History Characters / TheWalkingDeadTVShowWoodburySurvivors

See [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowZombies here]].

A walled town in Georgia with over 70 survivors and many pre-apocalyptic comforts. What initially seems to be an idyllic oasis is revealed to have a dark underbelly, as Woodbury is run by the tyrannical Governor, who robs and kills outsiders and stages gladiator fights to entertain the populace. They wage war with Rick's group, losing dozens of their own, before the Governor's true nature is revealed, at which point they join their former enemy at the prison. The abandoned town is later burned to the ground by the Governor, who later kills the few Woodbury survivors in his final attack on the prison.
----

!!The Blake Family

[[folder:Penny]]
!!Penny Blake
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/penny_wd.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Daddy still loves you..."'']]
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Kylie Ann Syzmanski

The Governor's daughter, she was turned into a Walker some time prior to the meeting with the prison group. Unable to cope with his loss, The Governor kept her captive in his apartment and continued to care for her, not believing she was truly dead. Michonne discovers her during the raid on Woodbury, and, disgusted, kills her. The grieving Governor swears vengeance upon Michonne and it leads to a brutal war with Rick's group.

* AgeLift: While still an UndeadChild, her comic counterpart seems to be around 6-7 years old while she's around 8-10.
* DeathByAdaptation: In the comic, it is later revealed that Lilly Caul [[MercyKill mercy "killed"]] her after she killed the Governor during the fall of the prison. Here, Michonne impales her through the mouth from the back of the head in her second appearance.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Through the mouth from the back by Michonne.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: For the Governor, though her "living" is as a zombie by that point. When she is killed a second time, he has a VillainousBreakdown.
* PinkMeansFeminine: Her entire wardrobe is pink and very feminine.
* TwoFirstNames: Blake can be used as a gender neutral first name.
* UndeadChild: Doesn't stop the Governor from brushing her hair, singing her songs, and [[BreadEggsMilkSquick locking her in a closet with a chain around her neck and a burlap sack on her head]].
[[/folder]]

!!Other Woodbury Survivors

[[folder:Milton]]
!!Milton Mamet
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/milton_mamet_twdtv_5842.jpg]]
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Dallas Roberts
!!!'''Seasons:''' 3

Milton is the Governor's chief scientist who conducts experiments on the zombies, attempting to learn how they function and ways to control them. He is the only member of Woodbury who knew the Governor before the ZombieApocalypse. Milton turns on the Governor when he realizes how insane he has become, but is murdered by him.
----

[[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowRicksGroup Rick's Group]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowGrimesFamily The Grimes Family]] ([[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowRickGrimes Rick Grimes]]) | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowKingCountySurvivors King County Survivors]] ([[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowMorganJones Morgan Jones]]) | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowAtlantaCampSurvivors Atlanta Camp Survivors]] ([[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowDarylDixon Daryl Dixon]], [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowCarolPeletier Carol Peletier]]) | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowAtlantaSurvivors Atlanta Survivors]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowHershelsFarmSurvivors Hershel's Farm Survivors]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowDaveAndTonysGroup Dave and Tony's Group]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowPrisonNewcomers Prison Newcomers]] ([[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowMichonne Michonne Hawthorne]]) | '''Woodbury Survivors''' ([[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowTheGovernor The Governor]]) | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowTyreesesGroup Tyreese's Group]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowTheChamblerFamily The Chambler Family]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowMartinezsGroup Martinez's Group]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowAbrahamsGroup Abraham's Group]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowTheClaimers The Claimers]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowTerminusSurvivors Terminus Survivors]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowGradySurvivors Grady Memorial Survivors]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowTheWolves The Wolves]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowAlexandriaSurvivors Alexandria Survivors]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowTheSaviors The Saviors]] ([[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowNegan Negan Smith]], [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowFormerSaviors Former Saviors]]) | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowTheHilltop The Hilltop Colony]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowTheKingdom The Kingdom]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowOceansideSurvivors Oceanside Survivors]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowTheScavengers The Scavengers]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowMagnasGroup Magna's Group]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowTheWhisperers The Whisperers]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowTheHighwaymen The Highwaymen]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowJocelynsGroup Jocelyn's Group]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowBloodsworthIsland Bloodsworth Island]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowTheCommonwealth The Commonwealth]] | [[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowOtherSurvivors Other Survivors]] ([[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShowGabrielStokes Gabriel Stokes]])]]]]-]

!!Survivors introduced at Woodbury in the [[LiveActionAdaptation television show]] ''Series/TheWalkingDead'':

!!!'''Portrayed by:''' Kylie Ann Syzmanski

!!!'''Portrayed by:''' Dallas Roberts

!!!'''Portrayed by:''' Jose Pablo Cantillo

!!!'''Portrayed by:''' Travis Love

!!!'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/MelissaPonzio

!!!'''Portrayed by:''' Donzaleigh Abernathy

!!!'''Portrayed by:''' Alexa Nicolas

!!!'''Portrayed by:''' Lawrence Kao

* TokenMinority: The second Asian character after Glenn.

