History Main / NonHumanUndead

** Due to several problems with the session's formation, the [[{{Mooks}} underlings]] in the Alpha version of [[TheMostDangerousVideoGame Sburb]] are all walking skeletons.

See RaisingTheSteaks for undead animals (where examples of such should go there instead of here). See HybridMonster, when two ''living'' fantasy species are combined. Contrast HybridOverkillAvoidance. Also, compare MechanicalMonster and NinjaPirateZombieRobot. TheGrimReaper and other {{Psychopomp}}s can be one, depending on their origin. {{Dracolich}} is a specific subtrope when the creature turns out to have been a dragon.

* ''Film/ArmyOfTheDead'' has at least one zombie horse, as well as a zombie tiger.

* In ''Film/{{Daybreakers}}'', animals can become vampires, and some theorise that vampirism may have spread to humans from animals. At the start of the film a vampire scientist mentions that the initial outbreak was followed by a series of devastating forest fires as vampire woodland creatures wandered into the sunlight and burst into flames. His lab also contains a photograph of a chimpanzee with vampire fangs.

* ''VideoGame/MintyFreshAdventure'': Since the dominant lifeform is ponies. The [[DemBones animate skeletons]] of them that appear, are this trope.

* ''VideoGame/MintyFreshAdventure'': Since the dominant lifeform is ponies. The [[DemBones animate skeletons of them that appear, are this trope.

** Skelletal wyverns are found in the Asgarnia ice dungeon. They actually nowhere near as dangerous as [[DemonicSpiders living wyverns]]. Fossil Island in ''Old School'' has four unique variants of undead wyverns, though three of them share the same drop table.

** Death has a skelletal hellhound named Muncher that he keeps as a pet, and the player fights a skelletal hellhound as a boss in one quest. Another hellhound named Bouncer is killed by the player in a quest, but continues to serve its master, General Khazard, as a ghost.

** One of the five inhabitants of [[EldritchLocation the Nether]] are Zombie Pigmen, which are ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Notably, unlike typical undead in this game, Zombie Pigmen are not naturally aggressive toward the player, although if you attack one, their entire tribe will swarm after you.

* ''WebComic/SluggyFreelance'': A weird sort of (possible) example comes up in chapter 52: "Aylee". (The following contains spoilers, but the example can't be explained at all without showing them.) Aylee, an alien that occasionally changes forms to adapt to the current environment, has been cocooned for a long time, and her friends even fear she might be dying. Then it turns out that she's been growing a huge body under the ground. It further turns out that this body is adapted to the fact that her life force has run out and she should have died; this time, she's absorbed the power of the spirit-trapping runes from the haunted magician's house (long story) she was growing under, and her body is largely made up of dirt, so basically she's adapted against death by trapping her own soul within a not-so-living body and becoming undead. She did show detectable "life" signs before emerging, though, whatever that means exactly.

** Necrons are another alien race -- well, ''former'' aliens. They transferred their [[BrainUploading consciousnesses into robot bodies]] about [[TimeAbyss 60 million years ago]] in a bid to gain immortality and power, but their masters, [[PhysicalGod the C'tan]] had manipulated them into doing it to [[YourSoulIsMine gain access to their souls (for eatin')]] without losing access to standing forces. They're flavor is very much that of an ancient Empire, once lost and now resurgent. They're essentially [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot undead robot aliens]].

This trope, on the other hand, is about those whose life started out "[[FantasticSapientSpeciesTropes fant]][[OurMonstersAreDifferent astic]]" even before they joined the ranks of the dead. Whether they were an [[OurElvesAreDifferent Elf]], a [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragon]], a [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Demon]], or even something [[EldritchAbomination completely divorced from reality]], the one thing common among them is that they're all dead (or at least resemble some combination of some sort of traditional undead and its own base species) and still kicking.

You may even see an Undead God. In that case, you should run, [[UndeadAbomination run as fast as you can]].

