History Characters / TheWalkingDead2010DarylDixon

** Taken up to eleven in his spinoff series, where he winds up in ''France'', of all places. His first battle in the that series nearly ends poorly when [[spoiler:a walker variant burns Daryl's arm just by grabbing it]].

* ArcherArchetype: We rarely see him use a weapon other than his crossbow. Until it is stolen in "Always Accountable." Then we see him with knives and guns. He finally gets a new crossbow mid-Season 7 and has continued to use it as his primary weapon since.

* GutturalGrowler: Daryl's voice is very gravely and raspy, especially when he gets angry.

* ExcellentJudgeOfCharacter: It's stated by Aaron to be one of Daryl's most invaluable qualities. Michonne leaves it up to him to decide Lydia's fate on the grounds that Daryl is, in her words, "the best damn judge of character I know". The sole exception is Dwight, who Daryl continues to insist until the end of the war is actually setting them up. However, it's implied this is more out of bitterness for Dwight's previous betrayals, and Daryl ultimately does let him live when Dwight directly apologizes to him.

* CelibateHero: Due to his abusive past, he has trouble with letting people get close or touching him. When Carol starts joking about the two of them having sex he gets real quiet and asks her to stop. He becomes more comfortable with physical contact as time goes on, though it's not until late Season 10 that the audience actually gets to see him in a real relationship. Even then, aside from a brief SexyDiscretionShot that implies he and Leah slept together, the two are never actually shown being physically affectionate on-screen.

* ExcellentJudgeOfCharacter: It's stated by Aaron to be one of Daryl's most invaluable qualities. Michonne leaves it up to him to decide Lydia's fate on the grounds that Daryl is, in her words, "the best damn judge of character I know".

** With Isabelle in his spin-off series. Much like with Connie above, Sylvie teases Isabelle about the idea of something happening between them, but Isabelle assures her they're just friends.

* TranslatorBuddy: By "Outpost 22", he's become fluent enough in ASL that he takes over as Connie's translator in Kelly's absence.

* CelibateHero: Due to his abusive past, he has trouble with letting people get close or touching him. When Carol starts joking about the two of them having sex he gets real quiet and asks her to stop. He becomes more comfortable with physical contact as time goes on, though it's not until late Season 10 that the audience actually gets to see him in a real relationship.

* BreakoutCharacter: Daryl is one of the most popular characters. He was promoted to the main cast in Season 2 and given an entire episode to show his badass credentials. In Season 3, he's become the second-in-command to Rick and runs the group when he's not available. By Season 4, he's probably the show's {{Deuteragonist}} and in Season 5, it's safe to say that he's one of few characters on this show with PlotArmor. He ended up taking over from Rick as the new lead of the show starting in Season 9, and following its conclusion, began headling his own spin-off, aptly titled ''Daryl Dixon''. Not bad for a guy who didn't even appear in the source material.

* BreakoutCharacter: Daryl is one of the most popular characters. He was promoted to the main cast in Season 2 and given an entire episode to show his badass credentials. In Season 3, he's become the second-in-command to Rick and runs the group when he's not available. By Season 4, he's probably the show's {{Deuteragonist}} and in Season 5, it's safe to say that he's one of few characters on this show with PlotArmor. He ended up taking over from Rick as the new lead of the show starting in Season 9, and following its conclusion, is set to headline his own spin-off which will begin airing in 2023. Not bad for a guy who didn't even appear in the source material.

** With Connie in Seasons 9-11. They quickly form a bond while working together to rescue Henry and Lydia from the Whisperers, and Daryl later begins learning ASL in order to better communicate with her. They also hold hands when Kelly goes missing and Daryl tries to cheer her up with a funny story about Merle. Carol playfully notes that ''something'' is going on between them and Daryl himself remains evasive on the subject. In "Outpost 22", when he and Carol go searching for their kidnapped friends, Daryl is level-headed until he spots Connie in jeopardy and contemplates attacking the Commonwealth train head-on until Carol dissuades him. When Connie is rescued, the two share a flirty greeting and Daryl giggles sheepishly before they are interrupted. [[spoiler:They ultimately don't end up together by the series finale.]]

* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: On Randall in "Judge, Jury, and Executioner".

* KillTheOnesYouLove: He's ultimately the one to shoot [[spoiler:Leah, his ex-girlfriend]] who had gone off the rails and was in the process of attempting to stab Daryl's surrogate sister Maggie to death.

** With Connie in Seasons 9-11. They quickly form a bond while working together to rescue Henry and Lydia from the Whisperers, and Daryl later begins learning ASL in order to better communicate with her. They also hold hands when Kelly goes missing and Daryl tries to cheer her up with a funny story about Merle. Carol playfully notes that ''something'' is going on between them and Daryl himself remains evasive on the subject. When he and Carol go searching for their kidnapped friends in "Outpost 22", Daryl stays level-headed until he spots Connie in jeopardy and contemplates attacking the Commonwealth train head-on until Carol dissuades him. When Connie is rescued, the two share a flirty greeting and Daryl giggles sheepishly before they are interrupted. [[spoiler:They ultimately don't end up together by the series finale.]]

** With Connie as of Season 9. They quickly form a bond while working together to rescue Henry and Lydia from the Whisperers, and Daryl later begins learning ASL in order to better communicate with her. They also hold hands when Kelly goes missing and Daryl tries to cheer her up with a funny story about Merle. Carol playfully notes that ''something'' is going on between them and Daryl himself remains evasive on the subject. When he and Carol go searching for their kidnapped friends in "Outpost 22", Daryl stays level-headed until he spots Connie in jeopardy and contemplates attacking the Commonwealth train head-on until Carol dissuades him. When Connie is rescued, the two share a flirty greeting and Daryl giggles sheepishly before they are interrupted. [[spoiler:They ultimately don't end up together by the series finale.]]

* HiddenDepths: Shown to have this side to him in Season 2. He's the most confident that they will find Sophia alive and even comforts Carol. The Cherokee Rose scene won him a ''lot'' of fans.

After the group moves into the prison, Merle resurfaced as the tyrannical Governor's lieutenant. Daryl was reunited with his during a raid on Woodbury, and decided to strike out with his brother when the group refused to accept him even after The Governor exiled him. Daryl realized where his true place was, and Merle was forced to accompany him to the prison anyway. Daryl tried his best to keep tabs on his reckless brother, and was forced to put him down when he sacrificed his life to attack The Governor's militia and reanimated.

After Rick stood down as leader, Daryl joined the governing council of the prison group, but returned from a supply run to find The Governor on their doorstep with an army. Daryl and Beth fled the destroyed prison together, and grew close until she was abducted by Grady Memorial Hospital. Daryl reunited with Rick and the group at Terminus, and also found Carol again after they escaped. However, a standoff with Grady Memorial ended with Beth dead, devastating Daryl for weeks.

After the group moved to Alexandria, Daryl found himself forming a murderous rivalry with Dwight, a lieutenant of the Saviors. As the two groups went to war, Daryl became embittered by his accidental part in the death of Glenn and a period of incarceration and torture at the Sanctuary. After Rick and Michonne decided to spare Negan upon defeating him at the end of the Savior War, Daryl plotted with Maggie to take vengeance on their own terms. However, nothing prepared Daryl for the apparent loss of Rick a year and a half later. Daryl resigned himself to living alone in the woods with his new companion Dog for six years, but ended up finding himself pulled back into the communities as a leader and warrior yet again when the threat of the Whisperers raised its head.

** Taken up to eleven in his spinoff series, where he winds up in ''France'', of all places.

* FishOutOfWater: To say that Daryl doesn't fit in well at Alexandria is an understatement. He's even more out of place at the Commonwealth, which is the closest that the group has seen to recapturing society before the apocalypse.