Rick Grimes (Comic Series)


 * For the TV series character, see Rick Grimes (TV Series).

"The second we put a bullet in the head of one of these undead monsters--the moment one of us drove a hammer into one of their faces--or cut off a head. We became what we are! And that's just it. That's what this comes down to. You people don't know what we are. We're surrounded by the dead. We're among them--and when we finally give up we become them! We're living on borrowed time here. Every minute of our life is a minute we steal from them! You see them out there. You know that when we die--we become them. You think we hide behind walls to protect us from the walking dead! Don't you get it! WE ARE THE WALKING DEAD!"

- Rick Grimes to the group.

Rick Grimes is the main character in both the comic and television series. The comic series is meant to follow his life for the approximate 300 issue run.

Pre-Apocalypse
Rick Grimes lived in Cynthiana, Kentucky for most of his life. Academically, he entered college for police administration with the intention of becoming a police officer. Around this time, within his sophomore year, his parents made Rick chaperone at a New Year’s party set up by them, but his parents had to attend another party elsewhere. Thanks to his younger brother, Jeff Grimes, he was introduced to a high school senior named Lori. Although there was some chemistry between them, they couldn't explore a possible relationship, due to Lori moving away to also attend college. Despite this, Rick and Lori kept in touch with each other while he finished college. After Lori dropped out of her first year in college, she returned to Cynthiana, where they could finally develop their relationship. Soon after, Rick and Lori were wed, so Lori became Lori Grimes. During this time, Rick officially became a police officer, where he was assigned a partner, and soon best friend, Shane Walsh. Life for Rick was perfect, a burgeoning career in the police force and the happy news of Lori's pregnancy. Soon they had a son whom they named Carl.

Post-Apocalypse
At the beginning of the series, Rick was wounded in a shoot-out, and was put into a coma for about a month. Upon awakening, Rick finds the hospital and the rest of the town desolated and overrun by Zombies. Rick remains dazed by all of the confusion, until he takes a trip to the house he shared with his family before the outbreak. He leaves his house, and is soon hit in the back of the head with a shovel. He wakes up, having been knocked out by the blow to the head, and sees that he is in the house of his old next door neighbors. He is greeted by a man named Morgan Jones, who explains that he and his son Duane Jones have taken refuge in the house. He informs Rick of the outbreak that has happened during his time in a coma. Morgan also informs him that the government was telling everyone to go to Atlanta. Rick is overjoyed upon hearing this, as he sees that Lori might have taken Carl to Atlanta to stay with her parents. He also realizes that he will need both a car and guns. To accomplish this, Rick takes Morgan and Duane to his police department and supplies them with guns, ammo, and a car. He then leaves Morgan and Duane in Cynthiana, so he can go to Atlanta. Along the way, Rick's car runs out of gas, so he decides to continue the trek on foot. Along the way he finds a farm house and goes inside to try and borrow some gas. Upon his entry, he sees that the entire family killed themselves during the initial outbreak. He goes around to the stable, and finds a horse and a hatchet (this becomes his main weapon throughout the rest of the series). He rides the horse for the rest of the trip to Atlanta.

Atlanta
Upon arriving in Atlanta, he finds the entire city overrun. His horse soon becomes spooked, and falls over. The horse is quickly swarmed and eaten, leaving Rick to try and fend for himself. He is, however, thankfully saved by a man named Glenn, who rescues him and leads him to safety along the outskirts of the city, where Glenn stays in a makeshift camp with another group of survivors.

Upon meeting up with the survivor group outside of Atlanta, Rick finds Lori, Carl and Shane. He also meets new survivors including a man with an RV camper named Dale, two sisters taking a road trip named Andrea and Amy, an emotionally burdened man named Jim, a mother named Carol and her six year old daughter Sophia, and a family of four with father Allen, mother Donna, and six year old twins Billy and Ben. Shane explains to him that he was taking Lori and Carl to stay with her parents until the outbreak was over and that he would go back for Rick. Rick quickly takes up a place with the survivors as a hunter along with Shane. During one of their trips Donna is attacked by a zombie that wandered into camp. Rick asks Shane if they could move their camp away from the city but the proposition was rejected. Rick accepted this but realized that they would need guns.

The next day Rick goes into Atlanta with Glenn. They find a gun store and collect as many guns as they can carry and barely escape the city without dying. This gains Rick favor with the other survivors. He also trains them in target practice. A few weeks later the camp is once again attacked, leading to the death of Amy and the infection of Jim. The group decides (against their will) to leave Jim outside of Atlanta, so he can reanimate and be with his family. After these events, and seeing that the only reason this attack happened was because Shane would not move the camp, Rick confronts him, but Shane punches him in the face. After seeing this, Lori smacks Shane and yells at him. Shane runs away but Rick chases him and confronts him once more on what had happened. Shane turns out to be more hostile and attempts to shoot Rick with a shotgun. Rick is saved by his son Carl, who ends up shooting Shane in the neck. The group buries Shane and, after becoming the leader of the group, Rick goes on to move the camp.

Wiltshire Estates
While on the road, Rick spots a seemingly perfect neighborhood called Wiltshire Estates and thinks it to be the perfect home. While in the process of clearing out the first house, Rick is tackled by a zombie, and saved by Tyreese who is becoming Rick's new best friend. They discover that the house was overly stocked with canned goods, and would make the perfect new residence for the group. They spend the night in the house and in the morning set out to kill all of the infected in the neighborhood. Rick splits the group into two teams, one headed by Rick and the other by Tyreese. Rick runs back to the RV to grab Tyreese a gun and discovers a previously snow-covered sign that says that the entire neighborhood is festering with zombies. He runs back to the group to inform them that they have to leave, but he is too late, as Donna had just been bitten in the eye. This event causes Allen to become emotionally compromised (something that he wouldn't recover from for months) and Rick eventually convinces Allen to leave his dying wife and the rest of the group escapes Wiltshire Estates.

Hershel's Farm
After the tragedy of Wiltshire Estates, Rick, Tyreese and Carl go hunting. Carl is accidentally shot in the shoulder by another hunter named Otis. Rick, in a fit of rage, places a gun to Otis's head and threatening to blow his brains out. However, Tyreese stops him by saying that Carl is still alive. Otis suggests that they go to his friend Hershel Greene's farm, where he can patch him up. While Rick and Otis run to the farm, Tyreese returns to the RV to inform the other survivors of what had happened. Tyreese and the survivors reach Hershel's farm just as Rick and Otis arrive with Carl.

