Hershel Greene (TV Series)

This article is about the TV series character. You may be looking for the comic, assault, or video game counterpart.

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“

I can still feel my toes. ―Hershel to Rick.

”

Hershel Greene is a former farm owner who lived in Rural Georgia and had lived there for many years with his family. Hershel is the father to Maggie and Beth Greene. He has been married twice, his first wife was Josephine Greene and his second wife was Annette Greene, who brought along her son from a previous marriage.

Pre-Apocalypse

Hershel's Farm

Hershel's family originated from Ireland. As a young child, he was given a pocket watch by his father, whose own father had passed to him. He had kept the watch until he gave it to Glenn.

He had grown up on the farm which had been in his family for 160 years, but moved out when he was fifteen because of a bad relationship with his father (partly due to his father's alcoholism).

He never let go of the grudge he held against him and avoided any form of contact, resulting in him not being present at his father's deathbed. It is a matter which, to this day, he does not regret.

In his later years, he became a veterinarian because of his love for animals. Around this time however, he also had begun to descend into alcoholism much like his father. He was frequently forced by his wife Josephine to sleep on the downstairs couch when he returned drunk from the local bar.

He was fortunately able to give alcohol up once their daughter Maggie was born. When Maggie was 6 years old, Beth was born and Hershel had hired Otis as his ranch foreman. Otis and his wife Patricia become close friends to the family.

Hershel's wife died of unknown causes when Maggie was young. When Maggie was 6 years old, he married another woman named Annette, who had a newborn son, named Shawn from her previous marriage.

Initially, he had faced hostility from Maggie for marrying Annette, however much to his pleasure he found her gradually warming up to his new wife.

As the outbreak started, Annette and Shawn were bitten by their undead fellow townspeople, and soon died and turned. Hershel, not believing their deaths and thinking they were merely under a disease of some kind (as the television/radio broadcasts seemed to imply) had Otis put them in the barn for holding until what seemed like an epidemic to him would blow over. He barricaded his remaining family and friends within the farm and had Otis continue to wrangle townspeople that came onto the premises and put them in the barn.

Post-Apocalypse

Season 2

"Bloodletting"

Hershel makes his first official appearance where he attempts to save Carl, who was hit by a stray bullet during a hunting accident, but is only able to remove one of the six bullet fragments. He explains that he will need better supplies, so Otis and Shane agree to go to a local high school to scavenge the appropriate medical tools. While waiting for the equipment, Hershel and Rick discuss a possible cure for the zombie outbreak. Rick states that there is no cure, but Hershel believes otherwise.

"Save The Last One"

While continuing to wait for Shane and Otis's return with the medical supplies, Hershel watches Carl's vitals carefully and informs Rick and Lori that if he doesn't get the medical supplies he needs soon, then they would have to decide whether to risk operating on Carl or not. However, near the end, Hershel receives the required medical equipment he needs to save Carl's life and in fact does so near the end of the episode. Hershel is also the one who tells Patricia that Otis was killed by walkers.

"Cherokee Rose"

Hershel continues to monitor Carl's condition after a funeral for Otis. After, he provides Rick with a map to help locate Sophia but informs that Rick and Shane need to relax and rest before they wind up hurting themselves. Hershel enforces the rules for his property and Rick agrees to follow his rules and tells him that once everyone is ready to travel again, they must move on and cannot stay at his farm. Hershel continues to amaze Rick with his views of scenery and the situation of the walkers and talks about religion and God.

"Chupacabra"

Hershel begins to grow more and more impatient with Rick and his group of survivors as they begin to borrow things of his without asking and both groups co-existing too well. He has hinted towards Maggie and her relationship with Glenn as well as Rick taking Jimmy along with him to search for Sophia without Rick asking and finally Daryl taking one of his horses. He then talks to Rick and tells him that he wants Rick to control his people and he will control his. Later he finds out that Carol and Lori decide to prepare a meal for everyone without asking to use his kitchen. After, Daryl is shot by Andrea and Hershel's medical expertise is needed again to patch up Daryl and he says he's amazed that Rick and his people have made it this far since they are more careless than he is. Hershel joins everyone for a quiet dinner and later Glenn discovers Hershel's dark secret about the barn.

"Secrets"

After Glenn discovers the barn of walkers, Dale confronts Hershel about it, but to no avail. Hershel remains unswayed, and continues to suggest that Rick and his group should move on.

