Daryl Dixon

*"We don't fight for revenge, we fight for our future."*
―Daryl to Carol.[src]
**Daryl Dixon** is a survivor of the apocalypse and an original member of the Atlanta camp. Shortly after the initial outbreak, Daryl and his older brother Merle found and joined a group of survivors at a camp outside the city. A southern-raised hunter expert in tracking and in combat, Daryl eventually became an essential member of the group due to his surviving skills and began to develop bonds with them after Merle disappeared.

Although a lone wolf for his whole life, Daryl proved himself to be a valuable ally to his companions and developed a close bond with Carol as he helped look for her missing daughter during the group's stay at the Greene farm. When the group took refuge in a prison and suffered terrible losses, Daryl rose as the second-in-command and established himself as Rick's right-hand man. Some months after having to put down his reanimated brother, Daryl now considered his friends as his family and was also an admired figure in the safe haven.

Following the downfall of the prison, Daryl formed a special bond with Beth Greene until they were separated. Shortly after joining a group of bandits, Daryl still proved to be a man of honor and betrayed them to save his friends. Having failed to rescue Beth, Daryl fell in a great depression, which almost destroyed him, if not for Carol, who had recommended him to take some time to mourn. When the group joined a paradisiac community named the Alexandria Safe-Zone, Daryl gained a new sense of optimism and purpose with the help of outsider Aaron and became one of the recruiters of the community.

During a plan to divert a herd of walkers from Alexandria, Daryl got separated and met Dwight, who ended up stealing his motorcycle and crossbow. After indirectly causing the death of Glenn and being taken as a prisoner, an oppressed Daryl grew a big hatred towards Dwight and Negan for all the suffering and submission his group endured. Fortunately, Daryl managed to escape his torment and reunite with his friends and joined the Militia in the war against the Saviors.

A year and a half after the war against Negan, Daryl became the leader of the Sanctuary, though he got tired of his new position and Carol volunteered to take over for him. Having sided with Maggie on her plan to kill Negan and get revenge, Daryl helped distract Rick to stop him from intervening but all ended up with the supposed death of his brother figure. In the following years, Daryl started living in the woods with his dog after having spent a long time searching for Rick's body.

When the communities joined again to face a new threat, Daryl began to develop a new role as a leader and formed a close bond with Connie. Months after the fair massacre, Daryl found it difficult to adjust to being a father figure to Lydia while he tried to stop Carol from her destructive path. After learning that Michonne had left on a mission, Daryl helped to look after the Grimes siblings in her absence.

## **Pre-Apocalypse**

Daryl grew up in the mountains of Northern Georgia alongside his older brother Merle, under the roof of their neglectful redneck parents, an abusive alcoholic father and a chain-smoker mother. During his childhood, Merle was the only inspirational figure Daryl had and thus he inherited his backward views on society. Because of his brother's service in juvenile detentions, Daryl didn't have the emotional support he should have had, and thus he was forced to fend for himself during his youth, upon where he developed a hard-boiled survivalist mindset.

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. Some point after this event, Daryl found himself lost in the woods for nine days, during where he ate wild berries and utilized poison oak as toilet paper, without anyone noticing his absence. Over the next several years, the brothers were mentally and physically abused by their father, which eventually caused Merle to leave and join the military, leaving Daryl in the process, which resulted in severe scars located on his back.

Following their father's death, Daryl moved out from his birth home and reconnected with Merle, and thus simply followed his brother's lead, upon where they entered into a drifter lifestyle, where the pair utilized their survival instincts, upon where Daryl grew into a proficient hunter and tracker, dealing in contraband. On one occasion, they stole a boat and trespassed onto private property to go fish on a lake. When a drunk Merle fell into the water, Daryl saved him in time. However, once they were on land, his brother told Daryl 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. When a fight broke out because Merle had insulted the dealer's son's favorite cartoon, Daryl tried to intervein and defend his brother from being injured by fighting with the man but ended up vomiting after being punched in the gut, which made Merle and the dealer laugh the incident off. Following this near-death experience, Daryl came to view himself as an unimportant individual who held no value or purpose in life.

