How the Seven Deadly Sins apply to Zombies / Ghosts

[Guest TheOnlyShapeshifter]

[center:3ossgah2]Hey guys, Shapeshifter here with a brand new theory.

I’ve been thinking about AlphaSnake’s theory about a demonic presence in Zombies, and something came up.

Each of the characters display one or more of the Seven Deadly Sins.

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[center:3ossgah2]Dempsey displays:[/center:3ossgah2]

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[center:3ossgah2]Pride – Sometimes called Vanity, “an inflated sense of one's personal status or accomplishments, often used synonymously with hubris, or extreme pride.” Dempsey is ALWAYS calling himself such things as a “badass”, “zombie-killin’-machine”, and other things. He thinks he can do anything in the world, and that nothing can stop him.

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[center:3ossgah2]Nikolai displays:

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[center:3ossgah2]Gluttony - Gluttony, derived from the Latin gluttire meaning to gulp down or swallow, means over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, or wealth items to the point of extravagance or waste. In some Christian denominations, although not stated in the Bible, it is considered one of the seven deadly sins—a misplaced desire of food or its withholding from the needy. Nikolai always seems to display this when it comes to alcohol, or at least Vodka. He always must have more, and doesn’t want to share with anyone.[/center:3ossgah2]

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[center:3ossgah2]Sloth – “Sloth is defined as spiritual or emotional apathy, neglecting what God has spoken, and being physically and emotionally inactive. Acedia is a Latin word, from Greek ???????, meaning "Carelessness". Sloth can also indicate a wasting due to lack of use, concerning a person, place, thing, skill, or intangible ideal that would require maintenance, refinement, or support to continue to exist. Religious views concerning the need for one to work to support society and further God's plan and work also suggest that, through inactivity, one invites the desire to sin.” Nikolai isn’t exactly the most active fella, and usually is caught being lazy or other things of that nature.[/center:3ossgah2]

[center:3ossgah2]Richtofen displays:

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[center:3ossgah2]Lust – “Lust is a feeling of intense desire, usually a sexual one.” In Richtofen’s case, he has a VERY strong desire to kill everything, and displays it through his shouts and protests. Not only that, but he says some very… provocative things about him with the zombies. He also has a very strong desire to get back at Maxis and Sam for what they “did”. I’ll get to that in the next sin…[/center:3ossgah2]

[center:3ossgah2][/center:3ossgah2]

[center:3ossgah2]Greed - Greed, also known as avarice or covetousness, is, like lust and gluttony, a sin of excess. However, greed (as seen by the church) is applied to a very excessive or rapacious desire and pursuit of wealth, status, and power. Richtofen wants all the power he can get. He ESPECIALLY wants to destroy Samantha and take control of the zombies for himself.[/center:3ossgah2]

[center:3ossgah2]Takeo displays:

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[center:3ossgah2]Envy - Envy (also called invidiousness) is best defined as a resentful emotion that "occurs when a person lacks another's (perceived) superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it." This one is a bit hard to explain, but I will try my best. Takeo is very jealous of Nikolai, always getting respect from Richtofen. Takeo always tries to get that same amount of respect and “honor” from him, but he fails.[/center:3ossgah2]

[center:3ossgah2]Samantha displays:

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[center:3ossgah2]Wraith – “Rage problems are conceptualized as "the inability to process emotions or life's experiences" either because the capacity to regulate emotion has never been sufficiently developed or because it has been temporarily lost due to more recent trauma. Rage is understood as "a whole load of different feelings trying to get out at once" or as raw, undifferentiated emotions, that spill out when one more life event that cannot be processed, no matter how trivial, puts more stress on the organism than they can bear.” She will stop at NOTHING to destroy Richtofen and co., to avenge her father’s death, and her own. She is also seemingly merciless, especially in Der Riese in the later rounds. She also displays this on Moon during the Easter egg.[/center:3ossgah2]

[center:3ossgah2]Now, it seems to me like Dempsey also displays a tad bit of Wraith, or anger but only slightly.

Back to the main topic…

There is some connection here with religion, but maybe it’s not religion exactly, or Satan, but a demonic force or presence.

My thought is this…[/center:3ossgah2]

[center:3ossgah2]Ghosts.[/center:3ossgah2]

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[center:3ossgah2]Ghosts are usually portrayed as a demonic and supernatural force. They usually are seen more by children, and have been known to contact them to comfort them or something else. What if the demonic spirit of Maxis is the one that’s running the show? Samantha’s body would be the perfect conduit for Maxis to seek HIS revenge for slaying him and his daughter.

You heard it from Maxis himself, that she isn’t doing anything. “She’s just a girl.”

