Zombie, Therian

“Therian zombie” is an acquired template that can be added to any Small or larger animal that has a skeletal system (referred to hereafter as the base creature). A therian zombie uses the base creature’s stats and abilities except as noted here.
Alignment Always neutral evil.
Type The zombie’s type changes to undead, but it retains the base creature’s saving throws and class skills as a result of the bestial special quality described below.
Senses The zombie retains its normal senses and gains darkvision 60 ft.
Defensive Abilities The zombie gains DR 5/slashing and undead traits.
Speed The zombie loses all other speeds and gains a land speed of 30 ft.
Special Attack The zombie retains none of the base creature’s special attacks.
Reach The zombie’s reach is calculated as if it were tall instead of long.
Abilities Con —, Cha equal to the base creature’s Con score.
CMD The zombie can be tripped, and loses any bonus the base creature has against trip attacks.
SQ The zombie retains the base creature’s special qualities and gains the bestial quality (as per the wightwolf described to the left).
Environment any

Made from animal corpses, therian zombies are surgically altered to more closely resemble humans before being animated. These alterations are usually quite extensive, involving grafted bones, wire frames, and various other materials costing no less than the material components needed to animate the corpse with an animate dead spell.

The cost of the alterations needed to create a therian zombie is often justified by the vanity of the zombie’s owner; certain taxonomist-necromancers view therian zombies as status symbols, and take pride in the walking animal corpses they create.