Gabriel Stokes (TV Series)

"Why wouldn't you want to die? You don't deserve to be here. What you did can never be undone. The dead don't choose, but the choices you made, how you sacrifice your own-- (...) Bob was mutilated. Consumed. Destroyed because of your sins. (...) Your brother felt he was apart from it. He was a part of it. He didn't deserve to be here. You don't!"

- Gabriel to Sasha

Gabriel Stokes is a main character and survivor of the outbreak in AMC's The Walking Dead. He lived in his barricaded church for 17 to 18 months until he joined Rick Grimes's group.

Location Unknown
All that is known about Gabriel's life before the outbreak began is that he was a minister at St. Sarah's Church, where he regularly ran masses and fundraisers.

Personality
Gabriel is a deeply religious, generally well meaning but also severely traumatized man. He is shown to have had extreme difficulty adapting to the nature of the post-apocalyptic hell and instead retained his old ways and Christian faith.

Gabriel is also shown to be a coward as instead of helping members of his congregation by giving them shelter in his church he refused to let them in (possibly out of fear), resulting in them being devoured alive by the walkers. This event has had a lasting effect on Gabriel and he is extremely damaged and remorseful as a result of it. He believes himself to be a bad person, smitten by God, initially even believing that Rick's group was sent to punish him.

When he meets Rick's group, Gabriel begins to see the reality of the new world, but remains in disbelief of certain attributes such as that cold blooded murder and even killing of the walkers is a necessary means of survival. He still retains his religious faith even as a result of witnessing true horrors, and is one of the few members of Rick's group who still holds religious faith.

Due to his cowardliness, lack of survival experience and religious nature, many members of the group do not seem particularly fond of Gabriel, particularly Rick, Sasha, and Maggie Greene. Gabriel, however, also seems not to care for Rick's group much as he betrays them to Deanna Monroe of the Alexandria Safe-Zone and warns her that they are dangerous and bad people who have committed unspeakable atrocities. In this sense, Gabriel can also be classified as a hypocrite as he fails to see the irony that he is not a good person either and has also caused atrocities, although this could be seen as a self-serving act, him wishing to exile the only people in the world who know of his sins to secure his place in the community. Whilst Gabriel is talking to Deanna, both are unaware that Maggie is listening nearby, and she shows pure shock and anger in her face towards Gabriel's betrayal and hypocrisy.

After Gabriel finally kills a walker and a suffering man, he turns cold and cruel for a brief period of time towards Sasha, who almost ends up killing him when he throws guilt on her shoulders and insults her deceased brother, Tyreese, but after Maggie defuses the situation, Gabriel eventually feels remorse for his actions and finally gains the forgiveness of Maggie and Sasha.

"Strangers"
Father Gabriel is first seen lying on top of a rock, kicking at walkers and yelling for help, and is rescued by Rick Grimes and his group. The group seeks refuge at Gabriel's church, although Rick tells his son Carl that he doesn't trust Gabriel. Gabriel, Rick, Bob Stookey, Sasha, and Michonne set off to find a food bank with supplies that Gabriel cannot get into as it was overrun by walkers. While in the flooded basement, Gabriel seems to be focused on a female walker with glasses and refuses to kill her, trying to run up the stairs which rot and give away. Gabriel is ultimately saved by Rick, who figures out that Gabriel knew the walker as they head back to the church. While the group celebrates the decision to head to Washington, D.C., with Abraham Ford for their survival, Rick threatens to kill Gabriel if his sins end up hurting his "family" in any way. Gabriel pulls out a photograph of himself and the woman whom he saw as a walker at the food bank and prays over it.

