Theodore Douglas (TV Series)

"This is God's plan. He'll take care of me. Always has. He's gonna help me lead you out of these tombs."

- T-Dog to Carol Peletier before he leads her out of the prison's tunnels risking his own life in the process.

Theodore Douglas, better known as T-Dog or simply T, is a survivor of the outbreak in AMC's The Walking Dead. During the initial outbreak, he traveled to Atlanta and eventually joined a camp of survivors. Theodore is a kind man willing to fight for his allies.

Overview
T-Dog was a quiet man. He rarely spoke, but would speak up when matters arise. T-Dog would sometimes feel insecure and would feel guilty when something bad happens to his group. He was also a little clumsy but would protect his group from threats or dangers whenever possible. He got along with most people, except Merle Dixon. He was very religious. This showed when he told Carol Peletier that his inevitable death is part of God's plan, who always watches him, and also when Glenn Rhee said he was saving old people and bringing them to the church.

Atlanta, Georgia
Little is known about T-Dog's life prior to the outbreak. He lived in Georgia; it's unknown whether he was living specifically in Atlanta or if he was living elsewhere. According to Glenn, T-Dog was very religious and used a van from his church to help evacuate elderly residents to refugee centers before finding and rescuing Glenn.

"Guts"
In Atlanta, Glenn radios his group, prompting T-Dog and Morales, wearing riot gear and brandishing baseball bats, to emerge from the building and beat down the walkers. Rick and Glenn rush into the building, followed by them.

Inside the department store, Andrea points a gun in Rick's face as he and Glenn enter. "We're dead because of you," Andrea tells him, furious at his recklessness. Morales informs Rick that his gunshots have attracted numerous hordes of walkers. "You just rang the dinner bell," Andrea seethes, as the group's attention turns to a crowd of walkers outside that are slamming themselves against the outer set of glass-pane doors, furiously trying to gain entry.

T-Dog and the group questions Rick about what he was doing roaming around the streets of Atlanta aimlessly. He tries to explain he was trying to flag down a helicopter. Jacqui suggests that it was just a hallucination. "I saw it," Rick insists forcefully. T-Dog tries to make radio contact with the camp, but fails to get a signal, wondering if they might have better luck on higher ground. Suddenly, muffled gunshots are heard. "Oh god, is that Dixon?" Andrea says in disbelief, as they all leave to investigate.

On the roof, T-Dog and the group find Merle firing at walkers with a rifle. He chastises him for wasting bullets and attracting more walkers. Merle scoffs at him by saying he'd never take orders from a "n*gger," which sets off a fight between the two. Merle beats T-Dog and presses a handgun to his forehead. Rick intervenes, hitting Merle with the butt of the rifle and handcuffing him to a pipe.

T-Dog is then left to watch over Merle while he is still unsuccessfully trying to radio the others. Merle tries to convince him to get the hacksaw in the bag of tools to set him free. He scoffs at Merle's offer. "I guess you want me to get that rifle over there, too, so you can shoot that cop when he comes back up." After the group comes up with a plan to escape the city, T-Dog is left in charge of Merle's handcuff keys.

Later, the group grabs their bags to leave the store in a rush, ignoring Merle's pleas to set him free. T-Dog reluctanty turns back and runs with the key in hand to set him free. However, he accidentally slips on the rain-soaked roof and drops the handcuff key down a drain while also dropping the tool bag, making the hacksaw and other tools spill out. "I'm sorry," T-Dog gasps, while Merle accuses him of dropping the key on purpose. He runs back to the stairwell and starts going down, but goes back up and chains the door shut so that the walkers can't get to him.

T-Dog manages to get inside the van as the walkers break into the store. Rick drives away from the city as the group catches their breath. They look around at one another and a guilt-ridden T-Dog admits to the others he dropped the key, leaving Merle trapped on the roof, still handcuffed to a pipe.

"Tell It to the Frogs"
T-Dog tells Merle's brother Daryl that he locked the door leading to the roof to give Merle a chance of survival when he finds that his brother was left behind. He, along with Daryl, Rick, and Glenn, head back to Atlanta to retrieve the guns and Merle. Upon reaching the top of the department store, they find Merle missing, all apart from a dismembered hand lying on the ground.

