Negan (Comic Series)

This article is about the Comic Series character. You may be looking for his TV Series or Road to Survival counterparts.

Negan
Gender	Male
Hair	Black
Age	Early to mid 40s
Occupation	Gym Teacher (Pre-Apocalypse) Used Cars Salesman (Pre-Apocalypse) Former Leader of the Saviors (Post-Apocalypse) Member of the Militia (Post-Apocalypse)
Family	Lucille - Former Wife (Deceased) Sherry - Ex-"Wife" (Deceased) Amber - Ex-"Wife"(Deceased) 4 Unnamed Ex-"Wives" Unnamed Ex-Mistress
Ethnicity	Caucasian-American
Status	Alive
First Appearance	Issue 100

“

So many fucking people... Fucking weak, fucking weakass fucking people. Crying. Scared. Doing every-fucking thing in their power to get themselves killed. Spineless fucks cowering in fear until they're ripped to shreds. I was surrounded by them. Watching them all die... So many I lost fucking count. After a while... I just started seeing everyone like that. Hell, most everyone Is like that. Dwight, those pussies at the gate-- fucking running in terror. I just lost all respect for the human race. Makes it really easy to bash a man's brain in when you think it might save all his friends... Especially when you think the only way his friends can be tricked into living is if they're made into slaves. You stop seeing people as humans after a while... ―Negan to Rick.

”

Negan (pronounced NEE-gan) is a main character and a former antagonist first encountered in Issue 100 of Image Comics' The Walking Dead and the protagonist in Here's Negan. He is the former leader of The Saviors and a primary antagonist in the Comic Series. He used his authority and resources to subjugate other communities tribute to The Saviors, in exchange for protection against zombies. The communities join together and start a conflict against The Saviors, which ends up with Dwight taking charge of The Saviors, now willing to cooperate with all survivors leading to the four communities setting up their trade routes. Negan is then incarcerated, receiving a life sentence. He serves as the primary antagonist from Volume 17: Something To Fear to Volume 21: All Out War - Part Two, but has also been present as a recurring antagonist, bordering on anti-hero, since Volume 22: A New Beginning. During Volume 27: The Whisperer War, he joined The Militia, having previously given advice to Rick during his time in prison. Negan has proved his loyality multiple times, primarily by saving Rick and Dwight, though his loyalty has been met with scepticism.

Personality

Negan is a casual, jolly, savage man who adores violence and mayhem. He is very intelligent and logical, possessing a knack for controlling and manipulating others. He has a strong affinity for profane language and offensive comments and a morbid, perverse sense of humor, seeming to enjoy the shock value. His charismatic persona and domineering presence allows him to easily intimidate friends and foes alike.

Perhaps stemming from his years as a school coach, he has a pedantic nature to him, reveling in helping others explore their thoughts, feelings, and ideas. He displays profound moments of wisdom when counseling people, keenly perceptive of abstractions that others may have missed.

Negan's primary weapon of choice is "Lucille", a baseball bat coated with barbed wire. He has an unusual obsession with it, talking of it with affection and admitting that he uses Lucille as a masturbatory tool on occasions, although this may be typical of his humour. He uses Lucille to kill zombies and humans alike. When Lucille was destroyed, he was completely devastated, even weeping for his loss. It is later revealed that Lucille was named after Negan's wife, in tribute to her before the apocalypse. When Negan buries the broken bat, he does so as to finally deal with his grief of losing his wife.

In spite of his violent and savage nature, Negan can be very reasonable for the sake of practicality, like when he spared Carl's life to keep relations steady with Rick, even though Carl slaughtered many of the Saviors.

Negan does possess a sense of sympathy underneath his cold exterior, and even a sense of honor that leads him to be repulsed by certain acts against the weak, such as rape. He believes that his horrific methods of keeping his people in line, which involve burning the faces of rule breakers and using fear to keep people subjected, are to justify a greater good, and he does stick by his own code of ethics.

He adamantly believes in a philosophy that the strong are to protect the defenseless. For instance, he murders a Savior after he tries to rape Holly, claiming that if his men are to commit rape, then their goal of rebuilding civilization can never be achieved.

He also yells at Dwight for daring to beat a "defenseless child" and is even seen losing his temper at another leader who allows rape to ensue within their ranks, declaring them less than human, apparently unaware of the hypocrisy. Despite his odd sense of sympathy, he admits he has trouble feeling emotions properly due to losing someone close to him in the past.

Negan's imprisonment has caused a change in him that many of the other survivors find hard to see, or to believe. While he is still ruthless, and struggles to express emotions, he has begun to show a desire to make up for the things that he did in the past.

Pre-Apocalypse

Virginia

Negan was high school gym coach where he practiced a range of sports including billiards and ping-pong. He also worked as a used-car salesman, presumably as a part time occupation.

At some point, Negan married a woman named Lucille where they presumably lived together as an average married couple. Negan was involved in at least one extra-marital affair. As a school faculty member, Negan constantly strived to gain the admiration of his peers. He occasionally invited several of his fellow students to play ping-pong against him inside his own personal garage, however he frequently belittled and humiliated his pupils through the use of his expressive and aggressive language which resulted in him receiving several complaints from the students' parents.

Post-Apocalypse

Here's Negan

In the early days of the apocalypse Negan was in a hospital as his wife dies from cancer. Negan couldn't bare with putting her so a Boy does it for him. Negan comes across many people all of which were killed by walkers, one of them owns a baseball bat, that will later become Lucille. During a campfire, Negan is encountered by Dwight, who let Negan join up with his group. Over some time, Negan begins to give orders and make executive decisions.

Something To Fear

At some point after the outbreak, Negan established "The Saviors" and fiercely ruled over his men. Negan, along with his team (which includes at least 50 or more other men), had made a deal with the Hilltop Colony; they would use the weaponry that the other group was lacking to kill all zombies wandering near their premises, and in return, they would obtain half of Hilltop's supplies; such as livestock and crops. To get his point across, if a potential problem would arise, Negan and his men would resort to cruel and manic measures.

If they sense they are being tracked or if they feel they aren't getting a sufficient enough amount of supplies, they beat or kill the people from Hilltop. The group also sends "messages" to the community, which are usually very deadly, such as Gregory being stabbed by Ethan.

Later, Negan, along with fifty other Saviors, snuck up on Rick's group and subdued Rick by surprise. They lined up all of the survivors from the van (Rick Grimes, Carl Grimes, Glenn, Maggie Greene, Sophia, Michonne, and Heath), telling them that he wanted revenge for the Saviors that were killed.

Without an agreement from Rick, Negan made a deal; everything that belonged to the Alexandria Safe-Zone, now belonged to the Saviors. He introduced his weapon of choice: Lucille, a baseball bat covered in barbed wire.

After a long talk about the new world order and whom he should beat to death using Lucille. He finally chose his victim at random: Glenn. Maggie panicked, as Glenn attempted talking Negan out of it. Negan ignored him and smashed Glenn's skull in by slamming Lucille down hard on Glenn's head. Negan laughed and when Glenn attempted to get to his feet, the former remarked that "he's taking it like a champ" before swinging Lucille at Glenn, dislocating his jaw and beating Glenn to death.

Negan told the group that the Saviors would be back in one week to collect half of everything they have, or there would be more killings. Rick vowed that he would avenge Glenn and kill Negan. He laughed at this, beating Rick with his bare hands in response, before leaving with his Saviors.

What Comes After

Negan and The Saviors later arrived at the Alexandria Safe-Zone for their first offering. Spencer Monroe arrived at the gate, questioning Negan's identity, to which Negan laughs.

