In a show balancing a hefty cast where Anyone Can Die, not every character is allowed the focus or recognition they deserve. Massive unmarked spoilers below.
open/close all folders
Season 1
- Guillermo (and, by extension, the rest of the Vatos gang) were set-up early in the first season as an apparently-antagonistic group who are revealed to be Good All Along, as they've been taking care of older residents at a retirement home. Rick, Glenn and T-Dog part with them on good terms.... and that's the last they're seen. Offciailly, that is — in a deleted sequence from the original Season 2 premiere, it would be revealed that they were raided and executed en masse off-screen by an unknown superior force, with (according to rumors and the original Season 2 trailer) Guillermo being encountered as a freshly-turned walker just outside the perimeter of the retirement home. Officially, they were never encountered again, even when Rick and company revisit Atlanta in Season 5 during the Grady Memorial Hospital arc.
- Morales is one of the original Atlanta survivors, who is Put on a Bus with his family after the disastrous "fish fry attack" that amplifies the conflict between Rick and Shane midway through the first season. Fans were excited when The Bus Came Back and he returned in Season 8. His ultimate fate had been a source of much speculation for years. His "return" is revealed to be little more than The Cameo — he is revealed to have lost his family and become a hardened member of the Saviors. He has a single conversation with Rick about how they aren't so different before being shot dead by Daryl. We do not get to see him interact with any of the Saviors or any other surviving members of the Atlanta group. After all the wait, and then the trouble they took to actually bring back a character many viewers had completely forgotten about, many fans were disappointed he didn't get a bigger role.
- Dr. Edwin Jenner, a character who was left on his own and was the focus of the episode "TS-19", seemed to know more than he's letting on about the origins of the virus and the nature of what causes it, explaining the latter to Rick's group in an expodump in the first-season finale. He ends up immolating himself (and Jacqui) at the end of the same episode, with any promise of interesting story beats falling by the wayside. Despite The Cameo for Noah Emmerich (Jenner's actor) in the series finale of The Walking Dead: World Beyond, there are fans who wish that more had been done with his character.
Season 2
- Some fans didn't take Sophia's death well, if only because she survives the entire run of the comics. In the second season, she does little more than freak out during an encounter with walkers and go missing, with later episodes functionally confirming that she died offscreen during the events of the season premiere due to getting heavily scratched by a walker, then succumbing to the infection before being captured and placed in the barn by Otis. Ironically, her actress's real-life brothers got to portray Carol's adopted son.
- The infamous "Philadelphia group", represented by Tony and (later) Randall, are referenced multiple times late in the second season, but outside of those references and a single encounter with some members of the group in the eponymous episode of the same name, are not heard from again after "Better Angels".
Season 3
- Despite being a founding member of the group, T-Dog gets no backstory outside Word of God, no Character Focus, and no attempt to build on his character, being completely Out of Focus for most of Season 2.note Instead, he's just kinda there until his ultimate demise early in Season 3, then replaced by Oscar, another black guy, and quickly forgotten. This is highlighted when Glenn must resort to Offscreen Moment of Awesome to praise him after his death.
- The more sympathetic prisoners become little more than featured extras after their troublesome comrades are dealt with: Oscar is ultimately killed raiding Woodbury and Axel is abruptly shot in the head the moment he starts opening up about himself.note
- The Andrea of the comics was a hardened survivor who graduated into a Cold Sniper / love interest for Rick in the latter half of its run. The Andrea of the series became a Base-Breaking Character for the fanbase, even delving into series Badass Decay in Season 3 when she spends the majority of the season safely behind Woodbury's walls. Many fans wanted her to become more like the badass zombie killer she was in the comics, but she ends up being captured and indirectly killed by the Governor (via the undead Milton) in the season finale, leaving no possibility for redemption. According to on-set reports, the treatment of Andrea's character was part of the reason why Glen Mazzara was ousted as showrunner at the end of Season 3.
- While Merle never reached the Breakout Character popularity of his brother Daryl, he was still portrayed by fan-favorite actor Michael Rooker and had lots of story potential (particularly after he's forced into an Enemy Mine relationship with the heroes), either as an on-going Token Evil Teammate or as a recurring antagonist the heroes (particularly Daryl) would eventually have to confront. Instead, he's killed attempting to assassinate the Governor just a handful of episodes after he joins their side, conveniently ridding Daryl of his Conflicting Loyalty and Rick of the decision to trust him or not.
