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This article is about the Comic Series character. You may be looking for his appearance in the Novel Series, his Escapists, Road to Survival, or TV Series counterparts, or the actor.

You selfish piece of shit. You've got the--room--the supplies for everyone in Woodbury--the whole damn town! Everyone. Fencing off the streets--protecting the town--it doesn't work that well. Biters--they always--break through--we're constantly repairing fences. The prison is secure. My people deserve to be safe, too. (...) The Governor is--what he is. He sent me--but I'm not bringing him here. The others--women--children--not bad--good people. We'd be getting away from him, too. They wouldn't hurt you--your family would be fine.
―Martinez to Rick, shortly before being killed by the latter.[src]

Caesar Ramón Martínez, more generally addressed as Martínez, is an antagonist and a survivor of the outbreak in Image Comics' The Walking Dead. He is a fence guard in Woodbury and one of The Governor's most trusted allies. Martinez helps Rick, Glenn, Michonne, Dr. Stevens, and Alice escape Woodbury. He served as an antagonist for Volume 5: The Best Defense and as the secondary antagonist of Volume 6: This Sorrowful Life.

Overview[]

Martínez presents himself as a reluctant soldier in the Governor's army, not fully aware of the Governor's atrocities. For the sake of his community, Martínez chooses to ignore rumors about how vile the Governor really is. Outside of this, Martínez acts like a friendly and open person. Despite this façade, Martínez is, in fact, one of the Governor's most trusted men, as he was given the task of infiltrating Rick's group by helping them escape Woodbury, only so he can report the location of the Prison to the Governor. Moments from death, however, Martínez claims he was, in fact, working against the Governor. Despite agreeing to the mission, he asserts that the wasn't going to bring the Governor to the prison, but only the "good people" in Woodbury, to keep them safe from both the dead and the Governor. It is unknown if Martínez was being truthful, as he is murdered by Rick shortly after.

Pre-Apocalypse[]

Main article: Caesar Martínez (Novel Series)

Post-Apocalypse[]

Augusta, Georgia[]

Martínez's school had been a "safe zone" once the outbreak began, and it was soon home to many children and parents lived in the town. He played basketball with the students before the "biters" overtook the school. Once the zombies overran the school, they killed most of the people inside, while the others (including Martínez) ran for safety; an action he would always regret.

Woodbury, Georgia[]

Main Article: Caesar Martínez (Novel Series)

The Best Defense[]

Martínez was first seen when Rick, Glenn and Michonne first arrived at Woodbury. He, Wes and several other guards cleaned out the area around the fences of biters to let them in. After they had been weapon checked, Martínez offered to take them to see the Governor before he showed up to give the group a tour himself.

This Sorrowful Life[]

Martínez is taken off of guard duty by another guard who tells him that the Governor wants to see him about something.

Later while on a trip to see Dr. Stevens, he saw that the Governor had sliced Rick's hand off, and realized that the Governor was a monster. He then devised a plan to help Rick and party escape. He and Glenn took down two guards and he even knocked Gabe unconscious to help them escape. After Steven's death he was saddened at the loss of his friend's death and comforted Alice on the way to the prison.

He explains his sad backstory and job as a gym teacher to the group as they walk. They fight their way back to the Prison which had become temporarily overrun and Martínez helps clear it of biters. However, it is later revealed he did all this under the Governor's orders, to infiltrate the prison - find its location, strengths and weaknesses - then leave and report back to him. Rick catches on to this and goes after Martínez (who had escaped almost an hour earlier) alone in the RV and runs it over him, crippling him. Rick then goes on to strangle him to death whilst he confirms he was sent by the Governor, however just wants to bring some families back with him. Rick leaves him to turn in the field.

Made To Suffer[]

In a flashback, the Governor manipulates his audience into going to war with Rick's group. He uses Martínez's severed head as 'evidence' that Rick's group are monsters who need to be put down. He tells the town that they murdered Martínez and left his head outside Woodbury's gates.

What We Become[]

Rick mentions Martínez when telling Abraham Ford about the horrible things he has done to protect those he loves.

Death[]

Killed By

After obtaining the Prison's location, Martínez attempts to run back to Woodbury. As he is running through a field, he is run over, and crippled, by Rick in Dale's RV.

Martínez admits to being sent by the Governor, but, says that he planned only to bring the good citizens back to the prison, and not the Governor or his men. Rick, however, strangles him to death, saying that Martínez doesn't know what people are capable of. He then leaves him to turn in the field.

Killed Victims[]

This list shows the victims Caesar has killed:

  • Numerous counts of zombies and possibly unnamed people

Relationships[]

For a more in-depth look at Caesar's relationships, read here: Caesar Martínez (Comic Series)/Relationships

Allies[]

Enemies[]

Appearances[]

Issues 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Book One
Book Two
Book Three 👁
Book Four
Book Five
Book Six
Book Seven
Book Eight
Book Nine
Book Ten
Book Eleven
Book Twelve
Book Thirteen
Book Fourteen
Book Fifteen
Book Sixteen
Appears Voice is heard
👁 Appears with no lines Appears in a flashback
Appears as a walker 🖼 Appears in a photograph/video
Appears as a corpse Appears in a hallucination/dream

Trivia[]

  • Robert Kirkman has stated that Martínez was meant to be homosexual, but this plot line was not pursued further.
  • Kirkman also mentioned he was planning to overwrite Martínez's story, which would've included not killing him. This was due to him being the first Hispanic character in the comics, which could've received condemnation from fans.
  • He was mistakenly called "Rodríguez" on two separate occasions in Woodbury, first by Glenn and then by Stevens[1]. This is similar to a typo encountered in Issue 93, where Jesus was willing to take the group to Kenneth, who in fact was Gregory.
  • Martinez' second name was revealed in the novel The Fall of the Governor.
  • Caesar is one of the six known paraplegics in The Walking Dead universe.
  • In the deluxe version of Issue 36, Kirkman states that, in his eyes, Martínez was sincere about wanting to only bring the good people in Woodbury back to the prison. However, he also states that Martínez might have been overpowered by those loyal to the Governor and forced to give up the location of the prison, which would give the survivors even less time to prepare their defenses.

References[]

  1. Issue 32, page 3 and 12

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