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This article is about the TV Universe character. You may be looking for his Comic Series or Road to Survival counterparts. For other pages with the same name, see: Duane

I was checking out a cellar and I didn't want Duane to come down there with me. And then when I came up she was standing there right in front of him and he had his gun up and he couldn't do it. So I called to him and he turned. And then she was just-- just on him. And I see red. I see red. Everything is red. Everything I see is red. And I do it! Finally. Finally was too late. I was supposed to. I was selfish. I was weak.
Morgan explains to Rick about what happened to Duane.[src]

Duane Jones is a survivor of the outbreak in AMC's Television Universe. He is a minor character in The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead. He is the son of Morgan and Jenny Jones.

Overview

Duane is a kind, respectful, and humorous boy. He is shown to be very mature and obedient for his age, always listening to his father. He is very polite when talking with Rick, referring to him as "sir." He remains optimistic when Rick believes his family is alive, saying they could be at Atlanta. He's also quite light-hearted, such as singing and dancing in the shower.

Duane's mother had died in the early stages of the outbreak and is greatly saddened by her death. At some point after Rick and Morgan go their separate ways, Duane is confronted by a zombified Jenny and is unable to put her down. Morgan finally puts down Jenny, but not before Duane is bitten and eventually turns. Duane's death ends up haunting Morgan for the rest of his life, with his death being the main cause of his descent into madness. Years after his death, Morgan still thinks about Duane and mentions him on a few occasions.

It's shown that Morgan's guilt over not being able to put Duane down still consumes him even over a decade later and impacts Morgan's ability to be a father to his adoptive daughter Mo to the point that Morgan struggles to even enter the house where Duane had died. However, when faced with a zombified Duane, Morgan is finally able to shoot his son and lay him to rest which appears to finally give Morgan peace on the loss of his family.

Pre-Apocalypse

Location Unknown

Nothing is known about Duane's life prior to or as the outbreak began, except he was born in 2000 to Jenny and Morgan Jones, and presumably attended middle school. He also had a dog named Midge.

Post-Apocalypse

During the onset of the outbreak, Duane and his family evacuated from their home, upon where they witnessed several broadcasts informing other survivors to travel towards a supposed safe-zone in Atlanta. However, due to the chaos and horrendous events which transpired around them, the family was reluctantly forced to take refuge and heavily barricade themselves within a nearby house.

At an unknown point, Jenny was bitten and succumbed to the infection. Morgan was unable to put her down and released her into the outside. Following this tragic event, Duane was firmly overprotected by Morgan who created a sense of normalcy for Duane including correcting his grammar as well as engaging in mealtime prayers.

TV Series

Season 1

Content
"Days Gone Bye"

Outside his house, Rick Grimes sits on the steps. He spots a man stumbling down the road and waves his hand to try and get his attention. As he is doing this, Duane creeps up from behind and hits him with a shovel. "Carl, I found you", Rick mutters. "Daddy I got this sumbitch! I'm gonna smack him dead!" Duane screams. Morgan approaches the stumbling man Rick was waving to and shoots him in the head. He then proceeds to walk towards Rick and points a revolver in his face. "What's that bandage for? You tell me, or I will kill you," Morgan asks him, cocking the gun at his face. Before he can answer, Rick passes out.

Later that night, Rick wakes up with his arms and legs tied to a bed. The young boy, Duane, stands guard with a baseball bat. "Did you get bit?" Morgan asks Rick stiffly, having changed his bandages though Rick's gunshot wound that has mostly healed. "Just shot, as far as I know," Rick says. Morgan checks his forehead and says if he had "the fever" it would have killed him by now, so he sets him free of the bedposts with a switchblade, but not before telling him that if he tries anything, he will not hesitate to kill him. He then offers him a seat at their dinner table.

Morgan tells Rick not to look out the window because they will see the light. He then begins to explain the story of the outbreak and the following days to a confused and disoriented Rick. "I never should have fired that gun today. The sound draws 'em. Now they're all over the street." Rick accuses Morgan of shooting a man in cold blood. "It was a walker," Morgan corrects. He adds that they get more active after dark sometimes.

Before they begin eating dinner, Duane insists that his father give a blessing. "Lord, please watch over us in these crazy days," Morgan says, and proceeds to explain to Rick that the man he shot would have tried to eat them. "One thing I do know, don't you get bit. Bites kill. The fever burns you out. But then after a while... You come back." Morgan explains."Seen it happen," Duane adds solemnly.

After dinner, the trio talk about Rick's son, Carl, and Rick satisfies a lingering curiosity shared by Duane and Morgan as to what line of work would put someone in a position to be shot at. "Sheriff's deputy," Rick remarks. Morgan smiles and says, "Duane thought you were a bank robber." Suddenly, a car alarm starts to go off outside and the trio turns off the lights.