"Four Walls and a Roof"
Gabriel is threatened by Rick and Sasha, finding it suspicious that three members (Daryl Dixon, Carol Peletier, and Bob) have gone missing right after he shows up. Gabriel denies any involvement in their absence and ties to an outside group. After being forced by Rick when he asks what happened to that woman he saw as a walker and the "You'll burn for this" marking on the side of the church, Gabriel admits that he kept the church doors locked at the onset of the outbreak and refused to open them for members of his congregation who had come for refuge from the apocalypse at his church, being forced to listen to them screaming for help as they were devoured by walkers, and that he believes Rick's group has been sent to kill him as he is damned. Gabriel offers to help Rick and the group find the elementary school where Gareth's group is hiding out when they drop an injured Bob off at the churchyard, but ultimately stays behind with Carl, Eugene Porter, Rosita Espinosa, Rick's infant daughter Judith, Tyreese, and Bob when the Terminus survivors enter the church. After the Terminus survivors are all massacred when they are ambushed by the survivors who went looking for the elementary school, Gabriel is shocked that they would kill people in a house of God. The following night, he is seen talking to Michonne outside the church. He tells her that she hears the voices of the people he locked out. Michonne tells him that the voices won't stop, but they won't be heard all the time. Michonne hears rustling in the bushes, and quickly Gabriel runs back inside the church.

"Crossed"
After Daryl's return, Gabriel watches as the survivors begin barricading his church with wood from the pews and pipes from his church organ. He asks Daryl if they would be using the cross as well; Daryl simply responds, "If we need it." He is left behind with Michonne, Carl, and Judith while the others head off to rescue the kidnapped Beth Greene and Carol. While Michonne and Carl board up the front door, he notices dried blood splatters caked deep into the wood floor - remnants of the recent slaughter. He desperately tries to clean the blood out, during which Carl brings out some weapons for him to choose, telling Gabriel that they are likely to leave and that he has to learn to defend himself. Gabriel picks up a machete, and when Carl tries to teach him how to wield it he feigns sickness and heads to his office, where he secretly begins using the machete to pry out the floorboards and escape. Michonne knocks on his door later to see if he is all right and offer counseling if he needs it, which Gabriel nervously appreciates before locking the door again and finishing his work. He crawls out from underneath the church and to the outside, but accidentally steps on a nail on the ground outside, forcing him to limp away. He soon fights off a female walker and impales her on a narrow tree stump, but stops short of killing it when he sees a necklace with a gold cross hanging from its neck. Gabriel walks away, tormented by the sight.

"Coda"
Gabriel goes to the infested school building where the Terminus gang camped outside; he finds Mary's personal Bible, and the rotting and burnt remnants of Bob's leg over the extinguished campfire. He is disgusted by what he sees and breaks down crying, having finally realized the brutal reality of this new world. He is forced to flee when the walkers trapped in the building finally bust out and give chase. He leads them back to the church, where he begs Michonne and Carl to let him back in. The pair break down the door but the rescue allows the small herd to enter the building. They escape through the hole Gabriel made in his office, then barricade the walkers inside the church. They wait outside and watch as the walkers begin to break down the doors, but Abraham's group suddenly arrive in the firetruck to block them back in again. Michonne informs Maggie that her sister is still alive and they all drive over to Grady Memorial Hospital, where Gabriel and the others see Rick's rescue team exit with Beth's body.

"What Happened and What's Going On"
Gabriel is seen reading a passage of the Bible at the beginning of the episode, while the group is burying a then unknown person. He is then seen again near the end of the episode, when the scene is played again, but this time revealing the grave is Tyreese's.

"Them"
Gabriel is seen with the group in this episode, talking to a depressed Maggie and telling her that he understands her pain and he is there if she ever wants to talk about her father Hershel or Beth. Maggie instead coldly says that he doesn't know shit about her pain and that he did not know Hershel or Beth, bringing up Gabriel's cowardice by hiding and shutting out members of his flock from the church. After Sasha kills a pack of dogs who were preparing to attack the group and after they barbecue them for consumption, Gabriel pulls off his clerical collar and drops it into the fire. Soon after it rains, and he becomes remorseful after burning it, saying, "Sorry, my Lord."

When the storm approaches the group, he and the rest reside within a barn Daryl found located near the road they were walking along on. He is seen sitting down and again when the entire tries desperately to block off a group of walkers from entering the barn they were settling in as the storm wreaked havoc outside. He is also seen in the next morning, asleep along the others after the chaos the night before.