"Vatos"
After finding nothing but Merle's severed hand, Daryl is angry and aims his crossbow right at T-Dog's head, Rick stops Daryl and the group follow a trail of blood that leads to a kitchen oven with the flames on, leading them to believe that Merle cauterized his stump and left the building. They decide to look for him, but T-Dog insists they find the guns first. T-Dog and Rick wait in one alley, in case Glenn can't backtrack to the alley he originated from. Upon hearing screams from Miguel, T-Dog and Rick rush over to the other alley to find Glenn being kidnapped. Later, T-Dog is perched on a rooftop armed with a rifle as Rick confronts Guillermo, negotiating for Glenn's release. During the second encounter, T-Dog follows Rick inside the compound, where he and his group learn that it is actually an senior citizen's home that was abandoned, and Guillermo's men are just trying to protect it and the old folk taking residence there. Rick leaves almost half the guns and ammunition with Guillermo. T-Dog and his friends depart from the city and arrive back at the base camp just in time to clear out the remaining zombies that have attacked the survivors.

"Wildfire"
After the attack on the campsite, T-Dog helps everyone else hack up the corpses of their former fellow survivors to stop them from reanimating. They all head back onto the road shortly afterward, planning to head to the CDC.

"TS-19"
T-Dog and the rest of the group are admitted into the CDC by Dr. Edwin Jenner after going through a blood test to ensure none of them are infected. He is introduced to the luxuries the facility has to offer, including hot water and real beds. He enjoys dinner and wine with everyone. He cooks powdered eggs for breakfast, especially for Glenn who is suffering from a hangover. He later learns about TS-19 and Dr. Jenner's work, and the fall of the CDC's infrastructure. He joins Rick, Shane Walsh, and Glenn as they check the generators in the basement. He is present when Dr. Jenner reveals the purpose of the countdown timer and shuts the control room's door. As the survivors finally get Edwin to open the door for their escape, he attempts to flee with Jacqui, but she opts to remain behind. T-Dog flees with the rest of the group to the CDC main lobby. He tries to operate the door controls, but they are not functioning. He and the group escape through a window when Rick blasts it open with a grenade. He makes his way past the walkers and to the vehicles when the CDC detonates. T-Dog is last seen driving off in his jeep with the remaining survivors.

"What Lies Ahead"
T-Dog is still in the convoy with the other survivors as they travel. When they reach the road block, T-Dog joins most of the group, specifically Daryl, as they scavenge for supplies. When the herd passes by, T-Dog fails to hear Rick telling the survivors to get under cars, and attempts to hide from the herd. In an attempt to get out of sight, he gashes his arm on a large, rusty, broken piece of metal. He begins to lose a lot of blood, and is unable to defend himself as a zombie nears him, but is saved by Daryl who then throws a dead body on top of him to cover his scent from the undead. After this happens, he is bandaged up.

"Bloodletting"
T-Dog and Dale Horvath are told to stay behind while the rest of the group go off to find Sophia. During their time hanging around the RV, he begins to show signs of hallucination, believing that the other survivors are leaving him and Dale behind because Dale is old and he is black. After speaking to Dale about this, it is revealed that T-Dog has a major case of blood poisoning. Dale scavenges for antibiotics, but finds nothing until Daryl returns and shows him Merle's old stash of drugs.

"Save the Last One"
T-Dog arrives with Glenn at Hershel Greene's farm, where Patricia patches up and fixes his arm.

"Cherokee Rose"
Surprisingly, T-Dog is not seen at Otis' funeral but he may have been resting, recovering from his injuries. Later, T-Dog helps Dale with pumping water from the wells. He talks to Dale telling him to forget everything he said while he was severely injured and hallucinating. He was about to drink infected water from a well with a walker in it when Dale stops him. The group examines the well and formulates a plan to get the walker out and T-Dog helps by grabbing and gripping the rope to lower Glenn in to tie it around the walker and pull the walker out. While the group pulls the walker up, T-Dog informs the group of its progress until near the top when the zombie splits in half resulting in a fruitless result to prevent the water from being contaminated. T-Dog then finishes the walker by beating its face in with the handle of the water pump. He then sarcastically remarks "Good thing we didn't do something stupid like shoot it."

