One of the best things about The Walking Dead and its spinoff shows is that the series has seldom been afraid to kill its darlings. The state of the zombie-infested world meant that any character, whether they be minor, supporting, or even main, were at risk of losing their life, practically constantly. Unfortunately, however, this meant that some fan-favorite characters were lost long before their time. There are countless characters from The Walking Dead who were killed off before they could really live up to their full potential.
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Back in 2010, The Walking Dead Season 1 introduced the first roster of its strong ensemble cast. In the decade-and-a-half since, only three members of this original cast remain, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride), and Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), while everyone else has fallen victim to dangerous Walkers, twisted humans, or tragic accidents. Killing off main characters has allowed new ones to fill the gaps, but had the side effect of removing some beloved fixtures of the series, even when we wanted to see more.
10) Sophia Peletier
One of the earliest major deaths in The Walking Dead was that of Sophia (Madison Lintz), Carol’s young daughter. In the Season 2 premiere, “What Lies Ahead,” Sophia became separated from the group, so the first half of Season 2 was dedicated to the search effort. Sophia was revealed to have died in the mid-season finale, “Pretty Much Dead Already,” which saw her exit the Greene family farm’s barn along with other Walkers that Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vince) had been stashing there.
In the original The Walking Dead comic series, Sophia survives far longer than her live-action counterpart. In fact, she survives until the end of Robert Kirkman’s storyline, eventually becoming Carl Grimes’ wife, with the pair starting a family together. She is the comic’s longest-surviving female character, while it’s Carol who has this honor in the live-action series. Sophia’s death in The Walking Dead Season 2 was one of the biggest deviations from the comic narrative, and had a massive impact on the other survivors.
9) Noah
With no counterpart in The Walking Dead comics, it was interesting to see where the live-action show was taking Noah (Tyler James Williams). Unfortunately, this actually ended up to be nowhere. Noah debuted in The Walking Dead Season 5, Episode 4, “Slabtown,” which revealed that Beth Greene (Emily Kinney) had been taken to the Grady Memorial Hospital after being separated from Daryl. She sacrificed her freedom to let him escape, but he later teamed up with her family to save her, ultimately culminating in her demise.
Noah joined the group and traveled with them to Alexandria, but was then devoured by Walkers while on a run with Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Nicholas (Michael Traynor) in The Walking Dead Season 5, Episode 14, “Spend,” only ten episodes after his debut. Noah had been teased to be wanting to help with the expansion of Alexandria, learning architecture and building techniques, which would have been great to watch. He was ultimately wasted, which was a huge shame.
8) Jacqui
Remember Jacqui? Cast your minds back to The Walking Dead’s six-episode-long first season, which introduced Jacqui (Jeryl Prescott Sales) as a member of the surviving group outside Atlanta. Jacqui was one of the more emotionally-intelligent characters in the show’s first season, but this culminated in her choosing to “opt-out” in Season 1’s finale, “TS-19.” Jacqui died alongside Dr. Edwin Jenner (Noah Emmerich) when the CDC building exploded. She had no counterpart in The Walking Dead’s comic series, so it’s unclear why she was created for the show just to be killed so quickly.
7) Theodore “T-Dog” Douglas
T-Dog (IronE Singleton) was created specifically for The Walking Dead’s live-action adaptation so that the series could explore themes, including racism, that were seldom investigated head-on in the comic series. Despite this singular purpose, T-Dog went on to become a fan-favorite character in the series, which made his sacrifice to save Carol in The Walking Dead Season 3, Episode 4, “Killer Within,” even more heartbreaking. It would have been great to see where T-Dog could have been taken next, but at least he received a hero’s death.
6) Abraham Ford
As one of the most iconic characters in The Walking Dead, it was a huge shock when Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) fell victim to Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat, Lucille, in the Season 7 premiere, “The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be.” Abraham was a formidable member of the survivors’ group, a strong fighter, skilled with weapons, and a romantic, having formed close relationships with both Rosita (Christian Serratos) and Sasha (Sonequa Martin Green). Abraham deserved to make it to the end, so it was horrible to see him brutally murdered by Negan.
