| 1 | * SacrificialLamb: Some minor characters' deaths have spurred along story or character arcs in the long run. |
| 2 | ** Ed's death frees his wife and daughter from his abusive shadow, and allows Carol to eventually grow into a powerful, independent woman without him. |
| 3 | ** [[spoiler: The death of Dr. Jenner]], who despite not having established an emotional connection to the cast, signals that there really is no more hope for aid from whatever may remain of the old government. Once the CDC explodes, the group is forced to venture off into the unknown. |
| 4 | ** [[spoiler: Sophia's]] death shows that DeathOfAChild will be used in this series and that DeathByAdaptation ''will'' be employed. |
| 5 | ** [[spoiler: Noah's]] death destroys Glenn's innocent optimism for Alexandria, sparks his violent feud with Nicholas, and the crisis also inspires Eugene to step up to the plate and stop running to save his own hide. Steven Yeun also said it particularly hurt Glenn because [[spoiler: Noah]] was the first person to die on his watch, as opposed to [[spoiler: Dale who was too far away to be helped, and Noah was killed right in front of him.]] |
| 6 | ** [[spoiler: Denise]] is the first casualty inflicted upon Alexandria by the Saviors. |
| 7 | ** [[spoiler: Olivia's]] senseless death is what finally convinces Rick to strike back against the Saviors. |
| 8 | * SacrificialLion: |
| 9 | ** [[spoiler: Dale]] is the first major character to die in the series, and he dies just before the show takes on an ever darker turn in the third season. He's followed by [[spoiler: Shane]], whose death signifies the beginning of the Ricktatorship and the end of the cliques that had been employed during the second season. From there on, the group becomes far more cohesive and tight-knit, and fully dependent on Rick. It is also here that Daryl becomes Rick's new [[TheLancer Lancer]], signaling a big moment for his CharacterDevelopment. |
| 10 | ** [[spoiler: Lori and to a lesser extent T-Dog's]] deaths herald the beginning of Rick's SanitySlippage that he struggles with during the remainder of the third season. |
| 11 | ** [[spoiler: Merle's]] death signals [[spoiler: Daryl fully embracing the prison group as his family]]. It also happened near the end of Michonne's CharacterDevelopment. |
| 12 | ** [[spoiler: Andrea's]] death affected a lot of people. It fully causes Rick to reflect on his humanity, it officially cemented Michonne's attachment to the group and it causes [[spoiler: the Woodbury residents to see what kind of person the Governor really is and [[HeelFaceTurn defect]] to the prison group]]. |
| 13 | ** [[spoiler: Hershel's]] brutal execution at the hands of the Governor comes at the mid-point of Rick's CharacterDevelopment as he realizes that you can come back from the things you do to survive. [[spoiler: Hershel]] dies smiling, knowing Rick will be okay even without him around. It also signals that the Governor is past redemption, and was also identified as his MoralEventHorizon by WordOfGod, [[spoiler: which ensured his death in the same episode.]] |
| 14 | ** [[spoiler: Joe's]] death is the culmination of Rick's CharacterDevelopment throughout the entire series - he finally embraces both his humanity and brutality, turning him into a much more effective leader and father with no more doubts about his ability to lead or protect his family. |
| 15 | ** In a much lesser example, [[spoiler: Bob]] is the first casualty of Rick's group in the fifth season. His death also marked the beginning of Sasha's CharacterDevelopment for the rest of the season. |
| 16 | ** [[spoiler:Beth's]] death, though mostly done for shock value, leads to development for both Maggie and Daryl. |
| 17 | ** [[spoiler:Tyreese's]] death happened at the time the group is still mourning and recovering from the previous character's death. The character's death is also an extension of [[spoiler:his sister]]'s CharacterDevelopment. In a meta sense, it's also proof that AnyoneCanDie at any time is still well and truly in effect, since the character's death suddenly came one episode after the previous one's, and that you don't have to wait for the season finales for a character to die. |
| 18 | ** [[spoiler:Glenn and Abraham's]] deaths at the hands of Negan are the villain’s bloody EstablishingCharacterMoment to show Rick that he no longer is the alpha of his world and he must now contend with a threat so dangerous and powerful it's made his group ''cry''. |
| 19 | ** [[spoiler:Sasha]]'s HeroicSuicide is the culmination of the main characters regaining their confidence and pride to fight the Saviors after the latter group humiliated (and emasculated) them. |
| 20 | ** [[spoiler:Jesus's]] sudden death finally makes the group realize that Eugene's warnings of "walkers who can talk" aren't just crazed hyperbole, and that there is indeed a dangerous new threat out there in the form of the Whisperers. |
| 21 | ** The shocking [[spoiler:heads-on-pikes deaths of Enid, Tara, Henry, Ozzy, Alek, D.J., Frankie, Tammy Rose, Rodney and Adeline]] make the communities sit up and realize that Alpha is absolutely ''not'' screwing around, and that she will not hesitate for one second to slaughter ''anyone'' she perceives as a threat or challenge to the Whisperers. Arguably, the deaths do more damage to the morale of the three communities than Negan ''ever'' did during the Savior War. |
| 22 | * SadisticChoice: |
| 23 | ** The Governor forcing Milton to either kill Andrea, or be killed himself then turn THEN kill Andrea. Milton attempts to TakeAThirdOption but it doesn't exactly work out for him. |
| 24 | ** Negan forcing Rick to either chop off Carl's arm, or watch everyone he knows and loves be executed. |
| 25 | * SafeZoneHopeSpot: |
| 26 | ** A recurring theme in the show as well as the comic it's based on, having happened twice in the first season alone. |
| 27 | ** Averted in the Season 4 finale. Rick almost knew right from the get-go that [[spoiler:Terminus ''wasn't'' a safe zone at all. He was right]]. |
| 28 | ** Subverted with Alexandria. It really is a safe place, but the main problem is that the residents have been so sheltered that they forgot the real dangers of the outside world, are afraid of recurring to lethal force when dealing with living people and lack of common sense regarding defense against walkers. It takes about a season of long, hard work to make it a genuinely safe place. |
| 29 | ** The group |
| 30 | * SanitySlippage: |
| 31 | ** Jim begins digging at the top of the mountain until Shane takes him down and ties him to a tree. He can only say that he had a dream (possibly brought on by [[SurvivorsGuilt the guilt]] of knowing that he only survived because the zombies were eating his family) he couldn't remember. |
| 32 | ** Shane is obviously unhappy with the way things are going once Rick gets back into camp. His sanity doesn't start slipping, however, until he [[spoiler: kills Otis.]] He finally loses it when [[spoiler: Lori thanks him for saving her and Carl during the initial outbreak - but makes it clear that while she had feelings for him at a time, they're over, prompting Shane to decide to kill Rick in a deluded attempt to get her back]]. |
| 33 | ** Dr. Jenner apparently didn't cope well with shooting his patient ([[spoiler:who was also his wife]]) and then was cooped up with only an [=AI=] for company for two months. The straw that broke the camel's mind, however, was [[spoiler: emergency procedures destroying his last active zombie-virus sample.]] He was nuts, but focused until that point. Afterwards, he was just nuts. |
| 34 | ** T-Dog shows signs of this as well during the fever caused by a "regular" bacterial infection. |
| 35 | ** Michonne discovers the Governor is showing signs of it in "Say the Word". She pulls out a book that has various notes written by him, ending with a list of deceased people (and the name "Penny" underlined at the bottom) followed by pages full of counted days since that death. |
| 36 | ** Rick shows signs of it early in the third season. After [[spoiler: Lori dies]], he imagines that [[spoiler: Amy, Jim, Jacqui, and finally Lori]] are calling him on a rotary phone in one of the prison wings. In "Made to Suffer", when the group is escaping Woodbury, Rick imagines that [[spoiler: Shane]] is walking out of the smoke and shooting (which leads to [[spoiler: Oscar]] being killed). He shoots and kills [[spoiler: "Shane"]], only to discover that it was one of the Woodbury attackers. |
| 37 | ** Lizzie was always rather unhinged, but in the second half of Season 4 she's firmly in the deep end after she nearly suffocates Judith, and then starts treating walkers as though they were perfectly healthy people. Then we get to the episode "The Grove"...[[spoiler: first she completely loses it when Carol kills a walker she was playing with, then seriously considers letting another one bite her so she can join them. Then things ''really'' get nuts when she murders her sister Mika to get her to reanimate as a new playmate, and was about to do the same to Judith when Carol and Tyreese stopped her. Carol is forced to put her down the next day, knowing her psychosis is way too far gone for her to be left alive. She even thought that Carol was most upset at her for pointing a gun at her when confronted, completely missing that she just killed her own sister.]] |
| 38 | ** Morgan suffers it after [[spoiler:the loss of his son Duane]]. He eventually recovers thanks to the rehabilitation of his friend Eastman, but eventually loses it again after [[spoiler:Benjamin, who he'd become attached to as a ReplacementGoldfish for Duane, dies.]] This time, however, the situation causes him to channel his slippage into pure rage and determination to take revenge against the Saviors, and while he still struggles, he's more level-headed than before and only directs his worst moments at his enemies. |
| 39 | ** Season 10 sees Carol in her darkest place yet due to losing [[spoiler:her son, her home, and ultimately her marriage to Ezekiel due to Alpha's actions.]] She refuses to sleep, becomes increasingly desperate to kill Alpha, takes pills as "coffee", and goes down a ''very'' dark path as others become hurt during her vendetta. |
| 40 | ** While not beacons of mental health, Alpha and Beta both begin suffering these in late Season 10. Alpha gets it when Lydia steadfastly refuses to rejoin the Whisperers and eventually take over from her; and Beta gets it [[spoiler:after finding Alpha was murdered by Negan. He begins suffering bad hallucinations and imagines the dead actually speaking to him. When he is mortally wounded, he's so far gone he imagines the walker horde approaching him as a legion of cheering fans embracing him.]] |
| 41 | * SceneryPorn: A brief moment in the fourth episode of the second season, as Hershel and Rick look out over the Georgia countryside, off toward the mountains. |
| 42 | -->'''Hershel:''' Rick, take a look. That's something, isn't it? It's good to pause for an occasional reminder.\ |
| 43 | '''Rick:''' Of what?\ |
| 44 | '''Hershel:''' Whatever comes to mind. For me, it's often God. |
| 45 | * SchrodingersCast: Since the show does not follow the comic books to the letter, this occasionally results in some characters long outliving or predeceasing their counterparts. [[spoiler:Otis, Sophia, Dale, Patricia, Lori, Axel, Andrea, Mikey, Holly, Nicholas, Denise, Olivia, Emmett Carson, Richard, Carl, Harlan Carson, Jesus, Siddiq, Dante, Laura, Earl Sutton, Beta, Sebastian Milton, and Lance Hornsby]] die long before their comic counterparts. [[spoiler:Shane, Martinez, Carol, Tyreese, Judith, Scott, Bruce, Tobin, Morgan, Kal, Luke, Rosita, Ezekiel, Gabriel, Sherry, and Rick]] live quite a bit longer than theirs. |
| 46 | * ScreamDiscretionShot: What happens to [[spoiler:Andrea when the undead Milton attacks her as she's freeing herself]] (seen from behind a door) in "Welcome to the Tombs". Rick and the others find out later that [[spoiler:she killed Milton, but was bitten in the process]]. |
| 47 | * ScreamingWoman: There's usually at least one instance of this in every season. In the first, it's Amy (and Andrea soon after), in the second, Lori (while trapped in a car as a walker tries to break in), and in the third, Carol (when [[spoiler:T-Dog]] is bitten). |
| 48 | * SealedEvilInACan: |
| 49 | ** Any locked room or house full of zombies, such as the hospital room in the pilot. Some more significant examples include: |
| 50 | ** The Greene Family keeps their barn full of walkers, believing their turned friends and family inside to be merely sick people who can be cured. |
| 51 | ** The Wolves keep traps full of walkers or walker heads in an unprovoked desire to kill any and all survivors. |
| 52 | ** The group discovers a quarry filled with ''thousands'' of walkers in Season 6, which constitutes the majority of the walkers of the Washington area, that are only contained by several 18-wheelers that are quickly failing. |
| 53 | * SealedRoomInTheMiddleOfNowhere: |
| 54 | ** Merle, with a rooftop instead of a room. |
| 55 | ** Dr. Jenner, though this time by "choice". |
| 56 | * SecondEpisodeIntroduction: |
| 57 | ** Played straight by Andrea, Glenn, T-Dog, Merle, Morales, and Jacqui, who are all introduced in "Guts", the second episode of the first season. |
