Due to the Anyone Can Die 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 ten seasons read at your own risk!

The Grimes Family

open/close all folders

In General

A family living in King County, Georgia. Throughout the show, their lives dramatically change, starting with Rick, the head of the family, getting shot and the Zombie Apocalypse that follows.

Awkward Father-Son Bonding Activity: Possibly inverted. Rick is the one who is obviously disturbed with Carl's aggressive Anti-Hero streak when they kill walkers together in Season 4. Less so in Season 5, by which point Carl has mellowed out while Rick has fully accepted his own status as an Anti-Hero.
Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Despite being a Dysfunctional Family, their love for one another is very evident.
- Despite a huge strain in their marriage, Rick is greatly crushed after Lori's death.
- Starting the Season 3 finale, Carl repeatedly tells Rick that he is weak and couldn't protect anyone. After the prison's fall in Season 4, he even tells Rick that he could die because he (Carl) can take care of himself. After thinking that Rick has turned, Carl breaks down and couldn't kill his father.
Badass and Child Duo: Rick and Carl at first. After the latter Took a Level in Badass and Lori's death, Judith fills the child role with her father and older brother alternating as the badass.
Badass Family: The Zombie Apocalypse forced them to be.
Doomed Hometown: King County, for the original Grimes family.
Dysfunctional Family: Shane's involvement after Rick's coma, Lori's affair with him, and Rick's eventual return greatly tainted the family. Again, the stress of the Zombie Apocalypse didn't help matters.
The Family That Slays Together: Most notably in the Season 3 premiere, where they all work together to clear the prison.
Freudian Trio: Until Lori's death in Season 3.
- Rick, the one who plans everything and keeps them all (including the entire group) in check. (Superego)
- Lori, mostly a Neutral Female. (Ego)
- Carl, who is very reckless and spontaneous due to his age. (Id)
Honorary Uncle: Rick and Carl consider most of their True Companions as "family".
Three Plus Two: The original family consists of Rick, Lori, and Carl. Season 3 brings us Judith (albeit at the cost of Lori's death) and in Season 9 Rick conceives a child with Michonne, who she names RJ.
True Companions: With most of the Atlanta Camp Survivors. Shane in particular is considered a family friend even before the apocalypse, so are the Peletiers sans Ed, and Daryl, whom Rick calls his brother. They later gain more with the Greene family, Michonne, and Tyreese. After Rick's disappearance, Daryl, Carol, Rosita, and Aaron are all referred to as "Uncle Daryl", "Aunt Carol", "Tia Rosita", and “Uncle Aaron” by the children.

Original Family

Rick

See Rick Grimes

Lori

Lori Grimes

"I think folks around here can make up their minds without bringing my marriage into it."

Portrayed By: Sarah Wayne Callies

Voiced By: Conchi López (Spanish dub), Izumi Sawada (Japanese dub), Antje von der Ahe (German dub), Gaëlle Savary (French dub), Chiara Colizzi (Italian dub), Irena Máchová (Czech dub), Laura Ruttkay (Hungarian dub)

Appearances: The Walking Dead (Seasons 1-3)

Debut: "Days Gone Bye"

"Maybe this isn't a world for children anymore."

Lori is Rick's wife, who knew he was in the hospital. Shane went back for him, honestly believed him dead, and returned to camp to regretfully inform Lori. Lori and Shane became an item until Rick turned up alive at the camp thanks to Glenn. Her relationship with both Rick and Shane has soured after that, as her affair was revealed and she discovered she was pregnant. She is killed early in Season 3, when Maggie has to perform an emergency C-section to save the baby and Carl is forced to shoot her in the head to prevent reanimation.

