The Saviors

## Overview

In contrary to their namesake, the Saviors are extortionists: they resort to murder and brutality to coerce other communities of survivors (such as Hilltop) to provide a steady stream of food and other goods. They also have a reputation of being ruthless and uncompromising. They do not employ the scorched earth technique used by the Wolves, and there is no evidence that they are cannibals like the inhabitants of Terminus. The Saviors (or at least its leader) are even opposed to rape, according to one of their members Wade. However, their violence is still extreme: On several occasions, the Saviors have clubbed people to death, and one known group has taken polaroid-style photos of these victims' gruesome head wounds and kept them in their rooms. One such victim was a 16 year old boy named Rory, who was beaten to death to force the servitude of the Hilltop community. Negan is notorious for this particular execution method, carrying with him at all times "Lucille", a baseball bate wrapped with barbed wire. Most of the Saviors are shown as sociopaths: they do not show any remorse toward killing others, nor do they show satisfaction. Some although they are quite humorous, and will usually taunt their victims. One exception to the rule seems to be Gavin, leader of a group of Saviors who trade with the Kingdom. Gavin shows genuine respect to Ezekiel and acknowledges that the Kingdom have been good to them. Additionally, according to one of Negan's lieutenants, Bud, it is common practice for Saviors to shoot one person when they encounter a group of strangers on the road, before stealing supplies from the rest.

While some individual Saviors may not be particularly dangerous, as each member of Rick's group has been able to overcome multiple Saviors quite easily, what makes them such a formidable threat is their massive numbers, which enable them to overwhelm other groups and employ psychological warfare on a large scale. The Saviors are the largest group of survivors shown, with their main base located at a compound called The Sanctuary, but a majority of their fighting force is not found there. Instead, they are divided into smaller groups which reside at various outposts for miles around. The largest group of Saviors ever directly encountered consisted of at least 100 people, and it is assumed that there are still many, perhaps hundreds, of other members. This speculation was confirmed when Michonne forces a Savior to take her to Negan, but instead witnesses an enormous group of Saviors and their vehicles in the distance, numbering in the hundreds. It is possible that the Saviors are capable of luring other survivors into their group to keep it from getting smaller. Individual members of the group have a habit of identifying themselves as Negan, or claiming that they collectively are "all Negan". This implies that the Saviors, or simply just a few groups, are a cult. In Season 7 it is revealed that Negan has created a cult of personality around himself, and as a sign of their loyalty to him, various members of the Saviors, particularly high-ranking ones, refer to themselves as "Negan".

## Government and Society

The Saviors have a well-structured hierarchy. At the top of the power structure is Negan, whose will is carried out through his lieutenants. Simon is the second-in-command and also maintains power over the lieutenants. He has demonstrated himself to be an adept tactician, and takes responsibility for subjugating communities that show resistance to Savior rule. The lieutenants themselves lead missions and have added benefits in the Sanctuary. Below the lieutenants are the "soldiers" who fill the role of scouts, enforcers and guards. Under the soldiers are noncombatant survivors who labor for points in exchange for supplies and comfort benefits. Any woman whom Negan finds attractive can offer herself off as a wife for him to escape the point system. At the bottom are the prisoners who are identified by a letter painted on their shirts.

The Savior's primary base of operations is a compound known as The Sanctuary, an abandoned factory. This is where Negan himself resides, alongside a number of lieutenants and soldiers, and dozens of normal people. However, it appears that much of, perhaps even most of the Saviors' soldiers are not at the Sanctuary. Instead, they are stationed at various outposts for miles around. These outposts are self-sufficient communities in their own right, with dozens of fighters in each. These outposts, under the leadership of a lieutenant, are assigned the task of managing the communities under Savior rule. This ensures a significant tactical advantage, as other communities are kept unaware of the Saviors' true manpower, base of operations, and even whether or not Negan actually exists. For example, the Satellite Station outpost was responsible for the Hilltop, but also tried to take control of Alexandria by attempting to seize Daryl, Abraham and Sasha on the road. When this outpost was wiped out by Rick and the Alexandrians, the Saviors quickly discovered the location of Alexandria, and sent groups of fighters there to force the community to submit. When the Alexandrians continued to fight back and even more Saviors were killed, Negan decided to intervene personally, ordering a large and coordinated operation to track, manipulate, and ultimately capture Rick and his people, resulting in their subjugation to his will. When Michonne demands to be taken to Negan, the Savior she is with leads her to a hill; in the distance, they witness hundreds of Saviors and dozens of vehicles, revealing that their manpower and capabilities are beyond even what the survivors had imagined.

