History Characters / TheWalkingDead2010NeganSmith

* WhatTheHellHero: He's disappointed that Maggie intends to [[spoiler:hand him over to the Croat in exchange for Hershel]], telling her they make a badass team and could have come up with their own way to rescue [[spoiler:her son.]]

* AdaptationalSlimness: Comic Negan has a stouter built, while TV Negan is [[LeanAndMean leaner]].

* AdaptationalCurves: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]. Comic Negan has a stouter built, while TV Negan is leaner.

* HeinousnessRetcon: In Season 7, he threatens Carl with Lucille several times and later comes within seconds of bashing the boy's head in as part of a desperate attempt to finally break Rick. While he does display a fondness for Carl, he clearly doesn't have any moral hangups over putting him in harm's way. In all other seasons, hurting kids is a personal BerserkButton for Negan and his love of children becomes one of his defining characteristics -- specifically, he brushes aside his AccidentalMurder of Margo because she was beating up Lydia, he gets angry when Brandon jokes about him threatening to cut off Carl's arm, and he ultimately kills Alpha because she planned on killing her daughter Lydia, even later asserting to Daryl that, "you never kill kids." Also, in Season 8, he is anguished to hear about Carl's death and claims that he was "the future", which again, flies in the face of his actions in the Season 7 finale. The best explanation for this change is so that Negan's evolution into an AntiHero would be more palatable.

* HeinousnessRetcon: In Season 7, he threatens Carl with Lucille several times and later comes within seconds of bashing the boy's head in as part of a desperate attempt to finally break Rick. While he does display a fondness for Carl, he clearly doesn't have any moral hangups over putting him in harm's way. In all other seasons, hurting kids is a personal BerserkButton for Negan and his love of children becomes one of his defining characteristics -- specifically, he brushes aside his AccidentalMurder of Margo because she was beating up Lydia, he gets angry when Brandon jokes about him threatening to cut off Carl's arm, and he ultimately kills Alpha because she planned on killing her daughter Lydia, even later asserting to Daryl that, "you never kill kids." The best explanation for this change is so that Negan's evolution into an AntiHero would be more palatable.

* HeinousnessRetcon: In Season 7, he threatens Carl with Lucille several times and later comes within seconds of bashing the boy's head in as part of a desperate attempt to finally break Rick. In all other seasons, hurting kids is a personal BerserkButton for him and his love of children becomes one of his defining characteristics -- specifically, he brushes aside his AccidentalMurder of Margo because she was beating up Lydia, he gets angry when Brandon jokes about him threatening to cut off Carl's arm, and he ultimately kills Alpha because she planned on killing her daughter Lydia, with him later asserting to Daryl that, "you never kill kids." The best explanation for this change is so that Negan's evolution into an AntiHero would be more palatable.

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* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: His first appearance has him closely resemble his comic counterpart by slicking his hair back. He never does this again.

** He was mortified by the Croat's extreme sadism and doing something to a young girl that Negan can't talk about without almost breaking into tears.

* SpannerInTheWorks: For [[spoiler:Lance Hornsby's plan to exterminate the Riverbend community.]] First, he sends Jesse to Hilltop to notify Maggie, ensuring she is already ''en route'' by the time she meets Aaron halfway on the road. As a trusted member of Riverbend and a more-or-less ally of the Coalition, Negan serves as a diplomat between the two factions, convincing them to work together peacefully to take out [[spoiler:Carlson]]'s entire operation. He also rescues Gabriel and Hershel from the troopers, eliminating any potential bargaining chips Carlson may have had. This continues into "Lockdown", where Negan is the only one of the group whose face the Commonwealth soldiers haven't seen who also has the trust of the Coalition residents. Because of this he's able to make it past security and notify Carol of the danger that allows her and Jerry to get the kids (who [[spoiler:Lance]] planned to use as leverage) to safety and make a deal to potentially get their friends out of trouble with the Commonwealth.

* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: He suffers a lot more than his comic counterpart, including spending twice as long imprisoned in Alexandria and almost losing [[spoiler:his wife and son to a Commonwealth firing squad.]]

* AmbiguousSituation: It's unknown if Laura and Franklin ever found out he was the one who told the Vipers about the location of their camp. Since Negan came back to save them, it was probably water under the bridge if he did.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: His first appearance has him with his hair slicked back, likely so he can resemble his comic counterpart. However, he never does this again.

* DudeWheresMyReward: He demands that Carol take him back to Alexandria to speak on his behalf after he kills Alpha.

** For all his talk about people being a resource, he apparently had no problems ordering the extinction of the library community for attempting to start a rebellion against the Saviors. However, considering it was Simon who was dealing with them it's unknown how privy Negan was to what actually happened.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: After staunchly refusing to admit to any wrongdoing in regards to Glenn's death, he ''finally'' seems to have some remorse when [[spoiler:Hershel]] pulls a gun on him, intending to shoot him for [[spoiler:killing his father]]. It appears to hit close to home as Negan is about to become a father himself; he ends up breaking down in tears while admitting to [[spoiler:Hershel]] that he took something from him and Maggie that he can never make up for.

* AmbiguouslyChristian: Negan doesn't appear to be religious, but he makes enough passive comments about God and the afterlife that it seems as if he at least believes in the possibility of them. Then again, when Gabriel says he became a priest because he wanted to bring people closer to God, Negan chuckles and responds, "You gotta be kidding me." He later becomes a member of the religious Riverbend group, though it’s unknown if he actually had a HeelFaithTurn or if he only wanted a new community to join and was willing to acquiesce to their beliefs if it meant that he could stay.

* AmbiguouslyChristian: Negan doesn't appear to be religious, but he makes enough passive comments about God and the afterlife that it seems as if he at least believes in the possibility of them. Then again, when Gabriel says he became a priest because he wanted to bring people closer to God, Negan chuckles and responds, "You gotta be kidding me." He later becomes a member of the religious Riverbend group, though it’s unknown if he actually had a HeelFaithTurn or was only there because he wanted a new community to join and was willing to acquiesce to their beliefs if it meant that he could stay.

** He doesn't kill Maggie after learning she intends to [[spoiler:hand him over to the Croat in exchange for Hershel]], completely understanding her situation even if he's extremely disappointed.