| “ | I called 'em back, 'cause you're a prize, Rick. We've been told. We don't kill you, the Widow, or the King... not if we don't have to. So why are you here, Rick? I know you, just like before. You're always the guy willing to rush in. But why? What is it you're looking for? ...Nothing to say, huh? It doesn't matter. Not anymore. Not for you, or anyone else you brought in here. 'Cause what's left of my people... they're coming. And we'll get you to Negan. Or we won't. Either way, we're gonna settle your shit, Peaches.
―Morales to Rick while holding him at gunpoint.[src]
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Morales (first name unknown) is a survivor of the outbreak and later an antagonist in AMC's The Walking Dead. During the initial outbreak, Morales was a member of the Atlanta Survivor Camp with his wife, daughter, and son, having evacuated his family to the city to find safety. After a severe walker attack brings light to the dangers of staying at the camp, Morales and his family depart from the Atlanta group to head for Birmingham, Alabama. After losing his family, Morales took a darker turn and ended up in the D.C. area where he joined the Saviors.
Overview
Morales was initially shown to be a kind, caring, brave man who was a loving husband and father and also a strong, determined survivor. Morales was shown to be a valued member of the Atlanta Camp and seemed to care about his fellow survivors deeply as seen when he protected them from the horde of Walkers that attacked their camp.
After abandoning the Atlanta Camp for the good of his family, Morales would suffer a horrible tragedy as he lost his entire family and thus became insane over it. Following this he found a sense of purpose after being found by the Saviors and thus adapted fully to their sinister lifestyle and became completely loyal to Negan and effectively devolved into a hardened, dark and ruthless survivor. Morales would reveal that he was a man willing to do anything to survive, hinting that he was likely a murderer as well.
After encountering his old ally Rick nearly two years after leaving him and the group, Morales was shown to have lost all the care and loyalty he once had for his allies in Atlanta as he was more than willing to take Rick to Negan alive to be punished for his actions and showed barely any remorse upon learning of the deaths of many of his friends from Atlanta; even Glenn at Negan's hands in front of his own wife. Morales even pointed out that Rick is also a ruthless killer and a far cry from the friendly police officer he once was, showing his lack of respect for his former ally. Ultimately Morales would die a cruel Savior and the polar opposite of the person he once was, and was killed by one of the very members of the group that he was once a part of.
Pre-Apocalypse
Atlanta, Georgia
Nothing is known about Morales' life before or as the outbreak began other than that he was married to Miranda and had two children; Louis and Eliza.
Post-Apocalypse
Season 1
"Guts"
In Atlanta, Glenn radios his group, prompting Morales and T-Dog, wearing riot gear and brandishing baseball bats, to emerge from the building and beat down the walkers. Rick and Glenn rush into the building, followed by them.
Inside the department store, Andrea points a gun in Rick's face as he and Glenn enter. "We're dead because of you," Andrea tells him, furious at his recklessness. Morales informs Rick that his gunshots have attracted numerous hordes of walkers. "You just rang the dinner bell," Andrea seethes, as the group's attention turns to a crowd of walkers outside that are slamming themselves against the outer set of glass-pane doors, furiously trying to gain entry.
Morales and the group questions Rick about what he was doing roaming around the streets of Atlanta aimlessly. He tries to explain he was trying to flag down a helicopter. Jacqui suggests that it was just a hallucination. "I saw it," Rick insists forcefully. T-Dog tries to make radio contact with the camp, but fails to get a signal, wondering if they might have better luck on higher ground. Suddenly, muffled gunshots are heard. "Oh, god, is that Dixon?" Andrea says in disbelief, as they all leave to investigate.
On the roof, Morales and the group find Merle firing at walkers with a rifle. T-Dog chastises him for wasting bullets and attracting more walkers. Merle scoffs at him by saying he'd never take orders from a "n*gger," which sets off a fight between the two. Morales tries to intervene but is hit in the stomach as Merle beats T-Dog and presses a handgun to his forehead. Rick intervenes, hitting Merle with the butt of the rifle and handcuffing him to a pipe.
Morales informs Rick there's no refugee center and that they are part of a larger group of survivors staying outside the city, but T-Dog can't reach them on the radio. "We're on our own," Rick says. With the streets no longer safe, Rick suggests they try to escape underground. Jacqui says that the building might have access to the sewers, prompting Andrea and the group to head back downstairs to the basement. In the basement, Glenn concocts a plan and he and Morales head down the sewer.
In the sewer, Morales and Glenn walk with caution til they reach a grated barrier. They discuss ways to cut through, but they soon abandon the idea when they see a walker devouring a rat on the other side. The walker reaches at them through the grate and they step back. Morales, Glenn, and Jacqui arrive with the others to report that the sewer is not an option. Morales and the group heads to the roof.