Accidental Adultery: Her brief fling with Shane. Unlike the comics, it's much more justified because Shane told her (and had every reason to believe) that Rick really did die in that hospital bed.
Action Mom: Thanks to Adaptational Badass below. Overlaps with Pregnant Badass in the beginning of Season 3, when she helps other survivors in clearing the prison from walkers.
Action Survivor: Making up for her stupidity in "Nebraska", Lori has a Let's Get Dangerous! moment right after her car crash. Still suffering from shock, she stabs a walker clambering into the car through the eye with a torn-off piece of the car, and then smacks another over the head with a hub cap before fetching her gun from the car and headshotting it.
Adaptation Dye-Job: Lori has raven hair in the comics.
Adaptational Badass: Believe it or not. In the comic, Lori would often fumble with her gun, and Carl saved her on more than one occasion. Here, she is making headshots at night without panicking.
Age Lift: From 27 in the comics to her mid-thirties in the show.
Break the Cutie: She was determined to prevent this from happening to Carl, but eventually has to accept that Carl must be exposed to the horrors of the world if he is ever going to survive it.
Break the Haughty: Lori is rather self-righteous for the first two seasons of the show, given her being the "First Lady" of the group and often ordering the others around. She also dithers when it comes to resolving the Love Triangle between her, Rick, and Shane, and later is enraged when Rick reveals he killed Shane in self-defense and refuses to let him come near her. This destroys their relationship, and Lori practically begs for the chance to make amends with Rick, admitting to Hershel that she feels she deserves to have been laid low.
Character Death: Lori dies in Season 3, when she tells Maggie to perform a Cesarean section on her so Judith can be born, even knowing it will kill her.
The Conscience: One of the most vocal members of the group to criticize morally-questionable actions.
Cruel and Unusual Death: Suffers through several minutes of highly painful labor, and has Maggie slice her stomach open without any form of anesthetic before she finally passes out.
Death by Adaptation: In the comics, Lori died at the very end of the prison arc instead of near the beginning of it.
Death by Childbirth: Although the C-section by Maggie (without anesthesia) is the immediate cause, a labor proceeding exactly like Carl's necessitating said operation ultimately did, as she would have died without it.
The Ditherer: When Rick returns, she goes back to him without a word to Shane, largely because of her shame for having a relationship while her husband was alive and thinking she had been tricked. It goes very, very poorly as Shane does not take it well.
Does Not Like Guns: Seems to be why she rarely fights herself and instead prefers to have others protect her. She even tries to argue against it when Rick and Shane want to teach her son Carl to use a gun, despite the fact it's the most viable option for self-defense he has in the middle of a Zombie Apocalypse.
Heroic Sacrifice: When the prison is being overrun by walkers and she goes into labor, she decides for Maggie to perform a makeshift C-section with a knife so that her child will survive.
Housewife: Lori was this before the Zombie Apocalypse and tries to keep it up even with the world gone to hell.
Hypocrite: She chews out Rick for not telling her that Hershel was going to kick them off of the farm, while she doesn't tell Rick that she's pregnant until he finds her morning after pills. Rick calls her out on this and she admits to it herself.
The Load: Lori is the least likely of the group to use weapons and instead relies mostly on others to protect herself. She can fight if she must, though.
The Lost Lenore: For Rick, who doesn't recover from her death until the end of Season 3 and doesn't find true love again until Michonne in Season 6.
Mama Bear: Otis is likely lucky to have died before he met Lori and suffered her wrath for shooting Carl. She's also ready to brave a walker invasion of the farm to go hunt down her missing son, and is only talked out of it by Carol.
My God, What Have I Done?: A big part of why the triangle between Rick, Lori, and Shane is the utter shame Lori has over her part in it; partially for how she believes she was tricked into believing Rick was dead, partially because she's ashamed she developed feelings for Shane and ended up getting pregnant with his child. This is why she tries to bury it, terrified of Rick finding out about the relationship and that he will hate her for engaging in it. This unfortunately means she qualifies for Poor Communication Skills that lead to the destruction of her marriage and Shane's spiral and death.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In Season 2, Shane is content enough to simply leave the group completely and strike out on his own. Lori talks him out of it, which leads to a lot of the troubles of the season.
Not Enough to Bury: Her body is completely devoured by a walker.
Parting-Words Regret: Narrowly averted. The morning that Rick was shot, she instigated a massive argument with him that ended with her accusing him of not caring about her or Carl. She was already feeling crummy about it when Shane broke the bad news, and Rick never regained consciousness before she and Shane assumed (with good reason) that he was dead. When they’re finally reunited, it was as if the argument never took place.
Politically Incorrect Hero: Her views on gender roles are decidedly conservative.
Pregnant Badass: Lori's stamina is something to be admired considering she is able to keep up with the group for the entirety of her pregnancy. Even when she's days from giving birth, she still is quite handy with a gun as seen during the taking of the prison.
Sacrificial Lion: The major casualty of Season 3, whose passing changes Rick and Carl forever and leaves them with Judith.
Secret Relationship: What she thought her relationship with Shane was. Turns out Dale, Daryl, and Andrea had all figured it out, and Rick caught on pretty quickly to what had happened between her and Shane while they thought he was dead.
Statuesque Stunner: She stands 5'9 and is a hot mom to boot.
Stay in the Kitchen: She apparently literally believes this is what the women should be doing during the Zombie Apocalypse, and is annoyed with Andrea for wanting to protect the camp. Andrea is understandably incredulous and pissed off upon being told this. Lori rationalizes that she is "trying to create a life worth living," meaning she values the normality and comfort of mundane household chores over bloodshed and fighting.
Took a Level in Badass: By Season 3, she's become more proficient with a gun and has no problem taking down walkers.
Traumatic C-Section: Goes into labor while hiding from walkers in the boiler room of the prison. Maggie then has to deliver the baby via a C-section using a crude hunting knife and Lori dies.
Who's Your Daddy?: Lori understandably isn't sure if the baby she's carrying was fathered by Rick or Shane. In Season 7, Rick is certain that Judith is Shane's child.

Carl

Carl Grimes

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s8_009.jpg

"Everything's food for something else."

Portrayed By: Chandler Riggs

Voiced By: Mario García [Seasons 2-4], Javier Balas [Seasons 5-8] (Spanish dub), Aki Nakajima [Seasons 1-5], Takuya Iwabata [Seasons 6-8] (Japanese dub), David Kunze [Seasons 1-2], Darko Sagara Medina [Seasons 3-6], Sebastian Fitzner [Seasons 7-8] (German dub), Gwenaëlle Jegou [Seasons 1-3], Hervé Grull [Seasons 4-8] (French dub), Tito Marteddu (Italian dub), Jakub Nemčok (Czech dub), Gábor Boldog (Hungarian dub)

Appearances: The Walking Dead (Seasons 1-8, 10 ^noteHallucination/Flashback) | The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live ^noteFlashbacks (archive footage)

Debut: "Days Gone Bye"

"Are we safe now, Dad?"

