Real World Zombies in the Animal Kingdom

[Another_Poet]

Hi everyone.

A friend of mine who does medical research just sent me this. It's a slideshow with six examples of real world parasites who control their hosts' behaviour, in some cases with zombie-like results. I think you'll all enjoy it.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/sl...05789B2A7DE00D

As my friend warns: For those who hate zombies or fear cochroaches, I'd probably just skip this one. Zombie cockroaches might just put you over the edge.

That said, it's already given me at least one great gaming idea. Picture a giant wasp that injects its victim with a poison, and the poison carries a Dominate Person effect. Since it's a poison rather than a spell, it's fair game to require a Fort save rather than a Will save against the Dominate. Quite unusual for a charm type effect... ought to make the party wizard crap his robes.

Enjoy.

[Asbestos]

I was hoping that the article would have the crab paraite from this parasite article.
http://www.neatorama.com/2006/08/21/...ing-parasites/

Gotta love freaky parasites, pretty much all of them are fascinAting enough to warrant research. Also, we should count ourselves damn lucky that a number of the sci-fi type horrors haven't evolved to prey on us yet. Actually we should just count our lucky stars for not being vulnerable to the more mundane mosquito born evils like the dog killing heartworm. Heart full of worms, not a way I want to go out.

[Strawman]

Sometimes I wonder where people come up with super creepy aliens. Apparently there's no need to leave this planet for 'em.

Heart full of worms, not a way I want to go out.

Now that would make a great spell.

[Zeta Kai]

Some of those are the real-life inspiration for the Las Plagas parasites from Resident Evil 4. Squicky, yet awesome.

[Pharaoh's Fist]

I thank God for antibiotics and flamethrowers.

[Zovc]

From what I understand, rabies is a lot like "Zombie Disease" in certain ways.

[Zeta Kai]

From what I understand, rabies is a lot like "Zombie Disease" in certain ways.

Especially African rabies.

[Asbestos]

I thank God for antibiotics and flamethrowers.

Actually a lot of the really hardcore human parasites are very difficult to get rid of. It's more of a 'thank god for systems set up to encourage proper sanitation and vector management' Best way to not get parasites is to not go where they or the things that spread them live.

Blood flukes are pretty creepy... Flatworms attached to the wall of a major artery, entwined in neverendig sex, and spewing forth thousands of spined eggs into your bloodstream. Awesome.

[Inhuman Bot]

I thank God for antibiotics and flamethrowers.

Flamethrowers would be a bad idea in zombie combat. If zombies don't succumb to pain, then the fire would take a very long time to burn the zombie to a point where it was harmless. It'd just create a fire hazard in addition to a zombie hazard. That, and flamethrowers are too heavy to be practical. Lastly, they're illegal.
...Now you know. :p

And heh... Real World Zombies?

[SurlySeraph]

Toxoplasmosis is one of those things that I'm sure tons of people would be terrified of if they knew about it.

On parasites in general, I've always found trichinosis pretty horrifying. "Thousands of worms burrowing through your muscles" is not a pretty image.

[Asbestos]

And heh... Real World Zombies?

It depends on how you define a Zombie. If it's undead, than it's pretty impossible. But, creatures being controlled by parasites has been the premise of some 'zombie' movies and is even a Dead World scenario in AFMBE.

I count the thing in Splinter as an undead zombie as the host is dead and guided purely by the infectious agent.

More parasites:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parel...ongylus_tenuis
Brainworm. Deer are full of them but suffer few ill effects, other ungulates (including different species of deer) are crippled or killed by them when they get infected by sharing territory with white-tails.
Modified to go with some fantasy race it could be pretty interesting. "Why do we stay out of the Elves forest and chase out any Elf we see? Because everyone that contacts them ends up crazy and dead with a head full of worms, that's why!"

[Volkov]

None of them are really anything on the level of a zombie apocalypse causer. Mainly because it's much easier to enter another animal by forcing your host to get eaten than it is to get your host to bite something. Which would be a terrible adaptation for many reasons.

