Daryl Dixon

Daryl Dixon is a very popular, fan favorite character on AMC's horror drama series, The Walking Dead television show. He does not appear in The Walking Dead comics. The character was created specifically for Norman Reedus because the creators,	Frank Darabont, Charles H. Eglee, Jack LoGiudice, liked his audition for Merle Dixon (Daryl's brother) so much.
==Canon==
Daryl Dixon was first introduced in season one as a southern, expert tracker, that lives in the shadows of his older brother, Merle. At first, the group just tolerates Daryl, as he had a horrific temper and was ill mannered, but as the series goes on, Daryl becomes a very important, loved part of the group. Daryl soon becomes the right-hand-man to the groups' leader Rick Grimes.
 
==History==
(history of fannish interest in the character - fan activities, meta discussions, first appearance of character in fanworks, etc.)
=== Daryl's Sexuality ===
Throughout the first five and a half seasons of the show, Daryl has not been confirmed to have romantic or sexual interest in any other character, leading many fans to speculate that he might be gay or asexual.
In the letters column of issue #130 of the Walking Dead comics, published in August 2014, Robert Kirkman responded to (and fueled) fan speculation that Daryl might be gay:
Following the Season 5 mid-season finale in November 2014, Kirkman clarified his statement and confirmed that they had ultimately decided not to make Daryl gay:
Many fans were disappointed with the decision not to make Daryl canonically gay, while others were pleased at the possibility of Daryl being canonically heteroromantic asexual. Het shippers took Kirkman's words as a positive sign that Daryl may have had romantic feelings for Carol or Beth.
==Fandom==
===Pairings===
*Daryl Dixon/Carol Peletier 
*Beth Greene/Daryl Dixon - most popular het pairing
*Rick Grimes/Daryl Dixon - most popular pairing
*Daryl Dixon/Glenn Rhee 
*Daryl Dixon/Jesus 
*Daryl Dixon/Lydia 
*Daryl also appears in numerous other TWD and crossover ships as the fandom's little black dress
===Statistics===
*In 2017 Daryl Dixon was the most popular Walking Dead character on Archive of Our OwnThe Walking Dead A03 Statistics
===Common Tropes in Fanworks===
*woobiefied 
*whumped 
*Abuse: exploring Daryl's childhood abuse, and the issues stemming from it
*PTSD: focusing on Daryl dealing with tragic events that have effected him, examples: Merle's death, Beth death, his torture at the hands of Negan
*No Zombie Apocalypse AU: Modern setting where no Zombie Apocalypse occurs
*High School AU or College AU: Daryl meets and begins relationships with his fellow survivors before the Zombie Apocalypse, or no Zombie Apocalypse occurs
===Six Degrees Influences===
There are fanfic crossovers with The Boondock Saints, due to the fact that Norman Reedus played Murphy MacManus in the movies. A lot of those crossovers ship Daryl Dixon/Connor MacManus, as a way to work around the incest present in the Murphy/Connor pairing. Fic writers sometimes address the problem of Murphy and Daryl looking exactly the same using the doppelganger trope, though sometimes they simply ignore the issue.
===Other===
*Daryl was part of the Atlanta Five
*Daryl is referred to as the Archer in many fanworks, because his weapon is a crossbow and he was called that by Gareth in Season 4, Episode 16
==Controversies==
*Negan kill: Some fans were angry and blamed Daryl for Glenn's death, because Daryl hit Negan, causing Negan to select a second victim after choosing to kill Abraham.Daryl Dixon Is Public Enemy #1 For What Happened During ‘The Walking Dead’ Premiere Although other fans have pointed out that Daryl was probably willing to pay the consequences, but could not have know that Negan would kill someone else for his actions.Yes. It was Daryl’s fault. However:
==Fanworks==
===Fanfic===
*The Blood Done Signed my Name by Praxid
*Hell and High Water by dementorsatemysoup
*The Place That Is Ours by The Place That Is Ours
*Stronger than blood by Higgystar
===Fanart===
* The Archer by VarshaVijayan
* The Archer by cmloweart
* Daryl Dixon by Raiecha
* Icarus Iscariot & Daryl - Studies by Sempaiko
* Daryl Dixon - wip - by JuliaFox90
* The walking dead - Angel by maXKennedy
===Fan Vids===
* Daryl Dixon tribute|The Walking Dead by Agi- Fanvids (Published on Mar 8, 2015)
* Daryl & Rick | You're My Brother (War) by Mikica1010 (Published on Apr 4, 2014)
* Daryl Dixon (Evolution) by LoganKirkmanGames (Published on Apr 17, 2014)
* Evolution of Daryl Dixon by Agi- Fanvids (Published on Feb 15, 2015)
* Daryl Dixon // Time by yanissa g (Published on Feb 13, 2015)
===Meta===
*Man of Honor by iheartmissandei
* by jennifercarolyn
== Links & Resources ==
=== Daryl-centric Communities ===
* Dixon's Vixens, a Daryl fansite
* Daryl Dixon fan club at Fanpop
* dixon_society at LiveJournal
* DarylDixonFans, Daryl-Dixon-Love and daryldixonFC at DeviantArt
*The Best Of Daryl Dixon community at FanFiction.Net
=== Fanworks & Discussion ===
* Daryl Dixon tag at Archive of Our Own
* Daryl Dixon works at FanFiction.Net
* Daryl Dixon tag on Tumblr
* daryldixon tag at DeviantArt
* Daryl Dixon Fan Art at allthingstwd on Pinterest
* Character Study: The Walking Dead’s Daryl Dixon
=== Canon Resources ===
* Daryl Dixon page on fandom wiki
* Daryl Dixon page on Wikipedia
==References==
Category:Walking Dead Characters