Carl is Rick and Lori's son. In Rick's absence, he has come to regard Shane as something of a father figure. This causes no small amount of friction once Rick returns, as Carl loves his dad but still loves Shane and looks up to him. As the show has progressed, the Zombie Apocalypse has had an increasingly damaging effect on Carl's mind and personality, as he is forced to fight walkers to survive and other threats constantly surround his family and the group. Nothing breaks Carl more than the tragic death of his mother in childbirth, even more so considering he's forced to put her down so she won't reanimate, and he ends up naming his new baby sister Judith.

After an attempt by Rick to save his humanity has mixed results, Carl begins to feel that he no longer needs his father, but ends up relenting when he realizes that he can't make it on his own. The bond between father and son turned out to have been repaired just in time, as Rick resorted to drastic measures to save Carl from a horrific near-rape experience. Though Carl's satisfaction at his assailant's death worried him, he was able to recover with the help of his new surrogate mother figure Michonne.

Following this, Carl has done a rebound, and now his first instinct is to help people, even after encounters with rapists and cannibals. After the group reaches Alexandria, Carl is torn between his desire to develop normal relationships with others his age and his fear that living in the comfort of the safe-zone will make him weak. However, the chief threat to Carl in Alexandria emerges in Ron Anderson, who pins his rage over his father's death on him. Carl ultimately loses an eye thanks to Ron's final murderous, insane rampage during the Battle of Alexandria. Carl is saved by Denise, and goes on to approve of his father's relationship with Michonne.

When the Saviors subjugate Alexandria, Carl develops a murderous hatred of Negan, who is actually impressed by his cold defiance of his regime and seeks to one day recruit him to his army. However, when the war with the Saviors begins, Carl begins proposing a peaceful future in which AHK makes amends with their enemies. Carl takes the time to rescue lone survivor Siddiq, but during the trip, he is bitten by a walker. That night, a dying Carl leads the Alexandrians to safety when the Saviors sack the town. Rick and Michonne are devastated to learn they are losing their son, and promise to heed his dying wishes for a peaceful future living alongside Negan. At the end of the war, Rick honors Carl's last wishes and spares Negan, and vows to continue honoring his son's legacy.