!!!'''Portrayed by:''' Arthur Bridgers

!!!'''Portrayed by:''' Lindsay Abernathy

!!!'''Portrayed by:''' Dave Randolph-Mayhem Davis

!!!'''Portrayed by:''' E. Roger Mitchell

!!!'''Portrayed by:''' Meaghan Caddy

!!!'''Portrayed by:''' Peter Kulas

!!!'''Portrayed by:''' Melissa Ponzio

* TheMole: He at first informs the Governor of Andrea's actions to go to the prison the first time, after Andrea trusted Milton to help her. Later, he assists Andrea in [[ReverseMole escaping Woodbury]].

!The Blake Family

!Other Woodbury Survivors

->'''Portrayed by:''' Kylie Ann Syzmanski

->'''Portrayed by:''' Dallas Roberts

->'''Portrayed by:''' Jose Pablo Cantillo

->'''Portrayed by:''' Travis Love

->'''Portrayed by:''' Melissa Ponzio

->'''Portrayed by:''' Donzaleigh Abernathy

->'''Portrayed by:''' Alexa Nicolas

->'''Portrayed by:''' Lawrence Kao

->'''Portrayed by:''' Arthur Bridgers

->'''Portrayed by:''' Lindsay Abernathy

->'''Portrayed by:''' Dave Randolph-Mayhem Davis

->'''Portrayed by:''' E. Roger Mitchell

->'''Portrayed by:''' Meaghan Caddy

->'''Portrayed by:''' Peter Kulas

[[Characters/TheWalkingDeadTVShow Click here to return to the main character page]]

* FakeGuestStar: In Season 3, he appears in almost every single episode after his debut, and plays a key role in the events of the season.

[[folder: The Governor]]

[[folder:In General]]

* BadLiar: Whenever Milton is required to lie, he tends to break out into a pretty strong stutter, complete with a lot of "Uh's." Also, when the Governor asks him if he was involved in the walkers Woodbury wanted to use for its raid on the prison being burned, he literally doesn't even try to respond, he just contemplates for a few seconds, then walks away silently.

** CompositeCharacter: In the comics, Alice wanted to study walkers

* AdaptationalSexuality: His comic counterpart was WordOfGay, but he mentions a dead wife and kids.

* BeardOfEvil: Shorter than that of Shumpert. Doubles as BadassBeard

* BullyingADragon: Taunting The Governor more than helped bring about his demise.

* TheDragon: Originally TheBrute, he became the Governor's Dragon after Merle was accused of treason.

* IdiotBall[=/=]TooDumbToLive: Playing golf with The Governor, drunk, alone and unarmed.

** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He has a soft spot for children, going out of his way to save some a couple of times. He is also pretty affable and friendly to everybody after starting his own group.

* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: Survives with Shumpert and the Governer in Season 3 and becomes the leader of his own group in Season 4, but he is killed by the Governor halfway through "Dead Weight".

->'''Portrayed by:'''Travis Love

* AscendedExtra: Shumpert used to be a barely seen Woodbury Guard who didn't speak, but he eventually got lines and a more prominent role in the story, as one of only two remaining guards for the Governor.

%% * TheBrute:
* BusCrash: Got killed sometime after him and Martinez ditched the Governor, and his death is recounted to the Governor by Martinez.

* DeathSeeker: Martinez told the Governor that Shumpert didn't even try to avoid the walker which killed him.
* DespairEventHorizon: Witnessing the Governor kill the rest of the Woodbury Militia broke something in Shumpert according to Martinez, and he became reckless when dealing with walkers, which eventually got him killed.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: He survives Season 3, making it seem like he'll become more important, and then dies offscreen in the TimeSkip between seasons 3 and 4.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Some time after the Prison battle, Caesar and him abandon the Governor when they realize he's lost his mind.

* BlackBestFriend: Appears to be very close to Martinez.

!!Due to the AnyoneCanDie nature of the show and quickly moving plots, only spoilers from the current/most recent season will be spoiled out to prevent entire pages of whited out text. These spoiler tags will be removed upon the debut of the following season, and the character bios will be updated then as well. Additionally, character portraits will be updated each half-season with the release of an official, complete set from AMC. If you have not seen the first eight seasons read at your own risk!

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: He is one of the Woodbury residents that attempts to leave after Rick's second attack. He ends up joining the militia instead, but after the failed attack on the prison he attempts to leave with the rest of the militia and go back to Woodbury. He ends up being the first one gunned down by the Governor for this.

* TheBrute: As part of Woodbury's FiveManBand.

* AntiVillain: He's not that different from the members of the group and wants to do whatever it takes to protect Woodbury. Unfortunately, he is under the command of insane dictator and is willing to KickTheDog to ensure Woodbury's security. He does look uncomfortable or outright horrified with several of the Governor's actions as well, but never verbally objects to them, even when the Governor murders the entirety of the Woodbury Militia. However, he does later abandon the Governor and start his own group, whose members seem to genuinely look up to and support Martinez.

* LastNameBasis: He has yet to be called anything other than Martinez.

* TheBrute: As part of Woodbury's FiveBadBand.

!!Due to the AnyoneCanDie nature of the show and quickly moving plots, only spoilers from the current/most recent season will be spoiled out to prevent entire pages of whited out text. These spoiler tags will be removed upon the debut of the following season, and the character bios will be updated then as well. Additionally, character portraits will be updated each half-season with the release of an official, complete set from AMC. If you have not seen the first seven seasons read at your own risk!