| 58 | ** Hershel, Maggie, Beth, Otis, Patricia, and Jimmy are introduced in "Bloodletting", the second episode of the second season. |
| 59 | ** Fr. Gabriel Stokes and the remaining Hunters, Theresa, Greg, and Mike, are introduced in "Strangers", the second episode of the fifth season. |
| 60 | ** King Ezekiel, Richard, Jerry, Benjamin, Shiva, and the Kingdom as a whole are introduced in "The Well", the second episode of the seventh season. |
| 61 | ** The Reapers as a unit make their debut at the end of "Acheron, Part II", the second episode of Season 11. |
| 62 | * SecretKeeper: Glenn, but his conscience makes him a terrible one, [[KeepingSecretsSucks which causes some friction]]. |
| 63 | * SelfDeprecation: In Season 9. When Carol playfully denies Ezekiel's attempt to [[spoiler:kneel and propose to her]], he remarks that "[he] wrote a speech". This alludes to the melodramatic speaking that former showrunner Scott Gimple used for certain characters in seasons 4-8, something that irked fans for being overused. |
| 64 | * SerialEscalation: |
| 65 | ** The show focuses on the small group of survivors consisting of about a dozen people for Season 1-2, but in Season 3 they find themselves in a prolonged conflict with a town commanded by The Governor, an active villain who seeks to destroy them. Afterwards, the focus contracts down to Rick's group again as they face small bands of antagonists, the cast once again down to roughly a dozen or so people. Even when they join the Alexandria Safe-Zone in Season 5, the focus remains on them, which is something that gives Rick trouble when he takes command of the town since he now is forced to care for all the residents of the town in addition to his Atlanta veterans. |
| 66 | ** Just as Rick finally accepts the townspeople as his own, Jesus arrives in Season 6's "The Next World" and "Knots Untie" to completely change the show. He reveals that there are other organized communities nearby and brings them into a trade relationship with his community, Hilltop Colony. From this point, the show shifts focus from Rick's small group from Atlanta to a larger world of communities each with their own political and social issues. By Season 9, even Daryl admits that the days of Rick's group are over as the members have gone their separate ways and integrated into the various communities, with the focus of the show now on the Coalition, the alliance of them that numbers in the hundreds. |
| 67 | ** The show also shifts focus from just surviving to the CentralTheme of a genuine attempt at rebuilding a proper civilization. Seasons 9-11, the final three seasons of the show, have characters drafting legislature to govern themselves and groups of antagonists who want to either destroy any semblance of civilization, continue the corruption of the old world, or just want to kill anybody who's not one of them for bloodlust. |
| 68 | * SeriousBusiness: The system of government that the Marauders operate on for dividing up resources is basically a glorified "I called it" system, but its one that they take very seriously, delivering vicious beatings to anyone who doesn't fall into line with it. |
| 69 | * SexSlave: |
| 70 | ** In the ''Cold Storage'' webseries, Kelly (a female employee at the storage facility) was forced into this role by B.J. after he murdered the other employees, and is eventually rescued by Chase. |
| 71 | ** The "Wards" at Grady Memorial are all but outright stated as such. Bonus points because the ''female'' leader of the police running the hospital either instituted such a system, or allows it to perpetuate, and explains it point-blank to [[spoiler: Beth.]] "The Wards keep my officers happy." |
| 72 | ** Negan's "wives." He ''does'' give them some choice in the matter, though it's rather heavily implied the other choices are even worse. |
| 73 | * ShamefulStrip: [[spoiler:Maggie]] is forced to take off her shirt and bra during the Governor's interrogation in "When The Dead Come Knocking”, but the latter doesn't do anything else once he realizes she won't break. |
| 74 | * ShellShockSilence: Occurs when Rick fires his gun inside the confines of a tank, after he finds out he doesn't have SteelEardrums. |
| 75 | * SherlockScan: |
| 76 | ** Daryl instantly realizes that [[spoiler: Shane killed Otis, because he came back with his gun in addition to his own. He sits on this for nearly all of Season 2 before admitting it to Dale in "Judge, Jury, and Executioner".]] |
| 77 | ** Daryl does this again in "Better Angels" when he discovers that Shane wasn't telling the truth when he said he was knocked out by Randall after finding matching footprints side-by-side, the discarded blindfold and blood on a tree (from when [[spoiler: Shane broke his own nose to make it look like an accident]]). He also quickly deduces that [[spoiler: Randall died of a broken neck]]. |
| 78 | * ShipSinking: |
| 79 | ** [[spoiler:Bethyl (Beth & Daryl)]] has gone down with all hands thanks to the sudden and unexpected death of [[spoiler: Beth]] in "Coda". Same with Beth and Noah. |
| 80 | ** Any chance of [[spoiler: Tobin and Carol]] rekindling their brief fling ends in Season 8's "Do Not Send Us Astray" when [[spoiler: Tobin dies and reanimates, with Carol putting him down.]] |
| 81 | ** Dwight and Laura is shot in the foot after [[spoiler: Dwight leads her into an ambush by the Alexandrians and she finds out he's been helping engineer the deaths of her friends and cohorts.]] |
| 82 | ** In Season 9's premiere, Daryl expresses genuine happiness for Carol finding love with Ezekiel, her first serious, happy relationship after her past with Ed. |
| 83 | ** Any potential for a [[spoiler:Rosita and Siddiq]] romance is sunk after [[spoiler:Siddiq is murdered by Dante in Season 10.]] |
| 84 | ** Season 10 firmly sinks any chance for Eugene and Rosita to get together as they did in the comics, since Rosita has found love with Gabriel, and Eugene ultimately accepts this and moves on to pursue romance with Stephanie. Rosita even helps Eugene realize he's over her in "Morning Star" when she gives him permission to kiss her, which gets him to realize he's more interested in Stephanie. |
| 85 | * ShipTease: |
| 86 | ** Carol and Daryl. As of Season 4, however, the Carol/Daryl ship seems to have taken something of a backseat, with [[TokenMinorityCouple Bob/Sasha]], [[MayDecemberRomance Daryl/Beth]] and arguably [[BattleCouple Rick/Michonne]] the main pairings being teased. |
| 87 | *** Officially sunk as of Season 9, which has Carol and [[spoiler: Ezekiel]] hook up during the time skip. |
| 88 | ** Bob and Sasha do have a RelationshipUpgrade towards the end of Season 4, however, [[spoiler: Bob is sadly bitten and dies a few episodes into Season 5.]] |
| 89 | ** [[spoiler: Nothing comes of Beth's ShipTease with either Daryl or Noah once she's killed in "Coda".]] |
| 90 | ** Rick forms an attraction to Jessie and they end up getting together shortly after [[spoiler: the death of her abusive husband Pete. However, she dies at the midpoint of Season 6, which thanks to a severely compressed timeline of the first half of the season, is only in the timespan of ''a few days''.]] |
| 91 | ** Rick and Michonne received several moments of ShipTease from Season 3-6, and ended up finally getting together [[spoiler:shortly after Jessie's death.]] |
| 92 | ** Abraham develops a crush on [[spoiler:Sasha after Bob's death, and makes it clear he wants to be more than friends towards the middle of Season 6. He ends up dumping Rosita for her and after he matures a bit, she decides to give him a chance towards the end of the season.]] |
| 93 | ** Season 10 has been doing a ''lot'' of teasing with Daryl and Connie, especially as she's another silent, stoic badass with a caring streak like him. Carol and Kelly, their closest loved ones, begin teasing them about it, and they both act evasive when it happens. |
| 94 | * ShootTheDog: Happens several times, usually to highlight the severity or circumstances of the character's/group's situation. |
| 95 | ** The opening scene has Rick, while searching for gas, come upon a young female walker, who he is forced to shoot once she makes a run for him. Rick looks visibly shaken immediately afterwards. |
| 96 | ** Shane offers this to Jim just before they leave him by the roadside in "Wildfire". Daryl was also determined to do this, but just let him die on his own terms at Jim's request. |
| 97 | ** In "Pretty Much Dead Already", Rick steps up and [[spoiler: shoots the undead Sophia]] because everyone else is too shocked to raise their weapons (even Shane, who was [[spoiler: rather pointedly suggesting the group give up the search for Sophia]], and also gung-ho just a couple minutes earlier about [[spoiler: massacring the walkers in the barn]] until he saw [[spoiler: one of the group's own had died]]). |
| 98 | ** Rick takes responsibility for the execution of Randall, but ultimately backs down. |
| 99 | ** [[spoiler: Dale]] at the end of "Judge, Jury, and Executioner" after a walker [[spoiler: rips his stomach open]] and infects him. Either way, Hershel says there's no hope for a wound that serious. [[spoiler:Daryl shoots him so Rick doesn't have to]]. |
| 100 | ** Carl ends up shooting [[spoiler:Lori, after she dies during her C-section]] early in Season 3. |
| 101 | ** In the Season 3 finale, Carl [[spoiler:shoots one of the Governor's soldiers in the head even after he surrendered]]. When Rick questions him about it, he merely tells him that [[IDidWhatIHadToDo he did what he had to do]]. Since the soldier was quite young [[AmbiguouslyEvil and it was never confirmed if he was truly evil or not]], one could argue that it was a KickTheDog moment. |
| 102 | * ShootTheShaggyDog: |
| 103 | ** After searching for nearly half a season, hoping against hope that she's still alive, [[spoiler: the group finally locates Sophia ... as she walks out of Hershel's barn. She had been zombified sometime after Rick left her in her hiding place.]] |
| 104 | ** After "Four Walls and a Roof," the rest of the first half of Season 5 revolved around two major subplots: trying to head to Washington D.C. to solve the zombie outbreak, and [[spoiler:rescuing Beth from her captors]]. In the end, [[spoiler:Eugene confesses that he lied the whole time, forcing Glenn, Maggie, Rosita, Abraham, and Eugene to return to the church, and immediately after the group ''does'' rescue Beth, she's killed by Dawn in a failed attempt to kill her]]. |
| 105 | *** In particular with [[spoiler: Beth, everything about her hospital arc story ends up being a shaggy dog story. The ''one'' positive to come out of it was Noah, and he was [[CruelAndUnusualDeath brutally killed]] later in Season 5. He would've been better off in Dawn's dictatorship, meaning that Beth's sacrifice to keep him free was completely pointless.]] |
| 106 | *** After [[spoiler:Eugene reveals he's not a scientist,]] Rosita tearfully reminds him that several people died trying to get him as far to D.C. as possible. To which the former remorsefully acknowledges this and lists off the names of all those that did, including [[spoiler:Bob Stookey.]] |
| 107 | ** Done ''three times'' in "What Happened and What's Going On." First, the group finds out that Noah used to live in a locked-off neighborhood that seems relatively safe for them to stay at. [[spoiler:Nope. Everyone either died or turned into a zombie.]] Despite this, Noah was still hopeful, believing that [[spoiler:his family was still alive. Nope. His mother and one of his brothers was killed, and his other brother, who already turned, proceeds to bite Tyreese]]. Despite this, Tyreese still has the will [[spoiler:to fight the infection and is determined to survive, and Michonne even chops off his arm, ensuring that the infection won't spread, right? '''Nope'''. He succumbs to the wound anyway]]. |
| 108 | ** Dwight, Sherry, and Tina's escape attempt in their debut episode is rendered moot with the latter getting killed by Walkers and the former two being forced to return to the Saviors with Dwight getting promoted and Sherry becoming one of Negan's wives. Oh, and this all happened shortly after Daryl decided to give them back Tina's insulin, as well. |
| 109 | ** In the episode "Still Gotta Mean Something," the escaped Savior [=POWs=] spend their whole time trying to find a way to get back to the Hilltop colony to treat their wounded members and defect from the Saviors amounts to nothing as their wounded are DevouredByTheHorde as soon as the walkers enter the abandonned dive bar and are betrayed by Rick and Morgan once they've freed them, who then reveal to a dying Reilly that [[ILied they lied]] to them about giving them a second chance and treating their wounded at the Hilltop. |
| 110 | * ShovelStrike: |
| 111 | ** Rick gets one to the face when Duane mistakes him for a zombie. |
| 112 | ** Later, Rick lays open a zombie's face with a military entrenching tool. |
| 113 | ** And again by Shane when dispatching a group of walkers on the farm. |
| 114 | ** Sasha's first appearance has her using a shovel as a weapon. |
| 115 | * ShowerScene: |
| 116 | ** Comes in two varieties in the Season 1 finale. Rick and Lori share a ShowerOfLove while Andrea and Shane had a ShowerOfAngst, the former over her sister, while the latter [[LoveHurts over the aforementioned couple]]. Shane has another one early in Season 2 over [[spoiler: shooting and abandoning Otis to be eaten]]. |
