The Undead

The Undead are, by definition, a type of living being that has either died and been reanimated by the means of a curse, magic, science, or an infectious virus, or remains living but has lost higher mental functions due to any of the aforementioned reasons.

Mythology[]

The Undead are mythological creatures, usually monstrous, who exhibit characteristics of living beings after they are deceased. Their level of sophistication varies from creature to creature and story to story. For example, Bram Stoker's Dracula, a classic Undead character, is well dressed, smooth spoken, and at times indistinguishable from a living person. On the other hand, the Undead zombies who ravage today's horror and sci-fi novels are grotesque, unintelligent, and uncoordinated.

The Undead are, without doubt, a motley and diverse crew, but some of their characteristics are universal. The Undead are able, at the very least, to move around and manipulate their environments. They are usually interested in the living and attempt to either communicate with them or prey on them, and they are not vulnerable to death by natural causes.

History[]

Greek world[]

The undead in Greece are almost always affiliated with the Underworld and its ruler Hades, as he is the God of the Dead. They lack souls and are instead reanimated corpses, rotten and toxic upon touch, as their decaying flesh can dull swords and burn their opponents. By the power of the Gods, the dead rise to serve relentlessly for their masters, be it within the armies of Ares, the Underworld and Olympus, or as the guardians of the Island of Creation and the Domain of Death in the service of Thanatos, the primordial Death God.

They do not communicate or show great signs of intelligence, however the art of combat such as standing in formation, fighting as a unit, skillfully utilizing weapons is drilled deep within them by either their past lifes as soldiers and warriors, or just by the power (or curse) which reanimated them in the first place. Undead beasts can also be found in the armies of the Underworld such as Erebus Minotaurs and Hades Satyrs.

Kratos notes that when he was younger there were not quite so many undead in Greece, implying that their great presense as seen in the events of the series was not always the case. One reason for their abundance in the mortal realm may be the fact that Ares took over the command of the legions of the Underworld sometime after Kratos had forsworn his servitude to him, while before that he was commanding mortal armies like the Spartans. The armies of Ares were able to spawn across the battlefields from red mystic portals in overwhelming numbers, using this to appear behind enemy lines and wreak havoc in the rear.

There have been various different types of Undead beings that have appeared in the Greek world, some are listed here.

Norse World[]

The most common undead creatures are the Draugr and increasingly since the Great Desolation also Hel-Walkers, as Hel itself is full and returns its denizens to the realms of the living, mainly Midgard, the realm of mortals. The disrupted work of the Valkyries by Odin, the King of Asgard has caused the realm of the dishonourable dead to overflow, triggering an ever increasing presense of Draugr and Hel-Walkers across the realms, with Midgard being next to defenseless and overrun. The Old Magic which was mastered by the Vanir goddess Freya, also known as the Witch of the Woods was used to animate the decapitated head of Mimir, the God of Knowledge and Odin's former advisor. During the battle between Kratos and Baldur, his mother Freya used her magic to animate the long dead Frost Giant Thamur, who ended up being taken down by Jörmungandr.

All this would merely be the precursor to Fimbulwinter which followed with Baldur's death, causing all kinds of hardship, destruction and an even greater presense of the undead, as the armies of Hel prepared for Ragnarök. The nature of the armies of Hel and Valhalla made them impossible to wipe out, as each undead warrior who gets slain on the battlefield would simply reform in his respective afterlife realm and be ready to rejoin the battles in the world of the living. However, the Goddess Freya and her Shield Maidens were able to close the connection between Valhalla and Asgard during the Battle of Ragnarök, cutting off reinforcements for the Einherjar forces defending the realm of the Aesir.

There have been various different types of Undead beings that have appeared in the Nine Realms, some are listed here.

Powers and Abilities[]

The Undead are extremely difficult to kill due to the fact that they are in limbo between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Certain Undead are capable of retaining the memories of their previous lives after death and others can use magic in battle.

Trivia[]

It seems that the Einherjar and Hel-Walkers still retain their souls as they fight, die and return continously, unlike their Greek counterparts who are soulless corpses animated with the power of the Gods.
- One known exception would be the Body Burner who was unique among the undead in Greece, as he still retained his soul and his sentience. However, this meant that he was denied of an Afterlife, spending his entire existence on the outside of Pandora's Temple in both flesh and spirit. In the novel, he remarked bitterly that atleast the others who get burned in his pyre get their release to the Lord of the Underworld, unlike him.
Both Asgard and Olympus, aswell as Hades and the Jötnar through their rulership of Helheim used the dead mortals under their influence and authority to create armies.