Amused that not everyone knew his name, Negan remarks that he "had to make a pretty fucking strong first impression" and asks him to get Rick. Negan and the Saviors then begin killing the roamers surrounding the area. While the Saviors scavenge each of the houses for supplies, Negan makes several rude comments about his beating of Glenn, about Olivia being overweight, and towards Carl.

He forces Rick to hold "Lucille" while he explores the area himself. When Denise threatens a Savior for taking important medical supplies, Rick attempts to reason with him, and in response he says the group that their big walls are the only medicine they need. Before departing, he retrieves Lucille from Rick and whispers, "I just slid my dick down your throat and you thanked me for it."

He and his men depart from the Safe-Zone with supplies, but unbeknownst to him, Carl is hiding in the truck with an assault rifle. Once he and his men get back to their base, he is amazed to see that Dwight was still alive. "There is always next time, I suppose" he says, much to Dwight's disgust.

A Savior finds Carl, who kills six Saviors with the assault rifle. They surround the boy and he demands to speak with Negan. When he arrives, Carl fires at them until he loses control of his gun. Dwight is about to kill him when Negan stops him, asking if that's any way of treating their guest.

Instead of taking immediate action against the boy, Negan shows quite a bit of interest in getting to know him, leading him through the Saviors facility, revealing that he is the leader of a cult-like domain of selfless followers who bow to his every word and command. Many followers of his ranks are living on a point system in order to sustain their lives, though many give into his graces for a better living, most notably the women he considers his "wives."

It is brought to his attention that one of his many wives, Amber, has committed adultery against him with her former lover. As he goes to handle the situation, he brings Carl along to see his wives and how he handles his affairs.

Afterwards, he and Carl share a private moment in his quarters where he reveals that he'd like to get know to Carl a little better, but gets distracted by Carl's bandaged face. He orders Carl to remove the bandages, showing interest in seeing the injury to his eye. Carl allows him to see it only after being threatened; removing the bandages to reveal the disturbing effects that being shot had left him with.

Negan, in a state of disbelief and awe, jokingly mocks the deformity and goes as far as to ask Carl if he can touch the part of his skull showing through his exposed eye-socket, which causes Carl to finally break and cry. This prompts Negan to take back the gesture and apologize, seeing that he has finally found a weakness in the child he finds so dangerous.

They are interrupted by one of his followers who returns Lucille to him. Negan reverts to coldness as he orders Carl to sing a song for him while he swings the bat dangerously close by. After this intense encounter between the two, they are interrupted once again and Negan is told that the iron is ready. Negan has Carl hold the bat while following him to witness the event. 

In ritualistic fashion, complete with chanting from the followers answering to Negan's words, he shows that whoever falls onto his bad graces are dealt with by having their faces burned by a searing iron. Tied to the end of a pole, the tool once used to straighten clothes is held over a fire before being handed to Negan, who presses it against the victims face as punishment for their betrayal.

In this case, it was the face of Amber's former lover Mark, who is left deformed in the same manner as Dwight with a portion of his face permanently scarred and leaving an exposed eyeball.

After the ritual, Negan dismisses his congregation before turning to Carl who hands back Lucille and leads him away, contemplating what to do with him.

Negan runs into Rick while the latter was on his way to find Carl. Negan then tells Rick how eager he is to show him "what he has done to his son". He is then attacked by Rick in a fit of rage before revealing that Carl is fine and he meant that he is eager to show Rick "that he has done nothing to his son".

March To War

Several days later, Negan arrives at the Alexandria Safe-Zone a few days ahead of schedule; he's informed that the community is practically out of supplies and that Rick went out looking for more.

He decides that he will stay in Alexandria until Rick returns from the supply run. He makes an offhand comment about Olivia's weight, who overhears it and starts to cry. He tries to apologize, but, she merely slaps him. Despite several Saviors offering to kill her, Negan dismisses them.

He is later approached by Spencer and asks for a little background on the Safe-Zone. After awhile, Negan gets impatient with him and wants to know why he came to him. Spencer then tells Negan that Rick is not a suitable leader for the community and asks that once Negan kills him, Spencer be given control over the Safe-Zone.

Negan feels insulted that Spencer would wait until Rick is gone to tell him this. He responds by telling Spencer that Rick may hate him, but he has guts, unlike Spencer who acted like a coward. He then slashes Spencer's stomach, killing him almost instantly, remarking that he had guts after all. He then orders Seth of his men to clean the mess up before a kid sees it.

Rick returns and confronts Negan, who casually blows him off. Rick demands to know what happened or he won't leave Alexandria alive. After picking up Lucille and praying to give him strength, Negan drops the excessive profanity he normally uses and tells Rick that he feels like he's bent over backwards to show how reasonable I can be in regards how he brought Carl back to the safe-zone safely and hints about how Spencer wanted to have him kill Rick.

After seeing the supplies gathered by Rick, Negan initially demands all of it, but, then decides to take nothing as payment for killing Spencer. Rick insists that they take their share and Negan has no objections.

As they are driving back to the foundry, Negan notices Rick and a few others were following them. An instant later, the driver is shot and killed. Confused and angry, Negan takes Lucille and sees Rick pointing a gun at his head.

A gunshot is heard and Rick's gun is destroyed as well as the other's who came out with him. Negan remarks on how stupid Rick and the others are by using bullets on the roamers instead of saving them for the much more dangerous thinkers.

Negan reveals that before every pickup, he has a back-up team armed with guns surround the area while he and the others go in and salvage for supplies.

With a crazed smile on his face, Negan leans in to Rick and says that him and the safe-zone residents are fucking fucked, smiling, saying that in a stand-off situation, snipers tend to give away their position after several shots.

He clarifies that Rick's "sniper bitch" is as good as dead, causing Rick to try and strike him. As Negan holds him off, Carl shoots off a portion of Lucille, causing the Saviors to open fire at the safe-zone walls.

Negan orders them to stop and is shocked and angry about the damage to Lucille. Rick tackles him from behind, but Negan subdues him once more. He calls Carl a one-eyed asshole and shouts for Carl to be thrown over the wall, saying he wants him to pay for what he's done. Rick tries to object, but Negan beats him again and issues an ultimatum: "Give me the boy or I'll bash in all four skulls of the people out here!"

Negan admits that he liked Carl at first, saying he never had a kid of his own, but if he did, he wanted them to be like Carl. Rick says that if Carl dies, their agreement is over, but, Negan states that it already is over. He orders his men to line up Rick, Heath, Nicholas, and Holly, and begins to decide which one to kill first. He notices a figure falling from the bell tower and smugly repeats that he knew Rick's sniper was good as dead, not realizing that it's not her, but Connor.

He taunts Rick about Andrea's supposed demise and Nicholas interrupts him, pleading for his life. Negan berates Nicholas for doing this and accuses him of being a coward, he asks Rick, Heath or Holly to ask him to kill Nicholas and that if they do so, he will spare them. However Heath tells him no and he begins to pick which one of them he will kill, however he is interrupted when Paul Monroe grabs a Savior by the foot and uses him as a shield from the Saviors bullets.

Negan tells his men to stand down and when he does this Paul leaps out of a trench and kicks the nearest Savior in the face. Paul orders Rick and the others into a trench and proceeds to fight his way towards Negan. When Paul reaches Negan he manages to disarm him and hold him hostage. Paul stalls the Saviors until Ezekiel and his men arrive, Negan breaks free from Paul and runs to a truck, where he retreats back to The Sanctuary with his men. 

Negan is later seen back at The Sanctuary where he gives the Saviors a speech about them being the dominant force in the world and that they need to remind people of that and then states that they are going to war.