Morgan and Rick peer out to the street through heavy covered windows and boarded up doors. The street is filled with walkers, drawn by the noise of the alarm. As the zombified Jenny walks up to the front door of the house, Duane runs away crying. Morgan comforts his son while Rick stares at her through the peephole at the front door. "She died in the other room on that bed. I should have put her down. I just didn't have it in me. She's the mother of my child." Morgan confesses with sorrow.

The next morning, Rick walks outside in a face shield, carrying a baseball bat. "We're sure they're dead? I have to ask," says Rick, approaching a walker sitting near the stoop. "They're dead. Except for something in the brain. That's why it's gotta be the head," Morgan assures him, exiting the house with Duane.

Rick approaches the walker and swings the bat repeatedly at his head, beating it down until it stops moving. He quickly becomes fatigued, most likely from his still-healing gunshot wound.

Back at the house, Rick tells Morgan he thinks his wife and son are still alive. He explains he found empty drawers in the bedrooms and the family pictures and photo albums were gone. "Photo albums. My wife, same thing. There I am packing survival gear; she's grabbing photo albums," Morgan laughs, getting emotional over the memory. Duane suggests to Rick that they could be in Atlanta. Morgan explains that the government was telling people to head to a refugee center there with military protection and food, before the broadcasts stopped. He also explains that the C.D.C. is rumored to be working on a cure.

Duane, Morgan and Rick head to the King County Sheriff's Department, where they luxuriate in hot showers thanks to a separate propane heating system. Afterward, Rick packs a duffel bag with guns and changes into his sheriff's uniform and hat. He hands Morgan a rifle and some ammunition.

They head outside and start loading the weapons into the trunk of his cruiser. Rick prepares to set off for Atlanta, while Morgan says he'll follow in a few days, once Duane has learned to shoot. Rick hands Morgan a walkie-talkie and he tells him to turn it on every day at dawn to make contact. Before leaving, Morgan gives Rick a warning: "They may not seem like much one at a time. But in a group, all riled up and hungry? Man, you watch your ass." However, the farewell is interrupted when Rick spots a reanimated Leon who claws at the chain link fence separating them. Rick admits he didn't think much of the young officer, but he won't leave him like this. He shoots him in the forehead with his revolver, putting him down. Then, he and Morgan drive away from the sheriff's department in opposite directions.

Back home, Duane is covering the windows before dark. Morgan heads up to the attic carrying Rick's rifle he left him. He looks at old photo albums and pictures of his wife. Tearfully, he positions the rifle facing the street and begins shooting walkers. He commands Duane to stay downstairs when his son gets startled by the gunshots. "Come on, baby," he says, hoping the noise will draw his wife into view. But when she appears, he breaks down, still unable to shoot her.

King County, Georgia

Content

Following Rick's departure, Morgan remains in King County with Duane. Although Rick tries to contact Morgan twice over the radio, he doesn't respond and, by the time that Morgan works himself up to calling Rick, he has gone out of range. Morgan is also unable to bring himself to put down Jenny.

While scavenging for food in a house in the King County neighborhood, Morgan orders Duane to stay upstairs while he checks the basement. However, Morgan presumably left the front door ajar, letting in a zombified Jenny who bit Duane before Morgan finally shoots her. Traumatized by what happened, Morgan flees the house, leaving Duane to turn.

At an unknown point, Morgan returns to the house where he had lost his son and retrieves the zombified Duane, chaining him up in the attic of the house where Morgan and Duane had lived following Jenny's death. Morgan leaves the message "DUANE YOU STAY THERE" on the attic walls as well as some more of his rambling in the front bedroom on the second floor. Morgan subsequently blocks out the memory of his return for Duane, believing that he never returned to the house after losing his son and marking Rick's entire neighborhood as burned out on a map despite it being completely intact.

Season 3

Content
"Clear"

While Rick is reading the chalkboard, a message catches his eye that reads "Duane Turned". Later, Morgan tells Rick that he left Duane alone while he searched a basement. When he returned, he saw that Duane had his gun pointed at Jenny, but he couldn't do it, so Jenny attacked Duane. Morgan then tells Rick that he shot Jenny himself, but it was too late and Duane was bitten.

Season 7

Content
"Bury Me Here"

Duane briefly appears in a flashback as Morgan breaks down over Benjamin's death. Later, due to his confused mental state, Morgan mistakenly refers to Benjamin as Duane, confusing Ezekiel before Morgan corrects himself.

Fear the Walking Dead

Season 8

Content
"King County"

Morgan returns to King County to put Duane down, explaining to Grace and Mo the story of his son's death at the hands of a zombified Jenny and admitting that he'd just left Duane to turn in the house where he'd died. However, Morgan struggles to just enter the house where he had left Duane. Despite being hunted by Dwight, Sherry, Oriole and a PADRE guard, Morgan insists upon pressing forward with his mission to lay Duane to rest. However, when he finally enters the house, he only finds Jenny's corpse and a walker, but no sign of Duane. A devastated Morgan concludes that Duane must've gotten out of the house a long time ago and he has lost his chance to lay his son to rest.

