The Walking Dead is no stranger to character deaths, but with so many, it’s intriguing to look at which ones are the most impactful from each of the show’s 11 seasons. Some deaths stand out in the moment, like Abraham’s brutal murder in The Walking Dead season 7 or Lucille’s heartbreaking slow demise in season 10. Others are notable for their long-lasting impact on The Walking Dead, as many characters change the course of the story with their exits.
When considering which Walking Dead deaths are the best, it’s worth looking at each character’s impact on the story and other characters — both while they were alive and after they perished. The frequency of death in The Walking Dead is inevitable, given that it’s about the zombie apocalypse. Naturally, some deaths hold more weight than others in the grand scheme of things.
11 Season 11: Rosita Espinosa
Rosita is the freshest loss for fans of The Walking Dead since she died in the series finale, “Rest in Peace,” after being bitten by a Walker. Rosita entered the show in The Walking Dead season 4, and audiences got to watch her transition from feisty arm-candy to determined fighter and mother. Even though there’s no follow-up to her death, as the series ended, her departure is likely to impact the characters headlining spinoffs like The Walking Dead: Dead City and The Ones Who Live.
Those left behind have emotional responses to losing Rosa, and that will no doubt continue beyond the original series. From Gabriel saying “We’ll see you again someday” to Maggie’s final tearful hug, Rosita’s importance to the other characters is evident. She’ll clearly be missed. Her final moments with Eugene, her best friend, further emphasize her impact. Barely keeping it together, Eugene tells her “I wouldn’t be the man I am today if I hadn’t met you.“
10 Season 10: Alpha
Alpha’s death is welcomed by many, and its impact on the other characters — namely Negan and Carol — can’t be understated. Negan uses Alpha’s daughter, Lydia, to trick her and slit her throat. He then brings her severed head to Carol, who mounts it on a spike. Infiltrating the Whisperers and gaining Alpha’s trust is one of the many actions Negan takes to prove his commitment to the Alexandrians and atone for those he killed.
For Carol, Alpha’s death instigates hallucinations and guilt for all those who died as a result of her actions. These hallucinations take the form of Alpha, and it’s only after Carol admits that she can make amends that this version of Alpha disappears. Needless to say, Alpha’s death leaves its mark on some of The Walking Dead‘s most important characters. It’s also an exciting turn of events for those awaiting her demise.
9 Season 9: Jesus
Jesus is undoubtedly a driving force in The Walking Dead prior to season 9, as he’s the one who introduces Rick’s group to Hilltop. He also releases Maggie and Sasha from Gregory’s cupboard, ultimately spearheading Hilltop’s alliance with Alexandria. Jesus declares that Hilltop is on Maggie’s side in The Walking Dead season 8 when Gregory tries to maintain ties with Negan.
Needless to say, Jesus’ death is a huge part of The Walking Dead‘s narrative beats. He dies at the hands of The Whisperers during their introduction to the show, setting up a terrifying shift in the character and power dynamics viewers had grown accustomed to. Jesus sacrifices himself by taking on what he believes to be Walkers, only to be attacked by Whisperers while off-guard.
8 Season 8: Carl Grimes
From The Walking Dead season 1 onward, Carl grows up before audiences’ eyes. His death hits particularly hard because he’s a fan-favorite, but the way it plays out has even more of an impact than the way he dies. Carl’s detrimental Walker bite is revealed in The Walking Dead season 8’s mid-season finale, and Rick learns about his son during the last scene of the episode. Fans had an agonizing, months-long wait to see what Rick’s next move would be.
Carl’s final acts in the show influence so much of what follows. It leads to Rick sparing Negan, Michonne putting on a brave face for Rick and Judith, and the communities remaining allies after the Saviors are defeated. All of these are requests that Carl’s makes, either in his letters to his loved ones or in conversations with them. It’s because of Carl that Negan is spared, so he’s arguably responsible for Alpha’s defeat and the events of Dead City. This alone highlights how crucial Carl’s final actions are to The Walking Dead.
7 Season 7: Glenn Rhee
Glenn’s character is a constant force pushing The Walking Dead‘s narrative forward from the moment he appears in the pilot and directs Rick away from a Walker horde. His brutal death at the hands of Negan and his bat, Lucille, marks a turning point for The Walking Dead‘s story and for its Maggie vs. Negan plot. After Glenn’s death, the Alexandrians’ behavior shifts to a more timid obedience to the Saviors (at least before they eventually defeat them).
