Eugene Grant

Eugene is a survivor featured in Zombie Panic! Source, Contagion and Zombie Panic! as of 2025.

Biography

Prior to the outbreak, Eugene had been a detective at the Boulder Police Department, struggling to find balance between law enforcement and a shaky home life.

Kathy, his nervous wife, resented the long hours he put into making their city safer, but it just seemed like she couldn't understand that everything he was doing was for their 7-year-old son, Teddy.

When Kathy threatened to divorce him and take their son to her hometown in Florida, Eugene sought to get some advice from Marcus, his friend and former partner on the beat.

The next day, as the two men commiserated over a greasy late lunch at Larry's Diner, the chaos of the outbreak erupted in the form of the diner's busboy and dishwasher, ravaged by the fever of infection, as he turned on the restaurant's manager and took a bite out of the man's hand.

Now that the outbreak is in full swing, Eugene is desperate to find out what happened to his wife and their son.

Original Biography

Eugene was born on June 2nd, 1981 to a typical California family. He grew up watching Robocop and Inspector Gadget, and always loved puzzles and "Where's Waldo" books. He was a pretty good student, making good grades through most of school. After school, Eugene married his high school sweetheart. When they had a child, Eugene decided to join the police force so he could make ends meet.

He was labeled highest in his class at the academy, and was a shoe-in for the Buena Park Police Department's undercover narcotics squad.

Eugene ended up playing a major role in a record drug bust in 2007, along with his partner Marcus L. Keane. However Eugene somehow ended up with all of the credit, and was promoted to detective for his outstanding work. Eugene did not forget Marcus, but he let greed affect his personality, to the point Marcus could barely recognize Eugene anymore.

Trivia

Eugene was modeled after Vladimir Matenã. A czech film actor that was hired by 3D.sk as a studio reference model in early 2003. It is worth mentioning that the references sold by the site are used frequently by many games to this day, therefore it is possible to find characters in other games that uses the same reference as Eugene; such as J.C in SiN Episodes: Emergence.
Eugene is considered the official poster boy of the game due to the old main menu background, promotional imagery, unique appearance in Jim Kidwell's (SickDeathFiend) 2006 ZPS trailer and for being the default playermodel of the game. In 2010 he was featured in the Official ZPS Comic and was the first survivor to be revealed by Monochrome in Contagion.
Eugene's hair color has changed between black, green, blonde, red and brown throughout the years. The original render portrays him with jet black hair, but when the game released it was switched to blonde due to a oversight. In 2009, his hair ultimately changed to auburn. In 2010, Contagion portrayed Eugene with brown hair. The green hair's purpose is unknown and was never used on the game.
Eugene's character model was created by Chandana Ekanakaye(Ekanaut). A character artist that previously had worked on The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Enter the Matrix and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines at the same year.
Eugene and the Carrier share the same pants and belt, yet the similarities do not end there. It was discovered that the Carrier was modelled upon Eugene earlier in development, gathering the body physique from the actor reference, then was made albino to have its own visual identity in gameplay.
Eugene and the Carrier were both voiced by Erik Grant (KillahMo), the soundtrack composer of the game.
Eugene reappears in Contagion as a playable survivor featuring a new voice actor, backstory and concept.
Eugene's character model and concept were re-made in 2009 by Brian Comer (Tatsur0). No longer being a detective but instead a SWAT operative going by Peter instead. However the model was lost to time along side Ash, David and Hitoshi.
Eugene's former renders showcase him with shorter hair and not having gloves on the zombie version.
Eugene was the first survivor made for the game.
Eugene's original surname was M. Baley.
Eugene was added into Zombie Panic! Steam Release with his old name and backstory, which replaced the old 'Human Survivor'.