Negan himself is hailed as a cult personality, particularly among high ranking Saviors. Though there are those who do not like him or his methods, he is loved by some, revered by many and feared by all. People in the Sanctuary must kneel before him whenever he passes as a show of respect. Lieutenants and the soldiers are seen as carriers of Negan's will, with lieutenants having to act similarly to him when dealing with another community, even though they have a degree of autonomy. Punishments for escape and disobedience include using the iron as a mark of shame, torture, imprisonment, and in extreme cases death. Prisoners are subjected to psychological torture and have to work in highly dangerous conditions. Philosophically, the Saviors regard themselves as the protectors of humanity due to their survival and successful preservation of several communities. The Saviors also seem to highly value the lives of people as a work force and source of benefit and income. Savior soldiers tend to see each other as superior to members of other communities.

Savior society depends on the subjugation and exploitation of other communities. Intimidation and fear tactics are employed first hand to establish dominance. It is common to execute one or more members to establish a clear punishment for disobedience. However, reasonable methods take precedence, if the community demonstrates itself as submissive or non-aggressive. For example, the Kingdom reacted peacefully to the Saviors' demands and an agreement was made, whereby The Kingdom would provide weekly offerings, while the community at large remained oblivious to the dealings. If a community attempts to retaliate, the outpost assigned to them organizes retaliation. Although the exact methods vary between different Savior groups, it often begins with the public execution of someone from the community, as seen with the library community. If resistance continues, a massive and brutal attack may be made which could end with the extinction of the community. This is the fate that befell the library community. In one case, a large coastal community called Oceanside attempted to rebel against the Saviors and went to war with them. Ultimately, they were overwhelmed by their superior numbers and were forced to surrender. All men and boys over the age of 10 were summarily executed, with the surviving women and children fleeing into exile, faced with being forced to continue working for the Saviors if they stayed.

To make it easier to avoid retaliation, Saviors tend to instate a disarmament policy on subjugated communities. This was possibly inspired by Oceanside's original rebellion. In the case of Alexandria, the Saviors disarmed the survivors and confiscated their firearms. The Hilltop colony was not subjected to this rule because they ran out of ammo a long time ago, reducing most of the guards to using spears. However, the Kingdom still independently fields its own soldiers, some of which are armed with guns. The Kingdom's cooperation means that the Saviors allow this.

## Pre-Apocalypse

Like most survivors of the undead apocalypse, their lives before the outbreak are largely unknown nor if any members knew each other. It can be deduced that many of the Saviors were formerly residents who lived around or near the Virginia/Maryland area.

## Post-Apocalypse

The Saviors are based somewhere in Virginia/Maryland and are led by a man named Negan. They have a number of outposts scattered around the area, allowing them to extend their sphere of influence. Their primary base is an old factory known as "The Sanctuary". According to Dwight, the Saviors were founded close to the beginning of the apocalypse and originally seemed to be a good group of people. As time went on and their numbers grew, they became increasingly authoritarian and ruthless. They became feared by many established communities in the area. One of the survivor groups they extorted was Hilltop Colony, where they clubbed a boy named Rory to death to make an example of him. In exchange for half of Hilltop's supplies, crops and livestock, they stated they would do no further damage. They also extorted from a large group of survivors with whom they eventually slaughtered all their male members, including young boys after they attempted to fight back. The surviving female survivors fled to Oceanside to avoid being extorted from the Saviors further. They also made similar arrangements with The Kingdom and another community living in a library, the latter of which was eventually pillaged and the survivors killed for trying to fight back.

## End of an Army

The Saviors were just way too spread out across Georgia, It was there undoing when they stayed at there main base. It was about Seven-Thirty PM, there weren't many guards out... Aaron's men came in through the cover of darkness with about 30 people, and attacked the main holds were people were staying, They used knives too silently end many, attacking almost silently, They inched there way up the floors, up onto the top, were Negan was staying, They woke him up... He was surrounded by about fifty men, Aaron, pushed his head onto his desk, and cut his head clean off from his shoulders, ending him, Negan's men converted too Matlachia. Thus ending The Saviors.