History Characters / FearTheWalkingDeadThePioneers

[[WMG:[[center: [- ''Series/FearTheWalkingDead'' '''[[Characters/FearTheWalkingDead Main Character Index]]'''\\
[[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadClarkManawaFamily The Clark-Manawa Family]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadLosAngeles Los Angeles]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadPacificCoast Pacific Coast]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadMexico Mexico]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadBrokeJawRanch Broke Jaw Ranch & Black Hat Reservation]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadTexas Texas]] | '''The Pioneers''' | ''[[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadFlight462 Flight 462]]'']]]]-]

!!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 six seasons read at your own risk!

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Virginia]]
!!Virginia
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fearthewalkingdeadvirginia.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"In a hundred years, people may look back and think our methods are ruthless and unkind, but there will be people to look back."'']]
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/ColbyMinifie
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/FearTheWalkingDead'' (Seasons 5-6)

->''"We're all after the same thing. Not just in Lawton, but in all the settlements of our great franchise. Towns where people can feel safe and secure without fear of the dangers that lurk beyond. A place we can call home."''

The leader of the Pioneers.
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* ActuallyPrettyFunny: She laughs when she discovers her bounty hunter's reanimated head left in the box intended for Morgan's head, by Morgan himself.
* AintTooProudToBeg: Her ''actual'' death is this, as she starts panicking and trying to convince June not to execute her.
* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Shockingly is this, despite her status as the BigBad of Seasons 5 and 6. There are three villains in 6, herself, Teddy, and her daughter Dakota. Virginia herself was a WellIntentionedExtremist who believed that the ends justified the means of creating a new civilization. Teddy was an apocalyptic cult leader who wanted to destroy much of what used to be the US with nuclear weapons. Dakota was a selfish unstable sociopath who would kill to keep a secret, and ended up siding with Teddy.
* AllForNothing: Her efforts to try and recreate a semblance of civilization are completely negated, as is her goal to create a world where her daughter could be safe. Teddy's doomsday cult unleashes a nuke that destroys the entire region where her settlements were and then some, and her own sociopathic daughter allows herself to be incinerated in the blast.
* AnArmAndALeg: In "Bury Her Next to Jasper's Leg", her right arm is bitten by a walker. June cuts off her hand to stop the infection.
* BigBad: The driving force behind most of the conflict in the back half of Season 5 and in Season 6. She's frequently mentioned even in episodes where she does not appear and her influence is always felt.
* BoomHeadshot: This is how she finally meets her end, courtesy of the recently widowed June Dorie.
* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: In "Things Left to Do", Morgan is forced to protect her from Strand and the Outcasts until he can successfully negotiate to get Grace and Daniel back.
* DeadpanSnarker: She's always quick with a bitingly sarcastic putdown.
* ADeathInTheLimelight: Gets plenty of screen time in "Things Left to Do", her last episode before she's killed off at the end.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: She's the BigBad of the first half of Season 6, but ends up killed off in the ninth episode of the season, with Teddy's doomsday cult as the true FinalBoss.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: She genuinely cares for her sister, Dakota (actually her daughter). It's what convinces June to spare her life when she's been bitten by a walker.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: As cruel as her methods are, she's genuinely terrified of the people of Teddy's doomsday cult.
* EvilCounterpart: For Morgan. Both have a desire to build up a place where people can be safe, but clash over their differing ideologies.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: When she's at June's mercy she admits that she knows June won't keep her alive and asks June to take care of Dakota after she's gone. Fortunately for Virginia, there's something ''June'' wants as well...
* FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo: Virginia is actually Dakota's ''mother''. She had Dakota when she was very young, and this fact was hidden even from Dakota herself by feigning a sister relationship between them.
* FieryRedhead: A temperamental woman with red hair.
* {{Foil}}:
** She is this to Negan from the parent series. Both are [[VisionaryVillain Visionary Villains]] with a bullying, [[PsychopathicManchild somewhat childish disposition]] who genuinely believe they are doing the right thing by restarting civilization under their harsh and demented rule. Like Negan, her life ends up being spared by a merciful leader despite numerous people rightfully wanting her dead. Virginia's final fate at the hands of an angry widow is a shadow of what would have happened to Negan if Maggie had gotten around to killing him.
** She's also one for Alpha, also from the parent series. They're both abusive mothers to an AntagonisticOffspring who they nevertheless claim as their MoralityPet. The major difference is that Virginia swore to protect her daughter to the end, while Alpha tried to kill Lydia when she wouldn't submit to her mother's way of life. Virginia was even willing to let Dakota live ''in the home of her sworn enemy'' if it meant she could be safe. Both Virginia and Alpha end up as the DiscOneFinalBoss to their respective storylines.
** Lastly, she is one for Pamela Milton from the comic series. Both are [[AffablyEvil Affably Evil]] leaders of large alliances who put up a friendly image, but run their communities as microcosms of the corrupt and stratified circles they came from. They both have a complicated relationship with the protagonist (Rick in the comics, Morgan in the show), and frequently jump between friend and foe. Virginia's daughter Dakota is also arguably a foil to Pamela's son Sebastian, as they are both neglected yet spoiled, turning them into sociopaths.
* HairTriggerTemper: It doesn't take much to rile her up.
* HeroicSacrifice: Unusually for an antagonist, but she agrees to let Morgan execute her in front of everyone in exchange for letting Dakota stay in his community.
* {{Jerkass}}: She's not a pleasant person.
* KarmicDeath: She gets shot by June, the woman Dakota made a widow due to Virginia's neglect of her daughter's mental health. Also, the gun June uses to kill her originally belonged to John.
* MamaBear: She's extremely protective of her daughter, Dakota, who doesn't return the sentiment. Like, ''at all''.
* PetTheDog:
** She seems genuine when she agrees to let Alicia and Charlie go off on their own in exchange for them delivering Dakota back to her.
** She sincerely thanks June for patching up her bullet wound in "Things Left to Do".
* PlayingGertrude: Dakota is revealed to be Virginia's daughter, not her sister. Actress Colby Minifie is only nine years older than Dakota's actress Zoe Colletti. At least in this case, it's a stated case of in-universe TeenPregnancy, so the disparity isn't as jarring.
* PsychopathicWomanchild: She has a rather childish demeanor and is prone to temper tantrums whenever things don't go her way.
* TeenPregnancy: Colby Minifie is only in her late 20s while Dakota is implied to be in her mid-teens, suggesting this.
* ThemeNaming: With Dakota. They're both named after US states.
* TheUnfettered: She'll do ''anything'' if it means keeping Dakota safe.
* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: A firm believer in this. See WellIntentionedExtremist.
* VillainousBreakdown:
** When she's been bitten. She angrily destroys her walkie talkie and screams at June to hack her arm off. When June refuses, Virginia attacks her and it leads to a brief scuffle that June wins.
** The entirety of "Things Left to Do" is one for her as she realizes just how many people she's pissed off, including her own daughter, who repeatedly arranged to have her killed.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: She ''claims'' to be this, repeatedly saying that she wants to restart civilization by any means, even if those means are less than moral.
* WouldHurtAChild: She is seconds away from ordering the pregnant Grace's execution before the timely arrival of Morgan.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dakota]]
!!Dakota
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fearthewalkingdeaddakota.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"Now's the time to do something."'']]
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Zoe Colletti
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/FearTheWalkingDead'' (Season 6)