See RaisingTheSteaks for undead animals (where examples of such should go there instead of here).

See HybridMonster, when two ''living'' fantasy species are combined. Contrast HybridOverkillAvoidance. Also, compare MechanicalMonster and NinjaPirateZombieRobot.

TheGrimReaper and other {{Psychopomp}}s can be one, depending on their origin.

{{Dracolich}} is a specific subtrope when the creature turns out to have been a dragon.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

** "[[Recap/AdventureTimeS1E1SlumberPartyPanic Slumber Party Panic]]" and "[[Recap/AdventureTimeS3E13FromBadToWorse From Bad to Worse]]" feature the Candy People (sentient candy, pastries, and other sugary snacks), Jake the Dog (a talking, shapeshifting dog[[spoiler:/interdimensional creature hybrid]]), Lady Rainicorn (a talking cross between a {{unicorn}} and a rainbow), and Lumpy Space Princess (a talking purple cloud) turning into zombies.
* In the original ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo'', the gang deals with a boneyard that is evidently haunted by both a ghost alien and his haunted spaceship. Of course, this being Scooby Doo, it turns out to be a criminal in a disguise.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' features canine versions of the familiar Stalfos called Stalhounds.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'' doesn't have Stalfos. It does, however, have Stal Bokoblins, Moblins, Lizalfos, and even ''[[HellishHorse horses]]''.

** There's a Regiment of Renown (a mercenary unit with unique rules) made of a cursed undead warrior and the enemies he had killed. The miniature sculptors had a field day devising skeletal versions of many of ''Warhammer''[='=]s races marching alongside undead humans.
** Vampires also have some additional warbeasts not based on humans, most notably the Terrorgeist, a zombified bat the size of a dragon, as well as undead wolves and bats.
** In one of the Literature/GotrekAndFelix novels, the duo hear the tale of a [[Main/{{Mummy}} Tomb King]] who is implied to have been a Dwarf.
** Some of the most unusual undead creatures, described in ''Storm of Magic'', are undead ''trees'' -- the Living Deadwood Staff, a creation of an eccentric necromancer known as the Daemon Harborist of Tilea, allows its holder to animate dead trees into horrific, shambling undeath.

* The [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Terrorcon_%28Prime%29 Terrorcons]] of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' are Zombie HumongousMecha, reanimated by Dark Energon as horriffic, mindless, savage berserkers that look like they bashed their way out of Hell's junkyard and straight into your nightmares. That Megatron is ''proud'' of [[{{Necromancer}} creating them]] speaks volumes about both [[NightmareFuel the Terrorcons]] and Megatron.

This trope, on the other hand, is about those whose life started out "[[FantasticSapientSpeciesTropes fant]][[OurMonstersAreDifferent astic]]" even before they joined the ranks of the dead. Whether they were an [[OurElvesAreBetter Elf]], a [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragon]], a [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Demon]], or even something [[EldritchAbomination completely divorced from reality]], the one thing common among them is that they're all dead (or at least resemble some combination of some sort of traditional undead and its own base species) and still kicking.

** In terms of humanoid undead, this is largely downplayed throughout the series. Nearly every skeleton, zombie, draugr, and variations thereof are human. And we mean ''human'': no [[OurElvesAreBetter Mer (Elves)]], [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orcs]], [[CatFolk Khajiit]], or [[LizardFolk Argonians]] among them (unless they're made from the recently-dead with Reanimate spells). Naturally, several {{Game Mod}}s are available for each game which rectify this.

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** [[http://magiccards.info/on/en/123.html Accursed Centaur]] and [[http://magiccards.info/ori/en/116.html Returned Centaur]] are Zombie Centaurs, while [[http://magiccards.info/cmd/en/207.html Karador, Ghost Chieftain]], is a Centaur Spirit.
** Other mixed undead are common, like [[http://magiccards.info/ths/en/202.html skeletal griffins]], [[http://magiccards.info/ju/en/61.html zombie dwarves]] and [[https://scryfall.com/card/mma/87 goblins]], [[https://magiccards.info/arc/en/99.html vampiric dragons]], zombie elves and merfolk...
** The zombie centaur aven ([[BirdPeople bird person]]) [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=32222 Grotesque Hybrid]] from the ''Scourge'' block is a particularly extreme version of this crossed with HybridMonster.

