Daryl Dixon (TV Series)

Daryl Dixon is one of the Atlanta Camp survivors. He is often volatile and will quickly resort to violence in threatening situations, but is still significantly more level-headed and rational than his older brother Merle. An experienced tracker and hunter, he is deadly accurate with a crossbow and has taken a prominent role in safeguarding the members of his group.

Pre-Apocalypse
Daryl and his older brother Merle lived with a neglectful alcoholic father somewhere in Georgia. Merle raised Daryl to share his beliefs and constantly attempted to toughen him up. However, he too was often absent from Daryl's life (part of that had to do wih the fact that he was frequently in juvenile institutions). This led to Daryl having to fend for himself a lot. One time during his childhood, he was lost in the woods for nine full days and lived off of wild berries and used poison oak as a substitute for toilet paper. When he managed to find his way home, neither Merle nor his father noticed his absence. He walked in through the back door then made himself a sandwich.

When the apocalypse began, he and Merle headed towards Atlanta (a declared safe-zone) for shelter. Along the way, they both met up with Shane's group and found out Atlanta was overrun. They decided to help set up a camp near a quarry. During their stay at the camp, they spent a considerable amount of time hunting animals.

Tell It to the Frogs
Daryl appears out of the woods, on the trail of a deer he had shot with his crossbow. He finds it partially eaten by a walker, surrounded by the rest of his group. After Dale decapitates the zombie, the head continues to growl only to be permanently silenced by a bolt from Daryl's crossbow. At the camp, Rick and the others break the news that Merle was insane and a threat back in the city, so he was left behind, prompting Daryl to snap. Rick and Shane restrain him as T-Dog reassures Daryl that Merle is okay, as he had locked the roof door shut before fleeing the city. Daryl heads back into the city to rescue his brother with Rick, T-Dog, and Glenn. When they reach the rooftop of the department store they find that the only thing remaining is the handcuffs, a hacksaw, and Merle's hand.

Vatos
Daryl points his crossbow at T-Dog, blaming him for it but gives in after Rick holds a gun to his head. Daryl wraps Merle's hand in a cloth and puts it into Glenn's backpack, then they begin to follow the blood trail left by Merle. The trail leads them into a room with two dead zombies where all but Daryl are astonished that Merle was able to kill both with just one hand. In the same room they find a an iron steak weight covered in burnt skin which Merle used to cauterize his stump. Later they find window with a hole in it, possibly meaning Merle has escaped.

When Daryl decides to go search for Merle on the streets, T-Dog reminds him that they need to get the Bag of guns first. Glenn makes a plan to get the guns: Daryl must look after Glenn from the store's alley while Rick and T-Dog wait in an alley two blocks away. While Glenn retrieves the guns, another survivor, Miguel, runs into Daryl from the back of the same alley, to which Daryl rationally asks him about his brother and begins to beat him with his crossbow. Miguel screams, alerting Rick, T-Dog, and two other survivors: Jorge and Felipe. Jorge and Felipe arrive first and beat up Daryl until they spot Glenn with the bag of guns. They tackle Glenn who drops the guns and Rick's hat, which gives Daryl enough time to aim his crossbow and fire an arrow into Felipe's behind.

A car arrives at the scene, and Jorge and Felipe grab Glenn and get into the car, leaving Miguel behind. When Rick and T-Dog get there they see Daryl closing the gate to the alley to stop the zombies from entering. After which he aims his crossbow at Miguel, to which Rick convinces him to stop. Later Daryl threatens Miguel and shows him Merle's hand, bluffing and threatening that it was an enemy of his. Daryl, T-Dog and Rick then enter the gang's hideout and since the negotiations failed, threats of bloodshed are issued, before an elderly woman enters the room and they find out the truth behind the gang.

Daryl and his crew return to the camp just as zombies attack. Despite the high number of casualties, Daryl and the rest of the survivors are able to kill all of the invading zombies.

Wildfire
The next morning Daryl helps in the clean up of the zombie carcasses and the bodies of the fallen campers. He and T-Dog drag the body of a man towards the bonfire but Glenn stops him, demanding that the dead be buried properly. Daryl hesitates but eventually agrees. As Daryl impales each corpse with a pickaxe to prevent zombification, Carol stops him as he is about to hit Ed, saying that she should impale her husband's head. When the survivors find out that Jim has been bitten, he wants to take him out now, but is stopped by Rick. After the funeral and parting ways with Morales' family, Daryl and the group head to the Center for Disease Control. Along the way, the RV breaks down, so Shane and T-Dog scout out the gas station ahead for parts, while a dying Jim is perched against a tree as everyone says their goodbye to him. Daryl looks at Jim, and after a moment gives him a nod, before turning back to his car. Daryl and the survivors reach the C.D.C. complex to find it locked, but the doors open at the last minute.