| 117 | ** Maggie and Glenn have one in "East." It starts off cute until Glenn notices her bruises. |
| 118 | * SimultaneousArcs: In the first half of Season 3, with Arc # 1 taking place at the prison and Arc #2 at Woodbury. |
| 119 | * SinkOrSwimMentor: Shane to Andrea, when teaching her how to shoot moving targets. When they're surrounded by Walkers, and Shane's doing all the legwork in keeping them at bay, Andrea can't land a single headshot. When one Walker gets close to her, Shane aims at it, then lowers his weapon to force her to defend herself. Her initial response is an angry and incredulous, "Seriously?!" |
| 120 | * SinisterScrapingSound: Deliberately employed by the Governor [[spoiler:when tracking down Andrea]] in an abandoned warehouse, using the shovel he was carrying at the time. |
| 121 | * SlainInTheirSleep: [[spoiler:When Rick's group invades Negan's compound, many of Negan's men suffer this fate.]] |
| 122 | * SleptThroughTheApocalypse: Rick, courtesy of a coma due to being wounded in the line of duty. |
| 123 | * SoftGlass: Averted in "TS-19" when the group tries to break open the [[spoiler: glass windows of the CDC]]. They spend about a minute trying to break it [[spoiler: until they use a grenade to blow it up]]. |
| 124 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: |
| 125 | ** The National Guard survivors. First, Rick follows their helicopter directly into a swarm of walkers, leading to him getting trapped in the tank and meeting the Atlanta survivor camp. Furthermore, this also inadvertently starts up the herd that drives the group off the farm. When the helicopter crashes, it brings Andrea and Michonne into contact with the Woodbury survivors. Finally, the audience sees the Governor's true nature when he slaughters the remaining soldiers. |
| 126 | ** Otis was only around for a few episodes, but his accidental shooting of Carl leads the group to meet the Greene family, who gradually become major leaders and fighters in the main cast; provide a dramatic turning point in Shane's CharacterDevelopment as well as his feud with Rick. |
| 127 | * TheSociopath: This show is ''full'' of people who are pretty unrepentant about doing awful things, but Simon (whom Negan even refers to as a "demented, broken goddamn ghoul") is a perfect textbook example of antisocial personality disorder. Lack of empathy? Check; he views people as tools to play with for his amusement, and he shows zero remorse for committing genocide in several communities. Selfish manipulator? Check; he displays kindness towards Dwight and Gregory while using them as pawns for his own gain, but then tries to dispose of them both when their usefulness expires. Brilliant but lacking in foresight? Check; he makes some rather arrogant decisions when Negan is temporarily indisposed in season 8B. Constant need for stimulation? Check; he's ''very'' aggressive, and when the Saviors start losing the All-Out War he literally starts throwing temper tantrums like a bratty child who can't get his way. |
| 128 | * SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: This happens with the Saviors in Season 6. Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham encounter some [[{{Mook}} Mooks]] before facing Bud, a more menacing but still stupid StarterVillain. Then the group slaughters a RedShirtArmy and Carol and Maggie wipe out Paula and her gang of [[EliteMook Elite Mooks]]. After that, they battle two separate [[MookLieutenant Mook Lieutenants]], Dwight and Jiro, with the former causing the group's first casualty and the latter nearly causing Carol's death. Finally, Negan dispatches his [[TheDragon Dragon]] Simon to negotiate with the group before dealing with them himself. |
| 129 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: |
| 130 | ** Her name is ''Mika'', but that doesn't stop fans and subtitlers alike from calling her Mica, Myka, Micah... |
| 131 | ** The Atlanta Camp survivor who stayed behind with Dr. Jenner's name is spelled ''Jacqui,'' not ''Jackie.'' |
| 132 | * SpoilerOpening: |
| 133 | ** "Walk with Me" has a "PreviouslyOn" segment at the beginning of the episode. Remember that character you haven't seen since the third episode? His actor [[EvolvingCredits is added]] [[PromotionToOpeningTitles to the title sequence]]. No, he ''won't'' be showing up now. |
| 134 | ** In "Clear", the "PreviouslyOn" segment pretty much gives away the return of a Season 1 character. |
| 135 | ** The [=OBB=]s of Seasons 3, 5, and 7 spoils the characters fates; |
| 136 | *** Season 3: The names of both [[spoiler: Creator/SarahWayneCallies]] and [[spoiler: Creator/LaurieHolden]] appear in the dirt, while [[spoiler: Creator/MichaelRooker]]'s appears in a walker's face/eyes. |
| 137 | *** Season 5: [[spoiler: Creator/EmilyKinney]] and [[spoiler: Creator/ChadLColeman]]'s names both appear in a dark room with skeletons. Additionally, their names have different "fade-out" effects, the former's suddenly gets "striked" while the latter's slowly fades out in the dark. |
| 138 | *** Season 7: Despite having assumed these places in the credits since Season 5, [[spoiler:Negan's victims in the Season 7 premiere are spoiled in the opening of that episode -- Creator/StevenYeun's credit is next to Hershel's watch, indicating Glenn's time is running out, while Creator/MichaelCudlitz's name appears next to a grave.]] Additionally, [[spoiler: Creator/SonequaMartinGreen]]'s name appears in the same dark room with skeletons that [[spoiler: her late brother's appeared in, and she dies in the season finale.]] |
| 139 | ** In "Here's Negan", a certain character makes a return in the flashbacks after they've died in the present. It's supposed to be a surprise, but the actor's name is listed under "Also Starring". Anyone paying attention to the credits would have known that [[spoiler: Lindsley Register was coming back as Laura for (presumably) one last time.]] |
| 140 | * SpottingTheThread: Daryl figures out that [[spoiler: it isn't really his brother Merle]] talking to him because [[spoiler: he still has [[LifeOrLimbDecision both his hands]].]] |
| 141 | * TheStarscream: [[spoiler: Simon]], in Season 8. He loses faith in Negan when his leader refuses to indulge his psychopathic tendencies, and decides he is too weak to lead the Saviors. He abandons him when he goes MIA on the way to a battle at Hilltop and usurps control of the Saviors. When Negan returns, he prepares for one final strike to get rid of him, but [[spoiler:thanks to Dwight betraying him,]] he gets what's coming to him. |
| 142 | * SuspiciouslyStealthyPredator: For creatures that supposedly don't have the brains to sneak around, walkers seem remarkably good at slipping up behind people or eluding the notice of sentries until they're dangerously-close. The Season 11 premiere actually shows a large group of walkers whose throats were sliced so deep, their vocal chords were severed, meaning they make no sort of vocalization that is so often a telltale sign of their presence. |
| 143 | * SteelEardrums: Averted when Rick fires his gun inside a tank. Played straight almost any other time. A particularly bad example happens in "Us", where multiple rounds are fired off in a concrete tunnel that likely would have left everyone deaf for at least a short period. |
| 144 | * StepfordSuburbia: Woodbury appears to be a type of this. It initially looks like a pleasant enough place inside the walls that protect it from the rest of the ZombieApocalypse, but then the viewer is given views behind the facade, including a leader that has [[spoiler:aquariums with severed zombie heads]], prevents anyone from permanently leaving the town, and has no problem with [[spoiler: slaughtering any group that could threaten his city, and thus, his power]]. |
| 145 | * TheStinger: These began being employed from Season 5 onward for select episodes (usually season finales). |
| 146 | ** "No Sanctuary" - Morgan returns after a two season absence and after abandoning his search for Terminus, ends up on the Hunters' trail and by extension Rick's. |
| 147 | ** "Coda" - Morgan finds Father Gabriel's overrun church a few weeks after Rick's group has left it, and finds Abraham's map directing Rick to Washington, D.C. - giving Morgan his first major lead on Rick. |
| 148 | ** "Conquer" - Michonne initially returns her katana to its' place on her wall - but after Pete stole it and killed Reg while trying to kill Rick with it, she begins wearing it full-time again. Meanwhile, a survivor clad in a red poncho has become another walker in one of the Wolves' traps - and graffiti on the car ("WOLVES NOT FAR") implies they're coming for Alexandria. |
| 149 | ** "Start to Finish"[[note]]On initial airing, this was pushed from the end of the episode to the first commercial break of ''Series/IntoTheBadlands'' to allow the latter series to piggyback off of ''TWD'''s ratings[[/note]]: Daryl, Sasha and Abraham are stopped by a group of bikers and ordered to surrender their weapons to a man named Negan. The most terrifying villain in ''Walking Dead'' history is well on his way. |
| 150 | ** "Hearts Still Beating" - [[spoiler:The mysterious figure earlier seen spying on Rick and Aaron is shown having made their way to Alexandria]]. |
| 151 | ** In ''Red Machete'', an unknown survivor takes the machete that was one of Rick's signature weapons during Seasons 5 and 6 from where it was left. The implication is that the survivor was [[spoiler:Alpha, who later used the weapon during the pike massacre.]] |
| 152 | * StrongGirlSmartGuy: Rosita and Eugene. She's a tough and resourceful ActionGirl; he's a highly intelligent NonActionGuy. Even after Eugene [[TookALevelInBadass steps up his game later in the series]], they're still very much this trope. |
| 153 | * SuicideByCop: Gordon, a minor Savior, simply refuses to come back to [[spoiler:[[WretchedHive The Sanctuary]] even when [[TheDragon Dwight]] has him at gunpoint. Dwight [[MercyKill shoots him in the back]], causing him to reanimate.]] |
| 154 | * SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: |
| 155 | ** Automobiles are no longer used as of Season 9. After years of an apocalypse, what fuel is left has evaporated or gone bad and cars are no longer functional (doubly so after the second time skip, which places the show 10 years into the apocalypse). Horses and carts are the main means of transport, as they don't require expensive and degradable fuels and for the most part, are very quiet. “Scars” amusingly shows a horse-drawn cart made out of the shell of a car. The only motorized vehicles remaining are those that can run on ethanol, such as motorbikes. Ethanol can be made from corn, which isn't difficult to grow. |
| 156 | ** In "Days Gone Bye", Rick fires a gun in a tank and spends about the next minute stunned with a loud ringing in his ears. Also an aversion of SteelEardrums. In Season 3, he remembers this, and asks Michonne and Carl to cover their ears before he kills some walkers at close range with his python. |
| 157 | ** In "This Sorrowful Life", Merle successfully hotwires a car. Then the alarm goes off, attracting a bunch of walkers. |
| 158 | ** In "Welcome to the Tombs", the Governor's impromptu army attacks the prison, blowing up guard towers with a grenade launcher and shredding walkers with machine guns. Then, the moment they're fired upon, [[AttackAttackRetreatRetreat they react how you'd expect]] [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere a barely-trained, inexperienced group of people to react.]] |
| 159 | ** Rick did the right thing in pleading for The Governor and his militia to join the prison community, but [[spoiler: some people, like The Governor, are too selfish to change their ways, and it results in Hershel and many more getting killed.]] |
| 160 | ** Tyreese [[spoiler: refusing to kill Martin, as well as the group voting to not finish off any survivors of the Terminus battle, results in a group of psychopathic cannibals on their trail.]] |
| 161 | *** Speaking of Terminus...[[spoiler: putting up signs inviting any and everyone during the apocalypse predictably leads to bad people showing up to take advantage]] |
| 162 | ** A single second of distraction ''will'' kill you, [[spoiler: ask Tyreese.]] |
| 163 | ** Some people just aren't cut out to survive in the new world. Rick cites this as the reason he didn't kill Carter when he tried to lead a coup against him, saying he'll probably get killed soon anyway. [[spoiler: He's proven right literally the next day.]] |
| 164 | ** Carol is one of the toughest members of the group, in terms of doing what needs to be done. But, when she goes up against the larger, stronger [[spoiler: Morgan]] in hand to hand combat after losing her weapons, she does as well as you would expect the much slimmer woman to do and [[spoiler: she gets knocked out]] |
| 165 | ** When [[spoiler:Rick meets up with [[TheBusCameBack Morales]] (who is now a Savior), you would expect a bigger role for the latter, right? Nope, Daryl still arrives a shoots an arrow into Morales's eye, instantly killing him. Just because he was a returning character from Season 1, it doesn't excuse the face that he joined the bad guys, and is just like every other Savior that needs to be killed]]. Even Rick acknowledges this, though both men are visibly saddened that their former comrade turned traitor. |