## **Post-Apocalypse**

When the outbreak happened around the world, Daryl and Merle 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. On his first night, Daryl shared his story of how he once saw the chupacabra on a hunt, although nobody believed him. 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

## Killed Victims

* Arnold Greene *(Zombified, alongside his fellow survivors)*
* Duncan *(Zombified, alongside his fellow survivors)*
* Lacey *(Zombified, alongside his fellow survivors)*
* Mr. Fischer *(Zombified, alongside his fellow survivors)*
* Mrs. Fischer *(Zombified, alongside his fellow survivors)*
* Dale Horvath *(Out of Mercy)*
* Eisenberg *(Alongside Rick, Maggie, and Oscar)*
* Bob Adams *(Alongside Rick, Maggie, and Oscar)*
* Pete *(Alongside Rick, Maggie, and Oscar)*
* Merle Dixon *(Zombified)*
* Patrick *(Zombified)*
* Mitch Dolgen
* Christopher's Father *(Caused, Zombified)*
* Billy
* Dawn Lerner
* Carla *(Zombified)*
* Delly *(Zombified)*
* Tina *(Before Reanimation, alongside Dwight and Sherry)*
* Timmy
* Lead Savior
* Savior Guard
* Neil *(Alive)*
* Glenn Rhee *(Indirectly Caused)*
* Joseph
* Morales
* Todd
* Zia
* Wesley *(Zombified)*
* Dana *(Zombified)*
* Bruce *(Possibly, Out of Mercy or Before Reanimation, Off-Screen)*
* Lance *(Alongside his fellow Militia members)*
* Gregory
* Jocelyn *(Possibly, Before Reanimation)*
* Mitchell *(Possibly, Before Reanimation)*
* Linus *(Possibly, Before Reanimation)*
* Gina *(Possibly, Before Reanimation)*
* P.J. *(Possibly, Before Reanimation)*
* Rasmus *(Alongside Connie)*
* Whisperer Guard *(Caused, alongside Connie)*
* Bitten Whisperer *(Alive, Caused; Zombified)*
* Whisperer Warrior
* Zion
* Martin *(Zombified)*
* Ozzy *(Zombified, alongside Carol, Michonne, and Yumiko)*
* Alek *(Zombified, alongside Carol, Michonne, and Yumiko)*
* D.J. *(Zombified, alongside Carol, Michonne, and Yumiko)*
* Frankie *(Zombified, alongside Carol, Michonne, and Yumiko)*
* Tammy Rose *(Zombified, alongside Carol, Michonne, and Yumiko)*
* Rodney *(Zombified, alongside Carol, Michonne, and Yumiko)*
* Adeline *(Zombified, alongside Carol, Michonne, and Yumiko)*
* Enid *(Zombified, alongside Carol, Michonne, and Yumiko)*
* Tara Chambler *(Zombified, alongside Carol, Michonne, and Yumiko)*
* Henry *(Zombified, alongside Carol, Michonne, and Yumiko)*
* Captured Whisperer *(Before Reanimation)*
* Felix *(Zombified, alongside Lydia and Dianne)*
* Penny *(Zombified, alongside Lydia and Dianne)*
* Dark Haired Whisperer
* A few unnamed Atlanta camp survivors *(Before Reanimation)*
* 6 unnamed Greene farm inhabitants *(Zombified, alongside his fellow survivors)*
* 3 unnamed Woodbury soldiers *(2 Alive, 1 Zombified)*
* A few unnamed prison newcommers*(Before Reanimation and Zombified)*
* 7 unnamed members of the Governor's militia
* 43 unnamed Saviors *(26 Direct, 7 Indirectly Caused, 10 alongside Alexandrians)*
* 2 unnamed Scavengers
* 1 unnamed Hilltop resident/refugee *(Zombified)*
* 7 unnamed members of Jocelyn's group *(Possibly, Before Reanimation)*
* At least 12 unnamed Whisperers *(6 Direct, 5 Caused, 1 alongside Connie)*
* Numerous animals
* Numerous counts of zombies

## Appearances

TV Series
Season 1
* "Tell It to the Frogs"
* "Vatos"
* "Wildfire"
* "TS-19"

Season 2
* "What Lies Ahead"
* "Bloodletting"
* "Save the Last One"
* "Cherokee Rose"
* "Chupacabra"
* "Secrets"
* "Pretty Much Dead Already"
* "Nebraska"
* "Triggerfinger"
* "Judge, Jury, Executioner"
* "Better Angels"
* "Beside the Dying Fire"

Season 3
* "Seed"
* "Sick"
* "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"
* "Welcome to the Tombs"

Season 4
* "30 Days Without An Accident"
* "Infected"
* "Isolation"
* "Indifference"
* "Internment"
* "Too Far Gone"
* "Inmates"
* "Still"
* "Alone"
* "Us"
* "A"

