Negan

Negan is a fictional character in the comic book series The Walking Dead and in the television series of the same name. He is the leader of a group of roughly 70 survivors in The Sanctuary, called the Saviors, a group that trades with others. In the comics, the character's appearance is based on Henry Rollins, as confirmed by Charlie Adlard;^[1] Robert Kirkman worked in his excessive use of profanity, derived from other people he knew.^[2] Jeffrey Dean Morgan portrays Negan in the television series of the same name and first appeared in the series' sixth season finale.^[3]

After Rick Grimes and his fellow survivors agree to begin a trading relationship with the Hilltop Colony, they are ambushed by the Saviors and are forced to obey Negan's orders to give the Saviors half of their supplies, as the other communities do. Initially obedient, Rick and the others secretly conspire with other communities in the Washington, D.C. area to prepare for war against the Saviors. Negan resides in an abandoned factory, where most of the attractive women, formerly other men's girlfriends or wives, act as his wives. He soon grows fond of Rick's son, Carl Grimes.

Morgan has received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Negan in the television series, earning himself a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination for Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series. After first being offered the role of Negan, Morgan immediately accepted the offer due to being a fan of The Walking Dead prior.^[4]

Creation

Robert Kirkman conceptualized the character after scrapping the idea of Rick Grimes' being forced to protect his son, Carl Grimes, by killing fellow survivor, Glenn Rhee.

Personality

Negan has a unique personality: different from the volatility, manipulative behavior and lack of the remorse The Governor expressed. Negan is feared and respected as a king; his is the first and last word on the activities of his group, the Saviors. He controls his subordinates by power, intimidation, and punishment. Brutal, foul-mouthed, and possessed of a twisted sense of humor, Negan carries a barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat named Lucille, after his late wife (as Jeffrey Dean Morgan confirmed in an interview).

Negan is inexplicably violent at times and kills people unaccountably. However, his behavior in certain situations might not always be construed as evil. While he can be merciless and unrelenting when getting a point across, he is also (at least superficially) understanding of others, willing to spare those he sees as potentially useful, and has been shown to be reasonable when people attempt to negotiate with him. He has a genuine disgust for the act of rape and affirms that his wives are with him voluntarily.

Negan has a penchant for provocation and power games. The stronger the resistance to his will, the more he seems to enjoy the test of wills. Having insight rarely associated with violent antagonists, Negan appears to both observe and appreciate the concerns and intentions of his opposite numbers. This gives him a significant psychological advantage in most contests of will, as he can anticipate and preempt an enemy's plans.

Appearances

Comic book series

Here's Negan - Chapter 1

Before the outbreak, Negan is playing Ping-Pong in his garage with some of the neighborhood boys who attend the school where he works. The boys refer to him as "Coach Negan". After defeating and belittling one of the boys, they run off and he instantly expresses regret about his behavior. His wife Lucille comes out to yell at him and Negan expresses his desire for the students to respect him by being the "cool teacher" outside of school. Lucille then suddenly collapses.

A Larger World

At some point after the outbreak, Negan established The Saviors and fiercely ruled over his group. Negan, along with his team (which includes at least 50 or more other men), had made a deal with the Hilltop Colony: the Saviors would use the weaponry the other group was lacking to kill all zombies wandering near The Hilltop's premises, and in return, the Saviors would obtain half of Hilltop's supplies, such as livestock and crops. To get his point across, if a potential problem would arise, Negan and his men would resort to cruel measures. For example, if they sensed they were being tracked, or if they believed they weren't getting sufficient supplies, the Saviors beat or killed people from Hilltop. The Saviors also sent "messages" to the Hilltop community, which were usually very deadly, such as Ethan stabbing Gregory.^[5]

Something To Fear

Later, Negan, along with 50 other Saviors, sneaked up on Rick's group and subdued Rick by surprise. They lined up all of the survivors from the van (Rick, Carl, Glenn, Maggie, Sophia, Michonne, and Heath), telling them that Negan wanted revenge for the Saviors who were killed. Without Rick's consent, Negan imposed a binding deal: everything that belonged to the Alexandria Safe-Zone now belonged to the Saviors. Negan also introduced his weapon of choice; Lucille, a baseball bat covered in barbed wire. After a long talk about the new world order and whom he should beat to death using Lucille, he finally chose his victim at random: Glenn. Maggie panicked, while Glenn tried talking Negan out of it. However, Negan ignored him and used Lucille to smash Glenn's skull. Negan laughed, when Glenn attempted to get to his feet, hiking, "He's taking it like a champ", before swinging the bat again, dislocating Glenn's jaw and beating Glenn to death. Glenn's last words were "Mag- Maggie!". Negan told the mourning and crying group that the Saviors would be back in one week to collect half of everything that Alexandria Safe-Zone owned, or there would be more killings. Rick vowed to avenge Glenn's murder and kill Negan. Negan laughed at this, beat Rick with his bare hands, and then turned around, leaving the survivors with Glenn's mangled corpse.^[6]

