Rick Grimes

*"I found '**em**."*
―Rick to himself after seeing his new family united one last time, knowing his mission in life is completed.[src]
**Rick Grimes** was the former leader of a group of survivors in the apocalypse who had paved the way for rebuilding a better form of civilization. A sheriff's deputy who was shot in the line of duty and fell into a coma, Rick awakened months later only to find himself alone in the apocalyptic world now ruled by the undead, and eventually, managed to reunite with his long lost family in a camp on the outskirts of the overrun city of Atlanta.

A noble and courageous man, Rick fought at first to hold onto his own moral code when it came to facing an old friend, but this event also changed him due to the constant need to find a safe haven for his family and companions, who had begun to look up to him for leadership and for guidance. During their journey, Rick gradually became darker and hardened, willing to do anything to always protect his group from any danger.

With the world becoming even more dangerous, Rick and his friends traveled to Washington, D.C. hoping to find a possible safe haven, and reached a paradisiac community named the Alexandria Safe-Zone in the Virginia area. Having become a ferocious leader during their time on the road, the transition to civilization was a challenge for Rick, who eventually used his ferocity and leadership to prove that this was what Alexandria needed to still remain standing. Rick was a powerful asset to protect the community from outside threats, and he ended up becoming in a leader that everyone respected and followed.

A year and a half after the war against Negan, Rick adopted a more peaceful and democratic way of leadership to unite the communities and accomplish Carl's last wishes of rebuilding a new civilization. After blowing up a bridge in order to protect his loved ones and close allies, Rick was presumed dead by most of his friends in the following years. However, a gravely wounded Rick was secretly rescued by a runaway Anne and was taken away on a helicopter of the CRM to Pennsylvania.

## **Pre-Apocalypse**

Rick grew up in Georgia and experienced a decent childhood where he was raised by his loving parents whom he admired, most notably his father, a profound man who instilled a strong moral code onto him from an early age. His mother often told him the story of *The Stone in The Road*, which encouraged him to never give up in the face of adversity. After his father's death, Rick inherited his personal watch, which he would wear as a memento.

As a young boy, Rick became inspired by the old tales of his grandfather, whom served during the Second World War, and on one occasion, asked him about the feeling of killing the Germans in the war. His grandfather related instead of his experiences on how he survived by almost embracing death upon stepping into enemy territory, as every day upon awakening he would quote to himself this phrase: *"Rest in peace, now get up and go to war"*.

Rick also grew up alongside his best friend Shane Walsh, where the two developed a strong bond together to the point where the pair came to view each other as 'brothers'. In high school, Rick acted as the more disciplined and level-headed of the pair and thus had few girlfriends. Academically, Rick and Shane studied at college together for police administration, when eventually they became deputies at the King County Sheriff's Department, where the pair was assigned as partners and thus became acquainted with residents of the neighborhood while serving their duty. Rick also signed secretly gun permits for some of the owners of the town's bars and liquor stores.

During an early point in his career, Rick arrested a 19-year-old who had been accused of murdering his girlfriend. However, the suspect managed to trick the jury by crying throughout the interrogation and the trial, and ultimately the case was dropped due to insufficient evidence and he was set free, only to shoot another woman two weeks later. This event would shape Rick into being a more cautious and alert person when it came to solving crimes and knowing when a person is being really truthful with their actions or is guilty of something and lies about it.

As a young adult, Rick met and later married Lori, and together they had a son named Carl. The trio lived together in a single-story house in a suburban neighborhood located in King County, where Shane became a close friend of the family and helped them out on numerous occasions. On Sundays, Lori made them pancakes which Rick jokingly described as "godawful". When Carl was a baby, Rick and Lori planned a road trip to the Grand Canyon but never made it due to Carl becoming sick along the way, forcing them to drive back home. In the following couple of years, Rick would take memorable walks with his then 3-year-old son around a local farm, where Carl became grateful for the safety and happiness his father always provided him. The family also went on several trips, where Rick learned how to ride a horse.

Over time, Rick and Lori's marriage became increasingly strained due to Rick constantly distancing himself from her, as he generally hesitated to open up about his feelings regarding their marital issues, and instead opted to absorb himself through his work. These fights led to various cracks in their relationship, which resulted in harsh words directed by Lori, who once questioned whether Rick even cared about their family in presence of Carl.

One morning while Rick and Shane were making their daily round of the town, they responded to a radio call requesting reinforcements to help stop a group of fugitive criminals on the road. During the procedure, Rick was unfortunately shot in the lower back by one of the bandits, causing him to lose a lot of blood and fall into a coma. Over the following weeks, Rick was visited by Shane, who left him gifts from his family and held one-sided conversations with him.

