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Illustration of Variant walkers
Original AI-made illustration based on the descriptions in the sources. Not an official design.
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Variant walkers

Also called: Burners, Climbers, Ampers
TVUndeadVariesA virus2010 to today

Variant walkers are the more intelligent and agile dead that appear late in The Walking Dead franchise. They climb, open doors and use tools, which ordinary walkers almost never do. The spin-off Daryl Dixon, set in France and Spain, adds experimentally enhanced variants used as weapons.123

Battle it
First appeared
2023
Released 2023
Source work
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (2023)
David Zabel (creator), AMC
Made in
USA
What causes it
A virus
A strain of the series' virus said to have been created in France makes some walkers more capable; later variants come from human experiments.
How you become one
Human experiments on walkers produce some of them; the origin of the others is tied to a strain created in France.
How it moves
Varies
Variants are more agile than ordinary walkers and can climb.
Intelligence
Some intelligence
Weak spots
  • destroying the brain

When did it first appear?

Ancient worldMiddle Ages1500 to 18991900 to 19671968 to 19992000 to 20092010 to today2023

Released 2023

field notes

What the sources say

1

Variant walkers climb, open doors and use tools123

2

They appear in season 11 of The Walking Dead and are referenced in World Beyond and Daryl Dixon123

3

Named kinds include Climbers and Burners123

4

In Daryl Dixon a doctor's experiments produce dangerous variants, and a faction develops Amper variants as weapons123

5

The showrunners say variants have existed since the start of the series123

Could you outrun it?

Speed class from how the sources describe it (varies), not a measurement.

You, walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
You, jogging about 10 km/h (6.2 mph)
Variant walkers about 10 km/h (6.2 mph)
A fit adult sprinting about 24 km/h (15 mph)
A fast cyclist about 37 km/h (23 mph)

Sources

  1. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon - Wikipedia
  2. Zombies - Walking Dead Wiki (Fandom)
  3. The Walking Dead (TV series) - Wikipedia

Every fact on this page comes from these sources, written in our own words. Spotted a mistake? Tell us at [email protected].

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