"The Distance"
Gabriel is first seen in the barn watching as Aaron, who reveals himself as a recruiter for a community called Alexandria, is led inside. He witnesses Rick bound and interrogate him. When Maggie's husband Glenn Rhee, Maggie herself, Michonne, Abraham, and Rosita are sent out to see if Aaron's telling the truth about there only being two vehicles in the area, Gabriel remains behind. Later on, Gabriel is present as the group travels to Alexandria. When the RV's battery runs out, Gabriel is seen standing behind Carl as Glenn fixes it. Eventually, the group reaches the gates of Alexandria and is content, Gabriel included.

"Remember"
Gabriel is briefly seen when the group arrives in Alexandria, in the background when the group is handing over their guns and again together with the rest of the group in the house.

"Spend"
Gabriel appears in the beginning of this episode angrily tearing pages out of a Bible after seeing a gift from a citizen called Rosemary. He is then seen towards the end of the episode talking to Deanna and recounting how Satan disguised himself as the angel of light, which he relates to Rick and his group being evil disguised as light and that they've done terrible things and they don't deserve paradise because of this, also stating that they are dangerous. Unbeknownst to Gabriel, Maggie is listening to Gabriel's warning from the basement steps.

"Conquer"
Gabriel first appears at the gates of Alexandria as Spencer Monroe lets him out. Gabriel claims he wishes to take a quick walk, and leaves the community. Gabriel then approaches a zombie distracted by eating a half-dead human, and calls out to it, saying "I'm ready!", intending to let the walker kill him. He then notices the corpse the walker was eating to be moving, notifying that the person is still alive, barely. The walker turns and approaches him, and, even though he knew that it was not human, still found it emotionally difficult to kill it. He rips its head off and smashes its head in with a rock, killing it. He then neared the suffering human and crushed his head in too, out of mercy. Due to this emotional trial, he breaks down on the road and cries. He then returns to the community where Spencer asks if his walk around outside the community was okay, Spencer then tells if he could close the gate himself and makes a halfhearted attempt to close the gate, failing to shut it properly. At night, he declines attending the gathering and instead goes into the chapel. He finds Sasha there, requesting emotional guidance, which he coldly denies her. He then taunts her over her sins causing Bob's and Tyreese's deaths. Sasha angrily strikes him and threatens to kill him, and he is entirely unconcerned over it. Maggie intervenes and stops Sasha, to which Gabriel tells her she made a mistake in not letting Sasha kill him. Maggie convinces both of them to pray with her.

First Time Again
Gabriel will appear in this episode.

Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Gabriel has killed:
 * Many unnamed people (Indirectly Caused)
 * Unnamed man (Out of Mercy)
 * At least two zombies

Rick Grimes
"Satan; He disguises himself as the angel of light. I'm afraid that false light is here inside these walls. Your community, you say it's not a paradise, but it is. I'm grateful to be here. I am. But you made a mistake letting in the others. (...) They've done things. They've done unspeakable things. (...) They can't be trusted. They're dangerous. You may believe that they did what they had to do, that they were afraid and so they-- listen up! The day will come... we made a damn good dent today. When they'll put their own lives before yours and everyone else's and they will destroy everything you have here, everything you're working so hard to build. (...) Satan, he disguises himself as the angel of light. His servants are the false apostles of righteousness. They don't deserve this. They don't deserve paradise."

- Gabriel to Deanna about Rick's group

Rick is initially skeptical of Gabriel. Though Rick is grateful for his help and refuge, he is nonetheless extremely distrustful of him. Rick suspects he is holding a secret and always watches him carefully and threatens to kill him if his secret hurts his family in any way and becomes violent towards him when he accuses Gabriel of being responsible for Bob's, Daryl's and Carol's disappearances. Despite this, Rick protects him on several occasions. However, despite being saved by Rick's group multiple times, he betrays Rick by telling Deanna Monroe that they cannot be trusted, showing the dislike Gabriel expresses towards Rick and his group.

