Zombie

"Ugh... that smell can only mean zombies."

- Alyx Vance

The Zombie is a common enemy featured in the Half-Life series. It is created when a Headcrab attaches to the head of a suitable host and takes control over its victim's body, rendering the host a "Headcrab zombie" (or "necrotic", as they are referred to by the Combine Overwatch).

Overview
Ordinary Zombies are referred to as Standard Zombie to distinguish them from the other types of Zombies, such as the Gonome, the Fast Zombie, the Poison Zombie and the Zombine.

As their name suggests, zombies do not appear to retain much of their former intelligence and, like Headcrabs, will blindly pursue their prey, oblivious to danger (such as the propeller traps seen in Ravenholm). Zombies do not respond to fire and will walk blindly into it, though they feel it on them and notice they are burning once they are on fire. Zombies mainly attack with swipes from their claws, but in Half-Life 2, they gain the ability to forcefully punt objects towards the player. Also in Half-Life 2, certain Zombies can be found "sleeping" and stand up to attack the player if they get too close or are attacked.

As Headcrabs do not attach themselves to native Xen creatures, Zombies are only found on Earth, usually in remote or deserted areas.

Trivia

 * An unusual characteristic of the Poison and Fast Zombie variants is that only three middle fingers of the five on each zombie's hands develop into claws, compared to all the fingers on a Standard Zombie.
 * An often-overlooked effect that signals a Zombie's presence is the buzz of flies due to the rotting flesh and bodies that can often be found around them.
 * In the WC mappack can be found a map named " ". It consists of a small dark room with a boxing ring in the middle, lit by a single lamp. There two Zombies start fighting each other once a bell rings. When the first one is killed, the bell rings again and the remaining Zombie remains still.
 * In Half-Life 2, a zombie's moans are actually the person screaming for help. This is easier to make out if the zombie is on fire.
 * The security guard and HECU zombie models seen in Opposing Force have no HD model.

List of appearances

 * Half-Life: Day One
 * Half-Life
 * Half-Life: Uplink
 * Half-Life: Opposing Force
 * Half-Life: Blue Shift
 * Half-Life: Decay
 * Half-Life 2
 * Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar
 * Half-Life 2: Episode One
 * Half-Life 2: Episode Two