The Governor (TV Series)

### Cause of Death

Stabbed through the back by Michonne and then shot in the head by Lilly Chambler

### Occupation

Middle-Management Employee (Former) Woodbury Leader (Former)

River Camp Leader (Former)

### Family

Mrs. Blake (Wife)Penny Blake (Daughter)

Andrea (Ex-Girlfriend)

Lilly Chambler (Ex-Girlfriend)

### Portrayed By

David Morrissey

**Philip Blake,**also known as the Governor, is the main antagonist of AMC's The Walking Dead  in season three and the first half of season four. He is the leader of the fortified town of Woodbury and later the ruthless leader of the River Camp, taking extreme measures to assume command over the survivors.

## History

### Background

Philip Blake experienced a rough childhood and thus had a negative relationship with his father who was physically abusive both towards him and his brother. At one point the pair were caught smoking a pack of lucky strike cigarettes belonging to their father in a garage. His brother intervened, taking the blame for their actions, regardless it resulted the two brothers getting beat up by their father. The futility of his brother's attempts to stand up for him against his father had a strong effect on Philip's development and caused him to think of heroes as fools who get themselves and others hurt.

In spite of his brutal upbringing, Philip grew up to become a family man, having had a beloved wife and a daughter named Penny where they lived together as a middle class family. Over time however, Philip grew to become dissatisfied with his plain, mediocre life where he worked as an office drone under a younger and unintelligent boss who frequently hounded him for several years. During one day at work, Philip received a call from the hospital informing him that his wife had tragically died in a car accident, this event left Philip devastated by her death, especially after she had previously left a message to call her back, to which he never replied, an action for which he deeply regrets. After her burial, Philip and Penny were forced to rely upon one another during these turbulent periods.

After the onset of the outbreak, Philip alongside nine other survivors barricaded themselves up in an apartment before they eventually moved out, picking up several new group members along the way notably including Milton Mamet , Caesar Martinez and Shumpert. They eventually discovered the abandoned Woodbury. After they secured the town, Philip established a fortified community which gradually began to increase in numbers and through his manipulation he established his leadership role and became known as the Governor, a name he didn't approve of. His community eventually grew to obtain about 73 survivors and his charismatic personality led many of the community to look up to Philip and admire his leadership.

At an unknown point however, Penny tragically became infected and later reanimated. Due to his inability to come to terms with his daughter's death, Philip kept her zombified corpse locked away inside his closet and kept her hidden from the community. Penny's death affected him severely and most likely contributed towards his development into a ruthless, pragmatic and hardened survivor. Philip resided in a lone apartment where he kept a collection of severed heads encased in water tanks, the reason behind this was to prepare him from the outside horrors.

The Governor commanded his group to scavenge for food, supplies and weaponry in order to help strengthen the community during which he and his group raided several camps and killed numerous innocent survivors in order to accomplish this. In addition, he sent out several groups to capture and imprison Walkers: which would then be used for stage fight tournaments as a form of entertainment for the residents of Woodbury. It was during this period where the Governor eventually came across a mortally wounded Merle Dixon whom though noted his erratic behavior was impressed with his skill and thus appointed him as one of his lieutenants.

### Season Three

The Governor arrives at a recent helicopter crash with a handful of men including Merle Dixon, Caesar Martinez, Shumpert, Crowley and Tim in trucks. Unbeknownst to him, Andrea and Michonne were watching from a distance. While investigating, he finds one of the soldiers as a zombie and he takes a knife and stabs the bisected man through the top of his head. They investigate the helicopter and notice that the pilot, Welles, survived the crash and is still alive. As they put Welles in a truck, Michonne's pet walkers begin making noise, drawing their attention.

The Governor and his men search the area which causes Michonne to quickly take the pets out. Merle eventually finds them and they are captured. Merle loads the two in the truck and they drive back to Woodbury. While Michonne and Andrea are in the hospital, the Governor comes in to check on them. Michonne demands her weapons, he

   replies that they cannot leave yet. Andrea inquires why they are being kept as prisoners, to which he tells them that they are not prisoners but guests. He shows Andrea and Michonne around the secure town of Woodbury. Andrea questions the Governor about his moniker: he tells her it is just a nickname, but Andrea quips that Governor is a title and not a nickname. Later, he gives them an apartment and instructs them to spend the night so Andrea can rest, and then to come over to his place in the following day.

Early the next morning, he goes to a hidden laboratory, where he has Milton Mamet experimenting on Walkers. When the Governor arrives, he finds Milton and Merle having a heated discussion, which he compares to a school fight. The Governor questions Merle about Andrea and Merle reveals that she was from his group in Atlanta, but she was separated from them. The Governor orders Merle to investigate more about it and after Merle leaves, Milton proposes that he himself do it, questioning Merle's capabilities to restrain himself during interrogation. After the Governor defends Merle's usefulness by comparing him to a hammer, Milton asks whether a hammer is the best tool for this job. The Governor switches the subject to Michonne's Walkers and he explains how they had starved and were being used as camouflage; the Governor relishes the idea. Milton once again asks to meet the girls so he can ask them questions. At breakfast, the Governor answers Andrea's questions about Woodbury. He then leaves early to check on Welles and he asks about his two fellow soldiers that were in the helicopter with him, the Governor informs him that they didn't make it. He asks Welles were his camp is, so he can bring in his fellow soldiers, so Welles tells him about the camp where his comrades are stationed at. The Governor sets out to the camp.

