Morton Rose (Comic Series)

"This needs to happen! They'll come and take more of us if we don't fight back! What about your wife?! My son?! I'm not going to let Rick risk their lives, too!"

- Morton persuading Vincent into killing Rick.

Morton Rose is a character first encountered in Issue 135 of Image Comics' The Walking Dead. He is a resident of the Hilltop Colony, living in a trailer with his wife and son. Morton effectively acts as the main, but overall secondary, antagonist of Volume 25: No Turning Back.

Pre-Apocalypse
Not much is known about Morton's life before the apocalypse, except that he lived with his wife and son.

Characteristics and Role
Morton is a rather short fused, demanding and aggressive individual. He is shown to be unsatisfied about many situations he is involved in. For example, Morton suggests extreme punishment for Carl after he nearly beat his son to death. Carl insisted that it was an act of self defense but Morton didn't believe him. Another time, when Rick refuses to go to war against the Whisperers, Morton angrily demands to retaliate, in order to avenge his wife's death. Morton's aggressiveness and exhortation eventually resulted in him getting killed by Rick.

Whispers Into Screams
When Carl defended Sophia and himself from the bullies that previously attacked Brian because of his looks, Morton immediately showed up at the infirmary, carrying his son and his friend's bodies on a blanket. He then threatened Carl and Maggie along with his wife, Tammy, saying that the boy should be locked up because of his attack. Although Carl insists it was an act of self-defense, Morton keeps arguing with Maggie. He finally convinces her of giving Carl some sort of punishment. After that, Maggie sends him and his wife to their trailer. He is then seen sitting on a dinner table inside the trailer with his wife and the Harlan family. They discuss Maggie's power, and how no one voted or had an opinion on her new occupation; implying that she just began to yell out orders. When they start thinking about a way of ending her "reckless" power, Gregory suggests that they kill her. Morton, Tammy, and the Harlan family decide against it, saying that Gregory has crossed the line. Gregory, however, manipulates them into killing Maggie, saying that her death will save lives. An agitated Morton later visits Gregory's trailer, saying that he will help reclaim Gregory's leadership, but they have to eliminate Carl as well.

Life and Death
After his wife explained to Maggie about Gregory's plan, Morton and Tammy as well as most of Hilltop witness Gregory's hanging. He and his son were later seen in Alexandria, looking for Tammy, unbeknownst that she had been killed by Alpha.

No Turning Back
Morton gathers alongside the other citizens of the communities to hear Rick's announcement. After being informed by Rick of his wife's death, both Morton and his son mourn over Tammy and then he demands that they should attack the Whisperers immediately to avenge Tammy's death. Morton attends the meeting, unsatisfied with Rick's plan to defeat the Whisperers. After Maggie instructs everyone to leave, Morton retorts, saying that they won't leave unless someone has adds more to the plan. Jesus tries to escort him out of the building but Morton punches him in the face, starting the brawl. He is later seen with his son, greeting Vincent and Julia at their house.

Morton, alongside Vincent, is next seen ambushing Rick late at night on the streets of Alexandria, and proceeds to beat him up with his own cane, with the purpose of scaring him into taking action. While he beats him up, however, his hood falls down and reveals his face. Eventually, Vincent tries getting Morton to quit attacking Rick, as murdering Rick wasn't what he agreed to do. Morton, however refuses to stop, saying that Rick wasn't supposed to see them attacking him and now they have to kill him.

When Vincent tackles Morton, he tries to manipulate Vincent saying that Rick will jeopardize the lives of both Julia and his son. Vincent tells him that murdering Rick wasn't what he agreed to do. Morton angrily states that he doesn't care.

Killed By

 * Rick Grimes
 * Himself (Indirectly Caused)
 * Vincent (Indirectly Caused)

Rick takes advantage when Morton tries to finish him off with Rick's cane by biting him in the side of the neck, ripping out a chunk of it and tearing out his jugular. Morton slowly dies of blood loss from the wound.

Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Morton has killed.
 * Possibly numerous counts of zombies.

Relationships
{{Scroll-1|

Tammy Rose
"After what they did to Tammy and the rest?! Why the fuck are we just sitting here? We need to leave today--arm up and go! We should have their fucking heads on spikes!"