Glenn’s death is one of the most tragic moments of the whole show, and its most notable impact is on Maggie. Maggie is pregnant at the time of Glenn’s death, and loss and vengeance become a key motivator for her actions. She works behind Rick’s back and tries to kill Negan, even going so far as to collude with the Croat in Dead City. None of this would happen without Glenn’s death.
6 Season 6: Deanna Monroe
Deanna isn’t on the same page as Rick and the Alexandrians when she’s first introduced. However, after Alexandria is overrun by Walkers, she accepts her community’s ill-preparedness in a Walker-rampant world and becomes an important ally to the main characters. She eventually serves as a beacon of hope for the future of her community and the Alexandrians.
Once Deanna is bitten in The Walking Dead season 6, she accepts her fate and chooses to stay on her own while the others try to escape the horde. In her final moments, Deanna instills a sense of hope in a doubtful Michonne and metaphorically passes the future plans and the residents of Alexandria to Rick. This leads to Rick’s reign as the leader of Alexandria, making it an extremely important death.
5 Season 5: Beth Greene
Beth’s kindheartedness makes her death all the more painful, as she’s shot on reflex by Dawn in The Walking Dead season 5. However, Beth’s huge heart and compassion leave a lasting impact on The Walking Dead characters. She appears as a reassuring figure in Tyreese’s hallucinations after he loses a lot of blood, as well as in Rick’s flashbacks in The Walking Dead season 7. She’s also present in Maggie’s photos and stories in the later seasons of The Walking Dead and Dead City. This highlights how much of a mark Beth leaves and how much her absence is felt.
4 Season 4: Hershel Greene
From his first appearance in The Walking Dead season 2, Hershel symbolizes the importance of family. After the Governor viciously decapitates him, this core attribute remains. Posthumously, Hershel is a key reminder for Rick that family and balance are necessary in a world too easily consumed by savagery. This is how Rick raises Carl, making him into a mature, caring, and strong person. It’s Hershel’s advice about balance that strikes this chord in Rick. This is clear from one of Rick’s hallucinations in The Walking Dead season 9, during which he talks to Hershel, who guides him to keep going.
3 Season 3: Lori Grimes
Lori’s Walking Dead death is particularly gruesome because it involves a roughly 13-year-old Carl euthanizing his own mother after she undergoes a difficult and bloody birth. As anyone would expect, losing her takes an immense toll on Rick, leading him to have hallucinations of her later on. Additionally, Carl is forced to grow up and take on a more significant role in the care of his newborn sister.
Despite the grief of losing a wife and a mother, Rick and Carl are able to build a new family among other survivors, particularly Michonne. Without Michonne and Rick’s relationship, the much-anticipated Rick and Michonne reunion would have no chance of happening. Instead, The Ones Who Live, slated to release in 2024, would have been solely focused on Rick.
2 Season 2: Shane Walsh
Shane is a hit-or-miss Walking Dead character for many viewers. His affair with Lori, her pregnancy, and Rick’s return pile up until Shane’s behavior becomes erratic. He’s eventually fueled by basic instinct to kill anything and anyone he deems a threat, including Rick. While Shane’s shoot-first-ask-questions-later approach is valid to a degree — and it’s very similar to how Rick leads in subsequent seasons of The Walking Dead — his death is impactful because it’s the first truly brutal act Rick performs. This hardens him for the treachery and danger he faces later on.
1 Season 1: Dr. Jenner
One of the earliest deaths in The Walking Dead is also one of the most important. In The Walking Dead season 1 finale, Dr. Jenner tells Rick how every human has the Walker virus, it’s just a matter of triggering it by dying. He’s also the first character to mention French scientists, a subplot revisited in the series finale of The Walking Dead: World Beyond. The Daryl Dixon spinoff is expected to have mutated zombie variants, which also relate to the French scientists Jenner mentions.
Dr. Jenner’s commitment to finding a cure and his seemingly futile attempts to make one introduce a threat fans didn’t expect to pay off more than a decade later in The Walking Dead spinoffs. Still, it set the groundwork for more Walker variants, making Dr. Jenner relevant long after his death.
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