He arrives at the camp showing a white flag and one soldier, Brady, questions what does he want and the Governor tells him that Welles' helicopter crashed, but he survived and is being treated. The soldiers are happy to know that Welles is alive, but then the Governor surprises them by shooting one of the soldiers. The Woodbury soldiers come out of the bushes and they kill the other military soldiers during the distraction. The Governor picks up an M4 and searches the campsite for supplies. When he sees a soldier fleeing, he shoots him down, before ordering Tim to finish him off. Later, he and his men return to Woodbury with the military trucks and supplies. The townsfolk reunite around him, and he lies saying that the soldiers were dead when they arrived. When everybody is going back into

   their homes, the Governor approaches Merle and Milton, giving them orders. As he leaves, Andrea approaches and asks for his name, which he denies her. Later that night, after apparently having sex with Rowan, the Governor goes inside a secret room in his apartment, where he stores zombified heads inside fish tanks with one of them being Welles. The Governor watches them for entertainment.
The Governor comes across Michonne, who is inspecting one of the military trucks stolen from the National Guard and driven into Woodbury. The Governor keeps to his story that the soldiers died fighting against Walkers and that the bullet holes were probably from fighting the enemy before. The Governor has a parting drink with Andrea and tells her about what happened to his wife,

   saying that she died in a car accident before the outbreak. As Andrea is leaving, he reveals his first name, Philip, and tells her that she can return to Woodbury at anytime. Later on, the Governor is playing golf when Merle talks to him, requesting his permission to go on a scouting mission to search for Daryl Dixon, Merle's missing brother, as he now has the location of the Greene family farm. Initially, the Governor refuses since it is too risky, but agrees to accompany Merle on the search if he can gain more concrete evidence.
The Governor is seen brushing the hair of his undead daughter, Penny. When he accidentally tears a chunk of her scalp, she goes into a fit of rage so the Governor restrains her but notices that Michonne is glaring into the window at the two of them although she cannot see Penny's face as the Governor covers it. Later on, he makes a speech at the town's barbacue, saying that on this day, they celebrate how far Woodbury has come. He, Milton and Merle head to his apartment to get more drinks where Milton tries to convince him to cancel the celebration so he can make an experiment at his lab, but the Governor refuses, telling Milton to forget about work at least for one day and celebrate with everybody. Tim discovers that Michonne broke into the Governor's apartment to steal her katana and slaughtered several Walkers in an industrial courtyard near Milton's lab. The Governor admonishes her and offers a spot on his research team, she grabs her katana and holds it to his throat. She then decides to leave Woodbury with Andrea once for all. Later on that night, the Governor notices that Andrea is still in Woodbury, she tells him that she

    wanted to stay and Michonne left without her. He invites Andrea to a gladiator fight including chained-up Walkers and a fight between Merle and Martinez. While Andrea is disgusted by it, the Governor believes it to provide entertainment for the Woodbury citizens and is a way to keep them from fearing Walkers.

Knowing that Michonne is dangerous, the Governor sends Merle, Crowley, Tim and Gargulio to kill her. Later, Andrea asks if she can help out with something. He says she can, she asks to be on wall duty, and he agrees to it. However while on wall duty, Andrea leaves the wall to kill a Walker, causing the Governor to scold her. She apologizes and also reveals to him she liked the Walker fights, but was ashamed that she did. He tells her that she doesn't have to be ashamed, because he loves them. He reveals that before the outbreak, his life was mediocre, he hated his job, he had a small sized house and he doesn't even know why he became the leader of Woodbury.

They share a drink and end up sleeping together in his apartment. Merle interrupts them because he has vital information and the Governor goes in the hall so Andrea can't hear. Merle tells him Michonne is dead (but in fact, she is actually alive) but they lost all the other men. The Governor is saddened to hear the deaths of his men and says they will cover it up by saying they died heroically during a supply run. Merle says that he has even more news, he stumbled upon a person from his old group from Atlanta and a girl. He kidnapped them: Glenn Rhee and Maggie Greene, and that they are apparently held up in a secure location. The Governor instructs Merle to lock them up for interrogation and not to tell anyone, especially Andrea, because she knows them.

After having sex with Andrea, Milton knocks on at the door and he informs the Governor that Michael Coleman is ready. He nods and sends Milton to go, then he distracts Andrea by sending her to assist Milton with his research. With that cleared up, he goes and confers with Merle, who has been interrogating Glenn for most of the day. Merle says that he wasn't able to get any information from Glenn, but he is going to interrogate Maggie next. The Governor says that he'll interrogate her himself and sets off. He enters the shack where Maggie is being kept captive, he at first attempts being reasonable and nice, untying her from the chair and telling her that it's all been a misunderstanding. She only needs to tell him where her group is and they will take her and Glenn back to them. She gives him the silent treatment, so the Governor takes a different approach.