"Chupacabra"
T-Dog joins the group in a continuing effort to find Sophia. He mentions to Daryl that if he heads up the hill to get a good view of the area to find Sophia, he will perhaps find a Chupacabra, Dale then recites the story of Daryl's Chupacabra. Later, when a beat up, walker-looking, Daryl arrives back at Hershel's Farm after his failed search for Sophia, and Andrea cries out thinking he was a walker, T-Dog grabs a baseball bat ready to take him down until he realizes it was Daryl. After Andrea shoots him accidentally, T-Dog grabs the doll that Sophia carries and informs the group. At the end of the episode, T-Dog sits along with everyone else and eats a quiet dinner.

"Secrets"
T-Dog was given a peach by Glenn early on in the morning, where he asked "Sup". T-Dog is seen helping Jimmy to shoot. When Jimmy turns his gun sideways and shoots, T-Dog says, "Don't give me any of that gangster shit."

"Pretty Much Dead Already"
T-Dog notices that Rick, Hershel, and Jimmy are leading walkers on leashes towards the farm. He is among the survivors that participates in the barn shooting, following Shane's lead and standing with Andrea, Daryl, and Glenn.

"Nebraska"
After the funeral, Andrea and T-Dog pile corpses into Otis's truck, saying that Shane did what needed to be done. Dale protests, suggesting that a new problem with Hershel was created in the wake of resolving the safety concern of the barn walkers. He is seen at the end burning the barn walker bodies with Shane and Andrea.

"Triggerfinger"
T-Dog is seen with the other survivors when Shane reveals that Lori is pregnant and when deciding what to do about Randall.

"Judge, Jury, Executioner"
T-Dog is seen attending the group debate over Randall's fate where he is openly accepting of killing the young man. He quickly brings up the issue of what to do with his body before the conversation is reeled back in by Dale. He is also seen in the camp with Rick and Lori, with Rick and T-Dog running towards a walker sound near the camp. T-Dog rushes over to see what the ruckus is with most of the other camp members when screaming is heard in the middle of the night, and witnesses Daryl's mercy killing of a mortally wounded Dale, who had been ripped open by a walker.

"Better Angels"
The group holds a funeral for Dale and Rick announce that they are going to prove him wrong by showing that the group can still work together. A scene running alongside the funeral shows Shane, Daryl, Andrea, and T-Dog eliminating a group of walkers. T-Dog is helping the group move into Hershel's home, after seeing Lori lift a box. T-Dog takes the box explaining that Lori should be resting. When Rick and Daryl prepare to leave, T-Dog is sent to get Randall but T-Dog discovers the barn empty and Randall is missing.

"Beside the Dying Fire"
The chaos of the army of walkers heading towards the farm puts the entire group on the move. T-Dog takes a truck with Andrea and begins to fight off walkers that are en route to the farm. When going to rescue Lori, Beth Greene, and Patricia, Andrea jumps out of the truck where Patricia is killed and Andrea is overwhelmed forcing T-Dog to flee with Lori and Beth. After escaping, T-Dog mentions that they should abandon the area and head towards the coast but eventually agrees to head back to the highway where they first broke down. After regrouping, T-Dog continues to mention going towards the coast would be best, and reserves himself as the group's watchman during the night.

"Seed"
The group stumbles upon an abandoned house and Rick, Carl, Daryl, and T-Dog kill the walkers inside of it. The group is forced to flee, however, when another herd of walkers begins to approach their location. After Daryl and Rick stumble upon the prison while hunting, T-Dog helps out by distracting and killing the walkers while Rick runs inside the prison yard to close the main gate. The next day, T-Dog assists Rick, Daryl, Maggie, and Glenn in killing the remainder of the walkers on the interior of the prison. The next day after sleeping in the inside of the prison, Rick, Daryl, T-Dog, Glenn, Maggie, and Hershel suit up and explore more of the interior of the prison in search of its infirmary and cafeteria. The group is ambushed by walkers, causing both Maggie and Glenn to split up from the rest. Hershel insists that himself, Rick, Daryl, and T-Dog go back to look for them. Hershel manages to find them, but is bitten in the right calf by a Lurker lying against the wall. T-Dog assists them in taking Hershel to the cafeteria, and is present when Rick amputates the lower portion of Hershel's right leg to keep the infection from spreading.

