Franklin Carter (Rise)

Franklin Carter is a survivor of the outbreak in Rise, and is a main character in the first and second seasons of the series. He is the former running mate of Emilio Vasquez during his campaign to become the Governor of the state of Connecticut, and is traveling with him and his fiance Bill Taylor on the campaign trail at the start of the outbreak. Presented as a charismatic and sarcastic political figure, Franklin uses this as a way to calm down a situation that looks to take over the mindset of his group and throw them off the course of whatever task is at hand. After managing to escape the first horde of the series in the original hospital, Franklin and his group retreat a few streets away to an abandoned dental office where they hide for shelter. Their stay at the office is cut short when they depart to save Meghan Chapel and Alicia Haven from a horde they are attempting to make their way through in order to save an unconscious John Callis. Upon helping the women, and assisting in the save on John, Franklin and his group are welcomed to ride along with the women back towards the Callis Family Home, where they are offered shelter. After Emilio and John depart the neighborhood in search of John's wife Jessica, Franklin takes over a hands-on role in helping the group set up barricades and fortify shelter. After hearing a distressed Salem Ailwood and her group fighting off a large horde of monsters, Franklin's small community is overrun by the aforementioned horde and split off into groups. Franklin, alongside Alicia and Salem split off into a home across the street from the Callis Family House, where they attempt to hold off the horde for the rest of the group until they, too, are overrun. Retreating from the home to another house next door, Franklin and his group attempt to look out as cover for the rest of their group before Franklin is bitten by an unnoticed monster, who is quickly put down after this. After struggling to figure out how to handle the situation, Salem cuts Franklin's arm off in an impromptu amputation, saving him from the infection permanently infecting his blood stream. After their home is overrun, and the rest of the group is forced to abandon the neighborhood and leave Franklin's group behind, Franklin leads Alicia and Salem out of the home and off into the woods to end the first season. Though Franklin is still shown to be bleeding from the amputation, series creator and lead writer Zachary Serra confirmed that Franklin had indeed survived the amputation and would continue to be a lead character in the second season of the series.
== Representation ==
Franklin is shown to be witty and charming, using this and his charisma to ease the tension in specific situations that can severely hurt the chances of a group in danger surviving. Franklin has also been shown to be resilient, continuing to fight off monsters and look out for his group even after his arm was bitten, and shortly afterwards amputated. As Emilio's former running mate in his campaign to become the next Governor of the state of Connecticut, Franklin is extremely respected by Emilio and his fiance Bill, as well as countless other politicians that he had interacted with before the events of the initial outbreak in the series.
== Appearances ==
=== Season One ===
* Day Zero - Part One
* Day Zero - Part Two
* Hearts Beat for a Reason
* Novocaine
* King of the Clouds
== Trivia ==
* Creator of the series Zachary Serra confirmed that during the writing process for the first season of the series, he modeled Franklin's appearance off of Ricky Whittle, known for his role as Lincoln in the television series, "The 100." 
* Franklin is the first character in the series to survive a bite from an infected monster, with his arm being amputated by Salem after being bitten by the reanimated corpse of a neighbor in the Callis Family neighborhood.
* Franklin is the first character in the series to have a limb amputated, and he is also the first character in the series to survive an amputation done in order to stop an infection.
* Franklin is the second named character in the series to be bitten, with the first being Jalen Tormo, who succumbed to the infection before being put down by Jack O'Rourke and Reggie Harbaugh.