The Governor forces Maggie to take off her shirt by threatening to bring in Glenn's hand if she refuses and he then forces her to take off her bra. She stands topless and he comes over, unbuckling his belt. While she still doesn't flinch, he pushes her onto the table and demands information, but she refuses to tell him. The Governor smiles and then takes Maggie, still topless, to Glenn at gunpoint along with Merle and Martinez. Assuming the Governor raped

    her, Glenn tries to attack him, but Martinez points his gun at Maggie, making Glenn stop. The Governor then says that he is tired of games and someone will reveal the location of their camp immediately, he prepares to shoot Glenn in the head, but Maggie divulges everything he needs to know about her group: they are camped at a prison near Newnan and that their group is small. The Governor then decides to taunt Glenn by hugging and kissing Maggie on the head, telling her it's all okay. He and his men leave her and Glenn locked inside the shack and head to his apartment to discuss the prison with Merle, Milton and Martinez. He is shocked that only ten people could clear out that whole overran prison and he realizes the group is strong and they need to be prepared. He tells Merle that his brother is with the prison group and this may count when Merle has to choose a side, he questions where Merle's loyalty lies and Merle promises that he is only loyal to Woodbury. He then sends Merle and Martinez to scout out the prison. Andrea returns to his apartment shortly after and she is shocked and saddened about how the experience with Coleman went. The Governor hugs and comforts her in a similar way he did to Maggie.

The Governor comforts her experience with Coleman and is worried since the presence of Glenn and Maggie makes it possible for Andrea to discover them. He tells Merle to execute Glenn and Maggie at the "screamer pits" but they are saved by Rick Grimes, Oscar, Daryl and Michonne, who had arrived to rescue them. After hearing the shots, the Governor heads out in the streets to investigate, at first he thinks a Walker broke into the back gate and it's nothing to worry about, but when one of the Woodbury soldiers reveal that there are intruders in town, prompting the Governor to tell the rest of the guards to search the whole town for them. He, Andrea, Milton, Merle and Haley  meet at Milton's lab, where Merle reveals that Warren was killed. The Governor tells everyone to keep their eyes open and orders Andrea to check if the residents are okay.

A shootout erupts in Woodbury's streets shortly after, Andrea witnesses one of the attackers in the smoke, saying that he is wearing a prisoner jumpsuit, the Governor panics and orders her to go inside. The Governor goes in his apartment and is horrified to discover Michonne with her sword and Penny, prepared to execute her. The Governor pleads with her not to do it, but Michonne kills her anyway, starting a brawl between the two in the secret room.

    During the struggle, several of the tanks are thrown to the floor, spilling out the heads inside. During the fight, he attempts to drag her arm to a Walker's snapping jaws, but she is able to escape his grasp. As the Governor is strangling her, Michonne grabs a piece of broken glass from one of the tanks and stabs the Governor's right eye, blinding him. As she is about to finish him off with her katana, Andrea arrives with her gun drawn at Michonne. The two stare at each other horrified and Michonne leaves. Andrea is even more horrified when she spots the fish tanks with Walker heads inside, the Governor ignores her and hugs the corpse of his dead daughter weeping.

    Later on, the Governor's injuries are treated by Dr. Stevens, who informs him that he can't recover from his eye injury. He forces her out of the way, saying he needs to do something, he is confronted by Andrea about the tanks with heads, so the Governor says that he used them to get ready to prepare for the real, outside world. Merle arrives asking what happened and the Governor only tells him that he was attacked. During a gathering of the citizens in the arena, the Governor makes a speech about how he failed with the townsfolk, allowing "terrorists" break the town. But he informs them that Merle led Michonne and the others to attack Woodbury and brands him a traitor. The Woodbury soldiers bring in Daryl and the Governor asks the citizens what they think should be done to the terrorists. As the citizens chanted for Daryl and Merle to be killed, the Governor taunts Merle.
The Governor then orders the two brothers to fight to the death, so that Merle can prove his loyalty lies with Woodbury, ignoring Andrea's asking to stop it. In the middle of the fight, gunshots are heard coming from Maggie and Rick, causing the residents to panic. During the confusion, Merle and Daryl manage to escape with Rick and Maggie, while the Governor is at his apartment gathering guns, Andrea walks in asking him why Daryl was there and why he

    didn't tell her about her friends being alive. He explains telling Andrea that her friends killed seven good people and they are hostile. Andrea says that the Governor needs to calm down the citizens, as they are scared and want to leave Woodbury, he tells her that if the townspeople want to leave Woodbury and take the chance outside, let them go, the easy life of celebrations and barbacues they had until now is over. When some Walkers invade the town, Richard Foster is bitten and severely injured. The Governor steps out his apartment, puts a quick end to Richard's suffering by shooting him in the head in front of everybody and walks back into his home. Later on, the Governor is seen watching Andrea from