| 166 | -->'''Daryl:''' I know who it was. Don't matter. Not one little bit. |
| 167 | ** If you don’t clearly outline your objectives and boundaries before going into a conflict, it will lead to a lot of floundering, infighting, and general problems. It was apparently never established to Jesus that the Savior War was one of extermination, thus he takes numerous Saviors as POW’s and strains Hilltop’s already low supplies providing for them. At least five Alexandrians also openly deviate from Rick’s plan, and it almost causes the heroes to lose the war. |
| 168 | ** Rick and Michonne decide to honor [[spoiler:Carl's]] dying wishes and lead the communities into a new era of peace. While they are largely successful and enjoy unprecedented prosperity, there is still a ''lot'' of leftover resentment that people have either struggled or failed to properly deal with. Their choice to [[spoiler:spare Negan]] also creates a lot of problems, since numerous people still want him dead, and some holdouts seek to return their former despot to power. Much of early Season 9 revolves around Rick and Michonne realizing that their idealistic approach is ''not'' working as well as they had hoped. |
| 169 | ** The pike massacre of late Season 9 surely was only an invitation for the communities to mount a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, right? Wrong. With Alpha having a positively monstrous horde at her command and one of the communities on the verge of collapse from failing crops and infrastructure, and the remaining communities simply not having the numbers or weapons to deal with such a horde... they are forced to accept it, obey Alpha's orders, and simply hope that she doesn't change her mind. |
| 170 | * SurprisinglySuddenDeath: |
| 171 | ** [[spoiler: Tyreese's]] death comes as a major shock as [[spoiler: fellow main cast member Beth had just died the episode prior.]] |
| 172 | ** [[spoiler: Glenn perishes in the Season 7 premiere, and while he dies almost exactly like he does in the comics, it comes as a surprise as Abraham had already taken his place as the victim of Negan's selection, and that Glenn had been OutOfFocus for several episodes.]] |
| 173 | * SwipeYourBladeoff: Michonne's method of cleaning her katana. She is first seen doing it in "Beside The Dying Fire", and continues to do so in almost every fight with walkers afterwards. |
| 174 | * SwordAndGun: [[spoiler:Merle]], who appears in the third season wielding a gun in one hand and, for his other arm ([[LifeOrLimbDecision sans hand]]), a [[BladeBelowTheShoulder bayonet attachment.]] |
| 175 | * SwordDrag: The Governor does this [[ShovelStrike with a shovel]] in "Prey", while he's hunting [[spoiler:Andrea]] through a dark, empty building. Serves to demonstrate that while his quarry is desperately trying to avoid making any sound, he's [[SoMuchForStealth not afraid to give away exactly where he is]] (partly because he also has a gun). |
| 176 | * TheTalk: When Carl discovers his mother is pregnant, they discuss it a little and it suddenly occurs to her that she and Rick never had an opportunity to give him this. Carl looks to Dale and Andrea in confusion, and they quickly insist that it's something his father needs to tell him. |
| 177 | * TanksButNoTanks: Anyone familiar with tank warfare might spot that the tanks are the wrong nationality -- British Chieftains in Atlanta? |
| 178 | * TastesLikeChicken: In the ''Talking Dead'' episode following the fourth season finale, Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes' actor) is a guest, and discusses the scene with the Claimers [[spoiler:where he rips out the leader's throat with his teeth]]. When setting up the scene, he's asked by the effects team which kind of meat he'd like for spitting out [[spoiler:to simulate the flesh ripped out of the leader's throat]], beef or chicken, and going with reasoning of this trope he says chicken. He mentions this was a poor decision on his part, given the specifics of the scene. |
| 179 | * TeamDad: Rick is the leader and authoritarian of the group, while Dale is the more nurturing example. [[spoiler:Following Dale's death,]] Hershel takes up this role. [[spoiler: After Hershel's own death]], Rick becomes the full-time TeamDad. |
| 180 | * TheTeaser: Each episode opens with one of these. It's usually either a {{flashback}} to past events or a moment InMediasRes, with the rest of the episode depicting HowWeGotHere. |
| 181 | * TemptingFate: |
| 182 | ** Rick's reassurance to the horse that the zombies are few and slow and they can flee them easily. Cue OhCrap moment. |
| 183 | ** Also Rick's reassurance to Glenn involving Maggie. "It's not like she's going anywhere." Somebody should tell him that you ''never'' say that sort of thing in this sort of genre. Though they're separated in late Season 4, ultimately, [[spoiler: Maggie outlives Glenn.]] |
| 184 | ** When Glenn sees Hershel walking in the courtyard with crutches in "Killer Within", he says, "Can't we just have one good day?" A few seconds later, walkers come pouring into the courtyard, forcing everyone in the immediate vicinity to run for it. |
| 185 | ** Abraham starts drinking from a flask of booze in "Them", and it's pointed out that intoxication is the last thing the group needs in their dire situation. Eugene says he doesn't know if things can get any worse, and (as Rosita even notes) of course they do... |
| 186 | ** Rick boasts to Michonne that "the world is ours, we know how to take it" in late Season 6. Shortly afterward, Negan arrives and proves that Rick has become ''way'' too overconfident, to say the least. |
| 187 | ** During the Savior War, it's PlayedForDrama particularly with Ezekiel. He declares that the Kingdom will suffer no casualties during their attack on Gavin's outpost, but is secretly terrified with every second that he will be proven wrong, knowing damn well he's invoking this trope. By the end of "Monsters", it looks like the Kingdom has successfully taken the outpost without a single casualty, and Ezekiel is on the verge of tears, completely in shock that they've seemingly won... [[spoiler:then the Saviors deploy a huge mounted heavy weapon that mows down almost all of the Kingdom's forces in seconds, removing a vast majority of AHK's troops.]] |
| 188 | ** The fair at the end of Season 9 is another big example where the survivors ''know'' they are walking into danger, but push forward nonetheless due to needing the fair to revitalize the Kingdom. Most of "The Calm Before" has a lot of lighthearted fun, touching reunions and the communities reaffirming their vows to protect and support one another. However, Alpha, who has infiltrated the fair, is having none of it and [[spoiler:massacres ten survivors, including a community leader and the son of the king and queen, to punish them for living differently than her cult and for crossing into her land.]] |
| 189 | * TerrifyingPetStoreRat: The unlucky rat that gets fed to a walker early in Season 4 doesn't struggle or resist being carried, even when held by its tail (which ''hurts''). Any actual wild rat would be squirming and biting like mad to escape a human's grasp, even ''before'' it smelled a walker nearby. |
| 190 | * ThatCameOutWrong: |
| 191 | ** Lori says this word-for-word after saying that [[LesYay she'd rather eat Miss Piggy]] than frog legs. |
| 192 | ** Rick has one of these when he tells Shane that he wouldn't understand his plan to go to CDC because Lori and Carl aren't his family, when it was Shane that took care of them while he was gone. |
| 193 | ** When Maggie finds Glenn with condoms (he grabbed them in a hurry to hide the pregnancy tests he got for Lori), she enjoys watching him squirm as she turns anything he says against him just to screw with him. Then she offers to have sex with him. |
| 194 | ** Dr. Pete Anderson, upon officially meeting Rick in Season 5, offers to take a look at him if he comes by his place. After a beat, Pete admits it would've sounded better if he mentioned that he was a doctor ''first''. [[note]]Considering the man is a DomesticAbuser, this is pretty much the only genuinely light-hearted moment we get with the guy[[/note]] |
| 195 | * ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: |
| 196 | ** Rick on Dan in his PapaWolf moment. First, he [[TranquilFury calmly]] cut him open from groin to sternum and then proceeded to stab him numerous times without haste. And stab him more. And some more. Dan was probably dead after first or second strike. |
| 197 | ** The group is more than pleased to [[spoiler: messily slaughter the cannibalistic Hunters after they nearly killed and ate them. Rick cuts Gareth open with his machete that he promised to kill him with (Gareth's ribcage is clearly visible afterwards), Abraham reduces one cannibal's head to mush with the butt of his rifle, Michonne smashes in Theresa's face with her own rifle (who was lucky it was a OneHitKill), and then we get to Sasha (whose boyfriend Bob already lost a leg to the cannibals). There was more of Martin left on Sasha's knife than his body!]] |
| 198 | ** The psychotic gang known as the Wolves hack their victims to pieces with axes and scythes, and ''keep'' hacking long after their victims are dead. |
| 199 | ** [[spoiler: Negan beats Glenn and Abraham's heads to a bloody pulp, and keeps swinging ''long'' after they die.]] |
| 200 | * TheseQuestionsThree: During Rick's SanitySlippage in Season 3, he hallucinates Jim asking him how many people he killed and explains the reasons why. In Season 4, this evolves into three questions ("How many walkers have you killed?", "How many people have you killed?", and "Why?") that the group asks prospective members before allowing them to join the prison community, and they continue to infrequently use the questions afterwards. The following people have been asked the questions: |
| 201 | ** Clara - "Eddie killed them all," "Just me," "You don't get to come back." |
| 202 | ** Sam and Ana |
| 203 | ** Bob Stookey - "A couple dozen," "Only one," "She asked me to." |
| 204 | ** Father Gabriel - "Not any, actually," "None," "Because the Lord abhors violence." |
| 205 | ** Aaron - "A lot," "Two," "Because they tried to kill me." |
| 206 | ** Dwight - "A couple dozen at least," "None," "Because if I did, there'd be no going back." |
| 207 | ** Siddiq - "237," "One," "The dead tried to kill him, but they didn't." |
| 208 | * TheseusShipParadox: As of the end of season 9, there's nobody left from the main cast of the first season.[[note]]Norman Reedus (Daryl) and Melissa [=McBride=] (Carol) do span the entire series, but they were credited as recurring in season 1 ([=McBride=] technically didn't join the main cast until season 4).[[/note]] |
| 209 | * ThickerThanWater: Merle and Daryl Dixon, especially Daryl's attitude towards Merle. Later, Ron Anderson still loves his father Pete despite being the victim of his domestic abuse. |
| 210 | * ThrowAwayGuns: Averted most of the time. However, there are some exceptions: |
| 211 | ** Merle's rifle and handgun don't appear after the episode "Guts". |
| 212 | ** The revolver Carl learned to shoot in "Secrets" is never seen again. |
| 213 | * ThrowABarrelAtIt: Oscar throws a barrel at [[spoiler: Andrew]] to stop his attack on Rick in "Killer Within". |
| 214 | * TigerByTheTail: In season five, the Atlanta Police Department and the surviving doctors of the main hospital have created a system where they "rescue" people but force them into servitude to pay their weight. The leader of the cops, Dawn, seems to realize it's gone too far but can't stop it without risking a mutiny. |
| 215 | * TimeSkip: |
| 216 | ** The first third season episode "Seed" takes place seven months after the ending of "Beside The Dying Fire", during which time the various characters have changed physically and psychologically (Carl has grown longer hair and much more capable in combat, and Hershel has grown a beard, among others). The episode also conveniently glosses over how they managed to make it through the winter with no secure shelter, no food except what they could scavenge, and nothing but the thin and light clothes on their backs. |
| 217 | ** According to Executive Producer Scott M. Gimple on ''Talking Dead'', there was "six or seven months" between the end of Season 3 and the start of Season 4. |
| 218 | ** Two weeks pass between the fifth mid-season finale, "Coda", and "What's Happened And What's Going On". Another week passes by the time the following episode, "Them" rolls around. |
| 219 | ** Two months pass between Season 6 episodes "No Way Out" and "The Next World, giving time for Alexandria to recover from the herd invasion, as well as for Carl to recover from [[spoiler: losing his eye.]] |
| 220 | ** Approximately 18 months pass between the end of Season 8 and the beginning of Season 9. We get another time skip of six years after [[spoiler: Rick's supposed death]] where Judith is now a pre-teen. |
| 221 | ** Several months pass between “The Calm Before” and “The Storm”, enough for Rosita, who was already a bit along, to have grown a large baby bump. Several more months pass between Seasons 9 and 10, enough for Rosita to have had her baby Coco and to have lost the pregnancy weight she gained. |