In the house where Morgan and Duane had lived in King County, Mo is forced to take cover in the attic by the herd outside and the house being on fire. In the attic, Mo finds a zombified Duane chained to the wall and gets trapped near her adoptive brother by a collapsing part of the celling. Rushing to his daughter's rescue, Morgan finds "DUANE YOU STAY THERE" written on the walls and Morgan is shocked to realize that he'd moved Duane to the house at some point and chained him up. Morgan hesitates to shoot Duane, remembering his son as he was when he was still alive. However, with Mo in danger and yelling encouragement to him, Morgan shoots Duane in the head with the gun that Rick Grimes had given him over a decade earlier, finally laying his son to rest.

The next morning, Morgan buries Jenny and Duane outside of the house and he promises to come back to visit and that he won't take 10 years this time. In the rubble, Mo finds Morgan's family photo album, filled with pictures of Jenny and Duane to help Morgan remember what his family was like when they were still alive.

"All I See Is Red"

Duane is one of the people whose loss continues to haunt Morgan, appearing in red-tinged flashes of his death to Morgan.

Later, Morgan touches a kiss to Grace's grave and he has flashes of Eastman, Benjamin, Nick Clark, Isaac, Rachel, John Dorie, John Dorie Sr., Alicia Clark, Jenny, Duane and Grace, all of the people that he's cared about and lost along the way. This time, Morgan only sees fond memories of his loved ones without the red-tinge, at peace at last with those that he's lost.

Death

Killed By

While Morgan is in a basement looking for supplies, a zombified Jenny approaches Duane. When Morgan returns; he calls for Duane, who is unable to kill his mother. As Duane turns around, Jenny pounces and partially devours Duane's face, killing him. He subsequently reanimates.

Over a decade after Duane first turned, Morgan shoots his son in the head in order to protect Mo, finally putting Duane to rest.

Killed Victims

This list shows the victims Duane has killed:

Relationships

Allies

Appearances

Episodes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 6
Season 7
Season 8
Season 9
Season 10
Season 11
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

Episodes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 6
Season 7
Season 8
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

  • The character's name is a reference to the 1968 film, Night of the Living Dead, which starred Duane Jones, an African-American actor who portrayed the lead character in the film, Ben.
  • Duane is the second member of his family to die and turn into a walker.
  • Duane is one of 9 survivors to still be listed as undead as of the end of the TV Series; the other 8 being Jim, Callaway, Pete Dolgen, Eric Raleigh, Winslow, Matias, Clara, and her husband Eddie.
  • In Fear the Walking Dead's "Skidmark", Morgan tells Alicia Clark that his wife "was" Jenny and that his son "is" Duane, suggesting that Morgan never put him down.
    • This is confirmed in "King County", when Morgan returns to finally put Duane down for good.
  • Jenny and Duane are mentioned by Morgan in "Alaska" as he speaks to Rachel about staying healthy as a new mother. He mentions that Jenny had trouble keeping on weight to feed Duane, no matter how much Chinese food takeout Morgan brought home for them to eat.
  • In "One More", Gabriel and Aaron drink the "Duane Jones Bourbon" which sold for $2000 a bottle, similar to the real Pappy Van Winkle's.
    • The name could also be a reference to him or the real life actor he was named after.
  • On the walls of Morgan's Houseboat in "Remember What They Took From You" is written "Duane, Jenny, you were supposed to..." and King County, Georgia. This is a reference to Morgan's lost family who died in King County.
  • Duane spent the longest amount of time as a character zombified that was eventually put down, with twelve years between his living death and his undead death.
    • He is one of two known characters to have lived longer as a walker than he did as a human. The other being Aimée, although she has yet to be put down.
  • In an Instagram post, Lennie James reveals that the zombified Duane was played once again by Adrian Kali Turner in "King County".
  • Despite being undead for over 12 years, Duane is shown to be relatively still intact. This is most likely due to him being in a closed environment and not out in the elements.
  • Duane is one of the nine TV Universe characters to appear in Fear the Walking Dead, the others being Morgan Jones, Paul Rovia, Carol Peletier, Rick Grimes, Dwight, Sherry, Jenny Jones, and Negan Smith.

International Dubbers

Language Dubber Other Characters Voiced
Czech Jindřich Žampa N/A
French Corinne Martin N/A
German N/A N/A
Hungarian N/A N/A
Italian Federico Bebi Mikey
Japanese N/A N/A
Portuguese Matheus Moreira N/A
Spanish (Latin America) Demián Velazco N/A
Spanish (Spain) N/A N/A

References

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