    his apartment as she calms the residents, who wants answers to all that happened through the day.
The Governor visits Andrea at her apartment, he says that he is unable to continue being the leader of Woodbury for a while and tells Andrea that she is the right person to be the new leader, even though Andrea hesitates, he insists. He then goes to Milton's laboratory, confronting him and asking where his loyalty lies, a scared Milton promises that he is loyal to Woodbury. Milton is then ordered to keep an eye on Andrea while, without her knowledge, the Governor, Martinez, Shumpert and two soldiers went out to attack the prison. The Governor makes his arrival at the prison known by shooting Axel in the head from outside the

    fence with an AUG A1. During the whole shootout, the Governor seems to be enjoying it in a sadistic way. One of the Woodbury soldiers runs down the prison gates with a truck full of Walkers and sets them free inside the prison. The Governor and his men get in their car and escape during the distraction.

The Governor wants to avoid any more invasions by arming the citizens of Woodbury and teaching them how to shoot. Andrea comes in after being informed of the attack on the prison, the Governor lies to her, telling her that he wen to the prison to negotiate and the group attacked them first. He tells her that they are bloodthirsty and if she goes to the prison, she is to stay. The Governor is seen later checking the residents approved into the Woodbury Army, Andrea comes to Noah's defense for Karen, saying that he is asthmatic. The Governor, however, doesn't dismiss Noah and says that he is going to learn to shoot from the best, before turning back to look at Andrea.

When Andrea tells Milton of her plans to sneak out and visit the prison to negotiate with Rick, he immediately informs

    the Governor of her intentions of escaping Woodbury but the Governor simply tells him to help her escape. Tyreese Williams's group is soon brought by a returning Milton and the Governor learns they have just visited the prison. Tyreese says he can describe the prison's layout for them but the Governor tells him and his group to just rest for the night and they'll talk about this later. At night, Andrea returns and informs the Governor that she went to the prison, they are broken and living in horrible conditions, she also informs that Merle and Michonne are living there too. The Governor tells Andrea that she came back because Woodbury is where she belongs, then they end up sleeping together. While the Governor is sleeping, Andrea gets up without him noticing and holds a knife over his bedside, contemplating Carol Peletier's plan to kill the Governor in his sleep. Andrea cannot go through it, so she puts the knife away and peers out the window.
After a meeting being set up by Andrea, the Governor finally meets Rick face to face in an abandoned farm store. As

    noticing that Rick carries his gun in hand, the Governor mocks him by pretending that he surrenders himself and that they have a lot to talk about. He removes his belt with his pistol and calmly sits on a chair, he invites Rick to do the same, but Rick holsters his gun and still stands. Unknown to Rick, the Governor has taped a gun under his side of the table. Andrea storms in the barn complaining that the Governor started the meeting without her, Rick says that he knows everything about the Governor, about the raids, the heads in fish tanks and that he attempted to rape Maggie. The Governor asks Rick for his offer, which is setting boundaries in the area: Woodbury takes west of the river, prison takes east. The Governor refuses the offer; he wants Rick to surrender. As the situation starts to get out of control, Andrea interferes telling both men to calm down, the Governor asks her to leave him and Rick to discuss this privately. As Andrea leaves the barn, Martinez closes the door.

The Governor and Rick begin to insult one another about their respective positions as leaders, but incredibly they show some amount of respect for each other. Even though, Rick calls him a town drunk for killing Axel and running down the prison's gates. The Governor asks if Rick ever misjudged someone and says that he knows about the possibility of Judith Grimes being someone else's daughter. He says that if he just leaves Rick's group alone, his people are going to think they are weak. Rick then says that's only his problem and the Governor shares a story about the day his wife died, he was at work when he received a call from the hospital informing him that she died in a car accident. She left a message to him earlier to call her back, but he never managed to do so, so he wonders what she wanted. Rick remembers about Lori Grimes and becomes visibly rattled, the Governor smirks. He gets up and tells Rick that this fight will go down to the last man, but there is a way out: he promises not to do anything to his group if Rick gives up Michonne.

Rick is not sure about giving up Michonne, he doesn't trust that the Governor will keep his word about leaving them alone. The Governor gives Rick two days to think about the offer, saying that he'll be back in this farm store by noon. The Governor, Martinez, Milton and Andrea return to Woodbury and upon arriving, he instantly pulls Martinez aside and orders him to prepare an ambush on Rick's group in the next meeting, he wants everyone dead except Michonne. Milton hears the conversation and complains about breaking the offer, so the Governor simply tells Milton that they would have to get rid of Rick sooner or later anyway, on the way back to his apartment, he thanks Andrea for setting up the meeting, without her knowledge of his true intentions to kill Rick and his group.

