I Ranked The Top 20 "Walking Dead" Characters, And You Can't Change My Mind

Spoilers ahead.

20. Rosita

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Initially no more than a side character in Seasons 4 through 6, Rosita finally became more of a central character following the death of Abraham in Season 7 and was often found attempting to kill Negan across the next two seasons. In Season 9, Rosita is revealed to have a child with Siddiq despite being in a relationship with Father Gabriel. In the tenth season, Rosita is forced to kill a zombie Siddiq in order to protect their child.

19. Dwight

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We first find Dwight in the first half of Season 6 being saved by Daryl, before reappearing in the second half as a villain and killing Denise with Daryl's crossbow. Despite his horrible actions, Dwight is revealed to hate Negan's instructions and is constantly seen trying to find a way out of his Savior life. After Sherry leaves the Sanctuary, Dwight becomes a shell of who he is and only longs to find her. In Season 8, Dwight helps the survivors and is giving them intel throughout the war against Negan. After the conclusion of the war, Dwight is forced to leave the area because of Daryl. Dwight can now be found on Fear The Walking Dead, still searching for Sherry.

18. Morgan

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Introduced in the very first episode of the show, we actually don't see Morgan again until a one-episode appearance in the third season. The reception and critical response to the episode was so positive that the writers quickly did their best to bring him back into the fold as a main character. The Season 5 finale finds Morgan saving Aaron and Daryl and being reunited with Rick. Season 6 finds Morgan disagreeing with the way Rick handles things, and most of his scenes are spent with Carol and their conflict with one another until he saves her in the finale. Following the conclusion of the Savior War in Season 8, Morgan heads off on his own and can now be found on Fear The Walking Dead.

17. Alpha

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Leader of the Whisperers, Alpha quickly proved to be a force to be reckoned with by beheading several key characters such as Enid, Henry, and Tara in the penultimate episode of Season 9. Throughout Season 10 of the show, Alpha is playing mind-games and getting the better of Carol while also holding her own in an all-out fight with Daryl. She ends up developing a semi-romantic relationship with Negan and begins to trust him, until he's able to lure her to an abandoned cabin and decapitates her for Carol.

16. Eugene

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Initially hated after his introduction in Season 4, Eugene remained a character fans couldn't root for all throughout the fifth and sixth season of the show. In Season 7, Eugene joined Negan's group of Saviors as a way to keep himself safe. In the final episode of Season 8, it's revealed that Eugene has rigged all of the Saviors weapons with explosives and he kills most of the group. Season 9 sees Eugene as a changed man, and someone that fans can get behind. As he moves the story in Season 10, Eugene is now one of the main characters of the show and has one of the best overall arcs.

15. Aaron

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Responsible for leading Rick and the others into Alexandria, Aaron shared great moments with Daryl and the pair had one of the best moments together in the Season 5 finale as they fended off walkers. Season 6 sees Aaron still continue to help the main characters and Season 7 sees him take on an even bigger role. Season 9 of the show finds Aaron losing an arm, but the character is given one of the best looks on the show because of it. As of Season 10, Aaron is now one of the main characters on the show.

14. Herschel

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Owner of the iconic farm in the second season of the show, Herschel Greene immediately endeared himself onto the majority of the fan-base as a humble, southern man. After the farm is overrun in the finale of the second season, Herschel and the others flee to the prison. In the first episode of the third season, Herschel receives a walker bite on his leg and Rick is forced to amputate it. The majority of the third season sees Herschel in a supporting role as he often consoles Rick following the death of Lori. In the fourth season, Herschel is highlighted throughout his tenure before being killed by The Governor.