Abled in the Adaptation: His head injury is less severe than in the comics. There, parts of his head and right ear were also damaged. Here, it's just a stereotypical Eye Scream.
Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Carl's comic counterpart wasn't subjected to seeing his childhood friend Sophia die, nor having to shoot his dead mother so she won't reanimate. In contrast though, he never has to go through the death of his little sister.
Adaptational Attractiveness: His Eye Scream in the show is decidedly less grotesque than in the comics, as the side of his head remains largely intact compared to the gaping hole he sustains in the latter.
Adaptational Heroism: Despite his "Kill or be killed" attitude from Season 3 and the first half of Season 4, by Season 5 he has become far nicer than his comic book counterpart, who remains a Creepy Child by this time of the storyline, even stating — post Terminus, mind you — that they can still help people.
Age Lift: Went from 7 or 8 in the comics to 12 for the show.
An Arm and a Leg: Negan nearly forces Rick to cut off Carl's arm, but stops him at the last second.
Anti-Hero: Ends up becoming one after the Season 3 finale, Carl didn't seem to bat an eye when he shoots a teenaged Woodbury militia member just as he was handing over his shotgun to Carl.
Attempted Rape: Joe's group member, Dan, attempts to do this to him, causing Rick to go into complete Papa Wolf mode to save him.
Ax-Crazy: Carl has been shown to have some tolls taken on his sanity as in his younger days he was more prompting to kill people such as Randall and the kid that was handing over his gun. He tones down a lot over the course of the series. By season 8 he drops this personality.
Badass Adorable: As noted by Negan, Carl is now a hardened Kid Hero who is still trying to become a good person while slaughtering countless villains who threaten him and those he loves.
Bait-and-Switch Gunshot: Aims his gun at his father, but is really just putting down a zombified Shane.
Big Brother Instinct: Towards Judith.
Big Damn Heroes: Saves Tyreese's group in Season 3 on his own.
Big Eater: Even though he's living in a zombie-ridden hellhole, he still eats like a typical teenager. Case in point, he eats 112 ounces of chocolate pudding in one sitting.
Boom, Headshot!: A self-inflicted one, to prevent himself from becoming a walker.
Break the Cutie: Though he manages to pull through his near-death experience in Season 2, he gradually gets broken down by various horrors, all the way to having to put down his own mother.
Butt-Monkey: Gets shot in both the stomach and the eye, has his arm nearly hacked off (by Rick), and is almost executed by Negan with Lucille.
Can't Stay Normal: Carl has an awkward time adjusting to Alexandria's peace and ends up hanging out with Enid, who likes to venture beyond the walls.
Character Death: He's bitten in the ribs by a walker and survives for at least a day before he shoots himself in the head.
Children Forced to Kill: Granted, it's Walkers, but he still has had to learn to take care of himself rather quickly. And then he guns down a teenager in the Woodbury militia who may have been surrendering.
A Child Shall Lead Them: In Season 8, while Rick is away leading the island-hopping campaign against the Saviors' outposts, Carl is put in charge of Alexandria.
Chronic Hero Syndrome:
- In Season 5, he vocally advocates helping others, even strangers, and is often the one to lead the charge now that he's trained to fight.
- This attitude winds up getting him killed in Season 8 after going out of his way to rescue a stranger just because he believed that it was the right thing to do.
Coming of Age Story: The first eight seasons of the show are this for him as he is forced to adjust to growing up in a harsh and unforgiving zombie-infested world. This just makes it all the more tragic when he dies of a walker bite midway through Season 8.
Carl: I grew up.
Cool Big Bro: He often takes care of his little sister, Judith.
Corrupt the Cutie: Shows signs of this in "Judge, Jury, Executioner", where he at one point entertains himself by throwing rocks at a walker he finds with its feet stuck in the mud at a riverbank, then seems to find a weird sense of pleasure, or at least fascination in Randall's situation. When Rick and Shane are beginning the execution, it's Carl wanting to watch and encouraging Rick to do it that convinces Rick that Dale is right, and that they're starting to lose their humanity. Justified in that he's a young boy and it's the Zombie Apocalypse; he's naturally much quicker to adapt to the far more brutal realities of this new world than older, more experienced people. By the end of Season 3, his experiences have taught him that killing all threats is the best preventive measure. However, by Season 5, he seems to have gotten better and now his first instincts are to people in need. In season 7, this is something Negan hopes to do.
Creepy Child:
- Eases into that territory starting Season 2, particularly when he urges Rick to execute Randall. Justified, again, by the fact he's growing up in a Zombie Apocalypse, meaning he's developing a mindset that's quite alien to more normal civilized people. In Season 3, he shoots his dead mother in the head to prevent her from turning and guns down a surrendering Woodbury militiaman. Both with a blank face.
- In Season 4, as seen by his interacting with other children, Rick's new pacifism, and Carl's stricter routine of farming and no guns has tempered Carl. Even after his relapse post-prison, by Season 5 he's got a more optimistic philosophy, even stating to Rick they still can help people.
- In the Season 6 finale, Negan notices that Carl is the only member of Rick's group besides Abraham not shaking or crying in terror. He pegs him as a future serial killer in the making, implying that the apocalypse has hardened Carl to the point where he doesn't react like a normal child would to gruesome violence. He finally cracks when Negan suddenly kills Glenn, and indeed breaks down and cries.
A Day in the Limelight: The mid-season premiere "After", which focuses on Carl and Michonne. Carl has to fend for himself in a suburb after the prison is overrun and Rick succumbs to his injuries from the Governor. "Sing Me a Song" is also very Carl-centric, as he interacts with Negan following a failed assassination attempt.
Death by Adaptation: He is bitten in the mid-Season 8 finale and spends the rest of the next episode slowly dying of his bite before shooting himself in the head. Comic Carl manages to survive the entire series, even outliving Rick, making his death one of the biggest departures from the source material to date.
A Death in the Limelight: In "Honor". Carl's last moments before dying extend over almost the entirety of the episode.
Decomposite Character: Some of his Sanity Slippage arc from the source material was later given to Carol (even getting one of Carl's significant moments in the comics^note). After his Death by Adaptation in Season 8, his post All-Out War Story Arcs from the comics are distributed to several characters, particularly Henry and Judith.
Demoted to Extra: Downplayed. While still a prominent character, Carl does not have as many independent Story Arcs compared to his comic counterpart who, after the prison arc, became the Deuteragonist of the story next to Rick. His death in Season 8 also solidifies the absence of any of Comic!Carl's post-All Out War storylines.
Do Unto Others Before They Do Unto Us: By the end of Season 3, this has become his opinion, though he scales it back a little in Season 5.
Driven to Suicide: Temporarily. When he thinks Rick has become a walker, he gives up and allows him to bite him. Turns out Rick was simply crippled by his injuries and was finding it difficult to talk. He follows through in Season 8, though in this instance it is Carl who has been bitten and he does it to spare Rick or Michonne the inevitable grief of having to put him down.
Dude Looks Like a Lady: His long hair makes him look a bit feminine.
Dying Alone: Rick and Michonne leave the room and wait outside for Carl's inevitable mercy suicide.
Eye Scream: He's shot in the eye by Ron in "No Way Out".
Face Death with Dignity: In the Season 7 finale, he accepts that Negan is about to kill him with Lucille, and though he's clearly sad, he takes calming breaths and closes his eyes, ready for the end if it means the others can keep fighting back. Luckily, Carl is saved when Shiva and the Kingdom come to the rescue. In the mid-Season 8 finale, when he is dying of a walker bite, he is content that he was able to save the Alexandrians from the Saviors' bombing of Alexandria. His last episode, "Honor", shows that he was able to enjoy the remainder of his last day on Earth, writing goodbye letters for his loved ones, gardening in Alexandria, hanging out with Siddiq, and playing with Judith.