What Comes After

Negan and the Saviors later arrived at the Alexandria Safe-Zone for their first offering. Spencer Monroe arrived at the gate, questioning Negan's identity, and Negan laughs, referencing the events of Issue 100. Bemused that not everyone knows his name, Negan remarks that he "had to make a pretty fucking strong first impression" and asks Spencer to get Rick. When Spencer leaves, Negan and the Saviors begin killing the roamers in the surrounding area. While the Saviors scavenge each of the houses for supplies, Negan makes several rude comments about his beating of Glenn, about Olivia being overweight, and towards Carl when Carl threatens him. Negan also forces Rick to hold "Lucille" while he scavenges the Safe-Zone. When Denise threatens a Savior for taking important medical supplies (all their opioid painkillers), and Rick attempts to reason with Negan, Negan tells the group that their big walls are the only medicine they need. Before Negan departs, he retrieves "Lucille" from Rick and whispers, "I just slid my dick down your throat, and you thanked me for it."^[7]

Negan and his men depart from the Safe-Zone with supplies, but, unbeknownst to them, Carl is hiding in the truck with an assault rifle. Once the Saviors get back to their base, Negan is amazed to see that Dwight is still alive. "There is always next time, I suppose," he says, much to Dwight's disgust. A Savior finds Carl, and Carl uses the rifle to kill six Saviors. They surround Carl, and he demands to speak with Negan. When Negan arrives, Carl fires at them until he loses control of his gun. Dwight is about to kill Carl when Negan stops Dwight and says, "Is that any way to treat our new guest?"^[8]

Instead of taking immediate action against young Carl, Negan shows an impressive amount of interest in getting to know the child. He goes as far as to lead him through the Saviors' facilities, revealing that he is the leader of a cult-like domain of selfless followers who bow to his every word and command. Many followers in his ranks are living on a point system in order to sustain their lives, though many give into his graces in exchange for a better lifestyle, most notably the women in his "harem" whom he considers his "wives".

It is brought to Negan's attention that one of his many wives, Amber, has committed adultery against him with her former lover. As Negan goes to handle the situation, he brings Carl along to see his wives and how he handles his affairs, before degrading the terrified Amber in front of them all. Afterward, Negan and Carl share a private moment in Negan's quarters, where he reveals that he'd like to get to know Carl a little better, but he gets distracted by Carl's bandaged face. He orders Carl to remove the bandages, showing interest in seeing the injury to his eye. Carl allows him to see it only after being threatened; he removes the bandages to reveal the disturbing results of having been shot. Negan, in a state of disbelief and awe, jokingly mocks the deformity and goes as far as to ask Carl if he can touch the part of his skull showing through Carl's exposed eye-socket, which causes Carl to break finally and cry. This appears to have an odd effect on Negan, who takes back the gesture and apologizes, seeing that he has finally found a weakness in the child he finds so dangerous. They are interrupted by one of Negan's followers who returns "Lucille" to him and leaves them alone once again. Negan reverts to coldness and orders Carl to sing a song for him while he swings the bat dangerously close.

After this intense encounter, they are interrupted once again, and Negan is told the iron is ready. Negan has Carl hold "Lucille" while he follows him to witness the event. In a ritualistic fashion, complete with call and response chanting, with the followers answering to Negan's words, Negan demonstrates that whoever falls onto his bad graces is dealt with by having their face seared by a hot iron. Tied to the end of a pole, the tool is held over a fire before being handed to Negan, who presses it against the victim's face as punishment for their betrayal. In this case, it is the face of Amber's former lover Mark, who is left deformed in the same manner as Dwight, with a portion of his face permanently scarred and an eyeball exposed. After the ritual, Negan dismisses his congregation before turning to Carl, who hands back "Lucille", and Negan leads him away, contemplating what to do with him.^[9]

Negan runs into Rick while the latter was on his way to find Carl. Negan tells Rick how eager he is to show him "what he has done to his son".^[10] Rick, in a fit of rage, then attacks Negan before Negan reveals that Carl is fine, and Negan clarifies that he is eager to show Rick "that he has done nothing to his son."^[11]

