There are few characters in the world of television as beloved and badass as The Walking Dead's Rick Grimes. A sheriff deputy looking for his wayward family in the midst of the zombie apocalypse, Rick has seen more than his fair share of carnage and wanton death in the years since he awoke from his coma to a world turned upside down. While other characters have hesitated to get their hands dirty, Rick has fluctuated between being morally upstanding and being an absolute savage. This list will focus on the ten most brutal and savage things Rick Grimes has done in his time on The Walking Dead.
10 Tomas and Andrew- Season 3, Episode 2 "Sick"
Ricks had already tasted blood twice before this tense moment in the prison, but this was the first time in the series that Rick took a life without a direct threat to his own. Moments after killing a room full of walkers with the help of the inmates of the prison his group currently occupies, Rick makes a judgment call and uses his machete to split inmate Tomas' head down the middle. Sure, Tomas tried to direct a walker to kill our favorite Sheriffs Deputy, but maybe they could've talked it out? Doubling down, Rick then traps weaponless inmate Andrew outside with a smattering of walkers. It's the first time Rick flirts with full-blown savagery, and it's far from the last.
9 You're Gonna Make Me Count?- Season 8, Episode 1, "Mercy"
The Season 8 opener (and 100th episode) "Mercy" featured a smorgasbord of callbacks and references to earlier events in the show, but one of the most effective is Ricks intimidation tactic at the gates of the Sanctuary. With the armies of the Kingdom, Hilltop and Alexandria at his back, Rick and company roll up to Negans home base and demand the surrender of their bat-wielding leader. When Negan, predictably, refuses, Rick pulls out a callback to the Season 7 opener, in which Negan gave Rick to the count of ten to cut off Carl's arm.
"You're really gonna make me count? Okay." Unlike Negan, however, Rick only makes it to seven before he and the armies open fire.
8 The Ricktatorship Begins- Season 2, Episode 13 "Beside the Dying Fire"
For the first two seasons of the show, Rick was just another member of his crew. His insight as a police officer led the group through tough situations, but he didn't try to assume the role of leader in any official capacity. But that all changed at the end of Season 2, when Rick uttered the now-famous line, "This isn't a democracy anymore." After losing members of his party, the farm they called home and executing Shane, Rick decides that the group doesn't have the capability to survive without a leader. So he assumes that role, and establishes the "Ricktatorship." While he ultimately is a great leader, seeing him seize the role without question is more chilling than triumphant.
7 Executing "Negan"- Season 6, Episode 13 "The Same Boat"
"The Same Boat" is easily one of the best episodes of Season 6. It's a claustrophobic hour following Maggie and Carol in the clutches of a group of Saviors and highlighting the similarities between the two groups before their inevitable conflict. All throughout the episode, Carol is forced to reconcile with the fact that she will eventually have to kill all the Saviors in the compound she's trapped in. But it's her encounter with Rick at the end of the episode that sets her over the edge, as he brutally executes a Savior claiming to be Negan. The killing has a profound effect on Carol, who tries to leave the community before the war begins so she can avoid more death.
6 Putting Down Pete- Season 5, Episode 16 "Conquer"
While Alexandrian Pete Andrews was far from the worst foe that Rick ever faced, it's hard to argue about why he had to be executed. He beat his wife and son, was a roaring drunk and accidentally killed Reg in a fit of anger. Even so, it's undeniably disturbing watching Rick, covered in walker guts, kill him so passively.
Nothing on his face suggests even a hint of remorse about the act, and as if to play that up even further, it's precisely this moment when newly pacified Morgan arrives at Alexandria and reunites with him. The long-awaited reunion occurring just moments after the killing drives home the idea that Ricks methods of dealing with problems are getting out of hand; a lesson he doesn't learn until he comes face to face with Negan during the finale of the following season.
5 Can't Go Back, Bob- Season 5, Episode 7 "Crossed"
This scene is the definition of overkill. Not only does Rick run bad cop Bob down with his own police cruiser, he then shoots him in the head as Bob begins to plead for mercy, capping off the murder with an annoyed "Shut up." Even more disturbing than Rick killing so passively is his uttering of the line "Can't go back, Bob," as the officer begs for his life. It's the same line Gareth spoke to Bob Stookey at Terminus, and hearing it come from the mouth of our protagonist certainly sends shivers down the spine.
4 A Man's Word Has to Mean Something- Season 8, Episode 14 "Still Gotta Mean Something"
Twice in Season 8, Rick ends up in a situation in which he could feasibly spare the lives of Saviors. First, it's when he and Daryl grill the only survivor of their assault on a Savior compound to get information, under the promise that they'll spare him. Daryl executes him without question once they get the information they need. This doesn't sit well with Rick, however, later in the season Morgan and the Sheriff Deputy are held captive by another group of inept Saviors and Rick makes a similar deal with them as he did with the first. He gives them his word, because "A man's word...that's still got to mean something." However, he and Morgan murder them all with ease and Rick is forced to reconcile with the fact that he is going overboard with the number of lives he is taking.
3 Shane- Season 2, Episode 12 "Better Angels"
All through Season 2, Shane has doubts about Rick's effectiveness as a father, a leader, and a husband. He does not think Rick will do what it takes to protect the ones he loves and becomes convinced that he should take Rick's place, so he leads him into a clearing with the intent to kill. Rick feigns sincerity, telling Shane they can fix their problems...before stabbing him in the gut. The truly shocking thing about this event is the multiple ways that Rick starts to step into Shane's shoes. After this moment, Rick is much less wary of killing, and his brutal means of keeping his loved ones safe start to seem more and more like what Shane would do in those situations.
2 A Machete With a Red Handle- Season 5, Episode 3 "Four Walls and a Roof"
The Season 5 opener, "No Sanctuary," was chock-full of high-octane action and destruction, but easily one of the best moments was the promise Rick made to cannibal Gareth. While the sadistic Terminites carve up other travelers just a few feet away, Rick looks Gareth dead in the eye and describes the contents of a bag he left out in the woods, including a red machete. "That's what I'm gonna use to kill you," he promises. A couple of episodes later he makes good on that promise, trapping the Terminites in a church and brutally executing every last one of them. Gareth meets the red machete up close in a massacre that even disturbs some of Rick's closest allies.
1 Rick Goes Full Walker on Claimer Joe- Season 4, Episode 16 "A"
Rick has done some downright nasty things in his tenure on the show, but every action pales in comparison to his method of dispatching Claimer Joe and his henchman in the finale of season 4. Caught defenseless by the "Claimers," Rick, Michonne and Carl appear to be moments from their demise. Until Rick unleashes his inner walker and takes a big ol' chomp out of leader Joe's neck. The Claimers were awful people, but the utter brutality of Rick Grimes is jaw-dropping to behold, especially because he follows this up by killing the Claimer trying to defile Carl by stabbing him twenty-one times (yeah, we counted).