!!The Governor (real name: Philip Blake[=/=]alias: Brian Heriot)
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/governor_twdtv2_2661.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"Welcome to Woodbury!"'']]
->'''Portrayed by''': Creator/DavidMorrissey

-->''"You can lose a lot of soldiers but still win the game."''

The Governor is the leader of Woodbury, a closed-off and seemingly peaceful community of survivors. He's apparently an upstanding and charismatic leader to his people, but he harbors dark secrets that only his inner circle knows about. At the end of Season 3, he brutally massacres most of Woodbury before disappearing with his last two supporters.

When they abandon him, The Governor becomes a broken man and is only pulled out of it months later when he finds a family needing protection. Taking the alias "Brian Heriot", he soon comes to encounter another group of survivors and despite his attempts to atone for past mistakes, is consumed by his desire to take revenge on Rick and the prison group. He ultimately dies in Season Four's mid-season finale, having lost everything including his new family and the prison, and Rick's group is forced to move on in the wake of the devastation he leaves.

* AbusiveParents: His father beat him and his brother.
* ActionDad: Villainous version.
* ActionSurvivor: Worked an office job and a normal suburban life before the end of the world.
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: He has long unkempt hair in the comic along with a much more overall menacing appearance. He dons a look similar to his comic appearance in Season 4, however, though this trope still pretty much stands. It should be noted however that [[CompositeCharacter his other counterpart, Philip Blake]], is described as a muscular, TallDarkAndHandsome man.
* AdaptationalBadass: He seems to be physically superior to his comic book counterpart, and nearly beats Rick to death in a hand to hand fight. By contrast, his comic counterpart is mostly a long-ranged fighter.
* AdaptationalIntelligence: He is [[ManipulativeBastard extremely cunning]] compared to his comic counterpart. He relies on his support network a lot less than his comic counterpart, for example.
* AdaptationalVillainy: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]], though not really AdaptationalHeroism, since he's still very much a bad guy. That said, this version of the Governor has several PetTheDog moments and, at least at first, seems to genuinely care for the well-being of Woodbury's citizens. This stands in stark contrast to his unrepentant psycho of a counterpart in the comic. He also doesn't rape Michonne like he does in the comics or have an overall HeManWomanHater vibe coming off him.
** He also sincerely cares about his zombified daughter Penny, ultimately wants her to be safe and normal again, and breaks down in tears when she's killed. Compare this to his comic counterpart Brian, who's "Love" for her is portrayed in a far more twisted manner to the point that it's heavily implied that he lusts after her.
* AdoptTheDog: Lilly's Family.
* AndStarring: David Morrisey gets the "And" treatment.
* AntagonisticGovernor: He is the leader of Woodbury, and is one of the most dangerous villains the group ever faces.
* ArchEnemy: For Michonne. This is one sided in his part at first, but it became mutual after Andrea's death.
* AscendedExtra: Sort of. In the comics, his younger brother Brian is the one who became the Governor and Philip only serves as a DeathByOriginStory for the former.
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Deconstructed. ''Especially'' in the Season 3 finale and the Season 4 mid-season finale.
* TheAtoner: If his reappearance in Season 4 is something to go by, the Governor was trying to make up his past mistakes by helping a family in need. Subverted when he murders Martinez. He's [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone visibly affected]] by it afterward. But then he murders Pete.
* AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Starts getting deconstructed in the last half of Season 3. By Season 4, it completely is.
* AxCrazy: He keeps decapitated heads of people he has had killed in fish tanks and stares at them for hours. In the mid-Season 4 finale, he goes Katana Crazy when he beheads Hershel in front of everyone to start the third battle for the prison.
* BadBoss: He murders his entire militia after they are routed at the prison and refuse to obey his orders to go back and fight. He later gets his entire second group killed (sans Lilly and Tara) by invading the prison a second time, including himself.
* BadassLongcoat: He is occasionally seen wearing one starting with the mid-season finale.
* BaitTheDog: At first, he seems to be a benevolent leader who is looking out for the survivors for the community. Then the wounded soldier that his men discover tells him where his comrades are and it all goes downhill from there.
* BeardOfSorrow: He sports a massive, unkept one post-Woodbury.
* BerserkButton: His authority and power being questioned or threatened. You can see how he barely keeps himself from snapping. This comes to a head in the Season 3 finale when he guns down his entire militia for wanting to give up on the prison.
* BigBad: Specifically in Season 3 and [[DiscOneFinalBoss the first half of Season 4]]. Even after his death, he still has a lingering effect on the show, and for the next few seasons until Negan's arrival, no BigBad ever truly matches his body count, level of power and threat.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: His public face is that of a stern but [[AFatherToHisMen fatherly]] leader, when in truth he's a sociopath with a massive MessianicArchetype complex willing to use walkers as weapons and flips out and kills his entire militia when they refuse to perpetuate his revenge-driven feud with Rick's group.
* BloodKnight: Anytime he gets involved in a violent act, he starts smirking like he's having the time of his life. Merle also says that the Governor always said not to waste bullets on walkers you could kill otherwise, but that he always suspected that the Governor beat and stabbed walkers to death because he liked it.
* BoomHeadshot: After being impaled by Michonne, Lilly finished the job by doing this.
* BreakTheHaughty: After the events of the Season 3 finale and "Live Bait", Phillip was left for dead by his men, nearly starved to death and was later brought in by a family that, if he was in his SocialDarwinist mindset from Season 3, he would consider "weak". Ultimately returns to his old ways when he hooks up with Martinez's new group.
* TheCameo: Returns in season 5 as a hallucination to a dying Tyreese.
* CardCarryingVillain: Only is portrayed as this in the dying Tyreese's hallucination, hamming it up about how evil he really was and how Tyreese was stupid to not see it. Chad L. Coleman also weighed in and said that Tyreese saw the Governor as a figure representing Death itself, hence why the Governor was far more malicious in his hallucination.
