Zombie

Zombies are common surface enemies that appear at night, and are a primary reason newer players will want to build a shelter before night arrives. Along with Demon Eyes, they are generally among the first enemies a player will encounter, as they appear nightly in areas a player first spawns. Multiple NPCs living in the area will reduce or prevent local enemy spawns, including Zombies and other nightly enemies, though NPCs are only available later in the game.

Zombies walk towards the player in order to make contact and deal damage. While this is the only way the can injure a player on a normal world, in expert mode they gain the ability to claw at you with disembodied limbs. They can jump and navigate Platforms. They will kick closed Doors in their path repeatedly, but will only successfully open them during a Blood Moon event.

Tips

 * While they may move slowly, they are surprisingly good jumpers. They also have a fair amount of health and cause significant damage to newer players. It is advisable that new players remain indoors at night until they gain better Weapons and Defenses.
 * The Swamp Zombie is the fastest zombie as well as being very knockback resistant towards newer players.
 * A simple Wooden Sword swung repeatedly is enough to keep one or two zombies at bay. Three or more Zombies will likely be able to get past the sword and cause damage. Weapons that can hit multiple enemies work best. The Spear or Vilethorn are ideal for this job. Ranged weapons also work well, like the Bow; Shuriken and Throwing Knives are ranged weapons that also pierce through multiple enemies, making them good candidates as well.

Blood Moon

 * If one wishes to avoid Zombies entirely during a Blood Moon, blockading doorways with any Block type will stop Zombies from entering your home. Placing a Wood Platform, Wooden Beam, or a piece of Furniture next to the door on the inside will prevent doors from swinging inward, which is the only way Zombies can enter.
 * Placing doors above ground level or digging a trench two blocks wide and deep forces Zombies to jump at the doors, during which they can't open these doors.
 * Another strategy is to place two doors parallel to each other, allowing NPC movement to be uninhibited by blockades. Doors won't open for Zombies during a Blood Moon, any Skeletons underground, or hard mode enemies that can open up single doors by bashing on them, as the other door will block them from opening them inward. If the outer door is already open though, this will not work.

Trivia

 * Doctor Bones is a parody of Indiana Jones, also known as Doctor Jones, who is an archaeologist known to always retrieve his hat.
 * The Twiggy Zombie might be a reference to the Fallout franchise. There's a ghoul (A human exposed to radiation, giving them a zombie-like appearance) named Harold that has a tree growing out of his head, very similar to the zombie.