page_title: Daryl Dixon
section_title: Reception
hierarchical_section_title: Daryl Dixon / Reception
caption_attribution_description: English: Norman Reedus speaking at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, California.
context_page_description: Daryl Dixon is a fictional character from AMC's horror drama series The Walking Dead. The character was created for the television series by writers Frank Darabont, Charles H. Eglee and Jack LoGiudice specifically for Norman Reedus, and does not have a counterpart in the comics on which the series is based. The character was introduced in the first season as a southerner, expert tracker, living in the shadow of his older brother, Merle. Despite his ill temper and volatility, he is tolerated by the core group of survivors due to his skills in hunting animals and fearless efficiency in killing walkers. This is particularly important in the early days of the apocalypse, when people with survival skills and the moxie to confront the undead are in short supply.
  After Merle's disappearance Daryl sheds his aloof personality and starts to bond with the group, particularly Carol Peletier after her daughter's disappearance, and Beth Greene after the two split off together in season 4. The character becomes the cooperative right-hand man and protector of protagonist Rick Grimes and leads several supply runs. He is the longest surviving character of the television series.
context_section_description: After being fourth place in top billing for the third season, Daryl was promoted to second place in top billing for every season since the fourth, having become one of the main protagonists of the series. He got top billing following the departure of Andrew Lincoln in season 9. Fans follow the character, and Reedus in other roles. They have debated Daryl's sexual orientation and sexuality, especially with regard to Caryl (Carol and Daryl) and Bethyl (Beth and Daryl) shippers; some fans argue that he is heterosexual, while others argue that he is gay or bisexual. The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman stated that Daryl is heterosexual, but that the show has portrayed him as somewhat asexual. "I think that he's a very introverted character and I think that's somewhat his appeal. I do have to clear something up, though," said Kirkman. He continued by saying: "In the Walking Dead letters column in the old comic book that I do, there was a question that made me mention that there was a possibility early on about making Daryl Dixon's character gay and it caused quite a hubbub online. I just wanted to make it clear that I was saying that the possibility is there and I would've been fine with it, the network would have been fine with it, but we ultimately didn't do that."
  Entertainment Weekly featured Reedus as Daryl on the cover of an issue previewing season three of The Walking Dead. Additionally, Daryl won IGN's "Best TV Hero" of 2012, and the character was featured in a Super Bowl XLVII commercial for Time Warner Cable. For his performance as Daryl, Reedus won the People's Choice Award for Favorite TV Hero in 2014 and was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television in 2011.
  TV Guide listed Daryl as the best character on The Walking Dead, ranking the top twenty four characters in the first five seasons. His transformation from a "selfish loner to an integral member of the survivors" was highlighted as well as being an "excellent hunter".
  The character holds the 2nd place in a list of "30 Best ‘Walking Dead’ Characters" by Rolling Stone.
  As of August 2019, Daryl is currently voted #1 on Ranker's "The Best Walking Dead Characters".
  Noel Murray of Rolling Stone ranked Daryl Dixon 2nd in a list of 30 best Walking Dead characters, saying, "The Walking Dead is a show that traffics in iconography – and you do not get more iconographic than the show's scraggly-haired, crossbow-wielding, motorcycle-riding hunter. First introduced as an angry redneck and evolving into one of the series' most striking figures, Daryl has revealed more dimensions over time, and Norman Reedus' performance helping to expose an unsurpassed kindness and commitment to the hero’s closest companions."
caption: Norman Reedus' portrayal of Daryl Dixon has been lauded by critics and audiences
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 5D Mark IV", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2019:07:30 00:20:58", "Image Artist": "", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "256", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "1204", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1318", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9537", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/200", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "2000", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "2000", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0231", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2019:07:19 13:48:42", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2019:07:19 13:48:42", "EXIF OffsetTime": "-07:00", "EXIF OffsetTimeOriginal": "-07:00", "EXIF OffsetTimeDigitized": "-07:00", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "61/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "420", "EXIF SubSecTime": "65", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "65", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "65", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2790", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3392", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "268800/47", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "2240000/391", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF CameraOwnerName": "", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "295057000674", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[420, 420, 0, 0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM +1.4x", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "0000000000"}