| This article is about the TV Series character. You may be looking for his Comic Series counterpart. |
| “ | So... I know I'm probably going to die, but if I don't, I am going to have to kill you, Morgan. I'm going to have to kill every person here. Every one of them. The children, too. Just like your friend Eastman's children. Those are the rules. That's my code. I'd say I'm sorry, but you said it, right? Don't ever be sorry.
―Owen to Morgan Jones after showing his infected cut wound.[src]
|
” |
Owen is a former antagonist and a survivor of the outbreak in AMC's The Walking Dead. He is the leader of the Wolves. He served as an antagonist of the second half of Season 5 and the primary antagonist of the first half of Season 6.
Overview
Owen is shown to be a cunning, greedy, violent, and dangerous person. He appears to care about nothing other than survival for himself by any means necessary and is more than willing to rob and murder other survivors of everything they have. He is shown to be a remorseless, cold-blooded murderer as shown when he slits a man's throat with no emotion or hesitation and makes it clear he is not above killing children either as shown when he threatens Morgan while imprisoned in Alexandria. He is also a sly and calm talker and is shown to possess a very manipulative personality.
He seems to view mercy as a weakness as he appears to find it amusing that Morgan refuses to kill other people during their second encounter and openly tells him that he should have killed him when he had the chance to do so in the woods. He appears to be highly intelligent as well, as shown by his ability to devise Walker traps in order to kill other survivors for their supplies and his trivial knowledge of the history of wolves. He also seems to take pleasure in what he and his group do and claims they are doing people a favor by "freeing" them. Owen is somewhat shown to have little or no fear of death as shown during his imprisonment when he appears completely unworried that a potential infection might claim his life.
Owen also appears to be fearless and brave as while imprisoned in Alexandria and at the mercy of Morgan, he shows no fear whatsoever despite having a deep gash in his torso and makes a subtle threat that he still intends to slaughter every survivor in the safe-zone if he survives his wound. His fearlessness is also evident during the confrontation between Carol and Morgan where he encourages Morgan to kill him and shows no fear over Carol's strong intent to kill him. Ultimately he uses the confrontation over his life to knock Morgan unconscious while he is distracted, take Denise hostage and escape from his cell.
Despite his dark and sadistic nature, it is shown that Owen was not a complete monster and was shown to be capable of caring for others as he saved Denise's life instead of fleeing from Alexandria (when he had a clear opportunity to do so) and before meeting his demise, he urged and helped Denise to escape.
Pre-Apocalypse
Location Unknown
Nothing is known about Owen's life prior to or as the outbreak began, except that he enjoyed going to the movies.[1]
Post-Apocalypse
Virginia
Owen survived the early stages of the outbreak and eventually found himself the leader of a group of about 30 people, which would later become known as "the Wolves". Believing that humanity descended from wolves, he and his group resorted to extreme violence to survive by raiding camps and settlements around the area and brutally slaughtering survivors in order to steal their supplies and reclaim what they believed belonged to their descendants.
Eventually, Owen carved a "W" into his forehead, an example that was followed by his fellow cult members. He stationed his group's base at Del Arno's Foods, where he and his group scavenged the surrounding area for supplies and other survivors. His group also survived by setting up traps for unsuspecting survivors, and then using their reanimated corpses as traps for other survivors. They would also carve the letter "W" into their victims' foreheads.
At some unknown point later, Owen and his group attacked Shirewilt Estates, and slaughtered every survivor in order to steal their supplies. A few weeks later, the group also attacked a small camp of survivors in the woods in which they brutally slaughtered and disemboweled the camp's residents and tied one of their victims to a tree.[2]
Season 5
"Conquer"
While looking for new victims around the woods, Owen encounters Morgan as he is cooking breakfast for himself and holds him at gunpoint. The two engage in conversation, wherein Owen tells Morgan that he used to enjoy going to the movies and talking to people. He then insists that he will take everything Morgan has, including his life. When Morgan refuses, he gives a signal to his companion to attack. However, both of them are knocked out by Morgan and left in a car.
Eventually, Owen and his companion are able to escape from the car and the two later find a man with a red poncho, whom they capture and bring to the Del Arno Foods cannery that night, where they discover someone had activated the walker traps, forcing Owen to improvise and slash the man's throat. After resetting the walker traps, he rummages through Aaron's backpack and discovers several photos of a nearby community named Alexandria.
