Oh my goodness – this is the LAST DAY OF THE A TO Z CHALLENGE!!!  I can’t believe it…no, wait, I CAN believe it!  This challenge was about to kick my butt, however, looks like I’m writing the Z post for Ladies I Love, so who’s kicking butt now, huh?  Speaking of kicking butt, that brings me to the subject of today’s post, my favorite female zombie apocalypse survivors (or as I like to think of them, zombie slayers).  But first, a little business:

WARNING: This post contains violence in the context of zombies being killed by badass ladies.  You might not want to watch the video clip at the end of this post if you have a problem with blood, gore, or violence against zombies.  Although I also feel obligated to tell you that it’s not real zombie blood or gore, and not real violence towards zombies.  No actual zombies were harmed in the making of any of these movies or shows.

Whew!  Now that that’s off my chest, let’s get started.  I don’t know if any of you know this, but I really like zombies.  Like, I like them a lot.  I read zombie novels, and I get a kick out of zombie humor.  To me, there’s something utterly fascinating about the whole “world falls apart and you have to learn how to survive in the face of horror and also other human beings who can also be horrible” scenario.  I’ve seen a bunch of zombie movies, of course, so I thought I’d write about my top five favorite female zombie heroines…but, damn, this was a difficult post!  Sure, I had my top 2 or 3, but I really had to dig to find a few others.  Most of the zombie movies out there star guys who go in to save the girls, or the girls end up taking off their tops and showing their boobs, or the whole thing is just a bad, lame joke.  Ugh.  Anyway, let’s get this list started!

Fifth on my list is Selena from 28 Days Later.  You could argue that 28 Days Later isn’t really a zombie film, but dang, all those people with the “rage virus” sure do act like they’ve lost their minds in a zombie kind of way.  Selena, played by Naomie Harris, comes to the rescue of several people in her survivor’s group of four, although she does not hesitate to kill anyone who has been infected (a drop of blood can contaminate and incite rage within 30 seconds of exposure…yikes!).  The rage virus continues to spread despite quarantines and Selena and her group continue to evade the infected, although they meet up with a not-so-nice military contingent and things get really messy from there.  Great movie and fantastic acting!

I think my favorite zombie movie of all time has to be Shaun of the Dead.  Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are so hilarious that I couldn’t NOT include this in my list.  But who is the leading lady?  Easy – Shaun’s on-off-on again girlfriend, Liz, played by Kate Ashfield.  First, she can hold her own using a field hockey stick.  Second, she does a mean zombie impression which helps the gang get into the Winchester pub for the final standoff with all the zombies.  The humor in this movie almost makes me pee my pants every time I see it, and the cast is Ah Maze Zing (Bill Nighy even plays Shaun’s detested stepfather).  I always find something new to laugh at, no matter how many times I watch it!

Third on my list is Alice from the Resident Evil movies.  This is a long series of movies and the overall plot is a bit complicated, but basically, the world is run by the Umbrella Corporation and has unleashed the T-Virus upon the earth’s populace, creating zombies all over the place. There are pockets of survivors here and there, and Alice, who is kind of a clone of herself in the movies, is there to rebel against the Umbrella Corporation and ultimately take them down.  Alice is played by ass-kicking Milla Jovovich, who is captured by Umbrella and experimented upon, and develops superhuman fighting skills and strength due to exposure to the T-Virus.  She uses her skills to escape from Umbrella, fight zombies, and destroy the head bad guy (or the Red Queen, shall I say).  I love these movies because of the complex story line, the twists and turns it takes, and of course, Milla Jovovich’s portrayal of Alice!

My first and second favorite zombie survivors / slayers both come from The Walking Dead TV series.  My second favorite is Maggie Greene, played by Lauren Cohan.  The main group of survivors meets up with Hershal and his family (including Maggie) on his farm, and Glenn and Maggie hit it off and have a romance that survives longer than all of the zombies that Maggie and Glenn come into contact with.  Whether it’s clearing zombies from the prison compound’s perimeter or killing attacking zombies in riot gear, Maggie gets the hard (and dangerous, and gross) jobs done.  Maggie plays it tough but I think she’s a romantic on the inside, and will stop at nothing to get back to Glenn in season 4 when she doesn’t even know if Glenn is still alive.  Ahhh…a true apocalyptic love story!

Finally, my favorite zombie slayer of all time has got to be Michonne from The Walking Dead.  I’ve kept up with the graphic novels as well as the show, and she’s my favorite in both.  Like Maggie, she plays it tough, but as we’ve gotten to know Michonne, we see more of her background and why she has had to toughen up so much.  She’s a very complex character, and is portrayed most excellently by Danai Gurira (really, I can’t imagine anyone else doing better – Danai IS Michonne!).  Also, Michonne carries a katana sword with her at all times, her signature weapon that allows her to kill zombies from a safe-ish distance quickly and quietly.  Check out this video that compiled all of her zombie kills, through season 3 (I think – the video was published July 26, 2013).  Pretty amazing, huh?

So what do you think?  Are you a fan of zombies or zombie films, comics, books, shows, etc.?  If so, who are your favorite survivalists?  Any recommendations for me, or additions to this list?

It has been a pleasure blogging the A to Z Challenge with all of you this past April – I hope to see you participating again next year!  I definitely will be, but feel free to stop by Fuzzy Undertones in the mean time to say hello! ❤