posted
I am not sure if anyone else has thought of this, but I was curious what other people thought. I was wondering if undead keep their gender. Should a character think of a undead that looks like a certain type of gender be referred as that gender, such as he/she or as an it? Also does mental capacity matter when making a decision. While a mindless zombie might not care, a undead that retains its mental prowess might become offended. The idea just came to me and I just wanted to know if I was the only one to think about it.
[This message has been edited by gobi13x (edited January 09, 2008).]
posted
Tossing some stuff on the wall to see if it sticks.
The gender does not likely matter to the undead, but would matter to normal people. How they are undead makes a difference and what condition they are in. Some undead might continue to rot while they are animated, and after a while, physical signs might not be visible, having rotted off. Some undead are shown as skeletons. sex would not matter.
Undead are generally shown as slow moving, autotoms, running as if operated by a 286 computer, surprising their victims rather than attacking with intellegence. Gender only would matter if they had reproductive needs. Gnerally, they are shown becoming so by some outside element, either magic, disease or something else. Gender would not matter to th em.
The use of gender would make writing them easier. if there are two of them, you can refer to him and her, he and she.
posted
Well how does your POV character feel about it?
I'd say that that if they retain visual clues or their personalities then their gender should be retained. A trained eye can tell the difference in a male and female skeleton. All of my undead have genders. Most of them retained their personalities. (If you called one of them an it she would haunt you three ways from tuesday.)
posted
I will say this: as a college student in a program that has WAY too much politically correct garbage (Master's of Education), I would love to read a story in which the undead get very offended when people make mistakes about their gender, race, and/or sexual preference.
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
I have been using gender pronouns if the character was able to tell the difference, but sometimes the corpse is too rotted or disfigured to know the difference so I use it then. If the unrecognizable undead is mindless I just been using it, because there is no way to tell, but an intelligent one would correct the character if called by the wrong pronoun. I was just curious to see if others thought the same way.
[This message has been edited by gobi13x (edited January 09, 2008).]
posted
A rotting corpse of the kind that doesn't get up and move around would certainly have gender, even if it had to be determined at the autopsy. I don't see why the living undead wouldn't.
It could be an opportunity to put a nice touch in on it..."The corpse fell face down and lay still after Our Hero drove an iron spike through his skull. Our Hero bent down and examined him, turning him over...no, not 'him,' but 'her,' it had been a woman before..."
posted
I think it depends on the use of the undead. A warlock that summons a revenant probably doesn't care--it's just the shell held together by magic. In World of Warcraft, the undead are characters who were forsaken by a curse so they tend to still consider dating every now and then and gender is a point. I think in modern horror there is a contextual point--zombies seem to be an add-on to the slasher film concept and cuties (male and female) have always been a part of the mix. Bear in mind undead can be sentient in many treatments and would most likely hold the characteristics of their former gender. Undead as a tool or mindless slave might not matter--except in the reader or a character's stake in their former identity. So, if I'm being chased by zombies I'm pretty much ok with it, but I might have to let my girlfreind get a little ripe before I blow her head off in self-defense. Posts: 121 | Registered: Sep 2002
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posted
As a fan of the show "Ghost Hunters" (on the Sci-Fi channel) I notice that the TAPS crew often picks up voices on their electronic recording devices. You can often discern whether the EVP is a male voice or a female voice. If that is any indication, I'd say that the spirit/dead/undead entity retains a form of gender identification.
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posted
I suppose that the sex of the living undead would matter most if one of one's characters wanted to have sex with them. Which raises all sorts of unpleasant possibilities and speculations...
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posted
well if you want the truth all the undead are, are people who were brought back shortly after death with in 1 week and restred to health and are 3type inmortal.
they are usely brought back because of something important they know that other inmortals need to know.
posted
The last time I checked, undead don't actually exist so if you want them to have genders who's going to stop you? That being said, I imagine that gender-identity might be dependant on the zombie's level of preservation. A corpse reanimated hours after death might be distinctly female, while if it took the necromancer a couple of weeks to find her people probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
You're entering the realms of speculative fiction, so go ahead and speculate! Gender-identity will certaintly help to differentiate your book from the shuddering masses of zombie novels.
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