Suicide is a recurring theme in The Walking Dead. It occurs when a character takes their own life away. Several characters have attempted to but didn't. It is not to be confused with sacrifice, which occurs when a character gives up their own life for another.
Occurrences
Comic Series
- While searching for supplies in a house, Rick stumbles upon the corpses of a family that died in an apparent murder/suicide. (Issue 2)
- Sophia's father died after he gave up on life (due to witnessing the death of his parents) and allowed himself to be devoured. (Issue 5)
- After losing his son and daughter to the walkers he kept in his barn, Hershel Greene prepares to commit suicide, but is stopped by Rick. (Issue 11)
- Chris and Julie commit to shooting each other in a suicide pact, but this is botched when Chris shoots early, resulting in only Julie dying. (Issue 14)
- Carol tries to commit suicide after breaking up with Tyreese by slitting her wrists, and later successfully kills herself by letting a zombie bite her on the neck. (Issue 22, Issue 42)
- Hershel gives up on life after his last son, Billy, is killed, and allows the Governor's army to surround him. He is executed by the Governor. (Issue 48)
- While searching the woods for food, Rick and Carl stumble upon a survivor that is surrounded and devoured by walkers. After stumbling across his vehicle, Carl concludes that the survivor committed suicide "like Carol did". (Issue 51)
- Maggie Greene attempts suicide by hanging herself after losing her entire family. (Issue 55)
- Douglas Monroe prepares to commit suicide by allowing himself to be devoured, but spots Rick and Carl in trouble at the last second and attempts to help them by shooting the walkers surrounding them. He is devoured regardless. (Issue 83)
- Rick Grimes contemplates suicide after his wife, Andrea, passes away from a walker bite. Originally intending to allow himself to be devoured by the undead Andrea, Rick ultimately resolves to live and stabs Andrea in the head. (Issue 167)
- Negan begs Maggie to kill him, not wanting to live alone. (Issue 174)
Novel Series
- Megan Lafferty discovers the severed head of his boyfriend, Scott Moon, among the heads inside the Governor's aquarium and, disrupted by grief, decides to hang herself. (The Road to Woodbury)
- During a supply run Hap Abernathy is bitten on the right ankle by a walker and while Bob Stookey tries to amputate the limb, Hap give up and shoots himself in the head. (Descent)
- In order to turn away an herd from Woodbury, Meredith Dupree draws most of walkers and blow herself up with several hundred of them. (Descent)
TV Series
- Rick Grimes almost shot himself when he was surrounded by walkers under a tank until he saw the open hatch on the floor of the tank. (Days Gone Bye)
- After witnessing her zombified mother and half-brother get shot, Beth Greene loses hope in the world and tries to commit suicide by slashing her own wrists. (18 Miles Out)
- In order to prevent herself from turning, Andrea choses to shoot herself, knowing she has already been bit. (Welcome to the Tombs)
- Clara commits suicide by stabbing herself in the abdomen with her knife, so she could turn into a walker and to be with her undead husband, Eddie. (30 Days Without An Accident)
- Joan opens her recently amputated arm wound with scissors to prevent further rape from Gorman. (Slabtown)
- During the outbreak, Bill Jenkins committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. (Live Bait)
- Abraham Ford almost commits suicide after he discovers his family dead, but stops to save Eugene Porter from walkers. (Self Help)
- Trapped on top of a dumpster by a herd of walkers, Nicholas shoots himself in the head after saying "Thank You" to Glenn for sparing his life. (Thank You)
- After losing her husband, Betsy, an Alexandria resident, slashes her own wrists, killing herself. (Now)
- Sasha Williams, in order to avoid being used against her friends by Negan, kills herself by taking a cyanide tablet given to her by Eugene Porter. (The First Day of the Rest of Your Life)
- After Carl got bit by a walker while helping Siddiq, he shoots himself to prevent himself from turning moments after giving his final goodbyes to Rick and Michonne. (Honor)
