Carl Grimes (TV Series)

"I shot my Mom. She was out; hadn't turned yet. I ended it. It was real."

- Carl to Daryl regarding his mother's death.

Carl Grimes is a main protagonist in The Walking Dead (TV Series). He is the son of Rick and Lori Grimes. Being told that his father was dead, he followed his mother and Shane to Atlanta in search of refuge.

Appearance and Personality
Carl is an adolescent Caucasian male with dark brown hair and a slightly freckled face. By Season 3, he has aged some and his hair has grown to near shoulder length.

Carl is shy and reserved, commonly only striking conversation with his parents and members of the group he feels comfortable with. Like many kids his age, he is sometimes disobedient, but he does show shame and guilt when his actions negatively impact the group. After getting shot, Carl becomes stricken with negative thoughts, largely wanting to fend for himself and to prove his independence and maturity. He also takes to becoming rather pessimistic and rude, such as when he insults Carol. He is naturally curious, a trait that gets him into frequent trouble. However, by the third season, Carl has become battle hardened from months on the road. His firearm skills and tactician abilities have greatly increased, and he has seemingly become numb to much of the emotions he feels, a result no doubt of becoming accustom to loss, even when he is forced to shoot his own dying mother. He still, however, retains his shyness in some cases.

King County, Georgia
Carl was a normal 12 year old who lived with his parents in King County, Georgia where he attended school during the day. One morning, Carl witnesses his parents fighting and having an argument about whether or not Rick cared about the family or not. Later that day after he finishes school, Lori comes to Carl and informs him that his father, Rick, was shot and is in a coma.

The Walking Dead Social Game
The Social Game is canon to Carl's TV character's life. For more info, please see Carl Grimes (Social Game).

"Days Gone Bye"
When the Apocalypse started Carl and Lori were at home. Shane Walsh (Rick's best friend and another survivor) comes and takes Carl and Lori to Atlanta which is thought to be free of walkers. Shane then tells Carl and Lori that Rick is dead. They notice Atlanta is overrun and take cover at a campsite not far from Atlanta where a few more survivors are staying. Carl develops a friendship with a girl of the same age named Sophia and plays with her a lot during his time at camp. When his mom gets angry that Shane isn't allowing her to go out and post warning signs, she marches away. Later, he almost walks in on Lori and Shane kissing. He is seen in the picture in Rick's police cruiser at the end of the episode.

"Guts"
Carl is not seen much in this episode; however, he is seen hanging around the camp with his mother. He is still sad over his dad being supposedly dead and spends a lot of time with Shane, his mother, and Sophia.

"Tell It to the Frogs"
His father Rick makes it to the camp and reunites with his family. During the night, his father kisses him and says goodnight. The next day Carl is playing in the woods with Sophia when the pair find a walker and alert the rest of the camp. The men surround and kill the walker. Towards the end, when he is trying to catch frogs with Shane, Lori appears and tells Carl to head back to camp, as Lori does not want him around Shane.

"Vatos"
Carl is seen around the survivors' camp talking, and later joins the group to see what Jim is digging holes for. Lori tells Jim he is scaring Carl and Sophia. At the end of that same day, he joins the group for dinner around the campfire, and then the walkers attack the camp and kill many of the survivors. Carl survived the attack and then Rick returns to camp with the bag of guns, and Carl embraces his father, crying.

"Wildfire"
Just after the walker attack, Carl can be seen resting. He then later joins the group on their plan to leave the camp and head for CDC. He says goodbye to the Morales Family and everybody leaves the camp.

"TS-19"
Carl makes it to the CDC along with the group. He is seen playing checkers in the rec room with Sophia and then heads to bed. Towards the end Carl is seen crying as he does not want to die. When Dr. Jenner lets the group free he flees with the others to Dale's RV and watches as the CDC burns in flames. They then they head to Fort Benning.

