History Characters / TheWalkingDeadTVShowNegan

* CharacterCheck: After most of Season 10 is spent giving him a HeelFaceTurn and "Here's Negan" makes him into a rather tragic and sympathetic figure, he gets two massive KickTheDog moments in the following episode, "Acheron, Part I": [[spoiler:throwing Glenn's death in Maggie's face and leaving Maggie to her fate above a herd of walkers.]] This is probably to show that while Negan may have turned over a new leaf, he's still very much a pragmatic {{Jerkass}} who isn't willing to suffer fools, tragic backstory or not.

* CharacterCheck: After most of Season 10 is spent giving him a HeelFaceTurn and "Here's Negan" makes him into a rather tragic and sympathetic figure, he gets two massive KickTheDog moments in the following episode, "Acheron, Part I": [[spoiler:throwing Glenn's death in Maggie's face and leaving Maggie to her fate above a herd of walkers.]] This is probably to show that while Negan may have turned over a new leaf, he's still very much a pragmatic {{Jerkass}} who isn't willing to suffer fools.

* CharacterCheck: After most of Season 10 is spent giving him a HeelFaceTurn and "Here's Negan" makes him into a rather tragic and sympathetic figure, he gets two massive KickTheDog moments in the following episode, "Acheron, Part I": [[spoiler:throwing Glenn's death in Maggie's face and leaving Maggie to her fate above a herd of walkers.]] This is likely done to show that while Negan may have turned over a new leaf, he's still very much a pragmatic {{Jerkass}} who isn't willing to suffer fools.

* WouldYouLikeToHearHowTheyDied: He recalls the gruesome details of his murder of Glenn as a gambit to be killed by Maggie, talking about how his head cracked open and his eye popped out while the rest of the group watched in horror.

* YouGotSpunk: {{Jerkass}} he may be, but Negan will often take a moment to marvel at the courage shown by the members of Rick's group.

* TeethClenchedTeamwork: With the Coalition as of late Season 10. No one wants him around due to having memories of what he did, but are forced to acknowledge him being useful and having earned his keep due to executing Alpha. It's most notable when he gets invited on the trip to scavenge food from Meridian and the team consists almost entirely of people who are fiercely loyal to Maggie. It gets worse when the majority of the group are either sidelined due to injuries (Alden), MIA (Gabriel and Elijah), or outright killed or kidnapped by the Reapers (Daryl and everyone else), forcing Maggie and Negan to travel alone. They later meet up with Gabriel and Elijah and the four of them work together to infiltrate Meridian, with Negan and Maggie proving to be a very effective team once they actually put their feud on hold and start cooperating.

* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler:For Carlson's (and Lance's) plan to exterminate the Riverbend community. First, he sends Jesse to Hilltop to notify Maggie, ensuring she is already ''en route'' by the time she meets Aaron halfway on the road. As a trusted member of Riverbend and a more-or-less ally of the Coalition, Negan then serves as the diplomat between the two factions, convincing them to work together peacefully to take out Carlson's entire operation. He also rescues Gabriel and Hershel, eliminating any potential bargaining chips Carlson may have had.]]

* TeethClenchedTeamwork: No one wants him along on the trip to Meridian in "Acheron, Part I", but are forced to tolerate him because he's familiar with the city. It gets worse when the rest of the group are either sidelined due to injuries (Alden), MIA (Gabriel and Elijah), or outright killed or kidnapped by the Reapers (Daryl and everyone else), forcing Maggie and Negan to travel alone. They later meet up with Gabriel and Elijah and the four of them work together to infiltrate Meridian, with Negan and Maggie proving to be a very effective team once they finally put their feud on hold and start cooperating.

* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler:For Carlson's (and Lance's) plan to exterminate the Riverbend community. First, he sends Jesse to Hilltop to notify Maggie, ensuring she is already ''en route'' by the time she meets Aaron halfway on the road. Negan then serves as the diplomat between the two factions, convincing them to work together peacefully to take out Carlson's entire operation. He also rescues Gabriel and Hershel, eliminating any potential bargaining chips Carlson may have had.]]

* AdaptationalWimp: His comic counterpart succeeded in maiming Rick and shattering his leg during their final fight, forcing Rick to walk with a cane for the rest of his life. TV!Negan inflicts no such lasting damage, and is more quickly taken down courtesy of a shard of broken glass.

* SmugSnake: He is incredibly boastful and supremely confident in his authority and leadership. He delights in lording his power over others because he knows they can't do anything to fight back.

** Downplayed with Lucille. Their marriage prior to the apocalypse was pretty much DeadSparks, with Negan being a deadbeat husband who made no attempt at getting back on his feet and cheating on Lucille with her best friend Janine. However, after breaking it off with his mistress, Negan became devoted to Lucille until the day she died and her tragic suicide was the catalyst for his StartOfDarkness.

** Downplayed with Lucille. Their marriage prior to the apocalypse was pretty much DeadSparks, with Negan being a deadbeat husband who made no attempt at getting back on his feet. He was also cheating on Lucille with her best friend Janine. However, after breaking it off with his mistress, Negan became devoted to Lucille until the day she died and her tragic suicide was the catalyst for his StartOfDarkness.

* AdaptationalWimp: His comic counterpart succeeded in maiming Rick and shattering his leg during their final fight, forcing Rick to walk with a cane for the rest of his life.

* AdaptationalWimp: His comic counterpart succeeded in permanently maiming Rick and shattering his leg in their final fight, forcing Rick to walk with a cane for the rest of his life.

* AllForNothing: His six-week quest to find the medicine needed to treat Lucille's cancer ended up being for naught as she killed herself the same day that he left.

