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“ | Welcome to Woodbury.
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Woodbury was a fortified town in AMC's The Walking Dead, located in Woodbury, Georgia. It was founded by a survivor group shortly after the Trials began and led by Philip Blake, also known as "The Governor". At its height, Woodbury was home to more than 73 survivors due to the walls placed around the town and the strict rules set in place by The Governor. The town operated by recruiting lone survivors, but captured members of larger groups and gained information on their camps in order to raid them for supplies. The Governor employed Dr. Milton Mamet to perform experiments on walkers in order to rehabilitate his undead daughter, Penny. Upon discovering that walkers could be made docile, they were later used as a ring for fighters in the Woodbury Arena.
In June 2011, Woodbury came into conflict with a community led by Rick Grimes at the West Georgia Correctional Facility after they captured members Glenn Rhee and Maggie Greene. Initially wanting to raid them for supplies and a safe location, The Governor later desired to destroy them out of revenge after Michonne Hawthorne killed his zombified daughter. The Governor created a militia and led an attack on the prison, but were repelled by Rick's forces. When his people refused to fight back, The Governor lost his sanity and massacred his people. The remainder of Woodbury were evacuated by Rick Grimes and brought to join his community. Upon returning to an abandoned Woodbury, The Governor set the town ablaze and wandered the wasteland in the following months.
Pre-Apocalypse[]
Woodbury is located fifty-eight miles south of Atlanta with the population under one-thousand people and it was a typical rural town in which people resided in.
Post-Apocalypse[]
Following the zombie outbreak, Woodbury was abandoned by it's original inhabitants and was eventually discovered by a man named Philip Blake and other survivors who had previously barricaded themselves in an apartment for an unknown amount of time. Working together, the survivors managed to clear the town of the dead and built fortified walls on Woodbury's streets to keep the dead from re-entering the premises. Over time more survivors arrived at Woodbury and the town grew to contain around 73 survivors, all who fell under the leadership of Philip who was given the nickname; "The Governor". The residents of Woodbury were able to restore power to the town for light and grew crops on the streets to feed themselves and had access to many vehicles. Children were also given educations and the town also had a well trained doctor. Some of the town's residents were ex-military soldiers and were tasked by the Governor with guarding the walls 24/7 in order to ensure protection from the dead and potential hostile survivors.
The Governor would eventually establish a team of men including Martinez, Shumpert, Tim, Crowley, and eventually Merle Dixon who would go on supply runs and scouting missions to retrieve resources. However, unbeknownst to the rest of the Woodbury survivors, the Governor and his men attacked many other survivor camps and killed many innocent survivors in order to retrieve weapons and other valuable resources and to ensure that Woodbury would be the dominant community in the region. Despite the secret atrocities committed by the Governor, Woodbury became a safe, thriving survivor community with minimal deaths as a result of the dead.
Season 3[]
Encountering Andrea and Michonne[]
While investigating a helicopter crash, the Governor and his men discovered two lone survivors named Andrea Harrison and Michonne Hawthorne and took them back to Woodbury where a sick Andrea was treated by Dr. Stevens and welcomed by the Governor to stay. The two were introduced to the survivors of Woodbury and given decent hospitality by the Governor. While Andrea was impressed by the community and was willing to stay, Michonne was wary of the Governor and did not trust him in the least and she eventually decided to leave. Andrea however refused to join her and decided to remain in Woodbury. The Governor sent his men, led by Merle, in order to kill Michonne, however they failed, with two survivors being killed by Michonne. Merle however was able to injure her and she thus fled to an area called "The Red Zone" by the Woodbury survivors and Merle decided to just let her go there and die.
Encountering the Prison Survivors[]
After the failed hunt for Michonne, Merle happened to stumble upon Glenn, a member of a group he was previously a member of and his girlfriend Maggie on a supply run. After being refused to accompany them back to their camp, Merle kidnapped the two of them and forced them to drive back the Woodbury. This event was witnessed by an injured Michonne however. While at Woodbury, Glenn was personally tortured by Merle while Maggie was tormented by the Governor and eventually the survivors of Woodbury learned of the prison and the formidable group residing within it.
