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As difficult as it may be to believe, The Walking Dead is in the midst of its very last episodes, with its eleventh and final season set to end on November 20th. Fans of the long-running zombie show don’t need to worry, however, as several spinoffs and anthology series are in the works to keep the franchise alive.
Although certain characters in The Walking Dead have become iconic among its rabid fanbase, the sheer number of personalities featured in the series makes it impossible for all to live up to their maximum potential. Fans on Reddit have spoken up about which characters were utterly wasted during their time on the series.
Andrea
When asked which Walking Dead character was most wasted in the series, Reddit user EjdSmith responded, “I mean based on their role in the comic, without a doubt from this list the answer is indisputably Andrea.”
Laurie Holden’s character came as a surprise to many fans of Robert Kirkman’s original comic book series. Andrea is one of the most important characters in the source material, surviving for much of the series’ run. Unfortunately, many fans found Andrea to be one of the most irritating characters in The Walking Dead, leading to her early demise in the season 3 finale.
Dale
Having read the comics, Reddit user emzea is surprised at the disparity between Jeffrey DeMunn’s Dale Horvath in the series compared to his literary counterpart. They write, “I’m shocked at how much story Dale has compared to the show. He would have been a really central character if AMC hadn’t dropped Darabont.
Despite a long tenure in the comics, Dale is killed off halfway through the show’s second season, surprising many viewers considering he was one of the strongest characters in the series at the time. The decision was made to kill Dale when DeMunn, who was friends with then-showrunner Frank Darabont, asked to be killed off following Darabont’s exit from the series.
Abraham
While many fans don’t seem to have a problem with the way Abraham Ford was killed off The Walking Dead, given that his death at the hands of Negan had a profound effect on Rick and the group, one fan by the handle of just_one_boy has one grievance, citing that “Abraham would have been great during the ‘All Out War’ arc.”
Abraham was one of the series’ fiercest fighters, who was always handy in a skirmish. However, the showrunners elected to kill Michael Cudlitz’s character just before the biggest war the show had ever seen. Fans will always be left to wonder what the Savior War might have looked like had Abraham still been alive to fight for Alexandria — and how things might have gone differently.
Tyreese
Redditor sebrebec had a lot to say regarding Chad L. Coleman’s character, Tyreese Williams, who dies in season 5. “The idea that basically a very soft person was inside a very powerful body was interesting and should have been explored deeper,” they write, going on to say that, “In a lot of ways he was the exact opposite of Carol. Which made their relationship interesting.”
Tyreese was an imposing presence on The Walking Dead and was a remarkably strong fighter, but his heart was the most recognizable aspect of his character. His willingness to forgive and go on fighting was truly astounding, making it all the more upsetting when he died so suddenly. Many fans would have liked to have seen more of Coleman’s character, especially in the morally grey seasons that followed his demise.
Jesus
One of the most egregious wastes of a character is undoubtedly that of Paul Rovia aka “Jesus,” who was portrayed by Tom Payne. Redditor Break_Bread42019 laments that the character was “used for very little” despite being set up as a major player in the All Out War storyline, only to die much earlier than anyone expected.
While Rovia’s death is an iconic and memorable part of The Walking Dead‘s ninth season, as it introduced the Whisperers to the series, many fans would have liked to see his continued arc as a leader at the Hilltop Community. Moreover, the character’s intense fighting skills and combat readiness made it seem all the more strange that he was killed so easily by a common Whisperer.
T-Dog
One The Walking Dead fan by the handle of colbyjmalcolm believes that one of the franchise’s original characters deserves more love, claiming that IronE Singleton’s Theodore “T-Dog” Douglas was one of the show’s wasted characters simply because “he was underused.”
While T-Dog is perhaps best known for his heroic death early in season 3, the character received very little development in the first two seasons of the series. Despite possessing an amicable personality and the potential for greatness, the series opted to kill him off rather than delving deeper into his characterization.
Beth
I-Am-The-Peel has a miniature rant regarding the character of Emily Kinney’s Beth Greene, writing, “She was a background character from Season 2 to 4, had one episode of development in Season 4 before disappearing, got brought back halfway into Season 5 and had one good episode that showed off how much she had grown as a survivor, only for her then to be killed off the episode afterwards. Seriously wasted as a character.”
Beth was undoubtedly one of The Walking Dead‘s best original characters, who was only just beginning to grow in popularity when she was unceremoniously killed off. Having been within seconds of salvation, Beth’s death was all the more frustrating for fans of the series, and the Redditor’s lengthy comment perfectly sums up how many fans felt cheated by how she was handled.
Noah
Recker_Man has a strong opinion when it comes to Tyler James Williams’s character Noah, who appears throughout The Walking Dead‘s fifth season. Known for his gruesome death while trapped in a revolving door terminal, Noah’s character frustrates this Redditor, who says, “Whenever I think about this character I get angry.”
Halfway through season 5, Noah’s presence indirectly caused the deaths of two fan-favorite characters, Beth and Tyreese, in two back-to-back episodes. While fans were obviously devastated by this, they were invested enough in Noah’s story to accept the tradeoff, expecting the series to do something major with his character moving forward. However, other obligations took Williams away from the series, dying only five episodes after Tyreese, having contributed little to the series.
Axel
Fans would be forgiven if they had forgotten about Axel, Lew Temple’s character from the prison arc, given his short tenure on the show. I-Am-The-Peel contends that Axel was merely killed off for “shock value,” believing that the character could have “become a bigger presence on the show” had he been allowed to survive beyond his first season.
Axel was the last remaining member of a group of prisoners to be introduced in season 3. While many of these characters proved irredeemable, Axel truly sought to make up for his past crimes, becoming a worthwhile ally for Rick’s group. Additionally, his burgeoning friendship with Carol Peletier was cut quite short when he was suddenly shot in the head, ending his potential for future storylines.
Lance Hornsby
Abject_Cellist_4896 believes that The Walking Dead utterly wasted the character that could have been the main villain of its final season. “I was really disappointed with Lance Hornsby’s arc in the final season,” the Redditor complains, “They were really building him up to be a major villain, and then they unceremoniously kill him off four episodes before the finale. He had so much screentime and so little effect on the actual plot.
Josh Hamilton’s character spends a major portion of season 11 slowly growing more and more villainous over time, seemingly being set up as the main antagonist of the final season. However, he is suddenly and disappointingly killed just a few episodes before the finale, leaving the audience to question his place in the series, overall.
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