* CharacterDevelopment: He does become slightly more sane in Season 4, if only temporarily. For one thing, he no longer hates Michonne, realizing that Penny was dead the entire time. He also plans to give the prison group a chance to leave peacefully.
* ChasingYourTail: Fights Andrea while chasing her throughout the season 3 episode "Pray".
* ChronicVillainy: Just when you think he's turning a new leaf, he's back to his power hungry and Darwinist mindset in "Dead Weight". Some things just never change. [[PyrrhicVillainy This ultimately gets both him and most of his group killed.]]
* ClimaxBoss: His second attack on the prison kicks the heroes out of it and changes everything for them as a result.
* ColdSniper: In "Home".
* ComeWithMeIfYouWantToLive: In "Live Bait", Meghan, whom he had befriended, grows distant from him because she saw him put out her reanimated grandfather. Later in the episode, as a bunch of walkers close in on them, he calls out to her and she runs towards him to be carried off, having earned her trust once again.
* CompositeCharacter: The TV version of the Governor is a combination of brothers Philip and Brian Blake in the comic and book, as he's both the Governor and the real father of Penny.
* ColdBloodedTorture: After jumping off the deep end, he kidnaps Andrea and tortures her, then tortures Milton for helping Andrea. He then tries to force Milton to kill Andrea against his will. He succeeds in a way after he mortally wounds Milton and leaves him in the room to zombify and bite Andrea.
* ConsummateLiar: His claims to the citizens of Woodbury about the National Guard soldiers getting killed by walkers and his branding of Rick's group as "terrorists" after they attack the town to rescue Glenn and Maggie.
* CrusadingWidower: Villainous example.
* CulturedBadass: Loves tea, golf, public speeches... and blood baths.
* DarkIsEvil: He is dressed mostly in black clothes.
* DarkMessiah: Being an AxCrazy person with messiah complex will make you this by default.
* ADayInTheLimelight: In "Live Bait" and "Dead Weight", the audience is given a look at what's happened to him since his last appearance in Season 3.
* DeadPersonConversation: His ghost haunts the dying Tyreese in season 5, taunting him over how he was fooled and how now he must "pay the bill."
* ADeathInTheLimelight: The last three episodes of the first half of Season 4 were heavily focused on him until he was ultimately killed-off in the mid-season finale.
* DeathSeeker: Becomes one in Season 4 after losing his empire, killing his followers, and being abandoned by Martinez and Shumpert. He blindly wanders for several months before running into Lilly's family.
* DeclarationOfProtection: Towards the family headed by Lilly after her father passed away he had befriended, especially Meghan, in "Live Bait".
* DemotedToDragon[=/=]DragonInChief: In "Dead Weight" the Governor is briefly made TheDragon of Martinez's group. However, he proves to be the bigger man and takes control of the group by the end of the episode.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: He's the BigBad of Season 3 but met his end only at the mid-season 4 finale.
* TheDreaded: Goes with being a HeroKiller. Merle even invokes this during a conversation with Hershel. The fact that he matches Rick on killing the most named characters proves this. Later, the prison group are noticeably shocked and scared when he reappears. His appearance to the dying Tyreese proves that he still has a slight hold over the heroes' psyches long after his death.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: His introductory episode had him walking the line between "stern but good" and "a little too demanding, in a creepy way", until he walks into an armed camp of US soldiers, telling them about their missing comrade, waving a white flag. Then he whips out a pistol and his people gun them all down as part of an ambush.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Has a photograph of a wife and daughter, both of whom are seemingly deceased, much like the comics. It turns out, however, his daughter, Penny, is a walker and he keeps her hidden.
* EvilCostumeSwitch: After losing Penny, in addition to his EyepatchOfPower, he began wearing much darker clothes, like a black coat. His hair also appeared more disheveled.
* EvilCounterpart: He's Rick's, representing the worst that Officer Friendly could become: a brutal dictator driven insane with grief who could not recover.
* EvilOverlord: Of Woodbury, although most of the town considers him a benevolent leader. They finally learn the truth the hard way when he guns the majority of them down. In the next season, basically he repeats history when he takes control of Martinez's new group by killing Martinez and Pete, then turning them into another militia that invades the prison a second time. And once again, they all die, including him.
* EyeScream: In "Made to Suffer", he's given an EyepatchOfPower after being stabbed in the eye with a glass shard, by Michonne.
* AFatherToHisMen: After Merle had killed Gargulio, the Governor correctly tells him Gargulio's name. Also, regardless of his BlatantLies about people who invade, he does seem to genuinely want to keep Woodbury's people safe and happy. This is subverted however after his breakdown, when he cares far more about revenge and power than protecting his people.
* FamousLastWords: "Kill 'em all."
* FauxAffablyEvil: He may have been a good person at one point, but now his entire demeanor has become one of false reassurance hiding lie after lie.
* {{Fingore}}: Bites Merle's ring and pinky fingers off before killing him.
* FisticuffsBoss: His final fight is a slugfest with Rick in the mid-season 4 finale.
* FlunkyBoss: Merle fought him when he was with a dozen Woodbury {{Mooks}}.
* {{Foil}}:
** It is not mentioned, but he is one to Michonne. Both lost those precious to them, but while Michonne became an outsider and managed to retain her humanity, the Governor became a ruthless sociopath who gathered people to manipulate. This is taken further when they both meet a family that accepts them as a ParentalSubstitute. When the Governor entered the Chambler family as a ParentalSubstitute, he merely did so [[ReplacementGoldfish to replace them with what he lost]], while Michonne legitimately becomes a ParentalSubstitute to Carol and eventually gets with Rick after a while.
** He's also one to Rick. Especially in Season 4, where there are extremely strong parallels between his actions post Season 3 and what Rick went through toward the start of the series. In season 5 it becomes more apparent when Rick moves into Alexandria and begins to act more like the Governor until he realizes he's starting to slip.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: He had a very average life before the zombie outbreak.
* GunboatDiplomacy: Shows up to the prison for the final battle with two hostages, a tank, and a bunch of brainwashed, combat-ready people and orders Rick to leave or else.
* HandicappedBadass: Being partly crippled by losing an eye doesn't stop him from kicking ass.
* TheHeavy: For events past Season 3 he's this. His second attack on the prison completely changed the group's lives since he ruined it and lead to the group finding Terminus and various other survivors.
