Nathan Carlson

***"It's coming along, but it'll still be a while till it's done."***
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## Nathan Carlson

* The 'New Age' Extension
* A Certain Doom
* The Crow
* 'California'

### Age

11 *('Friend Or Foe')*37 *('What We Fear Most')*

39 *('A Certain Doom')*

61 *('A Larger World')*

### Occupation

Middle school student *(Pre-apocalypse)*Former leader of the Fear *(Post-apocalypse)*

Former informant and double agent for the White House Rebels *(Post-apocalypse)*

Member of the New Graystone Military *(Post-apocalypse)*

Former head of staff at Veteran Ranch *(Post-apocalypse)*

Church volunteer *(Post-apocalypse)*

### Cause of Death

Bitten on the shoulder by a zombie *(caused)*Committed suicide by detonating the NBS *Elizabeth*

### Series Lifespan

'Something to Fear' -- 'City to Ghosts'

"*Oh what fun!*"
—Carlson's last words before destroying the NBS *Elizabeth*[src]

**Nathan Carlson**, formerly referred to as his alternate personality **The Crow**, is a main character and a former antagonist in *The Walking Dead by EDStudios*, and returning as a main character in the'*New Age'* Extension. Nathan is a complex individual whose mind has been shattered into multiple personalities due to the traumatic events that have occurred in his life, especially when he was a child at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. He was revealed to be the true leader of The Fear and serves as the primary antagonist of *Season 24* onwards until his defeat in *Season 27*. He continues to serve as a recurring antagonist until *Season 33*, when he is revealed to have reformed.

As the Crow, Carlson waged a bloody and brutal war with the State of New Graystone, determined to cleanse the people of the State of their fear. He led his legions in destroying the Capital, nearly bringing down the State of New Graystone in the process. In his final battle of Edwards, his fears were exposed and, instead of being killed, was thrown in a cell surrounded by fire.

After becoming a prisoner, he slowly reformed and regained a semblance of mental stability. However, he initially sided with Antony Eden and proceeded to deliver him launch codes for missiles dotted around D.C. It was revealed that these launch codes were actually self-destruct codes and Carlson had switched his loyalty to the Commonwealth. In order to prove himself to the Veteran once and for all, he returned to Heron Street and wiped out the very cult he created. He then proceeded to help the Commonwealth in their war against the Government, proving almost instrumental in their defeat. Turning to religion under the guidance of Gideon Monroe, Carlson slowly began to repair his broken mind.

After accepting a job as a farmhand on Veteran Ranch, Carlson worked away his old identity and eventually became the head of the ranch workforce, nothing like the monster he once was. However, with the onset of a new war that could tear the country apart, Carlson revealed his inner madness to protect Hope, becoming one of her closest allies. He finally gave his life to destroy the NBS *Elizabeth*, detonating the ship's oil supplies with a grenade, having already been bitten. Carlson's sacrifice allowed his allies to succeed in the Battle of Bakersfield, paving the way for the Corps defeat and earning him the redemption he had sought for years.

## Overview

### Personality

Nathan Carlson is a severely psychologically damaged and complex survivor whose traumas and experiences have resulted in dissociative identity disorder. One personality has taken dominance for most of Carlson's life: the merciless Crow, a personality created to protect Nathan from his trauma. The Crow obeyed Nathan's subconscious wish to help others, but did this in a horrifically twisted ways.

The cold, totally unstable and psychotic leader of the Fear, the Crow is introduced as a remorseless lunatic who strips people of their fear in order to "make them stronger", believing a species without fear will be able to evolve. He is also prone to bouts of insane, maniacal laughter. He takes people and subjects them to their fears for extended periods to "cleanse" them. For example, after he met Berto - who was suffering from monophobia - the Crow locked him in a soundproof room alone for six months, destroying Berto's mental state and causing him to tear most of the skin from his face.

The Crow is shown to be a cunning, cruel and savage man who is a strong leader to those in his group, who follow him as if he is some sort of messiah. He appears to take great pride in his leadership abilities and seems to enjoy the position of power. He seems to have a potent understanding of psychology, at least when it comes to taunting his foes and manipulating the fears and doubts of others. He seems to be completely detached from people and is cruel and ruthless, as shown when he led a large herd to the Capital, leading to the death of many innocents and laughing when learning of the devastation. He demands loyalty and obedience from everyone who follows him, even killing two members of his group who try to help him in his fight with Edwards.