Carl Grimes
"Thanks for this."

- Carl to Gabriel about opening the church doors to the group

Carl is grateful for Father Gabriel's help and refuge. Unlike his father, Carl trusts Gabriel and even tries to convince Rick that Gabriel is a good person.

Michonne
Michonne is shown to be wary of Gabriel but finds his lack of experience with the new world, almost amusing.

In Four Walls and a Roof, Gabriel talks to Michonne about his past and admits he feels guilty every moment of every day. Michonne tells him that the guilt doesn't go away but eases after time.

Sasha
"Why wouldn't you want to die? You don't deserve to be here. What you did can never be undone. The dead don't choose, but the choices you made, how you sacrifice your own-- (...) Bob was mutilated. Consumed. Destroyed because of your sins. (...) Your brother felt he was apart from it. He was a part of it. He didn't deserve to be here. You don't!."

- Gabriel to Sasha

Sasha was as distrusting of Gabriel as the rest, but when Bob disappeared she became extremely hostile and suspicious of him. Ultimately she appears to forgive him for what he did and is grateful for his hospitality.

In Conquer, their relationship becomes stained when Gabriel accuses her of killing even when she had no reason to or it wasn't in self-defense, and aggressively throws guilt on her shoulders. Not wanting to believe this, she shouts repetitively, "STOP! STOP!", before the two have a brief fight. Sasha ultimately wins this fight and points her weapon at Gabriel, who is lying on the floor with Sasha keeping him down with her foot. Maggie walks in and defuses this situation, and the three of them are later seen in a circle in the chapel, praying.

Bob Stookey
Although it did not interact much can be inferred that they had a good relationship. Also because during a run of power Bob showed concern towards Gabriel when he was in trouble and even Bob Gabriel when he was bitten. He also said to Sasha that there was a couch in the office in which he could rest Bob. Later, Gabriel is present with the rest of the group in the sacristy of the church to say goodbye to Bob for the last time.

Maggie Greene
"Please stop. (...) You never even met them (...) You don't know shit. You had a job. You were there to save your flock, right? But you didn't. You hid. Don't act like that didn't happen."

- Maggie rejecting Gabriel's consolation and reminding him of his cowardliness Maggie and Gabriel have a fairly poor relationship. Like the others she appeared suspicious of Gabriel upon meeting him. After Gareth and his group are brutally massacred in his church, Gabriel tells them they committed brutality in a house of God but she simply tells him that it's just four walls and a roof. Later after Beth's death Gabriel tries to council Maggie but she coldly rejects it, reveals she is no longer religious and reminds him that he abandoned his congregation, but appeared surprised when Gabriel chose to burn his priest collar. However when Maggie overhears Gabriel talking to Deanna, telling her that Rick is "Satan" and that his group are not good people, Maggie appears engulfed with anger towards Gabriel (given that he himself has caused atrocities as well). However despite her anger towards Gabriel's betrayal, in "Conquer", Maggie saves him from being killed by Sasha and appears to forgive him for his actions and is seen holding hands with both Gabriel and Sasha apparently praying, possibly signifying that Maggie has retained some religious faith.

Appearances
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Season 5

 * "Strangers"
 * "Four Walls and a Roof"
 * "Crossed"
 * "Coda"
 * "What Happened and What's Going On"
 * "Them"
 * "The Distance" (No Lines)
 * "Remember" (No Lines)
 * "Spend"
 * "Conquer"

Season 6
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 * "First Time Again"

Trivia

 * The character was announced on May 5, 2014 under the name "Michael Todd", described as a "school guidance counselor who had an issue with a couple of his students", until the casting was revealed at SDCC on July 25, 2014.
 * Gabriel Stokes is described as "having two sides, displaying a friendly, puckish humor but also having a haunted side stemming from a dark secret".
 * This dark secret was revealed to be him not letting his fellow survivors in the church out of fear in the early days of the outbreak.