March to War

Several days later, Negan arrives at the Alexandria Safe-Zone a few days ahead of schedule; he's informed that the community is "practically" out of supplies, and Rick went out looking for more. Negan decides that he will stay in Alexandria until Rick returns from the supply run. He makes an offhand comment about Olivia's weight; she overhears it and starts to cry. He tries to apologize, but she slaps him. Despite several Saviors' offering to kill her, Negan dismisses them. Negan is later approached by Spencer Monroe and asks for a little background on the Safe-Zone. After a while, Negan gets impatient with Spencer and wants to know why he came to him. Spencer then tells Negan that Rick is not a suitable leader for the community and asks that once Negan assassinates Rick, Spencer be given control over the Safe-Zone. Negan feels insulted that Spencer would wait until Rick was gone to tell him this. He responds by telling Spencer that Rick may hate him, but, he has guts, unlike Spencer, who acted like a coward. Negan then slashes Spencer's stomach, killing him almost instantly, remarking that he had guts after all. He then orders one of his men to clean the mess up "before a kid sees it."^[12]

Negan asks Denise, who witnessed the attack, where Spencer lived so he could go and shoot some pool. Rick later returns and confronts Negan, who casually blows him off. Rick demands to know what happened, or Negan won't leave Alexandria alive. After picking up Lucille and praying to give him strength, Negan drops the excessive profanity he normally uses and tells Rick that he feels like he's "bent over backwards to show how reasonable I can be" in regards to how he brought Carl back to the Safe-Zone safely, and he hints about how Spencer wanted to have him assassinate Rick. After seeing the supplies Rick has gathered, Negan initially demands all of it but then decides to take nothing, as repayment for having killed Spencer. Rick insists that they take their share, and Negan has no objections. As the Saviors are driving back to the foundry, Negan notices Rick and a few others are following them. An instant later, the driver is shot and killed. Confused and angry, Negan takes Lucille and sees Rick pointing a gun at his head. Suddenly, a gunshot is heard, and Rick's gun is destroyed as well as those of the others who came out with him. Negan remarks on how stupid Rick and the others are to use bullets on the roamers instead of saving them for "the much more dangerous thinkers" (i.e., the living). Negan reveals that before every pickup, he has a back-up team armed with guns surround the Safe-Zone and guard the area while he and the other Saviors go in and salvage for supplies. With a crazed smile on his face, Negan leans into Rick and says that he and the Safe-Zone residents are "fucking fucked."^[13]

Negan smiles and says that in a stand-off situation, snipers tend to give away their position after several shots. He clarifies that Rick's "sniper bitch is as good as dead," causing Rick to try and strike him. As Negan holds him off, Carl shoots off a portion of Lucille, causing the Saviors to open fire at the Safe-Zone walls. Negan orders them to stop, and is shocked and angry about the damage to Lucille. Rick tackles him from behind, but Negan subdues him once more. He calls Carl a one-eyed asshole and shouts for Carl to be thrown over the wall, saying: "I want him to pay for what he's done!" Rick tries to object, but Negan beats him and issues an ultimatum: "Give me the boy, or I'll bash in all four skulls of the people out here!" Negan admits that he liked Carl at first and that he never had a kid of his own; if he did, he wanted him to be like Carl. Rick says that if Carl dies, their agreement is over, but, Negan states that it already is over. He orders his men to line up Rick, Heath, Nicholas, and Holly, then begins to decide which one to kill first. He notices a figure falling from the bell tower and smugly repeats that he knew Rick's sniper was good as dead, not realizing that it's not Andrea, but Connor.^[14]

Negan taunts Rick about Andrea's supposed demise, and Nicholas interrupts him, pleading for his life. Negan berates Nicholas for doing this and accuses him of being a coward. He asks Rick, Heath, or Holly to ask him to kill Nicholas and says if they do so, he will spare them. However, Heath tells him, no, and so Negan begins to pick which one of them he will kill.

