Merle Dixon (TV Series)

"Now, how's about a big hug for your ol' pal, Merle? Huh?"

- Merle.

Merle Dixon is a survivor first encountered in "Guts", the second episode of The Walking Dead (TV Series). He is one of the members of the original Atlanta band, along with his younger brother Daryl. An unruly and quick-tempered Southern redneck, Merle proves to be Daryl's greatest influence. The Dixon brothers are unique to the show in that they do not exist within the continuity of the comic series.

North Georgia
Merle and Daryl lived somewhere in the mountains of North Georgia with their neglectful alcoholic father. Because of the neglect and lack of guidance he was given, Merle chose to act out against society, which led him to frequently be incarcerated in juvenile institutions. He raised Daryl to share the same beliefs and also become tough in the cruel adult world that both of them faced. Despite talking big about taking care of Daryl, Merle, like their father, was often absent from Daryl's life and didn't give him the emotional support that a big brother should.

In his adult years, Merle was briefly enrolled in the military, as shown by his physical strength and skill with firearms. He once punched a non-commissioned officer (sergeant), which got him dishonorably discharged. He was then sent to prison for sixteen months and most likely court-martialed.

"Guts"
Merle is one of the Atlanta survivors who left the refugee camp to gather supplies in Atlanta with Glenn, Andrea, Jacqui, T-Dog and Morales.

When the department store is besieged by walkers, Dixon fires his rifle at several of them. T-Dog demands that he stops firing as it will draw more walkers. After Merle insults him by calling him a "nigger," T-Dog throws a punch which Merle parries with the rifle and the two begin to brawl. Though Rick, Morales and Glenn attempt to intervene, Merle single-handedly knocks them down and viciously beats T-Dog, establishing his dominance by spitting on the man. After declaring himself leader, he is blind-sided by Rick, who punches him out and handcuffs him to a pipe before Dixon can cause further harm. Rick then confiscates Merle's cocaine and tosses it off the side of the building, infuriating him. He is then put under the watch of T-Dog while the other survivors attempt to find a way out of the city. When the survivors do find a way out, T-Dog attempts to save Dixon but accidentally drops the handcuff keys into a vent, forcing him to abandon Dixon on the rooftop, as he flees after locking the rooftop door shut with chains. He is left behind as the survivors escape Atlanta.

"Tell It to the Frogs"
Left alone, he begins the stages of accepting his fate (praying, bargaining, etc.), until he begins to fight again, this time with the pipe he is cuffed to. As he hallucinates (whether due to his known drug habits or heat stroke, or a combination) that zombies have invaded the building and are reaching the chained door to the rooftop, Merle struggles harder until he notices the spilled tools that the others had left behind. He uses his belt to attempt reaching a hacksaw and succeeds in cutting off his hand to escape.

"Vatos"
Rick, Glenn, Daryl and T-dog follow a trail of blood, and discover that Merle used the hacksaw to sever off his hand, and then proceeded to cauterize it with a Bunsen burner. He then killed two walkers with a wrench before leaving the building. Daryl takes Merle's severed hand with them, and later uses it to scare Miguel into revealing the location of the Vatos hideout. It is unknown if he takes the hand back to camp with him. It is believed that Merle stole the van Rick, Glenn, T-Dog and Daryl used to return to Atlanta, and fled the city in it, although the fact he never returned to camp suggests otherwise.

Season 2
Merle's whereabouts are completely unknown throughout Season 2. Almost no one in the group is concerned about where he is, if he is alive or dead, or even finding him, aside from Daryl.

"Chupacabra"
Merle reappears in an injured Daryl's dream, in which he taunts Daryl for giving up, telling him to be tougher. He also tells Daryl to stand up to Rick, even suggesting that Daryl shoot him, and mentioning that Rick handcuffed him and left him to die on the roof of the department store. As a result of this vision, Daryl is able to pull himself up from the gorge he'd fallen into. Daryl also promises Merle in the hallucination that someday he will find him.

Season 3
"Walk With Me"

Merle appears taking Michonne and Andrea captive after he finds them in the forest. Andrea faints when she sees him. He works for the Governor and appears to be one if his right hand men. In Woodbury he settles Michonne and Andrea in, and he asks Andrea about Daryl's fate. Merle reveals that he was close to death after amputating his hand in "Tell It To The Frogs", until he was found by the Govenor's group. Merle is shown to still be able to shoot a machine gun, despite missing one hand. Merle is later seen killing the soldiers Lieutenant Welles told them about in cold blood and with no remorse

"Killer Within"
Merle will appear in this episode.

Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Merle has killed:
 * U.S Military Soldiers
 * Numerous counts of zombies

Trivia

 * Surprisingly, Michael Rooker has been upgraded from guest star status to a main cast member suggesting that Merle may be back longer than expected.
 * Merle is one of many new characters introduced in the TV series that does not appear in the comic series.
 * Merle is one of the many amputees in The Walking Dead. For other victims, see Amputated Victims.
 * Merle managed to cut off his own hand with a hack saw.
 * Merle has a number of ethnic slurs that he uses against people of different minorities to show his racism.
 * Merle has been the only (former) military member shown alive in the series so far.
 * According to his brother, he got the Clap on occasion and had to take some serious antibiotics and drugs.
 * In Daryl's hallucination, Merle had both of his hands.
 * In one episode, Shane referred to Merle saying Rick "went on a suicide mission to save a drug dealer." It is likely that Merle belonged to some white supremacist organization, perhaps Aryan Brotherhood.
 * Creator Robert Kirkman also hinted, in a joking matter, that Merle might be the person piloting the helicopter at the beginning of "Beside the Dying Fire".
 * It is worthy of noting that this theory could be supported by the fact Merle is possibly the only other survivor aside from Rick who saw the helicopter in "Days Gone Bye", as he was on the rooftop. However, confirming this was impossible as the proceeding fight between T-Dog created a tension he would never come back from.
 * Despite being a hallucination, that moment in Chupacabra is the first and so far only time Daryl and Merle are seen together.
 * Merle will be featured in the new Walking Dead video game currently under development by Terminal Reality.
 * In the TV series, Merle is the first character to have a substitute appendage on an amputated limb (Dale has a peg leg in the comics to replace his amputated leg).
 * In Episode 3 of Season 3, as Merle proceeds to replace the prosthetic on his arm after showing Andrea his amputation, instead of seeing the stump his entire right hand is visible towards the bottom of the screen for less than a second.