Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead is a video game series which served as the inspiration for Vermintide and Darktide, along with Space Hulk: Deathwing. In it, you control one of 4 characters, either controlled by A.I. or other players, and try to escape through a Zombie Apocalypse campaign from one end of a map to another. The zombies are of the Infected variety, still technically alive, and have various Mutant subspecies called "Special Infected".

/tg/ relevance

Not only have multiple Warhammer 40,000 games been made copying the Left 4 Dead formula, but a few homebrews here on 1d4chan feature Left 4 Dead Infected as enemies, like Forlorn Hope: A Warhammer 40k Zombie Survival Game.

Characters

Francis: A tough biker dude who hates multiple things.

Louis: An optimistic black office worker who was also a gamer.

Zoey: A college student who loved horror movies, before finding herself living in one.

William "Bill" Overbeck: An aging but still badass Vietnam War Veteran, also appears in the Payday series during the Mercy Hospital DLC.

Ellis: A happy-go-lucky redneck who constantly talks about his misadventures with his absent friend Keith. Has a crush on Zoey.

Rochelle: A black beginner news reporter. Francis has a crush on her.

Nick: A sarcastic riverboat gambler who was down on his luck before the Apocalypse started.

Coach: A bombastic, fat, middle-aged black man who was the coach at a school. Loves fast food, especially Burger Tank and hypothetical helicopters made of chocolate.

MY-BUDDY-KEITH: Ellis' friend. Never appears in-game, but if Ellis' stories are anything to go by, not the sharpest tool in the shed. He attempted to make raw chicken sushi at one point, and it ended about as good as you'd expect.

Zombie Types

Common Infected: These are your average 28 Days Later Runner type zombie.

Uncommon Infected: Common Infected who, due to the environment they were in when infected, have some abilities of their own not from any sort of mutation. This includes a Fallen Survivor running away with a pack full of goods, Infected Clowns whose rubber honking shoes alert hordes, and Mudmen, zombie hillbillies who are covered in mud and sling it at you to obscure your vision.

Smoker: This Special Infected has a mutation of merging its tongue and sections of its intestines into a long grabbing tentacle for dragging survivors away from their friends. In Left 4 Dead 2, they have further mutated to have tum9rs all over their heads with extra tongues growing from them.

Boomer: Fat bastard Special Infected filled with bile that attracts Common Infected hordes to whoever it touches. Pop like an explosive zit when shot, and vomit on survivors when close.

Hunter: Hoodie-wearing clawed Special Infected who can leap far distances, pinning survivors to the ground while tearing at them.

Tank: A hulking Special Infected, almost like a human version of a Rat Ogre. The Tank has normal sized legs but an extremely overgrown with muscle upper body, requiring it to knuckle walk. It can rip junks of rock from the ground and toss it at survivors, and punch cars towards them as well.

Witch: This Special Infected is a woman with extremely long claws and who seems to just want to sit alone and cry at night, although will stumble about during the day in Left 4 Dead 2. Should a survivor enter their personal space, however, they'll go apeshit and tear them apart.

Spitter: These female Special Infected have weird hoof-feet, extended necks, potbellies, and their lips are gone. This is because they're constantly gurgling out acidic slime they can spit to create acid puddles to hurt survivors.

Jockey: Crackhead midget Special Infected which leap onto you and start humping you, attempting to steer you into danger.

Charger: The guy who masturbates all the time. This Special Infected has an overgrown right arm and shriveled left arm, and charges at survivors, knocks them down, and picks them up and slams them about, until they die.