The Walking Dead: 10 Characters Who Were Changed From The Comics

Throughout its seven seasons so far, AMC's The Walking Dead has been less of a straight adaptation of the comic books from Robert Kirkman and more of a related off-shoot; one that draws inspiration from its characters and storylines. Many of the series' major arcs and events are borrowed from the source material, but only a few of them happen exactly as they do on the page. This is even more true of the characters. Most of them fall into the same role in the TV show as they do in the comic, but nearly all have been changed in some important way. Season 7's villain Negan is one of the few exceptions to this rule, as so far his characterization, actions and even dialogue have been practically ripped from the page wholesale. On the other hand though you have Daryl - a completely original creation for TV. The following 10 TWD characters, however, were significantly altered when they made their way from page to screen; whether it be their personalities, relationships with other characters or their general appearance. As always, if we've left anyone out, be sure to let us know in the comments section below. 10) Rick For the most part, Rick Grimes is the same in both incarnations of The Walking Dead. Both Rare the main protagonist, for one, and have undergone a tough journey of survival as their friends and family die around them. However, there is one character-defining aspect of Rick from the comics that has yet to make the leap to the TV screen - the Rick in the comics only has one hand. In the source material, Rick has his favoured right hand amputated by the Governor. In the show, the Governor is long gone and Rick still possesses both of his mits. When Negan arrived in time for season 7, fans assumed that the infamous moment would finally come to pass on the show. However, that hasn't been the case so far and we're not sure it'll happen in the rest of the season. The series is certainly cruel enough to its characters to do so, but Andrew Lincoln has previously explained that such a move would cost "a fortune with green screen." Many are still hoping though that Rick will lose his hand - not in a weird sadistic way, but just because it would be interesting to have a main character of a major TV series with a disability, something that's still very rare. 9) Shane As played by Jon Bernthal, Shane Walsh was Rick's best friend and deputy sheriff in the good old days. However, post-apocalypse, Shane becomes increasingly jealous of Rick and overzealous in protecting their group. Eventually, things get to the point where he tries to kill Rick - only for Rick to kill him - at the end of the second season. In a shocking revelation, Shane is immediately re-animated and shot once again by Carl. In the comics, these tenets of Shane's character are all present and correct. However, TV fans will be shocked to know that the comic book version of Shane only lasts for a grand total of six issues before biting the bullet. His death is also subtly different. On the page, it is Carl who shoots Shane dead, after finding him threatening his dad. Shane is also not found to be a zombie until much later, when Rick digs up his grave to finally put him to rest. 8) Tyreese Both the comic book and TV version of Tyreese are fan favourites, but that doesn't mean they're exactly the same character. In fact, his backstory, romantic history and general demeanour are completely different on screen. In the comics, Tyreese turns up much earlier than in the series and grows into Rick's number two and occasional rival for leadership. He was once in a relationship with Carol, before he cheated on her with Michonne. After his daughter committed suicide, he grew a thicker skin and a darker personality until he was executed by the Governor. A fate that was later given to Herschel on the TV show. On TV, Tyreese has no daughter to mourn and doesn't date Carol. With this backstory done away with, he's a much more open, empathetic character. Though of course, he still met an emotional end. In the show, he's bitten by a zombie and suffers a prolonged period of hallucinations of his old friends, family and enemies. 7) Sophia The death of Carol's daughter Sophia was one of the first major shocking moments in The Walking Dead. The surprise reveal that Sophia was not only dead but also a walker hidden in the barn right under the group's noses really showed that the series was not afraid to get nasty. It was doubling shocking for fans of the comic book, where Sophia never met anything like this fate. Instead, Sophia is actually one of the longest-surviving characters in the whole comic series, going on a very different journey from the Sophia of the TV show. In the comic, she sees Maggie and Glenn as her surrogate parents and grows very close to Carl, becoming his girlfriend for a period. In her absence, this last role has been filled by Enid on TV, who's an original creation for the show. 6) Dale Wise old Dale was the group's moral compass in the first two seasons of The Walking Dead - until he had his guts ripped open by zombies. It was a horrible way to go for the character, for sure. Compared to his death in the comic books, however, it was a walk in the park. On the page, Dale is bitten on the neck by a zombie. While walking in the forest at night, he's kidnapped by a group of cannibals who proceed to eat him alive. Delirious with pain, Dale laughs at them, screaming "tainted meat! tainted meat!" Realizing that he's been infected, the cannibals return him to the group where he finally passes away surrounded by his friends. At least the TV version of the character got a relatively quick death. The other big difference between the two versions is that Dale lasted a lot longer in the comics. It's rumoured that Dale's early exit from the show was due to Jeffrey DeMunn requesting to be written out after his good friend Frank Darabont left the role of showrunner. 