First Kiss: With Enid, which begins to evolve into a full-fledged relationship until Carl tragically dies midway through Season 8.
Forced to Watch: Invoked. Like the rest of the group, he is forced to bear witness to Negan's wrath at the lineup at the end of Season 6 and beginning of Season 7. He later tells Enid that he forced himself to watch the entirety of the affair, and didn't look away when Negan brutally killed Abraham and Glenn, so he would never forget what Negan did to his family. Almost every other member of the group tries their best to not look at the horrors, but Carl forces himself to watch to the bitter end.
Green-Eyed Monster: Downplayed. When Axel flirts with Beth, Carl is glaring at him in an annoyed way.
Growing Up Sucks: Especially in a Zombie Apocalypse.
Handicapped Badass: Still pretty capable even after losing an eye.
Happily Adopted: After several seasons and finally making peace with the death of Lori, Carl tells Michonne in "The Next World" that she's become his second mother. He also admits that he loves her and would never allow her to remain a walker, which is why he led an undead Deanna back to Spencer, giving him the opportunity to Mercy Kill his mother like Carl did to Lori. In "Knots Untie", he tells Rick that he's wholly onboard with their new relationship, though he was a bit surprised to learn of it by seeing them half-dressed when emerging from their bedroom.
Heroic Suicide: He shoots himself in the head to save Rick and Michonne the trouble of having to put him down.
I Can't Do This by Myself: His attempt to prove he is capable enough to survive without his father ends with him nearly losing his life in an humiliating attempt at killing a single walker. He tearfully apologizes when he realizes he still needs Rick.
Iconic Item: His hat. He ends up passing it on to Judith before his death.
I Did What I Had to Do: His reason for killing a young teenage soldier from Woodbury.
I Just Want to Be Badass: More than anything Carl wants to be an asset to the group, to protect his family, and hates being babied.
Intergenerational Friendship: With most of the cast, particularly Michonne. The latter officially shifts by "The Next World" when Carl says that Michonne has more or less become his and Judith's second mother. Before dying, he even calls Michonne his best friend.
Kid Hero: Beginning in Season 3.
Killed Offscreen: We only see Rick and Michonne's pained reactions to hearing Carl shoot himself.
Kill the Ones You Love: Shoots Lori's corpse in the head to prevent her from reviving as a walker.
Likes Older Women: His crush on Beth.
The Load: Understandable as he's an untrained child, but particularly after he gets shot early in Season 2. Averted from Season 3 onward, as he gathers supplies by himself and is trusted as the main guardian of the group when the principal fighters are away.
Manly Tears: Notably when Glenn is being killed by Negan, it's the first time the entire night that he finally breaks down and cries. In Season 8's "How It's Gotta Be", he begins shedding a few tears when the Saviors have arrived and he admits that he is ready to die if it means saving the others.
Mercy Kill: In Season 3, after Lori appears to have died from having Maggie cutting her stomach open to deliver the baby, he volunteers to shoot her in the head so she won't come back as walker. In "The Next World", Carl tells Michonne that he'd never allow her to remain a walker because he loves her too much.
Moe Greene Special: Receives it from Ron in the Season 6 episode "No Way Out".
Morality Chain Beyond the Grave: Rick slashes Negan's throat and ends the war, but then remembers Carl's dying words and tells Siddiq to save his life. A year and a half after Carl's death, Rick continues to cite his late son as the reason behind his mercy.
Morality Pet: For Shane until he stops caring about morality. In Season 8, despite the war with the Saviors, Carl insists to his father that they do not have to utterly annihilate every Savior and they can still save people. Rick actively defies his son's wishes even after his death until the very end of the war.
Murder Is the Best Solution: By the end of Season 3, this becomes his viewpoint on anything threatening the Atlanta survivors. He gets better in Season 5.
Nerves of Steel:
- He is completely calm when Negan holds him on the ground and tells Rick to cut off his arm. This is in direct contrast to Rick, who is in a state of Inelegant Blubbering at this point.
- It is not just a one-time-only event, as he continues to display no apparent fear or apprehension of Negan whatsoever. Negan seems to find this fascinating, as everyone else walks on eggs around him.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- His taunting of a walker stuck in the mud near the Greene Family farm lead to it breaking out of its trap instead of just sitting there, leaving the walker free to wander out to the farm and kill Dale.
- This trope is why he starts showing more sociopathic tendencies in the third season, culminating in killing a member of the Woodbury militia who was surrendering because he'd seen all of his father's attempts at not killing possible threats resulting in disaster for the group.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: After his father refuses to help Siddiq (because he didn't trust him), Carl decides to help him anyway. He returns to the woods, finds Siddiq (who turns out to be a Nice Guy), and invites him to his community. On their way to Alexandria, they are attacked by a group of walkers and one of them ends up biting Carl, which leads to his death a few episodes later.
Oedipus Complex: In "After", Carl abandons an unconscious Rick, claiming he would be fine if his father died and attempts to prove he can make it on his own. He quickly comes back after tasting some Humble Pie.
Out of Focus: He only appears in three episodes in Season 7B, and is relegated to the background for most of his screen time.
Pragmatic Hero: Seems to have settled into this as of Season 4, though he manages to scale it back a bit by Season 5.
Precocious Crush: Has one on Beth in Season 3.
Protectorate: Was under the entire group's (but especially Rick and Shane's) constant protection. He would usually be kept far from danger, but not so much after learning how to defend himself.
Sanity Slippage: Starts down that road in Season 3, with his increasingly nonchalant attitude towards death and violence. In Season 4, Rick realizes this, and makes steps to revert him to sanity again.
Ship Tease: With Enid. They share a kiss before Carl goes on a mission to take out Negan, and are even shown holding hands a few episodes later.
Sound-Only Death: As noted above, we don't actually witness his death onscreen. Rather, we hear the sound of a gunshot as he commits suicide inside the Alexandria church.
Tag Along Kid: Initially served as a child to be protected, but later Took a Level in Badass.
Took a Level in Badass: In the Season 3 premiere, he's carrying a gun and joins Rick, Daryl, and T-Dog in raiding a walker-infested house. He is also given the job of point man when the rest of the group is looking over a map, and hunts for the prison infirmary alone, taking out two walkers with no backup. Tyreese recognizes him as 'the man' after Carl saves the former's group then locks them up.
Took a Level in Cynic: Progressively since Season 3, though he regains his optimism in Season 5.
Took a Level in Idealism: In Season 8, he realizes that Rick must make peace with Negan if there is ever to be a future after the war. After Carl's death, Rick is inspired by his late son's words and honors his wishes by sparing Negan.
Took a Level in Jerkass: He begins growing into the role of a teenager who's annoyed with his mom a few years too early. Shifts in later seasons as he matures and becomes a responsible survivor, rarely sassing back at his father or Parental Substitute Michonne.
Took a Level in Kindness: He regains much of his humanity and idealism in Season 5, becoming a Nice Guy to anyone who isn't an enemy.
Weapon-Based Characterization: Creepy Child Carl uses a handgun with a suppressor, representing how his father struggles to keep his humanity in check by taming the budding sociopath within. This is dropped in Season 4, when Rick manages to bring Carl back before he's too far gone.
Youthful Freckles: Chandler Riggs' own.
Zombie Infectee: He is bitten by a walker and survives for an extended amount of time before succumbing.