"Pretty Much Dead Already"

Rick confronts Hershel about the barn, telling him that the survivors can handle the situation for Hershel. Hershel tells him there is no situation, and that the group needs to be off of his farm by the end of the week. Rick tells him that they can't go back out on the road, saying Hershel doesn't truly know what the undead are like. Hershel continues to refuse, prompting Rick to reveal Lori's pregnancy; telling Hershel to reconsider sending the group off the farm. Hershel decides to give Rick a chance, and brings him and Jimmy out to attempt to wrangle some undead that got stuck in some mud to prove that Rick is willing to let go of killing. Seeing this, Shane confronts Hershel about the dead, shooting one several times while asking Hershel how it's still alive. After Shane kills a walker right in front of him, Hershel collapses to the ground and helplessly watches as Shane, Andrea, Glenn, Darryl, and T-Dog slaughter the walkers in the barn. He also sees Sophia exit the barn, zombified, and her death by Rick's hands.

"Nebraska"

Hershel, after the barn massacre, is being guided back to the house with Patricia and Maggie on either side of him. Shane keeps accusing him of knowing that Sophia was in the barn. Hershel keeps insisting he didn't know. Shane goes to grab Hershel, but Maggie steps in and slaps him. Later, devastated by the barn massacre, he secretly leaves the farm and goes to town so he can drink at a bar. In the wake of Beth's breakdown, it is discovered Hershel is absent. Rick and Glenn leave the farm in order to locate Hershel and bring him back to the farm so he can tend to his daughter. The two locate Hershel at The Carriage Bar, a local tavern Hershel frequently attended before Maggie's birth. Hershel gives an impassioned dialogue during which he admits the barn massacre has caused him to finally realize the truth. He admits that Rick was right and he was wrong about the disease and its aftermath. Hershel agrees to return to the farm but as they are about to leave, the doors to the bar open and two new survivors, Dave and Tony appear. Hershel says very little during the tense exchange, quietly following the lead of Rick as the former law man attempts to keep the location of their safe haven under wraps. Hershel takes stock of the situation as things quickly take a turn for the worse. Dave appears to draw on Rick from behind the bar, but Rick beats him to the punch and fires one shot at Dave before turning and firing on Tony.

"Triggerfinger"

The group of three starts to head back to the farm, but are pinned down by a scouting party of Dave and Tony's gang. Gang members Randall, Sean, and Nate ask about their lost friends, both of whom are lying down dead on the bar's floor. After Rick reveals they're dead the gang opens fire on them. Rick tells Hershel and Glenn to head toward the back of the bar where they can escape to the car. Rick follows them later and tells Hershel to cover Glenn. After the two are outside, a man named Sean fires at Glenn. Hershel, who used to be against the use of firearms, knows how to use them and he shoots Sean in the chest. Hershel attempts to kill the walker that later walk up to Sean while he is still alive in agonizing pain. Hershel realizes that Sean cannot be saved and leaves him. Rick goes after Glenn, who is frozen in terror behind the dumpster. Acting as a sniper on top of the pharmacy across the street, Randall, the youngest member of the gang, fires at the trio. Nate calls for Randall to join him as they escape before the area is overrun by walkers and Randall jumps from the top of the pharmacy, impaling himself on a wrought iron fence. Rick heads for Randall, who has been left behind by Nate. Hershel tries to cover Sean, who is still alive, from walkers, but the gang member is easy prey for the walkers. Hershel is momentarily distracted by the carnage before racing to diagnose Randall's fate. Hershel, whose world view has completely changed in the wake of the barn massacre, suggests putting Randall down to spare him the fate suffered by his former counterpart. Rick pleads with Hershel, who argues there's nothing they can do to save him. Glenn suggests amputation and Hershel begins to take stock of the situation but it quickly becomes apparent time is not on their side. With the walkers getting closer, Rick pulls Randall's leg off the fence and the four leave for the safety of the farm. Once home, Hershel diagnoses Randall's situation and informs the group the outsider won't likely be able to walk for at least a week.

"18 Miles Out"

Hershel is not seen on camera during the episode but it is mentioned by Maggie that he is tending to Beth's injuries inside the farmhouse after her sister's suicide attempt.

"Judge, Jury, Executioner"

Dale goes to Hershel, asking for his support. "I don't want to know," Hershel insists. "I leave it with Rick." In the farmhouse, Glenn finds Hershel checking up on Beth. Hershel asks Glenn about his family and tells him about his own Irish heritage. He hands Glenn a pocket watch that belonged to his grandfather. "No man is good enough for your little girl," Hershel says, "until one is". Hershel's cows escape and are wrangled back. It appears at least one was not recovered, as Dale finds it with its entrails ripped out. Distracted by the cow, Dale is attacked by a walker, Rick calls for him and asks him if Dale can be saved to which Hershel shakes his head. Daryl takes Rick's gun, after he is unable to shoot Dale, and mercy-kills him with a shot to the head.

