Basic Trope: A character is fighting monsters but eventually becomes one.
- Straight: John, one of the lead survivors of the Zombie Apocalypse, is turned into a zombie.
- Exaggerated:
- John, the last survivor of the Zombie Apocalypse, is turned into a zombie at the end of the movie.
- Instead of bites or viruses, the disease spreads via bloodshed. Fighting the zombies is the only way to get infected. Running from or even ignoring the zombies let you live.
- Every single person that the camera focuses on instantly turns into a zombie. The cameraman is the main antagonist.
- Downplayed:
- John stands up to the school bullies but ends up joining their gang in the third act.
- John only arises as a zombie after he dies from his wounds.
- John becomes a Friendly Zombie thanks to either Heroic Willpower or a partially successfully antidote.
- There are several Johns and one of them becomes the zombie that another John fights.
- Justified:
- John surrendered himself to the zombies after having reached his Despair Event Horizon.
- John sacrificed himself so that the other survivors could escape.
- Demons are born of those who have personally killed many powerful foes. Every kill of a demon brought John closer to becoming one himself.
- Inverted:
- Tomato in the Mirror.
- One of the zombies is injected with the cure to The Virus. Humanity Ensues.
- Subverted: John is bitten by a zombie, but does not become one, either because he is immune or because he took the cure to The Virus beforehand.
- Double Subverted: ...However, a horde of zombies attack John, who is subsequently bitten by so many of them that the anti-virus is no longer effective.
- Parodied: John, a lazy, inarticulate and inexplicably still-alive survivor of the zombie apocalypse becomes a lazy, inarticulate, unnoticeably undead victim of the zombie apocalypse. Living characters keep him around because his infection makes no difference, as long as nobody puts their fingers in his mouth.
- Zig Zagged: John was bitten by a Vampire and freaks out about changing, but he doesn't. Then he change slowly into a vampire, then spontaneously turns back.
- Averted: John either survives the Zombie Apocalypse or is killed, but either way he does not become a zombie.
- Enforced: "Everybody Lives...that's too boring. Everyone Dies...too dark. How can we add some dramatic tension? WAIT! I'VE GOT IT!!"
- Lampshaded: "One day he was fighting by our side...the next...he was bitten, and then John was a zombie!"
- Invoked: The Big Bad releases The Virus specifically to make John a zombie.
- Exploited: John allows himself to get bitten by a zombie, hoping he has the willpower to fight off the horde with his newfound abilities.
- Defied: John is injected with the cure to The Virus just before it's too late.
- Discussed: "No, John didn't die. He turned into a zombie."
- Conversed: "...and then John was a zombie. Wow, way to add some emotional value!"
- Played For Laughs: John becomes a parody of a zombie, a shambling idiot who demands brains.
...and then you went back to And Then John Was a Zombie.
