklore and fantasy. Depending on the story, they were reanimated by unholy or evil spirits rather than a virus.
In many sci-fi Zombie stories, there's a Zombie Apocalypse in which a viral outbreak causes everyone to become infected and to beging turning into a Zombie. In many cases this leads to the end of Human civilization, with only a few survivors living in the now Zombie-infested world.
Resident Evil[]
Zombies were created in this universe by a weaponized virus developed by the Umbrella Corporation. This virus got out of Umbrella's labs in Raccoon City, where it infected most of the city. By emergency order, the city had to be nuked to stop the spread of the T-Virus. (Resident Evil franchise: "Resident Evil", "Resident Evil 3: Nemesis")
28 Days Later[]
After a Zombie apocalypse, a man is left alive and must travel across the country in search of a cure for the virus. ("28 Days Later")