I’m a visual guy. I love creative graphics. When I saw this I also thought immediately of Brother Pat. The National Post provides what may be (not hyperbole) one of the coolest things I have ever seen*. For your enjoyment, Stopping the Dead – a statistical look back at the Walking Dead series so far .
A few interesting tidbits:
– Handguns appear to be the weapon of choice in the zombie apocalypse with 113 kills.
– Screwdrivers only have two kills to their credit but this still puts them ahead of tire irons and tree branches.
– Rick has killed 84 zombies throughout the series putting him far ahead of #2 Daryl with a still-impressive 41 zombie kills. Carl has really upped his overall total with this season. He is becoming quite the badass.
* I do think the list is somewhat flawed. I don’t see any of the zombies Rick killed with an axe in his post-Lori’s death rampage. It’s still friggin’ awesome though.
That’s a neat little data visualization project.
I’m wondering why the new arrivals at the prison are still using shovels. Come on.Report
I like the shovel idea if you use it like a spear. It creates distance. Not good in a close mob though.Report
Even then, I’d rather use half of a post hole digger or something. Shovel blade is too wide for thrusting, unless you’re instead swinging it and using it like an axe… and if you’re using it like an axe, just use an axe. If you’re worried about the blade getting stuck (I would be) use an aluminum bat. Handle won’t break!
Not saying you can’t use a shovel effectively, just saying X months after the event started, if you’re still around, I think you’d have optimized your melee weapon of choice a bit.Report
I’m starting to think more and more that for melee weapons a bat is the best choice. Won’t get stuck, pretty much indestrctible if you go synthetic. Pretty lightweight. I guess the only concern is how many whacks it takes to get to the brain verses a bladed weapon.Report
I don’t know that people really realize how much damage you can do to a human skull with a bat. TV lets you think you could hit someone and maybe just knock them out.
You’re pretty likely to kill someone outright if you bean them clean, and zombies don’t head bob.
A tonfa would be a really good choice, especially one with a spike on the short end, but they take some practice.Report
What you really want is an entrenching tool. Since WW1, its shovel edge has been sharpened up and used as a close-quarters weapon.Report
Yeah, have you seen the crovel? I want one.
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Jeebus, some people… A standard M-1943 e-tool is more versatile. You can unscrew the holding point and turn the blade to a right angle to the shaft, screw it back tight, now it’s a serious digger, more like a sideways tomahawk.Report
That’s the “Extreme” version.
Yes, agreed, Jeebus, some people.Report
I have one of those I found in Yellowstone in 1989, the year after the wildfires.Report
Interestingly, in World War Z they talk about during the ‘clean-up’ phase soldiers using a modified entrenching tool they call the Lobo (short for Lobotomizer).
I still have the concern of a hacking weapon getting stuck in a zombie skull and then you get bit when you’re trying to yank it out.Report
Not really a problem. A skull isn’t like a log. It fractures easily.Report
Just one of the comments in this thread that are really, uhm, eye-catching, in the “Gifts of Gab” column.Report
The reason Rick’s Axe Rampage isn’t on the list is you never actually see him kill any of those zombies with the axe. just the aftermath. he could have just been hacking up a pile of already dead zombies. it annoyed me that I couldn’t actually include ’em.Report
APB_art,
Not true. You see two kills.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP5svAg5KVY
The chart shows where Rick kills the zombie that ate Lori. His last two on-screen kills before that should be ax kills but it shows them as handgun kills. The chart is awesome, but flawed.Report
Encoding large data sets, sometimes you make mistakes.Report
Wait, wait, is APB_art THE artist who created the graphic? Well done dude!
Whether you’re completely accurate or not doesn’t matter, just that you made the attempt. I thought Merle killed more from the rooftop in the 1st season with the rifle. But I haven’t even seen season 3 yet, only watched on Netflix in marathon bouts with the wife usually 4 episodes a night. I even had to download a zombie game for my android phone so I could kill off a few hundred walkers and have a good night’s sleep, saved me doing it in my dreams…Report
The graphic is killer. Also I burst out laughing when I noticed the chair at the bottom of the kill list. Good ol’ Glenn, that was hairy.Report