Character development is something The Walking Dead prided itself upon in earlier seasons, as the show had a core cast that grew into people they were hardly anything like when the series started. Carol Peletier was easily the most developed from the first season to at least a couple seasons ago, although it involved turning her into someone very twisted.
She’s quite possibly the most “jerk-ish” of all the main characters, and can also surpass some antagonists in this regard. Her very aggressive outlook over life has presented dozens of moments where she wasn’t likable at all, and these ten are the best ones to prove it.
10 When She Scared Sam To Death
Yes, we all hate Sam and the rest of his family for being so very annoying and it was a relief when they all perished, but it still doesn’t change the fact that it was Carol who indirectly caused their deaths.
Sam had been a curious and very sheltered boy who sought Carol’s approval as he thought of her as a tough lady. Rather than take him in stride, Carol threatened Sam over how painful it was to be devoured alive by a zombie; this caused Sam to be severely frightened over the prospect of meeting this fate. As we saw, he ultimately did die by being savaged by walkers, and Carol was the reason for this to unfold the way it did.
9 When She Killed Tyreese's Girlfriend
Taking matters into one’s own hands was never more bloody and brutal as it was when Carol decided to play Judge, Jury, and Executioner. When a plague-like illness struck the prison, Carol figured the best way to keep the virus at bay was by killing the hosts.
Karen (whom Tyreese was with) could have survived her illness like Glenn and the others did, but we’ll never know because Carol killed Karen in her sleep and then torched her corpse to prevent any chance of the disease spreading. Rather than a jerk move, this was a complete murder, and Carol was shown to never consider Tyreese’s emotions over this.
8 When She Tried To Kill Morgan
In somewhat of a similar situation like what happened with Karen, Carol saw another threat in the Wolves’ leader and was intent on slaying this man the first chance she could get. In her way was Morgan, who refused to let her kill anyone, even a murderer.
Carol then made it clear that she didn’t care what she had to do to kill her victim, and if it meant killing Morgan, then that was something she was very willing to do. She then tried to make good on this promise, but was overpowered and defeated by Morgan.
7 When She Divorced Ezekiel
Losing a child causes more marriages to fall apart than you’d think, and Carol and Ezekiel’s suffered as well, with the two divorcing - this would be Carol’s decision. Ezekiel wanted to stay married, but Carol’s grief over losing Henry caused her to take her frustrations out on Ezekiel.
Ezekiel, being the good guy he always is, didn’t question Carol, and accepted her proposal to divorce. Carol came across as completely selfish in her emotions, as she wasn’t shown to ponder over how hurt Ezekiel was over losing their son, and the poor guy was now left completely alone.
6 When She Refused To Fight
By Season 7, Carol had decided to live the life of a hermit and retreat away so she would never be in a position to kill anyone anymore. The timing for this decision was awful, though, since this was when the Saviors needed to be fought and driven away so that the heroes could live freely.
However, Carol had no care for the world at large, and shunned away everyone from Morgan to Daryl to anyone else who implored upon her to fight. She even had cleverly chosen insults for those people who came calling, rather than simply tell them to leave her alone.
5 When She Pretended To Be Weak
When the main characters initially arrived in Alexandria, they were skeptical over how the people in this new community would be. Carol took the most different approach at handling things by putting up a facade of a sweet and harmless woman who loved baking and making friends.
In reality, she was using this as a cover to spy on everyone in this community, and even took to stealing valuables which she thought would benefit her. This was a complete manipulation of the well-meaning people of Alexandria, but guilt was the farthest thought from Carol’s mind.
4 When She Blamed Rick For Losing Her Daughter
Season 2 would see the majority of the episodes centered around finding Carol’s lost daughter, who turned out to have been dead the whole time after getting bit by a zombie. She was last seen with Rick, who had instructed the little girl over how to stay out of trouble - Sophia didn’t heed his advice, and ended up dying.
In her sadness, Carol took to blaming Rick for failing to protect his daughter, and would also question his leadership by the end of the season. Rather than take responsibility for the fact that Sophia was her daughter and Carol herself should have been the one to protect her, she instead figured blaming Rick was the better option.
3 When She Burned The Saviors
After her sedate role in the previous two seasons, Carol returned to her killing ways in Season 9, where we saw her burn the remaining Saviors alive. Earlier on, the Saviors had threatened Carol and her son, but was spared because Carol had once done the same to the Savior leader years ago.
This time round, Carol had no reservations over killing, and decided to take revenge on the Saviors for threatening her son by setting them on fire while they slept. We get that she was insulted by how they had threatened her, but you’d think there were more merciful ways to kill someone than burning them alive.
2 When She Pressured Andrea To Get Close To The Governor
Carol had settled in her calculating nature by Season 3, and she started using people to further her intentions as well. When Carol saw that the Governor was a threat, she devised a plan to take him out.
However, this involved basically selling Andrea over to the Governor for intimate favors, and Carol ordered Andrea to do just that in order to have the Governor in a vulnerable position. Carol would then also tell Andrea to take the man’s life too; basically, Carol just wanted to shout out orders and use an unwilling person to commit an act of atrocity.
1 When She Killed As A Second Nature
Carol’s twisted psyche was never more pronounced as when she started killing left and right with no control or remorse. It got to a point where you’d think Carol enjoyed killing, as she kept a record of all the people she had killed and would always kill in colorful ways rather than make it quick and easy.
At her most extreme times in Season 6, Carol considered killing a person as something very casual to her, and her first course of action to solve any problem, be it very minor, was to kill the person whom she was at odds with.