Most Missed: Our 20 Favorite ‘Walking Dead’ & ‘Fear TWD’ Characters Who Didn’t Survive
This is an excerpt from TV Guide Magazine’s The Walking Dead Universe Special Collector’s Issue, which is available for international pre-order online now at TheWalkingDeadMag.com and will be available nationwide on newsstands on Tuesday, August 17.
In a world where the dead outnumber the living, it’s no surprise that beloved characters have come and gone on The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead. Whether they were killed by the flesh-eating infected or the true threat—other desperate survivors— we’re still grieving these folks…for better or worse.
And though we miss leader Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and badass warrior Michonne (Danai Gurira), we’ll see more Rick in the upcoming feature films, and we can only hope that Michonne joins him.
For these 20 characters, though, the adventure has ended.
—Emily Aslanian, Kate Hahn, Jim Halterman, Emily Hannemann, Nick Kolev, Matt Roush
Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal)
Hotheaded Shane was best friends with even-tempered Rick, his partner in the sheriff’s department. Postapocalypse, the tough guy, whose heroics kept the survivors from being zombie snacks, was obsessed with taking the lead in the group and his buddy’s place in the Grimes family. Survival, to him, depended on brutality, not Rick’s “weak” rule of law. In Season 2, Shane tried to murder Rick, who, devastated, killed him in self-defense. He rose, zombified; Rick’s young son, Carl (Chandler Riggs), shot him.
Lori Grimes (Sarah Wayne Callies)
Housewife Lori thought Rick, her husband and the father of their son, Carl, had passed away in the chaos. For comfort, she slept with hubs’ bestie Shane. Lori was overjoyed when Rick showed up alive, but her innocent infidelity created a wedge. She became pregnant (not knowing by which man) and her last altruistic act was insisting on an emergency caesarean she knew would kill her but save baby Judith. Carl shot his mom before she reanimated in a harrowing Season 3 moment.
Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker)
Between his violent personality, rampant racism and general ruthlessness, there wasn’t anything to like about Daryl’s (Norman Reedus) older brother at first. But after being left for dead by Rick’s group and becoming one of the Governor’s (David Morrissey) trusted lieutenants in Season 3, Merle redeemed himself (kind of) by sacrificing his life to save the survivors in the prison. We’ll never know what could have become of the Southerner with the abrasive facade had he survived that encounter and grown in the new world.
Andrea (Laurie Holden)
A warrior to the end, the tough and loyal Andrea was, before the arrival of Michonne, the alpha female of the original survivors’ group. Handy with a gun, she tried to keep peace with the Governor in Woodbury before he turned on her, binding her to a dentist’s chair and leaving her to be turned by a dying Milton (Dallas Roberts) in the Season 3 finale. She escaped, but not before being bitten, and took her own life with a gunshot.
Hershel Greene (Scott Wilson)
Father figures come no more endearing than the gentle farm owner and patriarch to daughters Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Beth (Emily Kinney). A symbol of compassion, Hershel reluctantly took in Rick and his group of survivors in Season 2, and the two men formed a solid bond in their quest to stay alive. Hershel was tragically beheaded (as a horrified Maggie and Beth watched) in the prison yard by the cruel Governor in Season 4.
Beth Greene (Emily Kinney)
Introduced as a timid farm girl with a beautiful singing voice in the drama’s sopho- more season, Beth eventu- ally became a moral anchor for the group. Despite see- ing many of the Greene family perish (like father Hershel), she never gave up hope, even while flipping the bird. Beth’s shocking death in Season 5 occurred when she stabbed the un- stable police officer Dawn (Christine Woods) during a hostage exchange at Grady Memorial Hospital, only to then be unceremoniously shot in the head.
Philip Blake (David Morrissey)
Sure, Philip (aka the Governor), the creepy leader of the fortified town of Woodbury, was a murderer with a messiah complex, but his evil was so deliciously unique. His flock had no idea that the smooth talker stole and murdered with the help of a militant inner circle. An- other secret: He kept his zombified daughter in his closet. Fueled by grief and the eventual collapse of his kingdom, the Governor attacked the group in Season 4’s midseason ender. While choking leader Rick, he was stabbed through the back by Michonne’s katana.
Tyreese Williams (Chad L. Coleman)
A gentle giant with a vicious streak, Tyreese proved he was more than just a tough guy when he was introduced in Season 3 and later became a caretaker for baby Judith. Despite his intimidating stature, he was one of the sweeter survivors, and ferociously protective of his loved ones. Sadly, Tyreese succumbed to infection after being bitten in Season 5. As he died of blood loss, he hallucinated those he’d previously lost in a truly heartbreaking installment.
Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz)
With an honorable yet often reck- less spirit as fiery as his trademark red mane and handlebar mustache, the former Army sergeant spouted wisdom and often lightened the mood with his foul-mouthed wit. He was deeply wounded by the loss of his family, and seeing Abraham connect with fellow survivor Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) warmed our collective hearts. What broke them was his brutal death by vicious Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) in Season 7’s bloody opener (followed nearly immediately by Glenn’s).
Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun)
We’ll never get over it—or forgive Negan. The Walking Dead’s eager boy wonder, who helped save Rick at the very beginning and risked his life on countless supply runs before wooing and wedding Maggie, Glenn was a romantic hero who shrank from killing the living, even the bad guys. He was the show’s heart and soul—until sadistic Saviors leader Negan grue- somely bashed in his skull with Lucille as everyone (including his fans) watched in horror.
