Merle Dixon

*"You need to grow up. **Things are different now**. Your people look at me like I'm the devil. Grabbing up those love birds like that, huh? Now y'all wanna do the same damn thing I did, snatch someone up and deliver them to the Governor. Just like me. **People do what they gotta do or they die**."*
―Merle justifying his actions to Daryl in their final conversation.[src]
**Merle Dixon** was a survivor of the apocalypse and an original member of the Atlanta camp. Shortly after the initial outbreak, Merle and his younger brother Daryl found and joined a group of survivors at a camp outside the city. After being handcuffed on a rooftop by Rick Grimes and left abandoned by the group during a mission for his racist behavior, Merle was forced to cut off his right hand with a hacksaw to escape certain death.

Sometime after surviving on his own, Merle was found by a tyrannical and dangerous man known as the Governor and taken to the town of Woodbury, where his combative nature helped him win a place among the residents and become the second-in-command. When Merle reunited with Andrea and learned that Daryl was still alive, his loyalties were ultimately tested as he continued to perform the Governor's dirty deeds.

After the Governor captured Daryl and forced Merle to fight his brother to death, Rick and a rescue team saved them in the nick of time, but they refused to let Merle join them at the prison. Due to his brother's bad attitude, Daryl went back to the prison as well and Merle reluctantly followed him. At the prison, Merle kept his distance from everyone and in return was treated as an outcast. When he learned that the twisted Governor had offered to spare Rick's group in exchange for Michonne, Merle took the initiative and kidnapped her.

Following a change of heart, Merle let Michonne go back to the group, and continued his own mission to redeem himself. Merle lured a herd of walkers to the Governor's hideout and killed some of his soldiers. Unfortunately, the Governor found him and shot him in the chest. Moments later, Daryl tracked Merle and found him reanimated as a walker, so he was forced to stab him in the head to end his sorrowful life.

## **Pre-Apocalypse**

Merle grew up in the mountains of Northern Georgia alongside his younger brother Daryl, under the roof of their neglectful redneck parents, an abusive alcoholic father and a chain-smoker mother. Because of the lack of love and guidance he was given, Merle chose to act out against society, which led him to frequently be incarcerated in juvenile institutions, although during the time he was free he devoted himself to mold Daryl in his likeness to forge character in him, without giving him the emotional support he should have given him as an older brother.

At a young age, the Dixon brothers lost their mother in a house fire which had been caused by a cigarette while she was asleep. Over the next several years, they were mentally and physically abused by their father. When he was old enough, Merle left his home and joined the military, claiming he would've killed his father otherwise. Unknown to Merle, Daryl was left to suffer from the abuse which resulted in severe scars located on his back.

During his time in the army, Merle punched a sergeant, knocking out five of his teeth, and ended up being dishonorably discharged. As a result, Merle was prosecuted and sent to prison for sixteen months. Eventually, Merle would become involved in the contraband of crystal meth and other drugs, which he also consumed. Due to having contracted severe gonorrhea once, Merle always brought with him very good pain killers.

Following their father's death, Merle reconnected with Daryl, who followed his brother's lead, and they entered into a drifter lifestyle, where the pair utilized their survival instincts. On one occasion, they stole a boat and trespassed onto private property to go fish on a lake. Merle was drinking and fell into the water but was saved by Dary in time. However, once they were on land, a drunk Merle told his brother to swim back for the beer.

At one point, the Dixon brothers resided in a drug supplier's house where the trio watched TV and by noon had become intoxicated. Merle insulted the dealer's son's favorite cartoon and a fight broke out between them. Daryl tried to defend his brother but ended up vomiting after being punched in the gut, which made Merle and the dealer laugh the incident off. However, Merle would always care for his brother and look after his only support.

## **Post-Apocalypse**

When the outbreak happened around the world, Merle and Daryl traveled to a supposedly safe-zone in Atlanta. Sometime after the city was napalmed by the military in a last attempt to contain the virus, they encountered and joined a campsite of survivors on the outskirts of the city. During their stay, the brothers spent a considerable amount of time hunting animals for the group. They also planned to rob the camp at some point.

* Season 1

## Death

Killed By
* Himself *(Indirectly Caused)*
* Zombies *(Caused)*
* Caesar Martinez and a few unnamed Woodbury Soldiers *(Caused)*
* The Governor *(Alive)*

Instead of handing Michonne to the Governor, Merle chose to kill the Governor himself. During the ambush, Merle was attacked by a walker and because of this he was captured by the Woodbury soldiers and was severely beaten. The Governor then grabbed and took him back inside the building that he was shooting from, where he beat him, bit off two of his fingers on his left hand and broke his right arm, before shooting him in the heart.