Attack on Woodbury[]
Michonne informs Rick Grimes that Glenn and Maggie were taken to Woodbury as captives. Rick forms a search team consisting of Daryl Dixon, Oscar, Michonne, and himself to go out to rescue their friends. They sneak into Woodbury, knock out a guard and find Maggie and Glenn about to be escorted away. The two are rescued and a gunfight ensues in the streets, leaving several guards dead.
Meanwhile, Michonne sneaks into The Governor's apartment and waits for him, but hears noises from his secret room. She finds the zombified Penny, who is the daughter of The Governor. Believing her to be captive, Michonne removes the hood from Penny and discovers that she is a walker. The Governor bursts in and asks Michonne to spare his daughter, but Michonne stabs the girl through the head, and gets into a fight with him. During the fight, some of tanks filled with walker heads in water are overturned, scattering the water, glass, and disembodied heads around the room. The Governor gains the upper hand in the fight and tries to strangle Michonne. Before he can choke her to death, she stabs him in the eye with a glass shard from the broken fish tanks.
Back in the streets, Oscar helps Maggie and Glenn climb over the back gate, but is shot by a guard who appears to be Shane to the hallucinating Rick. The attack ends with the group successfully escaping, though Daryl has been captured and brought to the arena where the entire town screams for his death, along with Merle's, who has been labeled as a terrorist.
Rick and Maggie return to Woodbury to rescue Daryl and get into a shoot-out at the walker arena, leading to the death of Haley and the rescue of Daryl and Merle. During the escape, several walkers infiltrate Woodbury, causing the death of Richard Foster.
Counter-Attack[]
As of "The Suicide King", at least five guards were killed, along with Warren, Haley, and Richard Foster (indirectly by walkers who entered Woodbury), and Merle Dixon escaped town. With the arrival of Tyreese Williams and his group in "I Ain't a Judas", and with the soldier's death in "Home" and the deaths at the feed store in "This Sorrowful Life", the town's population was at 53 with a 54th on the way.
In the aftermath of the attack, many of the remaining citizens of Woodbury wanted to leave. After Andrea talked to them, they changed their minds. After the attack, Woodbury becomes a police state and is preparing for another attack with windows boarded up, inhabitants taught to shoot, and an army built up. At this point, The Governor's army consisted of at least 34 people (not including Ms. McLeod and Tyreese's group).
Rick had a meeting with The Governor to settle their war peacefully. The latter offered Rick and the prison group a deal: if Michonne was given as a prisoner, Woodbury would back down. After much contemplation, Rick accepted the deal on behalf of his group. Merle took Michonne to fulfill the deal; however, after a long conversation with her, he let Michonne go. He went to the meeting place and killed at least 8 Woodbury soldiers before falling prey to The Governor. The Governor deliberately shot Merle below the neck to allow him to reanimate, which Merle feared more than anything else. His body was later put down by his brother, Daryl. After the attack on the feed store by Merle, the army was down to at least 28 people (31, counting Tyreese, Sasha, and Allen).
Woodbury Massacre[]
The Governor rallied up all of his remaining army once he returned from the feed store; Tyreese informed The Governor that he and Sasha would not join the fight, but offered to stay behind to guard the women and children. After a tense moment, The Governor consented. The Governor and his soldiers arrived at the prison, where they shot up the guard towers, mowed down the walkers in the prison yard, and stormed the cell block. But they found no sign of the Survivors. The Governor split up his troops to investigate the dark prison corridors known as the Tombs. Smoke grenades went off and the prison alarm sounded. Walkers attacked The Governor's men, killing several and forcing the remaining people to retreat outside where Glenn and Maggie ambushed them with gunfire. The Governor's army quickly fled the prison. One teen was killed by Carl Grimes in the woods after he fled from the prison.