The Governor is then seen inside a torture room hidden in Woodbury and he tests the resistance of the chains that once held Michonne's pet walkers with a sadistic smile on his face. After a while, he lays out tools beside a dentist chair, he looks back and notices that Milton is watching and approaches him. Milton tries to convince the Governor that he doesn't need to take revenge on Michonne, that he can simply forget all of this and move on, leaving the prison group alone. The Governor says that this is something he has to do and asks Milton if he truly believes that Walkers actually have something left from their old beings inside them, Milton says that he believes but Penny is already dead, it's time to move on. The Governor refuses and says that he is going to do this before returning to the room with more tools and a recorder, he tests the recorder without knowing that Andrea and Milton were watching him the whole time from a window. He is later seen walking down the street when he notices that Martinez is confiscating Andrea's weapons, he tells Andrea that this is just precaution, and says that he wants her to come with them the next day, when they close their deal with Rick and the prison group. Andrea agrees and walks off.

The Governor is then reported by Tyreese and Sasha Williams that Andrea jumped over the fortified wall and escaped Woodbury. Tyreese says that Andrea looked pretty disturbed with the town and is concerned with what this is about. The Governor lies, saying that Andrea has mental issues for spenting the whole winter alone in the outside world. After the meeting, Milton approaches the Governor and implores to let Andrea go. The Governor realizes that Milton told her about the Michonne deal and she is going back to the prison to warn everyone, he gets in his car and leaves Woodbury to go after Andrea. While driving down a road, he spots Andrea walking through a field and follows her, Andrea panics and runs inside a forest to avoid being followed. As the night falls, the Governor manages to find Andrea once again, she runs inside an abandoned warehouse, he leaves his car and follows her inside.

The Governor listens to Andrea's footsteps, he starts mind games, trying to scare Andrea into revealing her location. The Governor grabs a shovel and starts breaking windows and spreading glass inside the warehouse, so he will be able to listen to Andrea if she walks over the pieces of broken glass. He continues with the mind games when he listens to a noise, while investigating, he discovers three Walkers wandering inside the place and kills all of them easily. He then starts bashing one of their heads with a shovel before listening to another strange noise and following it, finally finding Andrea as she stands in front of an old door. The Governor mockingly tells Andrea it's time to go "home", so Andrea opens the door and hides behind it, releasing a small herd of Walkers on the Governor. He fights the Walkers with the shovel, a piece of metal and empties his gun on them, then Andrea escapes the warehouse as the Governor is cornered by many Walkers.

By the morning, Andrea finally reaches the prison and she notices Rick in a guard tower and tries to wave so he can see her. However, the Governor returns after surviving the Walkers and tackles Andrea to the ground, Rick fails to spot them and the Governor drags Andrea away. The Governor returns to Woodbury, Martinez approaches him and asks him about Andrea, he says that she is still missing. Martinez also reports that somebody burned down the Walkers they captured and is suspicious that Tyreese is responsible. The Governor talks to Tyreese and his group, explaining that they use the Walkers as a scare tactic and were never intended to kill people. Tyreese apologizes for being difficult and the Governor finds out that Tyreese wasn't responsible. On his way out, Milton asks if the Governor found Andrea, he says that he didn't but he will search again the next day. Milton then says he hopes he will find out the person responsible for burning down the Walkers, causing the Governor to realize that it was Milton. Meanwhile, back at the hidden torture room, Andrea is bound to the dentist chair with a gag in her mouth and the Walker pet chains dangling behind her.

The Governor and his men are waiting for Rick's arrival at the farm store, preparing to ambush Rick as soon as he shows up. But instead, a car playing loud music suddenly drives alone into the place, attracting many Walkers and forcing the Woodbury soldiers to defend themselves. Unknown to them, Merle planned this to take out the Governor while the others were distracted. As Merle had his cross-hair pointed right at the Governor, Ben unintentionally walks in the way and gets shot instead, saving the Governor's life and revealing Merle's location. Woodbury soldiers start to kick Merle to the ground, the Governor orders them to back off, wanting to take out Merle himself. The Governor drags Merle back into the farm store where he was hiding and starts kicking and punching him. Merle tries to fight

    back but to no avail and the Governor starts choking him and biting off two of his fingers before breaking his bayonet arm and finally pinning Merle against a wall. When Merle says he won't beg him, the Governor pulls out his gun and shoots Merle in the chest, killing him.

The Governor has Milton tied up to a pipe in the shacks and beats him, blaming him for the deaths of his men at the hands of Merle, since Milton burned the Walkers they had gathered, which they otherwise could have been released on the prison. The Governor begins to berate Milton and tells him to be stronger. When Milton questions him about Andrea's whereabouts, he takes Milton to the room where he has Andrea held in, and orders him to kill her in order to save himself and to redeem himself. Milton though tries to attack the Governor instead, but the latter defends himself and stabs Milton to death; he then decides to leave Milton locked up with Andrea, since the latter will reanimate and kill her. The Governor then leaves the torture room.

He then goes outside, where the Woodbury Army is waiting for him. He reminds them that Rick's group were responsible for the death of eight Woodbury defenders and they will stop at nothing until they are eliminating. Tyreese and Sasha inform him that they are not going to attack the prison, since someone needs to stay and protect the townspeople. The Governor gives Tyreese a sniper rifle and coldly thanks him, he then gets in his car and the army moves out to attack the prison. They arrive there exploding the guard towers, shooting all the barricades and running down the courtyard gate, but the prison seems to be empty, and the Governor decides to move inside. They enter Cell Block C and find out the place is also empty, the Governor notices a bible left on the table, he then hears a strange noise coming from the dark corridors, he decides to split the army in teams to search the corridors.

