The Walking Dead had many memorable villains, with these eight standing out as the best.
Despite AMC’s The Walking Dead primarily being a zombie show, the undead are surprisingly not the primary threat that the Living face. Through its long tenure of 11 successful seasons, The Walking Dead proves that the true danger in an apocalypse lies with the Living. Other humans proved to be more brutal, sadistic, and calculating than any mindless walker.
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Villains are often designed to be hated and to make the main characters appear lawful and righteous. However, audiences can still admire their characters, and some of the big bads in the series ended up with cult followings, like Negan. The TV show features many antagonists whom Rick and his group of Survivors must face off against, but here are some of the best villains in The Walking Dead AMC series.
Updated August 26, 2023 by Amy Cowley: With the main show The Walking Dead well and truly over and The Walking Dead: Dead City having completed its run of the first season, many fans might be doing a rewatch of the main show or fondly reminiscing as they await the second season and the other spin-offs to begin airing. The Walking Dead truly did deliver some of the best villains to have ever graced the silver screen, and they continued to show up until the end of the show. As such, this list has been given an update to include more of the great villains fans love to hate.
This list includes spoilers
13 The Walkers
No list of The Walking Dead’s many villains would be complete without mentioning the most consistent antagonists of the whole show: the walkers. Although they can be slow-moving, they have maintained a threatening presence from the first season, especially when grouped up in herds.
Walkers have gathered a significant kill count throughout the seasons, causing some of the goriest deaths, like Noah being torn apart in front of Glenn. Many of the show’s best characters have died at the jaws of a zombie or succumbed to the later infection it spreads, like Carl being bitten while helping Siddiq. The final season proves that the undead is still a deadly threat, with the rise of variant walkers that The Walking Dead spin-offs will elaborate upon.
12 The Claimers Group
This notorious motorcycle gang is encountered by Daryl in Season 4 after the group becomes separated following the Governors’ attack on the Prison. The group has a strange set of rules; if someone wants something for themselves, they have to yell “claimed.” Although the Claimers aren’t in the show for very long, they reach a level of depravity and senseless violence that is rarely seen in The Walking Dead.
In the episode titled “A,” Rick, Michonne, and Carl are captured by the Claimers while Daryl is beaten up. One of the Claimers was threatening Carl with an assault that was extremely uncomfortable for audiences to watch. This led to Rick committing one of the most violent acts in the show by ripping out his jugular with his teeth, causing blood to splatter across his face and jacket.
11 The Wolves
Mysterious, primal, and desperate to create an army of the walking dead, The Wolves are an antagonistic group introduced in Season 5 of the show, characterized by a W carved into their foreheads. They relished in the violence of the new world order the zombie apocalypse has created. They used zombies to craft booby traps for anyone unfortunate enough to cross their path.
Season 6 saw The Wolves make their move against Alexandria Safe-Zone, attacking it while Rick and other members of the Survivors were away at the Quarry. They crashed a truckload of zombies into the town, causing havoc among its residents. Morgan had a stark dichotomy with the leader of the Wolves, convinced they could be amicable without bloodshed. Although the Wolves’ leader turned over a new leaf before he died, his group’s senseless lust for violence caused the deaths of many unnamed Alexandrian citizens.
10 Jadis & the Scavengers
The Scavengers, or the Garbage/Trash People as they were sometimes referred to, were yet another faction of survivors that revealed themselves in the seventh season of the show. The Scavengers had an astonishing amount of numbers.
Following the kidnapping of Gabriel and the successful ambush of Rick and the party, Rick impresses Jadis by killing an armored walker, and they agree to join forces to take down the Saviors on the condition Rick and his group deliver weapons. But when the time comes for them to kill the Saviors, it is revealed that it was all a ploy, and the plan goes out with a bang as the Scavengers turn on the group. Though she later changes sides, her earlier acts of villainy make her and her faction stand out as one of the most dangerous.
9 The Reapers
Season 10 brought a brand new hostile faction in the form of the Reapers, a small but organized group that preys on other parties and established settlements under the orders of their ruthless leader called Pope, to whom every Reaper is devotedly loyal. As one might expect with a name like Pope, he is a spiritual man who follows his own twisted doctrine of Christianity.
Despite having small numbers, the Reapers are a threat because of their skill, being able to oppose and subdue larger groups, such as Meridian, the settlement Maggie resided in. Their skills and the deep bonds between the Reapers mean they can effectively coordinate attacks while also giving each of them something to lose. In that regard, this villainous group is the one that is closest to the survivors.
8 Gregory
The Hilltop Colony seemed to have everything going for them. The location had defensible walls and plenty of supplies, but the main caveat was that it was run by the cowardly Gregory, who was always all too eager to please the Saviors, bowing to their every whim and brown-nosing with each visit.
From the very first moment Gregory appeared on-screen, he grated on the nerves of his fans with his demeanor. He seems to look down on Rick and his group, and he also tries to get a little too friendly with Maggie. When tensions with the Saviors rise, Gregory immediately disavows the group, ordering them to leave Hilltop simply so he can save his skin. Leaders of any community should look after their people first and foremost, but with Gregory, it was clear he only ever cared about himself. His comeuppance could not come soon enough.