Later Additions

Judith

Judith Grimes

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1af31f1a_a5e2_4eb4_8190_36f0aaf8b6c2.jpeg

"Loving someone means doing whatever it takes to keep them safe."

^{Click here to see Judith as a baby.}

Portrayed By: Adelaide & Eliza Cornwell and Loudyn & Leighton Case (Season 3), Tinsley & Anniston Price and Eleora & Elisea DiFranco and Sophia & Delia Oeland (Season 4), Charlotte & Clara Ward (Season 5), Chloe & Sophia Garcia-Frizzi (Season 6), Kinsley Isla Dillon (Season 8) Chloe Garcia-Frizzi ("A New Beginning"-"The Obliged", "Scars"), Cailey Fleming ("What Comes After"-onward)

Voiced By: Sandra Villa (Spanish dub), Suzuka Kimura (Japanese dub), Noa Sarah Hadad (German dub), Sara Tesei (Italian dub), Claire Baradat (French dub), Viola Anna Szűcs (Hungarian dub)

Appearances: The Walking Dead (Seasons 3-11) | The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (Season 1) ^note | The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live

Debut: "Killer Within"

"I never got to know my mom, Lori. My brother, Carl, dreamed of a day when we'd all live together in peace. My mom, Michonne, tried to hang up her sword. My dad, Rick, was searching for mercy. And me? Well, I guess I'm a Grimes, too."

Judith is Lori's youngest child, fathered by Shane. Her conception proved to be the cause of much stress and strife for the group, since Lori required as much food and protection possible in order to have her. Unfortunately, Lori’s malnutrition resulted in a fatal childbirth in order for Judith to be born. Carl named her after his old elementary school teacher.

Judith was believed to be lost in the prison war, but was rescued by the party of Tyreese, Lizzie, and Mika. The baby had to endure several horrific circumstances and alarmingly close calls with death, be it from Lizzie’s psychotic tendencies, walkers, or the cannibals of Terminus. Safe haven was eventually found at Alexandria, where Judith could live a relatively safe life in its comfortable conditions. When her older brother Carl was dying of a walker bite, he passed on their father’s sheriff hat to his baby sister.

Roughly seven years later, Judith has survived to become a young, but competent survivor in her own right, who now carries the Grimes family hat and the legacy of Rick Grimes (who is believed to be dead) with it.