Rick watches in fear as the two strangers operate on his son. Hershel removes the bullet, stops the bleeding and leaves Carl to rest, so he can introduce Rick's group to his family and friends, Lacey Greene, Arnold Greene, Maggie Greene, Billy Greene, his young daughters Rachel Greene and Susie Greene, and Otis's girlfriend Patricia. The group stays at the farm while Carl heals and Glenn begins a relationship with Maggie. It is also during this time that Tyreese begins a relationship with Carol (and by default taking Sophia as a surrogate daughter) and Dale begins a relationship with Andrea.

Rick confronts Hershel about allowing his group to stay in his barn so that they don't have to sleep in the RV anymore. Hershel protests saying that he has been placing all of the zombies that they have encountered in the barn. This information sets Rick off and they begin yelling at each other leading to the discovery that Hershel's oldest son Shawn Greene was bitten and turned at the beginning of the outbreak and that he is in the barn at that moment. Rick tries to explain that it is not his son but Hershel keeps denying the fact and walks off. Carl fully heals and as a show of gratitude Rick gives Hershel the rest of their spare guns and invites them to target practice. Rick hosts the target practice next to Hershel's barn but Hershel screams for them to stop saying that his neighbors house is next door.

They see another zombie walking in the field outside the fence, and Hershel shows his technique for trapping zombies in the barn. However one of the zombies falls against the barn door and they break out of the barn. Arnold and Lacey attempt to save Hershel but are both bitten and killed. Hershel realizes that there is no saving the zombies and finally accepts that they must be killed. Hershel shoots Arnold, Lacey, and Shawn as a form of closure.

With the barn now cleared out Rick and Allen begin cleaning it up so that they can sleep there. However Rick finally cracks and runs off to yell at Hershel about staying in the rooms of the house. This leads to an argument and Hershel informs Rick that after Carl is fully healed he will throw them out of his house. Rick returns to inform Lori of this. She is outraged and goes to yell at Hershel. Lori begins a fight with Hershel and Rick tries to intervene. The fight ends with Hershel about to smack Lori when Rick stops him. Hershel places a gun to Rick's head but he is stopped from executing Rick by Otis who takes Rick's side. Rick decides that they will leave and packs everyone into the car. Glenn decides to stay to live with Maggie, and Rick and the group leaves in the RV. The group continues on the road until Dale and Andrea see a prison in the distance.

The Prison
Rick instantly sees the prison as a new hope for the group. With three rows of fences, and heavily fortified buildings, he really feels it's the best place for them to start a new life.

The group begins the long process of cleaning out the prison and fixing the fences that had been damaged, when they find that four inmates had been hastily locked in the cafeteria when the place had begun to be overrun. The leader of the inmates, Dexter, introduces the other inmates to Rick's group as Axel, Andrew, and Thomas Richards, as well as giving a tour of the prison to the group. In the weeks since the outbreak, these inmates had survived by the stockpile of food in the cafeteria's pantry, as well as using the walk-in freezer as a latrine.

Weary of the new people, the group attempts to continue the work of fixing up the prison while Rick traveled back to Hershel's farm to bring them all out to their new place. Apparently things at the farm hadn't been going so well since the weather was warming up, and zombie attacks were on the rise, so the group is happy to come live at the prison. All seems well until Rick is awoken by a gunshot and rushes to see that Chris had accidentally killed Julie in a suicide pact by firing too early. Julie reanimates without being bitten resulting in the revelation that all of the survivors were infected. Julie's corpse attempts to eat Tyreese, who is in turn saved by Chris. However, instead of gratefulness, Tyreese is infuriated and proceeds to murder Chris as Rick looks on in shock. Rick wakes up the next morning after having informed the group of what had happened the previous night, and sees Tyreese burning the bodies, and after a quick talk the two proceed to clear out the rest of the prison. Hershel brought with him many of the supplies he needed to farm, and begins planting a garden in the prison yard so that they have a renewable source of food for the weeks and months to come. The inclusion of Hershel and his family allowed the group develop a sense that things would be safe from now on.

Upon the revelation that a bite doesn't turn a person, Rick travels back to the Atlanta Camp to dig up, and shoot Shane, commenting, "You were a good man Shane, I don't know why you did what you did, but you were a good man.", among other things. He then heads back to the prison, having given his final words to Shane saying, "And I ain't gonna bury you again you son of a bitch." Meanwhile, the feeling of peace at the prison is short-lived, as tragedy strikes when Hershel's two youngest daughters are found murdered in the prison's barber shop. The survivors instantly blame the inmate who had told them he had been incarcerated for murder, locking him in his own room while they decide what to do. It eventually turns out that the murderer was actually Thomas, who attempts to murder Andrea. Rick disarms him of his knife, and in a fit of rage, beats him brutally, almost to death. He then precedes to tell the survivors that Thomas is to be hung, and why. Later, he goes to Dale for medical attention for his hand, which was broken and mutilated by the severity of his attack on Thomas, though he stated he "doesn't regret a thing". However, before they could hang Thomas, Patricia lets him out of his cell in an attempt to rescue him from his death. Instead of gratefulness, Thomas attempts to kill her resulting in Maggie shooting him several times. They then throw his body out for the zombies to feed on. Rick allows Dexter to leave his cell, and then, with Lori, tries to decide on what they should do with Patricia. This is interrupted by a force consisting of Dexter, Andrew, and Patricia all wanting to force Rick's group out of the prison.

The three soon realize that they hadn't shut the door behind them leading to the prison's A-block. The courtyard is soon swarmed with zombies. Rick sends Lori and the kids back into the prison and forces the "revolutionists" to assist in re-clearing out of the courtyard. Rick saves Dexter from a zombie about to kill him, but Dexter is incredibly ungrateful and coaxes Rick with the thought that he should have let it kill him. Rick then takes the opportunity of the mass confusion to kill Dexter and cover it up as friendly fire. This event is only witnessed by Tyreese who is mortified by Rick's actions. The group finishes the clearing of the zombies, and they let Otis into the prison, as he had stayed at the farm to watch over the livestock. During this induction to the prison, the group also allows in the person who had saved Otis's life while he was outside of the gate: a katana-wielding woman named Michonne. They confiscate the katana from Michonne in fear of another possible uprising of the prison.