Sasha Williams (Sonequa Martin-Green)
A former firefighter, Sasha was an all-around heroine who suffered many losses in the harsh world, including big bro Tyreese and beau Abraham. While trying to avenge the latter, Sasha was captured by the Saviors. Negan praised her “lady nuts” and asked her to join him. She agreed, but realizing he’d use her against her friends, she took a suicide pill, zombifying herself in an attempt to kill Negan postmortem. She failed but went down as one of Dead’s ultimate badasses.
Travis Manawa (Cliff Curtis)
This Fear father just couldn’t catch a break. A former English teacher who tried to hold it together for his and soulmate Madison’s (Kim Dickens) blended family while civilization fell apart, he was forced to shoot his ex-wife Liza (Elizabeth Ortiz) to keep her from turning, then watched his alienated teen son Chris (Lorenzo James Henrie) fatally embrace his dark, violent side. Trying to escape a militia in a helicopter, Travis was mortally wounded by gunfire and chose to fall to his death in a breathtaking scene.
Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs)
Valiant offspring of Rick and Lori, Carl began the series as a reserved 12-year-old but quickly hardened from life amid the horrors of the zombie apocalypse. Close with his father, who wished he didn’t have to grow up so fast, Carl later connected with villainous Negan, ultimately hoping the opposing groups could work together. After being bitten by a walker in Season 8, the brave teen shot himself in the head to save Rick from having to put him down.
Ofelia Salazar (Mercedes Mason)
Our hearts broke for Fear’s Ofelia when she died in the third season, and for her father, Daniel (Rubén Blades), as well. From the first days of the outbreak, her kind heart was evident, so the revelation of Daniel’s violent past in the Sombra Negra drove a wedge between them. Although she understood his pain after she was forced into violence in the apocalypse, she died mere minutes before they might have reconciled. “Tell him I was really looking forward to getting to know him,” she told Madison. We wish she’d had that chance.
Troy Otto (Daniel Sharman)
We don’t endorse volatile survivalist Troy’s actions or hard-to-swallow beliefs—and neither did Madison, since his unleashing a horde of walkers on the ranch led her to bash his head in with a hammer (ouch) during Season 3. But in Troy, Fear had an antagonist with serious antihero potential, a likely sociopath whose complete lack of a moral compass may have been as much a product of the youngest Otto’s broken home as the rough apocalypse. He sure was complicated, but compelling.
Nick Clark (Frank Dillane)
Fear’s had plenty of surprise deaths, but recovering drug addict Nick’s was truly shocking. His end in Season 4 arrived courtesy of vengeful youngster Charlie (Alexa Nisenson), who shot him for killing someone she was fond of…baddie Vulture member Ennis (Evan Gamble). And with that, one of the show’s most misunderstood characters (and the very first shown onscreen in the spinoff’s 2015 pilot) was gone. Whether he was helping others with the rest of the Clarks or coating himself in blood to shuffle among the infected, we miss both his heart of gold and his attraction to chaos.
Madison Clark (Kim Dickens)
Although cunning leader Madison went out nobly in Fear’s fourth season—burning down a stadium full of gasoline-soaked walkers to save her family and many others—it seemed like the fighter whom fans had come to know would’ve made it out of the Dell Diamond. We loved the ferocity with which this mama bear protected her loved ones, and how deftly she played the game of survival, including her skill with weaponry, from hammers to fire extinguishers.
Paul “Jesus” Rovia (Tom Payne)
The Hilltop supply runner wasn’t divine, but he did have certain holy qualities, including being blessed with warrior abilities and people skills. Jesus was eventually chosen to lead the Hilltop colony but reached his untimely end in a foggy graveyard in Season 9. After letting pals Aaron (Ross Marquand) and Eugene (Josh McDermitt) escape an incoming horde, Jesus was surprisingly stabbed by a member of the Whisperers cult wearing a walker’s face.
Tara Chambler (Alanna Masterson)
Initially a member of the Governor’s enforcers, Tara was involved on the wrong side of Season 4’s battle at the prison. Luckily for her, Rick and Co. forgave her past mistakes and accepted her into the group, where she became a prominent figure and eventual member of the Coalition—a board of survivors from local colonies who got together after Rick’s presumed death to tackle major issues. She was abducted and beheaded by Whisperers leader Alpha (Samantha Morton) in Season 9.
John Dorie (Garret Dillahunt)
The second main character on Fear to be shot by a stray youth he was only trying to help, kindhearted gunslinger John Dorie’s death in Season 6 was a true tearjerker, arriving on the heels of his realization that it wasn’t too late to start living life again. We miss his big heart and sweet tooth just as much as we do his sharpshootin’ tricks. Who’s going to do the “San Antonio Split” with him gone?
These honorable mentions went out swinging!
Dale Horvath (Jeffrey DeMunn): Disemboweled by the dead, The Walking Dead, Season 2
Theodore “T-Dog” Douglas (IronE Singleton): Bitten defending the prison, The Walking Dead, Season 3
Bob Stookey (Lawrence Gilliard Jr.): Zombie bite, sampled by cannibals, The Walking Dead, Season 5
Noah (Tyler James Williams): Eaten alive in a revolving door, The Walking Dead, Season 5
Denise Cloyd (Merritt Wever): Arrow through the eye, The Walking Dead, Season 6
Chris Manawa (Lorenzo James Henrie): Bitten then shot, Fear the Walking Dead, Season 2
Lola Guerrero (Lisandra Tena): Shot in the skull protecting the water dam, Fear the Walking Dead, Season 3
Enid (Katelyn Nacon): Killed and beheaded by Whisperers, The Walking Dead, Season 9
Siddiq (Avi Nash): Killed by Whisperers spy Dante (Juan Javier Cardenas), The Walking Dead, Season 10
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