Disclaimer : The following article was written freely based on the author's opinion, and it may not necessarily represent Inven Global's editorial stance.

Over the weekend, legendary film director George Romero passed away at the age of 77. His contributions to the horror genre are immeasurable, with his films shifting between action and tension seamlessly while also introducing an underlying level of social and political commentary that we rarely see in films today. His most famous creation – the modern zombie – can be spotted in countless television shows, movies, and of course, video games. We’ve seen the zombie take many different forms over the years. Some walk slowly while others can sprint. Some are as dumb as a box of rocks while others show signs of intelligence. Some are actually dead while others are merely “sick.” Nitty-gritty details aside, almost all of them are terrifying, and when they’re coming after a character that you control, they’re even scarier. Here are a few of our favorite zombies in video games … even if they’re occasionally given a different name.

Majini – Resident Evil 5

More traditional zombies, like those seen in Dawn of the Dead, were present in the first few Resident Evil games as well as a few of the recent titles, but Resident Evil 5’s Majini offered a nice twist on the director’s classic monster. Able to move at quicker speeds and even utilize melee weapons, these creatures from West Africa force Chris Redfield and his partner Sheva to think on their feet. Wait in one place for more than a few seconds and the swarm can overwhelm you, but fail to gather all the resources and ammunition you come across, and you won’t be able to engage them directly.

While some Majini can be killed with just a few shots, others sprout horrifying, Lovecraftian growths. In the light of day, it’s relatively easy to keep your composure, but they’re a terrifying sight when Redfield has to venture into the dark. The fact that an only semi-conscious creature can occasionally wield a Gatling gun is also enough to make anyone a little nervous.

Zombies – Dead Rising

Zombies have undergone a pretty radical transformation in Capcom’s other horror franchise, Dead Rising, with the fourth game even introducing undead clad in powerful exoskeletons. But the series began with zombies so close in design to Romero’s original creations that the game even came with a disclaimer reminding players that the director had no involvement in its development. Slow, dumb, and with no reason to exist other than to kill every human they see, the original Dead Rising’s zombies were a classic horror fan’s dream.

When just one or two cross photojournalist Frank West’s path, he can evade them with relative ease as he moves toward his destination, but like any good classic zombies, their strength lies in numbers. As dozens of undead surround West and other survivors, he has to make use of guns, baseball bats, and plenty of bizarre Frankensteinian creatures in order to make it out alive. Though a bite typically means death, it isn’t necessarily the end in Dead Rising because of the drug Zombrex, but its short supply hasn’t helped to stop the global epidemic.

Zombies – Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare

Some zombies make use of little more than their hands and their teeth in order to tear humans limb from limb. Perhaps it’s because PopCap’s zombies aren’t attacking humans that they make use of crazy firearms and explosive weaponry, instead. Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare casts the goofy, clumsy zombies as the heroic plants’ equals, and it outfits them with the tools they need to take back Suburbia for the evil Dr. Zomboss. Even a single, low-level zombie soldier is a threat, capable of taking down several plants with a high-powered rifle and a long-range bazooka.

But the plants don’t just have to deal with little grunt zombies. The “All-Star” is an enormous, powerful brute armed with an equally enormous machine gun, while the “Scientist” can make use of his vast knowledge to briefly teleport, poison enemy plants, and even heal his teammates. Occasionally, zombies can even be the heroes of the battle – in Garden Warfare 2, the “Super Brainz” class can break onto the scene with a tornado-like attack before unleashing a flurry of punches, all while his hair stays perfectly styled.

The Flood – Halo

No, the United Nations Space Command and alien Covenant forces don’t refer to the Flood as “zombies” in the original Halo trilogy, preferring to view them as an extraterrestrial threat or an epidemic, instead, but make no mistake: The Flood are zombies. After infiltrating a healthy target via a small, balloon-like “infection” form, the Flood completely takes over the host’s body, turning it against its former friends. The new “combat” form is vicious, fast, and extremely fragile, with only a couple of shots capable of completely destroying it in a wave of viscera and goo. To help spread the Flood further, a third form can detonate itself, sending waves of the infection creatures in all directions.

Unlike most other undead creatures, the Flood are actually acting in a rational manner. Controlled by a central conscience known as the “Gravemind,” the army of monsters occasionally forms temporary alliances with other races in the fight against a common threat. But as soon as that threat has been eliminated, all bets are off. In a universe filled with ancient robotic killing machines and advanced alien technology, it’s the space zombies that scare us the most.

Clickers – The Last of Us

None of the different “zombies” in Naughty Dog’s masterpiece The Last of Us are actually dead. They’re in different stages of degeneration and mutation due to a powerful fungus that has left Earth on the brink of collapse. At the end-stages of this condition, people sprout enormous armor plates and are capable of taking direct hits from grenades, but it’s the more fragile “Clicker” that ends up being the most memorable. Walking forward with lurching movements, as if they’re not completely sure of their destination, the Clickers are perhaps the most sympathetic zombie on our list.

But our sympathy for them ends as soon as they discover our position. Through a form of echolocation similar to what dolphins use – hence the “Clicker” name – they’re able to zero in on a target from little more than a few footsteps. Should you manage to sneak up on one, however, they’re a relatively easy kill, and you can even do so from the front. Clickers are blind, but perhaps that’s for the best. They might not like the world they would see.