Douglas Monroe (Comic Series)

"I want to tell you a story. Before the world spiraled into chaos, before the dead started walking, I read a news article on the internet. It's the kind of thing I usually try to avoid. Being a father, I hate stories of kids getting hurt, it really tears me up. But you know how it is -- You can't not listen when the news starts -- And after you have kids, those stories spring out of the white noise -- You can't help but hear them. The parents who shake their kids. The children left in the car on hot summer days. Babies left in trash cans -- It's horrible. But this one, the one I saw on the internet... It still haunts me, even today. A man in Florida, Fort Lauderdale, if I recall correctly, was on a drug of some kind. I don't remember which -- some type of hallucinogen, I assume. While under the influence of these drugs... He -- He ate his four year old son's eyeballs. Just ate them right out of his head. Aside from the story in general being just... Horrific, the thing that really stuck with me, that sends shivers down my spine to this very day... Was a quote from the son. "Daddy ate my eyes." No anger, no fear... Just "Daddy ate my eyes." He says it as if it's something normal, that happens to everyone. Four years old. The poor boy doesn't know any different. Talking about it now, it still makes me uncomfortable. The day I read the story... I was wrecked. I accomplished very little that day. I just couldn't stop thinking about that story, about that poor little boy."

- Douglas to Rick.

Douglas Monroe is a character first encountered in Issue 70 of Image Comics' The Walking Dead. He is a former Democratic Ohio U.S. Congressman who now leads the Alexandria Safe-Zone when he takes control after Alexander Davidson. Douglas lives in the Safe-Zone with his wife, Regina, and their son, Spencer. After the death of his wife, Douglas struggles to come to terms with his loss, filled with regret for treating her poorly. This leads him to turn his leadership over to Rick Grimes.

Characteristics and Roles
Being the leader of the Alexandria Safe-Zone, Douglas was respected by many of the residents there and was called a good leader on many different occasions. However, Douglas was very fond of attractive women and placed them in the highest positions in the community. Women who caught his interest, like Andrea, were often targeted by him. Meaning that he followed them around and tried to flirt with them, trying to get them to become his girlfriend, even though he was married to Regina. He considered his marriage to her "political" and they were only still together for his benefit. However, after Regina's death at the hands of Pete Anderson, he regrets these advances deeply, blaming himself for her death and going into a deep state of depression. This depression would later prove to be his fatal undoing.

Despite his advances towards women, Douglas deeply cared for the Alexandria Safe-Zone community and he would do anything to protect it. When Rick accused him of not being a good leader, Douglas told him of the time he murdered his best friend, Alexander Davidson, to protect the community, saying that his actions caused people's deaths and he simply could not allow it to go on. He also threatens to murder Rick when he attacks and assaults Peter Anderson, saying he does not want another Davidson situation. His disgust of Davidson is so great, that the very mention of his name makes him very angry and aggressive, as evidenced when he attacked Heath, after he said Davidson's name. This is also one of the few times Douglas is shown to be angry, as he has a very calm nature and is able to keep his cool in the most extreme situations.

Douglas is also shown to be a very capable leader, putting personal differences aside in the benefit of the community. This is shown when Rick asks him if he knew of Pete's abusive nature, to which he replies he has and the only reason he has not acted against it is because Pete is a doctor and an extremely valuable asset to the community. Though this judgement proved to be a mistake and caused Regina's death and as such, Douglas saw himself not fit to lead anymore, handing the position to Rick.

Ohio
Douglas was a Democratic U.S. Congressman from the state of Ohio before the outbreak occurred. This position gained him and his family a spot in the Alexandria Safe-Zone when the outbreak started. He was invited by his best friend Alexander Davidson, who worked as security liaison in the white house.

Life Among Them
Douglas was a seemingly friendly person who cared for people. Douglas was married to Regina, who could be seen as quite his opposite at times. They had one child, Spencer. He held a great deal of trust in Aaron and the other people of his community, as all he wanted to do was keep the peace in the community.

While he appeared friendly, in truth, he's also suspicious of Rick Grimes and his group just as much as they are of him and the Zone residents. Despite this, he does seem to put some trust in Rick, as he confides in him that he honestly can't remember what day it is anymore and asks advice on giving jobs to Andrea. He also hoped to expand more streets and buildings into the Safe-Zone eventually.

Before establishing the Zone, Monroe lived in the open for three months after the apocalypse, killing two living men.

There were two notable times when he's shown angry, one during his conversation with Rick about a father who hurt his child during his drug hallucinations and expressed his desire to hurt people like that. Another was when Heath mentioned Davidson, causing Monroe to become very angry and to lash out at Heath for even mentioning his name. Monroe is attempting to give Rick and his friends a fair chance in the community, giving each one a job. Given the knowledge that Rick was a sheriff, he's given him the job of constable. He chose Glenn as a runner, Maggie as a school teacher, Morgan as a chef, Abraham as security in construction, Eugene as a community planner, Gabriel Stokes a pastor when the church is made part of the zone, and Rosita to be trained with medical personal. He admits he has difficulty finding jobs for Andrea and Michonne, because of their strength in fighting and defense. After consulting with Rick, he decides to make Michonne a constable and Andrea as a look-out, after Rick says it may be necessary to have one.

Too Far Gone
Before his death, he seemed to have his sights set on Andrea. In Issue 71 and Issue 72, he had made unrequited advances to Andrea, despite her constant assurances that she has no interest, especially since he's married. He claims that his marriage to Regina is purely political and that they stay together only for their children, and that there was no love between them. When Andrea told this to Rick, both laughed and neither one believed his excuse. Bruce's conversation with Abraham in Issue 73 suggests that this lecherous streak is not an isolated incident, ironically mirroring Davidson's own habits that led to his eventual exile from the community. Further, it is implied that at least some of the placements Douglas makes are not based on individual skill, but, how expendable a person is.

