Mercy Killing is a recurring theme in The Walking Dead. It occurs when a person, usually bitten or too grievously injured to survive, is killed by another survivor in an act of mercy to spare the dying survivor's suffering. It occasionally occurs at the person's own request.
Occurrences
Comic Series
- Abraham Ford bashes Bruce's skull in after the latter is bitten by a walker. (Issue 80)
TV Series
- After Dale Horvath has his abdomen ripped open by a walker, Daryl Dixon shoots him in the head to end his suffering. (Judge, Jury, Executioner)
- Aaron kills Buttons after it was mauled by walkers in a meadow near Alexandria. (Forget)
- After a survivor is partially devoured by walkers, Gabriel Stokes ends his suffering by bashing his head in with a rock. (Conquer)
- After Carter gets bitten in the cheek, Rick Grimes stabs him in the head to end his suffering and to avoid drawing any more attention. (First Time Again)
- Michonne Hawthorne kills Barnes after the latter is bitten by walkers by stabbing him in the head with her katana. (Thank You)
- After Erin's abdomen is sliced open by Aphid, Carol Peletier mercifully kills her to end Erin's suffering. (JSS)
- As a form of mercy, Dwight kills Gordon who is then chained to the Sanctuary fence as a walker. (The Cell)
- When Carl Grimes tests him, Siddiq reveals that he has only ever killed one living person and that it was done in an act of mercy. (The King, the Widow, and Rick)
- Following the Saviors' attack on the Hilltop with tainted weapons, a still alive but dying Bruce requests that the other survivors mercy kill him as Bruce lacks the strength to end his own life. (Do Not Send Us Astray)
- Negan kills a mortally wounded Hilltop survivor after the attack on Hilltop much to the annoyance of Alpha as she wanted the survivors killed in such a way that they would reanimate. (Look at the Flowers)
- Ezekiel puts down his horse after it collapses due to a walker bite it received earlier that day (Look at the Flowers)
Webisodes
- Andrew kills Mike Palmer out of mercy at his own request after Mike is bitten by his zombified wife. Andrew also mercifully kills Max, his dog who was bitten. (Torn Apart: Neighborly Advice)
- Gale offers people a lethal injection as a form of mercy. Karina accepts this offer after Paul's supposed death. (The Oath)
- Alex kills the dying Suzanne rather than let her suffer to death from being bitten much to the shock of the other passengers. (Flight 462)
Fear The Walking Dead
- Elizabeth Ortiz, after being bitten, has a heartbroken Travis Manawa kill her in order to avoid suffering an agonizing death. (The Good Man)
- After Chris Manawa discovers him severely injured inside of the wreck of TruWest Airlines Flight 462, Alan begs Chris to mercy kill him. Chris reluctantly complies by bashing Alan's head in with a piece of wreckage. (Ouroboros)
- After murdering Reed, Chris claims that it was an act of mercy as Reed was already dying, but Madison's Group remains unconvinced by his story. (Captive)
- Alex reveals to Travis that she mercifully strangled Jake Powell at his own request due to the severity of his injuries otherwise causing Jake a prolonged death in which he would suffer. (Captive)
- Upon discovering the dying Phil McCarthy whose brain is being eaten by a crow, Madison Clark mercifully ends his suffering with Troy Otto's knife. (Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame)
- Alicia Clark mercy kills Cooper after he's bitten several times and unable to kill himself due to running out of bullets. (Brother's Keeper)
- Alicia mercy kills the bitten survivors in the Broke Jaw Ranch pantry after putting them to sleep with morphine both to spare their coming suffering and to conserve their limited air. (This Land Is Your Land)
- After her horse's heart starts giving out due to how hard she ran him, Sherry mercifully shoots the horse in the head. (J.D.)
Video Game
- Lee Everett can choose whether to have Carley give a bitten Irene a gun so she can kill herself. (A New Day)
- Lee can determinately shoot Beatrice to spare her from being devoured by walkers. (Long Road Ahead)
- Lee or Kenny can shoot Duck in the head before he succumbs to his bite wound. (Long Road Ahead)
- If Ben Paul was spared earlier, Ben Paul will fall into an alley while escaping Fivel's mansion and get impaled on a fence prompting Kenny to jump to his aid and eventually shoot him in the head to prevent him from being devoured by the approaching walkers. (No Time Left)
- Clementine can shoot Lee to spare him the pain of dying from his walker bite. (No Time Left)
- Clementine can mercy kill Sam after he's impaled. (All That Remains)
- Michonne Hawthorne can kill Norma before she is devoured. (What We Deserve)
- Javier García or Clementine can give Paul Lingard a morphine overdose upon his request. (Thicker Than Water)
- If Javier doesn't amputate Rufus' arm, David García will shoot him to end his suffering. (From The Gallows)
- If Gabriel García is bitten, Javier can mercifully kill him. (From The Gallows)
- Clementine can euthanize a horrifically burned Lloyd. (Take Us Back)
Themes
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Abstract | Betrayal • Cliffhangers • Denial • Depression • Discrimination • Distrust • Envy • Fear • Foreshadowing • Forgiveness • Hallucination • Heroism • Hope • Humanity • Humor • Leadership • Pride • Regret • Religion • Revenge • Sacrifice • Sanity • Secrecy • Symbolism |
Realistic | Amputations • Bad Weather • Camouflage • Cannibalism • Decapitations • Framing • Illness • Mercy Killing • Murder • Nicknames • Pregnancy • Punishment • Substance Use • Suicide • Teamwork • Unexpected Survival |
Miscellaneous | A's and B's • Antagonists • Deuteragonist • Groups • Herd • Protagonists • Tritagonist • Variants • Wildfire Virus • Zombies |