* HeroKiller: Gives this impression to all of the people around him, especially after the Season 3 mid-season finale. He also causes the deaths of Axel, Merle, Milton, Andrea, and Hershel before he died and nearly killed Rick during their final battle.
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: He exemplifies this in both the comic and the TV show.
* IconicItem: His black eyepatch, despite its late arrival, due to its part in creating his comic counterpart's image. The [[TheMerch action figure]] based on him even has two heads that can be attached to the body, with and without the eye patch.
* IconicOutfit: His black vest and long coat.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: He's stabbed by Michonne InTheBack while he's busy strangling Rick. Lilly later comes by to finish him with a bullet to the head.
* ItsAllAboutMe: He has one of the most grossly bloated egos in the series. He laughs when Rick tries to propose s peaceful boundary between their two camps, incredulous that Rick is trying to make a decision, and makes it clear from the get go that he believes himself in charge of the meeting when he declares he's only there for Rick's surrender. During their sit down The Governor is condescending to Rick and seems to think he's scolding a child for much of their talk.
* IveComeTooFar: In the episode "Too Far Gone", he returns to the prison determined to keep his own group safe and force Rick's group to leave. Rick pleads that they both can live at the prison and desperately tries to convince him that they aren't too far gone. The Governor calls him a liar and beheads Hershel.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: The entire point of his CharacterDevelopment (or lack of) in Season 4.
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: He survives Season 3. Finally meets his demise in "Too Far Gone" when Michonne impales him with her sword while he's distracted trying to strangle Rick, and Lilly later finishes the job with a headshot.
* KarmicDeath: Like with many of his victims, he ultimately is left for dead with a headshot by Michonne. And despite his massive ego he ultimately ends up as just another devoured corpse in the overrun prison yard, having utterly failed in everything he's tried. He's even put out of his misery by the woman he loved.
* KickTheDog: Too many to list.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: His murders of [[UngratefulBastard Allen]] and [[SmugSnake Martinez]].
* TheLeader: Of Woodbury. He's a combination of Types I, II, and IV.
* LightningBruiser: In a fight he's very fast, but still extremely powerful with a gun and can hit like a Mack truck, as Rick learned the hard way.
* LikeADaughterToMe: He runs into a small family in an apartment, more or less adopting their little girl Meghan, who becomes a sort of ReplacementGoldfish to Penny.
* LineOfSightName: He takes the alias of Brian Heriot from a name written on the side of a barn being used for messages left to others.
* TheLostLenore: Both his wife and Penny.
* LoveRedeems: It appears that the Governor himself is turning over a new leaf as of "Live Bait". He opens up to a little girl about how he lost his eye and fights off a number of walkers to keep her safe. Ultimately, however, it's subverted in how he quickly goes back to his old ways.
* MadnessMantra: Apparently, after Penny got bit, he lost it. From taking careful notes on food and sanitation and the like, he instead filled page after page with slash marks.
* ManBitesMan: Bites Merle's fingers off when fighting him.
* ManipulativeBastard: Lies and manipulates the citizens of Woodbury into following him, pulling the wool over their eyes on a number of issues while increasing their loyalty to him.
* MayDecemberRomance: Quite likely with Rowan. Then with Andrea. And then with Lilly.
* MightMakesRight:
-->'''Rick''': We have sick people here. Children.
-->'''The Governor''': *shrugs* I have a tank. Doesn't seem like there's much to talk about.
* MoralMyopia: As evidenced during his conversation with Milton during "Arrows on the Doorpost".
-->'''The Governor:''' (on killing everyone at the prison) [[MurderIsTheBestSolution It's the only way to prevent a slaughter.]]\\
'''Milton:''' ... [[OnlySaneMan That]] ''is'' a slaughter.\\
'''The Governor:''' Not on our end.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In "Dead Weight" he ''briefly'' feels bad about murdering Martinez. [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk He gets over it and decides to take over the group instead.]]
* MythologyGag: In "Live Bait", he takes part of his alias from a storyline in the comic: [[Literature/TheWalkingDeadTheRoadToWoodbury Brian]] Heriot.
* {{Narcissist}}: Of the AxCrazy, [[TotalitarianUtilitarian despotic]] variety. Unlike his psychopathic counterpart in the comics, Phillip Blake genuinely aspires (at least initially) to [[WellIntentionedExtremist make Woodbury a secure and thriving community under his rule]] in the aftermath of the ZombieApocalypse. However, whatever noble intentions he has are massively undermined by the fact that he is an unhinged megalomaniac who is extremely hostile and contemptuous towards all forms of authority besides his own. While he once had a family whom he genuinely cared for and remains capable of forming genuine attachments with other characters (like Andrea and Lilly), Phillip is [[DisproportionateRetribution mercilessly brutal]] to all who fail to provide him with the [[LoveHungry unwavering devotion to which he feels entitled]] regardless of how close they are to him. Despite imposing such lofty expectations on those around him, he [[MoralMyopia sees no problem deceiving, manipulating and killing others to get what he wants]].
* NothingPersonal: To Michonne and Hershel, when he kidnaps them, he admits that he eventually accepted that his daughter was already dead before Michonne killed Penny. And he also seems to slightly regret having captured Hershel, admitting he is a good man.
* ObviouslyEvil: In the second half of Season 3, he walks around in a [[BadassLongcoat black longcoat]] wearing an eye-patch.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Despite saying he dislikes nicknames, he initially refuses to tell Andrea his real name. Later, in "Killer Within", he tells Andrea his name is Phillip, but she's the only one who ever addresses him as such.
* PapaWolf: Violently loses it when Michonne kills his undead daughter, Penny. Later, he kills three walkers with his bare hands to save [[LikeADaughterToMe Meghan]], a little girl he met in "Live Bait".
* PetTheDog: He helps out a relatively naive family out of pure altruism.
* PermaStubble: Unlike his counterpart's Creator/DannyTrejo-esque mustache.
* PerspectiveFlip: The episode "Live Bait" gives insight to his feelings towards losing his family, mostly his daughter when he was unable to protect her from Michonne.
* PlotArmor: [[JokerImmunity Tons of it.]] Minor characters will literally walk into bullets for him. And he survives Season 3 without having to fight Rick, much to the ire of fans. His armor finally breaks in the mid-Season 4 finale when he invades the prison again. Here he ''does'' fight Rick, beats his ass, and get impaled by Michonne while he's distracted. Lilly later finishes him off.
