in CoD zombies you always had to play as an character so far,
Zombies has a total of 44 playable characters (including various unidentified ones).
- Unknown group of men in Nacht der Untoten.
- Tank Dempsey, John "Banana", "Smokey" and a 4th, unnamed Marine appear in Verrückt.
- Tank Dempsey, Nikolai Belinski, Takeo Masaki and Edward Richtofen appear in;
- Shi No Numa
- Der Riese
- Kino der Toten
- Ascension
- Shangri-La
- Moon,
- Origins
- The Giant,
- Der Eisendrache
- Zetsubou No Shima
- Gorod Krovi
- Revelations
- Blood of the Dead
- Classified
They are also playable in Call of the Dead, and in Nacht der Untoten and Verrückt in their remade Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: Black Ops III versions.
They are also the main characters of the zombies timeline.
- John F. Kennedy, Robert McNamara, Richard Nixon and Fidel Castro appear in "Five".
- Samantha Maxis appears as a playable character in Moon after she and Richtofen have swapped souls in Richtofen's Grand Scheme.
- CIA Agents and CDC Soldiers appear consistently in the smaller game modes (such as Grief) in Green Run, Nuketown Zombies and Borough.
- Abigail "Misty" Briarton, Samuel J. Stuhlinger, Marlton Johnson and Russman appear in Green Run, Die Rise and Buried. They are also seen in Blood of the Dead and Samuel J. Stuhlinger is heard in Blood of the Dead
Zombies themselves are also playable in Turned mode.
- Michael "Finn" O'Leary, Albert "Weasel" Arlington, Salvatore "Sal" DeLuca and Billy Handsome appear in Mob of the Dead. They are also talked about in Shadows of Evil and Blood of the Dead.
- Prison guards and prisoners appear in Cell Block.
- Floyd Campbell, Jessica Rose, Nero Blackstone and Jack Vincent appear in Shadows of Evil.
Scarlett Rhodes, Bruno Delacroix, Diego Necalli, and Stanton Shaw appear in Voyage of Despair and IX.