While doing so, they are suddenly attacked by flash grenades and Walkers, everyone starts panicking and the Governor tries to calm them down, as they are running outside, Glenn and Maggie start shooting at them from the catwalk, telling them to leave the prison. The Governor wants to stay and fight, but the scared army of citizens leave the prison behind, prompting the Governor and his men to get in a truck and go after them. As they reach the army,

    they stop the convoy and the Governor leaves his truck angry at them, ordering them to to go back to the prison immediately. Martinez and Allen agree with him, but the rest of the army refuse to attack the prison again, since they are scared and want to return to the safety of Woodbury. The Governor loses his sanity and starts shooting everyone to the ground. Martinez and Shumpert watch horrified as the Governor shows no remorse whatsoever after killing 23 of his own people, including Allen. The Governor gets back in the truck with Martinez and Shumpert and they drive off.

### Season Four

Following the massacre of the Woodbury Army, the Governor, Martinez and Shumpert camp at the site where they also massacred the National Guardsmen. Growing wary of the Governor's mental state, Martinez and Shumpert decide to abandon him during the night. In the morning, the Governor wakes up and realizes that he was left behind

    to die, he then steals the remaining military truck and returns to Woodbury to burn the town to the ground out of anger. He then spends several months surviving on his own, one day, he comes across a building with several messages and names written on them, one of which is Brian Heriot. After arriving in a town, the Governor is weakened and falls to the ground. This leads him to spot a young girl, Meghan Chambler, peering at him from a window and he decides to enter the house, finding a family who, at first, warily hold him at gunpoint but then welcome

    him into their home.

The Chambler sisters, Lilly and Tara, take all of the Governor's weapons and questions him about where he came from and what are his intentions. The Governor fakes his name, saying that he is Brian Heriot. He also informs the sisters that he was living in a town, it was safe, until the man in charge "lost it". After having dinner, the Governor helps the sisters to take their father, David, to his room, since he has cancer and cannot walk on his own. After doing this favor, David asks the Governor a favor: to grab a backgammon set from an apartment upstairs. The Governor does so and the family thanks him for it. By the morning, Lilly stops by the apartment she let the Governor stay in. She reveals that her father's oxygen tank is almost in the end, so he will need a new tank soon. The Governor offers himself to go out and search for some oxygen tanks in a nursing home.

The Governor manages to collect two oxygen tanks in the nursing home but barely manages to escape alive. After arriving back at the apartment, Lilly offers to treat his injuries with the assistance of Meghan. Lilly leaves the room to collect more medical supplies and the Governor ends up bonding with Meghan about their injuries: the Governor's eye and Meghan's hurt finger. During his time at the apartment, the Governor befriends the Chamblers and slowly begins socializing. One day, as he is teaching Meghan how to play chess, David passes away because of his cancer. Unknown to the Chamblers that a person who dies reanimates no matter what, the Governor tries to rush both of them out of the bedroom but not in time. David reanimates and nearly bites Tara before the Governor ironically puts him down with his own oxygen tank.

After burying David, the Governor realizes that he doesn't want to care about people like he cared for his daughter and decides to leave. Lilly spots the Governor and convinces him to take her and her family with him. They take David's truck and drive off. During their time on the road, the Governor and Lilly share a night of passion. After spending some days on the road, the truck breaks down and forced the small group to continue their journey for a safe haven on foot. They are eventually attacked by a small herd of Walkers, the Governor rescues Meghan and

    manages to run off with her to a safe field, but they end up falling inside a put full of Walkers just like the ones he used in Woodbury. In order to protect Meghan, the Governor kills all the Walkers inside the pit with his bare hands and then swears that he is never going to let anything happen to Meghan. When looking up, the Governor realizes that Martinez was watching them inside the pit the whole time.

Martinez helps the Governor and Meghan out of the pit, as the Chamblers call him "Brian", Martinez realizes what is going on and allows them to join his group as long as they don't question his leadership. After joining the group, the Governor, Lilly, Tara and Meghan start living in one of the trailers in Martinez's camp. One day, the Governor and Meghan are playing chess and they have a conversation about whether they are bad people or not, which makes the Governor think about all that he has done in the past and how he's been trying to redeem himself.

Later, he agrees to go on a supply run with Martinez and two of his men, Pete and Mitch Dolgen. They come across a abandoned house in the woods and kill all the Walkers inside, one of them that the Governor kills is a young boy. They decide to spend the night in the house, drinking beer that Mitch found stashed in the kitchen. Pete questions what the Governor did to survive the apocalypse until this point, and he dodges the question simply saying that he survived and makes the same question to both Pete and Mitch. They reveal that they were both serving the military, Mitch escaped with his tank and formed the camp, Pete was in Fort Benning but soon left the place to join his brother. Upon returning to the camp, Martinez invites the Governor to play golf with him like they used to back in Woodbury. As they are playing, both men drink alcohol and start to get drunk, Martinez reveals that Shumpert was never the same after what happened to the rest of the Woodbury citizens, he died after being bitten by a Walker and Martinez himself had to put him down. Martinez also comments that he's willing to share leadership responsibilities and offers to split them with the Governor. Angry and drunk, the Governor hits Martinez with the golf clubs in the back of the head, he then drags Martinez to one of the Walker pits and throws him in to be devoured while screaming that he doesn't want to be the leader again.