Season 5
* "No Sanctuary"
* "Strangers"
* "Four Walls and a Roof"
* "Consumed"
* "Crossed"
* "Coda"
* "What Happened and What's Going On" (No Lines)
* "Them"
* "The Distance"
* "Remember"
* "Forget"
* "Spend" (No Lines)
* "Try"
* "Conquer"

Season 6
* "First Time Again"
* "Thank You"
* "Always Accountable"
* "Start to Finish"
* "No Way Out"
* "The Next World"
* "Knots Untie"
* "Not Tomorrow Yet"
* "The Same Boat"
* "Twice as Far"
* "East"
* "Last Day on Earth" (No Lines)

Season 7
* "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be" (No Lines)
* "The Cell"
* "Service" (No Lines)
* "Sing Me a Song"
* "Hearts Still Beating"
* "Rock in the Road"
* "New Best Friends"
* "The Other Side"
* "Something They Need"
* "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life"

Season 8
* "Mercy"
* "The Damned"
* "Monsters"
* "Some Guy"
* "The Big Scary U"
* "The King, the Widow, and Rick"
* "Time for After"
* "How It's Gotta Be"
* "Honor"
* "Dead or Alive Or"
* "The Key"
* "Do Not Send Us Astray"
* "Still Gotta Mean Something"
* "Worth"
* "Wrath"

Season 9
* "A New Beginning"
* "The Bridge"
* "Warning Signs"
* "The Obliged"
* "What Comes After"
* "Who Are You Now?" (No Lines)
* "Stradivarius"
* "Evolution"
* "Adaptation"
* "Omega"
* "Bounty"
* "Guardians"
* "Chokepoint"
* "Scars"
* "The Calm Before"
* "The Storm"

Season 10
* "Lines We Cross"
* "We Are the End of the World" (Flashback)
* "Ghosts"
* "Silence the Whisperers"
* "What It Always Is"
* "Bonds"
* "Open Your Eyes"
* "The World Before"
* "Squeeze"
* "Stalker"
* "Morning Star"
* "Walk With Us"
* "What We Become" (Hallucination)
* "Look at the Flowers"
* "The Tower"
* "A Certain Doom"

Season 11
TBA

## Trivia

* Originally, Daryl was not planned to be part of the show. The producers created the character specifically for Norman Reedus after seeing his audition for Merle Dixon.
	+ Daryl was originally named Dwight in the first scripts.
* According to Norman Reedus, he initially discussed with Frank Darabont about making Daryl a virgin and perhaps even a "prison gay", whom could be caught looking at someone of the same sex but would never admit it and would be enraged if someone mentioned his sexual orientation. After Darabont left, this story arc was scrapped and Daryl has been portrayed as someone straight but slightly asexual.
* It was established early on in the development of the series that Daryl would say a lot of racist comments and also use drugs, but Norman Reedus did not agree with this direction and spoke with the producers to portray Daryl as someone who grew up in that environment but felt ashamed about it.
* Daryl is a victim of child abuse.
* Daryl's signature weapon is a crossbow which he also used before the apocalypse.
* Daryl has been responsible for three of the original Atlanta group member's deaths.
	+ He put Dale out of his misery by shooting him in the head.
	+ His violent outburst during Abraham's execution resulted in Glenn's death.
	+ He shot and killed Morales with a crossbow bolt because he had a gun pointed at Rick.
* Daryl possesses several tattoos including one located on his left chest which says 'Norman' (Reedus' own and father's name), a small devil located on his upper right arm, a red tattoo with the name "Mingus" (Norman's son's name), two individual demons located on his back and a skull on his right hand.
* Daryl has the most scars than any other character in the series.
* Daryl has been captured six times throughout the series.
* Daryl is currently the longest living male character.
* As of "What Comes After", Daryl and Carol are the only remaining characters introduced in Season 1.

## References

1. ↑ Save the Last One
2. ↑ Chupacabra
3. ↑ Hounded
4. ↑ Save the Last One
5. ↑ Home
6. ↑ Home
7. ↑ Still
8. ↑ What It Always Is
9. ↑ Still
10. ↑ Still
11. ↑ Chupacabra
12. ↑ Chupacabra
13. ↑ Home
14. ↑ http://screenrant.com/norman-reedus-interview-the-walking-dead-rothc-136451/
15. ↑ http://ew.com/tv/2017/08/17/walking-dead-tony-danza-norman-reedus/
16. ↑ http://www.eonline.com/news/582640/daryl-dixon-might-be-prison-gay-on-the-walking-dead
17. ↑ http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/norman-reedus-we-fight-to-keep-it-real-on-the-walking-dead-20131007