* ThePromise: Gives one to Meghan at the end of "Live Bait" to always keep her safe. He fails.
* PromotionToLoveInterest: For Andrea. In the comics, they were never acquainted both romantically and sexually.
* PsychoticSmirk: When Rick and the group come back to rescue Daryl while firing at his henchmen, causing the townspeople to run in panic, he's the only one that seems to enjoy this.
* RaceLift: His comics counterpart was of partial Latin descent.
* RealityEnsues: He ''tries'' to change for the better, but fails because [[AxCrazy he's still insane.]]
* RedemptionRejection: When the Governor attempts to take the prison for his group, Rick makes an offer to share the prison and live in peace. The Governor responds by calling Rick a liar and decapitating Hershel.
* RedRightHand: Shortly after losing his eye, the wound begins to bleed his bandages red, just as he pits Merle against his brother, Daryl.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Meghan for his dead daughter and possibly Lilly for his wife.
* TheRival: To Rick, since they don't hate each other enough to be considered arch-enemies. At least until Season 4.
* SanitySlippage: Milton suggested that he was very different before [[ZombieApocalypse all hell broke loose.]] Also, despite already being unhinged when we meet him, he clearly gets even worse after he loses an eye and his undead daughter to Michonne.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: After killing Martinez and noticing weak leadership from Pete, he leaves Martinez's camp along with Tara, Lilly, Meghan, and Alisha. Subverted when they run into a muddy quicksand pit infested with trapped walkers, forcing them to return, and ultimately forcing him to usurp control of the group.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The more masculine one compared to his NonActionGuy friend Milton.
* ShutUpKirk: "Liar", in response to Rick's speech to him and his militia.
* SinisterScrapingSound: He drags around a shovel to scare Andrea when he's chasing her in a warehouse.
* TheSocialDarwinist: His "Kill or die" lecture seems like this.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: The Governor doesn't survive the prison attack in the comics. Subverted in that he dies in the third prison attack, which is much more closely modeled on the comic one. Not only that, since Philip Blake is a PosthumousCharacter and only serves a DeathByOriginStory for his younger brother Brian, who is the one who becomes the Governor in the comics.
* StepfordSmiler: He smiles a lot to charm Andrea, hiding just how insane he is underneath it all. He later also uses this a lot to try to put Rick at ease during negotiations. It looks very fake, though it's subverted when he talks about when his wife died. He's clearly trying to maintain the charming persona but he's clearly grieving. It's the only point in their conversation when Rick empathizes with him and no doubt the only moment of sincerity from the Governor.
* SympatheticPOV: His debut episodes in Season 4 highlight the {{Reconstruction}} of the Governor from nothing to meeting a new surrogate family, protecting them and re-establishing his position as a leader.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: Tall, dark-haired, and a bonafide ChickMagnet.
* TeamKiller: He will ''not'' hesitate to take down his subordinates if he thinks they are no longer useful to him.
* ThousandYardStare: By Season 4, he has absolutely no reaction to a walker mere feet away from him.
* TwoFirstNames: His last name is a gender neutral first name.
* {{Ubermensch}}: The show is pretty much dedicated on showing that he has his own set of morality.
* TheUnfettered: He clearly has no moral restrictions. Shane, at his worst, looks like a bratty kid in comparison.
* VillainousBSOD: In his debut episode of Season 4. He's entirely lifeless until he meets Lilly and her family.
* VillainEpisode: In Season 4, the episodes "Live Bait" and "Dead Weight".
* VillainExitStageLeft: After he [[VillainousBreakdown snaps]] and guns down the entire militia save Shumpert and Martinez, he just hops back in his truck and continues down the road, not seen again until Season 4.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Overlaps with being AFatherToHisMen. He does seem to care about the people of Woodbury, but he antagonizes another group to provide for them. He also won't think twice on dispatching his subordinates if he sees it fit. In the Season 3 finale he snaps, and reveals himself to others as the villain by gunning down most of his people.
* VillainousBreakdown:
** First, his SuddenlyShouting for Penny to "Look at me!" so that he can see some humanity in her (which does not exist). He goes into a complete breakdown later, after Michonne kills Penny and then stabs him in the eye with a shard of glass.
** He gets even worse at the end of Season 3, massacring half his own town for next to no reason when the prison attack fails and the people go ScrewThisImOuttaHere.
** In the mid-season finale for Season 4, he goes gradually more nuts. First, he decapitates Hershel when Rick refuses to leave. Then, when Meghan dies, he casually headshots her body to prevent her coming back, then sacrifices his group by pointlessly destroying the prison.
* WouldHitAGirl: After Michonne puts a sword through his undead-daughter's head, he gets in a knock-down-drag-out-fight with her and holds nothing back.
** When he explains to the captured Michonne and Hershel that he's going to invade the prison again, Hershel asks him that if he knows what it's like to lose a daughter, how can he go through with taking away his? The Governor coldly replies "Because they're not mine."
* WouldHurtAChild: Knew that there were young children at the prison, and still ordered his army to attack and "kill them all".
* YouHaveFailedMe:
** After finding out that Merle failed to kill Michonne then lied about it, he turns Woodbury against Merle with an accusation of betraying the town.
** Later he guns down most of the Woodbury Militia after they retreat from the prison and refuse to return.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: After noticing weak leadership from Martinez he decides to kill him.
* YouKilledMyFather: Goes both ways. The ultimately fatal attack on Penny results in him taking this position towards Michonne. In Season 4, the majority of the prison group were very pissed at him for killing Hershel, as two of them were his actual daughters while the rest of the majority considers him the TeamDad.
* YouWouldntShootMe: In response to his murder of his men, Allen holds him at gun point to stop. The Governor pauses, then shoots him in the head in disappointment.
* ZombieAdvocate: ZigZagged. He kept his undead daughter Penny locked away in hopes that Milton will find a "cure". However, he also kept other walkers for staged fights, stating that it teaches the Woodbury residents not to be afraid of them. Another reason he kept them is for assaulting other groups if necessary.