However, Carlson is later shown to be highly emotionally unstable, especially when his fear of fire is exposed to the Fear by Edwards. This leads him on a warpath, sacrificing many of his own people in order to secure a victory. As his burns are revealed to the people of the Capital once Edwards defeats him, the true Carlson breaks free, and somewhat reverts to an almost childlike state, both crying and laughing at the same time, begging for death and also for mercy; it was this that inspired Edwards to throw Carlson in prison for life instead of just killing him.

After his defeat and imprisonment, Edwards occasionally heads down to his cell to speak with him and taunt him about the New World they are creating. Gideon, one of the few to accept that Edwards spared Carlson, also attempts to give him therapy sessions, believing that his innocence is still alive deep within him, hidden beneath the DID that was brought on by his extreme trauma. Edwards eventually shows Carlson the Lady's severed head, causing Carlson's true self to show for the first time, the pain of which caused him to break down in tears.

After this, Carlson seems to show signs of improvement, which is again tarnished when he sides with Antony Eden, reverting to his old self. In doing so, Carlson acquired a set of launch codes to activate the missiles around Washington D.C which could be used to destroy the Commonwealth. However, it is later revealed he has switched his loyalty to Edwards, leading to him severely injuring Antony Eden, evacuating Edwards and his people from Maryland, and locating and wiping out the remains of the Fear in order to prove his loyalty.

However, even when he is siding with Edwards and his allies, Carlson still carries out his methods theatrically and is, despite his repaired mental state, still riddled with insane laughter. A good example was when he destroyed the Pentagon with C-4 and killed Marcus Aurora in the process, laughing maniacally at Aurora the entire time before escaping.

As he becomes more and more aware of how unstable he is, Carlson begins to constantly shift between a maniacal and theatrical side - "The Crow" - and more serious, sincere and logical side - "Nathan Carlson" - which he often changes at will. When he is "Nathan Carlson", he is able to suppress his laughter and insanity; however, a side effect of this is a series of neurological tremors, chest pains and headaches. As "The Crow", Carlson releases the full extent of his mania, while also displaying heightened resistance to pain and even faster reaction times, most likely due to the banishment of the tremors. Becoming more and more aware of his instability, Carlson turns to God and religion, even going so far as to confess his sins in a confession with Gideon.

In his elderly years, Carlson has become the lead staff member of the workers on Veteran Ranch. He is nothing like the monster he once was: he is shy, timid, and riddled with tremors trying to suppress his mania. Although he still shows signs of instability - including hallucinations and bouts of manic laughter - he is now fully aware of his condition and makes strong efforts to suppress them. He expresses shame for his past actions and believes he is tainted. As a result, he has continued his fellowship of religion to atone for his crimes and often attends sermons.

However, when Hope's life is in danger during the war, Carlson wastes no time in reverting to his old self in order to protect her, a side of him Hope had never seen before. However, he affirms that she is not to be afraid of him and even his "Crow" side is now a force for good as long as he is kept in control. However, the years of keeping his insanity hidden and in control has visibly taken its toll on him, with him once again consistently switching between "Nathan Carlson" and "The Crow"; this time, however, the transitions are violent, unbridled and painful, with the stress of the mental transitions causing him physical pain and even leading to him self harming. His adrenaline levels reach high enough for him to dent concrete during one of his mental transitions.

Severely injured in a gunfight, Carlson falls into a traumatic hallucination during which he relieves his deforming injuries trapped in the Mitchell family barn, his torturing of Berto and the Lady, and the headaches and tremors he has self-inflicted over the years in order to remain stable and atone for his past crimes. After confronting the madness within himself, Carlson is able to bond his two personas together for the first time.

In the end, despite his maniacal nature, Carlson cared deeply for those who had learned to accept and forgive him, giving his life so that his allies could strike a significant blow to the Corps, and, as a result, earning himself the forgiveness and redemption he had sought for years for the monster he once was.

## Pre-Apocalypse

Little is known about Carlson's life before the outbreak. It is known he lived in the northern United States in one of the few cities that did not immediately fall following the outbreak. Although he has revealed very little about his past, Gideon proposes that he was most likely an orphan and was severely abused by the people who adopted him; judging by his drawings, Nathan was kept bound and locked in a basement whenever he misbehaved, and saw "demon dogs in the darkness with blood-red eyes, watching him".

