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There have been many different movies/shows within the zombie-apocalypse universe, most notably The Walking Dead. How can zombies continue to grace the screen with little disinterest from audiences? Films like World War Z focus on how the virus came about and how to create a vaccine against it, while Train To Busan focuses on how to survive within the apocalypse. Along with having a good story plot, characters have to be the main reason why these stories continue to do so well.
First Major Zombie Show: The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead is ending its reign on AMC after eleven seasons and many, many favorite character deaths. The series follows a group of people throughout the zombie apocalypse as new members join the group, and old members die.
It goes through a constant cycle of characters while also finding new plots to help these individual stories stand out.
Series Favorite Character: Rick Grimes
The series centered on Rick Grimes until season nine, following the former sheriff’s deputy’s perspective after waking up from a coma in a zombie apocalypse. We watch as he finds his son and wife, learning how to live in the new world up until his final scene as the beloved character (or so we think).
Rick Grimes is a character many people relate to, being a loving father and becoming the group leader, all while still making mistakes. You can always tell his heart is in the right place. He finds love again with Michonne after his wife, Lori, died giving birth to Judith. He deals with the loss of his son, Carl, and leans on other leaders he trusts.
Personal Favorite Character: Beth Greene
At 16-years-old, Beth Greene has to navigate losing her mother and brother, going into a depression, and pulling herself through it. Beth goes from a rock bottom mental state to becoming a successful caregiver. After her father died in an attack on their surviving group, she goes on the run with Daryl, Rick’s best friend, after their previous home has been destroyed, and the group breaks apart.
Beth continues to be confident with what she has accomplished and the fact that she is still alive. She ultimately dies while trying to help her friend escape Grady Memorial Hospital, willing to take the chance on her life in order for her friend to go with the group she is with originally.
iZombie: Crime Fighting Zombie
iZombie is a show about Liv, an assistant medical examiner, who becomes a zombie and eats brains to survive. After eating a victim brought into the morgue, Liv discovers that she can see visions of the person’s life from the brain she just ate. She begins to help the police solve these murder cases.
Her friendship between all of the main characters is really what pulls this show together. Liv’s ex-fiancé continues to show up in her life to help, even after figuring out her new unique eating habits. Clive, the cop she commonly works with, always supports her and figures out how to explain her suspicious knowledge about specific details of a murder.
Ravi, the medical examiner, tries to help her find a cure for her newfound illness. He also never seems to treat her any differently. In fact, they seem to get closer because of it. Liv, herself, is also a lovely and hard-working person. In fact, it doesn’t deter her that she has to watch each victim’s murder from their point-of-view to solve the case. She continues to help as much as she can to have justice.
The Plot Can Be Just As Effective
Looking at these two different examples, the plot does affect the number of viewers that are going to tune into a zombie apocalypse show. A survivalist drama will bring in a different type of crowd than a procedural show. There are zombie romance movies (Warm Bodies), action comedies (Zombieland and Little Monsters), and Korean thrillers (#Alive and Train To Busan). All looking at the zombie apocalypse through their own lens, the genre is still surviving. These stories reiterate that you need strong characters to make a name for yourself in the ever-expanding world of people eating other people.
Having a good plot isn’t necessarily going to keep viewers. Putting out the same zombie apocalypse universe over and over again — no matter how good the characters are — will result in viewer exhaustion, much like The Walking Dead has seen over the years.
Characters Effects On Viewers
While the story needs to have a well-thought-out plotline, the reason to continue watching something is the characters — despite viewer exhaustion, which is sometimes inevitable as the series goes on. As long as the characters are interesting and relatable, people will be willing to watch the same climate with the occasional new character thrown into the mix. To keep viewers interested in a show, people like to see characters that are likable and with whom they can make a personal connection.