| 222 | * TitleDrop: Expect the episode names to be uttered by any of the characters within the episode. The series title is dropped by Rick midway through the fifth season as the group takes refuge in a small barn and he gives a Churchillian speech on how they have to do what they have to do before they get to live. |
| 223 | ** [[spoiler: the series title is also mentioned once more in the series finale, by Daryl Dixon when he mentions that the real enemy isn't The Walking Dead.]] |
| 224 | * TokenEvilTeammate: |
| 225 | ** Shane in the second half of Season 2, due to his resentment of Rick and being phased out by Lori. |
| 226 | ** Merle Dixon, when he's with his brother Daryl's group. |
| 227 | ** Carol in the later seasons. Her loyalty is still to Rick and the the group, but she gradually becomes even more ruthless - and proactive about it - than Shane was. |
| 228 | ** Gregory is the leader of Hilltop Colony, a community allied with Alexandria, but he's so cowardly, selfish and ignorant that he cannot be trusted. |
| 229 | ** The Scavengers, a group of crazed people living in a junkyard, are the only morally questionable group in the Alexandria-led coalition against the Saviors. [[spoiler: They eventually betray the group to Negan.]] |
| 230 | ** While not evil, Magna is the most disagreeable member of her group and is the worst team player, possessing a serious self-destructive streak that even drives a wedge between her and her girlfriend Yumiko. |
| 231 | * TokenMinority: |
| 232 | ** At first, the cast seems to have a quota of one black male on the heroes' team at any one time; no more, no less. T-Dog is killed in "Killer Within," the same episode where Oscar officially joins the group. Oscar is then shot and killed in "Made to Suffer," the same episode where Tyreese is introduced. Starting with Season 4, the quota seems to have increased to two black males, as Bob Stookey joins the group without Tyreese dying. In Season 5, Gabriel Stokes joins the group around the time Bob dies, Tyreese dies shortly after Noah joins, and Morgan replaces Noah a few episodes after ''his'' death. Finally averted in Season 6, where Heath and Scott are introduced without any other black men dying to make room for them. |
| 233 | ** Morales from Season 1 was the only relevant Hispanic who had ever been a part of Rick's group until Rosita Espinosa joins in the second half of Season 4. |
| 234 | ** Dr. Caleb Subramanian from the prison flu arc is the only Indian to have appeared on the show. |
| 235 | ** As of the end of Season 6, Glenn is the only Asian that has ever been a part of Rick's group, though several others (Tim from Woodbury, Tanaka at Grady Memorial, Kal at Hilltop, and Jiro the Savior) have appeared. |
| 236 | ** Season 8 introduces Siddiq, a Muslim-American medical resident who later becomes Alexandria's chief medical officer. |
| 237 | ** Season 9 introduced a new group of characters into the storyline, including black sisters Kelly and Connie, and Yumiko, a half-Japanese, half-white woman. |
| 238 | * ToneShift: While the series has never been sunshine and rainbows, Tony and Dave, two members of a large, hostile and armed group of roaming survivors, arrive in mid-season 2 and shake the group to the core, as Hershel's fears were proven true - that walkers aren't the only things the group has to worry about. This (coupled by Shane's gradual FaceHeelTurn) marked the point in the series when hostile human survivors became the definitive main antagonists of the series. |
| 239 | * TooDumbToLive: |
| 240 | ** Even when you're having a feast, ''always'' watch the perimeter. Taking active measures to prepare a defensible area instead of acting like it's just another camping trip in a normal world, where the biggest concern is a wild animal wandering into camp or some drunken idiot crashing the party, is a good idea, too. |
| 241 | ** In a flashback soldiers are too busy executing hospital staff to watch the doors behind them. |
| 242 | ** Andrew in the Webisodes: walking alone, without a flashlight, into a dark basement, during a ZombieApocalypse. The crunch followed by the scream was no surprise. |
| 243 | ** Randall jumps off a high wall without properly looking at what's below, and gets his leg impaled on a spiked fence. He would have bled out or become zombie food if Rick didn't decide to help him. |
| 244 | ** Andrea had a fantastic opportunity to steal or disable the Governor's truck, but blew it off in favor of escaping on foot. |
| 245 | ** [[spoiler: Meghan, the Governor's adopted daughter]] is hit hard by this. Despite nearly being killed by Walkers twice over, she's no more attentive than she is if she was watching TV before the apocalypse. Due to this, she plays in the dirt, accidentally un-buries a walker, and is bitten and infected. |
| 246 | ** Rick, Carl, and Michonne come across a man screaming for help in an open field. Despite a clear path in one direction (which also happens to be towards them, though they never make their presence known), he just stands there ineffectually swinging it at the zombies that devour him. |
| 247 | ** PlayedForDrama with Sam. He has never been exposed to the horrors of the walker-infested world and thus begins losing his sanity when Alexandria's defenses are breached by outside threats. He spends several days moping in his room, drawing pictures of himself getting EatenAlive (thanks to Carol's threat), refusing to come downstairs, and worst of all his mother isn't helping him cope with it. He ends up being nothing but TheLoad [[spoiler:when the herd invades Alexandria]], completely shutting down and not complying with his mother's instructions to help. Sure enough, the poor kid suffers a complete mental breakdown when they try to sneak through the herd, [[spoiler:leading to his own death as well as his mother and brother, and finally Carl losing an eye.]] |
| 248 | * TookALevelInBadass: |
| 249 | ** Andrea, in "Chupacabra"/"Secrets". At the end of "Chupacabra", she successfully lands a headshot on [[spoiler: Daryl]] with a hunting rifle at with barely any practice or training. The next episode, she proves to be just as much a natural with a pistol. |
| 250 | ** In "Seed", the entire group has become a much more cohesive unit than the previous time they were seen (seven months earlier, in "Beside The Dying Fire"). The rest of the group (Carl, Beth, and Carol) have learned how to shoot well and conserve their ammo, they're able to clear houses without any form of verbal communication, everyone is able to stab walkers in the head without freaking out, and they've learned how to clear infested areas while moving in a distinct offensive setup. |
| 251 | ** "When the Dead Come Knocking" offers some great perspective on the levels in badass taken by the group; Merle had ruled out the prison as an area that could be salvaged. The news that just ''ten'' survivors could have cleared out and secured the area comes as an unwelcome shock to both himself and the Governor. |
| 252 | ** Carl in the third season. He's become much more capable with a handgun (that's equipped with a silencer), and often goes on tasks by himself, even when others chew him out for it. In "Sick", he goes to the medical wing of the prison and singlehandedly kills two walkers to get supplies for Hershel, and in "Made to Suffer", he goes by himself to investigate the screaming, and helps Tyreese and his group get back to the safety of the secured cellblock. Tyreese even addresses Carl as "the man" when the latter locks the former's group in for their own protection. |
| 253 | ** In the first half of the fourth season, Lizzie quickly learns how to handle weapons, and not just against walkers. |
| 254 | ** Beth takes a level in Season 4's "Too Far Gone", opening fire on the Governor's forces following [[spoiler: Hershel's execution]] and taking an active part in the ensuing battle. |
| 255 | ** Carol, also, sometime during their stay at the prison. This is especially evident during the Season 5 premiere. |
| 256 | ** The Alexandrians as a whole take a huge level during the course of Season 6 as they get experience dealing with outside threats and ultimately become part of Rick's extended family when they join him in the battle against the herd. A few episodes later, they immediately jump on board with Rick's proposal for a preemptive strike on the [[spoiler:Saviors]]. |
| 257 | ** Father Gabriel, in Season 6. Far from the timid, frightened priest we started with, he's now killing walkers with a machete and saying prayers as he shoots down [[spoiler:Saviors.]] |
| 258 | ** The minor Alexandrians like Tobin, Francine, Scott, and Eric all take one as they start joining the frontlines against hostile human survivors in late Season 7, after previously refusing to join battles. |
| 259 | ** After being a poor shot for the duration of the show, Michonne trains herself to become a much better shot, especially as due to death and extenuating circumstances, the group loses some of its' key snipers. |
| 260 | ** After learning that Eastman's absolutist philosophy against killing humans will not work in the apocalypse, Morgan becomes a much more lethal opponent in battle. |
| 261 | ** After the time skip in the Season 9 episode "What Comes After", we get a glimpse of a roughly 10-year-old Judith, who manages to deliver several headshots to an undead herd with a revolver and saving a group of survivors in the process. |
| 262 | ** The season 9 time skip also shows that Eugene has taken a level himself. It's surprising to contrast the cowardly liar who avoided getting involved in conflicts and relied on others to protect him, with the guy who is shown calmly head-stabbing walkers without hesitation. |
| 263 | * TookALevelInJerkass: |
| 264 | ** Shane in the latter half of Season 2. |
| 265 | ** Rick himself in the [[spoiler:Season 2 finale, after killing Shane.]] He gets over it at the end of Season 3 when he returns to his NiceGuy self. However, he fully embraces his AntiHero status in the finale of Season 4, but this doesn't make him anymore of a jerkass to his family. He does give a seriously hard time to the inexperienced Alexandrians, but when they prove themselves, he dials it back a few notches. |
| 266 | ** Carl in Season 3, to the point of possibly prematurely growing to a teenager's mindset. He gets over it for the most part in Season 4. |
| 267 | ** Ron started out as a friendly teen who was excited to meet Carl. However, after the death of [[spoiler:his father Pete at Rick's hands]], he becomes a murderous, slimy asshole who can do nothing but grimace like he's going to throw up and [[spoiler:tries on more than one occasion to kill Rick and/or Carl before getting killed.]] |
| 268 | ** Rosita was devastated by [[spoiler: Abraham cruelly dumping her to chase after Sasha and never looking back, and his subsequent demise before they could make any sort of peace.]] She becomes a much more cantankerous, foul-tempered person in Season 7. |
| 269 | ** Following the Season 9 time skip, Michonne has become aggressively isolationist, distrusting all newcomers, over-riding Alexandria Council decisions (such as refusing to allow a delegation to attend the Kingdom's trade fair) in the interest of security, and refusing to allow aid to the other communities in the name of protecting Alexandria alone. The flashback events of "Scars" reveal that [[spoiler: an old friend of Michonne's infiltrated Alexandria with a band of children in order to steal their supplies and kidnap their kids]], which is implied to be the root cause for Michonne's behavior. However, she mellows her stance by the end of that same episode, and "The Calm Before" has her re-embracing the other communities. |
| 270 | * TookALevelInKindness: |
| 271 | ** Daryl's positive CharacterDevelopment serves as a counterpoint to everyone else's descent into cynicism. |
| 272 | ** When Rick proves himself as a good man who wants nothing but the safety and betterment of his people, Hershel develops complete, UndyingLoyalty to him and warms to the rest of the group as well, even becoming the TeamDad. It's very clear he sees Rick and Carl in particular as his son and grandson by Season 4, in stark contrast to how he kept pressuring Rick to leave his property in early Season 2. |
| 273 | ** Michonne goes from TheStoic who can muster nothing but a DeathGlare to everyone to one of the warmest, friendliest survivors. She even becomes TheHeart towards the middle of Season 5 and [[spoiler:gets together with Rick in Season 6.]] |
| 274 | ** After [[spoiler: Eugene's lie is exposed,]] Abraham becomes a much more level-headed man and far less volatile than he'd been previously. |
| 275 | ** After suffering from SanitySlippage in Season 5, Sasha recovers and regains her sanity and mellows out enough to even [[spoiler:find romance with Abraham.]] |
| 276 | * TooMuchInformation: In Season 5's "Self Help", Abraham and Glenn have a moment, where Abraham praises Glenn for staying with him and staying true to his word that he would help him get Eugene to Washington, D.C. Abraham then ends the conversation by declaring he's going to get himself some ass. Glenn says, to the awkward silence, "More than I really needed to know, but okay." |
| 277 | * TrailersAlwaysLie: |
