The Saviors

**The Saviors**are the primary antagonists of the second half of season 6 and the whole of season 7 and season 8. It is a vast organization of survivors under Negan's leadership.

## Overview

The Saviors are a group of survivors with the goal of restoring civilization to the world. They do this however through murder and brutality to coerce other communities of survivors to provide a steady stream of food and other goods. The Saviors have multiple leaders, one taking the place after the other. At one point the Saviors were led by an apparently incompetent leader. Negan described the Saviors as being made up of gangs of animals under the new leader rule. Negan took the Sanctuary from him with the help of Simon and became the next leader. Negan established a system that has yet to be fully explained and called them the Saviors due to his belief that he is saving people.

They also have a reputation of being ruthless and uncompromising. They do not employ scorched earth technique used by the Wolves, and they are not cannibals like the inhabitants of Terminus. The Saviors (or at least Negan) are even opposed to rape however their violence is still extreme: on several occasions, they have clubbed people to death, and one group has taken polaroid-style photos of their victims. Negan is notorious for this particular execution method, carrying with him at all times Lucille, a baseball bat wrapped with barbed wire.

The Saviors however tend to kill few people, as Negan views them as a resource. They kill one person to get their point across so that the remaining people will work for them and Negan believes that killing one person will save hundreds. They have however been known to kill large numbers of people, for example on the orders of Simon they executed every male over 10 years old in Oceanside for resisting. The atrocity was however committed prior to Negan assuming command of the Saviors. There is shown to be a lack of trust between Negan and his right hand Simon. Negan believes in killing one person to save hundreds, whereas Simon believes that it's better to kill everyone within a community.

Most of the Saviors are shown to be sociopaths: they do not show any remorse toward killing others, nor do they show satisfaction, though some do show signs of sadism. There are still reasonable members such as Gavin, who shows genuine respect for Ezekiel and acknowledges that the Kingdom have been good to them and honored their deal. Moreover, many Saviors view themselves as hardened survivors, and often insist that the other communities are not morally superior, especially due to the large number of Saviors that they killed.

While some individual Saviors may not be dangerous, as each member of the other communities has been able to overcome multiple Saviors quite easily, what makes them such a formidable threat is their massive numbers, which enables them to overwhelm other groups and employ psychological warfare on a larger scale. To make it easier to avoid retaliation, Saviors tend to instate an disarmament policy on subjugated communities.

Negan has created a cult of personality around himself, and so many Saviors identify themselves as "Negan". When Negan is present, the Saviors kneel in front of him as a sign of respect. Rules are important to Negan as they give structure to civilization. If a Savior is caught breaking the rules, they are punished severely. One such method is branding the face of the guilty with a hot iron. Rape is particularly heinous in Negan's eyes and is punishable by death.

After the war with the Militia and Negan's capture, the remaining Saviors have given up on Negan's way of doing things and are now just a community of survivors instead of a tyrannical group of bandits.

## Government and Society

The Saviors have a well-structured hierarchy. At the top of the power structure is Negan, whose will is carried out through his lieutenants. Simon is his second-in-command and also maintains power over the other lieutenants, taking responsibility for subjugating communities that show resistance to their rule. All the lieutenants, including Simon, form a part of a leading council headed by Negan which acts as the government for the community. Simon, Dwight, Eugene Porter, Gavin and Regina are shown to hold seats in Negan's council. When Simon called a meeting in Negan's absence Arat and Gary are shown in the room standing in attendance, however they do not hold seats at the table. After Simon and Gary's betrayal and execution, Gavin's death and Dwight revealed to be a mole, Negan's council has changed. Laura, Dwight's former right-hand was promoted to Negan's second-in-command, and Arat and D.J., lower lieutenants now appear to hold seats at the council.

The lieutenants themselves lead missions and have added benefits in the Sanctuary. Below the lieutenants are the soldiers who fill the roles of scouts, enforcers and guards. Soldiers who prove themselves as loyal and reliable could potentially be promoted to the rank of lieutenant, especially when previously lieutenants were killed. Gary and D.J. were soldiers who proved their worth and were promoted. Under the soldiers are noncombatant workers who labor for points in exchange for supplies and comfort benefits.

Any woman whom Negan finds attractive can offer herself off as a wife for him to escape the point system. At the bottom are the prisoners who are identified by a letter painted on their shirts.

## History

### Season 6

##### Last Day on Earth

A group of eight Saviors led by Simon murder a group of survivors from a library off-screen for trying to fight back.

## Members

### Saviors

* Negan (Former Leader)
* Simon (Former De-Facto Leader/Second in Command/Council Seat, Deceased)
* Laura (Gardener/Former Lieutenant/Council Seat)
* Eugene Porter (Former Lieutenant/Chief Engineer/Council Seat)
* Arat (Former Lieutenant/Council Seat)
* Gavin (Lieutenant/Council Seat, Deceased)
* Dwight (Former Lieutenant/Council Seat)
* Gary (Former Lieutenant/Council Seat, Deceased)
* D.J. (Former Lieutenant/Guard/Council Seat)
* Regina (Lieutenant/Council Seat, Deceased)
* Wade (Lieutenant)
* Mara (Lieutenant, Deceased)
* Bud (Lieutenant, Deceased)
* Jiro (Lieutenant, Deceased)
* Paula (Lieutenant, Deceased)
* Primo (Medic, Deceased)
* Keno (Guard, Deceased)
* Huck (Guard)
* Gabe (Guard, Deceased)
* Mark (Former Guard)
* Little Roy (Guard, Deceased)
* Fat Joseph (Former Chief Engineer/Guard, Deceased)
* J. Top (Guard, Deceased)
* Cam
* Norris
* J. Money
* Mel
* Jeremy
* Timmy (Deceased)
* Donnie (Deceased)
* Molly (Deceased)
* Miles (Deceased)
* Roman (Deceased)
* Chris (Deceased)
* George (Deceased)
* Michelle (Deceased)
* Neil (Deceased)
* Isabelle (Deceased)
* David (Deceased)
* Gunther (Deceased)
* Yago (Deceased)
* Leo (Deceased)
* Zia (Deceased)
* Roy (Deceased)
* Dino (Deceased)
* Morales (Deceased)
* Rudy (Deceased)
* Nelson (Deceased)
* Joey (Deceased)
* Dean (Deceased)
* Duke (Deceased)
* Lance (Deceased)
* Duke (Deceased)
* Katy (Deceased)
* Jared (Deceased)
* Evan (Deceased)
* Reilly (Deceased)
* Derek (Deceased)
* Gomez (Deceased)
* Paulie (Deceased)

### Non-Combatants

* Emmett Carson (Doctor, Deceased)
* Sherry (Former Concubine)
* Gracie (Former)
* Gabriel Stokes (Former Worker)
* Amber (Former Concubine)
* Tanya (Former Concubine)
* Frankie (Gardener/Former Concubine)
* Gina (Former Vendor/Worker)
* Potter (Former)
* Brooke (Former)
* John (Former)
* Maria (Deceased)
* Todd (Deceased)
* Harlan Carson (Former Physician, Deceased)
* Tina (Former Fiancee, Deceased)
* Gordon (Former Worker)