[Asbestos]

None of them are really anything on the level of a zombie apocalypse causer. Mainly because it's much easier to enter another animal by forcing your host to get eaten than it is to get your host to bite something. Which would be a terrible adaptation for many reasons.

What reasons make having your host bite things a terrible adaptation? Maybe you live in saliva like some sort of virus... where have I heard this before... virus... spread through saliva... makes its host bitey...
Rabies!

And there is more than one way to cause the zombie apocalypse than transmission by bite. Take a look at Slither for example. Those things killed and ate not to spread the alien plague directly, but to grow more of the zombiefying slugs.

[Volkov]

What reasons make having your host bite things a terrible adaptation? Maybe you live in saliva like some sort of virus... where have I heard this before... virus... spread through saliva... makes its host bitey...
Rabies!

And there is more than one way to cause the zombie apocalypse than transmission by bite. Take a look at Slither for example. Those things killed and ate not to spread the alien plague directly, but to grow more of the zombiefying slugs.

Simple, the air, water, or sex are far better mediums.

[Asbestos]

Simple, the air, water, or sex are far better mediums.

Rabies doesn't think so. Basically, nature is far from 'optimal' and is capable of crazy and counter intuitive crap and reproductive strategies that are incredibly far from simple (check most internal parasites for that with their crazy multi-step life cycle amongst several organs and different species of hosts)

Oh! Also, check out the spreadable face tumors in Tasmanian Devils. The disease doesn't make them bite each other... but they already do and it capitalizes on that pretty well as a method of transmission.

Nature, don't presume to know all its tricks.

[Acero]

Especially African rabies.

i loved that book

[Another_Poet]

None of them are really anything on the level of a zombie apocalypse causer.

Yeah, I didn't promise any apocalypses. Just real-world things that cause zombie-like behaviour.

And actually, if you go back to the original Voudun definition of a zombie as a living but mindless slave, then the co-opted cockroaches under the control of the cockroach wasp are literally, actually zombies.

If yer lookin' fer undead... not so much.

[Fishy]

None of them are really anything on the level of a zombie apocalypse causer. Mainly because it's much easier to enter another animal by forcing your host to get eaten than it is to get your host to bite something. Which would be a terrible adaptation for many reasons.

On the other hand, mind-altering parasite that makes you try to get other people to eat you?

... Nevermind. I may have been on the Internet too long.

[BooNL]

Considering that a lot of diseases we were once more or less resistant to (like Aids for example, not a human disease in origin), it wouldn't surprise me that we might at some point be receptable to something like rabies.

Also, scary stuff all this .

[Logalmier]

I thank God for antibiotics and flamethrowers.

"Run! It's the Mind Worms!"
"Use your flame guns on them!"

[Asbestos]

Considering that a lot of diseases we were once more or less resistant to (like Aids for example, not a human disease in origin), it wouldn't surprise me that we might at some point be receptable to something like rabies.

Also, scary stuff all this .

People can already get rabies. But generally it'll incapacitate us (and kill us) before we go all bitey. HIV is an example of an emergent disease, something that only recently has mutated in just the right way to infect humans. The longer we're around and the more places we are... the more likely more diseases are to emerge. So, really, its all a matter of time until something crazy happens like human brain worms.

[Starbuck_II]

What is really scary is Feline Leukemia affecting humans.
The scary part about feline version?
Some versions are contagious. Yes, your cat can pass it on to other cats by saliva, tears, urine, etc. If it is possible to spread it: it will be spread.
#1 killer of felines. If it ever is acceptable to a human to be permissive (rights signals on surface, etc): it will be worse than any other virus.

[mikeejimbo]

Hey, they mentioned my University!

Anyway, I really assume it's just a matter of time before a zombie apocalypse. *pats his shotgun*

[Asbestos]

What is really scary is Feline Leukemia affecting humans.
The scary part about feline version?
Some versions are contagious. Yes, your cat can pass it on to other cats by saliva, tears, urine, etc. If it is possible to spread it: it will be spread.
#1 killer of felines. If it ever is acceptable to a human to be permissive (rights signals on surface, etc): it will be worse than any other virus.

That's easy enough to contain via quarantines and it depends on the virulence. I'd be more worried about airborne stuff.