"Sick"
T-Dog is seen raising his gun on Tomas' group when they find out Hershel was bitten. He leaves them be and instead helps get Hershel back to Cell Block C. Rick goes in the cells to help Hershel, while Daryl and T-Dog stand guard. Tomas and his group come, wanting into the cell block. This causes a stand off until Rick comes. While Tomas wants the whole prison, Axel suggest they clear out another, Rick agrees. Rick, Daryl and T-Dog go to clear the cell block for them. When Rick kills Tomas, because Tomas tried to kill him 2 times, he holds Axel at gunpoint. The group spares Axel and Oscar and leaves them in the cell block. He gives them a word of advice before leaving, which is to drag the bodies out and burn them.

"Killer Within"
T-Dog shows sympathy for Axel and Oscar and tries to convince the others that the prisoners may be an asset to the group. He eventually reserves himself to accepting Rick's decision but continues to show disdain. While helping Carol to park the group's vehicles inside the prison's courtyard, a walker invasion begins. He notices that a gate was opened and the walkers are pouring in through it, he then rushes through the walkers to seal the gate once again. While doing so, he ends up bitten in the shoulder by a walker, after killing it, he and Carol run inside the prison to save themselves. T-Dog decides to use his last hours of life helping Carol to get back to Cell Block C in safety, ignoring Carol as she tells him that he should rest because of the bite, they reach the corridor that takes to the laundry room, but it is blocked by two walkers. Carol insists that they should go back and find another way, but T-Dog heroically charges the two walkers against the wall and tells Carol to escape while she can. Carol runs to the laundry room, when she looks back, the two walkers are tearing into T-Dog's body. "I'm dead, just go!" he says.

Later on, Rick, Glenn, Daryl, Axel, and Oscar finds T-Dog's remains being devoured by the two walkers. It is assumed that there was nothing left of him to reanimate, and Rick kills the two walkers. Daryl finds Carol's scarf right at the door of the laundry next to a puddle of blood.

"What Comes After"
In an hallucination, Rick walks trough a floor full of the corpses of his friends and loved ones, among them T-Dog.

Death
As T-Dog attempts to close the courtyard gates to avoid more walkers that Andrew let into the prison in a deliberate attempt to have Rick and the others killed, from getting in, is bitten in the shoulder by a walker.
 * Killed By
 * Andrew (Caused)
 * Zombies

While wandering through the prison, T-Dog and Carol run into two walkers. Knowing his time is up, he uses his last moments to save Carol's life.
 * Himself (Sacrifice)

T-Dog charges himself at the walkers, holding both of them back, giving Carol time to escape, before a chunk of his throat is ripped out and he is devoured.

Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Theodore has killed:
 * Wayne Dunlap (Zombified)
 * Shawn Greene (Zombified) (Alongside his fellow survivors)
 * Arnold Greene (Zombified) (Alongside his fellow survivors)
 * Duncan (Zombified) (Alongside his fellow survivors)
 * Lacey (Zombified) (Alongside his fellow survivors)
 * Mr. Fischer (Zombified) (Alongside his fellow survivors)
 * Mrs. Fischer (Zombified) (Alongside his fellow survivors)
 * Himself (Sacrifice)
 * Several unnamed Greene farm inhabitants (Zombified) (Alongside his fellow survivors)
 * Numerous counts of zombies

Relationships
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Jacqui
"What?! That's insane!"

- T-Dog to Jacqui, after she tells him she's staying with Jenner

During Season 1, T-Dog seems to care deeply for Jacqui and may have had a crush on her. In the second episode, "Guts", she is quite sympathetic of him after he is beaten up by Merle, who she gives the middle finger. Throughout the season, the two are often seen talking to each other. When Jacqui refuses to leave with the group at the CDC, T-Dog begs her to come but she replies "I'm staying, sweetie", suggesting they may have been in a relationship.