All Out War - Part One

Days later, Rick's army arrives to the Saviors base and demands that Negan come out. Initially, Negan is amused by this and begins to taunt him. Rick reveals that they know there are women, children and others inside who aren't part of this fight, he offers a chance to surrender and let them live; for the rest, he reaffirms his old saying: "You kill and you die."

Negan plays along with it and asks what will happen if he refuses. After hearing that whatever happens, happens, Negan thinks for a split second and blatantly refuses Rick's offer. He muses that if he thinks the army he's assembled "can actually accomplish something... that's fucking rich."

He briefly entertains the idea of letting Rick's plan go through only to reveal a wildcard; after the ambush at Alexandria, Negan ordered Gregory kidnapped and brought to him. Afraid of what Negan might do, Gregory quickly pledges his allegiance (and that of the Hilltop) to Negan and the Saviors.

Even then he is furious, as only eight people accept the ultimatum and leave. Negan berates Gregory for this and kicks him off the balcony. He refuses Rick's offer once more and his snipers begin to fire at the militia. Negan asks Lucille if she "believes this shit" and retreats from the bullets and falling glass. He calls Dwight, ordering him to bring the men from the outposts back to help drive off Rick's army.

Dwight agrees but due to the commotion, Negan doesn't notice the former's hesitation to immediately act. As more men rush outside, Negan orders them to start shooting the army before all their snipers are killed. He notices that all their snipers are taking cover and is initially confused as to why Rick's militia are shooting not the snipers, but the windows.

He then notices the large herd of zombies that are rapidly approaching the walls. He looks outside the fence and tells Dwight that "I hope you're wearing your shitting pants."

Suddenly, Holly drives through the fence, destroying a portion of it and letting the herd inside. Negan frantically orders his men back inside the foundry, but notices that Holly is still alive from the crash. He sees a zombie about to kill her and dispatches it. As she looks up, Negan smiles and says that she wasn't going to get off that easily.

As the zombies converge inside the courtyard area, the Saviors retreat back inside the foundry to develop a new strategy. Negan delivers an analogy to a group of Saviors about how you can destroy a man "by fucking his vagina," meaning that the best way to destroy a man's heart by destroying the woman he loves; he clearly believes this to be Holly since Rick "was going to drive a car at us... you wouldn't let him sacrifice himself to tear our gate down."

She corrects him by saying he's got the wrong woman; Rick loves Andrea and she herself was in love with Abraham, the man Dwight killed. Negan refuses to listen, insisting that she is the one who killed Connor "and a terrible liar." He then orders her taken away and goes off to clear his head.

Later, Negan is seen outside with more Saviors trying to clear the courtyard of all the zombies, swearing that if any of them die he will fuck them up.

Eventually, too many roamers pour in the fence and Negan's group retreat back inside once more. Negan realizes that if the herd keeps them stuck inside for more than one day, they will all be dead and he orders squads outside every two hours to clean up the infestation by any means necessary. He goes to interrogate Holly some more, but catches David in the middle of trying to rape her.

He demands that he get away from her and grabs him by the collar, angrily reminding him one of the Savior's main rules: "no rape," thus proving Negan does hate sexual violence. As punishment for him breaking it, Negan proceeds to stab David in the neck and apologizes to Holly, telling her that the Saviors aren't monsters.

After killing the Savior, it is presumed that Negan got word of one of his outposts being overrun by Rick's army and sent more to fortify the remaining ones. This in turn led to Ezekiel's army being eradicated in a failed attack. Negan also finds a way to eliminate all of the zombies that had flooded into The Sanctuary's courtyard, for he is later seen heading towards Alexandria.

When he arrives at the safe-zone, he throws a grenade over the wall and it detonates, demolishing one of the houses and getting Rick's attention. He threatens that there is more where that came from and insists that he's there to parlay.

To support his claim, he has a blindfolded Holly brought out of his truck and offers to release her back to Rick. Rick agrees to talk only when Holly is safely back inside, to which Negan agrees. This is later shown to be a ploy as it's revealed that Negan had Holly killed and she later reanimated. As the Alexandrians are distracted by this revelation, Negan orders his men to surround Alexandria and throws another grenade over the wall.

Negan is happy seeing all the destruction and chaos. He asks Lucille if seeing him use the grenades makes her jealous of not being inside to take part in all the mayhem and wishes that he was inside as well watching them all burn.

One of his Saviors is then shot through the eye, and gunfire erupts from behind several buildings. Surprised by this, Negan orders his men behind one of the trucks. He asks for one more grenade to use as cover and tells his men "the last boat is leaving... you'd better fucking be on it."

He manages to escape and they are able to make a fast exit. When a Savior makes an offhand comment about retreating, Negan retorts that this wasn't a retreat. Pointing towards the smoke coming from Alexandria, he comments that this means they've won.

All Out War - Part Two

After successfully bombarding Alexandria, Negan is seen leading his men back to Sanctuary when he sees a herd of roamers attacking several people from Alexandria. He orders them to kill the roamers and wonders aloud why they are out here beyond the wall.

Nevertheless, he orders Eugene and the others to be taken back with them.

Later, Negan somehow finds out that Eugene was making ammunition for Rick's army and goes to see him. Flanked by Dwight and Carson, Negan demands for Eugene to begin producing ammo for the Saviors. When the latter refuses, he threatens Eugene, saying he could iron Eugene's face or castrate him.

He insists that he doesn't want to do this, but remarks he does things he doesn't like all the time. Eugene still refuses to betray Rick and Negan leaves Eugene, reminding of the castration threat. After ordering Dwight to lock Eugene up and to check on the others, Negan returns to his wives.

The next day Negan reveals to the Saviors that he's come up with a brilliant plan that will help them win the war. He has assembled a group of roamers inside the courtyard to demonstrate his idea, exclaiming "they are the lynchpin of our plans going forward."

Reminding them about the fever that comes from getting bit or from any other injury caused by a roamer, Negan approaches one with Lucille. After apologizing to Lucille, Negan begins to rub it all over the roamer, caking the bat with guts and the bacteria that causes the fever. Holding up the "new and improved" Lucille, he says that even the slightest touch from Lucille will now essentially be a death sentence.

He orders the Saviors to do the same to their weapons and then hit the road. Arriving at the Hilltop later that day, Negan and his men hide inside the forest just outside the Hilltop. He then issues the order that they'll attack at sundown.

Hours later, Negan and his troops arrive at the Hilltop gates, demanding to see Rick. Kal is atop the wall and threatens them by saying they won't survive what's behind the walls. Negan tells him to bring Rick but Kal says "you're talking to me."

Insulted, Negan has one of his men shoot Kal off the wall. Once again, Negan demands for Rick to show himself. After no response from him, Negan orders his men to further gunk up their weapons, saying they're going in. He goes up to Dwight, making sure his arrows are covered. Dwight offhandedly talks back, but Negan dismisses it.

He warns Rick one more time what will happen and then orders a truck to ram into the front gates. The truck gets shot up, but Negan issues another to take its place and has motorcycles come in as well. The Saviors pour into the Hilltop and begin to kill off the residents.

As gunfire continues to erupt towards them, Negan and Dwight get separated from the other Saviors. Negan is unaware that Dwight is loading an arrow to kill him when he spots Rick away from the other survivors.

He tells Dwight to shoot Rick; no matter where. Dwight is hesitant to do so, but Negan demands why he's waiting and screams at him to shoot Rick. Dwight finally does so, hitting Rick in the side. After this, Negan declares that without Rick, the rebels are nothing, and that the game is over.

Negan and Dwight retreat back to the rest of the Saviors, hoping to devise a plan of attack against the remaining survivors at Hilltop. When night completely falls on the colony, Negan is almost shot by one of the Saviors, who states he couldn't see properly in the darkness. Negan says that it is not that dark and asks one of his Saviors the status of the battle.