5) Hershel Speaking of Dale, after his sad death on the show, his role as the group's father figure was taken up by Hershel. Unfortunately, he later met a similarly nasty end in season 4, when the Governor decapitated him. In the comics, Hershel's journey takes a very different, tragic turn and ends with him as a broken man begging for death. A far cry from the TV character, who put on a brave face. Hershel's brood is also much larger in the comics. On the TV series, his only daughters are Maggie and Beth (a creation for the screen). On the page, however, the Greene family expands to include Shawn (his biological son here), Lacey, Arnold, Billy, Rachael and Susie. Completely committed to the safety of his children, Hershel becomes more and more despondent as all but Maggie meet terrible fates. After Billy is killed in the battle with the Governor's forces, Hershel abandons all hope and pleads with the Governor to kill him. Naturally, the villain obliges. 4) Lori Lori was never the most popular of The Walking Dead's characters, to put it mildly, but she did have a memorably tragic ending. Dying during childbirth with Judith, her own son Carl is forced to shoot his mother in the head to keep her from re-animating. But like Dale's, Lori's death in the comics is even worse. First of all, she survives giving birth to Judith. Instead, her death comes at the hands of the Governor's raid on the prison. While fleeing with Judith in her arms, Lori is shot in the back. As she falls to the ground dead, the baby is crushed under her weight. It's a horrific moment, and is perhaps the comic book version of Sophia's death in the TV show. In both version of the series, even children aren't safe. In a more general sense, the love triangle between Lori, Rick and Shane is a much bigger deal on the TV series than it is in the comics. Apart from Shane's early death in the source material, the comic book version of Lori instantly regrets sleeping with Shane the one time rather than the complex, passionate affair they embark upon on the show. 3) The Governor Whatever incarnation of the series you're talking about, the Governor is always a brutal enemy who's responsible for taking out a great number of the cast. The difference between them, then, is mostly in their appearance. On the page, the Governor looks nothing like David Morrisey. As opposed to the actor's Caucasian good looks and clean cut hair - which fits his initial appearance of respectability - the comics version has a lank long mop, a handlebar moustache and is possibly Hispanic. Curiously, his eyepatch is on the opposite eye. He also lacks his right arm, and, erm, his genitalia. Yup, in the comics Michonne goes a bit further than just blinding the Governor in one eye. In the comics, she tortures him by scooping out his eye with a spoon, chopping off his arm and castrating him. Presumably, this was dropped from the show as it was just too visceral for even The Walking Dead to portray on screen. Their personalities are also subtly, but distinctly, different. The comics version is more of an out-and-out wacko while Morrisey's take on the character suffers from a quieter - but no less deadly - form of psychosis. 2) Andrea Most of these changes made to characters on the show are just cosmetic, changing an aspect of their deaths or backstories. The TV series completely altered Andrea to her core, however. She might as well be a different character altogether. On screen, Andrea is one of the show's least liked characters. After siding with Shane over Rick and then entering into a relationship with the Governor, she was practically a minor antagonist. She did find some redemption in the end though, as she realized the error of her ways before eventually getting munched on by a zombie and shooting herself in the head. In the comics, though, Andrea is another long-serving character. Far from being at odds with the group, she ends up being the long-term partner of Rick - to the extent that Carl calls her "mom." She also becomes the group's sharpest shooter. In the show, both of these characteristics are taken up by Michonne and original character Sasha, respectively. 1) Carol The other character who was pretty much 100% altered in the transition from the page to the screen is Carol. TV fans will know her as having one of the strongest, most transformative character arcs on the show, as the horrors of the apocalypse have made her grow from a timid, shy woman into a badass, strong-willed pragmatist. She's been around for the length of the series thus far and it would be a big surprise if she was to be killed of. In the comics, however, basically none of these attributes apply. First of all, comic book Carol is a much more skittish person, with latent psychological issues that were brought out by the trauma of the outbreak. Needing companionship to keep her sane, she starts to crack up once Tyreese cheats on her. After Lori and Rick turn down her offer of a three-way relationship (!), Carol commits suicide by letting a zombie bite her on the neck, seemingly feeling a sexual pleasure as she dies. The journeys of the two Carols across the series are simply diametrically opposed to each other, making hers the best example of how liberally The Walking Dead TV show borrows from the comics.