Undead Dragon

Undead Dragons, also known as Zombies, are a special breed of dragon only obtainable by users killing (or purposefully allowing to die) their adults and/or hatchlings, and then attempting to revive them on Halloween. Due to the number of dragons killed in users' attempts to create Undead Dragons, the breed has been the focus of some controversy.

An Undead Dragon can only be obtained on Halloween, the 31st of October. It is impossible on any other day.

There are rumours that it is possible to make an Undead during any time of the year, with a 1 in 100 chance of success. However, in more than two years there hasn't been any evidence to support this rumor. The only known Undead dragons not created on 31st October are owned by TJ09: Qemrao Thuwed and 0eidw Qemrao Thuwed. These dragons aren't considered proof, as TJ09 is Dragon Cave's owner and can create Undeads at any time he wishes. The rumour was proved false in the IRC on the 22nd of December, 2012.

On Halloween, the chance of creating a successful Undead is somewhere between a 1 in 2 to a 1 in 6 chance. It's not necessary for a Dragon to die on the 31st October in order to become an Undead: they can die or be killed within 14 days before. The success rate is related only to the date on which they are revived, not the date on which they died.

Undeads are not easy to obtain. When the "kill" action is used on a Dragon, there are four potential outcomes, only one of which is becoming an Undead. The Dragon can be killed completely, and your attempt to revive it will reduce its body to dust, resulting in a tombstone on your scroll for 2 weeks. It can revive as a "normal" Dragon, returning to its original state. Lastly, it can dodge the blade completely, remaining alive. ("Dodgers" cannot be killed for 24 hours after a dodged Kill attempt; they will continue to dodge the blade.)

Undead Dragons are only visible on scroll between 12AM and 6AM DC time (EST). However, in months with 31 days, Undeads' tombstones are visible during the day of the 31st. Undeads cannot breed and will not appear on an Incubator. Curiously, they are the only Dragons that "roam" in the scroll, changing position among the other Dragons. Even if repositioned, they keep on wandering. This is because during the eighteen hours from 6AM to 12AM, they do not appear on the sort pages, so sorting during the day does not affect them. They remember their numerical position (their number in line), not their relative position (which dragon they are supposed to follow). Because their neighbors change, they appear to roam the scroll.

All Dragon breeds can be zombified, even Golds, Draks, Vampires, Pygmies and Splits (the last two have a regular zombie sprite, even if their size/aspect isn't like other Dragons). Unbreedables such as Papers and Cheeses have been confirmed to be able to become an Undead. It has not yet been discovered if Dinos can be zombified; the same goes for Holiday Dragons, Guardians of Nature and Neglecteds. However if a Limited Breed Dragon was zombified, you couldn't take another one for replacement as the Undead will still be counted as its original breed.

Once on a scroll, Undead dragons cannot be released. Undead hatchlings do not grow: they are auto-frozen upon being killed. In the Dragon Cave community, Dragons raised solely for the purpose of being killed in attempts to create Undeads on Halloween are called "zombie fodder." Common dragons and inbred dragons are generally used for this because they are easy to replace.

Undeads used to permanently take up the kill slot used to create them. However, this was an unintended occurrence, and since the beginning of October 2011, zombie-held kill slots have been released. Currently, any kill slot used to create an Undead will return after 2 weeks, exactly the same as a kill slot used for any other purpose.

These dragons are often confused with Neglected dragons and Vampire dragons.

Undead dragons are considered very rare and currently have no breed specific action.

Adult
"Failed attempts to experiment with magic often result in transforming dragons into these hellish creatures. They are extremely dangerous, and will mindlessly kill any living creature without regard to friend or foe."

Mature Hatchling
"It's an undead baby dragon, produced by a failed magical spell. It probably would be cute if it weren't partially decayed. And look! It somehow managed to grow wings despite being dead."

Hatchling
"It's an undead baby dragon, produced by a failed magical spell. It probably would be cute if it weren't partially decayed."

Egg
None

Sprite Artist(s)

 * Shikaru (All)