- Morton to Rick, demanding revenge against the Whisperers.

Morton and Tammy were a married couple who loved each other very much. After Carl nearly beat their son to death, both Morton and his wife argue with Maggie, saying that the boy should be locked up as punishment for his attack. After Tammy was killed by the Whisperers, Morton became devastated and desired revenge against the Whisperers for her death.

Brandon Rose
Morton and Brandon have a basic father-son relationship. Morton was shown to be very protective of his son, saying that Carl should be punished very severely for his attack on his son.

Gregory
When Morton, Tammy and the Harlan family are discussing how they should handle Carl as well as overthrow Maggie, Gregory comes up with a suggestion to just kill Maggie herself. Morton was the first one to speak, explaining that no one said anything about killing. Later on, Morton comes to Gregory's house and says that he will assist Gregory, but only if Carl dies as well. After Gregory fails to kill Maggie, Morton is at the hanging of Gregory.

Carl Grimes
"Kid's a goddamn powder keg waiting to go off. It's too dangerous having him here. Locking him up won't be enough. He's got to go."

- Morton to Tammy and the Harlan family, about Carl.

Morton loathes Carl, as he is the one who nearly beat his own son to death. He immediately threatens Carl for hurting his son, suggesting that he should be locked away for his actions. When Carl stands up to Morton about defending Sophia, saying something vulgar to both Morton and Tammy, Morton angrily pushes Carl against a wall. When Gregory suggests killing Maggie Greene to both the Rose and Harlan families, they refuse. After an agitated Morton glares at Carl while blacksmithing, he agrees to killing Maggie, but only if they kill Carl as well. After the plan is foiled, their relationship ends.

Maggie Greene
"I know you're the head bitch in charge these days, but you don't fucking scare me. We're going to be compensated in some way for the pain and suffering these boys are enduring. You're going to allow me to opt out on any patrols beyond the wall, so I can help care for my son while he heals. And we're going to need more rations for a time... gonna need some improvements on our trailers to accommodate the needs of our sons. Also, I don't just want that little fuck punished... he needs to be locked away. He's fucking dangerous. But before that... he's going to apologize to us all for what he did."

- Morton to Maggie, about caring for his son and Carl's attack.

Morton has a poor relationship with Maggie. After Carl nearly beat his son to death, Morton threatened both her and Carl, saying that the adolescent should be locked away for his attack on his son. When Gregory suggests killing Maggie, Morton refuses but later agrees, but only if they kill Carl as well. After Gregory's hanging, their relationship isn't explored further after this.

Rick Grimes
"Hey, Rick! See how easy it is to take action?! You ignored us... and we're taking care of it... right away! See?!"

- Morton to Rick, trying to scare him into taking action against the Whisperers.

Morton has a hostile relationship against Rick, as he didn't declare war against the Whisperers after Tammy's death. He disagreed with Rick's plan against the Whisperers, and Morton often would harass Rick, urging him to declare war. His harassing behavior towards Rick would eventually lead to his death, when Rick himself rips out his jugular.

Vincent
Vincent and Morton were on the same side about going to war against the Whisperers, due to losing their respective family members. Morton and Brandon even end up going to Vincent and Julia's house, to talk about scaring Rick into attacking against the Whisperers. Vincent agrees to do it, but when they attack Rick and Morton hood falls down, Morton claims he has to kill Rick now. Vincent starts a small quarrel with Morton, saying that he didn't agree to kill Rick. Morton overpowers Vincent and tries to finish off Rick, but then gets his neck ripped out by Rick, leading Vincent to run away and leave the Safe-Zone.}}

Appearances
{{scroll
 * content ====Comic Series===

Volume 23: Whispers Into Screams

 * Issue 135
 * Issue 136
 * Issue 137

Volume 24: Life and Death

 * Issue 141 (No Lines)
 * Issue 142 (No Lines)
 * Issue 144

Volume 25: No Turning Back

 * Issue 145 (No Lines)
 * Issue 146
 * Issue 148
 * Issue 149 (No Lines)
 * Issue 150}}

Trivia

 * This is the second time Rick Grimes has bitten someone's neck and killed them, the first being an unnamed marauder.