13. The Governor

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Originally introduced in the third episode of Season 3, fans caught a glimpse as to how unhinged and insane The Governor was when he mowed down members of the military out in the open. Viewers also saw The Governor keeping the reanimated corpse of his daughter, Penny, in his closet. After Michoone stabs him in the eye with a piece of glass and kills his daughter for good, The Governor goes full psycho by launching various attacks on Ricks people and locking Andrea in a room with a zombie as she was tied in a chair. Season 4 of the show sees The Governor find a new family and begin to revert back to his good side up until he's reminded of his past and rallies his new group to launch and attack on the prison. After Rick's words of pleading go unheard, The Governor then executes Herschel via beheading him with Michoone's own sword as his troops launch an all out war on the prison. The prison survivors are able to kill all of The Governors people, but can't salvage the prison and are forced to flee. The Governor was mere seconds from killing Rick before Michoone stabbed him through the chest and left him to die, with Lilly putting the final bullet into his skull.

12. Beta

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By far the most imposing and biggest physical villain in the series history, Beta was introduced in the second half of Season 9. The villain showcased how dangerous and strong he was in his initial one-on-one fight with Daryl Dixon, easily overpowering Daryl and throwing him around before Daryl outsmarted the villain and pushed him down an elevator shaft. Beta managed to survive and has been a horrifying presence in the show since, even killing multiple people in Alexandria in Season 10 and being responsible for the death of Gamma.

11. Carl

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One of the best characters from the comic books, Carl's television depiction has left viewers largely divided. In the early seasons, Carl was one of the most hated characters on all of TV. The second half of Season 4 really launches Carl in a much better direction and he continues this growth during the remainder of his stint on the show. Season 7 sees Carl actually connect with Negan, and it helped viewers into seeing a different side of the villain. Carl unfortunately meets his end via zombie bite in the mid-season finale of Season 8, and shoots himself in the mid-season premiere.

10. Abraham

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Formerly in the military, Abraham quickly proves to be a badass character in Season 4 and more than proves his worth in Season 5. Season 6 of the show sees Abraham developing a relationship with Sasha and the pair decide that they are ready to settle down before being capture by the Saviors in the Season 6 finale. When Season 7 resumes, it's revealed early on in the first episode that Abraham was the victim selected by Negan to be killed.

9. Judith

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Much more liked and well-received among viewers than her brother, Judith Grimes is shown as an infant and toddler from Seasons 4 thru Season 9. In the ending of the fifth episode of Season 9, we see a much older Judith as she saves Magna's group. Despite only being a central character for two seasons, Judith has already had phenomenal scenes together with Negan, Daryl, and Michoone.

8. Maggie

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The daughter of Herschel Greene, Maggie quickly became a fan-favorite after entering into a relationship with Glenn. The pair share some of the most heartwarming moments in the series, with Glenn presenting Maggie with a ring in Season 3. Maggie gets most of her best scenes and development following the deaths of Herschel in Season 4 and Beth in Season 5. Season 6 sees Maggie in a supporting role as she tries to negotiate and get into politics with Deanna. The premiere of Season 7 sees Glenn brutally murdered, and send Maggie into a frenzy fueled by revenged. The remainder of the season and all of Season 8 finds Maggie at the forefront begging for Negan's death. After Rick spares Negan's life in the Season 8 finale, Maggie finds herself at odds with many of the show's protagonists and leaves to run Hilltop with Jesus. Season 9 is the last that the show has seen of Maggie thus far, with her taking Herschel Jr. away from the Hilltop and living safely.

7. Shane

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Rick's best friend in Season 1, Shane is revealed to have been having an affair with Rick's wife Lori in his absence, believing Rick to be dead. The end of the first Season sees Shane unable to come to terms with losing Lori and is overcome with jealously. Throughout the second season we see Shane become the series first full antagonist, with constant unmoral actions and separate fights with Rick. In the penultimate episode of the second season, Shane kills Randall and leads Rick into the woods to do the same to him. Rick outwits his former partner, and is able to stab him in the chest before Carl puts down his reanimated corpse.