## Post-Apocalypse

When Nathan Carlson was just eight, all of the adults in the world died and came back as the undead, feasting on anything they found, including the surviving children. In the outbreak's early hours, Nathan was caught in a horrific fire that permanently disfigured him; this, combined the panic of seeing a zombie walking around while on fire caused Nathan's fragile mind to fracture, giving rise to multiple personalities. Very quickly, one of these personalities became dominant and vowed to protect the young Nathan from the world around him. As the personality had been born out of fear, it sought to eliminate fear from Nathan. Eventually, it began calling itself The Crow. Subconsciously, Nathan wished to help others and "instructed" the Crow to do so; the twisted Crow instead interpreted this instruction to forcibly eradicate fear from others. Nathan would remain trapped in his Crow personality for more than 25 years, only able to come into the "Light" when subjected to the thing he feared most: fire.

### Season 24

In the following years, Carlson was found by a mother and her daughter, who took him in. He became obsessed with defeating "The Demon" that had disfigured him and devoted himself to ridding himself completely of fear, breaking his psyche in the process. He indoctrinated the daughter as his warden, subjecting her to her severe arachnophobia and transforming her into his minion. Together they set out to rid anyone they came across of fear and formed a group of survivors, taking up residence within Heron Street.

### Season 28

#### 'A Certain Doom'

In the two years following his defeat, Carlson had remained mentally damaged.

## Death

### Killed by:

* Zombies *(caused)*
* Himself *(suicide, sacrifice)*

Having been bitten on the shoulder, Carlson goes all out and wipes out most of the NBS *Elizabeth*'s crew singlehandedly. Getting to the top of the radio tower, Carlson goes out in glory, igniting the ship's fuel tanker with a grenade and perishing in the explosion. His sacrifice ultimately paved the way for the eventual defeat of the New Buckingham Corps.

## Killed Victims

This list shows the victims Nathan Carlson has killed:

* 1 unnamed woman *(caused)*
* 2 unnamed children *(caused)*
* Marcus Aurora *(caused)*
* Numerous unnamed Capital residents *(direct, caused)*
* 2 unnamed members of the Fear *(alive)*
* Numerous counts of zombies and unnamed people

## Relationships

### The Lady

> *"I **can't** come back...he took **everything** from me,"*
>
>

The Lady is the Crow's ward, and she serves as his second-in-command.

During his imprisonment, it is revealed that Carlson cared more about the Lady than initially believed, desperately asking Bethany to show him the Lady's remains.

### Berto

> *"He showed me the true way to live: a life without fear,"*
>
>

> -- Berto on his loyalty to the Crow
>
>

Although they are never shown interacting, Berto is shown to hold a great deal of loyalty to the Crow, mentioning him several times and the reason behind his survival, despite the atrocities the Crow committed against him, including murdering his wife and children.

When Carlson gives a confession to Gideon, he mentions how he had The Lady and several other members of the Fear kill Berto's family, before locking him in a dark room alone to "cure" his monophobia.

### Harry Edwards

> *"Your grandchildren are gifted, Veteran...thanks to you, they will not lose their way. I know it,"*
>
>

> -- Carlson to Edwards, consoling him about his grandchildren
>
>

Edwards and Carlson were fearsome enemies and bitterly despised each other for a long period of time, with Carlson blaming Edwards for all of his trauma and Edwards vengeful for the Crow's actions against the people of the State of New Graystone.

Despite all that the Crow had done, Edwards decided to let him live at the conclusion of the war, sentencing Carlson to a life sentence in a cell surrounded by fire.

However, in their later lives, the two are good friends, with Carlson expressing strong loyalty to Edwards and his family, crediting the restoration of his sanity to Edwards and his efforts.

### Hope Edwards

> *"Come along, mistress Hope. Let's have some fun!"*
>
>

> -- Nathan reveals "The Crow" personality to Hope for the first time
>
>

Hope and Carlson have a good relationship. Carlson is fiercely loyal and protective of Hope, and Hope cares deeply for the tremor-riddled Carlson. He played a significant part in Hope's childhood as he taught her to read and write, as well as give her history lessons. Carlson often refers to Hope as "Mistress Hope".

However, as Hope returns to defend New Chicago and is kidnapped by Sarah Terringham, she discovers a new side to Carlson as he arrives to rescue her, with him showing her his true, maniacal nature for the first time.