The Savior tells him most of The Saviors are now re-grouped and they are ready to get back on the defensive and Negan orders him and the rest of the men to get ready for their attack on the Hilltop mansion.

When they begin their attack, they are immediately surrounded by many of Rick's forces, who manage to cause Negan to order and retreat and head back to The Savior camps on the hillside near Hilltop.

After his and The Saviors' retreat, Negan is seen back at the camp alongside Dwight, who questions if camping so close to Hilltop is a good idea. Negan says that they are doing it and remarks that he sometimes wonders if Dwight has ever had a brain in his head. He elaborates by saying that Rick's forces won't have enough manpower to counterattack and that because Dwight shot Rick with an arrow, his death will cause the remaining forces to bow back down to Negan and he says that he will be their Savior again, as long as they let him urinate on Rick's dead body.

Seeing the look on Dwight's face, Negan says that there's nothing weird about it, since Rick has ruined everything. He is then informed that Carson has escaped with Eugene. Negan tells him not to worry about it, and that they will deal with them later.

He arrives at Hilltop gates, and shoots twice into the air. He claims that he's there to accept their surrender and asks them to send whoever is now in charge out. He swears the area he's in will be a safe zone and there won't be any bloodshed.

After getting impatient, Negan threatens to come back inside when Rick exits the Hilltop. Bowled over with shock to see him still alive, Negan turns towards Dwight for an answer but Rick tells him to look at him.

Overcoming his initial shock, Negan asks Rick to surrender, to let things go back the way they were, but Rick refuses. He repeats that he only kills people to make an example and threatens Rick that he will do so again if pushed too far, but Rick replies by saying he's the stupidest fucking person still alive.

Taken aback, Negan asks what he's talking about. Rick goes on to say that they should pool their resources and people together. Negan doesn't believe him, saying that with the system he is been using saves lives. Rick tells him in the current situation, the only ones who are winning are the undead; the only way to get through this is by working together.

Negan takes this all in and Rick says that they can take their supplies, but they must give the survivors something in return: make supplies of their own to give or trade for others via a barter system. A fog seems to lift from Negan's mind and he finally sees what Rick has been talking about, realizing that his actions and methods have only helped himself while the communities he's been threatening have suffered.

Negan says he's been wrong all along and that Rick is right. Rick then slashes Negan's throat with a knife, responding "Good."

Caught by surprise, Negan begins bleeding out while Rick begins to address the remaining Saviors. Negan then tackles Rick and begins beating him. Despite Rick putting up a fight, Negan catches one of Rick's legs and breaks it.

Laughing, he passes out due to blood loss. He eventually wakes up inside one of the rooms in the Hilltop and sees Rick standing over him. He admits to Rick that during the conversation Rick had with Carl, he was able to only catch bits and pieces of it. He knows that Rick decided not to kill him, but asks what was going to happen next. Rick reveals that he will gonna keep Negan alive so he can see how much he was holding the survivors back, telling he will rot in jail until he dies an old man.

A New Beginning

Two years after the war, Carl goes to the basement of an unknown house and talks to a figure in the shadows. Saying how he, Mikey and some other boys went to a girl's house after class, and that she showed them her breasts. He says it was cool and all but he kind of had a crush on her, but after this he's not sure, remarking how he doesn't want to have someone who does that sort of thing.

The figure says that nothing is wrong with the girl and suggest Carl not hold this one instance against her. He then says to Carl that he enjoys the talks, that it's good for him to keep track of the time and days passed. Carl says he's leaving, before he leaves, the figure asks him if, after all this time, all the things they've shared and the talks they've had, Carl still wants to kill him. He turns around and faces the person behind bars, simply saying: "Yes, Negan. You know I do."

Negan asks how he was supposed to know that Carl wanted to kill him and tells him not to insult his intelligence. Negan says that he thought the two of them were friends to which Carl walks away, making Negan retreat into the corner of his cell. 

Negan says to Rick that his least favorite part of the day is shitting in a bucket but it's also his favorite as Rick has to be the one to come get it. Rick says that he's only bringing him food and that someone else will be out to clean his bucket later.

He asks if Rick is taking Carl to the Hilltop, slightly shocking Rick. Negan says that him and Carl are friends and that Rick couldn't break that bond. Negan asks if the creaking he can hear is a windmill, making Rick say that life would go on without him just as he said it would.

Negan tells Rick that he's just getting things ready for him, and that he won't be in his cell forever. Rick says that he knows Negan will die behind bars, Negan states he won't and that deep down, Rick knows he should have killed Negan.

Rick asks him if he noticed that he doesn't use profanity all that much anymore and asks why that is. Negan says he doesn't see the point and that it is best to save his energy. Rick tells him that's not why, it is because Negan has been neutered like a dog and has no fight left in him.

Magna and her group later come down to see who was in the jail. When they walk down the stairs to where Negan is being held, Negan grabs the bars to his cell and asks if they're here to rescue him, saying that they are animals. This shocks Magna and her group.

He begs to be released and claims Rick is a monster who locked him up and tortured him for speaking out against him. However, Magna doesn't believe him, having seen actual victims of torture. Negan admits he was lying but had to give it a try. Magna and her companions leave the cell.

Life and Death

Negan is bathing in a small tub provided for him outside of his cage. He is being guarded at gunpoint by two men as Olivia cuts his hair. The two share uncomfortable words about his scars as she does so. Andrea enters to assure that everything was good to which Negan responds the one thing he has never been accused of is being good.

The two men then take the tub as Negan dresses and Andrea orders him to go back into his cell with her gun drawn. Olivia struggles with locking the cell but eventually believes to succeed. The two women then also leave and he sighs, leaning against the bars. But much to his surprise, the door swings open, having been left unlocked.

Later on, Rick goes downstairs, and much to his shock, Negan is sitting inside his cell, with the door open. Negan sarcastically welcomes him home. Rick reaches for his gun, only to be taunted by Negan about his leg and his "grandpa" appearance.

He then questions Rick about the gun, since he could have easily sneaked behind and subdued Rick, but instead he decided to stay, as to make Rick trust him a little. He goes on and say that he could have booby-trapped the safe-zone, he could have started a fire in the house to kill Rick and Andrea while they're asleep or that he could have simply raped Andrea without anyone knowing.

Much to Negan's surprise, Rick still says that nothing has changed and that he has no trust in Negan. Knowing that nothing he says will work, Negan proceeds to taunt Rick about the reason why he's keeping him here, only to prove to himself and no one else that he has mercy, and that he wants others to believe he's a good person and the only one who can fix the world.

No Turning Back

After a tumultuous community meeting regarding Rick's proposed plan regarding the Whisperers, Rick goes to Negan's cell and asks for his help. He fills him in on everything that has happened since they've come into conflict with this new group.

Negan advises Rick to keep his group happy, even if that means lying to them, touting his expertise as leader of the Saviors, some of whom disliked him. Rick leaves, and Negan dons a grin. When Negan hears the chants and cheers of Rick's name at a later town meeting, Negan smiles and says, "atta boy."

Call To Arms

Later on, Negan is approached in his cell by Brandon Rose, who has the keys to the cell and wants to release Negan so they can inform The Whisperers of Rick's plan to attack them, and they can come back to kill Rick and the other members of the community. Negan is skeptical that they would leave the Safe-Zone alive, though Brandon assures Negan that a group from the Hilltop are preparing to leave as well with Negan and Brandon can smuggle themselves out.

Negan tells Brandon that he'll think about it. When Rick and Michonne arrive after being told that the keys are missing, they find an empty cell.

