History Main / FriendlyZombie

* Toys/MonsterHigh: There was a minority of zombie characters in the first few years of the toyline. Ghoulia Yelps and Slo Mo were not the best speakers but they were very smart and kind supporting characters when they were around. And then there was the [[MixedAncestry Zombiecorn]] Neighthan Rot. He was half Zombie, half {{Unicorn}}.

For the trope applied to different supernatural species, see ChummyMummy, FriendlyGhost, FriendlySkeleton, and FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire.

For the trope applied to different supernatural species, see FriendlyGhost, FriendlySkeleton, and FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire.

* The main cast of ''Anime/ZombieLandSaga'' are an idol group composed of zombie girls. While they initially behaved very much like stereotypical [[ZombieGait shambling]], biting zombies, after being ''awakened'' they regain their humanity and act just like they did back when they were alive. Sakura in particular is a NiceGirl zombie who serves as TheHeart of the group and looks out for her friends. The problem is while the girls don't act like stereotypical zombies, the general populace still thinks of them as such and will scream in fear or shoot on sight if they ever appear in public without makeup on.

* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage:'' During the final stretch of the game, we find out that [[spoiler: Ethan was actually killed by Jack before he was even dragged to the Baker's Mansion. Unusual for the franchise, Ethan retains his humanity, intelligence, and sanity, never realizing for the next four years that he was DeadAllAlong, and ultimately pulls a HeroicSacrifce]].

* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage:'' During the final stretch of the game, we find out that [[spoiler: Ethan was actually killed by Jack before he was even dragged to the Baker's Mansion. Unusual for the franchises, Ethan retains his humanity, intelligence, and sanity, never realizing for the next four years that he was DeadAllAlong, and ultimately pulls a HeroicSacrifce]].

* [[spoiler:Leif]] from ''VideoGame/BugFables'' is revealed to be a [[spoiler:a long dead explorer controlled by a [[PuppeteerParasite Cordyceps Fungus]] created by two cockroaches]]. In spite of this, [[spoiler:Leif]] is firmly on the side of heroes.

* ''Manga/DailyLifeWithMonsterGirl'':
** As a secondary character, there's Zombina, a zombie monster girl who's also a {{ninja}} and a member of [[ElitesAreMoreGlamorous M.O.N.]] She had the mission of capturing [[FriendlyNeighborhoodSpider Rachnera]], but eventually failed thanks to [[TokenHuman Kimihito]]; she also has a crush on [[ChickMagnet him]] and gets a couple of dates with him.
** Yuuhi Hajime is a normal girl who had a terminal illness and lost her desire to live and make friends. To "save" her, [[HeadlessHorseman Lala]] gets one of Zombina's teeth and infects her into becoming a zombie. After dying and being zombified, Yuuhi becomes happy that she is finally free from having to worry about the disease and now she can make friends and enjoy her (un)life again.
** Zombina's {{rival}} Shiishii is a [[ChineseVampire Jiangshi]][[note]]also translated as "hopping corpse"[[/note]] who kidnapped Kimihito when he was on a date with Zombina in order to marry him so she can stay in Japan as a resident. Despite of that, she's not a bad monster at all and she's a YaoiFangirl, as is Zombina (this actually a {{pun}}, as "rotten girl" is slang in Japan for women with this particular interest...).

* Zombieman from ''WebComic/OnePunchMan'' teters on the gray area on whether he counts as a zombie at all, at best falling under an ArtificialZombie. Nonetheless he is a superhero and a force for good.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WebAnimation/{{hololive}}: Kureiji Ollie is a highschool girl who rose from the dead as a zombie. With her memories still intact, she became a vtuber idol, remaining an upbeat excitable GenkiGirl who showers her fans with love, while gushing over her idol senpais.

* [[spoiler:Kodama Himegami]] from ''Anime/MakenKi'' is really a reanimated corpse made from parts of another, and also just so happens to be one of the main heroes, and a powerful one at that.