The group begins to burn the bodies of the newly killed zombies. As this occurs, Andrew runs out into the wilderness, to his awaited zombified state. The group decides to move to more pressing issues as Andrea calls a meeting. Andrea, with the assistance of Axel, brings out the prison jumpsuits to make into clothes for the other survivors. After the meeting, Tyreese confronts Rick with understanding of his decision to murder Dexter. After this course of events, Rick takes Dale, Axel, Tyreese, and Allen to clear out the A-block. Along the way, they find the prison's library, in which Allen is nearly attacked. After this takes place, the group splits up, Dale and Tyreese leave one way, while Rick, Axel, and Allen go another. Along the way, Dale and Tyreese find a massive generator, meanwhile Allen gets bitten on his ankle. The group carries Allen out into the prison courtyard, where Rick proceeds to amputate his leg. Hershel shows up to assist and stops the bleeding.

The next day, Rick gets his bandages removed by Dale, and then proceeds to be a comfort for Carol, who unbeknownst to Rick, had just kicked Tyreese out of her cell for having an affair with Michonne. Rick then gets Lori to try and see how Carol had been taking things and what made the two of them split up. However, instead of a lamenting Carol, they were presented with an overly distraught Carol that had just slit her wrists in front of her daughter Sophia. Rick and Lori proceed to bring Carol to Hershel who would take care of her, and nurse her back to health. Rick takes it upon himself to bring the sudden turn of events up to Tyreese, whom he finds in the arms of Michonne. Infuriated at the realization that Tyreese had actually cheated on Carol with Michonne, Rick proceeds to blame not only the suicide attempt on him, but his daughter's death on him as well. This results in a fight in which both parties wound up tossed over the second floor of the prison and on to the ground where they proceed to briefly pass out. Both Tyreese and Rick are awoken by Glenn and Maggie. However, before they can resume their fight, Andrea enters the room to inform the group that Allen had died. Rick proceeds to get up and shoot him before Allen could reanimate. Suddenly, Michonne and Hershel witness Rick blacking out.

Rick awoke the next morning to find Carol sitting above him, the two talk about the current status of the group before she kissed him with much passion. Rick informed her that he would have to tell Lori, and she left just as Dale walked in. Dale tells him that he won't be the leader anymore, and that the group agreed on forming a committee. This committee consists of Rick, Hershel, Dale, and Tyreese. Rick walks outside to tell everyone he killed Dexter to protect all of them. Lastly, he tells them that they're the walking dead.

On the next day, the generator is running out of gas. Glenn and Rick are about to go get some gasoline, and they spot a helicopter in the sky that is about to crash. Rick tells Glenn to get a car and they proceed to go into the forest to search for survivors, accompanied by Michonne. They discover that the possible survivor(s) have been carried away to a town named Woodbury.

Woodbury
After a long journey, they found a little town called Woodbury. Suddenly, a gunman tells them to get down, and shoots the zombies. A survivor named Wes drags them to Woodbury, and another, Hispanic-American man named Caesar Martinez, tells Wes to collect their weapons. He says it's their way to deal with safety and that he can show them around. A fellow survivor, introduced as The Governor, tells Martinez that he can take it from here. Martinez accepts, and the Governor takes the three with him on a tour of the town. Eventually they are led to an arena and Rick asks why they have an arena filled with chained zombies. The Governor explains it replaced television, and tells them that they feed the zombies with strangers.

The Governor's right hand men, Gabe and Bruce Cooper, are revealed to be aiming their guns at Rick and the others. The Governor wants to know where they came from but Rick disagrees, claiming that the three of them were on their own. The Governor doesn't fall for Rick's bluff, and Bruce puts Rick's head into a table. The Governor tells Rick he doesn't understand the situation, and proceeds to cut off his hand. Michonne jumps on the Governor and bites his ear off. Rick blacks out, and Bruce captures Michonne. He tells the Governor to say the word, and he can snap her neck, but the Governor tells him not to.

Rick is taken to Dr. Stevens, Woodbury's head doctor while Glenn and Michonne are taken into cells. Stevens patches up Rick, and when he wakes up, he tries to attack the doctor. Stevens' assistant, Alice, gives Rick a sedative and he falls asleep. Later, Rick wakes up, and asks what's going on. Stevens explains and says that the Governor is a monster and reveals that the Governor's name is Philip. The Governor shows up and wants Stevens to patch his ear. Rick and the Governor are having discussion, and he tells that he let Glenn go, and if he's stupid enough, he'll lead them right to the prison.

Later, a cage fighter named Harold, wants Stevens to fix him up and asks both Rick and Stevens if they will go see the fight planned later. Rick says he'll skip it. Another fighter, named Eugene, rushes in, and says Harold knocked his teeth out. Harold is sorry about it, and Eugene says that sorry isn't going to cover it, and stabs him in the neck. Stevens tells Rick to help him stop the bleeding, but it is too late.

Martinez pops in, and notices Rick's injury. When asked about what happened, Rick starts to attack him. Stevens stops the fight and tells Martinez to leave. Later, Rick and Alice are talking about Lori, and their child. Martinez splits up the conversation, and tells Rick they have to leave immediately. Rick is surprised, and tells Martinez not to touch him. Martinez says he has noticed that the Governor is a real monster, and has Glenn with him. They leave, and take Michonne, Alice and Dr. Stevens with them. Michonne leaves to deal with the Governor. As they are leaving the town, Dr. Stevens gets bitten by a walker. He tells Alice to take the supplies he has with him and go on.

After escaping, they spend a night in the crashed helicopter. Michonne gets back, and she says she isn't sure if the Governor is dead or not. They then start to head back to the Prison.

The Prison Redux
When they arrive, Rick discovers that the other survivors had accidentally left the gates wide open for zombies. Glenn, fearful of Maggie's safety, takes their car and drives into the zombies, wrecking the vehicle in the process. Rick and the others go help him, and Rick discovers a zombified Otis. It's assumed Rick shot him. Dale and Andrea discover them from the RV, and Dale tells Rick he saw Otis killed and that Hershel was bitten; the others he can only guess that they made it back inside. Everyone accepts to run into A-block.