Virginia's younger sister.
----
* AffectionateNickname: Teddy calls her "Sioux", a reference to Sioux Falls, his favorite city in South Dakota.
* AlasPoorVillain:
** While she killed John and was completely unrepentant for her crimes, it's easy to pity her knowing she'd just been betrayed by the person she thought she could trust and in the end died realizing there wasn't a place for her in the world anymore.
** Notably, John Sr. seems to have pity for Dakota despite her killing his son. He even laments she was another girl he couldn't save from Teddy's influence, and puts her undead corpse out of its misery.
* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: John Sr. emerges from Teddy's bunker a few months after the nuke hits and finds Dakota's charred, undead corpse still lying in the spot where she had been vaporized by the explosion.
* AntagonisticOffspring: She saved Morgan's life hoping he would come back looking for vengeance against Virginia. Interestingly, Dakota doesn't actually know that Virginia's her mother, not her sister.
* AssholeVictim: While a bit of a TragicVillain, she was also a ruthless, cold-hearted sociopath who murdered John, so she still deserved her comeuppance.
* AxCrazy: A less sadistic example than most, but she still resorts to committing murder whenever she's backed into a corner.
* BaitTheDog: She's shown helping out the main group at the start of Season 6, assisting them in taking down her sister Virginia. She then proceeds to kill Ranger Cameron offscreen for telling a secret, kills John when he learns it, betrays the group to Teddy's apocalypse cult and helps cause a nuclear strike on the area.
* BirdsOfAFeather: Bonds with Teddy over feeling like they never quite fit into society as well as their similarly strained relationships with their mothers.
* CharacterDeath: She is killed instantly when the nukes impact in the Season 6 finale, her body turning into a charred skeleton in an instant.
* CreepyChild: She quickly befriends Ed (a taxidermist who stuffs walkers for a hobby) and Teddy (a SerialKiller bent on wiping out all of humanity). She also coldly murders John and would have killed Strand if Morgan hadn't intervened.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: AssholeVictim she may have been, but being shredded down to the bone by a nuclear explosion is not a pretty way to go.
* DrivenToSuicide: After finding out Teddy used her, she doesn't bother to take shelter from the nuke and simply allows herself to be disintegrated.
* DyingAsYourself: She seems to find some sort of peace in her final moments, accepting that she will never change her ways, and embracing her death as one of the nukes lands nearby.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: She honestly doesn't seem to understand why the others are mad at her for killing John.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: After killing Teddy, she simply closes her eyes and waits for the nuke to hit.
* {{Foil}}:
** To Lydia from the parent series. Like Lydia, she resents being the daughter of a cruel and manipulative leader who is also an AbusiveParent. Unlike Lydia, Dakota makes an active effort to dispose of her mother, and has no apparent moral compunctions about arranging to have someone kill her. She and Lydia are both sent to live in the very communities their mothers had waged war against, and both are treated unkindly for it; in Dakota's case, the hate is very much deserved given that she murdered one of their closest friends, while Lydia did no such thing and was almost completely harmless. Also, while Lydia remains steadfast in her attempts to earn acceptance, Dakota ends up relapsing by joining Teddy's cult.
** To Charlie within the same series. Dakota murdered John, and Charlie murdered Nick, two of the main group's closest friends. Said victims were attempting to help them come around to a better life from a group of villains. While Charlie was rightfully hated, especially by Alicia, she showed that she was genuinely remorseful and acted out of impulse that she could never take back, and has taken numerous steps to atone for it. Dakota killed John in cold blood because she wanted to keep a secret, and despite being given numerous chances, never takes the opportunity to HeelFaceTurn, and remains unrepentant to her death.
** Lastly, she is one to Sebastian Milton from the comic series. Both are children of the leader of large stratified chains of communities. They are neglected but at the same time spoiled, as their mothers cover for anything they do, including murder. This behaviour ends up being their mothers' downfall, as they kill the begging Rick and John (who themselves are foils to each other). Rick's murder causes an outry that completely destroys Pamela's reputation and drives her out of politics, while Virginia meets her fate at the barrel of John's widowed wife.
* HateSink: She murders fan-favorite John Dorie, and despite teasing that she may HeelFaceTurn, she ultimately backstabs the group again and helps Teddy with his apocalypse plan, drawing nothing but well-earned hatred from viewers.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Goes from killing John to being taken in by Morgan's people to attempting to infiltrate Teddy's cult to save Alicia, to legitimately joining the cult, to killing Teddy when she realizes he used her.
* HereditaryHairstyle: She is a redhead like Virginia and has the same haircut that she has.
* HeroKiller: She murders John to keep him from telling Morgan that she killed Ranger Cameron. It ends up being for naught as Morgan quickly realizes the truth anyway.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: How she rationalizes killing Ranger Cameron, since telling Virginia about how she has been sneaking out of Lawton ended up getting her into serious trouble with her "sister".
* MoralityPet: Virginia's love for Dakota is one of Virginia's redeeming traits.
* NeverMyFault: Doesn't see anything wrong with having killed Ranger Cameron; after all, she's only doing what other people have done to get their way in the new world.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Saving Morgan's life ended up working out far worse for her in the long run than it would have if she had simply stayed miserable living in Lawton.
* RedemptionRejection: She ''tries'', but is too self-centered to truly change, and sides with Teddy's cult in the last episodes of Season 6.
* TheSociopath: Strand outright calls her this at one point, and she actually does fit a lot of the criteria. She's ruthless, lacks empathy, can shift her emotional state at the drop of a hat, murders people to cover her tracks, and ultimately can't pull off a HeelFaceTurn on account of her own selfishness.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Alicia would have killed Teddy if Dakota hadn’t chosen that moment to pull a FaceHeelTurn and point a gun at her.
* ThemeNaming: With her sister Virginia. They're both named after US states.
* VillainousFriendship: She begins to form one with Teddy, feeling he's the only person who understands her. That goes out the window when she finds out he was a fraud and was only using her, and she kills him for it.
* WalkingSpoiler: Dakota plays such a huge role in the events of the season that most of the tropes relating to her have been whited out. Namely, that she's Virginia's daughter, kills John Dorie, and is the one who saved Morgan's life at the Gulch.
[[/folder]]