- After the death of Henry, Lydia attempted suicide by almost letting a walker bite her on the arm and telling Carol to kill her. (The Storm)
Webisodes
- Mike Palmer asks Andrew to kill him due to being bitten. (Torn Apart)
- Karina decides to allow Gale Macones to euthanize her after believing Paul to be dead. (The Oath)
Fear The Walking Dead
- Willimas deliberately runs into a helicopter propeller blade after being bitten. (The Good Man)
- Bethany Exner commits suicide by shooting herself with a bolt gun. (The Good Man)
- Elizabeth Ortiz asks Travis to put her down due to being bitten. (The Good Man)
- Alan begs Chris to kill him due to being severely injured in a plane crash. (Ouroboros)
- Madison reveals that her husband Steven Clark committed suicide by driving into oncoming traffic. (Los Muertos)
- Travis Manawa commits suicide by jumping out of a helicopter after being shot through the neck and stomach. (The New Frontier)
- Ilene Stowe jumps from her balcony after losing hope for the world. (The New Frontier)
- Russell Brown commits suicide after he discovers that his wife, Martha, had died and reanimated. He shoots both himself and her in the head simultaneously. (Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame)
- Cooper attempts to shoot himself in the head while being devoured, but is out of ammo, so Alicia mercifully shoots him instead. (Brother's Keeper)
- Charlie becomes suicidal, and almost feeds herself to a walker. (People Like Us)
- Jim Brauer commits suicide by jumping off a roof due to being bitten earlier. (I Lose People...)
- Martha commits suicide by letting a walker bite her to prevent Morgan from helping her. (... I Lose Myself)
- Janis prepares to commit suicide to prevent herself from being devoured, but is saved in the nick of time by Wes. (Leave What You Don't)
Video Game
- Having been bitten, Irene shoots herself in the head to prevent reanimation. (A New Day)
- Ben Paul recalls how one of his classmates, Jenny Pitcher, committed suicide by overdosing on pills. She subsequently reanimated and killed a number of her classmates. (Starved For Help)
- Not wanting to live on without her son, Duck, Katjaa shoots herself in the head. (Long Road Ahead)
- Cornered by walkers inside the sewers, Chuck decides to shoot himself in the head to avoid being devoured. (Around Every Corner)
- After his community fell, Crawford Oberson committed suicide by hanging himself. (Around Every Corner)
- Lee Everett has the option to ask Clementine to shoot him before he dies from his bite wound. (No Time Left)
- Jane's sister, Jaime, gave up on life and begged her sister to let her die. Jane eventually granted this request by leaving her on a rooftop surrounded by walkers.
- Sarah gives up on life while she and Clementine are surrounded by walkers in a trailer. Clementine can either slap Sarah to get her to snap out of it, or leave her to her fate, in which case she will be devoured. (Amid The Ruins)
- Sophia Fairbanks had a heart condition, because of that she decided to not live the rest of her life. She then killed herself, via a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. (What We Deserve)
- If Clementine went with Jane after the events of "No Going Back", Jane eventually commits suicide by hanging herself after she discovers that she is pregnant with Luke's child. (Thicker Than Water)
- Paul Lingard asks Clementine and Javier to assist him in committing suicide in exchange for AJ's location. (Thicker Than Water)
- If both Javier and Clementine go after Kate, Gabe will be bitten by his undead father, David. If Javier doesn't elect to shoot him himself, Gabe will commit suicide in order to prevent himself from reanimating. (From The Gallows)
- While exploring the train station, Clementine and AJ discover a walker couple that committed suicide via overdose. (Done Running)
- After realizing that he's dying, Abel requests that Clementine kill him so he wouldn't come back as a walker, in exchange for information about the Delta. (Broken Toys)
- Clementine can request that AJ kill her after she was bitten, although AJ doesn't go though with this. (Take Us Back)
- Due to being in tremendous pain from his burns, Lloyd asks Clementine to kill him. (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 • TV/Comic Death Comparisons • Variants • Wildfire Virus • Zombies |