You could accuse The Walking Dead comic book series of being violent, brutal, and even crazy, but you could never call it predictable. The series had us taken by complete surprise just about every issue, as new foes came about and deaths fell on us that we never saw coming.
The one thing fans will miss most about the comics is the feeling of being taken aback in shock at a new revelation, but you can still reminisce over that feeling with these 10 most surprising things that took place in The Walking Dead’s story.
10 Rick Shoots Dwight
As part of The Walking Dead canon, Dwight was the antagonist of Volume 31, but the fans knew better that the guy caught onto Pamela Milton’s antics far too early. Unfortunately for Dwight, his foresight of Pamela’s true nature caused his demise, as he was shot unceremoniously by none other than Rick Grimes.
Rick didn’t want to take Dwight’s life, but had the latter killed Pamela as he’d intended, then there would have been pandemonium for Rick and his friends. In order to stave off something worse, Rick pulled the trigger of his gun and shot Dwight’s brains out. Not only did he take Dwight by surprise, but even the reader didn’t see the hit coming.
9 Maggie Kisses Dante
Maggie and Dante had had several far-gazing moments to make it clear they were into each other, but Maggie had held onto Glenn’s memory about five years in real world time and fans had taken to believing that she would never be paired with anyone else.
This made it all the more surprising when Maggie made her big move on Dante right after she had her big confrontation with Negan. The reader would’ve had Glenn in their minds the whole time and would have thought Maggie had the same, only for her to push herself onto Dante and initiate the kiss. Even Dante was at a loss for words.
8 Negan Begs Maggie To Kill Him
Before Maggie and Dante’s thing came to pass, the former had the confrontation with Negan that been brewing up for so very long. Maggie finally got her shot at revenge on Negan for killing Glenn, and she ambushed the latter where nobody could save him.
Rather than stick to his usually snarky attitude and bravado, Negan would collapse onto Maggie’s feet to beg that she kill him. We’d never seen Negan lose face even once, not even when he’d lost to Rick in the war, but here he was at his lowest point and begging to be killed the way Glenn had been. It was a far cry from the man who had once seemed indestructible.
7 Hershel Turns Out To Be A Jerk
All we’d ever seen of young Hershel was a baby version who was much too young to display any characteristics of his well-meaning father. So, once we saw him in his adult form after the massive time skip in the finale, we hoped to see a similar personality that Glenn had possessed.
As it turned out, Hershel was more of an antagonist, as he turned out to be ungrateful of the sacrifices the previous generation had made. By the time he was a man, Hershel had begun rounding up Walkers and making a show out of them, rather than understanding the threat they posed. He was on bad terms with Carl, and even attempted to get the latter thrown into jail.
6 Heads On Pikes
The Whisperers, while being different from the Saviors, still had a similar angle in that they were a new community who arrived to pose a threat to Alexandria. However, their true nature was astoundingly presented when the famous pike scene came into play.
Alpha hadn’t seemed like the real deal beforehand, as her threats seemed to be the same as a generic villain, only for us to see her make good on her promise as major characters were swiftly killed off in large numbers. The border separating the Whisperers’ lands were marked by the heads of characters like Ezekiel and Rosita, and The Walking Dead’s landscape was changed drastically as a new status quo was thrust upon us.
5 Negan Kills Alpha
Just as quickly as we saw Alpha be established as the Big Bad, she was instantly taken out all of a sudden. The scene didn’t even make it seem as if Alpha’s death was moments away, as we saw Negan talk to her in a seemingly heart-to-heart interaction.
Alpha showed her humane side for the first time ever, with her revealing how hurt she was when Lydia left her. Negan seemed to sympathize with Alpha, only to then slash her neck with a knife, and then proceeded to completely dismember her. This attack came from nowhere, especially considering that Negan had only the previous issue mentioned how he found Alpha to be irresistible.
4 Andrea Gets Bitten
Even the creator of the comics had mentioned that the walkers were now only secondary characters who had outlived their importance. This is why readers took to ignoring the zombies completely, with the in-universe characters mentioning how the zombies were no longer a threat.
And how did Andrea die, then? That would be by a walker bite. Her death was so bizarre, that readers were half-convinced she wasn’t going to die at all, but she did pass away as Andrea’s bite turned out to be very real. In a time where zombies were barely ever seen, the death of the secondary main character by their doing was something no one could have predicted.
3 Carl Loses His Eye
The core cast of The Walking Dead seemed to be untouchable by the time they settled into Alexandria, with the supporting characters routinely killed off to bring drama and tension to the fold. As Jessie and her son were devoured by walkers, the idea was that the quota for death and calamity had been filled, but the comic had something far greater up its sleeve as we saw Carl lose his eye.
The younger Grimes was shot clean in his vision, but at the time it was made to appear as if Carl had also died. The possibility of Carl’s death was instantly opened up, and although he survived, it was made clear that no one was safe.
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Rick Turns Into A Walker
Fans were informed that Rick would die before the series finished, but that had been promised to be a decade in the future. However, it was in Issue 192 that Rick left us forever. Even worse was the fact that the main character was seen turning into a zombie itself, as we saw through Carl how Rick became a walker and attempted to eat his own son.
At the time, none of us knew that the series was about to end, so this left everyone in a state of shock and panic as The Walking Dead was left without its main character for the very first time. Even those who predicted Rick’s death had expected a more graceful exit, but this was both shocking and a travesty as our hero went out in such murky fashion.
1 Negan Beats Glenn To Death
The peak of the show was reached right here when Negan was introduced in perfect fashion, and The Walking Dead never achieved a higher point. Glenn wasn’t the main character, but he was the most sensitive one the series had and a death so violent was never something any fan had envisioned.
Glenn ended up getting the worst deal, as his head was bashed in repeatedly by Negan, who even left a little time out to enjoy the sight of Glenn’s eyeball hanging out. The sadistic game of “Eenie Meenie” had earlier had us wracked with worry, and Glenn’s demise at the battering of Lucille had the fans feeling every hit clobbering right into their own heads.