On the roof, Rick spots a cube van at a nearby construction site. The group discusses the difficulty of moving past the walkers undetected. "They smell dead. We don't. It's pretty distinct," Andrea says. Rick latches onto the concept of scent and how the dead use it to differentiate between themselves and the living. A while later, Morales and Rick collect a dead walker from the alley. Inside, Rick acknowledges the walker's lost humanity and then begins hacking the dead body to pieces with an axe. Morales then helps smear the guts on them.
Morales, Andrea, T-Dog, and Jacqui race to the roof to follow Rick and Glenn with a pair of binoculars as T-Dog tries again to radio the others. Suddenly, Morales and the rest watch as rain begins to fall rather heavily and washes the guts' smell off of them. Rick and Glenn fight the walkers and manage to get inside the cube van. On the roof, Morales and the group worries that they're being left behind but celebrate as Rick drives back for them.
Morales and the group grab their bags and rushes from the rooftop toward the loading dock, with no concern for unlocking Merle's handcuffs. They manage to get inside the van as the walkers break into the store. Rick drives away from the city as the group catches their breath. They look around at one another and a guilt-ridden T-Dog admits to the others he dropped the key, leaving Merle trapped on the roof, still handcuffed to a pipe.
"Tell It to the Frogs"
Morales returns to the survivors' camp and is reunited with his wife Miranda and children Louis and Eliza. When Rick and the others debate on how to break the news of Merle's abandonment to his brother Daryl, Morales says they must tell him what happened.
"Vatos"
Morales starts the conversation about Dale's watch, saying that he rewinds his watch everyday, even though the world has ended. Morales helps defend the camp from the invading zombies that kill several of the survivors including Amy and Ed Peletier.
"Wildfire"
Morales, his wife, and their two children make the decision that they will not be going to the CDC with the rest of the group and announce that they will be going to Birmingham in hopes of finding other family members. The group does not like their decision, but Rick gives Morales a gun with a box of ammo, and a walkie-talkie in case they want to contact the group if they change their minds. The Morales family bids farewell to the group and drive off.
Season 8
At some point after leaving the Atlanta Camp with his wife and children, Morales' entire family was killed and he became insane over it. Eventually however, Morales would be discovered by the Saviors in a trailer "sleeping himself to death" and thus Morales joined them and became loyal to Negan. Morales claimed joining the Saviors gave him a sense of purpose.
"The Damned"
Morales holds Rick gunpoint at a Savior outpost and greets him. Rick recognizes him and reminds him he knew him in Atlanta. Morales responds that that was a long time ago and reveals that he has called the Saviors to come back.
"Monsters"
Morales calls the Saviors in from the courtyard as he continues to speak with Rick. He reveals that his family didn't make it and that he was taken in by the Saviors. He berates Rick for his actions, describing him as a monster and that he is valuable alive. He then turns around to see Daryl, who shoots him with an arrow, instantly killing him.
Death
- Killed By
- Himself (Indirectly Caused)
- Daryl Dixon
As Morales is pointing his gun at Rick and lets his guard down, Daryl sneaks up behind him and shoots him through the head with his crossbow, just as Morales turns around to see Daryl, killing him instantly.
Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Morales has killed:
- Himself (Indirectly Caused)
- Numerous counts of zombies and possibly unnamed people
Relationships
Miranda MoralesMiranda seemed to have no problems with her husband, so it can be inferred they had a stable marriage. Morales heroically fought off walkers on the attack on the camp in "Vatos", defending his family and thus the group. Miranda trusts Morales enough to leave the group with him and their children. In Season 8, Morales appears to be a totally different man, this may be attributed to the apparent death of his wife. Morales later tells Rick that the loss of his family drove him insane. Eliza MoralesEliza loves her father very much this is shown when Morales returned from Atlanta, Eliza was over joyed and quickly ran into her fathers arms hugging him tightly. Morales later tells Rick that the loss of his family drove him insane. Louis MoralesLouis loves his father very much this is shown when Morales returned from Atlanta, Louis was over joyed and quickly ran into his fathers arms hugging him tightly. Morales later tells Rick that the loss of his family drove him insane. AndreaAndrea seemed to respect and accept Morales as a leader. While they were on their supply run to Atlanta Andrea aimed her gun at Rick's head, Morales told Andrea to take it away and Andrea did as he asked. Morales was also shown to appreciate Andrea, thanking her and Amy for the fish they both caught for the camp. It is unknown if Andrea was saddened by Morales and his family's departure. In "Monsters", Morales learns of Andrea's death though he shows little remorse over it. AmyMorales was also shown to appreciate Amy, thanking her and Andrea for the fish they both caught for the camp. Morales was likely saddened by Amy's tragic death. Dale HorvathDale and Morales were shown to have a good friendship, with Dale and Morales embraced in a hug once he returned from a supply run from Atlanta. Later on, while sitting around a fire, Morales asked Dale about his watch and why he kept it running, with Dale giving him an explanation. Dale's reaction to Morales and