Dying Light – Harran Virus
In the coastal city of Harran in Dying Light, life used to be very peaceful and simple. But, everything changed the day the Harran virus appeared. The entire population was wiped out in just a short time, the city is now filled with bloodthirsty zombies.
Harran Virus is a variation of rabies but the danger level is much higher. When a person is infected with a virus, his brain function will rapidly decline, eventually falling into a state of unconsciousness and becoming extremely aggressive. They move around, whine, and attack anyone who is not already infected. However, in the early stages of the virus’s life cycle, victims have not yet completely become zombies, they still have human signs such as crying and screaming when attacked. In addition, these zombies are extremely afraid of sunlight because their cells will quickly decompose.
Regarding transmission, this virus is often transmitted by saliva through bites or blood through scratches and open wounds. In the early stages, victims infected with the virus begin to experience weakened health, increased adrenaline, increasingly intense feelings of restlessness and aggression, blurred vision, and vomiting. At this time, Antizin can be used to inhibit the progression of the virus; On the contrary, if not treated promptly, the victim will suffer convulsions, exhaustion, hallucinations and the desire to “hunt” for humans at night. In the final stage, blisters, blood clots and sometimes large tumors appear on the skin; In addition, there is hair loss, malnutrition, pale appearance and complete loss of reason. Once end-stage symptoms appear, cure is impossible.
Resident Evil – T-virus
The T-virus is the source of all of the most catastrophic zombie outbreaks in the original Resident Evil trilogy. This virus was developed by the Umbrella Corporation with the goal of improving human genetic makeup. However, Umbrella quickly lost control, leading to the Spencer Mansion incident in the first Resident Evil and the outbreak in Raccoon City in the two sequels.
T-virus or Tyrant virus is a mutant strain of Progenitor virus found in Sonnentreppe – a flower that only appears in West Africa. The Progenitor virus was discovered by the pharmaceutical company Umbrella in the 1960s with the hope of creating a new race of humans with superhuman strength. However, to have funds to maintain the project, Umbrella must agree to create biological weapons for the military through the use of this virus.
Therefore, in addition to researching and manufacturing biological weapons, the company also carried out the Wesker Project at the same time. The goal, as mentioned above, is to create a perfect human race – a stepping stone for human evolution. The project resulted in the deaths of many children, and also led to the birth of Albert Wesker, the series’ main antagonist. Finally, the experiments at Spencer Mansion were exposed, Raccoon City sent top police force STARS to investigate. At this time, Wesker went undercover as the leader of STARS, and this led to the series of events in the first Resident Evil. The outbreak in Raccoon began because one of Umbrella’s scientists, William Birkin, infected the city’s sewer system with the T-Virus.
When infected with the T-virus, the victim will possess superhuman strength, but on the other hand, it destroys their mind and makes them crave human flesh. Cases with early symptoms can be treated with antiviral drugs, otherwise they will become “zombies”. The T-virus was later also tested with other strains to create new zombie viruses such as the G-Virus, t-Abyss in Resident Evil Revelations and t-Phobos in Resident Evil Revelations 2.
The Last of Us – Cordyceps fungal infection
In 2013, a Cordyceps fungal infection wiped out 60% of the population in the world of The Last of Us. 20 years later, people still have not found an effective way to overcome this fungus and the world is facing the abyss of survival.
Cordyceps fungal infection is inspired by a real-life fungus. Ophiocordyces is a parasitic fungus on insects. It gradually takes control of the nervous system, thereby controlling the muscles and killing the victim. In the Last of Us, Cordyceps is a parasitic fungus in the human brain, turning people into zombies, whose only goal is to spread the disease to as many people as possible.
Once infected, the fungus will grow while the victim is still alive, symptoms include coughing, distorted sounds, muscle spasms, and mood changes until it completely takes over the prey’s consciousness. The victim becomes animalistic, aggressive, loses reason, and the only remaining thoughts are to attack others. Cordyceps fungus is often transmitted through bites. The time it takes for the illness to develop will depend on the location of the injury: 5-15 minutes if the injury is on the neck, face or head; 2-8 hours if on the arm, shoulder or hand; 12-24 hours if in the legs or feet.