"Better Angels"

Hershel permits the group to move into his house, though he voices concern about Shane to Rick. He is also seen helping to bring the things of the Atlanta survivors into the house and telling Lori that she can have his room and he will sleep on the couch. Later that day he is seen investigating the barn after Randall's escape. Rick demands T-Dog and Hershel gather everyone into the house for safety.

"Beside the Dying Fire"

Hershel tells the group that it is his farm, and he will die along with it. Hershel shoots many of the approaching walkers with a shotgun. Rick saves Hershel from a walker who sneaks up behind him by shooting the walker in the back of the head. Rick pulls Hershel to a car and they flee the farm while the barn burns. In the back seat of the car, Hershel looks at the over-run farm. Hershel later insists that Rick take Carl to a safe place, and offers to stay at the section of highway where Sophia got lost to wait for the rest of the group, even if it means his death. But the remaining survivors, except Andrea, arrive just before Rick departs. The group discusses their plans for the future and start down the road.

Season 3

"Seed"

Hershel and the rest of the group discover a prison where Rick believed would be their new home. Before settling into the prison, Hershel talks to Rick about Lori and the possibility that she may have lost the baby due to stress and over exerting herself. Hershel and the others went into the prison's fence and Rick assigned Hershel to shoot the walkers from one of the towers together with Carl. That night, Hershel suggested that they should plant some seed so they can grew crops. Also, Hershel asked Beth to sing one of Paddy Riley's song at the campfire, but Maggie declined by saying "Daddy, not the one please". Hershel then changed his request and told Beth to sing "The Parting Glass". Beth then proceed to sing, and Maggie eventually sings along with her sister. The day after Rick, Glenn, Daryl, T-Dog, and Maggie cleared out Cell block-C, Carol called for Hershel to come over as Lori wanted to talked to him about the baby. Lori expresses to Hershel her fears and assumptions that her son can't stand her and Rick hates her for putting him in life-changing situations. That day, Rick, Daryl, T-Dog, Maggie, Glenn, and Hershel attempt to clean out another section of the prison. The group soon runs into small herds of walkers and is forced to retreat. During this, Glenn and Maggie become split up from the group by walkers and lock themselves in a closet.

The group, noticing the disappearance of the two, plan to go back and search for them. While they are searching, Hershel is seen stepping over what appears to be a dead inmate. The group circles back, safe from the walkers and Hershel is again seen stepping over the inmate, which shockingly awakens, grabbing Hershel by the leg and bites into his calf. Rick shoots the walker in the head and the group quickly responds to the tragedy that has taken place. They are last seen inside a vacant cafeteria where Rick examines the bite. Rick, quickly thinking, removes his own belt and ties it above the bite before taking a hatchet and amputating Hershel's lower leg in hopes that this will save him. During the amputation, Hershel loses consciousness. Stuck inside the cafeteria, the group looks up and sees a group of living human inmates staring back at them.

"Sick"

Hershel is rushed into one of the cells in C-Block, and the team attempts to stop the bleeding. Carol eventually slows it down with help from Carl who retrieved medical supplies from the infirmary. At one point during the episode, Hershel appears to stop breathing. Lori checks his pulse multiple times, and eventually gives him mouth-to-mouth CPR. He soon darts up, grabs Lori but she is pulled away from Hershel. He appears to be alive, as his eyes are still their normal color, and he soon falls back asleep. Soon, when Rick returns from helping the other prisoners clear another cell block, and enters the cell Hershel is in, Hershel wakes up. He raises his hand, and holds Rick's hand, but doesn't say a word. He soon falls back asleep.

"Walk With Me"

Hershel does not appear in this episode.

"Killer Within"

Hershel is shown in this episode to have recovered well from his amputation and is beginning to walk with crutches. When Walkers start to pour into the prison after Andrew took his revenge, Hershel and Beth hide behind a gate and remain there throughout the episode. At the end of the episode, Hershel is present when Maggie emerges from the prison carrying Lori's newborn child in her arms and witnesses Rick's sad fit.

"Say the Word"

Hershel appears in this episode standing on his crutches, talking to Glenn as he mourns the deaths of Lori, T-Dog, and Carol. While Hershel believes that the two remaining prisoners, Axel and Oscar, are good people, Glenn believes that all of the prisoners should have been killed at first sight.

"Hounded"

Hershel is seen first in the episode, eating with the others in the cafeteria of the prison. He later visits Rick, who is still in the prison's boiler room waiting for the phone. Rick tells him about another group of survivors, and how he is trying to join up with their group for safety, but tells Hershel not to say a word to the others about it. Hershel offers to sit with Rick, but Rick says no. Hershel is seen holding Baby Grimes when Rick returns to the group a second time.