Negan and Brandon, having escaped the Safe-Zone, meet up in the woods where the latter gave Negan his jacket who remarked he feels naked without it. Brandon presses Negan to contact the Whisperers, with Negan pointing out that Brandon's plan is flawed, for now Negan has his freedom and Brandon has no leverage over him. Negan orders Brandon to lead him to the Whisperers, making it clear that he is the one in charge.

As they make their way to the border, Brandon's complaints irritate Negan, who bluntly expresses his dislike for the boy. The pair reach the border where Brandon's mother's head was placed by the Whisperers at which point Brandon breaks down, Negan responds by insulting him, though Negan appears to show empathy by apologizing and embracing him.

Brandon expresses his desire of revenge on both Rick and the Whisperers by pitting the two sides against each other, Negan says that is the plan, before plunging a knife through Brandon's heart. As Negan walks into the Whisperer's territory, he tauntingly tells Brandon's corpse that it was his plan, not his.

Negan engages in some "friendly" conversation with Alpha. After a while, she asks how he survived so long. He tells her he was with another group, but they "booted him out". She asks him if he's looking for revenge on these people. He says it's not the kind of thing he'd ask for on a first date. Alpha asks him to stop, but he continues making sexual remarks, leading to Alpha punching him in the face, prompting Negan to apologize, saying he can tell he crossed a line.

Beta appears, pinning Negan up against a tree. He tells them about his encounter with Michonne, Aaron and the Militia. Negan admits he lied, saying when he is scared he starts lying.

Alpha orders him to explain himself. He doesn't, saying Beta is scary, and to just kill him if that's what they're going to do. Alpha asks him if he's scared, to which he replies no. He says he lived longer than he expected to. When Alpha asks him why he came, Negan says he has a lot to offer her.

Alpha and Beta continue to debate on how to handle Negan, with the later stating his disapproval for allowing him to live despite him deceiving the Whisperers of his true nature as an escaped prisoner and that he doesn't understand the nature of their ways. Negan states his willingness to learn but also questions on how the Whisperers recruit others when they trust so little in reference to Beta's attitude towards him.

Beta becomes enraged by Negan's statement but Alpha pulls him aside and asserts herself in suggesting whether Beta questions her judgement and leadership, questioning if it his time to become Alpha, asking him if he's challenging her. Beta quickly lowers on one knee and apologizes for his actions, asking for forgiveness which Alpha grants him before asking him to leave her with Negan.

Negan applauds Alpha confronting Beta as awesome, before bowing down to Alpha himself, requesting acceptance which she grants him. Negan jokes about how the experience gave him an erection as Alpha returns Negan's knife to him saying that he can stay and that he should learn and follow the Whisperers rules, however doubting his survival. When Negan requests a skin suit, Alpha responds he must earn the privilege.

Negan is later seen participating with the Whisperers in various activities such as loading cargo onto carts, feeding horses, sleeping in sleeping bags alongside other Whisperers and shooting a boar with a long bow as the days transpire.

After shooting the boar Negan boasts proudly of his achievement which leads him to being reminded by Alpha in being silent and not raise noise. One day as Negan hacks at a fallen tree he is approached by a Whisperer informing him of nearby roamers and that he shouldn't draw any attention so they can pass before passing a group of Whisperers preparing a skin suit.

As Negan carries logs of wood he is grabbed by a roamer to his surprise. The Whisperers refuse to help, stating that if he is strong he will survive much to Negan's annoyance. Alpha then promptly drops Negan's knife close to him, requesting Negan to prove that deserves having his property returned to him. Negan is then able to dispatch two roamers with the Whisperers in awe of his skills, however Beta scoffs at his achievement.

Later that night, Alpha requests Negan to join her for dinner which notably upsets Beta. As Negan prepares his sleeping bag, Beta orders Negan to sleep on the other side of camp and not with Alpha. Negan mocks Beta under his breath. As Negan looks for a place to sleep he hears out cries for help to which he runs over to and is shocked to discover two male Whisperers attempting to rape a female Whisperer. Negan steps in to protect the female, calling the male pair "sick fucks". Before Negan attempts to murder one of the assailants, Beta knocks him over the head.

Beta defends the men by claiming they were simply "living their lives" and that interference only denies the right for the victim to defend themselves thus proving their strength. Alpha concurs, saying that despite understanding Negan's actions that interference is not their way. Negan becomes outraged by their reasoning for such atrocities, causing him to be "punished."

Later seen sleeping outside the camp with no protection as his form of punishment, Negan mutters his disdain for the Whisperers, calling them weirdos.

Alpha approaches Negan, stating him to have proven himself as an asset and that he has gained her respect and trust. However, she also fears that Negan doesn't belong with the Whisperers.

Negan mockingly suggests that he belongs because they need him as he expresses his hatred for the barbarity that Alpha tolerates and that she should be ashamed of herself for letting the horrors continue.

She defends herself by saying if the weak are protected they will never become strong. Negan counters by saying protecting the weak is the basis for civilization and by not doing so makes the Whisperers nothing but animals, to which she declares they are, and that civilization is a myth and Negan must stare into the ugliness to see the truth. Negan is unswayed, declaring Alpha's reasoning as bullshit.

He argues hurting people for pleasure as a form of "instinct" makes you a monster that should be executed on the spot. Given Negan's own commitment of atrocities, he defends his actions as being for the greater good and never for pleasure, exempting himself as a monster.

Alpha declares that in nature only the strong survive, and attempts to further her point but becomes emotionally shaken and attempts to leave. Noticing this, Negan orders her to come back and talk to her. Negan says that Alpha doesn't have to worry about displaying weakness by crying in front of him as he doesn't want to assert himself as the next Alpha unlike other Whisperers who would if they noticed and that she has Beta to protect her.

She disagrees that Beta protects her to which Negan suggests otherwise, calling her a hypocrite and that she wouldn't survive as long as she has without Beta protecting her. Alpha attempts to assert that her strength and authority is what creates order among the Whisperers before breaking down into tears when she states how the thought of letting Rick's group take her daughter, Lydia, would make her stronger and that there was no other way to live in this world. "I... I miss her so much", says Alpha, finally expressing her love for Lydia.

Realizing how exposed she made herself to Negan, Alpha declares herself as weak and not fit to lead. Negan, surprised by Alpha's emotional outburst, begins to lament on the loss of someone close to him before the apocalypse started and how much it broke him, causing him to lose all sense of feeling.

He declares his emotional insensibility to be his strength and the reason he has survived this long. Negan claims how this helps in him committing atrocities in order for the greater good whilst not feeling remorse for the pain he causes; "It just is what it is. It's survival".

Negan compares his emotionally severed connection to the world with Alpha's facade and argues she's only pretending to be emotionally detached.

Wowed, Alpha suggests that Negan does in fact belong with the Whisperers to which Negan suggests as well.

Negan then proceeds to slash Alpha's throat with his knife before revealing he doesn't want to be with the Whisperers. She falls to her knees in shock, bleeding out.

He delicately lowers her onto her back and then slashes her throat several more times until he holds her head in his hands. He tells the head to wait until Rick sees it.

The Whisperer War

On patrol, Magna spies Negan approaching with a bag. She yells for Dwight, who wants Magna to shoot him but she refuses. Since Negan is unarmed and seemingly poses no immediate threat, they agree to take him back to Rick. Negan tries to grab Lucille from Dwight's back, but Dwight doesn't let him. Negan teases him, asserting that he will prove his trustworthiness, and saying "You're going to fucking give her to me."