In A-block, everyone is happy to see each other. Hershel confirms that he wasn't bitten, and Carl and Lori are overjoyed to see Rick, but Carl is freaked out from the sight of Rick's missing hand. After explaining to a tearful Lori that it wasn't infected, Rick is told by Tyreese to stay with his family while the others head out to start burning the zombies. While burning them, Rick realizes Martinez hasn't been seen for hours; he's gone to tell the Governor and his men where the Prison is located.

Rick takes Dale's RV and runs over Martinez, crippling him. He kicks Martinez' gun out of his hand and confronts him. Martinez explains that while he was going back to Woodbury, he was only going to bring the good people back with him to the prison. Rick reminds him what their people did to him and Michonne. Lastly, Rick strangles Martinez to death.

Rick returns and calls for a meeting. Shortly before the meeting, he tells Lori what he had done and asks her if doing this to protect the group makes him a bad person. At the meeting, Rick tells everyone they have to be ready when the Woodbury people get in the Prison.

Weeks after, things seem normal. Everyone is happy, and the biggest problems are food, supplies and romantic relationships. A gang of survivors drag a zombie into the Prison, mostly because Alice wanted to study one and to potentially develop a cure to fight off the infection. One day, Carol approaches the roamer and allows it to bite her. After she reanimates, she is shot by Andrea and buried next to Allen. Several more weeks pass by and things start to return back to normal. Then one day, Rick and Hershel notice big trucks and a tank containing the Governor starting to assemble in front of the Prison's fences.

The Prison Assault
The Governor and his army starts shooting into the Prison group. Rick tells everyone to get down, but Andrea is about to snipe some army members. The Governor tells everyone inside the Prison they have a chance to open the gates for them. Nothing happens, and Andrea almost gets a clear shot at The Governor, but fails, because of her helmet. Realizing that the people shooting from the towers were causing many casualties for the army, the Governor angrily tells everyone to retreat.

Everyone thinks Woodbury people are giving up, but Tyreese speculates that they will be back. Rick stumbles and falls down, and Tyreese discovers he's been shot. Also Andrea falls down after getting shot in the head, and is taken to Prison hospital. Axel is shot in the arm as well.

In the hospital, Rick's family is praying for his life. Alice says she'll need to take a sample of everyone's blood to see who would be a compatible match for a blood transfusion. Patricia confirms she has o-negative blood and Alice tells her to clean Rick's arm.

Dale convinces Andrea to come with him and take Billy and Ben away from the Prison. He tries to talk Lori into coming with them and let the Woodbury army take the Prison. Lori didn't want to split up again so Dale takes Sophia with him. At the last minute, Glenn arrives and tells Dale that Maggie and himself want to come as well. Michonne and Tyreese leave the Prison in an attempt to ambush the Woodbury army in the woods. Michonne kills two soldiers and disappears while Tyreese gets captured. Rick eventually recovers and is told what happened. Rick believes whereas before they had a chance of surviving; now that half the group has left and Tyreese and Michonne went out to ambush the army, there is little hope.

After trying to fix the place and placing barricades, The Governor brings Tyreese in front of Prison gates. The Governor gives the Prison group two choices; they either let The Governor and his people in to the Prison or Tyreese dies. Rick, Hershel, Alice, Patricia, Axel and Billy, from the tower, can do nothing but watch as Tyreese is decapitated after refusing the Governor's offer. Rick tells everyone that they have to fight or Tyreese died for nothing. In the Prison, later, Rick tells Lori the news and she angrily lashes out at him for not doing anything. She then leaves to feed Judith. Also, Rick tells Carl the news. He isn't sad, because people die all the time. Rick offers Carl to carry the bag, which includes food and important equipment.

Finally, the Woodbury army arrives for the last time, and kills Axel. Axel's limp body falls onto Rick, and he pushes the body away. Hershel and Patricia join to him in shooting the people under the cars. They are able to kill many more of the soldiers and the Governor, in a fit of blind fury, takes command of Jared's tank and drives it through the fences. Everyone starts to run and get their families. Rick finds Alice pointing a gun into Lori's head. Alice quickly explains that it was a ruse in case any of the Woodbury fighters caught them. Rick tells them they have to run and hope they will not get shot.

Outside, after Patricia and Billy were shot, Rick discovers Hershel. Rick tells him to get going, but Hershel says to go without him. The Grimes family starts to run and Alice tries to cover them, but is wounded. Alice is then personally killed by the Governor. As the Grimes family nears the truck, Lilly, one of the army soldiers, fatally shoots Lori in the back, killing her and Judith. As Lori falls to the ground dead, Rick, with tears in his eyes, keeps running and tells Carl to do the same. They change the direction they were going (first, everyone is told to go to the truck) and start to run forward the zombie horde. Hershel is killed by the Governor, and the Governor is killed by Lilly after she realized she had killed a baby. After Rick and Carl escaped, Carl asks where Lori and Judith are. Rick and Carl tearfully hug as a couple of zombies slowly approach, the Prison lying in ruins behind them.

Hershel's Farm Redux
After The Prison assault, Rick and Carl meet up with Michonne. After a long and sleepless night, they find Glenn and Maggie. Glenn is curious why there are just the three of them and Maggie asks where her family is. Rick becomes wordless and Maggie starts to cry. They leave the road, and go back to Hershel's farm. Andrea, Dale, Sophia, Ben & Billy are in the farm, and Andrea is happy to see Rick and the others again. Carl runs for Sophia and Dale apologizes to Rick. Sophia is inside, alone in a room and Carl says hi to her. Carl says they're both motherless now, and Sophia says her mother is in the other room crying. Carl says that is Maggie, not Carol, but Sophia angrily disagrees. Carl asks if she remembers him, and Sophia says she does, hugging him.

Later, Carl says to his father that Sophia is crazy. Rick says he can't say that, and to not patronize her. Carl agrees, and Rick goes outside. Dale is with him out there, and says Sophia's only problem isn't sleeping. He says it's not the undead he's afraid any more. Rick puts hand into his face and says they should have left with Dale when they had the chance. Dale tries to cheer him up by saying to not focus on the what-if's and to focus on the now, saying he'd be dead if he stays focused on it. Dale then offers to talk with Rick about dealing with the loss of a spouse. Rick thanks him, saying they can talk about it later.