"What Lies Ahead"
Carl is seen gathering supplies with his fellow survivors. When a herd of walkers approach they hide under cars. Sophia is then chased by a duo of walkers and later gets lost. Later, after the herd passes by, Carl finds a Gerber bag of tools, which he is ordered by Shane to give to Dale. Carl and the others then go out to look for Sophia; when they reach a church, they decide to split. Daryl leads the group back to the the Interstate, and Rick and Shane keep on looking for Sophia. Carl asks his father to let him help with the search, so Rick says yes. Later, Carl, Shane and Rick see a buck in the woods. Shane is about to shoot it, but Rick stops him and the two watch Carl approach it slowly. However, the peaceful and happy moment is interrupted by loud gunshot. Both Carl and the buck fall to the ground, as the bullet passed through the buck into Carl. When Rick goes running to his son, it can be seen that a bullet had passed through the buck and hit Carl in his upper body.

"Bloodletting"
During a flashback at the beginning, Carl is seen going to school like any other regular kid. As he is leaving the school and heading towards his mother, he is told by his mother that his father has been shot and is in critical condition at the hospital. He begins to cry and hugs his mom as Shane watches on. Back in the present, he is carried by Rick who runs towards Hershel's Farm after being told by Otis that Hershel can help fix him. Carl is mainly unconscious due to trauma and blood loss. However, he does wake up while Hershel is performing surgery, because he can feel the bullet fragments and Hershel preying his tools inside. He screams in agony and Rick tells Hershel to stop since he's killing him, but eventually Carl passes out from the pain. Later, Shane and Otis head towards a former FEMA evacuation center which used to be a high school for medical supplies to operate on Carl.

"Save The Last One"
Carl is still unconscious and is losing too much blood due to internal bleeding and Rick is unable to donate anymore to him since his blood levels are critically low as well. Hershel informs Rick and Lori that if Shane and Otis do not arrive in time with the needed medical supplies, they have to make a choice on whether to allow Hershel to perform the surgery or not, knowing the risks of what would happen to Carl. Rick and Lori tell him to go ahead with the surgery. Before Hershel makes an incision, however, Shane makes it back to the farm with the supplies, but sadly without Otis.

"Cherokee Rose"
The surgery was a success and Carl begins to slowly recover. He wakes up for some periods of time asking if Rick found Sophia yet. Rick tells Carl that she's fine. He is told the truth later by Lori since at the time, they didn't want Carl to worry and wanted him to recover. Later, he and Rick talk for a bit and Rick gives his sheriff's hat to Carl to wear and takes the badge off.

"Chupacabra"
Carl is seen at the beginning of the episode with Sophia wanting some food. Lori and Shane are off watching the military bomb Atlanta. Sophia comments to Carl that she likes his dad (she thinks Shane was his father), but Carl responds with "Shane's not my dad... my dad is dead." Carl is seen later in the episode still lying in bed sleeping and still recovering.

"Secrets"
Carl is finally seen walking on his feet after recovering from getting shot. He is with his mother at the beginning of the episode, feeding the chickens. He states that the mother probably got eaten and says "Everything's food for something else." Shane later catches Carl with a gun and informs his parents about it immediately. His mother is furious, but his father says that he does need to know how to handle a gun for protection. Carl then apologizes to his mother. He goes to a practice, along with the other survivor group members. He continues to care and wants to help with the search for Sophia.

"Pretty Much Dead Already"
Carl tells Shane that he doesn't want to give up on the search despite Shane's arguments and wanting to move on. Shane decides to support Carl for now until the end of episode where the group of survivors shoots all of the walkers that were in the barn. Carl is saddened to see that Sophia was in fact a walker and clutches to Lori for comfort, weeping uncontrollably, as Rick shoots Sophia.

"Nebraska"
Carl talks to Lori, his mother, about Sophia, saying that he wanted to be the one to find her alive, but thinks that Rick did the right thing, shooting Sophia. He states that he would've done the same thing in his father's place. Carl attends the funeral of Sophia, Annette and Shawn with Lori and Rick.

"Triggerfinger"
While Lori is returned to Hershel's farm by Shane, he accidentally reveals to everyone that Lori is pregnant, including Carl. Carl is a bit furious that his mother didn't tell him she was pregnant. He later asks questions about the baby and his mother informs everyone that they never had "the talk."

"18 Miles Out"
Carl did not appear in this episode.