Negan is interrupted when Paul Monroe grabs a Savior by the foot and uses him as a shield from the Saviors' bullets. Negan tells his men to stand down, and when he does this, Paul leaps out of a trench and kicks the nearest Savior in the face. Paul orders Rick and the others into a trench and proceeds to fight his way towards Negan. When Paul reaches Negan, he manages to disarm him and hold him hostage. Paul stalls the Saviors until Ezekiel and his men arrive. Negan breaks free from Paul and runs to a truck, where he retreats back to The Sanctuary with his men. Negan is later seen back at The Sanctuary, where he gives the Saviors a speech about their being the dominant force in the world, and they need to remind people of that. Negan then states they are going to war.^[15]

All Out War

Several days later, Rick's army arrives at the Saviors' base and demands that Negan come out. Initially, Negan is amused by this and begins to taunt him. Rick reveals that they know there are women, children, and others inside who aren't part of this fight, he offers a chance to surrender and let them live; for the rest, he reaffirms his old saying: "You kill, and you die." Negan plays along with it and asks what will happen if he refuses. After hearing that "whatever happens, happens" Negan thinks for a split second and blatantly refuses Rick's offer. He muses that if he thinks the army he's assembled "can actually accomplish something... that's fucking rich." He briefly entertains the idea of letting Rick's plan go through only to reveal a wildcard; after the ambush at Alexandria, Negan ordered Gregory kidnapped and brought to him. Afraid of what Negan might do, Gregory quickly pledged his allegiance (and that of the Hilltop) to Negan and the Saviors.^[16] After Gregory informed his loyalty towards Negan, he told Negan that the majority of Rick's army was people from the Hilltop Colony. Negan is pleased with this, but when Rick's army arrived, he is furious that only eight people accept the ultimatum and leave. Negan berates Gregory for this misinformation and kicks him off the balcony. He refuses Rick's offer once more, and his snipers begin to fire at the militia. Negan asks Lucille if she "believes this shit" and retreats from the bullets and falling glass. He calls Dwight, ordering him to bring the men from the outposts back to help drive off Rick's army. Dwight agrees but due to the commotion, Negan doesn't notice the former's hesitation to act immediately. As more men rush outside, Negan orders them to start shooting the army before all their snipers are killed. He suddenly notices that all their snipers are taking cover and is initially confused as to why Rick's militia are shooting not the snipers, but the windows. He then notices the large herd of zombies that are rapidly approaching the Sanctuary walls. He looks outside the fence and tells Dwight that "I hope you're wearing your shitting pants." Suddenly, Holly drives through the fence, destroying a portion of it and letting the herd inside. Negan frantically orders his men back inside the foundry but notices that Holly is still alive from the crash. He sees a zombie about to kill her and dispatches it. As she looks up, Negan smiles and says that she wasn't "going to get off THAT fucking easy." As the zombies converge on the courtyard area, the Saviors retreat inside the foundry to develop a new strategy.^[17]

Negan delivers an analogy to a group of Saviors about how you can destroy a man "by fucking his vagina", meaning that the best way to destroy a man's heart is by destroying the woman he loves; Negan clearly believes this to be Holly since Rick "was going to drive a car at us... you wouldn't let him sacrifice himself to tear our gate down." She corrects him by saying he's got the wrong woman; Rick loves Andrea, and she was in love with Abraham, the man Dwight killed. Negan refuses to listen, insisting that she is the one who killed Connor "and a terrible liar." He then orders her taken away and goes off to clear his head. Later, Negan is seen outside with more Saviors trying to clear the courtyard of all the zombies, swearing that if any of them die he will "fuck them up." Eventually, too many roamers pour in the fence and Negan's group retreat inside once more. Negan realizes that if the herd keeps them stuck inside for more than one day, they will all be dead, and he orders squads outside every two hours to clean up the infestation by any means necessary. He goes to interrogate Holly some more but catches David in the middle of trying to rape her. Negan demands that he get away from her and grabs him by the collar. He angrily reminds David one of the Savior's main rules: "We don't rape", thus proving Negan does hate sexual violence. As punishment for him breaking this rule, Negan proceeds to stab David in the neck and apologizes to Holly, telling her that "they [The Saviors] aren't monsters."^[18] After killing David, it is presumed that Negan got word of one of his outposts being overrun by Rick's army and sent more to fortify the remaining ones. This, in turn, led to Ezekiel's army being eradicated in a failed attack.^[19] Negan also found a way to eliminate all of the zombies that had flooded into The Sanctuary's courtyard, for he is later seen heading towards Alexandria. When he arrives at the Safe-Zone, he throws a grenade over the wall, and it detonates, demolishing one of the houses and getting Rick's attention. He threatens that 'there's more where that came from' and insists that he's here to parlay. To support his claim, he has a blindfolded Holly brought out of his truck and offers to release her back to Rick. Rick agrees to talk only when Holly is safely back inside, to which Negan agrees. This is later shown to be a ploy as it's revealed that Negan had Holly killed and she later reanimated.^[20] As the Alexandrians are distracted by this revelation, Negan orders his men to surround Alexandria and throws another grenade over the wall, yelling "Bombs away, motherfuckers!". Negan is happy seeing all the destruction and chaos and admits to Lucille that "my dick's so hard right now... I should wrap it in barbed wire and call it 'Lucille II'." He asks Lucille if seeing him use the grenades makes her jealous of not being inside to take part in all the mayhem and wishes that he was inside as well watching them all burn. Davis, overhearing the conversation, awkwardly agrees that he's got a boner too and says [they're] hungry for death as well. Negan, confused by this, asks what the hell he's talking about. Suddenly, Davis is shot through the eye and gunfire erupts from behind several buildings. Surprised by this, Negan orders his men behind one of the trucks. He asks for one more grenade to use as cover and tells his men "the last boat is leaving... you'd better fucking be on it." He manages to escape, and they can make a fast exit. When a Savior makes an offhand comment about retreating, Negan retorts that this wasn't a retreat. Pointing towards the smoke coming from Alexandria, he comments that this means they've "just fucking won."^[21]

