History Main / UndeadLaborers

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLifeAndTimeOfJuniperLee'' had a mummy named Skeeter Khomeingeit raising zombies so he can use them as a work force for his fast food chains.

A VoodooZombie is traditionally employed as a worker, almost to the point of being a specific subtrope of this. Compare NightOfTheLivingMooks, where disposable undead are instead used for battle. TheNecrocracy is the opposite, where the ruling class are undead because [[LivingForeverIsAwesome it confers them advantages over the living]], while the lower classes are mortals subjugated by fear or the promise of immortality (though simple-minded undead thralls may also exist in such societies, becoming one would be a FateWorseThanDeath).

* The [[WitchSpecies Sartan]] {{necromancer}}s of [[LethalLavaLand Abarrach]] in ''Literature/TheDeathGateCycle'' reanimate ''all'' their dead, and set most of them to work at whatever tasks they performed in life (with living necromancers to supervise, as the dead can reproduce learned skills but not adapt well to changing circumstances, and as such will often end up mindlessly repeating whatever they were last doing to no effect without someone to babysit them). They also maintain an ArmyOfTheDead.

* Although it involves VoodooZombie rather than the undead, the Michael Swanwick ''Darger and Surplus'' story "Tawny Petticoats'' has the pair of con artist protagonists visit post-Singularity New Orleans, which has a large workforce of zombie slaves--people who are working off a debt (or in some cases were probably just shanghaied) and are kept in a drugged halflife until they WorkOffTheDebt, although it's implied that in most cases, the owners never free and the debt is a pretext.

* In the ''TabletopGames/{{GURPS}} Technomancer'' setting, featuring magic coming into the world in the mid 20th century, some places have a potential criminal sentence of "Death plus hard labor".
** In the Abydos supplement for Banestorm, the eponymous city of necromancers uses zombies for work--including [[KarmicDeath executing murderers with the reanimated corpses of their victims]]. Slightly deconstructed, as the health hazards of having numerous walking corpses as a part of daily life is discussed.

* In the [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E21Primeval penultimate episode]] of the fourth season of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer',' the BigBad--an {{Undead}} {{Cyborg}} MixAndMatchMan made from human and demon parts--reanimates his creators, a MadScientist and a PunchClockVillain, into a pair of these.

* In [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E21Primeval penultimate episode]] of the fourth season of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' the BigBad an {{Undead}} {{Cyborg}} MixAndMatchMan made from human and demon parts reanimates his creators, a MadScientist and a PunchClockVillain into a pair of these.

* The [[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Millennial_King Millennial King]], a [[BadPowersGoodPeople benevolent]] [[TheNecrocracy Necrocracy]] imagined by [[Website/FourChan /tg/]], uses this as the foundation of the labour force. Mindless undead act as menial labour and reserve troops, leaving the living to enjoy skilled trades and the arts.

** In the Abydos supplement for Banestorm, the titular city of necromancers uses zombies for work - including [[KarmicDeath executing murderers with the reanimated corpses of their victims.]] Slightly Deconstructed, as the health hazards of having numerous walking corpses as a part of daily life is discussed.

* The classic HammerHorror ''Film/ThePlagueOfTheZombies'' features zombies being set to work in an abandoned [[AliensInCardiff Cornish]] tin mine (it was made in 1966, so they were of the VoodooZombie type, despite having the appearance of rotting corpses that later fiction preferred).

When someone uses TheUndead, such as zombies and reanimated corpses, as a cheap labor force for simple but time-consuming tasks, such as mining. The "employer" of this undead workforce may be a living individual (most likely a {{Necromancer}} of some sort) or a likewise undead creature--but of a much more powerful and intelligent variety. From a business perspective, using undead workers is a very cost-efficient strategy: [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombies]] and [[DemBones skeletons]] don't need to sleep or eat, never get sick, and are unlikely to spontaneously form [[WeirdTradeUnion undead trade unions]].

* The eponymous secret division of British Intelligence in ''Literature/TheLaundrySeries'' uses zombies as white-collar labor, helping manage paperwork as well as security guards.

A VoodooZombie is traditionally employed as a worker, almost to the point of being a specific subtrope of this. Compare NightOfTheLivingMooks, where disposable undead are instead used for battle. TheNecrocracy is the opposite, where the ruling class are undead, but the lower classes may or may not be living. Compare also JobStealingRobot.

* In ''Film/WhiteZombie'' Bela Lugosi's character uses traditional {{Voodoo Zombie}}s as a cheap labor force.

** ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' setting, ''Elminster's Ecologies'' supplement, "The Settled Lands" booklet. An evil mage once used skeleton undead as farmworkers to tend his gardens.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 2nd Edition Jakandor setting. The Charonti use necromantic magic to raise the dead and have them perform manual labor.

When someone uses TheUndead, such as zombies and reanimated corpses, as a cheap labor force for simple but time-consuming tasks, such as mining. The "employer" of this undead workforce may be a living individual (most likely a {{Necromancer}} of some sort) or a likewise undead creature--but of a much more powerful and intelligent variety. From a business perspective, using undead workers is a very cost-efficient strategy: [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombies]] and [[DemBones skeletons]] don't need to sleep or eat, never get sick, and are unlikely to spontaneously form trade unions.

* In the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue at the end of ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'', it's shown that zombies have been put to work in menial jobs like supermarket attendants.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/StrokerAndHoop'' has the duo discover a line of Valentine's day teddy bears were being created by people turned into {{Voodoo Zombie}}s for cheap labor, some of which they accidentally turned into {{Voodoo Doll}}s.