7 Terminus
Terminus seemed like the perfect new beginning for Rick and his group in Season 4, as there were plenty of signs pointing in its direction on the road to supposed salvation. However, the safe sanctuary of Terminus was a ruse, as it was all a ploy to lure in fresh victims for the people of Terminus to chop up and eat for sustenance.
This cannibalistic group was bloodthirsty, and the new world order made them that way. The Terminus group did have a tragic backstory, as they had fought back against the original leaders of Terminus who abused them. They took revenge on the world by killing and eating humans, which later proved to be their downfall. Gareth and his men kidnapped Bob and ate his leg. Bob revealed that he had been bitten, and they had eaten tainted meat. They definitely got their just deserts!
6 Shane Walsh
Without a doubt, Shane Walsh is one of the best antagonists and villains featured in The Walking Dead. Starting off as Rick’s best friend and fellow officer on the police force, Shane seemed like a good man on first appearances, as he tried to save a comatose Rick when the outbreak began. He even barricaded his hospital room so the dead couldn’t get in.
Sadly, Shane believed Rick to be dead and had an affair with Lori and took care of Carl like his own. Unfortunately, this illusion was shattered when Rick reunited with his family in Atlanta and took it upon himself to become the group’s leader, effectively replacing him. Seeing Rick and Lori back together drove Shane insane with jealousy, and the tension between Rick and Shane grew. Shane’s aggressive behavior and ill-thought-out plans ultimately caused his demise at the hands of Rick.
5 The Commonwealth, Pamela, Sebastian & Lance Hornsby
The latter seasons of The Walking Dead introduced the Commonwealth. Once they were welcomed into the walls of their city, it was like they had stepped into paradise, as the Commonwealth boasted resources the characters had never seen previously, even having forgotten luxuries such as ice cream.
But, the Commonwealth quickly revealed itself to be dystopian beneath the veneer of civility. Police brutality and classism were rampant, with people’s places being based on what they were previous to the outbreak. The acting Governor Pamela worked to keep the autocratic oligarchy in place, and her son Sebastian showed himself to be a brat who, unfortunately, had to be respected and bowed to due to his status. Lance Hornsby was arguably one of the worst of the bunch, his snake-in-a-suit smugness boiling the blood of many fans. The Commonwealth was a villainous force to be reckoned with, and one of the greatest.
4 The Whisperers, Alpha & Beta
Alpha and Beta were the two leaders of the group known as The Whisperers, introduced towards the end of Season 9. Donning the rotten flesh of deceased corpses as disguises, the Whisperers are a nomadic group that kept moving alongside hoards of the dead with no set place they called home.
The Whisperers proved to be a threat to all the surviving communities as they massacred several loved long-term cast members, including Tara and Jesus. Alpha mounted her victim’s heads to spikes to serve as a cruel warning to anyone who threatened to oppose her. Alpha fully embraced the brutalist nature of the apocalypse, as she even abandoned a newborn baby to serve as zombie food because the crying posed a threat.
3 Simon
Though Negan is the main star of the Saviors, his right-hand man Simon is a villain in his own right, left in charge of dealing with Hilltop and gathering their tribute. Simon is a truly sadistic individual who is all too happy to exercise violence against others, seen as too brutal and violent by even Negan.
He serves as one of the primary antagonists in seasons 6, 7, and 8, and takes it upon himself to subjugate the residents of Hilltop following the successful elimination of one of the group’s outposts. He terrorizes Hilltop and Alexandria with fear and brutality. His methods often clash with Negan’s, as he demonstrates even greater blood-thirst than the bat-wielding leader, and thinks the Savior should simply execute all the other factions. With his sadism, unpredictability, and penchant for wanton murder, Simon could even be scarier than Negan as a villain.
2 The Governor
One of The Walking Dead‘s most iconic villains is definitely Philip Blake, aka The Governor. He is a charismatic anti-hero with a savior complex as he brings people into his community, Woodbury. At first, he seems like a great guy when he saves Andrea and Michonne from wandering the wilderness. His sadistic nature is later revealed as he is shown to keep his zombified daughter chained up alongside the reanimated heads of some of his victims.
The Governor committed the most despicable act of violence in the show as he brutally decapitated the moral compass of the Prison group, Hershel Greene, with no hesitation. The farmer’s two daughters, Maggie and Beth, helplessly watched from the sidelines. Many fans cheered while The Governor got his comeuppance, which is the mark of a great villain.
1 Negan
No villain will ever top the complexity of Negan, expertly played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. He was the worshiped leader of the Saviors, as he saved people from the damnation of surviving the zombie apocalypse. He is an egomaniac with a quick wit and heavy sarcasm, making him an ironically likable character despite his dastardly deeds.
From the first minute he appeared on screens in Season 7, audiences knew that Negan would be the cruelest villain on The Walking Dead. Wielding Lucille, his trademark bat swanned in barbed wire, Negan violently murdered two beloved characters, Glenn and Abraham, breaking the hearts of long-time fans. Although he later turned the tables and became a good guy, Negan remains The Walking Dead‘s best villain.
Fuente: successacademy.edu.vn
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