Season 5
- Gareth and the Hunters, survivors from Terminus, were hyped up in the Season 5 trailer which teased that the group would form an Enemy Mine with Rick and the main group to get to Washington. This turned out to not be true at all, and their faction was completely wiped out before Rick even left the state. It would've been much more satisfying to see a building conflict between two groups who have valid reasons to hate each other; Terminus was killing and cannibalizing survivors and almost got Rick's group, while Rick destroyed Gareth's home who were (in his view) doing what they needed to survive.
- Some fans argue Beth was killed off purely for shock value just as the writers were finally succeeding in making her interesting. It doesn't help that Noah, whose life she gave her own to save, doesn't even make it to the end of the season.
- After being reviled by the fans for replacing Beth and causing Tyreese's death, Noah finally gets a chance to take an active role in the group. He's shown to be a very good shot, gets more dialogue to flesh out his character, and even takes an interest in becoming an architect for Alexandria. Unfortunately, just when it seems he's about to redeem himself, the poor guy suffers one of the most brutal and graphic deaths in the entire series.
- The Grady Memorial cops were potentially interesting, but their plotline bordered on Trapped by Mountain Lions, serving only to introduce one character and kill off another in the span of two episodes (and, as noted above, the new character, Noah, doesn't survive for more than six episodes before dying himself). Director Greg Nicotero would later claim that the Grady staff were all Killed Offscreen by unknown factors, though this has never been proven in-universe.
Season 6
- Just when it seems like Nicholas' Heel–Face Turn is going to be explored as he makes up for an incredible amount of fuck-ups, he commits suicide when he and Glenn are surrounded by walkers, also killing whatever chance he had at getting serious development.
- The Wolves are hyped up as the new threat in Seasons 5B and 6A, and do have serious impact on the plot, however they spend the majority of their run as an offscreen antagonist, and none of their actions were given any concrete motivation and all of them except Owen are massacred in their only major confrontation with the protagonists. Owen, the Alpha Wolf himself received a bit of this, as Morgan spends all of Season 6A attempting to redeem him behind the rest of the group's backs and against many fans' wishes, only for him to get hit with a case of Heel–Face Door-Slam at the first hints of his beginning to change in the 6B premiere.
- After about half a season of development, with Jessie becoming a potential love interest for Rick and Ron becoming a potential antagonist and Evil Counterpart to Carl, Jessie, Sam, and Ron are all killed off in "No Way Out" with little buildup or fanfare. While many ended up being OK with this since it got rid of characters (Sam and Ron) who were largely tangential to the plot and paved the way for Rick and Michonne's long-anticipated Relationship Upgrade, there are still those annoyed that Jessie's role in the story basically boiled down to being the definition of a Romantic False Lead.
- Paula and Michelle were set up as very effective Evil Counterparts to Carol and Maggie, with many similarities and more than a few subtle differences. However, they are killed in the same episode they are introduced in.
Season 7
- Abraham was much loved for his unique one-liners and the humor he brought to a show that is often bereft of it. After Robert Kirkman stated Abraham's death in the comics was an unplanned impulse that he regretted and then Denise took his death on the show, it seemed big things were coming for Abraham. Unfortunately, he is killed by Negan a mere two episodes later, with his Heroic Sacrifice being somewhat negated by Glenn also dying moments later anyway.
- Heath (Corey Hawkins) was an Alexandria survivor who lasted little more than a handful of episodes on-screen (most notably, taking part in the massive finale fight in Alexandria in "No Way Out") before mysteriously disappearing early on in the seventh season, with Tara only finding his glasses and an enigmatic keycard that said "PP" nearby. Speculation has been rampant for years that the producers would bring back the character in some fashion (or that Hawkins would reprise his role), but his fate has never been disclosed, outside of Word of God confirming that Jadis captured and traded him to the Civic Republic Military for supplies. While's he's been teased in flashback in the show's series finale (and the "PP" card was seen again in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live), the show still seems cagey on answering where exactly Heath is.