Later, Negan shows the head to Rick and Andrea, who are very hesitant to believe and trust him. Negan reassures them that he only wants trust. He says Rick's way of thinking is inspiring. He says he could've taken several chances and attacked Rick, but he didn't. He wants to fight with him, not against him. Rick finally agrees to let Negan out of the cell, but not in a community. He will live in an outpost, alone, with only enough food and weaponry to keep him surviving. He is not allowed these freedoms yet, though. He is going to be monitored for a long time and will fight in the front lines against the Whisperers. He will earn his freedom after the war, unless he slips up, in which case he will be immediately killed. Negan is later present when the group discuss where to station themselves. He is also seen travelling with the Militia to patrol.

Negan is seen patrolling with Dwight. He asks Dwight for a gun, but Dwight refuses. He proceed to tease Dwight about Sherry until Dwight shouts at him to stop. Laura runs up saying they've got movement and possible contact. Negan stands back as the Militia fire at horde of zombies and Whisperers approaching, however moves to action when a soldier is attacked by a Whisperer. He defeats the Whisperer and grabs the fallen soldier's gun, but is snuck up upon by a zombie, but the zombie is killed by someone unknown, just in time. He now fires at the approaching horde. Later, as Dwight is attacked by Beta, Beta is struck over the head by an assailant revealed to be Negan, who promises to kill Beta.

Negan fights with Beta, slamming his gun into his back, and Beta cutting Negan's forehead. When Beta disarms him, Dwight tosses him Lucille, who Negan hits off Beta's back. To Negan's anguish, Lucille breaks in half by the force of the blow. Tears well in Negan's eyes as he runs to kill Beta, however he is forced to recline when he's attacked by two zombies. During this time, Beta escapes.

After the battle, Negan buries Lucille as a way to properly lay to rest the person he named her after: his wife. Negan openly mourns her, apologizing for failing to bury her previously and be a good husband as well as naming the bat in honor of her. Negan then arrives at Alexandria with the rest of Militia, knowing that he doesn't belong and no one cares about him as other members are embraced.

Killed Victims

This list shows the victims Negan has killed:

• Andy (Caused or Direct)
• David (Caused or Direct)
• Crystal (Assumed, Caused or Direct)
• Ethan (Indirectly Caused)
• Abraham Ford (Caused)
• Glenn
• Spencer Monroe
• David
• Holly (Alive)
• Charles (Caused or Direct)
• Betsy (Caused or Direct)
• Mr. Orson (Caused or Direct)
• Mrs. Orson (Caused or Direct)
• Denise Cloyd (Indirectly Caused)
• Kal (Caused)
• Brandon Rose (Alive)
• Alpha (Alive)
• Unnamed Kingdom Survivor
• Possibly few unnamed Whisperers
• Numerous counts of zombies and unnamed people (Caused and Direct).