That would be more likely than the other way around, with Samantha actually calling the shots. I believe that when Richtofen planted himself in her body, he removed Samantha’s essence, and Maxis corrupted Richtofen as well.

This would explain a lot of things, including Hell Hounds, who most likely dwell from hell themselves.[/center:3ossgah2]

[center:3ossgah2]Thanks for reading,

Shapeshifter.

(Credit to AlphaSnake for his original theory, and a few others for ideas.

Sin pics from http://annabellemagazine.com/annabelle%20issue%2010/CoverIssueTen.html)

Note: This was actually done around February, and I forgot to actually upload it!

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[Guest TheOnlyShapeshifter]

I'm surprised no one has put their input in by now... :shock:

[Guest Ehjookayted]

Theories are best served in the Research Facility, as things tend to get lost in the clutter of the General Zombies Discussion section.

On the actual theory, I really see where each sin could apply; however, I question this. In some way or form, every malevolent character in every work is going to be characterized in accordance to these sins. Unless the sins directly correlate to the characters i.e. 1 sin per character, I find it hard to accept them as direct symbols.

Then again, your theory does not make that assertion. It's solidly rooted in quotes, for the sins part at least. I like that.

However, your section on ghosts could be expanded. How do ghosts relate to the supernatural occurrences in the story? Is there some mythological connection between ghosts at Satan?

[Guest TheOnlyShapeshifter]

Theories are best served in the Research Facility, as things tend to get lost in the clutter of the General Zombies Discussion section.

On the actual theory, I really see where each sin could apply; however, I question this. In some way or form, every malevolent character in every work is going to be characterized in accordance to these sins. Unless the sins directly correlate to the characters i.e. 1 sin per character, I find it hard to accept them as direct symbols.

Then again, your theory does not make that assertion. It's solidly rooted in quotes, for the sins part at least. I like that.

However, your section on ghosts could be expanded. How do ghosts relate to the supernatural occurrences in the story? Is there some mythological connection between ghosts at Satan?

The Bible says that one third of the angels rebelled against God. Satan (Lucifer) was the angel in charge of this rebellion. These angels were punished by being banished from heaven.

Satan hates man. Man has a relationship with God that angels could never have. Man was made in the image and likeness of God. Satan is jealous of this and hates us for it. He wants to deceive human kind into rejecting God, so that man will share the same punishment that he is destined for.

Satan knows that one single lie wont be effective in deceiving everyone. So he came up with several. Some men would be deceived by Ghosts and reincarnation. Others would adopt an evolutionary philosophy, that the world created itself without God. Others would be deceived into believing in pagan gods, etc...

The Christian Bible says that Satan sends fallen angels to earth to deceive us. Satan wants us to doubt the existence of God. He wants man to share in his punishment.

Part of this deception is the appearance of "ghosts". Satan wants man to believe that these are the spirits of people who have died. That they have overcome the chains of death and returned.

This is opposite of what the Bible says happens when we die. By being presented with these spirits one tends to question if the Biblical destination after death is the correct one. Because if ghosts exist, then clearly heaven does not.

Keep in mind that this is all theoretical, and none of this is most likely true. (Seeing as I myself am Agnostic, so I doubt Christianity.)

With the sin thing... Not saying that they all are attributed to one or multiple sins, but they all show characteristics of each sin.

[Guest Monopoly Mac]

I personally think that Richtofen started to exhibit these deadly sins after he touched the Pyramid.

Gluttony- His need to eat spleens.

Lust- His homosexuality.

Wrath- He is angry at Maxis for everything.

Envy- He is jealous of the power Maxis has and he doesn't.

Pride- He has an extreme amount of pride in his creations such as the DG-2.

Sloth- He was lazy when it came to doing teleportation experiments with Maxis. This ones a bit of a stretch.

Greed- He is obsessed with power and control.

The thing that makes me feel like he has some sort of outside influence on him is that ever since he has touched that pyramid, he has actually indulged in these sins. Of course like Eye said, these sins could have no symbolism in the story at all and I could be talking about.

[Guest TheOnlyShapeshifter]

I personally think that Richtofen started to exhibit these deadly sins after he touched the Pyramid.

Gluttony- His need to eat spleens.

Lust- His homosexuality.

Wrath- He is angry at Maxis for everything.

Envy- He is jealous of the power Maxis has and he doesn't.

Pride- He has an extreme amount of pride in his creations such as the DG-2.

Sloth- He was lazy when it came to doing teleportation experiments with Maxis. This ones a bit of a stretch.

Greed- He is obsessed with power and control.

The thing that makes me feel like he has some sort of outside influence on him is that ever since he has touched that pyramid, he has actually indulged in these sins. Of course like Eye said, these sins could have no symbolism in the story at all and I could be talking about.

There is definitely some involvement with Satanic forces in zombies.