Season 6
"JSS"
Having cut himself in his torso with a rusty car door, Owen leads his group to attack Alexandria for medical supplies. However, his entire group is killed while he hides inside a house from one of the buildings. As Morgan searches the house a while later, Owen ambushes him and tries to kill him with a sickle but Morgan is able to evade his attack. He recognizes Morgan and the two begin to fight. After struggling with Morgan and taunting him that he should have killed him in the woods, Morgan is able to fend him off and then apologizes before knocking him unconscious with his staff.
"Here's Not Here"
After being locked inside the basement from one of the houses, Owen listens as Morgan tries to help him change his way by telling him of his past and eventual relationship with Eastman. Unmoved by Morgan's story, Owen shows him the gash in his torso and notes that he will likely not survive his injury, but if he did that he would make it his goal to kill Morgan and everyone else in Alexandria, including the children, because that is part of his code.
"Start to Finish"
Upon being convinced by Morgan to check on Owen, Denise talks with him from a corner of the basement and angrily accuses him over the atrocities he has committed, claiming they are unjustifiable. Owen excuses himself for his actions and reveals he got a cut in his torso. After some hesitation, Denise asks him to lift up his shirt to check his wound before approaching him. She tells him that he can change for the better and then proceeds to treat his wound.
When Carol and Morgan hide in the same house to escape from the invading herd, they eventually fight over the fate of Owen, who shows no fear and admits that he will eventually escape. As Morgan knocks Carol unconscious, Owen grabs Morgan's staff and strikes him unconscious, then takes a knife and points it at a shocked Denise.
After cutting his bonds, Owen walks up to Denise and holds the knife to her throat, claiming that she represents what he likes about people. Suddenly, Tara, Eugene, and Rosita enter the basement and Owen forces them to drop their guns and slide them over. He then takes one of the guns and exits from the building with Denise as his hostage.
"No Way Out"
While hiding from the herd, Owen keeps holding Denise at gunpoint and tells her they'll make a run for a lookout tower as soon as a gap opens up in the herd so they can jump from the wall and escape together, insisting she accompanies him because he needs her help for his wound. That night, Owen spots a gap in the herd and sprints to the tower with Denise when he is forced to save her from a walker, causing him to be bitten in the arm in the process.
Believing this act could be a signal of him redeeming himself, Denise urges Owen to come with her to the infirmary so she can save his life. They are forced to take shelter inside a house where she ties a belt around his arm to amputate it before both of them run towards the infirmary. Unfortunately, Carol witnesses them from the townhouse balcony and shoots Owen in the chest. He then decides to sacrifice himself to be devoured by the walkers so Denise can escape. Shortly after, Owen reanimates and is found by Morgan, who apologizes to him one last time before putting him down.
Death
- Killed By
- Denise Cloyd (Indirectly Caused)
Owen goes with Denise to the infirmary to treat his wound, but on the way, Denise is grabbed by a walker. Owen saves her, but he gets bitten on the arm in the process.
- Carol Peletier (Caused)
- Himself (Sacrifice)
- Zombies (Alive)
As they continue toward the infirmary, Owen gets shot repeatedly in the chest by Carol (unaware that he is helping Denise escape), and is then devoured by walkers after sacrificing himself to save Denise.
- Morgan Jones (Zombified)
While everyone in Alexandria is fighting off walkers, Morgan sees a zombified Owen, apologizes to him and then immediately stabs him with his staff, putting him down.
Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Owen has killed:
- Noah's Brother (Possibly, Caused or Direct, Alive)
- Red Poncho Man (Alive)
- Dinesh (Possibly, Caused or Direct)
- Stacy (Possibly, Caused or Direct)
- Michael (Possibly, Caused or Direct)
- Natalie Miller (Possibly, Caused or Direct)
- Bobby (Possibly, Caused or Direct)
- Samantha (Possibly, Caused or Direct)
- Charlyne (Possibly, Caused or Direct)
- Jeffery (Possibly, Caused or Direct, Alive)
- Richards (Possibly, Caused or Direct, Alive)
- O'Hara (Caused)
- Erin (Caused)
- Holly (Cause)
- Dan (Caused)
- Adrian (Caused)
- Park (Caused)
- Shelly Neudermeyer (Caused)
- Himself (Sacrifice)
- Numerous Shirewilt Estates residents (Caused and/or Direct)
- A few camp residents (Caused and/or Direct)
- Numerous counts of zombies and unnamed people
Relationships
Morgan Jones
| “ | I'm sorry...