Relationships

Carl Grimes “ I thought we were friends. ―Negan to Carl ” Negan is hated by Carl, and this is demonstrated when Carl risks his life to get revenge by sneaking into Negan's truck in order to kill him. It appears though, that Negan likes and admires Carl because of how hardened he is. He has stated how if he had a son, he'd want his son to be like Carl. It is shown that he may even have some higher opinion of the child, such as respect, as he is shown to be sincerely concerned and apologetic after making fun of his exposed gunshot injury. Carl returns Negan's admiration for him by accompanying him throughout the Savior's base without even trying to run or take action, also questioning the leader of his wives actually being his. Negan may very well be catering Carl to become a protege of some sort, as he is shown to be more impressed by the boy rather than angered by his violence against his men. However after Carl shot Lucille (Negan's baseball bat covered in barbed wire), Negan demanded Carl's head or he'd kill everyone else in the safe zone. In Issue 127, two years after the end of the war, Carl has regularly visited and confided in Negan in his makeshift prison. He tells Negan about a girl he has a crush on, and Negan thanks Carl for visiting him, saying that Carl's visits help him keep track of the days. However, he asks Carl if, after all of their discussions, he still wants to kill him, to which Carl responds, "You know I do". Negan is shocked, offended, and upset. Dwight “ Haven't sent a single fucking bullet your way! Trust me yet?. ―Negan to Dwight ” Dwight and Negan seem to have a tense relationship, as both seem to dislike the other to a point. However, Dwight's fear of Negan keeps him in line, as it is implied that Negan himself caused the deformity on his face. This is seen when Negan comments on Dwight's return and how he can always try next time to attack the Alexandria Safe-Zone, which resulted in heavy casualties and Dwight's capture. Dwight shows a look of disgust towards Negan after this. Dwight also seems to be intimidated by Negan, as he decides not to tell him about Paul's escape, in fear of Negan's wrath. Dwight's frustration grew when Negan, after playing ping pong, provoked Dwight by saying him that he would "ping pong his dick" with Sherry, causing Dwight's bearing to finally break and assist the alliance. At the end of All-Out War, Dwight takes Negan's position as leader of the Saviors and turns him over to Rick, most likely severing their relationship completely. When Negan met Dwight again, Dwight order Magna to kill him but refused to. Dwight is place in charge with watching Negan now. During a fight Negan saves Dwight's life from Beta. Rick Grimes “ This makes up for everything, right? Even though I'm the one who fucked the leg up in the first place? Well? You're a hard fucking man to please, Rick Grimes. ―Negan to Rick Grimes after saving his life. ” Rick has shown nothing but anger and rage at Negan. Negan, on the other hand, has a deep held respect for and acknowledgement of Rick's abilities. Although he acts like a laid-back bully, rather than a psychotic murderer around Rick, Glenn's gruesome death was proof to Rick of the violence and brutality that Negan and his Saviors are capable of. This leads Rick to realize that striking back immediately will most likely result in the destruction of the Safe-Zone, leading him to choose a passive course of action until he can stand a chance to avenge Glenn's death. His first step was to allow their prisoner, Dwight, to be set free so that Paul could follow him to their base. After returning Carl unhurt (after implying to Rick that he had done something to the boy), Negan tried to assure Rick that it was a gesture of good faith and shows that he could be reasonable as long as Rick was compliant. Although Rick was grateful, he made it clear that things hadn't changed between the two of them, to which Negan didn't seemed surprised.  Although Rick bitterly despises Negan, at the end of "All Out War" Rick decides to keep him alive and incarcerated, not wanting to go down to his level by committing murder again, saying Negan will rot in jail until he dies an old man, all the while watching how the survivors are thriving without him. After the time skip when Rick visits Negan in jail, he belittles him and mocks everything he's become. After Negan is freed, he travels to the Whisperers' camp and returns with Alpha's head. He argues with Rick that he is an asset, in that he uncharacteristically withheld the opportunity of taking control of an army and exact revenge. Given the situation, Negan states he cannot return to incarceration. Rick grudgingly agrees to free Negan and let him live at an outpost alone. He says that he will never trust him, however Negan is visibly pleased. When the Whisperer's herd invades Alexandria, Rick and Negan pull together with the rest of the community to defend their home. Negan even saves Rick's life when the latter becomes surrounded. Together, Rick and Negan take refuge in an abandoned house. Given the situation and how others fled in fear, Negan notes how alike he and Rick are in the face of danger and that they should get along better. Rick bitterly states "that ship has sailed". As time passes, Negan asks Rick what was the worse thing he has ever done. Disinterested at first, Rick eventually gives his answer that the worse thing he had ever done was live while countless others he knew did not. Reacting profoundly to Rick's response, Negan openly admits his disconnection to humanity as he began viewing everyone he met as weak and a liability and how Rick helped him change his perception. Negan then states the worst thing he ever did was leave his wife to rot after not possessing the courage to put her down once she had turned. More time passes as the invading walkers are being split apart by the joint community's efforts to manage the herd. Rick suggests he gather weapons and help, Negan however offers to assist as sending Rick would be suicidal given his injured leg. As they're about to kill some walkers, Negan joyfully exclaims how the two are working together. Ezekiel “ No, I have never been accepting of Negan's truce. I crowned myself king of this Kingdom in order to make the lives of my people as good as they can be. Negan and his Saviors... I wish to be rid of them. Your friend Jesus knows how deep my hatred for these people burns, how I've simply been waiting for the right moment to strike against these devils. Your son's experience provides me with more than enough information needed to launch an assault. I thank you and again, I am truly sorry for what you had to endure to retrieve that information. ―Ezekiel to Rick and Jesus about Negan's rule ” Ezekiel deeply hates Negan and wants him dead, as he stated that Jesus knew how much hate he had for the Saviors. It is also mentioned that he never accepted Negan's supply truce Maggie Greene Maggie deeply hates Negan for killing Glenn, and assisted Rick in the war against the Saviors. Maggie's reaction on Rick not killing Negan is unknown, but it is implied she understood by not wanting to kill people if necessary. After the time skip, Maggie reveals that she still believes Negan should be executed. Gregory “ You said it was half their fucking army! You didn't know how many fucking people left your place?! You thought it was more than eight?! ―Negan to Gregory as their plan failed. ” Gregory is shown to be terrified of Negan and his group, to the point where he avoids as much confrontation as possible between the Saviors and the Hilltop. Negan expected Gregory to force the Hilltop Colony residents to leave the war, but it was only eight members instead, which caused Negan to shout out at Gregory in anger. After that, he kicked Gregory off the building, calling him "pathetic." Paul Monroe “ Now you listen to me. You're not going to survive this. Even if you kill me... they're still going to mow you the fuck down. Assuming you don't want to die as much as I don't fucking want to die... Where do we go from here? ―Negan to Jesus while at gunpoint ” Paul has a significant role in planning to overthrow The Saviors reign of tyranny and kill Negan. He has a strong dislike of Negan, yet has only seen him in person a few times. When Negan was about to execute Rick and the group at the gate of Alexandria-Safe Zone, Jesus managed to save them all by attacking The Saviors on his own before holding Negan at the gunpoint. Carson At first it seemed that Carson respected Negan, but when Dwight tells Eugne about his partnership with Rick and he wants Negan dead. Carson tells him he as well wants him dead. Olivia Negan has insulted Olivia multiple times about her weight, up front and behind her back. He once offered to engage in sex with her, leading to her slapping him across the face. Spencer Monroe “ You wanted to take over...Why not just kill Rick and take the fuck over? You know why? Because you got no guts. ―Negan to Spencer before killing him ” Negan is greeted by Spencer when he visits the Safe-Zone several times. During the most recent visit, Negan takes a bit of a liking to him after hearing how the Safe-Zone was formed and all the commodities the Safe-Zone offers. Spencer tells Negan that Rick is a bad leader and proposes that Negan put him in charge once Rick is killed. Negan is disgusted by Spencer for waiting until Rick was gone to tell him this. Negan taunts Spencer, saying that Rick is willing to put the good of others before his own feelings, and then brutally kills him. Eugene Porter “ Lets leave him to his dick and his thoughts... while he still has them. ―Negan to Carson and Dwight about Eugene. ” Negan and Eugene have a poor relationship. During All Out War, Eugene is captured by Negan who threatens to cut off Eugene's testicles if he doesn't make bullets for him. Eugene refuses, expressing his loyalty to Rick. This annoys Negan, who makes further threats, but Eugene never obliges. Mark “ See? All done. Now was that so bad? Huh? Passed out?! Pussy. ―Negan to Mark ” Negan and Mark have a bad relationship. It is assumed that Mark and Amber were in a relationship before she became one of Negan's "wives", but the two began to carry out the relationship in secret. Negan found out and he punished Mark awfully by scarring half of his face with a hot iron. It is assumed that Mark, similarly to Dwight, now hates him for the disfigurement of his face. This is later confirmed when Mark asks Eugene Porter if he and Amber can leave the saviors with Eugene and Carson. Amber “ Staying... I love you, Negan. ―Amber to Negan after he asked if she wanted to stay in the harem or go back to Mark and her old job ” Amber is one of Negan's wives, and when Amber slept with her boyfriend, Mark, behind Negan's back, Negan punished Mark and burnt his face after Amber decide to stay for luxury and privileges in the harem instead come back to her old job working like everyone else in the sanctuary, similar situation to Dwight and his relationship with Sherry, another wife of Negan Holly “ We're Not Monsters. ―Negan to Holly after killing David. ” Negan takes Holly captive after thinking Holly is Andrea. After Negan finds out Holly isn't Andrea he keeps her prisoner. When David tries to rape her Negan kills him telling her that his group is not monsters. Negan later kills Holly, having her zombiefied, and then leads and attack on the Alexandria Safe-Zone. Magna “ I've seen torture... What it does to someone. You seem well taken care of. And I know when someone is lying. ―Magna to Negan ” Magna doesn't trust Negan, particularly after he pretended to be held under duress in his cell. Andrea Andrea reveals that she believes executing Negan is still a possibility even though two years have past, and believes letting him live is a bad and risky decision. When Andrea is on her deathbed, Negan comes by and pays his respects to her. He shows his admiration for her and admits that he 'would have been honored' to have her be the one who killed him. Brandon Rose “ Oh, don't be such a crybaby. The fucking world ended. Everyone's mother is dead, you pussy. Besides... we're on our way to talk to the people who cut your mom's head off... have some motherfucking perspective. ―Negan to Brandon telling him to get over his mother's death. ” Brandon and Negan first meet when the former goes down to Negan's cell to help him get out, and go to the Whispers base and alert them about the war between Alexandria. After Brandon tells Negan his plan, Negan then seemingly tells Brandon that he likes where this is going and he has to think about it. When Rick and Michonne and alerted by Paula that the cell door keys are gone, they race to see if Negan is still there. When they get there he is gone. However, their relationship takes a turn for the worst when Negan starts to dislike Brandon, due to his treacherous intentions toward Alexandria. When Brandon tearfully mourns Tammy, Negan tells him that he is a coward and that they're going to meet with the people that killed his mother in the first place. He hugs Brandon, but then kills him by stabbing him in the chest, showing his contempt for Brandon himself. Alpha “ Wait until Rick gets a look at you. ―Negan about Alpha's decapitate head ” Alpha and Negan had an interesting relationship. When they first meet, Negan declares his love for her, and his respect for her as a leader quickly grows. She returns her respect to the fearless and jolly Negan. Negan continues to constantly make advances on Alpha despite the latter being completely unamused and annoyed by them as well as his charismatic exterior. When Negan makes an explicit advance, Alpha strikes him, promoting Negan to see that he crossed a line. When Beta appears, he asks Alpha if he can kill Negan due to him lying about his true nature and how he almost died as a result, though she doesn't allow him. Alpha taunts Negan about being scared, but he says he isn't. He tells her that he has a lot to offer her. Over the next many of days, Alpha slowly begins to trust Negan in his abilities and in acting as a possible member of the Whisperers such as when she invites Negan to dine next to her and Beta one night. Negan internally begins to question the respect he held for Alpha when he witness the inhumanities she allows to run rampant in her group. When Negan expresses his outrage to Alpha of her allowing rape of the women in the group in a chance to test one's strength to then later mock their way of life, this adds a strain on the relationship. Negan further calls out on Alpha for presenting a false facade of strength and how she needs constant protection in order to maintain her role, this causes her to confide in him about missing her daughter and how that maybe Negan does in fact belong with the Whisperers. Negan's opinion on Alpha takes a turn south when he realizes that she forces a facade of stoicism, believing civilization was always fraudulent and that mankind is nothing more than another wild animal. This directly conflicts with Negan's worldview and admiration of civilization, and thus Negan concludes Alpha is not quite what he thought her to be. Hence, Negan severs the relationship when he brutally murders her and decapitates her head, saying he doesn't want to be with her group before proudly stating "Wait until Rick gets a look at you" when holding her head. Beta “ Yeah thats' right. It's me. Now get the fuck up off the ground... So I can put you in it... Like a coffin. Because you'll be fucking dead... After I fucking kill you, you fucking asshole. ―Negan to Beta ” Negan and Beta have a hostile and scornful relationship. Beta sees Negan as threatening and weak, and doesn't have much respect for him. He asks Alpha if he can kill Negan, though Alpha doesn't allow him. Beta, having implied feelings for Alpha, begins to grow jealous of her fondness for Negan, and views him with disdain. Negan thinks Beta is awesome for his size and dual wielded knives at first, but later begins to dislike Beta for the way he is treated by the giant. Later, after Negan kills Alpha, Beta is furious at Negan and plots to avenge Alpha. Negan's dislike for Beta soon turns into pure enmity when Negan's weapon of choice, Lucille, is broken after beating Beta with the bat several times causing it to shatter into wooden shards. As a result, both severely wish death upon the other. Lucille “ Lucille? That's not... This isn't real. ―Negan to Lucille ” Lucille was Negan's wife before the apocalypse. While its shown that Negan loves his wife deeply, he used to cheat on her. When she is diagnosed with cancer, Negan is upset and blames himself for not being a good husband. Negan names his baseball bat after her. In Issue 162, Negan has shown to still miss and grief for her, apologizing for naming a baseball bat after her, and that he never got to bury her. Negan later admitted, in Issue 164, that the worst thing he ever did was not put down and bury Lucille, showing just how much he loved his wife, and how much he misses her, even after all the time that has passed since she died.