Season 8
- The death of Carl Grimes was lambasted by fans, critics, and people on the show alike, since the character still had loads of storylines to go through, including the backhalf of the comic run. Several cynical fans deemed it just a ratings stunt aimed at rectifying the show's declining ratings in Season 8; while others noted that Chandler Riggs had recently turned 18 and therefore now had to be paid on a scale with his adult castmates if he stayed on as a main character, providing an even more cynical possibility behind his enforced departure. The fact that Siddiq, whose life he saved before he died, was killed off a mere two seasons later arguably makes this worse.
Season 9
- Jesus, as of his death in Season 9. The character suffered from a greatly reduced role in the show than the comics, losing much of his development and badass scenes as a result. This is notably also an opinion held by his actor, who candidly expressed
his frustration that he was given little to do during his tenure on the show, especially as he was a big fan of the character in the comics. It's telling that when Payne asked for something to be given to him to do or for him to be killed off to help the narrative, Angela Kang responded with the latter, suggesting there was no intention for Jesus to ever get his due. - Henry, initially touted as taking over for Carl's plots after the Season 9 Time Skip is given a love interest and proves himself as a fighter, only to be murdered by Alpha in the penultimate episode of the season.
- Ozzy, the leader of the Highwaymen is introduced and given a rather quirky personality and fun motivation, only to also be killed by Alpha a few episodes later.
Season 10
- Siddiq, who promised to carry on Carl's legacy, only for him to meet a tragic and untimely demise two seasons later at the hands of Dante. For fans of the comics, his actor was seen as a missed oppurtunity to bring Sheriff Kapoor into the show seeing how the slim, average height, non-Muslim Indian-American Avi Nash better resembles Sheriff Kapoor than he does Siddiq, who is a massive, muscular, Arab American Muslim man in the comics.
- Minor Savior characters Laura, Arat, and DJ are among the only members of their group who genuinely pull a Heel–Face Turn, but none of them survive for more than a season and a half after the end of the Savior War. Laura's death also means none of the three ever get to share a scene with Negan after their reformation. Considering they were the only surviving Savior lieutenants who were seen interacting with Negan prior to the end of the war and their subsequent Heel–Face Turn, and given Negan's own Heel–Face Turn as well, there were potentially many interesting and uncomfortable interactions to be had, but we'll never get to see any of them.
- Laura in particular had the potential for a bigger role: as one of Alexandria's new leaders after the second Time Skip, it would have been nice to explore her character and her approach to dealing with new foes (in this case, the Whisperers) after having once helped subjugate the community herself. Instead, she is unceremoniously killed by Beta and then promptly forgotten about, to the point that a significant portion of the audience were initially unsure whether she even died at all. It gets worse when "Here's Negan" reveals that not only did Laura and Negan know each other since before he started the Saviors, but Laura was actually the one who gave Lucille to Negan in the first place.
- The Saviors as a whole following Negan's defeat, given that Sanctuary officially joined the main characters' alliance of settlements as a full-fledged member. This could have led to all sorts of interesting storylines on the nature of keeping a Token Evil Teammate around, both in terms of the difficulties and the possible usefulness of their way of doing things in a brutal post-apocalyptic world, not to mention clashes of perspective with the other settlements' more democratic ideals. Their presence could have taken the alliance in a darker direction, or, from the other side of the spectrum, served to explore the difficulties of rehabilitation. Instead, they break off the alliance almost immediately and within a few episodes go extinct.
- More like wasted a good actor, but plenty of people were disappointed to find that Robert Patrick's appearance on the show was a one off guest spot even though his character, Mays, was likely far too Ax-Crazy and unstable for rehabilitation.
Season 11
- Maggie's people from Meridian other than Elijah (Cole, Agatha, Duncan, and Frost) could have been used as a way to explore Maggie's character and what she has been up to in the years since she left Hilltop. Instead, they're all killed by the Reapers a few episodes after their introduction, with only Frost having any plot relevance and the others killed solely to give the heroes some casualties while saving any of the main cast from the scrapheap.
- Pope, who's given almost no depth beyond "angry Fundamentalist psychopath" before dying to make way for the true Final Boss of the Reapers arc, Leah. He's never involved in any action scene or even seen outside Meridian, and he never even gets to meet his nemesis Maggie before being killed off.