Next morning, they meet three new arrivals; Sgt. Abraham Ford, Rosita Espinosa and Dr. Eugene Porter. They says they need equipment, and Andrea tells them to drop their guns. They have a argument about the what has happened for past months, but Rick is able to diffuse the situation. Abraham says they're on their way to Washington D.C. and Eugene says he knows how the undead apocalypse began. Later, everyone accepts Abraham's offer to leave the farm and go on to Washington. Before leaving, Rick tells Carl not to trust everyone, even if they seem friendly and safe. Carl accepts, and they leave the farm.

Cynthiana, Kentucky
While on the road, Rick continually has nightmares over feeling guilty and responsible for the deaths of Lori and Judith. One night, Maggie tries to hang herself and Abraham decided to kill her before she can reanimate, not knowing that she merely blacked out from the attempt. Rick stops him from killing her and later on, Abraham threatens to kill Rick "the next time you put a gun to my head." The following day, Abraham saves Rick from being killed by a roamer and chides Rick for being careless, earning some scorn from Rick. After stopping to check their map, Rick proposes to Abraham that they make a detour to Cynthiana to check in on Morgan and Duane. Abraham is against it until Rick informs him that he still has keys to the local police station, giving them the chance to secure some ammo and guns. Abraham eventually agrees and tells the others that him, Rick and Carl will return in a few days (Rick refused to leave without Carl.)

During the first night Rick, Carl and Abraham are ambushed by a gang of bandits. At first the bandits just want their supplies, but one decides to try and rape Carl. Rick attempts to fight back, but is overpowered by one of the bandits. Rick escapes by biting his captor's neck, releasing him. While Abraham shoots the one guarding him, Rick demands that the one holding Carl be unhurt, growling 'he's MINE!' Rick then proceeds to chase the bandit down and brutally kill him.

The next day, the three arrive in Cynthiana. Rick goes and tries to find Morgan when he is hit from behind with a shovel. He looks and sees Morgan above him. Morgan notices who it is and drops the shovel. Rick asks him what happened and Morgan shows him a zombified Duane chained up in the house. After hearing how Duane died, Rick offers Morgan to leave with them and go to Washington, handing him a gun to shoot Duane. Morgan instead shoots Duane's chain and agrees to leave with them. After making a trip to the police station (and taking the rest of the guns and ammo), the four of them begin to make their way back to the group.

Unfortunately on the way back, Rick, Carl, Morgan and Abraham encounter an enormous herd, wrecking their car and forcing them to continue on foot. Noticing that their current path will lead the herd back to the others, Rick and the others try to lose the herd by keeping them busy at a nearby farmhouse. The attempt fails and the herd follows them back to the group. Rick tells the others they must leave now, but Dale has other plans: Fed up with how Rick always seems to put everyone in danger, Dale wants to stay at a nearby house with Andrea and the twins. Eventually, Andrea convinces Dale that they have to leave with them, much to the latter's disappointment.

The Road to Washington
After meeting back up with the others, Rick and the group continue to make their way to Washington. While on the road, Ben kills his twin brother Billy. Abraham says they must kill Ben so he doesn't kill everyone else later. While the idea makes his skin crawl, Rick agrees that it has to be done, angering both Dale and Andrea. The following morning, Ben is found dead and Rick says he didn't see anyone near the van, saying they may never know who killed Ben. They soon meet Father Gabriel Stokes, who says that he can lead them all to his church which is close by. Following a zombie attack later on, Rick tries to humor Dale who is grieving over both Billy and Ben's deaths. Dale curses Rick and walks away. Rick tells Andrea to tell Dale that he is sorry.

After learning that Dale has vanished, Rick forms a search party to find him. Eventually Rick calls off the search for the day and they leave to go in search of Gabriel's church, promising Andrea that they'll get back to looking for Dale the following morning. She asks him whether Gabriel had a hand in Dale's disappearance and Rick mentions that the thought had crossed his mind.

Rick and the others eventually arrive at the church. Andrea notices someone watching them from the woods and angrily confronts Gabriel, accusing him of having some part in Dale's disappearance. Rick joins in and Gabriel tells them his story. The following day, Dale is found dropped off in front of the church, missing his other leg. Rick notices someone in the woods as well. Telling Glenn and Abraham to take Dale to the church, Rick starts shooting towards the forest to provide them with some cover. Abraham informs Rick that the ones who took Dale are toying with them; noticing that they only fired one bullet which hit Glenn in the leg to wound him, not kill him. Rick asks Dale what he remembers of where he was kept. After forming a search party consisting of him, Abraham, Michonne and Andrea, Rick has Gabriel lead them to several possible locations where Dale was kept. Rick finds Chris, the leader of the Hunters who took Dale, and after trying to reason with them, leads the others to brutally kill them. Rick and the others return and Dale thanks Rick for leading their group, dying later on in the night. After burying Dale and reminiscing what he did to the Hunters, Rick says that Carl probably couldn't bear to look at him if he knew what he had done. Rick hears something behind him; he turns and finds Carl tearfully looking at him. Carl tells his father that he killed Ben.

Alexandria Safe-Zone
When Rick and the group are at the Alexandria Safe-Zone his main intention is to make Carl relax and live like a child, but Carl insists they should be aware of the threat beyond the wall and that they shouldn't just forget. Rick is asked by Douglas to be the community's 'constable' claiming he prefers the name to cop or policeman. But Rick is worried the survivors living in the safe zone before them may mess up what they have, so Rick sends Glenn to steal back their guns which were taken when they had entered. Rick later learns that one of the other residents, Pete, has been abusing his wife but is told by Douglas that they cannot get rid of him due to him being a doctor. Rick then argues over the importance of how the residents behave before attacking Pete in his home and pulling a gun out on Douglas when he tells Rick he has to leave. Michonne attacks Rick from behind and tells someone to grab his gun. Rick looks up at her and realizes what he's done.

