The Walking Dead: Are Zombies Fueled By Sunlight?

It’s not very often that a theory regarding The Walking Dead stops me dead in my tracks. That happened when I stumbled upon a Reddit user with a very unique idea as to how the walkers get their energy and why the undead that are outdoors are more active than the ones in a confined space.

Strangely, it has nothing to do with the diet of the zombies, how much space they have, or even the amount of them confined to one space. Instead, the Reddit user going by the name of morasyid bravely put a theory out there that others might consider a bit insane.

Here is what was proposed:

"“Just think about it, how else would the zombies gain metabolism to be able to move around? How else can a walker function without having critical organs? That’s because a walker’s cells feeds off of solar energy. It also explains how walkers could survive through years and years despite not having any living flesh for food.It also explains why the walkers that are outside exposed to the sun are seen constantly moving and roaming all over the place, while the ones that are deep within dark buildings or buried underground sit still unless they are disturbed; the walker brain recognizes that sunlight is unavailable and goes on hibernation mode to save energy, only waking up once it detects fleshy food or sunlight nearby.”"

I have to admit, I had never considered sunlight as any potential source of energy for walkers. And I never really put too much stock in the difference between the walkers that got a lot of sun and ones that were not given that luxury. However, morasyid does make a good point about how the muscles of the walkers would get enough fuel to walk, reach, and even groan.

Although this theory is out there, there no real way to know what it is that fuels the walkers. We know they have a desire to tear open flesh and consume as much as possible, but we never really did learn why that is possible. With so much emphasis being placed on figuring out the origins of the walkers, many of us failed to think about what the zombies actually are and how they operate.

While morasyid could be totally off base, it’s great that someone is asking some different questions about what is going on inside the world of The Walking Dead. What do you guys think? What do you think keeps the walkers full of energy? Do you think we’ll ever figure out details like this about them? And what other thoughts about the zombies have you had? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.

Next: Walking Dead 50 most shocking moments and deaths

More from Undead Walking

Home/Opinion