Aren't skulls thicker than that?

[red max]

I have to confess I've never tried stabbing anyone in the skull with a knife, or cleaving anyone's head in two with a katana, but can't help wondering if TWD makes it look a lot easier than it really would be.

The ease with which the zombies are killed by a blade in the skull seems unrealistic to me. It's like their heads are no thicker than eggshells. I imagine that even if you did manage to plunge a knife right into someone's head, it'd most likely get wedged in there pretty tight, but seemingly Michonne is able to cleanly slice through a dozen zombie heads without much difficulty. Maybe she should chop down a few trees while she's at it - clearly that blade of hers could fell a giant redwood with one blow.

I know we have to suspend belief in this genre, but to me the allure of the zombie idea is its simplicity. We're only expected to swallow one outlandish concept, that the dead are returning to life and attacking us. Everything else is as it would be, and that includes the difficulty of killing them. When you make it too easy you lessen their impact (particularly when it's done with CGI that's sometimes a bit too slick)

[Neil]

That said in the last episode Rick had a problem bashing in a skull didn't he? Or was that Carl?

[Rottedfreak]

Were talking about a series where the necrotic impaired can bite through denims and tear a gut open.

[Moon Knight]

That said in the last episode Rick had a problem bashing in a skull didn't he? Or was that Carl?

Rick was pretty much dead already; he didn't have the strength.

Also, it's a show.

[MinionZombie]

With the amount of force used, and considering the sharp points of an axe or a knife, it's do-able. Plus there's an element of fantasy to the whole deal. Rick couldn't get the biker bar walker because he was too weak - he couldn't muster enough force ... plus we've also seen knifes and such get wedged in walker skulls (e.g. earlier in season 4 when Carol goes to clear out the mud from the water hose).

[bassman]

Yeah, the whole knife-in-the-forehead thing from Season Two kind of threw me off. BUT....it is just science fiction. I suppose Michonne is more capable of slicing skulls because she can apply much more force and momentum as opposed to Rick and Shane conveniently sliding a three inch pocket knife into a skull from only inches away.

Perhaps I'm imagining this, but I seem to remember some small mention by Milton in Season Three that as they decompose the bone also becomes more tender? Maybe I'm imagining it, but I seem to remember him saying it around the same time as he said they get weaker without food. All of which seems really silly to me, but there you have it...

[AcesandEights]

1st off, yes, of course...it would be more difficult.

secondly, no one knows the full scope of the long term effects of whatever reanimates the undead and the effects it has on their tissues. Rot seems to be a given, but to what degree is always another question.

Finally, yeah, it's a genre thing, just like zombies biting through all manner of clothing (leather!) in so many of the films we've seen over the years.

[zombieparanoia]

I agree that they sometimes portray the skull as having the structural integrity of a marshmallow, but at the same time, I've seen the effect that surprisingly small amounts of blunt force can have on a human skull. The skull is only "strong" from specific angles of impact, the top and sides are definitely weaker than the front/forehead. I've still never understood why decapitation or neck breaking attacks aren't the preferred means of disabling the zombies in any genre, it's a much easier attack requiring less force and a somewhat easier target.

[Wyldwraith]

I agree that moves such as Michonne shearing a Walker's head diagonally in half are difficult to believe.
In general though, I don't have many problems with how Walkers get dispatched. One has to take into account that unlike Romero zombies, even the highly ambulatory Walkers have decomposed significantly since their reanimation. There's no reason to believe that something like bone marrow (for example) hasn't either dried and dessicated, or rotted and liquified. The Dura, Arachnoid and Pia mater has also likely suffered at least moderate degradation. As support for this notion look how "juicy" many Walker kills are.

Finally, bone is porous...meaning there are innumerable points where it could begin to weaken. Don't get me wrong, I don't support as "realistic" Walker kills that depict the skull as being about as soft as a slightly rotted Jack-o-Lantern. (A single boot-stomp causing the head to cave in so thoroughly that the bone of the right temple is brought into contact with the bone of the left temple, for example.) However, I do believe that a Walker's bones, including the skull, would likely be say 33-40% weaker than a human's. One also has to remember that a Walker would likely lack the finely-balanced levels of cerebrospinal fluid we living humans enjoy. Meaning that the shock-absorbing effect of said fluid would likewise be diminished in a Walker.

Bottom line: I can buy Michonne lopping off Walker heads, but shearing them in half tends to jar my suspension of disbelief. Otherwise I believe the vast majority of Walker-kills on the show are quite believable. Especially when you see things like Daryl's trademark upward stab at the rear base of the skull. As far as stabbing Walkers in the temples go, I've been ok with it in general so long as its a heavy blade. After all, close quarters combat with an infectious reanimated corpse would definitely get a large amount of adrenaline flowing.

[Trencher]

The ease that zombies are killed with is the worst thing about this show imo. Worst offender is the ludicrous segment where Maggie chops up zombies with a freaking sign post!
It disturbed me so much that I thought they were going to give Maggie Michonnes role in the group/story.¨
But yeah skulls are too weak especially in close combat.