his family's departure was not shown. T-DogMorales and T-Dog had a good friendship, once Merle and T-Dog got into a fight Morales tried to intervene but got elbowed in the stomach. Theodore was then knocked to the ground and helped by Jacqui, Andrea and Morales. It wasn't shown how Theodore felt about Morales and his family leaving. Glenn RheeMorales and Glenn were shown to have a good relationship with each other during their time in the Atlanta Camp and worked well together. It is not known how Glenn felt about Morales and his family leaving the group. Nearly two years later, Morales would be told of Glenn's violent death at the hands of his own leader, Negan, by his former ally Rick, though Morales did not seem to show much remorse for Glenn's death and made it very clear that his loyalty was to Negan and the Saviors. Merle DixonMorales and Merle didn't seem to get along very well. Merle was shooting walkers on a roof in Atlanta, which Morales and the Atlanta group didn't agree with due to the fact that he was wasting bullets and attracting more walkers in the process. Merle then called Morales a "taco bender", claiming Morales to have been on his ass all day. This leads to Merle attacking Morales, T-Dog, and Rick, announcing his leadership of the group. Before anything else could happen, Rick attacked Merle with a rifle and handcuffed him to a pipe. Morales and the rest of the group abandoned Merle, even after T-Dog lost the keys to Merle's cuffs. Morales pressed to Rick to not feel remorseful about Merle being abandoned, as no one would be angered of his loss at the Atlanta camp, other than Merle's own brother. Daryl Dixon
Morales and Daryl didn't get along well during their time in Atlanta and the campsite, and were distant to one another. Daryl was enraged when Morales and the others who went on the supply run abandoned Merle in Atlanta, and states they had the walker attack which killed many coming. Daryl does not seem too upset when Morales and his family leave the group and is more angered that Rick gives him a gun and valuable ammunition to take with him. In "Monsters" Daryl sees Morales confront Rick and kills him with no remorse after Morales turned around to see him after two long years. He tells Rick that he remembers him but that it doesn't matter anymore. Rick Grimes
Morales is another of the Atlanta group Rick meets soon after Glenn saves him from the tank. Rick comes to his aid when Merle Dixon is hurling slurs at him and the others with them. In turn, Morales defends Rick from Andrea, who blames him for bringing walkers to them. Morales is disgusted when Rick chops up a walker to use it's guts as camouflage, but reluctantly obeys his orders and rubs some guts on him. He and Morales become friends during their short time together in the camp. Rick is concerned for Morales and his family's decision to find their family in Birmingham, and gives them guns and ammo, bidding them farewell and good luck. In the episode "The Damned", Rick encounters Morales at a Savior outpost and Morales holds him at gunpoint. Despite their friendship in Atlanta, Morales no longer seems to care for Rick and is possibly angered at him initiating a war against the Saviors as he tells him they knew each other a long time ago and that it is over for him. In "Monsters", Morales is surprised to learn that the "Rick" from Alexandria is Rick Grimes. However, while the two briefly reminisce upon those that they have lost, Morales is too far gone to care about Rick anymore and believes that Rick would kill him if Rick was in his position, displaying doubt to the end that Rick would try to find a different way. Rick is slightly shocked by Morales' death, though he quickly gets over it. NeganAlthough Morales was never shown onscreen with Negan, it was clear that he was completely loyal to him and the Saviors as he insisted they saved him from death and gave him a sense of purpose. Even after being informed of the deaths of many of his allies from Atlanta by Rick, Morales did not seem to care and made it clear that he was no longer loyal to his former group but to the Saviors and declared himself to be "Negan". |
Appearances
TV SeriesSeason 1
Season 8
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Trivia
- Morales is also the name of a character from Frank Darabont's film The Mist, which was also portrayed by the same actor.
- Morales has the longest period of absence than any other character to eventually reappear on The Walking Dead; having been absent for 6 seasons (95 episodes overall).
- Morales is, in many ways, a dark inversion of Morgan Jones, both being survivors who met Rick at the beginning of the apocalypse and lost their families as time went on, and in turn lost their minds. Both would meet up with Rick again around the same time frame in Virginia, though whereas Morgan began to find his innerpeace and joined Rick, Morales would die a cold, ruthless Savior willing to drag Rick in front of Negan.
- Morales is the third Atlanta camp survivor to later become an antagonist, the first being Shane Walsh and the second being Merle Dixon.
- Morales is the only traitor to Rick’s group with no remorse for his actions, even before his death.
- Morales is also the first member of Rick's group to become a Savior, the second being Eugene Porter.
- With Morales' death, there are no surviving members of his family.
- Ironically, in Season 1 Morales tells Rick that he’d face the wrath of Daryl for leaving Merle behind. In Season 8, Morales ends up facing Daryl's wrath after holding Rick at gunpoint which results in his death.
- Morales is the second survivor from the original Atlanta Camp to be killed directly by Daryl, the first being Dale.
- However, the latter was killed out of mercy after he was mortally wounded by a walker.