The Corporeal Undead

So, you think you know a lot about the undead, eh? Just how many types of undead can you actually name? Did you knwo there's a difference between a corporeal and a non-corporeal undead? Here's a nice list detailed just for you. It outlines the world's views and experiences with that strange "other side" and their takes on it.

Skeleton- utilizing necromancy to revitalize the decayed skeleton of a once deceased organism. It is believed that a single skeleton has the strength of a full grown man and can reassemble themselves if they are struck or damaged in some way. Unlike their brethren the Zombie, a skeleton is incapable of infecting other humans if bitten, scratched, etc. But they possess the nasty ability to open a portal to the Netherworld, a place between Hell and purgatory where revived souls dmaned forever dwell, and drag its victims into the void to feed on. A zombie could very well be a skeleton summoned from the Netherworld.

Zombie- a dead body that has been revived by a supernatural force. Zombies are the main type of undead depicted most often in the media, but in actuality they are quite frail. They aren't as strong as Skeletons, so they can be muscled into submission and dealt with, but it was also belived that they carried the "Plague of the Devil". When a zombie manages to break the surface of the skin by any means, they introduce a viral toxin into the body that gradually turns the vicitm into a zombie as well. They are also the subject mattter of zombie video games and movies, such as Resident Evil and House of the Dead.

Ghoul- a mythological monster from ancient Arabian folklore that dwells in burial grounds and other uninhabited places.

Lich (German)- the result of a transformation, as a powerful magician or king striving for eternal life uses spells or rituals to bind his intellect to his animated corpse and thereby achieve a perverse form of immortality. Their bodies are desiccated and skeletal; however, they are not zombies, as they have a certain dominion over lesser undead beings.

Ghast- Carnivorous creatures. The ghasts are a race of fearsome humanoids. They are much larger than a man and have a vaguely human face, albeit missing a nose. Their skin is rough and knotty. Their senses are unusually acute; they can see in the dark and have a strong sense of smell. They hop about on a pair of hooved, kangaroo-like legs, and are swift, strong, and agile. Ghasts prefer to dwell in complete darkness and have no tolerance for natural light — sunlight will kill them instantly. Ghasts were believed to be the end result of a vampire breeding with a human or another undead being.

Mummy- A respectful Egyptian style funeral in which the body of the departed is embalmed, dried with salts and powdered chemicals and wrapped in gauze and bandages for burial. They have immense physical strength, but their intelligence is non-existent. A mummy can chant a curse of the Underworld and drag unlucky grave robbers down to hell with them if they are uncovered.

Wight- A living creature, especially a human being; A being of one of the Nine Worlds of heathen belief, especially a nature spirit, elf or ancestor; A ghost or other supernatural entity; brave, valorous, strong, benevolent spirits. Depending on the religion they are depicted in, they can be useful and even heroic, or demonic and acursed.

Draug/ Draugr- A Norwegian specter that preys on drunkards or homeless people, and makes them commit terrible acts of violence. Was supposed to be the oldest explanation for the multitude of Norwegian crackpots and "corner-crazies".

Hematophagia (Blood-suckers/drinkers)- the ancient art of consuming the blood of living organisms dates back far beyond the Druids. The act of drinking the life blood of organisms was thought to be a way to communicate with the various gods of death. With the sacrifice of blood, which was thought to be the main source of life for all living things, was an offering to the gods, and in exchange, the practitioner would hope to receive great supernatural powers.

Revenant- A visible ghost or animated corpse that was believed to return from the grave to terrorize the living; a sentient creature whose desire to fulfill a special goal allows it to return from the grave, e.g. Brandon Lee in “The Crow”. unlike most of its corporeal brothers, a Revenant is highly intelligent, depending on the body brought back, and possess the strength, speed and agility of a demi-god. It was even believed that they could even reproduce sexually, but there was no record of an offspring between a Revenant and a human. The price for such great other-worldy power is just as great. A Revenant must utilize some sort of a spiritual medium, an object of spiritual power through which they can 'house' their spirits as their bodies remain immortal and indestrcutable. In the case of Brandon Lee's "The Crow", the corw itself was Eric Draven's spirit carrier. It could also have been his guitar or his favorite necklace. Or his engagement ring.