Appearances

Here's Negan "Part 1" "Part 2" "Part 3" "Part 4" "Part 5" "Part 6" "Part 7" "Part 8" "Part 9" "Part 10" "Part 11" "Part 12" Volume 17: Something To Fear Issue 100 Volume 18: What Comes After Issue 103 Issue 104 Issue 105 Issue 106 Issue 107 Issue 108 Volume 19: March To War Issue 111 Issue 112 Issue 113 Issue 114 Volume 20: All Out War - Part One Issue 115 Issue 116 Issue 117 Issue 119 Issue 120 Volume 21: All Out War - Part Two Issue 121 Issue 122 Issue 123 Issue 124 Issue 125 Issue 126 Volume 22: A New Beginning Issue 127 Issue 128 Issue 129 Issue 130 Volume 24: Life and Death Issue 140 Issue 141 Volume 25: No Turning Back Issue 148 (No Lines) Issue 149 Issue 150 Volume 26: Call To Arms Issue 151 Issue 152 Issue 153 Issue 154 Issue 155 Issue 156 Volume 27: The Whisperer War Issue 157 Issue 158 Issue 159 Issue 161 Issue 162 Volume 28 Issue 163 Issue 164 Issue 165 Issue 166 Issue 167

Trivia

• Negan was originally called Nagus by Kirkman: "Every now and then I just make up a word and then I look it up and it's a name. So he was Nagus for a long time, and then I realized that the Ferengi high commander on Deep Space Nine was called the Grand Nagus. And I was like, 'Oh, that's where I got that! Oh, okay. Uhh, maybe he's Negan.' So that's how that happened."
  • Another idea for the name was "Negus", emphasizing how negative it sounded.
• Negan's character was not supposed to appear in issue 100, following Glenn's death. [1]
• Originally, Glenn was going to be put in a situation where Rick was forced to kill him in order to save his son. Kirkman was not satisfied with this route, and thus Negan was born.
  • Negan's appearance and character were also based off of an unknown actor who Kirkman refused to reveal, just in case that actor wanted to portray him and could not.
    • Charlie Adlard has confirmed that Negan is based on actor Henry Rollins, who is presumably the actor mentioned by Kirkman.
      • Rollins auctioned for the role of Negan in the TV Series, but the role was given to Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
• Negan's main weapon of choice is a baseball bat wrapped in barbed-wire, which he calls, "Lucille", the same name his wife had.
  • Negan's attachment towards Lucille is shown to be deranged. Apart from claiming that it's saved him more times than he can remember, he also says that it's "the only bitch I've ever loved" and disturbingly admits that he occasionally has sexual thoughts towards Lucille, and even acting on these thoughts.
  • Until Issue 158, Negan was never seen carrying or using a gun. However, while he primarily used it as a club to knock down Beta, he did fire it.
• Negan was a fan of Neil Young, and presumably saw him on tour.
• Negan was originally planned to be killed off shortly after his introduction, specifically in Issue 108, however Kirkman said he liked Negan "too much" to kill him off. He was originally supposed to die by the hands of Rick in the end of Volume 17: Something To Fear, appearing in only five or four issues. Rick would've delivered Negan's decapitated head to Maggie in a box saying, "I'm sorry".
  • In addition, the story arc was supposed to end when Maggie takes over Hilltop Colony.
• Negan is notable for using excessive profanity when he speaks, even to his own men.
  • Negan's prequel story Here's Negan shows that he used this excessive profanity even before the apocalypse, when talking to his wife and his students.
• At first, it was implied Negan was some kind of cult leader, as the Saviors believed that Negan spoke through all of them. Though the term cult may not apply to the Saviors, they are most definitely the followers of Negan to an almost religious level.
  • This is heavily supported in #105, as it is revealed that he runs the Saviors as a cult would entail, complete with the followers bowing at his entrance and chanting to his words.
• In Issue 105, a very rare glimpse of Negan's sympathy is shown after he makes light of the disturbing gunshot injury to Carl's eye, making the young boy cry. He apologizes for this with what appears to be sincere concern and admits how easy it is to forget that he is just a child.
• Negan exhibits several symptoms of what is known as a God complex, living a life of total and uninhibited dominion over any form of life he sees, people who will follow his every command.
  • Whether or not they choose to follow him willingly never seemed to be an issue, that is, until Rick Grimes began to lead a revolt against him.  
• Negan despises sexual violence. This is shown in #117 when he kills David for attempting to rape Holly, and in #156 when he tries to stop two men from raping a woman in the Whisperer camp. He also gives an unnamed survivor a bad look after he hints Negan could have sex with a woman in his group.
• Negan is the second major recurring antagonist in the Comic Series, and also has the longest lifespan.
• Negan, Dwight, Laura, Sherry, John & Tara are the only named Saviors to have appeared on more than one issue cover.
• A fan asked via Reddit which are the hardest characters to write, and Kirkman answered that "Negan is a blast".
• Negan's backstory will be revealed through Image+, all-new monthly magazine published by Image Comics. It is titled "Here's Negan" and includes 48 pages of story.
• Negan is the first recurring antagonist to kill another recurring antagonist.
• Negan holds the most appearances in the comic book out of any character introduced in the third compendium.
• Negan appears on variant covers for a single issue of five Skybound comic book series under the caption "Negan Kills...". Those series are Green Valley, Manifest Destiny, Thief of Thieves, Birthright and Horizon.
• In Issue 162 it is revealed that Negan believes in an after life. More specifically in Heaven and at least an undesirable place which is possibly Hell.

Errors

• From Issue 100 to Issue 126, Negan appears to wear a woman's jacket due to the side of the zipper. It is fixed in Issue 153 as he appears with the zipper on the other side.
• When Negan gutted Spencer, the hand that didn't hold the knife (the left hand) was drawn as a right hand, clenched in a fist, despite the knife being held by his actual right hand.