No Way Out
When zombies started to crowd into Safe-Zone, Douglas was hiding out in his house, planning to attempt suicide. When the roamers had almost completely overran the Safe-Zone, Douglas emerged from his house and began to shoot at the roamers. After killing numerous roamers, he was finally devoured by a group of roamers. However, while being swarmed and devoured, he fired off a series of random shots. One managed to hit Carl in the eye and nearly killed him, yet it only managed to scar him for life.

Killed By
In Issue 83, soon after Jessie and Ron's death, Douglas is bitten and devoured by a group of zombies. As Douglas is being eaten, he accidentally shoots Carl in the eye. In Issue 85, his body is burned by Abraham.
 * The Scavengers   (Indirectly Caused)
 * Zombies

Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Douglas has killed:
 * Numerous counts of zombies, and at least two men.
 * Peter Anderson (Caused)

Rick Grimes
Rick and Douglas had a civil, yet sometimes rocky relationship. Upon the groups arrival at the Safe-Zone, Douglas befriended Rick and sensed that his keen instincts and survival skills would be tremendous assets, despite objections from his wife. Conflict first arose between the two over a disagreement on how to handle Pete's abusive behavior towards his family. Despite Rick's violation of the Safe-Zone's rule against weapons, Douglas chose to let him off under the condition that he never publicly opposed him again. Following Regina's death and the DC Scavengers attack, Douglas fell into a depression, leaving Rick no choice but to take over as leader.

Andrea
"I'm just not interested. I'm sorry."

- Andrea to Douglas about starting a relationship.

After reaching Alexandria, Douglas talks with Andrea about her talent with rifles. He then questions her if she is "single," which visibly irritates her. Later on, Douglas meets with Rick and Andrea and asks Rick if he could speak with Andrea privately. He agrees and they walk off. Douglas questions Andrea if there is anything she needed, implying more of intimate needs. Andrea senses his advances and politely declines his offer, reminding him that he is married. Douglas tells her that his relationship with his wife is purely political, but she still refuses and walks away.

Regina Monroe
"Regina was such a good woman, good to me... and I treated her like shit, Aaron. A community of fifty people and I'm trying to fuck anything that isn't tied down... What kind of person am I?"

- Douglas to Aaron about how he treated Regina.

Although Douglas and his wife Regina loved each other, at some point Regina became aware of how Douglas used his position as leader to proposition young women in the Safe-Zone, they stayed married to maintain appearances. They also seemed to disagree on whether or not to trust Rick's group. Douglas went into a deep depression after her death, not only regretting his infidelity, but also beginning to question whether the community had been or ever would be safe, resulting in his suicide, during the roamer herd's attack.

Spencer Monroe
Douglas was Spencer's father so they would have had a basic father-to-son relationship. Apart from when Douglas died, Spencer didn't seem to care too much for his father.

Aaron
Aaron was very loyal to Douglas and was appointed by him to be the community scout along with Eric. After the unfortunate incident when Eric was stabbed by a potential newcomer, Aaron confronted Douglas about retiring from his position to become more intricate within the community. Initially appalled at this change of heart, Douglas came to embrace Aaron's decision and felt bad for the pain he had indirectly caused by giving them the job in the first place.

Peter Anderson
Douglas was always wary of Peter and had discovered that Peter was abusing his wife and son. Although he had this information, Douglas chose to take no action against him, because Peter was a doctor. After Peter had been kept in a temporary house to keep Jessie and Ron safe, Peter eventually, filled with rage, went to confront Rick which resulted in Regina trying to intervene and being murdered by Peter. Douglas quickly began to despise Peter after the murder of Regina and gave Rick permission to kill him.

Tobin
Tobin and Douglas had a pretty basic relationship, they knew each other as they were part of the same community. Tobin detested his job that was assigned to him by Douglas, but he worked for him nonetheless.

Gabriel Stokes
"Don't make me have to ask you to go."

- Douglas Monroe to Gabriel Stokes.

At first Gabriel and Douglas seemed to have a good, friendly relationship as Gabriel took the role as the priest of the church. But Gabriel felt disgusted by Rick and the others actions, brutally killing Chris and the other hunters and told Douglas that he felt as though Rick and the others don't fit in with the rest of the community and he suggests should be kicked out of the safe-zone. Douglas is shown to be shocked and slightly angered by what Gabriel says and tells him that the people in the community have done the same to build and protect the place, himself included and asks Gabriel not to make him ask Gabriel to leave his home. This seemed to strain the relationship between the two although this couldn't be explored further as they weren't seen interacting again.

Alexander Davidson
"Don't even mention his name."

- Douglas Monroe to Tobin regarding Davidson.

Davidson was the leader of Alexandria before Douglas. According to Douglas, Davidson ran Alexandria badly and Douglas overtook him. Douglas banished Davidson from Alexandria, and didn't like discussing Davidson. Douglas is shown to have initially liked Davidson until Davidson became corrupt. Douglas mentioned once that Davidson was a good man.

Appearances
{{scroll
 * content =

Volume 12: Life Among Them

 * Issue 70
 * Issue 71
 * Issue 72

Volume 13: Too Far Gone

 * Issue 73
 * Issue 74
 * Issue 75
 * Issue 76
 * Issue 77
 * Issue 78

Volume 14: No Way Out

 * Issue 79
 * Issue 80
 * Issue 82
 * Issue 83
 * }}

Trivia

 * Douglas is one of the few celebrities encountered in the Comic Series
 * Douglas is currently the only politician ever encountered in the Comic Series.
 * The story Douglas tells Rick was referring to an article from Bakersfield, California.