Dale Horvath
"No, I mean, what are we doin'? People off in the woods, days lookin' for that girl and we're here. 'Cause they think we are the weakest. Well, what are you, 70?"

- T-Dog to Dale

While Dale and T-Dog were waiting for Sophia to return T-Dog started hallucinating from blood loss. T-Dog started saying that the group had left them behind because they were the two weakest links. When the group later came back for them T-Dog asked Dale not to tell anyone and Dale did as he asked. This shows that T-Dog trusted Dale like a friend. T-Dog appeared to be devastated upon seeing Dale dying and would likely have been greatly affected by his sudden death.

Glenn Rhee
"...He wasn't just a good guy. He was the best."

- Glenn to Hershel

Glenn and T-Dog were close friends during the apocalypse, as seen in the episode "TS-19", the two have a good friendship and were seen racing each other to the showers when Jenner tells them about having warm water laughing all the way. Glenn referred to him as "family" to Axel and Oscar. Glenn was deeply saddened by his death having to leave the sight of T-Dogs corpse as it was too much for him. He also said T-Dog saved his life multiple times. Glenn has stated T-Dog is a hero and that he would trade any number of people for one of theirs.

Morales
T-Dog and Morales had a good friendship, once Merle and T-Dog got into a fight Morales tried to intervene but got elbowed in the stomach. Theodore was then knocked to the ground and helped by Jacqui, Andrea and Morales. It wasn't shown how Theodore felt about Morales and his family leaving.

Andrea
T-Dog and Andrea have a great relationship. Each of them seems to take care of them on several occasions and to fight together against the zombies when it happens. Andrea show to take care of him during the fight with Merle. T-Dog is very concerned when Andrea is surrounded by zombies on the farm. Andrea is saddened to learn of T-Dog's death when Maggie informs her that he didn't make it.

Shane Walsh
T-Dog and Shane have a good relationship and get along very well. Shane proves to be compared to him on many occasions, T-Dog instead it shows always helpful and available to him.

Carol Peletier
"This is God's plan. He'll take care of me. Always has. He's gonna help me lead you out of these tombs."

- T-Dog before sacrificing himself for Carol

Throughout the first two seasons of the show, T-Dog and Carol rarely interacted. In Season 3, T-Dog sacrifices himself because he was already bitten in order to save Carol's life. His selflessness weighs heavily on Carol, as she mentioned in "I Ain't a Judas".

Rick Grimes
"Those two might have even less blood on their hands than we do."

- T-Dog to Rick while discussing the prison survivors

T-Dog and Rick have not interacted much, but the two seem to get along fairly well. Throughout Season 1, T-Dog accompanies Rick on most trips and is helpful to the group. Rick defends T-Dog after he gets into a fight with Merle. In Season 3, T-Dog was like a right-hand man to Rick. After T-Dog's heroic death, Rick can't stand looking at his devoured body, having a silent moment for his fallen friend. Rick then takes into consideration T-Dog's comment about the Prisoners, and lets them into the group after they prove worthy.

Lori Grimes
T-Dog and Lori have not spoken much to one another, but during Season 2's episode, "Beside the Dying Fire", T-Dog insists to Lori and Beth Greene to head for the coast. Lori refuses and was mad at T-Dog and forced him to turn around to the highway. This did indicate how much T-Dog cared about their safety. The two died on the same day, and could never learn of each other's deaths.

Carl Grimes
Carl and T-Dog are good friends during their stay at the Atlanta Camp. As time goes on Carl and T-Dog have established a brotherly like bond. On several occasions, T-Dog helps to look after Carl for Rick and Lori, and cares for his well-being. Carl and T-Dog act like teammates as they both work together to scavenge supplies and to clear out the prison. Carl is presumably saddened over the death of T-Dog, but is too deeply distressed over the death of his Mother.

Merle Dixon
"... Well, I hope he went slow."