"Judge, Jury, Executioner"
Carl speaks with Shane about Randall, but Shane tells him that Randall's fate is adult's business. He later sneaks into the barn where Randall is being held prisoner, but Shane discovers him and tells him to stay away from Randall. Carl then insults Carol for believing that Sophia is in a better place, stating that Heaven does not exist and that she is an idiot for believing in it. Rick later tells him that he must keep his act together and to consider the fact that Carol just lost her daughter. He states that if she wants to believe that she's in a better place for comfort, he should not insult her for thinking that. Carl then steals a gun from Daryl's motorcycle and goes to the woods. He finds a walker trapped in the mud and decides to taunt it. He stares at it for a while and then begins to throw rocks at the walker, intimidating it. Carl then steps onto the mud and holds up the gun, ready to shoot it. He takes too long, however, and one of the walker's legs breaks free. Carl falls back, terrified, and loses the gun in the mud. Carl runs back to the house, where he is forbidden to talk about Randall's fate. Then, he sneaks to Randall's execution and tells his father to kill him while he is watching. Shane takes him away and Rick spares Randall. Later, Dale is attacked by a walker that mortally wounds him. Carl arrives to the scene and sees that the walker that attacked Dale is the same one that he taunted in the forest. Horrified and feeling guilty, he goes to cry in his mother's lap as Daryl kills Dale out of mercy.

"Better Angels"
At the first moment Carl is crying at the funeral of Dale. Then he goes with Shane, telling him that he stole Daryl's gun, and the walker that killed Dale was the same one he found in the swamp and that Dale's death was his fault. He asks Shane not to say anything to his parents. Shane, however, tells Rick what happened to Carl. Rick finds Carl in the barn. They have a father and son talk and Rick says he needs him and that he should keep the gun. When Shane informs everybody that Randall has escaped, Carl is instructed by his mom to stay in the house which Rick, Shane, Glenn, and Daryl go looking for him. Eventually, Carl sneaks out of the house and walks in the field where Rick is standing over Shane's dead body. Carl is frightened and points his gun in the direction of Rick and dead Shane. Rick asks Carl to calm down thinking he's going to shoot him, when in fact Carl is pointing the gun at Shane who has risen as a walker and is about to attack Rick. At the end of the episode, a horde of walkers heard the shot and are on their way to the farm.

"Beside the Dying Fire"
After shooting the reanimated Shane, the gunshot rings through the woods, and a herd of walkers is seen advancing through the woods. These zombies followed a helicopter that was flying out of Atlanta and have just mindlessly walked in the same direction since. They heard the gunshot that Carl shot and walked towards the noise. As Carl and Rick walk back to the farm, they see the herd of walkers. Rick ushers Carl ahead and they start running towards the farm. Back at the farm, Lori is worried about where her son is. As chaos ensues he goes into the barn with Rick and kills more than a dozen of walkers with fire. As the pair run, they find Hershel making a final stand in front of his house, shooting walkers. Rick convinces him to leave. After being saved, they go on the road just as the sun rises. Carl asks where his mom is. Rick says that they have to keep moving and Carl begs him to not give up. Rick continues to try to persuade Carl to move on. Carl is next seen getting very angry. Just then, cars arrive with all of the group members, including Lori. At night, he is seen crying into Lori's shoulder as Rick talks to the group, saying why Shane was killed.

"Seed"
Carl is seen to have a lot more responsibility and an overall more vital role within the group by this time. His parents are no longer overly protective of him, as he is part of the first team of the group (along with Rick, Daryl, and T-Doge) to clear any walkers out of an abandoned house. Rick entrusts Carl to check over the kitchen and other parts of the house on his own, and gives him other important jobs such as guarding the vehicles, killing walkers from a watch tower in the prison, and leaving him to protect the women while he and the others inspect the rest of the prison. He also no longer has any problems with shooting walkers, as hes seen shooting one in the house and shooting others in the prison. Throughout the episode it appears he has also developed a crush on Hershel's 16 year old daughter Beth, but has not told her because of his apparent shyness.

