THE DEAD TIMES
DEAD ARE COMING...
Memorable Zombies #3 - Dr. Tongue
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DESCRIPTION:
Dr. Tongue only has a very small part in George Romero's 1985 Zombie classic, Day of the Dead. He may be only on screen for a few short seconds but he has definitely made his long-standing mark on the genre as a whole - even being reproduced as a fully dead Walker in season 7 of The Walking Dead TV series. Of course, Dr. Tongue is not the real name of who this Zombie was pre-death, the loving "Dr. Tongue" moniker was given to the braindead ghoul due to the clearly torn-out tongue and unkempt grey hair, giving him the appearance of a crazed, old scientist, worked off his feet. Still, he is very much dead now but I do wonder just how he died and when his lower jaw was ripped from his head. Did a poor marksman try to blow Dr. Tongue's head off and fumble the shot, perhaps because of time pressure from approaching teeth or mere lack of skill? Did the jaw get ripped off accidentally while feeding? Did someone purposefully cut it off to ensure Dr. Tongue could not easily bite and infect other people like Michonne does in The Walking Dead? Did Dr. Tongue even remove the lower jaw himself just before turning into a mindless monster - if he was a scientist, he may have known how the plague was spread and attempted to limit his own infectious capabilities post-death?
DESCRIPTION:
Dr. Tongue only has a very small part in George Romero's 1985 Zombie classic, Day of the Dead. He may be only on screen for a few short seconds but he has definitely made his long-standing mark on the genre as a whole - even being reproduced as a fully dead Walker in season 7 of The Walking Dead TV series. Of course, Dr. Tongue is not the real name of who this Zombie was pre-death, the loving "Dr. Tongue" moniker was given to the braindead ghoul due to the clearly torn-out tongue and unkempt grey hair, giving him the appearance of a crazed, old scientist, worked off his feet. Still, he is very much dead now but I do wonder just how he died and when his lower jaw was ripped from his head. Did a poor marksman try to blow Dr. Tongue's head off and fumble the shot, perhaps because of time pressure from approaching teeth or mere lack of skill? Did the jaw get ripped off accidentally while feeding? Did someone purposefully cut it off to ensure Dr. Tongue could not easily bite and infect other people like Michonne does in The Walking Dead? Did Dr. Tongue even remove the lower jaw himself just before turning into a mindless monster - if he was a scientist, he may have known how the plague was spread and attempted to limit his own infectious capabilities post-death?