The Green and the Gray.

[SpoKnight]

There seems to be a standard with zombie painting, to have them be mostly green or gray. I would assume gray comes from the B & W roots of the genre. Green might be due mold or putrefaction. My question, what is the likely actual color of a zombie?

Discounting any effects of the Rage or Solanum virus', what would the dead look like? Real corpses get pale and bluish for Caucasians and depending on conditions can get very pale or leathery.

The ambulatory dead might pass the effects of rigor and Livor mortis (Though perhaps in the legs) altogether. While Tardieu spots and Algor mortis are still likely. Purge fluid will escape more readily due to body movement, thus reducing the likelihood of explosive bloat. Internal bacteria run rampant. The abdomen develops a green discoloration after 24–36 hours, usually in the right lower quadrant first.

Now, let's return to the Solanum virus. It inhibits and perhaps prevents rot. Eating of flesh may limit water loss however, not too likely as there is no process for circulating it around the body. So the road to leather skin begins. But what might the virus do to the fluids and tissue within? In the movies, it is often black. If that were the case we return to the grayish color, if not darker.

What are your thoughts?