* Daryl Dixon *(Zombified)*

Later on, Daryl came across a zombified Merle and began to cry uncontrollably. A zombified Merle approached Daryl, who pushed him back three times before stabbing him in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground and then stabbing him seven times in the face, putting him down.

## Killed Victims

* Welles *(Alive, Possibly, Direct or Caused)*
* Tim *(Alive, Accidental; Before Reanimation)*
* Crowley *(Caused, Before Reanimation)*
* Gargulio
* Ben *(Accidental)*
* Himself *(Indirectly Caused)*
* 6 unnamed U.S. Military soldiers *(Alongside his fellow survivors)*
* 7 unnamed Woodbury soldiers *(Direct or Caused)*
* Numerous counts of zombies

## Appearances

TV Series
Season 1
* "Guts"
* "Tell It to the Frogs"

Season 2
* "Chupacabra" (Hallucination)

Season 3
* "Walk With Me"
* "Killer Within"
* "Say the Word"
* "Hounded"
* "When the Dead Come Knocking"
* "Made to Suffer"
* "The Suicide King"
* "Home"
* "I Ain't a Judas"
* "Arrow on the Doorpost"
* "This Sorrowful Life"

## Trivia

* Merle is the first major recurring secondary antagonist in the series.
* Michael Rooker lost 28 pounds in order to prepare for Merle's return in Season 3.
* Merle's words in "Tell It to the Frogs", when he is screaming, are almost identical to his last words to the Governor in the sense that both times he would not beg for his life against greater odds.
	+ Also, Merle's final line "I ain't gonna beg, I ain't begging you!" was not directed towards the Governor but rather God as revealed by Michael Rooker.
* In Merle's bag of drugs, Blue Sky Meth can be seen, a nod to another AMC television series, Breaking Bad.
* The scene where Merle begins shooting his gun on the rooftop in Season 1 caused a little bit of real-life chaos. Some people did not know they were filming a show and thought that Michael Rooker was a sniper and notified the police. A SWAT team actually showed up and the misunderstanding was then explained.
* Merle is one of the many amputees in the series, having been forced to amputate his own right hand, and later having two of his fingers bitten off by the Governor.
	+ Merle is also the first character to have a substitute appendage on an amputated limb
* Merle has a number of ethnic slurs that he uses against people of different minorities to show his racism.
	+ Merle also has a tendency to call others with the names he makes up himself:
		- Daryl Dixon: **Baby Brother**, **Little Brother**, and **Darlina** *(in Daryl's Hallucinations)*
		- Andrea: **Blondie**, **Sugar Tits**, **Rug-Muncher**, and **Whore**
		- Morales: **Taco Bender**
		- T-Dog: **Spear-Chucker** and **Mr. Yo**
		- Caesar Martinez: **Brownie**
		- Gargulio: **Neil**
		- Mexican Man: **Beaner**
		- Mexican Baby: **Cinderella**
		- Michonne: **Mute**, **Black Bitch**, **Nubian Queen**, **Sweetheart**, and **Darling**
		- Milton Mamet: **Miltie**
		- Maggie Greene: **The Farmer's Daughter**, **Honey**, **Bo-Peep**, and **Love-Birds** *(alongside Glenn)*
		- Glenn Rhee: **Chinese Kid** and **Love-Birds** *(alongside Maggie)*
		- Rick Grimes: **The Sheriff** and **Sheriff Rick**
		- Hershel Greene: **The Farmer**
* According to Greg Nicotero, Merle's death was not planned during the initial writing for Season 3 since he was supposed to be a recurring character in Season 4.
* In an interview with Michael Rooker on Comicbook.com, he was asked how Merle would react to Negan and what he has done to Daryl and the group as of Season 7. Michael responded by saying: *"I don't know if Merle would actually enjoy seeing his friends being abused."*
* Prior to his final shootout, Merle stated that he had killed 16 people since the apocalypse began. All of these were during his time in the Governor's inner circle.

## References

1. ↑ Save the Last One
2. ↑ Chupacabra
3. ↑ Hounded
4. ↑ Home
5. ↑ Home
6. ↑ Walk With Me
7. ↑ Tell It to the Frogs
8. ↑ Bloodletting
9. ↑ This Sorrowful Life
10. ↑ Bloodletting
11. ↑ Still
12. ↑ What It Always Is
13. ↑ Still
14. ↑ Chupacabra
15. ↑ Home
16. ↑ http://www.amctv.com/the-walking-dead/videos/contains-spoilers-the-making-of-episode-303-walk-with-me-inside-the-walking-dead
17. ↑ This Sorrowful Life