Nazi zombie

This article is about the horror trope. For the video game, see Call of Duty Zombies.

Nazi zombies are a stock character that depicts zombies who are affiliated with or controlled by Nazis. The earliest Nazi zombie films were King of the Zombies (1941) and Revenge of the Zombies (1943), which depicted Nazi scientists brainwashing and controlling others in the style of voodoo zombies. The time around World War II also saw the publication of several horror comics featuring Nazi zombies. Nazi zombie films in the 1950s and 1960s featured Nazi scientists experimenting to create technological zombies or trying to raise the dead. Shock Waves (1977) was the first film to depict the modern style of shambling undead zombies as Nazis. It was followed by Night of the Zombies (1981), Zombie Lake (1981), and Oasis of the Zombies (1982). Interest in zombie fiction declined until the 2000s. Horrors of War (2006) revived the Nazi zombie genre and was followed by another wave of films. Video games began featuring Nazi zombies at this time, beginning with Wolfenstein 3D (1992) and achieving popularity with Call of Duty: World at War (2008).

Nazi zombie fiction combines the Nazi exploitation genre with the horror genre. Nazis and zombies are both used in fiction to represent evil, and their combination allows audiences to reflect on lingering fears of Nazism. Depicting Nazis as undead creates a dehumanizing effect and makes it easier to other them or justify violence against them. While typical zombie fiction symbolizes the loss of individualism, this is treated more ambiguously with Nazi zombies because they still retain their Nazi identity.

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