I'm writing a zombie survival story (I know, how original, whatever.)
Much like the walking dead, the word "zombie" doesn't exist in this world. And frankly, I find that word to sound a bit cheesy. So I was hoping some of you would like to help me brainstorm some original names to call these creatures in my story.
Feel free to edit spaces, hyphens, or capitals as you see fit:
- The Soulless Ones (singular: a soulless one / a soulless)
- The Forsaken (singular: a forsaken)
- The Back-Alives (singular: a back-alive)
- The Hellspawn (singular: a hellspawn)
Shorten it to zomg, pronounced /zɑmdʒ/. Don't blame me; it was Griffin's idea.
The walk-agains
The restless
It would help to know more about the origin of these creatures (biological, necromantic, etc.).
Well, the cause for the outbreak is currently a secret. But I can tell you that over time they evolve. After about a week of being infected you turn into the first stage of infection: Slow, limping, clueless wandering. Then after a month your speed and stability starts to increase. Then after six months your intelligence and all senses are regained, your sense of smell is of an average dog. Then from there on you begin to get stronger, faster, and smarter than any human on the planet.
Larvae
The Recreated
The Reborn
The Renovated
I'm kinda looking for a more casual term to use. Sort like in the walking dead with Walkers, Lurkers etc.
Maybe something that sounds more threatening, but I like the direction you're headed in.
Well if they're getting better than humans, you could call them "The evolved" (An evo or evos for short).
Hmm.. I suppose that could be what they're called near the end of the story, when it is discovered that they evolve. Because for most of the story, the group isn't aware of the evolution. Maybe the early infected could have a different name.
How does 'Grave walker' sound. Could that work?
Stumblers
Drenks (portmanteau of "dead" and "drunks")
Necroholics (combination of "necros", meaning death, and "alcoholics"; sounds too jocular, though)
Alzheimer's patients from Hell
Sorry, Sonic, I'm hitting the bottom of the well, here.
Haha, thanks. You've given me more than enough names to work with. I might even make something comedic out of it where your group is arguing over what to call them.
Sorry I couldn't give you anything that just stuck to the wall. Still, I look forward to reading...whatever the hell it is you're working on.
That's just fine. I'll probably mix and match with some of the names you've given me and see which works well. This is going to be a series of five episodes. I know people here have a thing against stories separated into parts. But episode 1 so far is already 322 pages and I realized a story like that would be hard to manage. Episode 1 already has 17 endings planned and your decisions will carry through to the next episode. Maybe you could beta read it for me when it's finished.
Oh, I give the player a three letter code at the end of the episode. They enter that code in the next episode and all their decisions are carried through. For example: ACB, CBB,AAB etc.
Wow. How is that manageable? There is no way that the story will branch into another episode if you have that many endings... and if you manage it, I want to read it. I would love to be a beta tester and maybe help you with this story if you need it.
I've already planned all the endings and starting points out. Though sometimes some storylines merge into one halfway through an episode. So I guess that makes it a bit easier to manage. Episode five currently has 25 starting points and over 50 endings. Though it is highly likely that some with get scrapped of new ones added in.
Technically episode 1 has 10 endings, but there is a 50/50 chance that your friend will turn on you for a moment (won't give anything away) which makes some endings split into two (depending if he/she does or not). All it really changes is one small conversation in the second episode. Then those endings merge after the conversation is over, to save up space.
Eibmoz. Plural; eibmozes.
Geek has been used as a zombie label before. Not just in the Walking Dead either.
I use words like 'Biter' and just in general 'Undead' in my zombie story.
I guess if you want to take a more scientific approach 'Infected', or a slang term 'Fecto'.
I also like the use of 'geek's' or a 'Zeke'- as used in The Walking Dead and World War Z respectably.
Acks Ankle-Biters Barfers BeeBoys Bitey Bills Blankos Blanks Blazeits Boners Bronies Burgers Chokers Clawing Clydes Clonkers Coughers Crabs Crawlers Crazies Crones Deadheads Dorks Drunks Edgars Fangirls Fightin' Franks Fuckers Gangrene Garys Geezers Groggies Grouches Grumps Gwarians Hockers Laggers Land-Lubbers Lepers Limpdicks Man-Ghosts Moaners Monstrous Mabels Nasties Pissers Psychos Pukes Rattlers Retards Rockies Rotters Running Men Sallow Sallies Sickos Skeeters Slowpokes Smokes Spinners Stickies Stoners Stragglers Swingers The Depressed The Org The Smelly The Stubborn The Un-Somethings Trippers Tweezers Twi-Hards Twitchers Unwashed Wankers Whack-a-Moles Wreckface Zambonis Zangs ??
"Oh my God," she screamed. "The ?? know where we are."
They were supposed to be Chinese symbols that meant "Dead/Stubborn/Stagnant", but they didn't work.
I quite like Limpdicks and Slowpokes.
I like "wankers", 'cause that is what I imagine they would call them in Australia.
"Bronies"
The Infected?
The Carriers?
Biters?
I think I could call them the Infected when I'm talking about a big group/hoard of them. But individual ones could have their own names. Thanks for the suggestions Berka.