Hominis Nocturna/Nosferatu/The First Vampire: When Christ was nailed upon the cross, naturally he bled greatly. When the life left him at last, his blood was lapped upon by a bat. As divine blood it was, God punished the animal for feeding upon his earthly son. Agony ripped through its body as it grew in size and its appetite for destruction and blood increased to almost demonic proportions. It had become immortal.
As further punishment, God ‘blessed’ the resulting creature with emotion and self awareness. This was perhaps the most bizarre of punishments, as the beast recognized its great sin when Christ rose again and met it in secret, before his return to the world of men. It wept in front of him, but had not the tongue to beg forgiveness. This frustrated it, for if the son of God could not see its despair through its tears, how could he claim that his father was all seeing and all merciful? Thus, during the next two hundred years this frustration grew to hatred and hatred to madness. The first true Vampire was born, damned in soul and hungry for the life of men. When it finally accepted the beast within, God’s damned son, Lucifer, granted it the power to reap many men, for it was more akin to a man-sized bat and just as delicate as his smaller kin. After 777 days in hibernation, it awoke to a new body, with great girth and strength most unholy. Its claws were like those of a bear (as was its new, terrible height), and his teeth grew to frightening extent. After his days asleep, the creature found he could shape-shift into all a manner of objects, including man.
As part of his bargain with the Devil (who better to speak to a beast than a fallen Angel?) it could make companions from man, but their souls would be set loose for Lucifer’s servants to occupy the resulting host body. The transfer of vampiric genes would not be perfect, and each generation would be more human than the last, but the strength and the hunger always remained. Other stories include the tale of Kain and Able from the Bible. Kain killed Able out of jealousy when he saw the God favored his brother's offerings more so than his own. As punishment for his sin, God cursed Kain with immense strength, immortality, and an insatiable urge to devour human flesh. He would remain immortal, but he was the very first "technical" vampire. Technically speaking, the term "vampire" is also an adjective, describing one who is vampiric, one who sucks the life from other organisms in order to survive, almost parasitic. Blood isn't what vampires orignally wanted, some legends say. It was believed at one point in history that vampires sucked at human necks because it was a transfer point to reach the main stream of energy in a human, which was what kept thei undead bodies animated. But they couldn't spearate the energy without taking out the blood, so they sucked on anyways, taking out the blood as well.

Soucouyant- The soucouyant or soucriant in Caribbean and specifically Dominican, Trinidadian and Guadeloupean folklore is a creature that lives by day as an old woman at the end of the village. By night, however, she strips off her wrinkled skin, puts it in a mortar, and flies in the shape of a fireball through the darkness, looking for a victim to drain blood from, usually a female victim. Soucouyants belong to a class of spirits called Jumbies. Some believe that soucouyants were brought to the Caribbean from European countries in the form of French vampire-myths. These beliefs intermingled with those of enslaved Africans. Others believe that soucouyants were actually elder women, who experienced many bodily changes unbearable to their neighbors. The neighbors, by this line of thought, would mock them for their wrinkled skin and fear their association with witchcraft. In the French West Indies, specifically the island of Guadeloupe, the Soukougnan or Soukounian is a person able to shed his or her skin to turn into a vampiric fireball. In general these figures can be anyone, not only old women, although some affirm that only women could become Soukounian, because only female breasts could contain the creature's wings.

Pontianak- Pontianak, Indonesia is named after this creature, which was claimed to have haunted the men who first settled there. It is said that if you have your eyes open when a Pontianak is near it will suck them out of your head. In folklore, a Pontianak usually announces its presence through baby cries or assumes the form of a beautiful lady and frightens or kills those unlucky enough to come too close. It disguises itself as a beautiful young woman mainly to attract its victim (usually male). Its presence can sometimes be detected by a nice floral fragrance identifiable as that of the ‘kemboja’ (Plumeria), followed by an awful stench worse than a rotting cadaver afterward. A Pontianak kills its victims by digging into their stomachs with its sharp fingernails and devouring their organs. Pontianaks must feed in this manner in order to survive. In some cases where the Pontianak desires revenge against a male individual, it rips out the sex organs with its hands. It is believed that Pontianaks locate prey by sniffing out clothes left outside to dry. For this reason, some Malays refuse to leave any article of clothing outside of their residences overnight. It is also said that their spirits are said to reside in banana trees.

Homunculus and Forbidden Alchemy- The end result of a forbidden form of alchemy. Alchemy is the art of manipulating the structure of a compound by breaking it down scientifically from one thing, and then reassembling it as another element entirely. The idea was that an ordinary rock could be “transmutated” into a solid lump of pure gold was what headed this stoic scientific belief. Alchemists are ancient scientists that attempted human transmutations as well, trying to create “humanoid chimera” after the first readings of Semuhlhult, a book written about the first Grecian monsters in an old Latin text. by creating such a creature out of yourself, you could attain immortality and the strength of the gods. A homunculus is similar to a zombie and a revenant, depending on the materials that you use, in that they were once human, but they were broken down and reassembled genetically, into a chimera-like creature. They are sterile, usually freakish in appearance, and are the end result of an alchemists desire to either transmute or revive a loved one. It is said that if the transmutation is unsuccessful, then the homunculus will return from the Underworld in the form of the one the alchemist attempted to revive, as a constant reminder that they shouldn’t play God. Such works as ‘Homunculus Wife’ by Kurt Geiserburger and a Japanese anime series called “Fullmetal Alchemist” are themed around the forbidden study of alchemy and human transmutation. But alchemy isn't just reviving and combining stuff. It is basically "magic mixed with science", and incoporates the beliefs of the anceitn ones with the most up-to-date science. transmutation was belived to allow one to create a material knwon as the "Philosopher's Stone". This "stone" could only be made if the souls of millions of innocent lives, especially women and children, were sacrificed in cold-blood. This horrible act would show the gods of the Netherworld you were worthy to weild their power. The stone itself automatically calculates the exact amount of exchange needed to create gold from rock. It was the most coveted thing on the planet at the time, and it was from this rock that spawned the beliefs of the "Elixir of Life".