## **Post-Apocalypse**

When the outbreak happened around the world, Rick was still in a comatose state. Although the doctors promised that they would evacuate all the patients to Atlanta, the situation got out of control quickly, as most of the staff were executed by soldiers. With the hospital under chaos, Shane tried to save Rick, but after being unable to hear his heartbeat, decided to leave him connected to the medical equipment and blocked the room entrance with a gurney.

* Season 1

## Killed Victims

* Leon Basset *(Zombified)*
* Hannah *(Zombified)*
* Summer *(Zombified)*
* Sophia Peletier *(Zombified)*
* Dave
* Tony
* Shane Walsh *(Alive)*
* Tomas
* Eisenberg *(Alongside Daryl, Maggie, and Oscar)*
* Bob Adams *(Alongside Daryl, Maggie, and Oscar)*
* Pete *(Alongside Daryl, Maggie, and Oscar)*
* Oscar *(Indirectly Caused)*
* Erin *(Zombified)*
* Charlie *(Zombified)*
* Piglets *(Caused)*
* Lou *(Alive)*
* Joe
* Dan
* Alex *(Caused)*
* Terminus Butcher 1 *(Alive)*
* Terminus Butcher 2
* Crazed Man *(Caused)*
* Mike
* Albert
* Gareth
* Bob Lamson
* Pete Anderson
* Carter *(Out of Mercy)*
* Blond Wolf
* Ethan
* Gabe *(Before Reanimation)*
* Primo
* Jiro
* Abraham Ford *(Indirectly Caused)*
* Spencer Monroe *(Zombified)*
* Tough Grizzled Savior *(Caused)*
* Gordon *(Caused, Zombified)*
* Red Haired Savior *(Caused, Zombified)*
* Gracie's Father
* Yago
* Bruce *(Possibly, Out of Mercy or Before Reanimation, Off-Screen)*
* Evan *(Caused)*
* Savior POW 13 *(Alongside Morgan)*
* Reilly
* Lance *(Alongside his fellow Militia members)*
* Norris *(Zombified)*
* Kathy *(Zombified)*
* 1 unnamed criminal *(Alongside his fellow officers, Pre-Apocalypse)*
* 4 unnamed Woodbury soldiers *(3 Alive, 1 Zombified)*
* 1 unnamed prison newcomer *(Before Reanimation)*
* 6 unnamed Terminus residents *(4 Caused, 2 Direct)*
* 5 unnamed Wolves *(4 Alive, 1 Zombified)*
* 22 unnamed Saviors *(21 Direct, 1 Caused)*
* 21 unnamed Scavengers *(4 Alive, 17 Zombified)*
* 3 unnamed Alexandria residents *(2 Before Reanimation, 1 Zombified)*
* 1 unnamed Hilltop resident *(Zombified)*
* 1 unnamed Kingdom soldier *(Zombified)*
* 1 deer *(Caused)*
* Numerous counts of zombies

## Appearances

TV Series
Season 1
* "Days Gone Bye"
* "Guts"
* "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"
* "18 Miles Out"
* "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"
* "Clear"
* "Arrow on the Doorpost"
* "Prey" (No Lines)
* "This Sorrowful Life"
* "Welcome to the Tombs"

Season 4
* "30 Days Without An Accident"
* "Infected"
* "Isolation"
* "Indifference"
* "Internment"
* "Dead Weight" (No Lines)
* "Too Far Gone"
* "After"
* "Claimed"
* "Us"
* "A"

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

Season 6
* "First Time Again"
* "Thank You"
* "Here's Not Here" (Voice Only)
* "Now"
* "Heads Up"
* "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"

Season 7
* "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be"
* "Service"
* "Go Getters"
* "Sing Me a Song"
* "Hearts Still Beating"
* "Rock in the Road"
* "New Best Friends"
* "Say Yes"
* "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"
* "The Lost and the Plunderers"
* "The Key"
* "Do Not Send Us Astray"
* "Still Gotta Mean Something"
* "Worth" (No Lines)
* "Wrath"

Season 9
* "A New Beginning"
* "The Bridge"
* "Warning Signs"
* "The Obliged"
* "What Comes After"

Season 10
* "What We Become" (Hallucination/Flashback)

Fear The Walking Dead
Season 4
* "What's Your Story?" (Flashback)

Webisodes
Cold Storage
* "Keys to the Kingdom" (Photograph)