| 278 | ** Season 5's trailer set it up to look like Abraham was addressing the group as well as Gareth in his plan to go to Washington; it also made it look as if the group would be forced to join up with Gareth's. [[spoiler:In reality, Abraham was only addressing the group and [[BigBadWannabe Gareth dies in only the third episode after trying to attack the group]].]] |
| 279 | ** Season 6's trailer heavily played up a potential rivalry and face-off between Rick and Morgan. However, they only begin butting heads towards the end of Season 6. Instead, it's ''Carol'' who gets into a big feud with Morgan for most of Season 6. |
| 280 | ** Season 9 Episode 6’s preview teases that the walkers are evolving into more intelligent threats capable of speech. [[spoiler: They’re humans wearing zombie masks, called The Whisperers, though if you had read the comics, you wouldn't have bought it from the first trailer they were teased in.]] |
| 281 | * TrailersAlwaysSpoil: |
| 282 | ** The trailers showed both the wasteland of UsefulNotes/{{Atlanta}} with radio transmissions warning people away and shots of Rick getting shot down by gunmen. The truth about Atlanta was only revealed about halfway through. |
| 283 | ** Double subverted -- Rick getting shot actually happened twice. The first time it hit his jacket and the second time it puts him into a coma. Viewers who thought they'd been spoiled by the trailers ''or'' the comic actually had their expectations blown away, along with bits of Rick's shoulder and lung. |
| 284 | ** The Season 4 episode "Dead Weight" ended with a cliffhanger of [[spoiler: the Governor]] standing in the woods, un-spotted by any of the prison group, pointing a gun at [[spoiler: Michonne]]. The immediately following OnTheNext segment ruined this by showing [[spoiler: Michonne]] alive during the [[spoiler: prison battle]]. |
| 285 | ** Pretty much every major plot point was known before "Last Day on Earth" - namely that [[spoiler: Negan arrives, captures the group, and kills one of them. We don't learn who it was in the episode, as the show runners refused to in order to gain more ratings for the Season 7 premiere.]] |
| 286 | * TrashTheSet: A recurring element of the series. |
| 287 | ** In "TS-19", [[spoiler: the Center for Disease Control and Prevention]] self-destructs via a thermobaric incendiary explosion as the group flees. |
| 288 | ** Played with in "Beside The Dying Fire". The [[spoiler: Greene family barn]] (and, by extension, [[spoiler: Dale's RV]]) are destroyed, but the [[spoiler: Greene homestead]] remains untouched. |
| 289 | ** In "Live Bait", the Governor returns to the now abandoned and walker-infested Woodbury and burns it down. |
| 290 | ** In "Too Far Gone", much of the prison is destroyed [[spoiler:during the Governor's second assault, mostly thanks to the tank he brings to the fight.]] |
| 291 | ** Terminus is annihilated by Carol in "No Sanctuary." |
| 292 | ** Alexandria takes a pretty large beating in "Start to Finish" and "No Way Out" from the [[spoiler:walker invasion.]] In "How It's Gotta Be", [[spoiler: the Saviors nearly raze Alexandria to the ground with fire bombs.]] |
| 293 | ** The Kingdom falls into disrepair by the end of Season 9 thanks to busted pipes and a large fire, and its' people are forced to take refuge at Hilltop for the foreseeable future. |
| 294 | ** [[spoiler:Hilltop falls during the Battle of Hilltop at the onset of the Whisperer War, forcing its people from both Hilltop and the Kingdom to take refuge at Alexandria. However, the survivors suggest they might rebuild one day.]] Alexandria also takes a beating offscreen during “The Tower”, with much of its infrastructure and amenities ravaged by the Whisperers after they found it deserted. The remainder of Season 10 is devoted to the reconstruction of the town. |
| 295 | * TraumaCongaLine: |
| 296 | ** [[spoiler: 804 for Ezekiel]]. It lasts an entire episode. He loses almost all of his men and is forced to put some of them down, his leg is severely damaged possibly beyond repair, he gets an epic [[ReasonYouSuckSpeech trashing by a Savior that destroys his confidence]], he watches his beloved [[spoiler: tiger Shiva die and is unable to help her]], and when he gets back, he can barely look his people in the eye. |
| 297 | ** Despite growing up remarkably stable thanks to Michonne’s upbringing, Judith begins to feel shaken by the horrors of the Whisperer War, including [[spoiler:hearing of Siddiq’s murder, accidentally killing her first human, coping with Michonne leaving for the foreseeable future, being forced to put down a reanimated Earl, and watching Daryl ruthlessly put down a dying Whisperer without burying her.]] |
| 298 | * TrueCompanions: |
| 299 | ** The survivor group eventually comes to regard each other as this, something which is repeatedly lampshaded throughout Season 3 especially. |
| 300 | -->'''Glenn:''' My blood, my family is standing right here. |
| 301 | ** Deanna notices this in the Season 5 episode "Remember," when she remarks to Rick she never thought that people in Rick's group who come from different backgrounds can become like a family to each other. |
| 302 | * UndeadChild: |
| 303 | ** TheTeaser of the very first episode, "Days Gone Bye", has Rick encountering (and dispatching) a little girl-turned-walker. |
| 304 | ** Later on, this becomes [[spoiler: Sophia's fate.]] |
| 305 | ** [[spoiler: The Governor's undead daughter, Penny,]] in the opening scene of "Say the Word". He keeps her in a broom closet when he's not brushing her hair. |
| 306 | ** [[spoiler: Tyreese]] is chomped twice by a preadolescent walker [[spoiler: who used to be one of Noah's younger brothers]], and dies of blood loss during amputation of the bitten limb. |
| 307 | ** Catching a glimpse of a walker who's about his own size/age is part of what causes [[spoiler: Sam to break down completely (and fatally)]] in "No Way Out". |
| 308 | ** [[spoiler:Henry, Addy, and Rodney are all teenagers who are decapitated by Alpha, and their reanimated heads are put on pikes.]] |
| 309 | * UnderestimatingBadassery: |
| 310 | ** In "Nebraska" and "Triggerfinger", the "Philadelphia boys" (on two separate occasions) believe that Rick, Glenn, and Hershel will roll over and give them what they want. In the first case, it was two guys who underestimated the sheriff with plenty of experience in headshots (and put their weapons down), and in the second, Hershel proves to be a capable shot as well. |
| 311 | ** In "Better Angels", [[spoiler: Shane takes Rick]] out onto a moonlit field in order to kill him because he believes that he is too soft and cannot protect his family. [[spoiler: Rick]] keeps insisting that he won't defend himself and that all will be forgiven if they can both put their weapons down. However, he's just using the conciliatory talk as a ruse to get in close and put his knife to good use, saying he'll protect his family at all costs. |
| 312 | ** In "Sick", [[spoiler:Tomas nearly kills Rick]] by throwing a zombie on top of him. There is a tense standoff afterward, and he clearly didn't expect the other to try anything; he gets a machete to the head for it. |
| 313 | ** When Joe and his gang catch up with Rick, Carl, and Michonne, Joe holds Rick at gunpoint and tells him his plan is to [[DisproportionateRetribution beat]] Daryl to death, [[RapeAsDrama rape]] Carl and Michonne, and shoot Rick [[ForcedToWatch last]]. Joe took the backwards [[GroinAttack groin headbutt]] in stride, but nobody expected Rick to counter the subsequent bear-hug by ripping [[spoiler:Joe's throat open with his teeth.]] This distracts the rest of Joe's gang enough for Michonne to gun down some of them, Daryl to curbstomp another, and Rick to [[AssholeVictim gut the would-be rapist with a hunting knife]]. |
| 314 | ** This goes as far as being invoked in-universe by Rick in fourth season finale, when his group is locked up by Terminus inhabitants. Then plays through when [[spoiler:Carol burns the place down and Rick and the rest of the group slaughter their way free.]] |
| 315 | ** In "Four Walls and A Roof," [[spoiler:Gareth and the Hunters]] wait for Rick to take most of his fighters away from the church they're holed up in before going in, confident that them leaving [[spoiler:a dying Bob]] for them to find has rattled them past the point of effectiveness. Then it turns out, [[spoiler:Rick and the others doubled back immediately, and slaughter Gareth and the others easily]]. |
| 316 | ** The opening scene of "Conquer" has the Wolves confronting [[spoiler:Morgan]], who they seem think is going to be just another poor schmuck that they're about to rob and murder. |
| 317 | ** Goes both ways in the back half of Season 6, when [[spoiler:the Saviors]] threaten Alexandria. Rick believes that they'll be easy enough to deal with, and the [[spoiler:Saviors]] believe Alexandria is a bunch of weaklings who'll go down without a fight. Both sides are completely wrong. |
| 318 | ** In "Who Are You Now", Carol and Henry are ambushed by stragglers from the Saviors, who steal their stuff (including [[spoiler: Carol's wedding ring]]) and seemingly manage to threaten Carol enough that she backs down. Come nightfall, Carol [[spoiler: tracks them all down to a warehouse, covers them in gasoline, and ''burns them all alive''.]] Considering that these guys know ''full well'' what Carol is capable of, they ''really'' should have seen it coming. |
| 319 | * UndyingLoyalty: Most of Rick's group has this to Rick and each other. |
| 320 | ** The Governor has this from his people [[spoiler: until they're scared off by Rick's group after a failed raid. When they refuse to continue his crusade of vengeance, he massacres them. In the following season, The Governor brainwashes a new army with his charming leader persona to the point that they literally fight to the death to wipe out the prison, even after the prison's defenses are destroyed, and the kindly old man The Governor even admitted was a good man is messily executed.]] |
| 321 | * UnequalPairing: Rick/Jessie is fairly {{Squick}}y because he's an aggressive, combat-capable badass and she's a passive, meek Non-Action Girl. |
| 322 | * TheUnreveal: We don't get to see what happened to Noah's family's walled community. We just know it was bad. We get a taste in "JSS" a season later, [[spoiler: when the Wolves invade Alexandria and messily slaughter many of its' citizens, and try to burn it to the ground as well.]] |
| 323 | * UnspecifiedApocalypse: A smaller example. We know that the dead walking again caused the end, but why it started happening is never really discussed. Word of God has even said that he has no plans to explore the reasons either. The season 1 finale suggests it was just another virus that emerged in nature that couldn’t have been foreseen, with Dr. Jenner grimly referring it to humanity’s extinction event. |
| 324 | * UnspokenPlanGuarantee: In "Four Walls and a Roof," Rick goes over the plan to go after [[spoiler:Gareth and the Hunters]] on screen, only for [[spoiler:Gareth et al]] to wait for them to leave before storming the church Rick's group had holed up in. The plan the audience ''didn't'' hear was for Rick [[spoiler:to have his group double back and ambush Gareth in the church]]. |
| 325 | * UnusualEuphemism: |
| 326 | ** "Opting out," which refers to committing suicide. |
| 327 | ** From "Knots Untie": |
| 328 | ---> '''Abraham''' (to Glenn): When you were pouring the Bisquick... were you trying to make pancakes? |
| 329 | ** When Bruce goes out into the woods to take a dump, he refers this as "Sending a fax to Cleveland." |
| 330 | * VillainousBreakdown: |
| 331 | ** The Governor suffers one after [[spoiler:Penny's]] death, locking himself inside his house and ignoring what's going on Woodbury. He does it again after arriving at Martinez's camp, and failing to escape when he sees things are about to go bad. |
| 332 | ** Simon is reduced to a screaming, barely coherent mess when [[spoiler:his assassination attempt on Negan is foiled by Dwight.]] |
| 333 | ** With his army falling by the second thanks to a betrayal he was completely blindsided by, and after Rick reminds him of the death of [[spoiler:Carl]], who he genuinely grieves for, Negan begins crying and gives up swinging at Rick. [[spoiler:Rick non-fatally slits his throat, and Negan sobs that he's seemingly defying Carl's last wishes to spare him.]] |
| 334 | ** This happens to [[spoiler:Jared]] during his final moments, as he's being held against a gate by his ArchEnemy Morgan, he tearfully begs for him to let go when the walkers [[DevouredByTheHorde begin to]] [[EatenAlive eat him alive.]] |
| 335 | ** When [[spoiler:Eugene sabotages the Saviors’s weapons and his army begins crumbling, and especially when Rick brings up Carl, Negan is reduced to a broken, sobbing man who scolds Rick for non-fatally slitting his throat.]] |
| 336 | ** Beta begins losing what little he had of his sanity after [[spoiler:Negan assassinates Alpha]]. He begins cackling maniacally, hearing voices, suffering hallucinations. When confronted by Negan in the FinalBattle, he loses his shit [[spoiler: and is so far gone he happily embraces being devoured by the horde.]] |
| 337 | ** The final arc of the series sees [[spoiler:Pamela]] coping with the loss of her public image as a benevolent leader and it's not pretty, as she quickly becomes more irritable, petty, vain, and goes all the way up to [[spoiler:trying to sacrifice thousands of innocent lives to save herself and her allies.]] |