* HappilyMarried: Though his marriage to Lucille was at a bit of a rough patch caused by Negan's inconsiderate behavior and infidelity, the pair were still very much in love. After breaking it off with his mistress, Negan became devoted to Lucille until the day she died and her tragic suicide was the catalyst for his StartOfDarkness.

** He points out that for all of Michonne's talk about giving power to the people, ''she's'' the one running Alexandria with an iron fist.
** He makes Michonne realize Judith is a child with her own ideas about they ''should'' be running things, and that she would be a bit more honest with her if Michonne actually bothered to ''listen'' to what she has to say.

Negan's primary weapon, a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. Lucille quickly becomes notorious in the series for being the weapon used to murder Glenn Rhee and Abraham Ford. It's revealed in "Here's Negan" that the bat originally belonged to Laura, who gave it to Negan to defend himself.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/twdtv_lucillebat.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Lucille is thirsty! She is a vampire bat!"'']]

* SmugSmiler: He has the nerve to grin at Maggie as he re-enters Alexandria to continue living there after Carol banished him. It's worth mentioning that the script originally called for Negan to simply stare at Maggie and Jeffrey Dean Morgan actually did do several takes of this version. In the end, the editors decided to go with the take of him smiling because they felt it did a better job setting up the conflict for Season 11.

* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler:For Carlson's (and Lance's) plan to exterminate the Riverbend community. Negan sends Jesse to Hilltop to notify Maggie, ensuring she is already ''en route'' by the time she meets Aaron halfway on the road. Negan serves as the diplomat between the two factions, and convinces them to work together peacefully to take out Carlson's entire operation. He also rescues Gabriel and Hershel, eliminating any potential bargaining chips Carlson may have had.]]

* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler:For Carlson's (and Lance's) plan to exterminate the Riverbend community. Negan sends Jesse to Hilltop to notify Maggie, which ensures that she is already ''en route'' by the time she meets Aaron halfway on the road. Negan serves as the diplomat between the two factions, and convinces them to work together peacefully to take out Carlson's entire operation. He also rescues Gabriel and Hershel, eliminating any potential bargaining chips Carlson may have had.]]

* SubmissiveBadass: Despite being a natural leader with years of experience, he doesn't seem to mind falling under Ian's leadership when he joins the Riverbend apartment community.

** Negan starts out as little more than a murderous bully who mentally tortures Rick into submission. Later episodes show him as a more dynamic character who ''is'' capable of occasional kindness, such as with his relationships with Sasha, Eugene, Gabriel, and '''especially''' Carl and Judith, the latter of whom eventually becomes something of a MoralityPet to him. When Negan discovers that the Sanctuary has fallen during his seven-and-a-half year incarceration, he decides to head back to Alexandria and genuinely starts taking steps to make up for what he did. This into a full-fledged HeelFaceTurn in Season 10 and beyond.

** Negan starts out as little more than a murderous bully who mentally tortures Rick into submission. Later episodes show him as a more dynamic character who ''is'' capable of occasional kindness, such as with his relationships with Sasha, Eugene, Gabriel, and '''especially''' Carl and Judith, the latter of whom eventually becomes something of a MoralityPet to him. When Negan discovers that the Sanctuary has fallen during his seven-and-a-half year incarceration, he decides to head back to Alexandria and genuinely starts taking steps to make up for what he did, which evolves into a full-fledged HeelFaceTurn in Season 10.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Invoking this is a favorite tactic of his. When Daryl punches him, he beats Glenn to death. When Rosita tries to shoot him, he orders Arat to kill someone, and she chooses Olivia.

* BreakoutVillain: Gets far more to do than his comic counterpart, eventually becoming one of the show's main characters by Season 10. And now he's set to headline his own spin-off with Maggie starting in 2023.
* BreakTheBadass: What he spends all of "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be" doing to Rick's group (especially to Rick). He's so effective that it takes the entire first half of the season and two more people dying for Rick to finally start fighting back.

* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: He used to be apprehensive about killing walkers because he didn't want to "get used to it." He also didn't want to hurt living people and was uneasy about having to rob a camp of doctors to get medication for Lucille. Compare this to the Negan who is introduced nonchalantly beating the skulls of two men and demanding half of Alexandria's supplies as tribute.

* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: He used to be apprehensive about killing walkers because he didn't want to "get used to it." He also didn't want to hurt any living people and is uneasy about having to rob a camp of doctors to get medication. Compare this to the Negan who is introduced nonchalantly beating the skulls of two men and demanding half of Alexandria's supplies as tribute.

** He expresses some attraction toward Alpha who, despite being completely insane, has the cunning and strength to lead an entire army of Whisperers.

* AmazonChaser:
** Seemingly averted at first, as his {{Harem}} is made up of women who are either too weak to work for points or were blackmailed into marrying him against their will. However, a closer look reveals that Negan does in fact have an admiration of strong women: he admits that Sasha has him "wrapped around [her] little finger" after she shows no fear in the face of his threats, and he expresses some attraction toward Alpha who, despite being completely insane, has the cunning and strength to lead an entire army of Whisperers.

** In "Acheron, Part I": [[spoiler:While he is not wrong to say Maggie is being reckless, he ''definitely'' crosses a line when he tells Maggie he has no intention to be put down like a dog, "like Glenn was." Daryl gives him a well-deserved punch to the face for it.]]

* TheCorrupter: He shows some interest in making others think the way he does. This is best demonstrated when he convinces Eugene to [[FaceHeelTurn join the group]] as their EvilGenius by offering him a great position over the other Saviors.

* NamedWeapons: A bat named after Negan's dead wife.

* YourHeadASplode: Negan's SignatureMove is to repeatedly whack his victims' heads using Lucille until it's all gore. Abraham and Glenn sadly find out the hard way.