The Ace: Judith grows into this despite being only a preteen, not undergoing Sanity Slippage or being The Load like any of the other child characters on the show. She's inherited the best aspects of her family, being proficient with a sword like Michonne, an excellent shot like Rick, and dedicated to helping people in need like Carl. She's also smart, brave, intuitive, kind-hearted, and gets along with pretty much everyone, including Negan.
Adaptational Badass: Due to being Spared by the Adaptation (see below), this version of Judith eventually grows up to be a Little Miss Badass capable of taking down walkers and saving people's asses.
Age Lift: Due to being Spared by the Adaptation (see below), this version of Judith eventually grows up to be a Little Miss Badass Kid Hero.
All-Loving Hero: She believes Negan is capable of being redeemed and expresses sympathy for Sebastian of all people when he gets this throat torn out by a walker. In "Rest in Peace", despite Pamela shooting her in the previous episode, Judith tries to talk her out of letting herself be bit by Lance, claiming, "it's never too late."
Ascended Extra: Judith is a very minor character the comics, whereas this version becomes an integral part of the cast and is eventually made into a main character.
Babies Make Everything Better: People tend to calm down and have relatively nice, calm scenes around her, even the biggest and toughest guys like Abraham. Even Negan seems taken with her, dotes on her, and never makes any threats or even hints of threats towards her. With Negan, it's probably a massive case of Even Evil Has Standards with a tiny dose of having one more way to keep Rick under his thumb.
The Baby of the Bunch: Due to Judith being just a toddler, everyone in Rick's group of protective of her.
Big Sister Instinct: Judith is incredibly protective of RJ. She straight-up shoots Beta when he breaks into their house in search of Gamma and only doesn't stick around to make sure he's dead because she knows it's her responsibility to get her little brother to safety.
Break the Cutie: Judith manages to grow to the age of 10 remarkably well-adjusted and in good mental health thanks to Michonne’s raising her, unlike unfortunate past child characters like Carl, Lizzie, or the Anderson children and is comfortable killing walkers. However, Season 10 sees her come into more direct conflict with the Whisperers, and she slowly becomes more and more shaken by the horrors she witnesses or partakes in.
The Bus Came Back: Makes a cameo at the end of The Ones Who Live, reuniting at long last with Michonne and Rick.
Children Forced to Kill: Subverted when she shoots Beta. It's to protect RJ and Mary and he doesn't actually die. Played straight two episodes later when she accidentally kills a Whisperer while fighting off walkers during the Battle of Hilltop, and is significantly disturbed by it.
Composite Character: She ends up filling Comic Carl's role as the resident Kid Hero of the group. In the penultimate episode, she is shot eerily similar to her father's comic counterpart, and by a Milton, no less. Thankfully, Judith survives her gunshot unlike Comic Rick.
Dead Guy Junior: Discussed. Carl proposed the names of all the dead and believed to be dead female members before coming up with Judith, the name of his third-grade teacher.
Determinator: In the finale, despite being shot in the shoulder, she uses all her strength to barricade the doors of the hospital to protect an unconscious Daryl from the walker horde.
Disappeared Dad: Her biological father, Shane, was killed by her adopted father, Rick, approximately eight months before her birth. Rick himself is later presumed dead after the events of "What Comes After".
Even Evil Can Be Loved: She argues this about Negan, saying that he's changed after spending seven years locked in a cell. She also tells Gamma that she doesn't look like a bad person to her, which prompts Gamma's full Heel–Face Turn later in the episode.
Expy: Judith has a lot in common with Clementine from the Walking Dead video game.
- Both are young girls who became combat-proficient at an early age and are wise beyond their years.
- Both lost their parents.
- Both wear their father's hat as a way to honor their memory.
- Both keep in touch with their loved ones via walkie-talkie.
- Both kill their first human in an act of self-defense (Judith kills a Whisperer, Clementine has an option to kill the Stranger).
- Both have to put someone they care for out of their misery when they become a walker (Judith kills Earl Sutton, Clementine kills Lee if she waits for him to turn).
- Both act as a surrogate big sister to a young boy named after his father (RJ is named after Rick and AJ is named after Alvin). RJ even bears a strong resemblance to AJ in both looks and personality.
- Both form a friendship with a man who used to be a prisoner and later redeem themselves (Judith with Negan and Clementine with Lee).
- Both are gravely wounded near the conclusion of their respective stories (Clem from a walker bite, Judith from a gunshot).
Happily Adopted: Even if Shane is her biological father and her biological mother is dead, Rick and Michonne love Judith as their own daughter and raised her as such.
Judith: You're my mom. You chose to be, because you love me and I love you.
Heroic Bastard: She is the illegitimate daughter of Lori and Shane, having been conceived at a time when both believed Rick was dead. Nevertheless, despite both her blood parents dying, she is raised right by Rick and Michonne and becomes one of the series' main heroes starting in Season 9.
Heroic BSoD: Twice in "Walk With Us": During the battle of Hilltop, she mistakenly kills a Whisperer, believing him to have been a walker. As this is her first human kill, she is genuinely shook and has to be helped out of the burning community by Earl. Later in the episode, she discovers Earl has been bitten and is forced to put him down once he reanimates; presumably, this is the first friend she's had to do this to, as all her other walker kills had been nameless people. When Daryl finds Judith she's sitting quietly alone, clearly affected by the experience.
Hypocritical Humor: In "Adaptation", Negan mentions the word "shit" in front of her, which leads to this:
Judith: Language! I'm a kid, asshole.
Improbable Infant Survival: Time will tell if this lasts, but so far she has survived being in some very dangerous situations, including the third prison attack, some close calls with walkers, being left alone with Lizzie on several occasions, having a man from Terminus come very close to making good on his threat of snapping her neck, and the walker invasion of Alexandria. The fact that she's outlived her comic book counterpart is likely an example of this trope.
In Name Only: Rick believes that she is Shane's child, so she isn't biologically a Grimes.
In-Series Nickname: Daryl calls her "Lil' Ass-Kicker" from time-to-time, and it's the name on her first, cardboard box crib.
Intergenerational Friendship: With most of the cast once she gets older, but special mention goes to her interactions with Negan. Despite being fully aware of his past villainy, they get along fairly well and Negan even helps her with her math homework.
Kid Hero: She becomes a bonafide Little Miss Badass after the second Time Skip in Season 9.
Little Miss Badass: She is shown being a proficient fighter even as a pre-teen.
Little Miss Snarker: She can hold her own against Negan.
Negan: Well, hell no. I wised my ass up.
Judith: Yeah, and look how great everything turned out for you.
Morality Pet:
- For Rick's group. In fact, harming her in front of them is like wearing a giant "Kill me" sign around your neck regardless if you're already undead.
- Post-Season 9 Time Skip, she becomes one for Michonne. Not only does Judith convince her mother to give Magna's group a chance, she also forces Michonne to realize just how cold and detached she's become since her friend Jocelyn's betrayal, which convinces her to allow Alexandria to take part in the Kingdom fair.
- This also applies to Negan, much like Carl did when he was still alive. Negan genuinely thinks the world of Judith and would never do a thing to hurt her. When Judith runs off during a snowstorm to save Dog, Negan immediately runs after her and carries her to safety.
The Musketeer: During her introduction as a Kid Hero, she is shown using Rick's revolver in combat but also carries what appears to be a shortened katana-sword on her back.
Never Found the Body: Rick and Carl believe her to be dead after they only find blood in her carrier during the chaos toward the end of "Too Far Gone". In "Inmates", she is shown to have survived thanks to Tyreese saving her. In Season 5's "No Sanctuary", father and daughter are finally reunited after Carol saves the group from Terminus and leads them back to the cabin where Tyreese is staying with Judith.
Nice Girl: While she can be stubborn due to her age, Judith is otherwise a sweet, compassionate, and noble young girl who, like her late older brother Carl, genuinely wants to do everything she can to protect her friends and family.
Parental Abandonment: By the time she reaches her pre-teens, her biological parents and elder half-brother are all dead, while her legal adoptive father is presumed dead and is taken somewhere. As of "What We Become", Michonne has left as well on an indefinite quest to find Rick, leaving her and RJ in the care of their Uncle Daryl and the residents of Alexandria. The series finale sees Daryl leave once the Coalition is rebuilt and safe, and this time, Judith accepts it, knowing Daryl would never abandon her.
Passing the Torch: In "Family", she hands down Rick's sheriff's hat to RJ.
Pink Means Feminine: Her infant attires.
Pintsized Powerhouse: Thanks to Michonne's training, she has no problem taking down multitudes of walkers in a combat scenario.
Plot-Relevant Age-Up: Goes from three years old to nine following the six-year time jump at the end of "What Comes After". Likely one of the major reasons for the Time Skip was to age Judith into a capable Kid Hero who can now take an active part in the storylines.
Promotion to Opening Titles: Gets added to the main credits in the last third of Season 11.
Protectorate: The entire Coalition cares for Judith as if she were their own daughter. In "Family", when Judith has been gravely wounded by Pamela, everyone springs into action clearing a walker herd so Daryl has a path to carry Judith to the hospital.
Secret-Keeper: She doesn't tell her family about Michonne leaving to find Rick, who might be alive. It's not until the series finale that she finally tells Daryl and Carol.
Shorttank: Appears to have a clothing style similar to Carl's by the time she grows up as a Kid Hero.
Small Girl, Big Gun: She barely nine and carries her father's 6" Colt Python after his disappearance.
Spared by the Adaptation: She died along with Lori in the comics, which if the show had followed the source material's timeline, would have been either Season 3 or 4.
Tagalong Kid: The youngest example in the series.
Taking the Bullet: In "Family", she is shot by Pamela after pushing Maggie out of the way.
Timeshifted Actor: Judith is played by several sets of twins from Season 3 until early Season 9. Cailey Fleming plays her as of the ending of "What Comes After", in which Judith has now been aged up to nine years old.
Took a Level in Badass: Becomes a Kid Hero much like her elder half-brother after the second Time Skip in Season 9.
Tragic Keepsake: Carl gives her his sheriff's hat (formerly Rick's) before he dies.
Trauma Conga Line: She has it rough in the second half of Season 10. Siddiq dies, Beta nearly attacks her and RJ, she takes her first human life without realizing it during the Battle of Hilltop, she has to put down Earl when he reanimates after being bitten, Michonne leaves her and RJ to find Rick, and she witnesses Daryl killing a dying Whisperer and leaving their body to rot in a ditch. In Season 11, she is shot while pushing Maggie out of the path of a bullet fired by Pamela.
Walking Spoiler: That she is now a pre-teen spoils the fact that six years have passed since Rick's disappearance from Virginia.
Who's Your Daddy?: It was Shane in the comicbook. Rick doesn't seem to care either way in the show and fully considers Judith to be his daughter, regardless of her genetics. In Season 7, Rick admits to Michonne that he firmly believes that Shane was her biological father, but loves her as his own regardless. In Season 9, Rick has a hallucination of Shane in which both he and Rick confirm that Judith has many of Shane's features.
Wise Beyond Her Years: Judith is a very smart and articulate ten-year-old who often dispenses advice or words of encouragement to other characters such as Michonne, Negan, and Daryl.