## Trivia

* Andrew Lincoln was officially cast as Rick Grimes in April 2010.
	+ Robert Kirkman labeled him as 'an amazing find' after 100 actors auditioned for the role, most notably Jamie Bamber, Stuart Townsend, Ethan Embry, Mark Pellegrino, and Thomas Jane.
* According to Robert Kirkman, regarding his inspiration behind the character, he stated: *"Rick Grimes is really just a bunch of made-up stuff that I thought would work. Every writer kind of writes themselves to a certain extent so all the sadistic stuff in Rick Grimes is totally me! Not really. It's just a character I'm pretending exists in my head and then writing the stories down on paper as you do."*
* In preparation for the role, Andrew Lincoln stated that he sought inspiration for his character from Gary Cooper in the American western film *High Noon* (1959), explaining: *"He's a divided man between his responsibilities and his marriage. He's not like the Clint Eastwood figure, the loner. It's more complicated than that. He's got a softer heart, so that was definitely an inspiration for me as well."*
* Andrew Lincoln also noted that he took inspiration from the novel *The Road*, most notably from "the man" (Viggo Mortensen), who shares several similarities to Rick. Both survivors are Southern Americans in their 40s who lost their wives during the apocalypse and travel with their sons in search of a safe haven.
* Rick's signature weapon was his Colt Python until he lost it during the bridge explosion. It was later found by Michonne who later gave it to their daughter, Judith.
	+ Just like his comic counterpart, Rick also used a hatchet. After his disappearance during the bridge explosion, the location of the hatchet or who currently possessed it is unknown.
* Rick was the first member of the group to learn that everyone is infected with the virus and that they would reanimate no matter how they die unless the brain was destroyed.
* Rick is tied with his son for killing the second most amount of members from the original Atlanta Group. Rick himself killed Shane, while Carl put down his mother Lori after childbirth.
* Rick is the first character in the series to directly kill a living person (Dave) in the apocalypse. Although Shane was the first character, overall, who caused the death of a living person (Otis).
* Rick does not have any form of religious beliefs and is shown to be an atheist.
* According to Robert Kirkman, the main reason why Rick did not lose his hand like in the comics is that in the show it would be difficult to film all of his scenes moving, especially the action ones.
	+ Although the CGI would be expensive, he mentioned that they already did it with Hershel's leg, so there would be no problem in doing it again if necessary.
* Rick's blood type is A+, the same type as his son Carl's.
* Through a deep conversation with Hershel after recalling his encounter with Clara, Rick stated that he nearly became close to her fate, implying that Rick may have contemplated suicide after Lori's death.
* According to Greg Nicotero, Andrew Lincoln carries the bullet which Carl used to kill Lori in his pocket.
* It is possible that Rick is ambidextrous as he has primarily been shown to be right-handed while sometimes he has used weapons with his left hand.
* Season 9 is the last season of the show in which Rick appears.
	+ Though Rick will not return to the show, it has been confirmed that his story will continue in at least three AMC feature films, with Andrew Lincoln reprising his role.
* Rick is the only Atlanta Camp survivor to currently have an unknown status.
* It was revealed that Rick was originally going to die in Season 8.
* Rick is one of seven characters to appear in both *The Walking Dead* and *Fear The Walking Dead*, with the others being Morgan, Carol, Jesus, Dwight, Sherry, and Beta.
* Unlike his comic counterpart, Rick has had another child brought into the apocalypse, R.J. Grimes.

## References

1. ↑ Better Angels
2. ↑ Rock in the Road
3. ↑ http://www.amc.com/shows/the-walking-dead/talk/2012/02/andrew-lincoln-interview-2
4. ↑ Them
5. ↑ Chupacabra
6. ↑ Days Gone Bye
7. ↑ Clear
8. ↑ Killer Within
9. ↑ Isolation
10. ↑ Bloodletting
11. ↑ Bloodletting
12. ↑ Indifference
13. ↑ What Lies Ahead
14. ↑ Wrath
15. ↑ Days Gone Bye
16. ↑ Days Gone Bye
17. ↑ Days Gone Bye
18. ↑ Tell It to the Frogs
19. ↑ TS-19
20. ↑ The Hollywood Reporter
21. ↑ CM Andrew Lincoln News
22. ↑ http://comicbook.com/thewalkingdead/2016/08/08/the-walking-dead-robert-kirkman-reveals-his-inspiration-for-rick/
23. ↑ DS Andrew Lincoln Interview
24. ↑ TS-19
25. ↑ Q&A Reddit Robert Kirkman
26. ↑ Bloodletting
27. ↑ 30 Days Without An Accident
28. ↑ http://uk.businessinsider.com/walking-dead-trivia-2016-10/#1-hbo-passed-on-it-because-the-show-was-too-violent-1
29. ↑ http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/the-walking-dead/news/a869960/walking-dead-rick-grimes-death-scene-exit-andrew-lincoln-season-8/