[[folder:Penny]]
!!Penny Blake
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/penny_wd.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Daddy still loves you..."'']]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Kylie Ann Syzmanski

The Governor's daughter, she was turned into a Walker some time prior to the meeting with the prison group. Unable to cope with his loss, The Governor kept her captive in his apartment and continued to care for her, not believing she was truly dead. Michonne discovers her during the raid on Woodbury, and, disgusted, kills her. The grieving Governor swears vengeance upon Michonne and it leads to a brutal war with Rick's group.

* AgeLift: While still an UndeadChild, her comic counterpart seems to be around 6-7 years old while she's around 8-10.
* DeathByAdaptation: In the comic, it is later revealed that Lilly Caul [[MercyKill mercy "killed"]] her after she killed the Governor during the fall of the prison. Here, Michonne impales her through the mouth from the back of the head in her second appearance.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Through the mouth from the back by Michonne.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: For the Governor, though her "living" is as a zombie by that point. When she is killed a second time, he has a VillainousBreakdown.
* PinkMeansFeminine: Her entire wardrobe is pink and very feminine.
* TwoFirstNames: Blake can be used as a gender neutral first name.
* UndeadChild: Doesn't stop the Governor from brushing her hair, singing her songs, and [[BreadEggsMilkSquick locking her in a closet with a chain around her neck and a burlap sack on her head]].
[[/folder]]

!Other Woodbury Survivors

[[folder:Milton]]
!!Milton Mamet
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/milton_mamet_twdtv_5842.jpg]]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Dallas Roberts

Milton is the Governor's chief scientist who conducts experiments on the zombies, attempting to learn how they function and ways to control them. He is the only member of Woodbury who knew the Governor before the ZombieApocalypse. Milton turns on the Governor when he realizes how insane he has become, but is murdered by him.
----

!!Due to the AnyoneCanDie nature of the show and quickly moving plots, only spoilers from the current/most recent season will be spoiled out to prevent entire pages of whited out text. These spoiler tags will be removed upon the debut of the following season, and the character bios will be updated then as well. If you have not seen the first six seasons read at your own risk!

