The Walking Dead: Top 5 Characters Who Had It Coming

Michael Rooker as Merle Dixon on The Walking Dead – Courtesy of AMC

4. Merle Dixon

We knew from the start of the series that Daryl’s older brother was bad news. He’s a mean old racist hillbilly whose antics ends up getting him handcuffed to a roof. After T-Dog accidentally drops the key, Merle cuts his own hand off and flees, eventually making his way to Woodbury.

As the Governor’s right hand man, Merle does a lot of his dirty work. He assists him with killing a group of guardsmen to steal their supplies. He also obliges with the orders to kill Michonne, though he fails.

However Merle does nab Maggie and Glenn, forcing them back to Woodbury. He nearly gets Glenn killed, and Maggie is assaulted by the Governor. Even though he is later kicked out of Woodbury and joins Daryl, nobody in the prison group wants him there.

But maybe there’s a good reason why Merle wasn’t welcome. His lack of empathy made him very dangerous. When he hears about the Governor’s offer to deliver Michonne as a peace offering, he knows Rick couldn’t do it. So Merle takes her himself to deliver her to the Governor.

Fortunately, in his final moments, Merle gets a change of heart and cuts Michonne loose. But he sets out to the meeting point anyway in a de facto suicide mission. He kills many Woodbury soldiers before he is finally taken out by the Governor himself.