TS-19
Daryl and the rest of his group are admitted into the C.D.C. by Dr. 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 and learns about TS-19 and Dr. Jenner's work, and the fall of the C.D.C.'s infrastructure. After Dr. Jenner reveals the purpose of the countdown timer and shuts the control room's door, he is enraged and tries break through the metal door that traps everyone. He is about to swing an axe at the scientist's head but is stopped as the others try to convince the doctor to open the door. As the survivors finally get Edwin to open the door for their escape, they all reach the lobby to find the doors permanently locked and the windows bulletproof. However, Daryl and the others are able to escape to their caravan after Rick's grenade explodes a window pane. He drives off in his pick up truck, away from the complex as the ruins burn.

What Lies Ahead
During their excursion to Fort Benning, the group are forced to hide from a herd of walkers, Daryl saves T-Dog from one of them, then covers himself and T-Dog up with corpses to fool the rest of the walkers. When Carol's daughter Sophia goes missing in the aftermath, Rick enlists Daryl's expert tracking abilities to help find her. During the search, they dissect a zombie to see if it had eaten Sophia. When the trail runs cold, they are forced to return to the others empty-handed.

Bloodletting
On their way back, Lori hears a gunshot and is suspicious about it as Rick or Shane wouldn't risk wasting or alerting walkers to kill a single walker. He reassures Carol that they are going to find Sophia and she is going to be fine. When Andrea is facing a walker and Maggie comes in by horse for Lori, Daryl rushes with the rest of the group as Lori jumps on the horse. He says that they don't even know her or who she is so how could they trust her, but in the end with nothing really to stop her, he lets her go to Hershel's Farm. Later, the group decides what to do as they need to head to the farm and meet up with Rick but don't want to risk Sophia coming back to an empty highway. Daryl offers to stay one more day and set up signs to tell her just in case, after Dale mentions that T-Dog is in bad shape and needs medical attention. Daryl goes to Merle's stash and gets him some "first class" antibiotics for his blood infection.

Save the Last One
Daryl wakes up at night hearing the sound of Carol sobbing over Sophia. Daryl grabs his crossbow and decides to go out and look for Sophia and is joined by Andrea who could not sleep either.

While in the woods, Daryl assures Andrea that Sophia is going to be fine. Andrea protests and tells him that Sophia is only twelve years old and is not yet capable to survive on her own with no food or weapons. To reassure Andrea he tells her a story about his childhood when he was lost in the mountains living off of berries and cleaning himself with poison ivy. No one ever knew he was gone, not even Merle because he was in juvie, and when he finally made it back, he walked into the kitchen and made himself a sandwich. The story lightens the mood and Andrea laughs.

Daryl and Andrea continue on down a path and hear something that they suspect to be Sophia but are mistaken and arrive at a campsite where a man had hung himself and had turned into a walker. Daryl read the sign that the man wrote that said, "Got bit, fever hit, world gone to shit, might as well quit" that Daryl commented on saying that the guy was too stupid to shoot himself in the head. Daryl continues to describe the flesh that had been eaten off the man's legs by other walkers and Andrea pukes. Andrea then asks if he was planning on just leaving him hanging up there which Daryl replied that he wasn't doing any harm up there. Daryl asked Andrea if she still felt like dying and Andrea said she would answer for an arrow. After answering with a fairly confusing answer, Daryl shot the walker in the head and said it was a "waste of an arrow." They return home without Sophia.

Cherokee Rose
In "Cherokee Rose", Daryl goes searching for Sophia again, alone this time, and finds a Cherokee Rose for Carol, saying that when the Native Americans were being relocated, their children died and went missing, and the tears of the mother's made a Cherokee Rose bloom. He also stated he doubted the flower had grown for his brother, Merle, but instead for Carol's daughter, Sophia.

Chupacabra
The next day, Daryl and the rest of the group continue to search for Sophia. Daryl takes a horse and heads to search alone. While searching near a creek he discovers Sophia's doll. Shortly afterwards he falls off a cliff-side into a river when his horse is spooked by a snake. On the way down Daryl hits his head and impales himself on one of his arrows. He leaves it in and attempts to climb a steep cliff only to fall and lose consciousness. As he drifts in and out he hallucinates his brother Merle who mocks and taunts him, calling him a failure and telling him the others in the group just see him as a freak. Daryl awakes to see a walker gnawing on his boot and another one approaching. He kills the closest one with a stick and pulls the arrow out of his side to dispatch the second one. After bandaging his wound he once again attempts climbing the cliff. On the way up he again hallucinates Merle who again mocks him, telling him nobody cared about him but his brother and that he should shoot Rick next time he saw him. Eventually Daryl makes it back to the farm, but due to his blood soaked appearance and limp Andrea takes him for a walker and shoots him. The bullet grazes his left temple and Rick and Shane rush Daryl back to the house. His injuries are not mortal and Hershel bandages him up. Later, Carol brings him dinner and thanks him for doing so much to find her daughter, kissing him on the forehead to show someone does care about him.

Secrets
Daryl is seen recuperating from his injuries in a tent outside the farm house. Andrea gives him a book and attempts to apologize for accidentally shooting him, but Daryl brushes off her concern stating she was just trying to protect the group and that he did not blame her.