* {{Expy}}: Charismatic and charming, he runs a self-built town where he's the unquestioned leader. He's also an evil, corrupt sociopath who sends his goons to kill anyone who tries to leave the town. Sounds a lot like the People's Temple cult leader [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jones Jim Jones]]. It's even [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Michonne when she describes him to Rick, referring to him as a "Jim Jones type".
** His actions in Season 4's "Live Bait" softening him considerably, and caring for a young girl who reminds him of his own dead daughter are a lot more reminiscent of Joel from ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs''.

* DeathByAdaptation: In the comic, it is later revealed that Lilly Caul [[MercyKill mercy "killed"]] her after she killed The Governor during the fall of the prison. Here, Michonne impales her through the mouth from the back of the head in her second appearance.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Through the mouth from the back by Michonne, though her "living" is as a zombie by that point.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: For the Governor. When she is killed a second time, he has a VillainousBreakdown.

* AdaptationOriginConnection: Woodburry becomes part of Michonne and Tyreese's respective {{Story Arc}}s before officially joining Rick's group. In the comics, they both encountered Woodburry while already being members on Rick's team.

* DeathByAdaptation: In the comics and novels Woodbury actually lasts for quite a while even after the Governor's death, and when it does eventually fall apart there's still some survivors left. In the show, a large majority of it's residents are killed thoughout Season 3 and the town is abandoned and destroyed long before the Governor meets his end in the Season 4 mid-finale. And the remaining Woodbury residents are killed either during the final prison attack or shortly afterwards by the Flu.

* KillEmAll: As of "Too Far Gone," all of the original Woodbury survivors are dead. Most of them are killed during their war with Rick's group, while the survivors die as a result of the flu or the Governor's final attack.
* KilledOffScreen: {{Word Of God}} states that ''all'' of the Woodbury residents are dead, which means that those who inexplicably vanished from the show actually died either when the Governor kills the majority of them or when the Flu killed off the rest of them.

* {{Narcissist}}: Of the AxCrazy, [[TotalitarianUtilitarian despotic]] variety. Unlike his psychopathic counterpart in the comics, Phillip Blake genuinely aspires (at least initially) to [[WellIntentionedExtremist make Woodbury a secure and thriving community under his rule]] in the aftermath of the ZombieApocalypse. However, whatever noble intentions he has are massively undermined by the fact that he is an unhinged megalomaniac who is extremely hostile and contemptuous towards all forms of authority besides his own. While he once had a family whom he genuinely cared for and remains capable of forming genuine attachments with other characters (like Andrea and Lily), Phillip is [[DisproportionateRetribution mercilessly brutal]] to all who fail to provide him with the [[LoveHungry unwavering devotion to which he feels entitled]] regardless of how close they are to him. Despite imposing such lofty expectations on those around him, he [[MoralMyopia sees no problem deceiving, manipulating and killing others to get what he wants]].

* PsychoticSmirk: When Rick and the group comeback to rescue Daryl while firing at his henchmen causing the townspeople to run in panic, he's the only one that seems to enjoys this.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: After killing Martinez and noticing weak leadership from Pete, he leaves Martinez's camp along with Tara, Lily, Meghan, and Alisha. Subverted when they run into a muddy quicksand pit infested with trapped walkers, forcing them to return, and ultimately forcing him to usurp control of the group.

* StepfordSmiler: He smiles a lot to charm Andrea, hiding just how insane he is underneath it all. He later also uses this a lot to try to put Rick at ease during negotiations. It looks very fake, though it's subverted when he talks about when his wife died. He's clearly trying to maintain the charming persona but he's clearly grieving. It's the only point in their conversation when Rick empathizes with him and no doubt the only moment of sincerity from The Governor.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Overlaps with being AFatherToHisMen. He does seem to care about the people of Woodbury, but he antagonizes other group to provide for them. He also won't think twice on dispatching his subordinates if he sees it fit. In the Season 3 finale he snaps, and reveals himself to others as the villain by gunning down most of his people.

* YouKilledMyFather: Goes both ways. The ultimately fatal attack on Penny results in him taking this position towards Michonne. In Season 4, majority of the prison group were very pissed at him for killing Hershel, as two of them were his actual daughters while majority of them considers him the TeamDad.

* ZombieAdvocate: ZigZagged. He kept his undead daughter Penny locked away in hopes that Milton will find a "cure." However, he also kept other walkers for staged fights, stating that it teaches the Woodbury residents not to be afraid of them. Another reason he kept them is for assaulting other groups if necessary.

* DeathByAdaptation: In the comic, it is later revealed that Lily Caul [[MercyKill mercy "killed"]] her after she killed The Governor during the fall of the prison. Here, Michonne impales her through the mouth from the back of the head in her second appearance.