- The Reapers had an intimidating introduction, both when their scout Montanio serves as a Warm-Up Boss in Season 10 and when they deal a Curbstomp Battle to the group in their first encounter in Season 11. However, of their numbers, only Carver and Mancea get any noticeable screentime, and Carver is the usual Hate Sink we’re supposed to root against that we’ve had before. None of the Reapers get any development or spotlight on why they stay loyal to Pope despite him clearly being a sociopath willing to kill them all, nor do they ever learn of his final betrayal, before they’re wiped out. Nor do any of them get called out for their hypocrisy besides Mancea. This also makes it difficult to sympathize with Leah since her main trait is her love for her adopted family, yet we never have any development from the Reapers that shows why we should relate to her and feel bad when she loses them all.
- Leah joins her comrades on this list due to the show ultimately finding nothing good to do with her after "No Other Way" besides a cartoonish lust for vengeance. Never does she get called out for her Moral Myopia towards the Reapers, and when she does return as an antagonist she does little besides kill Red Shirt Marco and briefly menace Maggie, displaying Bond Villain Stupidity. Daryl immediately killing her without a word also removes any further chance of development or confrontation with her former lover.
- Alden is regarded as a character who was sympathetic and likable, but never really got a chance to come into his own either. His being revealed to have suffered a Bus Crash was seen as a waste of a character, especially for being the one former Savior the show devoted at least some ample time to.
- Toby Carlson was seen as a menacing, charismatic twist villain done right who could’ve worked great as The Dragon to Lance, but he’s dead by the end of his second episode.
- By the end of Part 2, Lance settled into a comfy reputation as one of the show’s most popular villains due to his cold, calculating demeanor and scheming, cunning tactics, in sharp contrast to his unimportant comic counterpart. With him conquering the Coalition by force it looked like big things were in store with Lance as the Final Boss of the series. However, unfortunately he’s quickly defeated, imprisoned, and later killed off by Carol with Pamela taking over as the Big Bad. It’s seen as a waste of a compelling new villain for the series, especially since Pamela ultimately turned out to be a rather flat villain who goes from a reasonable, if ignorant neutral character to a cartoonishly evil villain in moments with none of Lance’s more interesting nuances.
- Magna quickly fades into the background after a promising introduction and never truly feels properly explored or developed compared to her fellow group members Connie, Kelly, and Yumiko.
- Luke and Jules return after a very lengthy absence only to quickly end up Back for the Dead. It makes you wonder why the characters were brought back at all besides to give us some minor characters to bite it.
- As of the end of the series, all of Oceanside falls into this. They ultimately had little to no role to play after the Savior War and we don’t even hear of their final fate, us being left to assume they’re okay now that Pamela is defeated. They aren’t even seen again onscreen after “Acts of God”, suggesting the show either ran out of time or just didn’t care to focus on them again. They are never shown reacting to Negan’s Heel–Face Turn, never shown accepting Lydia (besides the always friendly Luke and Jules) as an ally, and only had one focus scene in Season 11 total besides “Acts of God”.
- Virgil completely disappears from the series after “For Blood” with no further mention of him, presumably because his knowledge of Michonne’s mission to find Rick would upend the show when that’s a storyline being saved for a future spin-off. Even when Judith does confess Michonne’s mission in the finale, we still never see or hear from Virgil again.
- Though Mercer doesn’t perish by the end of the series and gets a happy ending, he unfortunately never gets a prolonged action scene despite his formidable appearance. The best he gets is a scene where he helps the Hilltop crew wipe out a small group of walkers, most of which are gunned down by the rest of his soldiers anyway.
Other
- The Walking Dead Webisodes introduced several characters who had potential for more storylines, particularly as the episodes came out during the same era as the Flight 462 webisodes for Fear the Walking Dead (where one surviving character, Alex, did make an appearance in the main series):
- Chase, the main character of Cold Storage, is last mentioned planning to join up with a caravan that was heading to Washington, D.C., alongside fellow survivor Kelly. Given that Washington was later stated in-universe to be overrun by walkers, their fate is left unknown.
- Paul, the lead of The Oath, is last seen both learning how to use walkers as a Human Pack Mule and executing on this with his deceased companion, Karina, but nothing is said about his whereabouts again.
- The protagonist in "Red Machete", Mandy, survives several years into the apocalypse, up to at least a period of time during the Savior War in Seasons 7-8, and is last shown embedding her inscribed machete into her family's grave before taking off for parts unknown. Despite the fact that she was a hardened survivor who appeared to have lived alone (and become extremely combat-capable) for years, she never appears again, despite the potential for another character who survived since the start of the outbreak.