After successfully bombarding Alexandria, Negan is seen leading his men back to Sanctuary when he sees a herd of roamers attacking several people from Alexandria. He orders them to kill the roamers and wonders aloud why they are out here beyond the wall. Nevertheless, he orders Eugene and the others to be taken back with them. Later, Negan somehow finds out that Eugene was making ammunition for Rick's army and goes to see him. Flanked by Dwight and Carson, Negan demands Eugene to begin producing ammo for the Saviors. When the latter refuses, Negan hands Carson Lucille, then proceeds to grab his own groin (referring to it as his 'crystal balls') and tells Eugene what will happen if he refuses to cooperate; smiling, he says that he could iron Eugene's face (while glancing at Dwight) or castrate him. Negan insists that he doesn't want to do this, but threatens Eugene by saying that he does things he doesn't like all the time. Eugene still refuses to betray Rick and Negan leaves Eugene "with his thoughts and his dick... while he still has it."^[22] After ordering Dwight to lock Eugene up and to check on the others, Negan goes to have sex with one of his wives (it is implied to be Sherry due to the look he throws at Dwight), saying that he'll see them both the next morning. Early the following day, Negan reveals to the Saviors that he's come up with a brilliant plan that will help them win the war. He has assembled a group of roamers inside the courtyard to demonstrate his idea, exclaiming "they are the lynchpin of our plans going forward." Reminding them about the fever that comes from getting bit or from any other injury caused by a roamer, Negan approaches one with Lucille. After apologizing to Lucille, Negan begins to rub it all over the roamer, covering the bat with guts and the bacteria that causes the fever. Holding up 'the new and improved Lucille,' Negan says that even the slightest touch from Lucille will now essentially be a death sentence. He orders the Saviors to do the same to their weapons and then hit the road. Arriving at the Hilltop later that day, Negan and his men hide in the forest just outside the Hilltop. He then issues the order: "We attack at sundown."^[23]

Several hours later, Negan and his troops arrive at the Hilltop gates, demanding to see Rick. Kal is atop the wall and threatens them by saying they won't survive what's behind the walls. Negan tells him to bring Rick, but Kal says, "you're talking to me." Insulted, Negan has one of his men shoot Kal off the wall. Once again, Negan demands Rick to show himself. After no response from him, Negan orders his men to further gunk up their weapons, saying "we're going in." He goes up to Dwight, making sure his arrows are covered. Dwight offhandedly talks back, but Negan dismisses it. He warns Rick one more time what will happen and then orders a truck to ram into the front gates. The truck gets shot up, but Negan issues another to take its place and has motorcycles come in as well. The Saviors pour into the Hilltop and begin to kill off the residents. As gunfire continues to erupt towards them, Negan and Dwight get separated from the other Saviors. Negan is unaware that Dwight is loading an arrow to kill him when he spots Rick away from the other survivors. He tells Dwight to shoot Rick; no matter where he aims "that muck will make him sick." Dwight is hesitant to do so, but Negan demands to know why he's waiting and screams at him to shoot Rick. Dwight finally (and reluctantly) does so, hitting Rick in the side. After this, Negan declares that "without him, they're nothing. Game fucking over."^[24]