Alexandria Safe-Zone Chaos
When zombies start to crowd into the Safe-Zone, Rick is seen killing zombies and helping people, especially Morgan to rescue from a zombie bite. Later, when he and Michonne took Morgan into Rick's place, Denise comes to patch him up. He's seen hiding on his house along with Jessie, Ron, Carl, Morgan, Denise, Michonne, Maggie and Sophia. He wants everyone to escape, and come back for the others once they are safe. Everyone, except Maggie and Sophia, and later Denise, agree to leave. Rick uses the technique he used with Glenn earlier; rub zombie guts on themselves to smell like a zombie, so they'll ignore them. They get out, but Ron unknowingly attracts the walkers to him, causing him and Jessie to get eaten by zombies. Jessie is still grabbing Carl's hand, and in fear of Carl being eaten, Rick apologizes to her and cuts off her hand.

Douglas begins haphazardly shooting zombies. As he is overtaken by a group, he fires his gun and accidentally shoots Carl in the head, destroying his eye and taking out a chunk of his face. Rick takes him to Denise Cloyd and asks her to save his life. Denise is able to stop Carl's bleeding. Rick, after defeating a lot of zombies, goes to see his son. Denise tells Rick that Carl is in a coma.

Alexandria Safe-Zone Aftermath
Rick is seen with Carl a lot during this time period, and finally Carl coughs. Rick is excited about that but Denise informs that it didn't mean anything. Andrea offers Rick to come over to her house to eat, which makes Rick grateful for her. Suddenly, Denise tells Rick that Carl is waking up. Rick is happy to see his son alive, until Carl asks where his mother is. Rick doesn't answer yet and just hugs him. Outside, Rick asks from Denise what is he going to tell him. Denise becomes speechless.

Later, Rick tells Carl about what happened to Lori and Judith. Carl doesn't remember Judith, but notes he's sad about their death. Carl says he remembers deaths of Amy, Tyreese, Morgan, Jessie and Ron. Rick is surprised he remembers Jessie and Ron. Carl asks can he go to sleep, and Rick says he can.

Rick replaces Glenn, when a group of survivors goes to city for looking equipments. At the end of Issue 88, Rick is seen crying in an office room, where Andrea catches him and asks what's wrong. He tells her that with everything that's happened, it feels like he died a long time ago, leading her to comfort him with a kiss.

Hilltop Colony
Rick, along with Michonne, Carl, Glenn, and Andrea, are brought to the Hilltop Colony by Paul Monroe. There, he is shown around and introduced to Gregory. Another resident of the colony, Ethan, returns from a failed mission where all of his companions were killed except for himself and a woman named Crystal. Ethan then tells Gregory he has a message for him and stabs him. Rick tackles Ethan to the ground and in the struggle cuts his throat, while the rest of the residents stare at him, shocked.

After Paul tells Rick, Glenn, Andrea and Michonne about a wandering band of killers that both protect and terrify the residents of Hilltop known as the Saviors, Carl asks if they would be willing to trade with the Safe-Zone if they helped eliminate the Saviors, an idea which Rick agrees with. After some time, Rick is called to see Gregory and discusses the idea with him as well. Afterwards, it seems as if both Gregory and Paul agree with the plan and send Rick's group back to the Safe-Zone with some supplies. Although Michonne is upset by the idea, Rick says that it'd be worth it, saying "We've been surviving in order to reach this moment; where we can stop surviving and start living."

Battle Against The Saviors
As they return from Hilltop colony back to the Safe Zone, Rick's group is ambushed by a group of the Saviors. After threatening the group and subsequently killing them, Rick sends the lone survivor back to Negan with a warning to stop terrorizing the residents of Hilltop. He later calls a meeting with the Safe Zone, suggesting that they can protect the Hilltop colony in exchange for supplies. After spending the night with Andrea, Rick wakes up and is told that another group of Saviors are outside the walls and have taken Eugene hostage. After killing a good number of them (and the rest retreating back to Negan), Rick and Andrea find Abraham's body being eaten by walkers and take it back to the Safe Zone to be buried. When asked by Andrea what do they do now, Rick is genuinely afraid and says that he doesn't know.

Rick assembles a group comprising of Carl, Glenn, Maggie, Sophia, Heath, Michonne and himself to go immediately to the Hilltop to get Paul and others to fight the Saviors. Although they follow the same route Paul showed them, they are unable to make it to the Hilltop in one day. During the night, Negan and a large group of fifty Saviors ambush them. Addressing Rick by name, Negan demands that the Safe Zone belongs to them now and has to punish them for killing so many Saviors. He eventually decides on killing Glenn, brutally beating him to death with his bat named 'Lucille'. Rick swears that he will personally kill Negan for what he did. Negan dares him to do it and leaves, giving Rick and the others one week before they return for their first offering to the Saviors.

Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Rick has killed:


 * Hannah (Zombified)
 * Shane (Zombified)
 * Dexter
 * Allen (Before Reanimation)
 * Otis (Zombified)
 * Caesar Martinez
 * Chris
 * Theresa
 * Albert
 * David
 * Greg
 * Charlie
 * Pete Anderson
 * Ethan
 * Numerous counts of zombies and unnamed people.

Lori Grimes
Lori was Rick's wife. Lori resisted some of Rick's decisions, like giving his son a gun at age 7. Lori was also mad about Rick's disregard when people died. However, Lori and Rick are shown to love each other fiercely and only want the best for their family and the group. After Lori is killed, Rick began to lose his mind from guilt and is still mourning her, and honors her by keeping Carl safe above all else.

Carl Grimes
Rick's 8-year-old son and the source of his motivation to survive, Carl and Rick have been close since the very beginning of the series. Since the outbreak, Rick has been very straightforward about the danger that constantly surrounds them, and has done his best to ensure that Carl is prepared. He even trusted Carl with his gun, despite his age and Loris protests, and Carl has proven to be very responsible and capable with it's use, notably when he saved Rick's life from Shane. After Lori and Judith died, Carl was forced to defend an ailing Rick when they were surrounded by walkers, all the while fearing that Rick would become one himself. In a moment of hysteria, Carl berated an unconscious Rick for failing to protect Lori, Judith and the others they'd lost, but was nonetheless relieved when Rick came to. Since they'd left the prison, Carl became colder and very matter-of-fact about death and their lot in life, something Rick feared was his influence because of the morally questionable decisions he had to make. Carl would later assure him that he loved him for the things he did to keep himself and the group safe, reminding him that he'd also taken a life to defend someone he loved. A major turning point for Carl came when Ben killed his twin brother Billy. When the adults were unable to execute him, Carl took action and killed him discretely, choosing only to confide in Rick. During their stay in the Alexandria Safe Zone, Carl was the first to point out that the sense of security the zone provided the people was a crutch, and that the peace they'd enjoyed wouldn't last, and Rick soon realized that he was right. After Carl was shot, Rick swore that if he survived, he would fight to create a world that Carl and other children would be able to live in peacefully, and has since taken over as leader of the safe zone to accomplish just that.

