It’s a real challenge to adapt a popular character from one medium into another, especially iconic antagonists. Negan is easily the best villain from the comics, but The Walking Dead showrunners can pat themselves on their backs for making the best antagonist in the TV series.
That said, Negan has since transitioned into a different role from the ninth season onwards. After being the bad guy for his first two seasons, Negan is now a fully-fledged protagonist. He’s still treated as a villain in-universe for his past crimes, though, so there’s as much reason to think of him as a sympathetic character as there is not.
10 Unsympathetic: Delighted In Making People Uncomfortable
Even when no-one was bothering Negan or had anything to do with him, he had a liking toward making them uncomfortable. It wasn’t an intimidation move, rather just a way to kill time.
While quite a bit of Negan’s mannerisms can be explained, this was a cruel thing to do on his part as he was fully aware of his position of power and abused it.
9 Sympathetic: His Kill Count Is Lower Than The Heroes'
As hard as it might be to believe, Negan has killed relatively few people. The ones that did die at the hands of the Saviors at large did so under the command of Simon, something that Negan had never authorized. In fact, Negan was outspoken in ensuring that he didn’t want people killed.
Stuff like the massacre of the Savior outpost was done by the heroes, and there’s no chance Negan would have done the same. The characters he killed personally had it coming to an extent, such as Spencer Monroe who was plotting at having Rick killed instead.
8 Unsympathetic: Killed As A Show Of Force
There’s no doubt that the Saviors were a better group than the Whisperers. An effective practice of Negan was to kill off one person from a group in order to set the others in line out of fear. This did bring him results but doesn’t excuse his act of murder.
What especially can’t be justified is the glee Negan felt when he killed someone. There was never any need to bash the heads of Abraham and Glenn the way he did, nor the jokes he made. When one recalls that, it’s easier to relate with Maggie when she had no sympathy to give to Negan after he apologized to her.
7 Sympathetic: He's Not A Villain From His Perspective
Some people don’t understand that Negan was right about things just as much as Rick. Rick killed people to keep his group safe. He lied, plotted, and didn’t have sympathy toward anyone other than his trusted ones.
All of this was done by Negan as well, who at least had the guts to admit it. The truth is that everyone in the zombie apocalypse is a killer and there are just no rules anymore. If the viewer had followed Negan from the first episode, he would come across as the good guy.
6 Unsympathetic: He's A Master Manipulator
When it comes to villains, Negan trumps Alpha in this department. That’s because Alpha was too one-note, in that she was very obvious in her villainy. This doesn’t bode well for Negan’s sympathetic factor, though, as you can’t be sure if you can trust him or not.
For instance, he gave his “wives” the choice to marry him or be treated like garbage like the the rest of the Savior community. This was total manipulation since the women didn’t have much of a choice. Negan also led Alpha to believe he loved her by making her vulnerable, only to behead her.
5 Sympathetic: Most Refuse To Listen To His Side
It’s very frustrating to watch the ninth and tenth seasons of The Walking Dead if you’re a fan of Negan. Every time he has something to say, Negan gets cut off by each character he’s interacting with. It’s even more frustrating knowing he wants to say something that will help the main characters.
This got to its peak after Negan had killed Alpha and proven to Daryl he’d done it to save the communities, only to again be met with hostility. It’s hard not to feel bad for him when Negan’s intention is to help and he keeps being treated like filth.
4 Unsympathetic: He Took Rick's Kindness For Granted
Rick was the only person who showed Negan kindness after the events of the eighth season. He was shown visiting Negan’s cell in order to try and rehabilitate him but could only receive anger and contempt back. Negan was just being petty here, as Rick clearly did want to help him.
The most unsympathetic one would feel for him was his last conversation with Rick, where the latter was already feeling pressure by the communities’ repeated conflicts, and Negan just made it worse by rubbing it in Rick’s face.
3 Sympathetic: Just Wants To Be Loved
Everything that had to do with his romance with Alpha was fake, but other than that, Negan does want to be loved. This isn’t restricted to a romantic connection either, as Negan’s shown to be very affectionate toward Carl, Judith, and Lydia, meaning he wants the feeling one gets when they’re loved by family.
He admitted to Maggie that he wanted to die and be reunited with his wife Lucille, as she was the only one he felt had ever loved him. It appears Negan has been very misunderstood all these years and is motivated by love rather than hate.
2 Unsympathetic: Intended To Kill All The Communities
As far as poor decision making is concerned, this would have to be one Negan’s biggest flaws. After Negan learned that Simon had caused all the communities to believe he’d ordered them dead the whole time, Negan believed he’d have to kill them now since they were out of his control.
Sure, he didn’t originally want the people dead, but he did ultimately try to have them killed. His unsuccessful attempt led to his redemption tale, yet there’s no doubt Negan would have had all these peoples’ blood on his hands had he gotten away with it.
1 Sympathetic: He's Genuinely Changed For The Better
Since the audience is privy to Negan’s thoughts and feelings, it’s for certain that Negan has changed into a good guy and left his villainous past behind. One of the things fans want to see in Season 11 is Negan being accepted into the community as acknowledgment of his reformed ways.
His attempts to do right by everyone come across positively, with Negan displaying both empathy and selflessness. Watching him be judged for the past is a shame, although he at least can garner sympathy from the viewer for being willing to change.