After Rick is hit with the arrow, Negan and Dwight retreat to the rest of The Savior horde, hoping to devise a plan of attack against the remaining survivors at Hilltop. When night completely falls on the colony, Negan is almost accidentally shot by one of The Saviors, who states he couldn't see properly in the darkness. Negan says that it is not that dark and asks one of his Saviors the status of the battle. The Savior tells him most of The Saviors are now re-grouped, and they are ready to get back on the defensive and Negan orders him and the rest of the men to get ready for their attack on the Hilltop mansion. When they begin their attack, they are immediately surrounded by many of Rick's forces, who manage to cause Negan to order and retreat and head back to The Savior camps on the hillside near Hilltop. After his and The Saviors' retreat, Negan is seen back at the camp alongside Dwight, who questions if camping so close to Hilltop is a good idea. Negan says that they are doing it and remarks that he sometimes wonders if Dwight has ever had a brain in his head. He elaborates by saying that Rick's forces won't have enough manpower to counterattack and that because Dwight shot Rick with an arrow, his death will cause the remaining forces to bow back down to Negan, and he says that he will be their Savior again, as long as they let him urinate on Rick's dead body.^[25] Seeing the look on Dwight's face, Negan says that there's nothing weird about that; Negan says that since Rick's ruined everything, "it'd be weird if I DIDN'T piss all over his dead, bloated body." He is informed that Carson has escaped with Eugene. Negan tells him not to worry about it, and that they will deal with them later. Negan arrives at Hilltop's gates and shoots twice into the air. He claims that he's here to accept their surrender and asks them to send whoever is now in charge out. He swears the area he's in will be a safe zone, and there won't be any bloodshed. After getting impatient, Negan threatens to come back inside when Rick exits the Hilltop. Bowled over with shock to see him still alive, Negan turns towards Dwight for an answer, but Rick tells him to "look at me." Overcoming his initial shock, Negan asks Rick to surrender, to "let things go back the way they were" but Rick refuses. Negan repeats that he only kills people to make an example and threatens Rick that he will do so again if pushed too far, but Rick replies by saying he's "the stupidest fucking person still alive." Taken aback, Negan asks what he's talking about. Rick goes on to say that they should pool their resources and people together. Negan doesn't believe him, saying that with the system he's been using, he is saving lives. Rick tells him in the current situation, the only ones who are winning are the undead; the only way to get through this is by working together. Negan takes this all in, and Rick says that they can take their supplies, but they must give the survivors something in return; make supplies of their own to give or trade for others via a barter system. A fog seems to lift from Negan's mind and finally sees what Rick has been talking about; he realizes that his actions and methods have only helped himself while the communities he's been threatening have suffered. Negan says he's been wrong all along and that Rick is right. Rick then slashes Negan's throat with a knife, responding "Good."^[26] Caught by surprise, Negan begins bleeding out while Rick begins to address the remaining Saviors. Negan then tackles Rick and begins beating him. Despite Rick putting up a fight, Negan catches one of Rick's legs and breaks it. Laughing, he eventually passes out due to blood loss. He eventually wakes up inside one of the rooms in the Hilltop and sees Rick standing over him. He admits to Rick that during the conversation Rick had with Carl, he was able only to catch bits and pieces of it. He knows that Rick decided not to kill him, but asks what's going to happen now. Rick reveals that he's going to keep Negan alive so he can see how much Negan was holding the survivors back. Rick also tells Negan that he's going to rot in jail until he dies an old man.^[27]

A New Beginning

Two years after the war, Carl goes to the basement of an unknown house and talks to a figure in the shadows. Saying how he, Mikey and some other boys went to a girl's house after class, and that she showed them her breasts. He says it was cool, and all, but he had a crush on her, but after this he is not sure, remarking how he does not want to have someone who does that sort of thing. The figure says that nothing is wrong with the girl and suggest Carl not hold this one instance against her. He then says to Carl that he enjoys the talks, that it is good for him to keep track of the time and days passed. Carl says he is leaving, but before he leaves the figure asks him if after all this time, all the things they have shared and the talks they have had, Carl still wants to kill him. He turns around and faces the person behind bars, simply saying: "Yes, Negan. You know I do."^[28] Negan asks how he was supposed to know that Carl wanted to kill him and tells him not to insult his intelligence. Negan says that he thought the two of them were friends to which Carl walks away, making Negan retreat into the corner of his cell.^[29]

