The Whisperers (TV Series)

"You... are where you do not belong..."

- A member of the Whisperers explaining their group's philosophy before killing Paul Rovia.

The Whisperers are a mysterious group of hostile survivors who disguise themselves with the skin of the undead in order to blend in with them and not get noticed. They are first introduced in the episode "Who Are You Now?" of AMC's The Walking Dead. They serve as the secondary antagonists of the first half of Season 9 and the primary antagonists of the second half of Season 9.

Pre-Apocalypse
Nothing is known about the lives of the Whisperers prior to or as the outbreak began. It is likely some members, like "Alpha" and her daughter, knew each other.

Post-Apocalypse
At some point after the outbreak, these survivors discovered an ingenious way to be protected from walker attacks by killing the walkers and using their skins to mask their scents in order to move freely among their herds. They also use this disguise in order to attack other survivor camps and settlements. The group communicates whilst moving among herds by whispering with gruff voices, hence their name, similar to what a walker may sound like if it could talk. At some point, a woman known only as "Alpha" became their leader, with a man known only as "Beta" serving as her right hand and the group's second in command.

"Who Are You Now?"
Whilst escaping from a herd of walkers in the woods, Eugene and Rosita eventually slide down a small hill and cover themselves with mud to mask their scents from the approaching herd. After covering themselves, the two are horrified to hear what sounds like speaking walkers. One is heard asking "Where are they?", while another replies "They must be close. Don't let them get away." Unbeknownst to them, the "walkers" that are speaking are not walkers at all, but Whisperers who have been leading the herd in pursuit of the pair.

"Stradivarius"
While following an exhausted and injured Rosita through the woods, the Whisperers are heard whispering to each other until she escapes far enough from them and passes out.

"Evolution"
While out looking for Eugene, Daryl, Jesus and Aaron observe a large herd in a field and notice that the walkers are just milling around, something they have never witnessed before. With a storm approaching, the three then leave however a Whisperer within the herd becomes aware to their presence. The three keep on moving however the herd begins to follow them and to buy them time, Daryl activates an alarm clock and throws it into the field in order to draw the herd away. The three notice that the herd has doubled in numbers since they last saw it (as the Whisperers are combining herds to pursue the trio) and the three run away when the alarm goes off, seemingly drawing the herd to it.

Later that night, Daryl, Jesus, and Aaron locate Eugene hiding in a barn cellar. A terrified Eugene warns them a herd of walkers is hunting for him and they need to leave immediately. Eugene then reveals to the trio that he and Rosita heard the dead whispering to each other but the others don't believe him. After separating from Aaron, Eugene and Jesus, Daryl sets off fireworks to redirect the herd away, but a group of walkers ignore the noise completely and the rest follow their lead, leaving him shocked.

Meanwhile, Aaron, Paul and Eugene end up at a foggy cemetery. They quickly get trapped by a locked gate, forcing Jesus and Aaron to fight off the walkers, while they hear whispers around. Suddenly, Michonne, Magna and Yumiko arrive to help them unlock the gate. Jesus tells Aaron and Eugene to get out while he finishes the walkers. Jesus starts taking out several walkers with his sword. He goes to kill the last one but as he attacks it, the "walker" (actually the same Whisperer who noticed the trio earlier in the field) dodges him and stabs him from behind through his chest, shocking everyone. "You are where you do not belong", the Whisperer says to a dying Jesus before throwing him onto the ground.

Four more Whisperers armed with knives then emerge from the fog and run toward the group, while Daryl kills the Whisperer who stabbed Jesus. Michonne, Aaron, Yumiko and Magna enter the cemetery and kill off the remaining attackers. Michonne and Daryl examine one of the assailant's bodies, discovering that it is not a walker at all, but a human survivor wearing a walker mask. Before they can process the situation, whispers around them get louder and the group circles up to fight the approaching Whisperers off.

Members

 * Alpha - (Leader)
 * Beta - (Second-in-Command)
 * Lydia
 * Whisperer 1
 * Many unnamed members

Killed Victims

 * Paul Rovia
 * Numerous counts of zombies and unnamed people

Deaths

 * Whisperer 1
 * 4 unnamed Whisperers

Season 9

 * "Who Are You Now?"
 * "Stradivarius"
 * "Evolution"

Trivia

 * The Whisperers are the first group of antagonists to kill a main character during their first on screen reveal.
 * A first glimpse of the Whisperers can be seen at the end of the Season 9 San Diego Comic-Con Trailer being part of a herd, one of them is heard "whispering".
 * "Whispering" is their way of communicating while walking among the dead, it's a slow, drawn out, groaning speech pattern. They sound like walkers would, if walkers could talk.
 * When asked about the look of the Whisperers in the TV Series, Greg Nicotero said the following: "We looked at the comic book and in that they look like their faces are melting. They have added weight to them but we didn't really want to do that but there's no digital augmentation to the Whisperers." He added: "They're really cool and I stand on set and take photos all the time but you can't take a bad picture of them. We built the brow just far enough down the mask that it makes a shadow over the eyes and when they stand there they look creepy."
 * The Season 3 episode "Clear" contains a scene that foreshadows the Whisperers:
 * Morgan Jones, in a deluded rant, screams to Rick Grimes about "People wearing dead people's faces!".
 * It has been confirmed by the Chief Content Officer of the franchise, Scott Gimple, that this line was totally accidental and a coincidence. "That definitely predated my knowledge of the Whisperers, because they were not at all in the book yet.", Gimple said. "Maybe that could wind up being a reference."