For years, The Walking Dead fans have wanted to know if the zombies in the series/comic book are sentient. Do they contain any vestiges of who they used to be? Creator Robert Kirkman always avoided the question. However, in the most recent issue of the comic’s color reprint series The Walking Dead Deluxe, Kirkman finally sheds some light on the age-old question.
Before we get into his answer, those that watched the show until the end may have noticed that the zombies were starting to change a little bit. Instead of being mindless monsters, they were running faster, climbing up things, and seemingly engaging with humans. This paved the way for many theories. Were they perhaps regaining some of the intelligence they had as humans?
These kinds of variant zombies are more common in Europe, so perhaps we’ll learn more about them in the upcoming Daryl Dixon spinoff show, which takes place in France.
Are The Walking Dead zombies sentient?
Nope. According to Robert Kirkman, zombies are not sentient. In The Walking Dead Deluxe, the writer said plainly that “zombies are mindless.” He also fielded the question of whether some unforeseen mutation could ever make it possible to resurrect a zombie:
"No… there couldn’t be. This book just isn’t about the zombies. Don’t expect any huge revelations or changes in their behavior… nothing huge I mean… we’ll learn a little bit more about them as the series progresses – but none of them are going to sprout wings or grow to fifty feet tall."
So, ladies and gentlemen, while there have been hints of potential sentience in the series, Kirkman is standing firm by the fact that The Walking Dead zombies will not be able to evolve into anything more than monsters hungry for human flesh. There will not be communities with zombies running them or any zombie mayors to contend with.
That’s a shame, but I’m still hoping the Daryl Dixon series will reveal otherwise.
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h/t Screen Rant