R.J.

Rick "R.J." Grimes Jr.

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/twdtv_rickjunior.jpg

"Mommy, I'm tired."

Portrayed By: Antony Azor

Appearances: The Walking Dead (Seasons 9-11) | The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live

Debut: "Who Are You Now?"

The son of Rick and Michonne. Conceived before Rick’s disappearance and apparent death, Michonne is left to raise their child alone. After Michonne leaves Virginia to search for Rick, he and Judith are left in the care of his "uncle" Daryl.

Break the Cutie: The horrors of the Whisperer War and it’s fallout which almost led to the fall of Alexandria in Season 11, as well as the departure of his mother, take a toll on the kid. In Part 2 of Season 11, he quickly tells Daryl that he doesn’t want to go back to Alexandria even after it’s repaired and back on its feet.
The Bus Came Back: Makes a cameo in the last episode of The Ones Who Live, reuniting with his mother Michonne and at long last getting to meet his disappeared father Rick.
Canon Foreigner: As Rick and Michonne are not a couple in the comics. Additionally, Rick's Love Interest in the comics, Andrea, never has any biological children.
Cheerful Child: RJ can usually be found in a happy mood.
Dead Guy Junior: He is named after his father Rick, who is presumed dead.
Disappeared Dad: Much like Judith, although unlike Judith, he never got to meet his father (or in Judith's case, adoptive father).
Out of Focus: He has no impact on the plot and mainly exists to show that Rick's legacy lives on (since Judith is not biologically a Grimes).
The Quiet One: It could be because he's still young, but compared to his big sister Judith, RJ is a child of very few words.
Sleepyhead: He sleeps through most of the 3-day walker siege in "Ghosts".
Walking Spoiler: The fact that he is a Dead Guy Junior spoils the fact that Rick is believed dead after early Season 9.

Michonne

See her character page here.

Characters / The Walking Dead (2010): Grimes Family

The Grimes Family

Original Family