Negan says to Rick that his least favorite part of the day is shitting in a bucket, but it is also his favorite as Rick has to be the one to get it. Rick says that he is only bringing him food and that someone else will be out to clean his bucket later. Negan asks if Rick is taking Carl to the Hilltop, slightly shocking Rick. Negan says that he and Carl are friends and that Rick could not break that bond. Negan asks if the creaking he can hear is a windmill, making Rick say that life would go on without him just as he said it would. Negan tells Rick that he is just getting things ready for him and that he will not be in his cell forever. Rick says that he knows Negan will die behind bars, Negan says that he will not and that deep down, Rick knows he should have killed Negan. Rick asks Negan if he noticed that he does not use profanity all that much anymore and asks why that is. Negan says he does not see the point and that it is best to save his energy. Rick tells Negan that it is not it and that "It's because I've fucking neutered you like a dog. You've got no fight left, you pathetic sack of shit." Negan stares at Rick angrily as he turns around and leaves, telling Negan to enjoy his food. Magna and her group later come down to see who was in the jail. When they walk down the stairs to where Negan is being held, Negan grabs the bars to his cell and asks if they are here to rescue him, saying that "they're animals." This shocks Magna and her group.^[30] Negan begs to be released and claims Rick is a monster who locked him up and tortured him for speaking out against him. However, Magna does not believe him, having seen actual victims of torture. Negan admits he was lying but had to give it a try. Magna and her companions leave the cell.^[31]

Life and Death

Some time later, Negan is bathing and having his hair cut by Olivia outside his cell door. After finishing, Negan walks back to his cell at gunpoint from Andrea, who calls him a 'fucking monster,' much to Negan's amusement. Olivia then proceeds to lock the door, and they both leave Negan alone. However, it turns out Olivia didn't lock Negan's cell properly as the door swings open, which Negan notices.^[32] However Negan decides not to escape and remains in his cell with the door open until Rick comes downstairs, then taunts him about the numerous ways he could have destroyed Alexandria without anyone realizing, but claimed to stay as sign of good faith and an offering to amend their trust. However Rick declines and as he locks up the cage and leaves Negan he taunts him again by stating the only reason he's alive is so Rick can prove to himself that he's still a good person, and wants everyone else to believe he is the only one who can fix the world.^[33]

No Turning Back

After a tumultuous community meeting regarding Rick's proposed plan regarding the Whisperers, Rick goes to Negan's cell and asks for his help.^[34] He fills him in on everything that has happened since they've come into conflict with this new group. Negan advises Rick to keep his group happy, even if that means lying to them, touting his expertise as leader of the Saviors, some of whom disliked him. Rick leaves, and Negan dons a grin.^[35] When Negan hears the chants and cheers of Rick's name at a later town meeting, Negan smiles and says, "atta boy."^[36]

Call to Arms

While in his cell, Negan is approached by Brandon Rose, a young Hilltop resident who bears a grudge against Rick, Carl and the Whisperers; Rick killed his father as an act of self-defense, Carl beat him up after he had attacked Sophia and Alpha beheaded his mother. He proposes to help Negan escape, and Negan says he will think about it. Later on Rick and Michonne discover Negan's empty cell.^[37] After his escape, Negan and Brandon enter Whisperer terrain. Here Brandon tells Negan that he wants Negan to pit Rick and the Whisperers towards another. In response Negan stabs Brandon in the chest and enters the Whisperer zone alone.^[38] Shortly afterwards Negan is ambushed by a group of Whisperers led by Beta and he is taken prisoner. They bring him to Alpha. Negan introduces himself and declares his love for Alpha.^[39] Negan starts to live with the Whisperers, though without Beta's trust. During a night at camp, Negan sees two whisperers trying to rape a woman. He stops them but is knocked down by Beta for interfering. Alpha explains that they allow for things like this to happen in order for women to prove their strength, causing Negan to become angry with her. Later that night Negan and Alpha have a face to face conversation where Negan reveals how dead inside this world has made him and that he knows Alpha is just pretending to have no emotions, causing Alpha to breakdown. Alpha says that maybe Negan does belong with the Whisperers after all. Negan then slits Alpha's throat, followed by decapitating her, saying "wait until Rick gets a look at you...", revealing Negan had no feelings for Alpha all along.^[40]

Television series

Sometime after the outbreak, Negan established himself as the ruthless dictator of a community of survivors called the “Saviors”. He wields a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, that he calls “Lucille”. Negan quickly gathered a large following and established outposts in various locations around the Washington, D.C. area. Negan and the Saviors encountered the Hilltop Colony and extorted its leader Gregory into giving them half their supplies on a regular basis, or the Saviors would kill members of the community. To set an example, his goons used a baseball bat to club to death a 16 year old resident named Rory, after which Gregory submitted to Negan’s demands. At some point one of Negan’s followers, Dwight, fled the Saviors with his wife Sherry, sister-in-law Tina, and a truck full of supplies that they refer to as Patty. Negan subsequently sent out a large group, led by Wade, to retrieve them and the stolen supplies.

Season 6

The Saviors appear throughout the last half of Season 6 and Negan is mentioned many times leading up to appearance in the season finale.

