The evolution of fear: All of Us Are Dead's mutating zombies, explored

Netflix's apocalyptic K-drama All of Us Are Dead became the breakthrough zombie show on the platform, following the Jonas virus outbreak that transformed the students of Hyosan High into bloodthirsty creatures.

With many zombie TV shows and movies debuting nowadays, the various zombie variants in the show added a much-needed layer of uniqueness and mystery to the K-drama.

Science teacher Lee Byeong-chan created the Jonas virus to help his lonely son, who was bullied at his school. He replicated and refined the gene found in highly aggressive mice, which eventually led to the outbreak of the Jonas virus, birthing brainless zombies, who attacked and preyed on human flesh.

In addition to the normal full zombies, All of Us Are Dead also evolved this fear and introduced many variants of the zombie virus. One still-known-alive zombie variant, Choi Nam-ra, even sets the show's finale for an exciting Season 2.

More on this in our story.

All of Us Are Dead: Exploring the different versions of zombies in Netflix's K-drama

While most zombie shows take it slow and establish their characters in the first episode, All of Us Are Dead plunged us right into the haunting action from the first moment, which also established the severity of the Jonas virus.

Like most zombie shows, the zombies in this Netflix K-drama turn into mindless creatures following a zombie bite. They turn into walking corpses with no control over their minds. In the world of this K-drama, a full zombie has no control over their mind, walks slowly, and also has weak eyesight.

They can be triggered by the slightest movement or sound and have heightened hearing and smell, especially for uninfected human flesh.

While All of Us Are Dead featured standard zombies, seen in many apocalyptic TV shows and movies, the different zombie mutations are where the show truly shined.

The different zombie variants introduced in Season 1 are half-bies, asymptomatic zombies, and zombie hybrids, who all had different powers and worked differently than the regular zombies.

While these variants are not full zombies, they were somehow more powerful and dangerous to the humans. In addition to the heightened sense of hearing and smell (of fellow full zombies too), these zombie variants possessed super strength and vision, which often helped them navigate the world more easily.

Class President Choi Nam-ra, who became a halfbie in All of Us Are Dead Season 1, is the most notable living zombie variant in the show. She was able to pass through a zombie crowd unharmed, probably because she no longer had the human smell on her.

In addition, Nam-ra's half-zombie also established that these variants can control their animalistic impulses to consume human flesh and can even utilize their heightened abilities to help the uninfected. In All of Us Are Dead, Nam-ra uses her heightened hearing and smell to track full zombies and helps her uninfected friends escape them.

Another notable hybrid, Min Eun-ji, showed extreme signs of zombie conversion, where she was tempted to feast on human flesh. However, once this animalistic impulse passed away, she puked all over, suggesting that hybrids do have some human senses still left in them.

In addition, bully Gwi-nam was an antagonistic character who became a half-zombie after a bite and was able to fully recover from his injuries, something which even full zombies were unable to do. This super strength suggests that Gwi-nam might have survived the Hyosan bombing and will make a gory return in All of Us Are Dead Season 2.

With so many zombie variants and characteristics introduced, the Season 1 finale hinted that there are many more halfbies like Nam-ra still alive, setting a gritty stage for the second chapter.

It would be interesting to see whether Nam-ra and these other halfbies control their animalistic instincts and help their friends or give in and feast on their flesh, making them into full zombies.

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Also Read: 3 apocalyptic K-dramas to watch while you wait for All of Us Are Dead Season 2

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