5) Merle Dixon
The brother of Daryl Dixon, both of whom were created for the show, Merle (Michael Rooker) was one of the most abrasive and controversial characters. Many were surely happy to see Merle killed by the Governor (David Morrissey) in The Walking Dead Season 3, Episode 15, “This Sorrowful Life.” Even so, Merle was just beginning to become a more well-rounded character and a functional member of the group, he even let Michonne (Danai Gurira) go when he initially intended to hand her over to the Governor, so it was a shame to lose him before he could seek complete redemption.
4) Andrea Harrison
Andrea (Laurie Holden) is considered to be one of the most wasted characters in The Walking Dead, as she was far different from her comic series counterpart. After being separated from her group during the farm fire, Andrea found Michonne, and the pair were taken to Woodbury together. Andrea’s romance with the Governor eventually led to her demise, however, as she was kidnapped and ultimately bitten for trying to escape Woodbury and rejoin her old group at the prison. This was an epic deviation from the comics, in which Andrea eventually becomes Rick Grimes’ wife.
“I got the official word a few days before we began principal photography on the finale,” explained Laurie Holden to The Hollywood Reporter in a 2013 interview. “It was a shock to everyone. It was never part of the original story document for season three… Andrea was always supposed to save Woodbury… The executive producers and the writing staff didn’t want it to happen and were cheerleaders for me. It was a difficult decision and a hard decision but at the end of the day, it may have been the right decision.” Everyone agrees that Andrea deserved more.
3) Paul “Jesus” Rovia
The situation was similarly dire for Paul “Jesus” Rovia (Tom Payne), who was an essential member of the Hilltop Colony, becoming an advisor to Maggie (Lauren Cohan) after she replaced Gregory (Xander Berkeley). While he’d been at the center of interesting storylines, and had a growing romance with Aaron (Ross Marquand), as he did in the comics, Jesus was killed by Whisperers in The Walking Dead Season 9, Episode 8, “Evolution.” Payne had become bored with the role and wanted to explore other opportunities, so asked for Jesus to be killed, deviating from the comics and removing a fan-favorite character.
2) Siddiq
Another character who made it all the way to the end in The Walking Dead’s comic series, but was killed off before his time in the live-action show, was Siddiq (Avi Nash). Siddiq’s death was even more heartbreaking, however, because of the circumstances that introduced him to the group, and his current status as a devoted father. Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs) died saving Siddiq – more on that soon – only for him to be killed by the Whisperer Dante (Juan Javier Cardenas). This ultimately meant Carl’s sacrifice was meaningless, which was quite the insult for the series.
1) Carl Grimes
Audiences watched Carl Grimes grow up in The Walking Dead, as he debuted in Season 1 as a child, and lived his entire childhood and early adolescence in the apocalypse. This forged him into a hardened warrior, but he always manage to also retain his heart and compassion, albeit while making some mistakes along the way. The son of Rick Grimes and Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies), it was absolutely devastating to see Carl lose his life in The Walking Dead Season 8, Episode 9, “Honor,” after being bitten by a Walker while saving Siddiq in the woods.
Carl’s death in The Walking Dead was perhaps the TV show’s biggest deviation from the comic series, as it’s an older and more-hardened Carl who’s left as the main protagonist in The Walking Dead’s final comic issue. Carl died in place of his father, as it’s Rick who loses his life in the comics at the hands of Sebastian Milton. Carl’s death contributed to one of The Walking Dead’s most emotional and tear-jerking moments. It would have been brilliant to see him join Daryl, Carol, and his own father, Rick, as one of the longest-surviving characters in The Walking Dead.
Which characters do you wish had stuck around in The Walking Dead for longer? Let us know in the comments!
