Zombie

Verified against the spelunky.ai port v0.1.10 on 27 October 2026.

Zombies come only from the graveyard levels of the Jungle, where level generation makes them in numbers. A Zombie stands still until the player comes near, then hops at him, in short hops and the odd long one, and bites when it lands on him. With 1 hit point, it dies to any damage, and falls apart into bones and a Skull, like a Skeleton.

A Zombie stands where it is until the player comes within 64 pixels of it, and then it starts hopping at him, with a groan ^[5]. Each time it's on the ground it hops toward him: 1 time in 4 a long hop, 3 pixels per step (90 per second) across and 2–4 pixels per step up, otherwise a short one, 1 pixel per step across and 1–2 up ^[6]. It keeps that speed until it lands, and it falls slowly, at a third of most monsters' gravity, so a long hop carries it far: about 90 pixels for a long hop 3 pixels per step up, and about 12 for a short hop 1 pixel per step up ^{[7] [8] [9]}. It bounces back off a wall and drops at once when it hits a ceiling ^{[10] [11]}.

When it lands, it stands for 40–100 steps (1.33–3.33 seconds) before hopping at a player within 64 pixels again, but if he's within 48 pixels it hops again at once ^[12]. It never hops at a swimming player ^[13]. The clip shows a Zombie waking as the player walks up, closing in with four short hops and a long one that lands on him, then resting before it hops again.

A Zombie only acts while it's on screen or just off it ^[14].

When the player touches a Zombie without stomping it, he loses 1 heart, is knocked away from it, and blinks, invincible, for 30 steps (1 second) ^[15]. This is the touch code most monsters share; the Zombie has no attack of its own beyond landing on him. The hop clip shows a bite taking the player from four hearts to three.

A Zombie has 1 hit point, so any damage kills it ^[16]:

A Zombie can't be stunned, so it can't be picked up, carried or sacrificed to Kali: the player only picks up a stunned or dead monster, and a dead Zombie leaves no body ^{[28] [29]}.

A Zombie that dies bleeds and falls apart into three bones and a Skull, thrown upward ^[30]. The clip shows the Whip breaking up a hopping Zombie; its Skull shatters as it lands. Zombies killed count toward the player's kills, and the screen between levels draws a Zombie icon for each ^{[31] [32]}. One that Spikes, Lava or a Spear Trap killed doesn't count ^{[33] [34] [35]}; one that ends up inside solid ground does.

Level generation makes Zombies only on graveyard levels, which 1 in 10 levels of the Jungle is ^{[36] [37]}. On top of each block with open space above it (no block, monster or Spikes there), outside the starting room and shops, a graveyard level makes a Zombie with a 1 in 25 chance, or failing that a Vampire with a 1 in 160 chance, in place of the Jungle's usual Mantraps, Cavemen and Frogs, and under water as well as on dry ground ^[38].

Custom levels can have them, as the level editor's tile z ^[39].

• A Zombie stays put until the player is within 64 pixels, so one can be passed at a distance, or above or below it.
• Within 48 pixels a Zombie hops again as soon as it lands, so standing next to one invites a bite; a long hop can also carry it clean over the player.
• A swimming player doesn't wake Zombies.
• Any hit kills a Zombie, so the Whip or a stomp deals with one.

• The Zombie's code never sets its type string, so it keeps the parent object's "None" ^[40]. The touch code's deaths-by-enemy tally checks for "Zombie", so a Zombie that takes the player's last heart isn't counted, and the Zombie row of the table the game writes to stats.txt always reads ??? with 0 deaths ^{[41] [42]}.
• The code names five states, but sets only three of them: the walking (WALK) and drowned (DROWNED) states are never used. Its step event sends any state it doesn't handle back to standing, except the drowned one ^{[43] [44]}.