!!Rangers

[[folder:In General]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: It's unknown what became of most of the Rangers and the people from Virginia's settlements in general after Texas became decimated by Teddy's nukes.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hill]]
!!Hill
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Craig Nigh
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/FearTheWalkingDead'' (Season 6)

The second-in-command of the Pioneers.
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* BoomHeadshot: How June kills him, the same as his boss.
* TheDragon: He is Virginia's loyal right-hand man.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Goes on the lam after Virginia's defeat, and ultimately takes up residence in John's father's cabin.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Marcus]]
!!Marcus
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Justin Smith
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/FearTheWalkingDead'' (Season 6)
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[[/folder]]

[[folder:Terrence]]
!!Terrence
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Richard Jackson
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/FearTheWalkingDead'' (Season 5)

An aged member of the Rangers.
----
* EvilOldFolks: Despite his age, he's a thug.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Samuels]]
!!Samuels
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Bobbie Grace
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/FearTheWalkingDead'' (Season 6)

A Ranger.
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[[/folder]]

[[folder:Cameron]]
!!Cameron
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Noah Khyle
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/FearTheWalkingDead'' (Season 6)

A Ranger established in Lawton.
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* SmallRoleBigImpact: His death kickstarts the chain reaction of events that leads to Virginia's downfall.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jeb]]
!!Jeb
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Lee Stringer
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/FearTheWalkingDead'' (Season 6)

One of the Rangers overseeing the Tumbleweed Sugar Producing Factory
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* BadBoss: He doesn't give a damn about the workers forced to clear the factory of walkers.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:James]]
!!James
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Carl Thomas
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/FearTheWalkingDead'' (Season 6)

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[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ben]]
!!Ben
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Samuel French
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/FearTheWalkingDead'' (Season 6)

----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Adrienne]]
!!Adrienne
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Charissa Allen
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/FearTheWalkingDead'' (Season 6)

----
[[/folder]]

!!Mid-level


[[folder:Dr. Holt]]
!!Dr. Holt
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Michael J. Baumann
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/FearTheWalkingDead'' (Season 6)

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[[/folder]]


!!Laborers
[[folder:Malcolm]]
!!Malcolm
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Dalex Miller
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/FearTheWalkingDead'' (Season 6)

----
[[/folder]]


[[folder:Mary Anne]]
!!Mary Anne
!!!'''Portrayed By:'''
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/FearTheWalkingDead'' (Season 6)

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[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ridings]]
!!Ridings
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' [=PeiPei=] Alena Yuan
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/FearTheWalkingDead'' (Season 6)

----
[[/folder]]

!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Colby Minifie

[[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadClarkManawaFamily The Clark-Manawa Family]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadSalazarFamily The Salazar Family]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadLosAngeles Los Angeles]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadPacificCoast Pacific Coast]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadMexico Mexico]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadBrokeJawRanch Broke Jaw Ranch & Black Hat Reservation]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadTexas Texas]] | '''The Pioneers''' | ''[[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadFlight462 Flight 462]]'']]]]-]

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Needless to say, saving Morgan's life ended up working out far worse for her in the long run than it would have if she had simply stayed miserable living in Lawton.

* TheSociopath: Strand outright calls her this at one point, and she actually does fit a lot of the criteria. She's ruthless, lacks empathy, murders people to cover her tracks, and ultimately can't pull off a HeelFaceTurn on account of her own selfishness.

!!!'''Seasons:''' 5-6

!!!'''Seasons:''' 6

!!!'''Seasons:''' 6

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: fter Virginia's defeat, he goes on the run and ultimately hides out in John's cabin.

!!!'''Seasons:''' 6

!!!'''Seasons:''' 5

!!!'''Seasons:''' 6

!!!'''Seasons:''' 6

!!!'''Seasons:''' 6

!!!'''Seasons:''' 6

!!!'''Seasons:''' 6

!!!'''Seasons:''' 6

!!!'''Seasons:''' 6

!!!'''Seasons:''' 6

!!!'''Seasons:''' 6

!!!'''Seasons:''' 6

[[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadClarkManawaFamily The Clark-Manawa Family]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadSalazarFamily The Salazar Family]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadLosAngeles Los Angeles]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadPacificCoast Pacific Coast]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadMexico Mexico]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadBrokeJawRanch Broke Jaw Ranch & Black Hat Reservation]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadTexas Texas]] | '''The Pioneers''' | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadDoomsdayCult The Doomsday Cult]] | ''[[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadFlight462 Flight 462]]'']]]]-]

[[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadClarkManawaFamily The Clark-Manawa Family]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadSalazarFamily The Salazar Family]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadLosAngeles Los Angeles]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadPacificCoast Pacific Coast]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadMexico Mexico]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadBrokeJawRanch Broke Jaw Ranch & Black Hat Reservation]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadGonzalezDam Gonzalez Dam]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadElBazar El Bazar]] | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadTexas Texas]] | '''The Pioneers''' | [[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadDoomsdayCult The Doomsday Cult]] | ''[[Characters/FearTheWalkingDeadFlight462 Flight 462]]'']]]]-]

* AffectionateNickname: Teddy calls her "Sioux", a reference to his favorite city in South Dakota.