Gwen Dylan

Creation

Gwen Dylan was created by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred.

Character Evolution

Gwen must eat a human brain once a week in order to prevent losing her own memories. After eating the brain, she becomes consumed by the memories and personality of the person until she eats the next one. She then carries out any final wishes or unfinished business they might have had in order to rid her mind of their presence. She has help from her ghost friend Ellie and her Were-terrier friend Spot to help finish the unfinished business.

Gwen is also an artist, and has occasionally conveyed messages from the dead that she has consumed in her own paintings.

Gwen is not technically a zombie. John Amon explains to her, that like him, she is in fact a Revenant, a rare creature, which possesses both an undersoul and an oversoul. He goes on to explain that the oversoul is connected with the brain, basically the conscious mind, containing the thoughts, memories, and personality. The undersoul, seated in the heart, is the unconscious mind and contains appetites, emotions, and fears. If she were a zombie she would only possess an undersoul.

Gwen’s worst fear is that one day she will completely loose her memories. As her undead condition, is to her mind deteriorating. Although John Amon has offered to help Gwen in this matter, she has displayed a lack of trust on her part towards the ancient undead. Partly due to the suspicions she has that John Amon may be responsible for her death in the first place.

In Other Media

iZombie was optioned as a television series on the CW, premiering on 17 March 2015 and running to the conclusion of the fifth season on 1 August 2019. Michael and Laura Allred contributed art to the animated opening sequence. New Zealand actress stars as Olivia “Liv” Moore, but unlike Gwen in the source material, Liv works as in a Seattle PD forensics lab, rather than digging graves in Oregon. Sadly, Spot, Elle, John Amon, and Paul did not make the cut into the supporting characters for the show.