- Merle to Glenn, after Glenn told Merle T-Dog had died

T-Dog and Merle didn't get along well during their time in Atlanta and the campsite. T-Dog and the Atlanta group didn't agree with Merle due to the fact that he was wasting bullets and attracting more walkers while shooting at them. Merle, being racist, called T-Dog a "n*gger" and beat him up. Their relationship worsened when T-Dog refused to release him and accidentally dropped the keys to Merle's cuffs down a drain, forcing Merle to amputate his own hand. T-Dog seemed to show remorse for what he did to Merle and volunteered to return to Atlanta to set Merle free, although it is clear that over time T-Dog got over the situation. When Merle learns of T-Dog's death, he shows no remorse, and hopes that he died slow.

Daryl Dixon
"Good idea. Maybe you'll see your chupacabra up there, too."

- T-Dog to Daryl

At first, T-Dog and Daryl do not get along well due to the Merle incident. Daryl threatens to kill him numerous times until Rick threatens to kill Daryl. At some point, Daryl forgave T-Dog and eventually saved his life after he cut his arm on a windshield and the two would later form a strong friendship as they both become Rick's right-hand men and the main defenders of the group. Daryl is present when Rick finds T-Dog's devoured body, having a silent moment for his former companion.

Hershel Greene
"He got bit closing the gate. If he hadn't done that..."

- Hershel to Glenn about T-Dog

T-Dog was grateful towards Hershel for letting him and the group stay at his farm, and tries to help him out whenever he can. The two, however, came at odds when the group discovered that Hershel had been hoarding his undead family and neighbours in his barn thinking they could be cured. Hershel forgives T-Dog for participating in the barn shootout, and lets him stay on the farm. During their time at the prison, T-Dog and Hershel have formed a strong friendship and hold a lot of respect towards each other. T-Dog is concerned for Hershel after his leg is amputated, and is glad to know that he survived. Hershel was saddened to learn of T-Dog's death, and states that if he hadn't risked himself to close the gates to prevent more walkers from entering, the group would have suffered more losses.

Beth Greene
After T-Dog saved Beth and Lori from the farm, he suggested they should head for the coast. But after Lori said she would get out of the car if he didn't turn around, he gave into her, indicating he cared about their safety. He is later seen genuinely concerned over her reaction to Hershel being bitten. Beth, sadly, informs Rick that T-Dog was bitten and is later saddened when she hears that he didn't make it.

Jimmy
"Aw man, don't give me any of that gangsta shit."

- T-Dog to Jimmy

The two seemed to get along as T-Dog was seen watching Jimmy during gun practice. Jimmy tried to look cool by holding his gun sideways to act like a gangster but T-Dog stopped Jimmy and told him not to give him that "gangsta shit".}}

Appearances
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Season 1

 * "Guts"
 * "Tell It to the Frogs"
 * "Vatos"
 * "Wildfire"
 * "TS-19"

Season 2

 * "What Lies Ahead"
 * "Bloodletting"
 * "Save the Last One"
 * "Cherokee Rose"
 * "Chupacabra"
 * "Secrets"
 * "Pretty Much Dead Already"
 * "Nebraska"
 * "Triggerfinger"
 * "Judge, Jury, Executioner"
 * "Better Angels"
 * "Beside the Dying Fire"

Season 3

 * "Seed"
 * "Sick"
 * "Killer Within"

Season 9

 * "What Comes After" (Dream, Corpse)
 * }}

Trivia

 * T-Dog was originally planned to only appear in two or three episodes but he ended up appearing in 3 seasons.
 * T-Dog was originally going to live in the episode "Killer Within", and Carol was scripted to die. Later, it was changed to T-Dog dying and Carol living.
 * In The Walking Dead special: "The Journey So Far" Melissa McBride comments on T-Dog's sacrifice. She mentions that Carol still feels his sacrifice to this day.
 * On Talking Dead, Gregory Nicotero revealed that part of T-Dog's death scene was filmed with a realistic replica that was actually cast from IronE Singleton's face/head and shoulders. The replica has a large portion of the front of its neck ripped out.
 * Before the role went to Singleton, Markice Moore, the actor who portrayed Andrew, auditioned for the role of the character before being cast as Andrew instead.
 * T-Dog is mentioned in "The Talking Dead: Fear Special", where his name is misspelled as "T Dogg".
 * IronE Singleton has confirmed that T-Dog's nickname is short for his full name, Theodore Douglas, and the name was given to him by his teammates from his college football days.