"When the Dead Come Knocking"

Hershel is seen behind Rick as he opens the gate to retrieve Michonne's unconscious body. He also asks Rick if she has any bites, to which he replies that it is only a gunshot wound. He is seen with the other survivors as they interrogate Michonne. He is also seen stitching up Michonne's gunshot wound, which was delivered from Merle. Afterwards, despite the gentle treatment, she replies with a stern, "thank you".

"Made to Suffer"

Hershel appears mostly by Beth's side in this episode. When Carl hears a noise coming elsewhere in the prison, Hershel tries to talk him out of investigating it, but decides to let him go.

"The Suicide King"

Hershel will appear in this episode.

Killed Victims

This list shows the victims Hershel has killed:

• Sean (Caused)
• Numerous counts of zombies.

Appearances

The Walking Dead TV Series Season 2 "Bloodletting" "Save the Last One" "Cherokee Rose" "Chupacabra" "Secrets" "Pretty Much Dead Already" "Nebraska" "Triggerfinger" "18 Miles Out" (Mentioned) "Judge, Jury, Executioner" "Better Angels" "Beside the Dying Fire" Season 3 "Seed" "Sick" "Killer Within" "Say the Word" "Hounded" "When the Dead Come Knocking" "Made to Suffer"

Trivia

• "Triggerfinger" is the first time Hershel calls the zombies, "walkers". It is also the first time he kills walkers.
• Hershel is the third person to cause the death of living human, the others being Shane and Rick.
• Scott Wilson, who portrays Hershel, said that there is a portrait of his mother as a young girl hanging in the farm house.
• Hershel was initially scripted to be killed by Randall in the episode Better Angels during Randall's escape. However, the producers decided to allow the character to live so that they could explore the dramatic potential of losing his farm in "Beside the Dying Fire" and Season 3.
• Despite never revealing his ability in the episodes, Hershel was shown to be an astounding marksman; one such instance arises with the shooting of several walkers in Beside the Dying Fire. Furthermore, Hershel's aim is remarkably accurate in the shooting of Sean in the episode Triggerfinger when confronted.
• Hershel is one of the oldest characters in the TV Series, alongside Dale and the Nursing Home survivors.
• In the comics, Hershel appears to be in his late forties to mid-fifties. In the TV series, he appears to be much older.
• In the comics, Hershel had a much larger family. It consisted of his deceased wife, three sons (two living), and four daughters. In the TV series, the Greene family only consists of two daughters (Maggie and Beth), and a dead stepson and spouse.
• In the TV series, Hershel admittedly had a "rough" relationship with his father that resulted in his absence from the side of his father's deathbed, which he mentions that he does not regret. However, in the comic, Hershel appears to have had a positive relationship with his father. It was his father's dying wish for Hershel to take care of the farm.
• As in the TV series, after the barn shoot-out, Hershel finally learns the zombies were ultimately dead and unable to be cured. However, in the comic, he becomes infuriated with the group. In the TV series, he becomes depressed and relapses after twenty years of sobriety.
• In the comic, Hershel is directly involved in shooting the walkers in the barn. In the TV series, Hershel becomes overwhelmed with emotion and is unable to help; instead he collapses and watches in shock as the survivors massacre his undead family and friends.
• The television show's portrayal of Hershel's recovery from alcoholism is unique only to the show. There was no mention of it within the graphic novels.
• In the TV series, Hershel giving Glenn his father's watch did not occur in the Comic series.
• Hershel's incident with a walker mirrors that of Allen in the comics. Both men had their legs bitten and amputated with a hatchet by Rick.
  • Hershel was originally supposed to lose it in the comics, but Robert Kirkman felt sorry for him with the loss of five kids, so Allen lost his. Without Allen, Hershel fell back into the place of losing the leg.
• Hershel is one of the many amputees in The Walking Dead. For other victims, see Amputated Victims.
  • Hershel managed to have his lower leg amputated to prevent an infection.
• Hershel and Dale (Comic Series) are the only two to survive a zombie bite.
• While Beth is still resting in her room, Hershel sings to her a song about Doodle Bug's house on fire and that it's children are gone. It is ironic because later on, Hershel's farm caught on fire and he was separated from his children.
• In the Episode "Hounded", Hershel reveals to Rick that he still feels his amputated leg. This sensation is called "Phantom limb Syndrome", and is in fact a medical condition. Lee Everett also feels this sensation if he loses his arm.