* Dead Girl from ''ComicBook/XForce'' is a mutant whose power is to return from death as a RevenantZombie. She's not only friendly but also a superhero who protects her friends and even starts a romantic relationship with one of her teammates.
* Played with in ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies''. While most zombies ''are'' flesh-eating monsters, they [[RevenantZombie retain their intelligence]] and are able to act rationally so long as they keep their HorrorHunger in check. Certain zombies also possess altruistic qualities such as Zombie Spider-Man who constantly has MyGodWhatHaveIDone moments and eventually turned on his fellow zombies to side with the humans, while Zombie Colonel America still retains a degree of honor and promises to let survivors die painlessly first.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Paranorman}}'', [[spoiler: this is a twist with Judge Hopkins and the other zombies of the jurors who sentenced Agatha to die. They aren’t evil and don’t want to harm humans- far from it. They simply want the curse Agatha placed upon them to be dispelled so they can properly get to the afterlife.]]

* ''Film/WhenGoodGhoulsGoBad''. Uncle Fred dies at the beginning of the movie, but comes back later as a zombie, still retaining the personality with none of that pesky hunger for flesh or brains. Later on the zombies that had been seemingly attacking the residents of the city turn out to be actually friendly and only gathering the townsfolk to help expose the real villain who had lied about a "curse" that the townspeople were so scared of that they had banned Halloween for 25 years.

* Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus has Jules Albert, the zombie of a former race car driver and Nico de Angelo's personal chauffeur. Nico got him as a birthday present from his father Hades.
* ''Literature/WarmBodies'': The protagonist of the book, as well TheMovie, is a zombie who ate Julie's boyfriend and absorbs his memories and feelings, getting a HeelFaceTurn by falling in love with this girl and protecting her from other zombies. And somehow, his "love" is requited by Julie.
* Several characters in the ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' series happen to be zombies, and are altogether good and friendly people, even the ones who are stuck in an advanced state of decay. As typical for Xanth, some of them have ADayInTheLimelight and perform heroic deeds.
* From a short story called ''Humane Killer'', Sir Leonard is a boisterous, marijuana-addicted zombie whose body parts have a difficult time staying attached for long, all PlayedForLaughs and parody. He stands out as a harmless clown next to the much more dangerous characters he interacts with.

* In ''Literature/BoneSong'' by John Meaney, the main character's boss and lover Laura Steele is a beautiful zombie task force commander who does the best for society and catches dangerous criminals.
* ''Literature/DanShambleZombiePI'' has many a zombie dig out of their grave and just go back to trying to live. Including Dan himself. Brains is seen as more like a drug and alcohol addiction, in that zombies who become addicted to eating brains end up with their lives destroyed and end up on the streets, resembling movie zombies.

* In ''Series/ZNation'', there are the Talkers, who have been turned into zombies but have retained their intelligence. As long as they are plied with "bizkits", they retain their personality, so those who were sociable before being turned will remain sociable afterwards. Of course, if they run out of bizkits, that's a different story.

* ''Series/BeingHuman'': "Type 4"s are the supernatural beings closest to zombies, created when a person dies but something blocks the soul's transition to the afterlife and it remains bound to their corpse. Though they're dead enough for their internal organs to have stopped functioning, they retain their intelligence and personality from being alive, and the most prominent Type 4 character, Sasha, builds a strong friendship with the main cast before her body completely decays and she's able to enter the afterlife properly.

* Rotgut from ''Series/AceLightning''. While he is allied with the villains, he's still a far-cry from the standard monstrous zombies. For the most he's a LaughablyEvil MinionWithAnFInEvil and has little interest in partaking in the other villains' {{Evil Plan}}s. He always politely greets humans and is dismayed when they run away in terror, enjoys singing folk songs, and at one time approached someone because he wanted a hug. He also believes Chuck to be his good friend due to the boy calling him "dude", even though Chuck [[TheFriendNobodyLikes has other ideas]].
* Parodied in ''Series/YoureSkittingMe'', in the reoccurring sketch "Zombie Kids", featuring two teenaged zombie boys. They are intelligent zombies and enjoy typical teenage activities like watching movies, but are also interested in eating brains. However they won't attack people on sight and can be talked out of any hostility. In fact most humans treat their hunger for brains as being standard teenage behavior rather than anything life threatening.

* Rottytops and her zombie family from ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' are this to a degree, being a loving family. Rotty starts out more villainous, but becomes much friendlier over time and eventually considers Shantae to be her closest friend. By the time of ''Half-Genie Hero'', she's a 100% good, if mischievous, character who just wants to help Shantae out.

* Squigly from ''VideoGame/SkullGirls'' was reanimated as a result of the return of the Skull Heart. It's only thanks to her parasite Leviathan that she didn't fall into the undead horde the Skull Girl usually resurrects. She quickly became best friends with Filia ([[FriendlyRivalry despite their rivalry]]), and is a really nice girl... as long as you're not a member of the Medicci family.

* ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' has a whole city full of non-hostile undead (though the Ghouls are non-hostile only because they've been threatened into not attacking the living), but special mention goes to Stale Mary, the leader of the zombies, who's one of the nicest characters in the game (at least once you figure out how to understand her).
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' has Frimelda, a powerful Paladin known throughout the land for her powerful swordplay. You meet her when she has been changed into a zombie. While her movement is slowed and her speech is slurred, the zombified Frimelda is still an overall nice person and she eventually does get cured of her zombification.
* There's a gang of zombies in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' known as the "Dead Gentlemen", which take after Hildibrand's fashion sense and mannerisms because they thought he was a zombie at first. The group never attack anyone and aside from occasionally hungering for flesh and brains, the dapper zombies are quite friendly. There's also a RunningGag where one zombie was hoping to find company in some of the dungeons you conquered previously, only to be disappointed when he finds out you already killed all the undead in there.
* ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireI'' zombies appears at night in the town of Romero. The townsfolk seems to be wary of them but the undead are actually quite pacific and never attack anyone nor show any inclination for violence... At first. Sadly, they DO became violent later in the game when they began to attack the town's livestock. The Elder then ask you to retrieve some Purifying Water from a nearby cave to drive away the zombies, which you do.

* George in ''Webcomic/{{Hungry City}}'' has retained his human intelligence, even though his body is that of a standard, rotting zombie.
* Penelope Mortinez from ''Webcomic/VioletZombie'' is [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] and mischievous, but beautiful and kind-hearted.
* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': One of the features of PlagueZombie monsters is that their approach can be revealed via EvilDetectingCat. One chapter has a PlagueZombie whose mind has retained many of its human capacities, and among other things doesn't elicit any reaction at all from the crew's cat.
* ''Webcomic/NoEnd'': This has been shown to be possible for people bitten by zombies. However, the comic's world also has a policy of shooting people as soon as they are bitten, so the phenomenon is unknown of thanks to those who are subject to it having every interest in hiding it.
* Zombies in ''Webcomic/UndeadFriend'' are made from making contracts with ghosts in place of a virus, so they completely retain who they are in their new forms.

* Randall from ''WesternAnimation/UglyAmericans'' is the protagonist's zombie roommate. He's irresponsible and snarky, but otherwise friendly. His HorrorHunger is PlayedForLaughs, coming across more like a recovering alcoholic struggling to maintain sobriety (even down to having a sponsor), and he can usually keep it in check by eating fake human flesh substitute.
* The "Night of the Living Fred" segments of ''WesternAnimation/{{Toonsylvania}}'' feature the Deadmans, a family of zombies. They act like an ordinary family, other than the fact that they're decomposing sentient corpses that have a tendency to fall apart.

* TheProtagonist of ''Literature/WarmBodies'' (the book as well TheMovie) is a zombie who ate Julie's boyfriend and absorbs his memories and feelings, getting a HeelFaceTurn by falling in love with this girl and protecting her from other zombies. And somehow, his "love" is requited by Julie.

* Maggot and Fungus from ''WesternAnimation/ZombieHotel'' are pretty much indistinguishable from normal humans in terms of behavior. They have loving parents, attend a human school, sleep in proper beds, and are best friends with a human named Sam.

[[quoteright:350:[[Anime/ZombielandSaga https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_sakura_and_lily.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:They don't want brains. Just some friends.]]

* George in ''Webcomic/{{HungryCity}}'' has retained his human intelligence, even though his body is that of a standard, rotting zombie.

* The zombie priestess Adelleh from [[https://web.archive.org/web/20120503190121/http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5153247/1/Tunnels_The_Tale_of_Tavor_T1 these]] [[https://web.archive.org/web/20120503190052/http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5153268/1/Taken_T2 two]] ''Webcomic/LookingForGroup'' fanfics is [[CloudCuckoolander extremely quirky]], but kind-hearted and loyal to her friends; besides, she's much smarter than she looks, and [[CrazyAwesome possesses very strong magical powers]].

* Detective ''Literature/Styx'' isn't really very friendly, just ask his family. And the rest of the police force. But, he decides, maybe he can become a better person with the second chance he is given, when the killer he has been hunting traps him, kills him, and he awakens having been dumped in a beach hut as a RevenantZombie.