| 338 | * VillainousLegacy: |
| 339 | ** [[spoiler:Shane]] dies before the second season finale, but Rick is ultimately forced to adopt much of his mentality and pragmatism to become a proper post-apocalyptic leader, greatly informing his mindset for the remainder of the series. |
| 340 | ** [[spoiler:The Governor's death comes at the cost of Hershel, the show's BigGood and the cast's TeamDad, and the loss of the prison]], ultimately leading to the characters moving to a new setting altogether in Virginia. |
| 341 | ** [[spoiler:Negan's cruel murder of Glenn and Abraham]] comes at the midpoint of the series and defines its' second half, with many subplots devoted to the long-term fallout of his actions even after he pulls a HeelFaceTurn. |
| 342 | ** The Whisperers strike a terrible blow to the Coalition which leads to the loss of one of their communities, and the ensuing war with them devastates the Coalition's resources and leaves them on the verge of starvation and complete collapse. It leads the Coalition to enter relations with the Commonwealth, setting up the final arc of the series. It's telling that the damage the Whisperers did isn't repaired until the epilogue of the GrandFinale. |
| 343 | * VillainDecay: Taken quite literally. The zombies in the first couple of episodes were much faster, with some even being able to quickly jog after Rick. However, towards later seasons many zombies have decayed and are much slower. This is intentional on the writers' part, and the zombies are still of course dangerous as they keep their main advantages: numbers and requiring brain damage. Underestimating them is still a ''very'' poor choice, as a slip up ''will'' get you killed, [[spoiler: as Tyreese learned.]] |
| 344 | * VillainWithGoodPublicity: |
| 345 | ** The Governor, to the people of Woodbury [[spoiler:until his gunning down the Woodbury militia in "Welcome to the Tombs" is revealed by the survivor who just barely avoided being killed herself.]] However, he manages it again after [[spoiler:taking control of Martinez's group.]] |
| 346 | ** Negan has this among most of the Saviors who are forming a cult of personality around him. Highlighted when one of the Sanctuary workers even thanks God for him returning to put the Sanctuary back into order after disappearing for a day. |
| 347 | ** The Whisperers revere Alpha as their cult leader who loves them, unaware she's a massive hypocrite who isn't as strong as she claims. Not ''every'' Whisperer loves her, though, as her second major episode sees her put down a challenge for leadership and some Whisperers are shown to be perfectly normal people who don't enjoy her ways [[spoiler:as after her death, we meet Keith, a former Whisperer who hated her and just wants to live a normal life after her demise.]] |
| 348 | ** Downplayed with Sebastian Milton, who still gets treated like a celebrity by the Commonwealth elite but pretty much everybody know he's just a pompous ass, even his mother. |
| 349 | * TheVirus: An interesting version of this trope is [[PlayedWithTrope played with]] in regards to the pathogen that turns people into the walking dead. Unlike traditional versions of this trope, it's implied that everyone is already infected as people will rise regardless of how they die. The zombie bites don't infect you, they just kill you as it's implied and even theorized in universe that it's simply the result of the the zombies bodies and tissues being rotted and full of traditional bateria and disease or there fluids becoming toxic (a bite from a normal person is full of dirty bacteria that could petentially cause gangrene and even death nevermind a walking rotted corpse)and modern medicine and healthcare no longer being an option that causes people to die slowly before reaminating. No one really knows much about the pathogen other than that it infects the brain and stays dormant until you die. They went so far as to indicate "it infects the brain like meningitis." Note that meningitis [[ArtisticLicenseBiology doesn't involve the brain]], but the meninges (the membrane around the brain and spinal cord). |
| 350 | * VomitDiscretionShot: |
| 351 | ** Glenn, when he and Rick hack up a zombie body with an axe and paint themselves with the guts. |
| 352 | ** Jim after becoming infected. |
| 353 | ** Fr. Gabriel Stokes after being rescued by Rick and co. |
| 354 | * VomitIndiscretionShot: |
| 355 | ** Andrea in the second season, courtesy of Daryl seeking payback for her laughing over a mishap he had as a child. |
| 356 | ** Lori throwing up her morning after pills. |
| 357 | ** Andrea again in "Walk with Me", just after she and Michonne discover the crashed Army helicopter. |
| 358 | ** Carl in "After", shortly after he kills three walkers by himself. |
| 359 | ** Fr. Gabriel Stokes in "Strangers" after being rescued by Rick's group. |
| 360 | * WakeUpCallBoss: The confrontation with the Whisperers [[spoiler:which results in the death of Jesus]] in mid-Season 9 reestablishes the walkers as a genuine threat, even in small numbers. After nearly a decade of having been acclimated to fighting slow, predictable walkers, the group must now carefully watch the walkers who may attack them since they may just be psychopaths with knives who can actually fight back. |
| 361 | * WatchingTroyBurn: |
| 362 | ** Hershel and Daryl manage to get a long last look at the [[spoiler: overrun farmstead and burning barn]] in "Beside The Dying Fire". |
| 363 | ** Averted in "Too Far Gone" when Rick tells Carl not to look back as [[spoiler:they flee the burning prison]]. |
| 364 | ** [[spoiler: Rick and co. burning Terminus to the ground is what sets Gareth and its survivors to get revenge on them.]] |
| 365 | * WeUsedToBeFriends: The friendship between Rick and Shane is tense since the outbreak. Shane having slept with Rick's wife in his absence doesn't help. |
| 366 | * WeaponBasedCharacterization: Many characters wield weapons that tell a lot about them. |
| 367 | ** Rick uses a very large, nickel-plated [[HandCannon Colt Python]], showing that he's an idealist (nickel-plated = shining armor) field leader (pistols demonstrate leader, but the size implies he actually uses it. Very much contrasted to Shane's Mossberg 590. He stops using it when he starts going crazy in Season 3, but uses it again when he starts getting his act back together. On occasion, also uses a [[MacheteMayhem machete]], a tool designed for hacking through rainforest undergrowth, i.e. things (or people) that are in the user's way. |
| 368 | ** Dale always has a scoped Remington 700 VLS in his hands, fitting since he is both the lookout, and [[FriendlySniper the one who spends his time watching the others]]. |
| 369 | ** Daryl uses a crossbow, representing his simple, country-folk nature. |
| 370 | ** Like its owner, Shane's [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter Mossberg 590 shotgun]] is incredibly forceful but woefully imprecise. |
| 371 | ** Michonne uses a [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]], demonstrating her foreign nature. |
| 372 | ** CreepyChild Carl uses a pistol with a [[HollywoodSilencer suppressor]], representing how his father struggles to keep his humanity in check by taming the budding sociopath within. |
| 373 | ** Merle’s [[BladeBelowTheShoulder bayonet hand]] symbolizes the fact that he himself has become little more than a tool for the Governor. Notably, he loses the bayonet at the same time he is betrayed by the Governor and reunited with his MoralityPet Daryl. |
| 374 | ** The Governor uses a Steyr AUG A1, a bullpup weapon whose design makes it look like it's skulking behind the shooter's arm, giving it a unique, villainous appearance. |
| 375 | ** Morally-conflicted GentleGiant Tyreese uses a hammer, which can be used both to destroy and to create. |
| 376 | ** Carol’s snub-nosed pistol is small, unassuming, and easily concealed, much like its owner. Also, it’s a revolver, just like Rick’s gun, but in a tiny package that is no less deadly. For melee, she carries a sentry knuckle knife, which also highlights her concealed lethal nature. |
| 377 | ** Sasha initially uses a [[ShovelStrike shovel]], reflecting how she and her original group are always looking to build/find their own place. After the deaths of those closest to her, she begins using a silenced sniper rifle, which is fitting for [[ColdSniper a person who has become detached, cold, and quiet.]] |
| 378 | ** Morgan Jones wields a bo staff, which reflects his newfound sturdiness and opposition to spilling blood. |
| 379 | ** The Wolves use various primitive weapons: knives, [[MacheteMayhem machetes]], axes, spears, and [[MolotovCocktail Molotov cocktails]]. This highlights their primal savagery and brings to mind a composite of various barbarian archetypes such as HornyVikings, TheHashshashin, and [[{{Pirate}} Pirates]]. |
| 380 | ** Owen, the Alpha Wolf, is shown using a [[SinisterScythe sickle]], which, due to its association with TheGrimReaper, is fitting for an OmnicidalManiac. |
| 381 | ** Negan uses "Lucille," a [[BatterUp baseball bat]], which, as a piece of sporting equipment, highlights his playfulness. However, it is also wrapped in barbed wire, demonstrating the violent and brutal side of his nature. |
| 382 | ** King Ezekiel wields a golden SwordCane as his scepter. Like its master, it conceals itself behind a grandiose, over-the-top exterior for the greater good. And, just like King Ezekiel himself, should ''not'' be dismissed as ornamental or harmless. |
| 383 | ** Jerry wields a broad-headed battle axe, which is as grandiose (befitting his position as Ezekiel's right-hand man) as it is powerful (befitting his position as a 6'2, likely 400 lb man with the strength to match). |
| 384 | ** The Whisperers prefer to use knives or spears, which are quiet, easily concealable, and leave their victims intact enough to turn. It also allows them to strike from within the cover of a herd, without alerting the walkers to their actions (which a gun definitely would). |
| 385 | ** After losing his left arm, Aaron replaces it with a prosthetic that allows for different weapon attachments, or even something more mundane like a shovel for simple gardening. It fits how Aaron himself is a jack of all stats, perfectly capable of holding his own in the fires of war while still nurturing and raising Alexandria. |
| 386 | ** Gabriel is in fine form whenever he gets ahold of a sniper rifle (despite having one blinded eye, no less). Like a sniper rifle, Gabriel is quick and ruthless in a fight, and has several times taken his opponents by surprise like a sniper. One could also view Gabriel's proficiency with a sniper rifle as representing a form of God's aid coming from above, like a sniper post. |
| 387 | * WeirdWest: Beginning with homages to the genre in Season 1, to incorporating [[TheWestern Western]] themes and stories in the subsequent seasons. |
| 388 | * WhatHappenedToMommy: A variation. Hershel's wife was infected and [[spoiler: kept in the barn because he believed a cure would be found]]. His wife is eventually [[spoiler: shot in the face by Daryl]] in "Pretty Much Dead Already", proving to him and his family (especially Beth, who tries to cradle the body and almost gets chowed on) that she couldn't have been saved anyway. |
| 389 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: |
| 390 | ** Morgan and his son are the first survivors Rick meets after he wakes up from his coma. They promise to follow Rick to Atlanta later, but when Rick finds that Atlanta has been overrun, he tries to warn Morgan over the radio. However, he is unsure if Morgan heard the warning and his fate is left unknown [[spoiler:until Season 3's "Clear", where he's shown to have become batshit crazy over his son's death. He gets better and joins the group a few seasons later.]] |
| 391 | ** The Morales family decides to split from Rick's group after they decide to go to the CDC, stating that they want to try and find some family members in Alabama. They are never seen or heard from again [[spoiler:until Morales finally reappears in Season 8, having done a FaceHeelTurn and joined the Saviors.]] |
| 392 | ** The Vatos. Their fate was supposed to be revealed in the Season 2 premiere, but wound up on the cutting room floor instead. |
| 393 | ** Sam goes missing after not reporting back to Rick and Carol in Season 4, and doesn't turn up again until the Season 5 premiere, [[spoiler: where he's slaughtered by Terminus.]] |
| 394 | * WhatMeasureIsAMook: Season(s)-long agonizing about [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim the morality of killing a villain]] like the Governor or Negan happily ignores the numberless nameless henchmen who have already been offed without a second thought. In the episode where the AHK alliance finally defeats the latter, a Savior used as a decoy is begging for his life while surrendering, only for Morgan to stab him in his head. |
| 395 | * WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Hershel and his family believe that the Walkers are simply people afflicted with a disease that can be cured, which which is why he refrains from killing them. Rick's group find this belief absurd, since walkers are clearly dead and most have decomposed far beyond the capacity for any miracle cure. Ultimately the farm family comes around. |