"Sick"
Carl is mostly seen by Hershel's side during this episode. When Rick and the others came back from the search, Rick called to his son to open the door quickly because Hershel is bitten. Lori ordered Carl to get a towel to hold off Hershel's bleeding. After T-Dog and Rick got provisions from the prisoners, Carl is assigned to organize the food, but also locates the prison's infirmary on his own and salvages a small amount of medical supplies, and killing two walkers in the process. Lori chastises him for going out by himself, although she appreciates Carl helping out Hershel. Carl got angry and told his mother to "Get off his back". Beth scolded him not to talk to his mother with disrespect, then Carl runs off in embarrassment. When Hershel woke up, Carl is waiting outside Hershel's cell with Beth. Carl points his gun at Hershel after he is mistakenly thought to have become a walker. Near the end of the episode, Hershel woke up again, and Carl smiled at him.

"Walk With Me"
Carl does not appear in this episode.

"Killer Within"
Carl is first seen sitting on a stair while waiting for the others to go outside the prison cell. He smiled at Beth while helping Hershel walk into the prison yard. As Carl was looking at his father, he noticed that the walkers are invading their yard. He ran with Lori and Maggie back into the prison and they got separated from the others. He and Maggie protected Lori along their way until she suddenly went into labor. They escorted Lori into an empty room and Carl watched as Maggie helped Lori deliver the baby. When Lori wasn't able to give birth normally, Maggie had to perform C-Section as Carl was unable to do the operation. Before Lori died, she gave Carl her last speech from the bottom of her heart and told him that he is the best thing she could ever have and that she loved him. After suddenly perishing from the labor, Carl gave Lori one final embrace and shot his mother to keep her from reanimating. After Carl and Maggie got out of the room with the baby, Carl just stood there, motionless, as Rick cried.

"Say the Word"
In this episode, Carl is seen in the courtyard of Cell Block C, watching sadly as his father storms into the prison to reach his wife's dead body. He is later comforted by Beth in the loss of his mother.

"Hounded"
Carl is seen eating cereal with the rest of the group in the beginning of the episode. Later, he, Daryl, and Oscar go out and clear out walkers in the prison when Daryl discovers Carol's knife in a walker's neck. He and Oscar return to the group. Later, his father returns and holds the baby for the first time. He, Rick, Hershel, and Beth walk outside. Rick hands the baby to Carl when he notices something strange at the fence.

"When the Dead Come Knocking"
Carl assists with Rick in killing the walkers that are hovering above Michonne when she passes out. When Oscar, Daryl, Rick, and Michonne set off to find Woodbury, Carl is left in charge of watching over the prison. Carl and Rick also agree on the name Judith for the baby, named after Carl's third grade teacher.

"Made to Suffer"
Carl will appear in this episode.

Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Carl has killed:
 * Dale Horvath (Indirectly Caused)
 * Shane Walsh (Zombified)
 * Lori Grimes (Before Reanimation)
 * Numerous counts of zombies.

Appearances
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Season 3

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Trivia

 * In the comic, Carl is 8 years old; in the TV Series, he was 12, recently turning 13 between Seasons 2 and 3.
 * In the comic, Carl killed Shane while he was alive to defend his father, and Rick killed his reanimated self. But in the TV series, Rick kills Shane during a forced confrontation with him, and Carl shoots Shane as a walker to defend Rick.
 * Carl is indirectly responsible for Dale's death, as he provoked the walker who killed him. He also had a hand in the deaths of both Shane and Lori, shooting both of them in the head (Shane after reanimation and Lori to prevent it.)
 * Carl is sometimes seen wearing a Science Dog T-shirt, a character from Robert Kirkman's other comic book series Invincible.
 * Carl is the first person to receive medical care from Hershel Greene. The second person being Daryl Dixon after he was nearly shot in the head by Andrea, and the third being his daughter Beth after she tried to commit suicide.
 * Carl is the first of three people among the survivors to fall victim to friendly fire, Otis who was second, and Daryl Dixon, who was third.
 * Rick and Carl share the same blood type which is A+.
 * It is very clear that Carl, unlike many others in the group, no longer believes in God or an afterlife as he said believing in Heaven is stupid.
 * It is revealed by Carol in "Seed", that Lori had a C-Section in order to give birth to Carl.
 * This is similar to the comic series, when Rick mentions that Lori had to get a cesarean when giving birth to Carl.
 * Carl and Beth have both lost their mothers and both have an object that once belonged to their parents (Carl's hat and Beth's necklace.)