In the season finale "Last Day on Earth", while driving the ailing Maggie to the Hilltop, Rick and his group run into multiple roadblocks set by the Saviors, which eventually causes Rick's group to travel by foot. While walking through the woods, the group is ambushed by a large contingent of the Saviors, who take Rick's and his group's weapons and make them get on their knees.

Dwight also brings out Glenn, Daryl, Michonne, and Rosita, and makes them get on their knees, too. Negan then comes out of an RV and tells Rick that he must give him all of his possessions, and that Rick and everyone else at Alexandria work for Negan now; he owns them. Because Rick's group killed a lot of Saviors, Negan tells Rick's group they have to be punished, and he is going to beat one of them to death with Lucille, Negan's bat wrapped in barbed wire. Negan can't decide whom to kill, so he decides to choose the victim in a game of "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe", which he recites while pointing Lucille at each member of the group, before landing on his victim with, "you are it". Negan warns the group not to say anything or to move, and he begins to beat someone in the group to death, as everyone else in the group screams.

Season 7

In the season premiere "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be", Negan abruptly begins to beat Abraham to death as the latter murmurs "suck my nuts." Negan is amused by this, but continues smashing Abraham's head with his barbed-wire bat, Lucille. Enraged by the death of his companion and Negan's forceful orders to Rosita to look at Abraham's remains all over Lucille, Daryl rushes Negan and gives him a right hook, only to be stopped by three Saviors directly. As a reprisal for Daryl's attack, Negan beats Glenn to death in the same way as Abraham; Glenn's eyeball is graphically beaten out of its socket as he murmurs to his wife, Maggie, that he will "find her". Negan then presents Rick with an ultimatum: if his instructions are not followed, the Saviors will kill every member of the group, finishing with Rick so that he will be forced to see the others die. In addition to his prior demands for a trade deal, Negan also issues the command that Rick must cut off Carl's arm. Despite his father's hesitation, Carl selflessly encourages Rick to go through with the act to save the others, and he goes as far as raising the axe before Negan stops him, knowing that he has broken the elder Grimes' will. Negan then allows the surviving members of the group to depart with the warning that the Saviors will return in a week to collect their supplies. As insurance, Negan takes Daryl with him, impressed by his resistance.

In "The Cell," Negan is shown to rule the Sanctuary (the main Savior stronghold) through fear and rewarding his enforcers (who idenfity themselves as "Negan" in a show of loyalty). He keeps Daryl locked in a cell and hopes to break his will and mold him into one of his Saviors. He later tells Daryl about how he married Dwight's wife Sherry to spare him for fleeing Negan (although Dwight got half his face burned with an iron). He offers to end Daryl's tortures and make his life better if he submits, but Daryl refuses.

In "Service," Negan and his men arrive at Alexandria earlier than expected. He forces Rick to give him a tour while Rick holds Lucille and makes pithy comments along the way. He later talks Carl out of shooting a Savior (though he states he likes the boy and that Carl has "giant balls") and decides to take all of Alexandria's guns. When two guns go missing from the inventory, Negan threatens to kill Olivia if they aren't found. This is later resolved when Rick finds them as well as a hunting rifle which wasn't in the armory. This impresses Negan who states that "this is something to build a relationship on" before telling him to find them something interesting for next time. Before leaving, Negan takes back Lucille and tells Rick that "I just slid my dick down your throat and you thanked me for it" as a way of gloating over Rick's deference to him.

Development

Jeffrey Dean Morgan was cast as Negan.^[41] He made his debut in the sixth season finale.

Reception

The character of Negan has been praised by both critics and fans as an antagonist of the series.

IGN on their review of Negan's first appearance, the 100th issue said: "The new villain already looks to be worthy addition to the book's cast. I didn't realize how much I missed having a truly awful antagonist like The Governor in this series until now. The villain's voice is very distinct, allowing Kirkman to toy with a very different approach to dialogue. For a series where the characters sometimes ramble on too much without making a clear point, this character is very much appreciated."^[42] On their review for Issue #103, IGN felt Negan was "quickly giving the Governor a run for his money in the villainy department".^[43] When Negan's community was explored as well as his relationship with Carl Grimes, it was said that "There's a palpable tension as we wonder what fate Negan has in mind for his young enemy. But even at his most sinister, Negan remains strangely charismatic. It's not difficult to understand how he managed to build such a lofty position for himself, complete with multiple wives and the total devotion of an entire town."^[44]

On the Talking Dead for the season six finale, Morgan stated that soon after issue 100 was released, he had many fans approach him and told him that he was right for the role of Negan in the show.

References