Judith Grimes
As a possibility that Judith was actually Shane's daughter, Rick was still ready to raise her as his own.

Shane Walsh
Rick's best friend, pre-apocalypse. He was the one who took Rick to the hospital after getting shot. It was later revealed that he had sex with Lori while Rick was in the hospital, possibly being the father of Judith. He eventually tried to kill Rick after an argument only to be shot by Carl.

Morgan Jones
Rick owed Morgan his life after leaving the hospital in Cynthiana. The living Jones family received him, and Rick came to see them later again. Morgan's son, Duane, was found dead, but Morgan decided to come with Rick to safety. After his death, Rick thinks he should have talked to him more, and at least said goodbye.

Glenn
Glenn was one of the first people Rick met since the outbreak, as well as the one who brought Rick to the Atlanta group, and has since become one of his best friends. As one of the original survivors from the Atlanta group, Rick often trusted Glenn with important missions and tasks, such as scavenging for supplies and reconnaissance. When Rick's group was first brought to the Alexandria Safe-Zone, Glenn was the one Rick trusted to help smuggle weapons out of storage in case of an emergency, in direct defiance of the safe-zone's rules. He also appeared to have cared very much for Glenn as he cried when Glenn was being killed and also threatened to kill Negan.

Michonne
Both Michonne and Rick have lost a lot during the zombie apocalypse. They seem to understand each other better than the others and are usually seen talking to each other when no one is watching.

Andrea
Rick and Andrea have been good friends since Atlanta, and have saved each others lives on more than one occasion. After losing Dale and breaking off ties with Spencer, Andrea turned to Rick for comfort. She's spent much of her time with Rick, such as when he's checking in on Carl while he was recovering from his gunshot wound. At the end of issue 90, Andrea kissed Rick, confirming her romantic interest, but Rick pushed her away in the following issue, citing their respective losses. However, in issue 96, Rick hugged and kissed Andrea on the cheek, showing that he does in fact have feelings for her. Later, in issue 98, their relationship is taken to the next level after returning from the Hilltop and Andrea laying into Rick about his feelings. The next morning, Carl walks into Rick's bedroom, expecting only his father, but discovers Rick and Andrea waking up after what looks like a night of passionate and much needed sex between the two of them.

Dale
As with the rest of the group, Dale acted as a sort of surrogate father/grandfather figure to Rick. Rick's first encounter with Dale was when he voiced his concerns about Shane, and although Rick initially wrote him off as a 'crazy old man', Dale was ultimately right. He was a loyal supporter of Rick, trusting him as a leader and agreeing with many of his decisions. When Dale was bitten, Rick was the one who saved his life by cutting his off leg. More than anyone, Dale seemed to understand what Rick was going through after he lost Lori, having lost his own wife. Shortly after this however, Dale grew resentful of him for bringing an unstable Morgan to the group, luring a horde that forced them to relocate, and was outraged at Rick for implying that his surrogate son Ben had to die for killing his twin Billy. Before his death however, Dale thanked Rick for keeping the group alive for as long as he had.

Tyreese
Rick and Tyreese met shortly after Shane's death while the Atlanta group was relocating, and though Rick was hesitant to trust him, Tyreese proved to be an invaluable asset to the group, as well as a good friend. Tyreese soon became an unofficial second-in-command of the group, as his brute strength and willingness to put himself in danger helped the group many times. The first and only major conflict between the two was after Carol caught Tyreese having an affair with Michonne, and subsequently attempted to kill herself. Rick confronted Tyreese, resulting in the two nearly killing each other in a fist fight. Though they maintained a civil relationship afterwards, they were never quite as close as before. Despite this, Tyreese still risked his life to look for Rick when he didn't return from Woodbury, and Rick was still distraught over his loss.

Julie
Rick and Julie had a stable relationship. After walkers attacked Wiltshire Estate, Rick ran back to the house to save Chris, Julie and Tyreese which shows he cared about all three of them greatly. He also helped teach Julie in target practice on the Greene Family Farm. At the Prison Julie and her boyfriend (Chris) tried to kill each other in a suicide pact but Chris pulled the trigger to fast and killed her first, Rick was deeply upset about this.

Hershel Greene
Another of Rick's close friends. Hershel was the one who saved Carl's life after having been shot by Otis, as well as having provided shelter for the group on his farm, for which Rick was extremely grateful. The two initially got along well, and even when Hershel revealed that he was keeping walkers in the barn, Rick was willing to compromise, until they broke out and killed Hershel's son and daughter. The two only came to blows when Rick asked if the group could use their rooms the following day. After almost hitting Lori and then nearly shooting Rick, he demanded that the group leave his property. When the group found the prison, out of sympathy and a need for his expertise in farming and first aid, Rick went back to the farm to invite Hershel and his family despite objections from the group. Hershel agreed and would go on to treat many of the groups injuries, as well as participate in the fight against the Governor, where he died alongside his son Billy.

Maggie Greene
Usually seen talking about Glenn. Rick seems although caring about her, by saving her from Woodbury army shootings, and stopping Abraham from killing her.

Susie and Rachel Greene
Greene's twin sisters and Rick did not talk very much if at all on Hershel's farm or the Prison but when he found her body he was both devastated and furious. When he found out Thomas killed Susie and Rachel he beat him almost to death.

Axel
Axel and Rick's relationship was stable. They don't seem to hate each other, but aren't seen very often together. Although, Rick seemed shocked when Axel was shot.

Patricia
Rick and Patricia seemed to have a stable friendship, even though Patricia let out Thomas from his cell and realized Dexter and helped him and Andrew get the guns, he seemed to forgive her. She and Rick became quite close in target practice when he was praising her for her good shooting. Patricia was also the person that saved Ricks life after he got shot. Rick felt guilty and missed Patricia and everyone else that died in the prison attack and blamed himself for their deaths.