6. Glenn

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Introduced in the first season of the show, Glenn is responsible for saving Rick and helping him reconnect with his family. The second season of the show sees Glenn meet Maggie and develop a romantic relationship with her. Much of his character's storyline revolves around his relationship with Maggie all throughout the rest of his time in the show, although he does have great character moments without her such as his quest to find her after the fall of the prison and constantly being a voice of reason in the group when Rick has went off the deep end. Glenn largely was endearing to many fans because of his heart and loyalty on the show, and is the proud owner of the most upsetting and brutal death in the series history at the hands of Negan in the Season 7 premiere.

5. Michonne

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We first get a glimpse of Michonne at the end of Season 2 as she saves Andrea, but we really don't get to know her until the third episode of the third season. In the beginning, Michonne is shown to be very aware and skeptical of all newcomers, while also being a capable fighter in combat. Michonne eventually meets Rick and the others halfway into the season and following the death of Andrea in the finale, Michonne stays with Rick and his people. The beginning stages of Season 4 sees Michonne adapting to life with our survivors and being a contributing member by going on supply runs with Daryl and other characters. Following the fall of the prison, Michonne is the first character that Rick and Carl find and the three immediately become closer than ever. In Season 6, Michonne and Rick begin to develop a romantic relationship that lasts until Rick's departure in Season 9. Michonne final episode in Season 10 finds her discovering a hint that Rick may still be alive, and she says her goodbyes to Judith before embarking on her quest to find the series' central character.

4. Carol

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Shown as a scared mother in the first two seasons of the show and a weak woman in the third, Carol became an interesting character in the fourth season by murdering and burning Karen and David after discovering that they could be passing a disease through the prison. Rick discovers this and banishes Carol from the group, although she eventually finds Tyreese, Lizzie, and Mika after the fall of the prison. In the Season 5 premiere episode, Carol launches an assault on the cannibal group led by Gareth and helps save our heroes, redeeming her in the eyes of Rick. The following seasons saw her and Daryl continue to remain close, as well as her become married to King Ezekiel while adopting Henry. In the penultimate episode of Season 9, it's revealed that Alpha has murdered Henry and places his reanimated head on a pike. Throughout Season 10, Carol undergoes an arc that causes her to make reckless decisions that are out of character for her and is the main reason she was not placed in the top three spots on this list.

3. Negan

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Introduced in the finale of Season 6, Negan immediately cast an intimidating presence on the show by brutally killing fan-favorite characters Glenn and Abraham in the Season 7 premiere. Season 8 saw the conflict between Negan and Rick come to a close, with Rick gaining the upper-hand and imprisoning Negan in the Season 8 finale. Practically in a cell for almost all of Season 9 of the show, Negan was finally released in Season 10 by Carol and got one of the most iconic moments in the history of the show as he redeemed himself by killing Alpha, the leader of the dangerous Whisperer clan.

2. Rick Grimes

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The original protagonist to the series, viewers have watched Rick go from a noble deputy to a ruthless savage all the way back to being a man of values as he leads a community. The first two seasons saw the most reserved and moral version of Rick Grimes, with our hero undergoing a trip to the dark-side and a brutal transformation following his murder of his best friend, Shane. Season 5 through 8 showcases Rick at his most vicious, with the lone exception being a half-season period of Season 7 where Negan left him cowering and traumatized. By his final episode in Season 9, Rick had become the man that everyone loved to root for again as he united all of the communities together one last time before making a sacrifice in explosive fashion to prevent a horde of walkers from reaching the people that he loved.

1. Daryl Dixon

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When Daryl Dixon first burst on the scene in the third episode of the show's first season, he was portrayed as a hot-headed loose cannon who was adamant that the group do whatever it takes to find his racist brother, Merle. In the second season, Daryl became one of the best characters on the show by becoming selfless and leading the search for Sophia. In the third season and onward he is portrayed as being Rick's right-hand man and best friend, with Rick even calling him his brother in the Season 4 finale. Seasons 5-8 saw Daryl take a more reserved and mumbled approach before taking over as the lead male character following Rick's departure in Season 9. Overall, no character has had such a tremendous growth from their debut other than Daryl.

So what are your thoughts? Would you rank these characters differently? Let me know in the comments below.