―Morgan Jones to Owen's reanimated body.[src]
|
” |
Owen and Morgan were shown to be the polar opposite of each other: Morgan was a peaceful survivor who refused to kill human beings while Owen is a remorseless murderer who seems to find killing amusing. Owen and Morgan first interact while Morgan is camped out in the woods. Even though he holds Morgan at gunpoint, the two start off making some friendly conversation, though Owen's true nature is shown when he makes it clear that he intends to rob Morgan of everything he has and then slaughter him. Morgan is able to survive the attack by Owen and his partner and leaves them unconscious in a car instead of killing them.
Following the brutal attack on Alexandria, Owen attacks Morgan while waiting in a home. He recognizes Morgan from their previous encounter and seems to find it amusing that Morgan refuses to kill people and tells him he should have killed him the woods. Morgan eventually gains the upper hand in the fight, apologizes to Owen and knocks him unconscious again, still refusing to kill him.
It is shown that Morgan imprisoned Owen in Alexandria and told him his story of his redemption due to his friend Eastman and that redemption is possible for him, too. Owen just smirked and gave a clear threat that if his wound did not kill him, he would kill Morgan and all the remaining survivors in the safe-zone, children included.
Despite his threat, Morgan is shown in "Heads Up" enlisting the help of Denise to treat Owen's wound and refusing to allow Carol to enter the cell, showing that Morgan cares for Owen somewhat. This is shown in "Start to Finish" where Morgan refuses to allow Carol to kill Owen and gets into a physical confrontation with her, which results in her being knocked unconscious and Owen knocking out Morgan and escaping with Denise as a hostage. Following this, while fighting against the walkers, Morgan comes across Owen who is now a walker. Morgan appears displeased that Owen is dead, apologizes to him again and finally puts him down.
Morgan seemed to be pleased that Owen saved Denise's life and later used him as an example during a conversation with Rick to prove his point that murderers are capable of changing into better people.
Denise Cloyd
| “ | You turned back for me, maybe it was because you needed a doctor, or maybe you changed.
―Denise to Owen after being bitten.[src]
|
” |
Owen had a strange relationship with Denise. The two first interact when Morgan secretly enlists her help to treat his infected wound. After a massive herd of walkers invade Alexandria, Denise and Owen share conversations over the atrocities that he has committed and appears disgusted, however after some thought she ends up treating his wound and tells him that he is capable of changing. Later on, following the confrontation between Carol and Morgan in which the two are knocked unconscious and Owen frees himself, Denise begs him not to kill them but he walks up to her and holds a knife to her throat, claiming that she represents what he likes about people. After gaining a gun from Tara, Owen holds Denise at gunpoint and exits the building with her as a hostage.
In "No Way Out", as Owen and Denise watch as the herd passes by, Denise goes into a state of shock, and starts to have a panic attack. Owen calms her down, and implies that he needs her, and says that he enjoys her company. Denise tells him to go to hell and insults him over the deaths of his entire group, although he just smirks at her comments.
As night falls, Owen plans to escape Alexandria with Denise by his side, and says "We find a gap, we go up that guard tower, and go." They then run for the ladder of the tower, but Denise is grabbed by a walker and tries to wrestle it off of her. Owen, instead of escaping, runs over and stabs it, getting bitten on the arm by another walker in the process. Denise insists that if he gets her to the infirmary, she can save his life. Once inside a building, Denise grabs Owen's belt and ties it around his arm, meaning that she intends to remove it. She seems very concerned that he is bit, and says she needs to get him to the infirmary immediately, showing that Denise wants him to live, and believes he is a better person than before. Denise finishes tying his arm up and they prepare to run to the infirmary.
The two push and shove through walkers, but Denise gets grabbed again. He pulls the walker off of her and reaches out for her and yells at her to ''come on!''. Carol then unexpectedly shoots Owen through the chest twice and shouts at Denise to ''GO!'', Denise is very shocked that he got shot and stops. Owen tackles the walkers that were approaching her and tells her to ''go!''. He is then devoured as Denise runs to the infirmary. It is unknown if Denise felt remorse for Owen's death.
Appearances
TV Series
Season 5
- "Conquer"
Season 6
- "JSS"
- "Here's Not Here"
- "Start to Finish"
- "No Way Out"
Trivia
- Owen is credited as W Man in "Conquer" and as Wolves Leader in "JSS".
- This character's name was revealed in an interview by Scott Gimple.[3]
- With the death of Owen, all known members of the Wolves are deceased.
- Owen is one of two named Wolves, the other being Aphid.
References