Following this, the Governor is seen shaking inside his trailer over how he killed Martinez. In the next morning, Pete announces that Martinez was found dead inside one of the Walker pits, they assume he got drunk while playing golf and fell in. Pete names himself the leader of the group until they can properly vote on the matter and the Governor is asked to join Pete and Mitch on a supply run where they come across a small group of people that set up a camp just a few miles away from their camp, Mitch believes that they should attack and steal their supplies, but Pete says that they shouldn't kill people over supplies and they continue to search, ignoring the camp. They eventually fail to find any food, on the way back, they realize that someone attacked the camp that they passed by and stole all of their supplies. An angered Mitch kills one old man that barely survived the attack and Pete says that they should've helped him instead of killing him. The Governor realizes that Pete is a terrible leader, as soon as they return to the camp, he waits until dawn to escape the camp with Lilly, Meghan, Tara and Tara's girlfriend, Alisha. They get in a car and start driving down the road, but they soon come across a swarm of Walkers stuck in mud blocking their path and are forced to return to the camp.

    The next day, the Governor goes to Pete's trailer and says that he wants to talk about Mitch. When he is inside Pete's home, he proceeds to stab Pete in the back with a knife and then strangles him to death. Right after, he goes to Mitch's trailer and forces his way in at gunpoint. He orders Mitch to sit down and reveals that he murdered Pete and now he is assuming leadership. Mitch asks if the Governor came to kill him too, but the Governor reveals that Mitch was right about attacking the camp the day before, Pete was a bad leader and would lead them to death. The Governor wants Mitch to be his right-hand man and never to question his leadership. Mitch accepts it and they cover Pete's death by throwing his corpse into a lake and fake a story how Pete died heroically during a supply run.

The Governor is then seen marking a map when Lilly comes by and when asked, he says that they need to move to a more secure location but Lilly believes that their current location is safe enough. The Governor's leadership is doing good for the group for some weeks, his relationship with Lilly is going well until a Walker gets in the camp and nearly kills Meghan. The Governor realizes that no matter how much they work on security, the camp will never be safe enough to keep his new family safe. There is only one place that is secured in this area of Georgia and he gets in a truck and drives back to the prison and he is then secretly seen watching the prison from a distance. As he investigates the area, he comes across Michonne and Hershel Greene burning a pile of dead Walker. He pulls out his gun and prepares to attack them.

The Govenor sneaks on Michonne and Hershel and hides behind a tree before he knocks Michonne out and holds Hershel at gunpoint, forcing Hershel to surrender. Later on, the Governor is back at the camp and gathers his people around, announcing that he has to convince them to do something. He reveals to have captured Hershel and Michonne and explains that the people who attacked his old camp are currently living in a nearby prison. The prison is safe and fenced from Walkers, but the people who live there don't deserve the courtesy. He lies by saying that Rick's group attacked his old camp, burned everything to the ground, mutilated him and murdered his daughter. His plan is to use Hershel and Michonne to force Rick and his people to leave the prison, he intends to do it without dropping blood on the ground, without shooting a gun. Everyone seems to agree with the Governor however he is approached by Lilly, who questions him if they are going to kill the people in the prison, but the Governor explains that the prison group are the true killers. Lilly disapproves his idea; her idea of him seems to have changed.

    The Governor goes into his hostages' RV to give Hershel and Michonne some food and Hershel tries to convince the Governor that they can sort this out without using violence, that if he promises to stay in line, Rick will understand it and let them live in the prison. The Governor explains that they can't live together, as he wouldn't get along with Rick and Michonne. Hershel asks him how he can threaten someone else's daughters, if he had one himself, so the Governor coldly responds that they arent his. They drive one of the trailers to a river, where the Governor asks Lilly to stay with Meghan until he and the rest capture the prison. Lilly questions the Governor's actions once again, but the Governor promises that everything is going to be fine and that he loves both her and Meghan. He then approaches Meghan as she is playing in the mud and says goodbye, promising that he will be back by the end of the day.

The Governor and his militia arrive at the prison, Mitch is driving his tank and he announces their presence by blasting one of the guard towers. The Governor climbs the tank and calls Rick out. From the courtyard of the prison, Rick and his people gather to see what's happening, he says that he is not the leader anymore, there is a council commanding the prison. The Governor asks if Michonne and Hershel are in the council, the two are brought out and put on their knees in front of the tank. Rick leaves the courtyard, crossing the prison's yard to talk with the Governor from the other side of the fence. Rick is willing to be captured himself if the Governor lets Hershel and Michonne go, but the Governor says that he only thing he wants is the prison, he gives Rick until sunset to make his decision. Despite Rick trying to convince him that they could live together, the Governor refuses. When Rick refuses to leave, the Governor grabs Michonne's sword and threatens to execute Hershel. Rick then gives a speech about how people can come back from what they were, they can put Woodbury and their confrontation all behind, that people can change. However, the speech seems to have no effect on the Governor, as he calls Rick a liar and proceeds to partially decapitate Hershel with Michonne's sword, much to Maggie and Beth Greene's horror. This then causes Rick to open fire at the Governor angrily.