| 396 | * WhamLine: |
| 397 | ** From "18 Miles Out": |
| 398 | ---> '''Randall:''' I went to school with Maggie for God's sake! |
| 399 | ** From "Better Angels": |
| 400 | ---> '''Rick:''' [[IKnewIt So this is]] where you're [[MurderTheHypotenuse planning to do it]]? |
| 401 | ** From "Beside The Dying Fire": |
| 402 | ---> '''Rick:''' [[spoiler:We're all infected]]. |
| 403 | ** "Made to Suffer" had two in succession: |
| 404 | ---> '''The Governor:''' There's a traitor among us. [[spoiler: Merle, a man I trusted!]]\ |
| 405 | '''The Governor:''' We also captured one of those terrorists, [[spoiler: Merle's own brother]]! |
| 406 | ** From "Isolation": |
| 407 | ---> '''Rick:''' Did you [[spoiler:kill Karen and David?]]\ |
| 408 | '''Carol:''' [[FlatYes Yes.]] |
| 409 | ** From "Too Far Gone": |
| 410 | ---> '''The Governor:''' [[RedemptionRejection Liar.]] |
| 411 | ** From "Self Help": |
| 412 | ---> '''Eugene:''' [[spoiler: [[AllForNothing I'M NOT A SCIENTIST!]]]] |
| 413 | ** From the two-minute prologue to the second half of season 6: |
| 414 | --->[[spoiler:Your property now belongs to Negan.]] |
| 415 | ** From the season finale of Season 6, whistling. In this case, the whistling comes during Rick's last, desperate attempt to get an [[spoiler: ailing Maggie]] to Hilltop, only to realize when the whistling starts that [[spoiler:the Saviors have caught them.]] |
| 416 | * WhamShot: |
| 417 | ** The last walker coming out of [[spoiler: Hershel's barn]] in "Pretty Much Dead Already". |
| 418 | ** Shane and Randall [[spoiler: reanimating without getting bitten]] in "Better Angels". |
| 419 | ** The "[[spoiler: Duane]] turned" graffiti from "Clear". |
| 420 | ** Andrea [[spoiler: showing her bite wound]] in "Welcome to the Tombs". |
| 421 | ** Tyreese seeing the [[spoiler: trail of spilled blood, leading to him seeing the bracelet of the burned corpse]] in "Infected". |
| 422 | ** [[spoiler: The Governor]] appearing at the end of "Internment". |
| 423 | ** [[spoiler: The Governor executing Hershel]] in "Too Far Gone". |
| 424 | ** Lizzie [[spoiler: killing her sister Mika]], as well as Carol telling her to look at the flowers in "The Grove". |
| 425 | ** Bob [[spoiler: realizing that his left leg is gone]] in "Strangers". |
| 426 | ** Beth [[spoiler: seeing Carol being "rescued"]] in "Slabtown". |
| 427 | ** Beth [[spoiler: attacking Dawn, then the later immediately giving her a fatal counterattack]] in "Coda". |
| 428 | ** The [[spoiler:walker's shadow looming behind Tyreese]] in "What Happened and What's Going On". |
| 429 | ** [[spoiler: A Wolf suddenly slashing down Mrs. Neudermyer with absolutely zero buildup, signifying the beginning of their long-anticipated assault on Alexandria.]] |
| 430 | ** In "No Way Out", [[spoiler:Carl slowly turning around, revealing he's been shot in his right eye]]. |
| 431 | ** A series of these occurs across the span of "Last Day On Earth", as the group slowly realizes that the Saviors are not BigBadWannabe's: they're an ''army'' with vast resources who are now hunting them down. |
| 432 | ** In the season 7 premiere, when [[spoiler: Negan's first victim is shown to be Abraham]]. And later, [[spoiler:him hitting Glenn]]. |
| 433 | ** Carl revealing [[spoiler: his walker bite]] in "How It's Gotta Be". |
| 434 | ** A whole series of them in "The Calm Before", revealing [[spoiler: the identities of the characters that have been decapitated and had their heads placed on pikes. It starts small, with characters we barely had any connection with, and ends with Enid, Tara and Henry.]] |
| 435 | * WhatTheHellHero: |
| 436 | ** Lori chews out the rest the group for their lack of faith in Rick's leadership ability in the early episodes of Season 2, telling them that if they really thought that, they were free to leave at any time. |
| 437 | ** In "Pretty Much Dead Already", Shane [[spoiler: causes the slaughter of Hershel's undead family and friends by releasing them, forcing everyone to open fire while Hershel and his family can only watch]]. After Shane finally spells out [[spoiler: Walkers are inhuman monsters that eat people, an undead Sophia stumbles out of the barn, giving everyone a perspective on what they've just done]]. |
| 438 | ** Daryl verbally lashing out at Carol in "Triggerfinger", though Carol clearly recognizes that this is how Daryl is coping with the situation. |
| 439 | ** Andrea chews out Lori in "18 Miles Out" for not facing the facts that everything is a CrapsackWorld and not a WorldHalfFull, which Lori believes there was still hope in their lives after the bad stuff that happens. |
| 440 | ** Andrea also gives a good one to Dale when he hides her gun in the Season 2 premiere, and for [[spoiler: taking away her choice to stay at the CDC when it blew up.]] |
| 441 | ** Dale spends the vast majority of "Judge, Jury, Executioner" being aghast that the group at large is either receptive or apathetic towards executing a prisoner on the grounds that he's too dangerous to let go, and an unnecessary waste of resources even if they decide to let him into the fold. When he's finally overruled, Dale says that the group is broken and storms off alone. [[spoiler: It ends up being his last words to the group, as he's gutted by a walker a few hours later and is unable to make amends with his friends.]] |
| 442 | ** Subverted in the Season 2 finale "Beside The Dying Fire" when various members of Rick's group are visibly disgusted with him after he admits to [[spoiler: killing Shane before the major zombie attack happened at Hershel's barn]], and Carol outright states that Rick's no longer an honorable man. Rick basically tells them to fuck off, saying that his actions have burdened him, especially since [[spoiler: the person he killed was his best friend]], and that no one else is making any substantial decisions to lead the group. He chews the whole group out for looking to him to make decisions, then endlessly whining about how they don't like the decisions they've demanded he make. Veers into ShutUpHannibal / ShutUpKirk territory as he gives the whole group an ultimatum: do what I say or go your own way. |
| 443 | ** In "This Sorrowful Life", Merle makes his opinion known to Rick after Rick asks him to [[spoiler:deliver Michonne to the Governor in order to get him to call off the attack on the prison]]. He still agrees to do it, though. Though this is not so much an [[spoiler:EvenEvilHasStandards]] moment so much as just Merle being Merle and messing with Rick. |
| 444 | --->'''Merle:''' [[spoiler:(after speculating on what he thinks the Governor will do to her)]] You're willing to do all that for a shot? You're cold as ice, [[CallBack Officer Friendly]]. |
| 445 | ** Subverted with Maggie, [[spoiler:after she learned Carol had been exiled by Rick for killing Karen]]. She doesn't chew out [[spoiler:Rick]] but instead agrees with him over the choice he had to make. |
| 446 | ** Daryl gives Rick a huge one in "The Obliged", regarding how Rick [[spoiler: refused to kill Negan at the end of the Savior War, and then just expected AHK, Oceanside and the remaining Saviors to get along and work together, completely ignoring the fact that ''everyone'' suffered under Negan and the Saviors, and how Rick had promised all of them, especially Maggie, that justice would be delivered with Negan's death. Rick tries to argue the point that taking mercy on Negan and the Saviors is what makes them better people, only for Daryl to hit back with the fact that Rick made that decision alone, without any regard for anyone else's opinion or desires.]] It's especially notable for really being the first time that someone close to Rick has called out his actions as a leader in significant fashion. |
| 447 | * WhosYourDaddy: [[spoiler: "Cherokee Rose", Lori's new pregnancy kicked this off, with Shane being the potential father of Judith]]. In Season 7, Rick tells Michonne he's positive that [[spoiler: Judith is Shane's child.]] |
| 448 | * WhyDontYouJustShootHim: |
| 449 | ** "Sing Me a Song" comes with the most egregious cases so far in the entire run of the show. [[spoiler: After Carl declares he only wants Negan, he stands there, pointing gun at him and doing absolutely nothing for ''half a minute'', utlimately ending up disarmed, instead, you know, shooting the guy]]. It's not that he has a problem about killing other people, as in the process two mooks get mowed down. |
| 450 | ** Subverted at the onset of the Savior War. The AHK strike force consisting of a few dozen capable fighters figuratively knocks on Negan’s door to get him to come outside the Sanctuary. Negan appears and Rick offers his lieutenants a chance to surrender, instead of just shooting Negan the moment he came out the door. The only defense Rick has is that they are buying time for a horde of walkers to be led by Daryl onto the premises to besiege and starve out the bulk of the Saviors’ troops. Otherwise, it comes off as Rick politely agreeing not to end the war in the first episode of Season 8. |
| 451 | * WithThisRing: [[spoiler:Glenn cuts two fingers off a walker, to get an engagement ring for Maggie.]] |
| 452 | * WontDoYourDirtyWork: Spencer tries to get Negan to kill Rick so that he can take over the community. Negan sees right through this, and doesn't like it when people don't have the guts to do their own dirty work. It doesn't end well for Spencer... |
| 453 | * WouldHurtAChild: Dear God, ''Alpha''. More than any other villain in the series so far. We find out early on that she's a highly abusive mother, both physically and verbally. Because of her SocialDarwinist mentality, she effectively [[spoiler: makes a Whisperer mother abandon her crying baby to be devoured by walkers (thankfully, the baby is saved by Connie)]]. But the real clincher comes from [[spoiler: killing Henry, Rodney and Addy (among others), and sticking their heads on pikes to mark the border of her territory]]. Not even ''Negan or the Governor'' would stoop that low. |
| 454 | * {{Yandere}}: [[spoiler: Shane]]. |
| 455 | * YankTheDogsChain: Happens once an episode, with the most notorious one being [[spoiler: the CDC event]]. |
| 456 | * [[YouAreAlreadyDead You Are Already Infected:]] |
| 457 | ** Rick reveals the big secret in which Dr. Jenner told him in the Season 1 finale to the others in the Season 2 finale. [[spoiler: Everyone is infected and will turn into a walker regardless upon death...unless you die by headshot.]] |
| 458 | ** The Governor reveals this to Andrea and Michonne in "Walk With Me", as the duo were not with Rick when he told the same thing to his group. |
| 459 | * YouDidntAsk: A variant with Hershel in the episode "Triggerfinger", in that the lateness of the revelation is pretty minor and inconsequential in this case. Given Hershel's attitude toward guns and killing, Rick had been assuming Hershel didn't know how to use guns and remarks that the gun training they'd been offering "would have come in handy" in their current predicament. Hershel then readies his gun and replies "I can shoot, just don't like to." |
| 460 | * YouHaveFailedMe: |
| 461 | ** [[spoiler: Merle tells the Governor that Michonne is dead in "Say the Word". Two episodes later, when she turns out to still be alive, and kills the Governor's walker daughter, the Governor has Merle arrested as a traitor who aided the "terrorist" attack on Woodbury"]]. |
| 462 | ** ExaggeratedTrope -- after the Woodbury militia's assault on the prison turns into a rout, [[spoiler:the Governor tears after the fleeing amateur "soldiers", runs their car off the road and ''guns down 20-odd people'', then kills Allen when he pulls a gun on him. Even Martinez and Shumpert are horrified.]] |
| 463 | * YouWouldDoTheSameForMe: Glenn's given reasoning behind sticking his neck out to save Rick: he hopes if he ever gets that far up shit creek, someone would do the same for him. Two episodes later, Rick repays the favour. |
| 464 | * ZergRush: The Governor acknowledges that his people aren't anywhere near as skilled and proven as Rick and the Atlanta group, but he has far superior numbers to make up for that fact. |
| 465 | ** This is part of the Whisperers M.O., as they control a ''massive'' horde of walkers that they can unleash upon anyone at any time. In the latter half of Season 10, Beta finally does following [[spoiler:Alpha's death]]. |
| 466 | * ZombieApocalypse: The biological infection version, as revealed in the CDC exposition. |
| 467 | * ZombieAdvocate: |
| 468 | ** [[spoiler: Hershel has a barn full of walkers locked up.]] |
| 469 | ** [[spoiler: The Governor]] keeps his zombie daughter chained up and locked in a closet, except when he's combing her hair. |
| 470 | ** One of the newer survivors that came from Woodbury believes that the Walkers can still listen. |
| 471 | ** Lizzie thinks the zombies are still people, just different. |
| 472 | * ZombieGait: Some of the walkers do this. And [[spoiler: Daryl too, due to his injuries and the ordeal he endured to get back to the farm]]. It results in him being mistaken for a zombie. |
| 473 | * ZombieInfectee: Usually dealt with sanely; affected limb cut off if possible, restrained until death, put down once they turn. |
| 474 |
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