* While TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} gives us the normal variant of undead from the Plague Zombies of [[{{Plaguemaster}} Nurgle]], or [[AffablyEvil Grandfather Nurgle]] as his followers call him, Nurgle otherwise loves [[ZigZagged playing with]] this trope. It's {{Inverted}} with Nurglite Space Marines (for a [[SuperSoldier given definition of "nonhuman"]]), also called "plague marines", given that they're still very much ''alive'', even though injury and disease should have made them keel over dead ''long'' ago. (Most have open wounds that leave their entrails exposed and hanging out of their bodies.) Also averted with, Nurglite Daemons, who look like they should be undead, but are as "alive" as any other daemon.

** Necrons are another alien race--well, ''former'' aliens. They transferred their [[BrainUploading consciousnesses into robot bodies]] about [[TimeAbyss 60 million years ago]] in a bid to gain immortality and power, but their masters, [[PhysicalGod the C'tan]] had manipulated them into doing it to [[YourSoulIsMine gain access to their souls (for eatin')]] without losing access to standing forces. They're flavor is very much that of an ancient Empire, once lost and now resurgent. They're essentially [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot undead robot aliens]].
* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyBattle'' has a Regiment of Renown (a mercenary unit with unique rules) made of a cursed undead warrior and the enemies he had killed. The miniature sculptors had a field day devising skeletal versions of many of Warhammer's races.
** Vampires also have some additional warbeasts not based on humans, most notably the Terrorgeist, a zombified bat the size of a dragon.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' has a number of metahumans affected by HMHVV (Human Meta-Human Vampiric Virus), its equivalent of undead. They include the banshee (former elf), goblin (former dwarf), wendigo (former ork) and dzoo-noo-qua (former troll).
** It should be pointed out that HMHVV infectees are not actually undead. They are mutants, yes, but not undead. [[MagicAIsMagicA As one of the fundamental laws of magic in Shadowrun is that you cannot raise the dead]], "True" undead do not exist. Most undead are either dead bodies animated by magic (Think fleshy, magical robots), or possessed by something. The Sheddim (Corpses possessed by spirits from the far planes) are one such examples. As are Zombies (Corpses animated by mages). Cyberzombies are people kept artificially alive through cybernetics, magic, drugs and spirits. Their body is technically "dead", all that mojo is needed to keep it going. Note that all the above can be metahuman, or not.
* In the [[Tabletopgame/YuGiOh Yu-Gi-Oh! card game]], there are quite a few non-human undeads, including the variants of legacy cards (i. e. Summoned Skull -> Archfiend Zombie Skull, Red Eyes Black Dragon -> Red Eyes Zombie Dragon, etc.). Early non-human cards classed as zombies included dragons, ''boats'', and clowns (what?).

* The ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'' - particularly ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters'' - gives us the Chthonians, mysterious, powerful things that live in the depths of the Underworld. No one actually knows what they ''are'', but speculation paints them as the ghosts of entities that lived long before humanity walked the earth.
* In TabletopGame/D20Modern, the Bodak are undead [[TheGrays Grays]].

[[caption-width-right:314:An [[TheUndead undead]] [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demon]]. [[ThisIsGonnaSuck Great]].]]

* ''Literature/{{Warbreaker}}'' has Clod, who is effectively a zombified ''[[UpToEleven zombie]]''. More specifically, he's a Lifeless (VoodooZombie) who was made from the corpse of a Returned (RevenantZombie), apparently in part just to see what would happen. What effects this had are unclear, but Clod does occasionally show flashes of his Returned personality.