ZOMBIE. BtVS Demon/Monster/Villain.
Corpse brought back to life as a feeble-minded being and used as a slave. The zombie concept is from the dark magic aspect of Voodoo, a religion of the West Indies and parts of the Americas. Voodoo originated in Africa as Juju.
In “Some Assembly Required” Giles says in reference to zombies, “For most traditional purposes a Voodoo priest would require more than one.” In “Dead Man’s Party” the corpses of several humans and a cat are re-animated by the spirit of the zombie demon Ovu Mobani through the eyes of a Nigerian mask. The zombies are drawn to it, attack anyone who gets in their way, and kill Joyce’s friend Pat. She turns into a zombie, puts on the mask and becomes, in Giles’ words, “the demon incarnate.” The spell is broken when Buffy puts out the demon’s eyes. These zombies are a metaphor for repressed feelings and the inability of Joyce and Buffy’s friends to re-connect with Buffy on her return home. Pat, who becomes the demon, psychologically stands between Buffy and Joyce.
In “Primeval” the composite monster Adam has used science instead of magic, but has effectively turned Dr. Maggie Walsh and Dr. Angleman into zombies by re-animating their corpses to be his feeble-minded slaves. “They’re just workers,” he says.
Zombies appear in two episodes of Angel. In “The Thin Dead Line” dangerous zombie cops are in service of a police captain, who uses the power of the zombie god Granath. Angel breaks the spell by smashing the idol of the god. In “Habeas Corpses” Wolfram and Hart employees are killed by the Beast and then are re-animated as zombies, intent on attacking people. Angel says they are “slow, dim-witted things that crave human flesh.” In “Some Assembly Required” Giles says that zombies do not eat the flesh of the living. This suggests that the zombies of the Buffyverse only eat the flesh of dead people.