        The Governor is shot in the arm and runs to a safe spot. The two groups start to fire at each other and the war officially begins. The Governor spots Hershel, still alive, attempting to crawl away to safety so the Governor grabs him and utterly decapitates him. Right after this, the Governor realizes that Lilly was there watching everything. She is carrying the corpse of Meghan, who was bitten by a Walker. The Governor remains silent, he shoots the little girl in the head to prevent reanimation and walks back to the battle like nothing important happened. This cold hearted action leaves Lilly in shock and the Governor then orders his militia to take the fences down and destroy the prison group, commanding them to kill them all.
Mitch drives the tank over the prison fences and the militia invades the yard. The Governor advances behind the tank

    and takes cover behind a bus. Just as he is about to follow his people inside the courtyard, he is tackled by Rick. The two engage in a fist fight, in which the Governor gains the upper hand after beating Rick while pinning him down. Just as he is about to kill Rick by strangling him, Michonne sneaks up behind the Governor and stabs him through the chest with her sword. She decides to leave him to die slowly and painfully. Later, however, a disgusted Lilly approaches the dying Governor and shoots him in the head, ending his life and avenging all the deaths he had committed.

## Personality

The Governor is shown to be a cunning, cruel, savage, remorseless, brutal and a highly intelligent man who is a determined survivor and a strong leader to those in his group. He is also delusional, believing he is almost a messiah and that he is destined to be a leader. He is prone to fits of psychopathic rage and combined with his utter lack of mercy, these traits make him a dangerous opponent.

The Governor puts a facade of congeniality but in reality, he was a volatile, depraved sociopath who quite capable of cold-blooded murder. He was a smooth talker, easily able to talk his way out of situations using his "charm". He was also highly manipulative, and thought nothing of using others and coercing them into doing his bidding. The Governor was obsessed with protecting the people he cared about and he tried to accomplish this by taking charge of the group and doing what was necessary for their survival. This sometimes included killing people who was a potential threat to them without hesitation.

He also had dark secrets such as keeping his zombified daughter in a closet and having fish tanks filled with Walker and human heads. He claimed to have kept the tanks full of heads to harden himself to the harsh realities of life outside the idyllic walls of Woodbury. Despite this, the Governor did not care if his victims came back as Walkers. Despite his psychopathic nature, he truly loved his daughter and was truly devastated when she was put down.

The Governor gradually became much more cold-hearted and a barbaric person, losing most of his sanity and only desired to be on a warpath. Following the fall of Woodbury, the Governor adopted a makeshift family and retains much of his older self. However, he lied to them, keeping his past and violent nature a secret while convincing himself that he is doing it to protect them. The Governor was genuinely conflicted inside about protecting those he cares about with violence and barbarism and was constantly fighting himself. This internal conflict makes him almost tragic however he turned back to his older and darker ways.

## Victims

1. Countless zombies and unnamed people.
2. At least 20 unnamed Woodbury townspeople.
3. At least 12 prison community members.
4. **Sean (Zombified):**Put down.
5. **Brady:**Shot in the chest and head bashed in with a rifle.
6. **Six Unnamed U.S. Military Soldiers:**Shot.
7. **Welles:**Decapitated.
8. **Richard Foster:**Shot.
9. **Axel:**Shot in the head.
10. **Merle Dixon:**Shot in the chest.
11. **Milton Mamet:**Stabbed repeatedly in the abdomen and died of blood loss.
12. **Paul:**Shot.
13. **Noah:**Shot.
14. **Rowan:**Killed.
15. **Eileen:**Killed.
16. **Dr. Stevens:**Killed.
17. **Allen:**Shot in the head.
18. **Bill Jenkins (Zombified):**Killed.
19. **David Chambler (Zombified):**Head smashed in with an oxygen tank.
20. **Caesar Martinez:**Hit in the head and fed to walkers.
21. **Pete Dolgen:**Stabbed and strangled to death.
22. **Hershel Greene:**Decapitated.
23. **Meghan Chambler:**Shot in the head.

## Quotes

* "Go through the fences in your cars, get your guns. We go in, kill them all!"
* "I never tell."
* "Save those rounds for when you need them."
* "It doesn't matter. However we die, we all turn. I put them out of their misery."
* "Welcome to Woodbury."
* "Some nicknames stick whether you want them to or not."
* "Keep poking the bear and you're bound to get mauled, remember that."
* "Hey, where are we, back in the school yard? What, you want to take his lunch money while you're at it?"
* "Liar."
* "Don't hurt my little girl."
* "I don't want it!"