Abraham Ford
Rick and Abraham met shortly after the groups escape from the prison. Being that they had been the leaders of their respective groups, they initially clashed over who would take charge when they joined together. The two very nearly came to blows after Maggie's suicide attempt. When Abraham was prepared to shoot her before they knew for certain if she was dead, Rick pulled a gun on him, and even though Maggie survived, Abraham admitted that he came close to killing Rick. The two eventually came to an understanding during the incident with the Marauders, in which they shared their experiences. From then on, Abraham took over Tyreese's role as second in command of the group, such as when he participated in the execution of the The Hunters, and fought alongside him against the horde in the Safe Zone. Though he sometimes questioned Rick's decisions, he trusted his judgement. Rick went on to swear revenge against The Saviors after they killed Abraham.

Aaron
Aaron was the one who initially invited Rick and the group to the Alexandria Safe Zone. Initially wary of strangers after his experience with the Governor and the Hunters, Rick assumed he was leading them into a trap. Going out on a limb, Rick chose to trust him and the two have become friends ever since. It was largely due to Aaron's endorsement that Douglas allowed Rick to live with them.

Nicholas
Rick met Nicholas shortly after moving into the Safe Zone. They initially met when Nicholas approached him about a fight between his son Mikey and Carl, but they soon resolved the issue and were later seen talking at the party. However, in Issue 88, following the Horde's attack on the Safe Zone, Nicholas came to hold Rick responsible for the Safe Zone's recent misfortune, such as the deaths of Pete, Regina, and the attack by the Scavengers. Fearing that Rick was going to get them all killed, he attempted to lead a revolt against him. Rick was later able to talk him down before anyone was hurt, and both have since reconciled. Nicholas later attended one of Rick's meetings.

Jessie Anderson
Rick's second love in-apocalypse. They fell in love when Rick killed Pete to protect the rest of the Anderson family. Unfortunately, their romantic relationship ended as fast as it started; after the zombie apocalypse in the safe zone, Rick wasn't able to risk his son's life, and cuts Jessie's hand off to protect his son.

Dr. Denise Cloyd
Rick and Denise rarely talked till the walkers broke into the Alexandria Safe-Zone and Carl was shot. She saved him and regularly cleans his wound. Rick was very grateful and seems to talk to Denise a lot more and has a good friendship with her.

Alice
After the Governor cut off Rick's hand, Dr. Stevens and Alice cleaned the wound and made sure he recovered. After Rick fully recovered Alice and Dr. Stevens were going to help him escape and go to the prison with him. Then, Dr. Stevens gets killed and the group make it back to the Prison. Alice and Rick's friendship continued to grow. She delivered Lori's baby (Judith) with the help of Hershel and she helped Patricia save Rick's life after he got shot. Alice also provided cover for Rick, Lori, Judith and Carl, but was killed doing so.

Ron Anderson
Rick saw Ron playing football and noticed his black eye from his abusive father. When Rick finds out Pete did it he fights and then kills Pete, to protect Ron and Jessie which shows he cares about them but Ron saw it as Rick killing his father and Rick was a horrible man. When Ron was eaten by walkers Rick was upset. Rick visited Jessie and Ron's grave daily after their death.

Paul Monroe
Due to his prior encounter with The Governor, Rick did not believe Paul's intentions to establish a trade relationship with his people. This led to him being tied up in the infirmary for several days. Eventually Rick agreed to let Paul take him to the Hilltop though he still remained suspicious of his intent, warning Paul that he would kill him on the spot if things didn't add up. Paul's offer turned out to be genuine and Rick finally began to fully trust him, even offering to help them deal with the Saviors.

Gregory
Rick is shown to be amazed at what Gregory has done to help the Hilltop colony prosper, implying that he has some level of respect for him.

Possible Death
Writer Robert Kirkman stated:
 * "If I keep doing horrible things to Rick Grimes, I'm going to eventually have to kill him or this book will become completely unrealistic. So yeah...he'll die, sooner or later—and I can pretty much promise that he will die before the end of the series. Unless I change my mind."

In answer to the question:
 * "In the first "Walking Dead" TP intro, you hinted that you're going to chronicle Rick Grimes adventures for the whole of his life. How can you possibly do that?"

Robert Kirkman responded:
 * "...Rick could die at any time--so that would chronicle his adventures for the whole of his life right there. I seriously doubt Rick is going to live to be 80, and at the pace this comic usually runs at that would take about 300 years to reach. We're at issue 37 right now and not even nine months have passed. Rick could only have two years to live and that could take another 100 issues to show."
 * "Also, I don't think I ever said the book would end if Rick died. It could easily continue after his death."

Trivia

 * Harrison Memorial Hospital was the name of the hospital that Rick Grimes stayed at during his coma, this is an actual hospital in Cynthiana, Kentucky.
 * Rick is presently the only character alive who was present in Issue 1. The other survivors depicted in Issue 1 were Shane, who had died early on after Issue 6; Morgan Jones, who died in Issue 83; and Duane Jones, who died prior to the events of Issue 59, when he is shown zombified but never shot after reanimation.
 * Rick is one of the many amputees in The Walking Dead. For other victims, see Amputated Victims.
 * Rick Grimes managed to have his hand cut off by Brian Blake.
 * Rick has appeared in every issue, except Issue 30 and Issue 43 (which wasn't a regular issue, but a flashback issue).
 * Rick's story (waking from a coma to the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse) is very similar to that of Jim from Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later. However, The Walking Dead was created before 28 Days Later.
 * Rick, along with Andrea, Michonne, Abraham Ford, and Brian Blake have killed the most named characters either as a zombie or as a living person.
 * Glenn, Shane, Jessie, Lori, and Judith's deaths were the only deaths that have caused Rick to cry.
 * Rick has sworn vengence against Negan and the Saviors for the deaths of Glenn and Abraham.
 * Also Robert Kirkman has said that early on, he was willing to kill Rick in the 6th issue instead of Shane and show how it would affect Carl, having a dead father with Shane being with Lori, etc.
 * Robert Kirkman has expressed annoyance that Rick lost his hand so early on and has said it has caused great difficulty in writing for the charcter in the issues that followed.
 * Rick is not technically one of the original Atlanta survivor group due tohim coming after it was made.

Continuity Error

 * Late in Issue 97 while talking with Andrea, Rick was shown for one panel having both of his hands.
 * In Issue 49, there is a panel of Rick also shown having two hands.