The idea of the dead coming back to life is being tackled by two of the biggest shows on television — So who would win in the battle between the Game of Thrones White Walkers and The Walking Dead Walkers? Both of the undead groups are wreaking havoc on some of the major protagonists — and antagonists — of their respective series. With Game of Thrones being an adaptation of George R. R. Martin's novels, and The Walking Dead being based on the comic books by Robert Kirkman, both sets of fictional creatures have some seriously nerdy folklore surrounding them. But, which creatures are more threatening?
Although each of the TV shows technically qualify as fantasy/science fiction, The Walking Dead is much more based in reality than Game of Thrones. The Walkers are essentially zombies — even though the term isn't used by any of the characters. The living dead that have taken over the entire world (as far as viewers — and survivors — can tell) go by numerous names, depending which group of living people you are traveling with. Biters, Roamers, and Rotters are all terms used, but, obviously, since Rick Grimes is the best living person around, the best term for these menaces is Walkers, which Rick's group uses. (Rick Grimes for president!)
Group leader Rick discovered in Season 1 at the CDC that every single human who dies becomes a Walker, regardless of how that person passes away. So, whether you peacefully die in your sleep or get your entire body mangled by a Walker, you're going to turn into the undead. (Such a nice, non-morbid thought.) The only way to stop a person from becoming someone that would like to feast on your body is to puncture the person in the head — either before, during, or after he or she has turned. If a person is bitten by a Walker on an appendage, he or she can be saved by cutting that limb off before it's infected. For example, Hershel in the TV series was able to extend his life by a season and a half after Rick amputated the part of his leg that was bitten by a Walker. But, that's the exception, not the rule, and you most likely won't live that long afterward without a super secure place to live.
Walkers pretty much have a herd mentality (if you could call their minimal brain power "mentality"). They are parasites that feed off the living. Their strength comes from their immense numbers and ability to survive nearly anything. No brain power is really necessary for them to win the battle over the living, although some cagey Walkers exist. And, what makes Walkers even more dangerous is when the living use them as defense against other humans, like what the Governor did, and what the new the Wolves do. More may be revealed about the Walkers' origin in the spinoff series Fear The Walking Dead, but that's the general gist of the Walkers.
Moving from the U.S. to Beyond the Wall, the White Walkers of Game of Thrones are much more than a mindless group of the undead. In fact, the White Walkers are pretty much their own race, not just some reanimated corpses of humans. Now, that's slightly confusing for viewers of the series since during the Season 5 episode "Hardhome," there was definitely a whole bunch of reanimated corpses.
During that long-time-coming battle (the threat of White Walkers started off the entire series!), the leader of the White Walkers has the Wildlings resurrected — but as wights, not White Walkers. Wights are reanimated corpses that the much more intelligent White Walkers create and control. That spiky-headed leader of the White Walkers is called the Night's King and he has all sorts of mystical powers since he was able to turn a whole sea of dead bodies into an army of wights just by raising his hands.
As demonstrated in Season 4, besides creating wights, the Night's King can also make more White Walkers. Creepy, incestuous Craster used to give his sons over to the White Walkers and the Night's King was able to turn these babies into electric-blue eyed White Walkers with the touch of his finger. To kill this ancient group of beings, rare dragon glass or Valyrian steel must be used. And, it doesn't hurt if Jon Snow is the one wielding one of those weapons. (Jon Snow for king!)
So, now that the facts of the big baddies of the two shows have been presented before you, who is worse? Walkers or White Walkers?
I think the answer is a no-brainer. The winner is the group that has got some brains: The White Walkers. The Walking Dead Walkers have no semblance of a leader. One pack of Walkers may have a standout zombie that seems to move faster than the others or have better instincts than the others, but the Walkers are not forming an army. Yes, their chaos is frightening, but the White Walkers have the advantage of their intelligence, with the ability to create an undead army at a moment's notice.
Walkers have a gestational period (that varies in time) after the human dies, so he or she is not reanimated instantaneously. And while a shot to the head isn't always an easy thing to accomplish against a Walker, it's a hell of a lot easier than getting your hands on same rare dragon glass that's necessary to kill the White Walkers.
Since the White Walkers lead the scariest army of undead on TV right now, if they cross the Wall on Game of Thrones, they could start their total domination over the living like the Walkers have been doing for five seasons on The Walking Dead. With that in mind, maybe it's time for Jon Snow to call in Rick Grimes for some backup.
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