Pretty Much Dead Already
Daryl is first seen eating lunch with the rest of the survivors; when Glenn tells them the barn is full of walkers, Daryl sets his jaw. Later, he walks to the stable and readies a saddle to go out looking for Sophia again, but as Carol sees he's still hurt on his side from the arrow wound, she tries to stop him, telling him she doesn't want to lose him too. He throws the saddle to the floor, and still in pain, walks away calling Carol a "Stupid Bitch." Shortly after he takes Carol to a pond where he apologizes and shows her another Cherokee rose that's blooming, this restores her faith in finding her daughter. Much later, when Shane starts giving out the guns to the group, Daryl takes one quickly. As the group sees Rick and Hershel walk up to the barn with two walkers on long poles, he approaches them and keeps his gun aimed at the male, until Shane shoots it and opens the barn doors. He quickly lines up with Shane, Glenn, T-Dog and Andrea and starts shooting the walkers. When zombified Sophia finally steps out of the barn, he catches a sorrowful Carol to stop her from getting too close to her daughter.

Nebraska
Daryl is angered that Carol won't attend her own daughter's funeral but he goes with all the other survivors. Lori decides that Daryl is the best choice to look for Rick, Hershel and Glenn, but he is still upset over the sacrifices he made in vain to collect Sophia, and snaps, "I'm done lookin' for people."

Triggerfinger
Daryl tells Carol that Lori had asked him to find Hershel, but he had refused. He speculates that Lori went on her own to town. Back at the Greene Farm, Carol goes to check on Daryl, finding many dead squirrels and severed walker ears hanging on a clothes line. Daryl catches her and confronts her. After their argument Daryl walks away from Carol and she yells out that she will not let him push her away.

Killed Victims

 * Numerous counts of zombies

Trivia

 * The Washington Post called Daryl a "Redneck Jedi" similar to Sawyer from ABC’s “Lost.” and Jason Stackhouse from HBO’s “True Blood.” "In a culturally divided television world where viewers can pick and choose programming to fit their politics, Dixon and his goatee-sporting brethren bridge a gap in American culture: They allow blue America to stealthily embrace — and even worship — red America....[Daryl is] the Johnny Cash of prime-time cable...Americans can get behind [Daryl] regardless of their politics and background."
 * Daryl's weapon of choice is a The Horton® Scout HD™ 125 crossbow.
 * Daryl does not appear in the comics.
 * According to popular rumors and comic sites alike, Daryl is said to be the first cross-over from TV to comic series. This has yet to be officially confirmed yet, as it is considered as of now "wishful thinking" by creators and fans. Norman Reedus remains assuring, according to his twitter, going as far as to post an image of himself along with Rick and Andrea in comic form. This however, is most likely fan art.
 * Daryl drives his brother Merle's motorcycle and keeps Merle's stash of drugs (both legal and illegal) in case they are needed.
 * In the episode Chupacabra it is stated that Daryl was raised by Merle to share his beliefs. According to Michael Rooker in Talking Dead, his appearance for Merle in the episode was as Daryl's subconscious stating his true beliefs.
 * He is also very resourceful and appears to be willing to use anything at his disposal to survive. For example, in season two, he ate a raw squirrel to quench his hunger while he struggled to escape from the ravine he fell into. He also fashioned a tourniquet out of his clothing to help support the bolt that had pierced his abdominal area, and when being attacked by two zombies he efficiently removed the bolt piercing his side and used it to dispatch one of the attacking walkers. He also created more bolts from wood to replace the lost ones.
 * Daryl is an expert hunter, with knowledge in tracking as seen when they are searching for Sophia. He was able to track fading footprints and had amazing accuracy.
 * It is unknown how many bolts Daryl originallyhas for his crossbow but it appears that he has 4, while his crossbow quiver holds only 3. In the first season episode Vatos, in the middle of a scuffle, he shoots Felipe in the butt with one, thus leaving him with 2 left. The reason as to why he doesn't retrieve this bolt later on while he's at the retirement home isn't specified, it may be that he just doesn't want to ask or that it was snapped when it was removed from Felipe's butt. Later on in season one in the episode Wildfire Daryl again has 3 bolts, this accounts for the fourth bolt, but he shoots a walker in the head bringing his count back down to 2. He doesn't retrieve this bolt either as it can be clearly seen that at the end of the episode as the group are running for the vehicles he has only 2 in his quiver. In the second season episode Save the Last One, whilst looking for Sophia, in the middle of the night with Andrea, they come across someone who hung themselves and has reanimated, as an inaptly named walker. Andrea tells Daryl she'll answer his question, if he put's it out of it's misery, upon her answering he shoots the walker leaving him with just one bolt left. In the episode Nebraska, Daryl can be seen whittling and crafting at least three more wooden bolts from tree branches.
 * Daryl is the third person among the survivors to fall victim to friendly fire, the others being Carl and Otis.