### Kyle Granger

> *"Listen, never did I nor will I ever forgive Nathan Carlson for the man he was...but damn me if I don't **respect** him now. Because of him, we have a fighting chance. He gave his life for all of us. [...] If he isn't forgiven, then he has certainly atoned,"*
>
>

> -- Kyle to John
>
>

### Ashleigh Smith

> *"Please. Just do it. [...] Because I can't do it. I can't **be** like this! Please please, **don't make me stay like this!** [...] It has to be you. It's the only way he'll **SHUT UP**. Please help me! Please, please..."*
>
>

> -- Nathan pleads for Ashleigh to kill him and, therefore, kill the Crow
>
>

### John Smith

> *"You're the **bastard** that killed my father!"*
>
>

Nathan and John have a bad relationship. John believes that Carlson is responsible for the murder of his father, Kieron, before he was born.

## Quotes

* *"I know. Surprising, isn't it. What were you expecting? A couple of scars here and there? One eye? No...behold, the **face of true sanity**,"*
* *"This is the end. It's just you and me, Demon. You are torn open...I am bigger...I am badder...and I feel no fear. [...] She was wrong. [...] She didn't know a damn thing,"*
* *"Please. Just do it. [...] Because I can't do it. I can't **be** like this! Please please, don't make me stay like this! [...] It has to be you. It's the only way he'll SHUT UP. Please help me! Please, please..."*

## Trivia

* The Crow is the favourite villain of the EDStudios writing team, while also one of the "most difficult - and most fun - characters to write".
	+ *"We never intended Nathan to redeem himself, but at his core Nathan is just damaged. His evil side is his way of protecting his fragile mind. It's not his fault that the Crow does what he does. We wanted to give him child-like qualities to prove there was something innocent buried under all that evil. He is one of the most difficult - but one of the most fun - characters to write. He has come a long way from a psychopathic cult leader to family butler,"*
* Carlson suffers from dissociative identity disorder, resulting in alternate personalities that Nathan created to protect himself from his trauma. According to Carlson, all of his personalities reside in a small room with a chair in the middle, shrouded in a beam of light; whichever personality sits in the chair also controls Nathan's body. Although it is not known how many personalities reside within him, a list of his known personalities is as follows:
	+ **Nathan Carlson**, the primary personality, is meek, mild-mannered and remorseful for the actions of his alternate personalities. This personality is childish and quick to panic, perpetually stuck in the mind of a young boy. Originally, the only way to summon Nathan was to subject him to fire, but he later emerged upon seeing the reanimated head of the Lady.
	+ **The Crow**, the dominant personality, is a twisted psychopath and the first alternate personality to be "born" from the fire that traumatized Carlson. He is louder than the other "voices" and "hoards the light". The Crow obeys Nathan's every wish, but carries them out in often twisted ways; the most notable of this was protecting others from their fears. Carlson spent 26 near-continuous years as the Crow.
	+ **The Merger**is a combination of Carlson and the Crow. The Merger possesses Carlson's morals but the Crow's unhinged nature. This personality rose from Gideon and Nathan's counselling sessions and features predominantly in the '*A Certain Doom*' story arc by posing as the Crow and fighting for the Commonwealth against the Government. Nathan remains in this personality for just under five years before evolving into The Butler.
	+ **"Tyler"** is a hyperactive six-year-old boy craving sugar, specifically candy corn.
	+ **"Marlene"** is a stern fifty-something woman who keeps the other personalities in line; she is held with contempt by the other alters.
	+ **"Jake"** is a typical high-school jock obsessed with athletics.
	+ **"Allison"** is a high-school girl with a sarcastic, entitled attitude who complains about most things.
	+ **"John"** is a studious, knowledgable man with a fantastic memory but few social skills.
	+ **The Butler** is the personality that Carlson spends the second-longest continued duration in the series, for a total of 25 years. It is an exaggerated, overly formal version of Carlson's true personality and is considered by many to be an evolution of the "Merger" personality. This personality served as the Edwards family butler and appears predominantly in the '*New Age*' Extension, alongside The Merger. Unlike The Merger, The Butler is strongly religious, seeking to redeem Nathan for the actions of the Crow and find peace.
* Carlson has severe pyrophobia - fear of fire. This resulted from him being trapped and burned inside a building, disfiguring him, before he saw a zombie walking around on fire. It was this event that gave rise to his other personalities.
	+ Carlson does not smoke due to his fear of fire.
* He is the first primary antagonist to become an ally of a protagonist.
* Carlson is the third antagonist to be sentenced to life imprisonment by Edwards, following Eduard and Lawrence Carter.
* Most of Carlson's body is covered in burns, excluding his head. He also has a long scar at the bottom of his throat from when Edwards slashed it in their climactic battle.
* Whenever Carlson suppresses his mania, the effort takes such a toll on him he develops a neurological tremor in both hands, as well as chest pains and headaches. He also appears to suffer from pathological laughter.