After the failed prison attack, the Woodbury survivors retreated. On the road, the Governor stopped the fleeing convoy and demanded they return and finish the job. When the survivors refused, the Governor open fires on the crowd, killing almost everyone, including Paul and Allen. Karen survived by hiding under another Woodbury man's body. The Governor, Shumpert, and Caesar Martinez drove off. After Rick and his group caught up with the convoy, they discovered Karen and took her back to Woodbury, where they then found Andrea.
The remaining Woodbury citizens, mostly elderly and children, including Ms. McLeod and Karen were brought to live at the prison as were Tyreese and Sasha who rejoin the prison group.
The bus full of survivors that Tyreese drove to the prison was part of the wall at Woodbury, implying that the town was abandoned and left to the walkers.
Season 4[]
Destruction of Woodbury[]
The day after the Governor massacred his own people, he returned to Woodbury in a National Guard M1070 HETS (found at the site where he killed the National Guardsmen) and burnt it to the ground. The town is left a burnt-out husk, overrun with walkers and uninhabitable.
Inhabitants[]
Residents[]
- Andrea Harrison
- Milton Mamet (Researcher)
- Allen (Soldier)
- Dr. Stevens (Doctor)
- Rowan (Soldier)
- Eileen (Soldier)
- Noah (Soldier)
- Woodbury Resident 3 (Soldier)
- Woodbury Resident 8 (Soldier)
- Woodbury Resident 5 (Soldier)
- Woodbury Resident 7 (Soldier)
- Woodbury Resident 9 (Soldier)
- Woodbury Guard 1 (Soldier)
- Woodbury Resident 10 (Soldier)
- Paul (Soldier)
- Jody (Soldier)
- Woodbury Guard 3 (Soldier)
- Ben (Soldier)
- Mean Guard (Soldier)
- Richard Foster
- Haley (Guard)
- Penny Blake
- Woodbury Guard 2 (Soldier)
- Pete (Guard/Soldier)
- Robbie (Food Distributor)
- Bob Adams (Soldier)
- Eisenberg (Soldier)
- Warren (Soldier)
- Michael Coleman
- Gargulio (Soldier)
- Crowley (Soldier)
- Tim (Soldier)
- Several unnamed residents
Formerly[]
- Sasha Williams (Guard)
- Tyreese Williams (Guard)
- Jeanette
- Woodbury Resident 1
- Mrs. Richards
- Ms. McLeod
- Philip Blake (Leader)
- Owen's Mother
- Mr. Jacobson
- Caesar Martinez (Guard)
- Shumpert (Guard)
- Woodbury Resident 2
- Karen (Soldier)
- Mr. Richards
- Owen
- Eryn
- Woodbury Resident 4
- Greg
- Merle Dixon (Lieutenant)
- Brian Case (Pre-Apocalypse)
- Matt Ayers (Pre-Apocalypse)
Deaths[]
- Welles
- Crowley
- Tim
- Gargulio
- Michael Coleman
- Warren
- Woodbury Guard 3
- Eisenberg
- Oscar
- Bob Adams
- Penny Blake
- Haley
- Richard Foster
- Mean Guard
- Ben
- Merle Dixon
- Jody
- Paul
- Noah
- Woodbury Resident 3
- Woodbury Resident 5
- Woodbury Resident 7
- Woodbury Resident 8
- Woodbury Resident 9
- Woodbury Guard 2
- Woodbury Guard 1
- Dr. Stevens
- Pete
- Rowan
- Eileen
- Robbie
- Betty Coleman
- Michael Coleman Jr.
- Allen
- Milton Mamet
- Andrea Harrison
- Several more unnamed residents and guards
Appearances[]
TV SeriesSeason 3
Season 4Season 5
Season 11
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Trivia[]
- As of the end of Season 4, all Woodbury survivors have been killed off, with the last of the refugees killed in "Inmates".
- However, Sasha Williams, who joined the group, survived until the end of Season 7. Michonne, who stayed there briefly, is the only surviving character who lived in Woodbury.
- The TV Series counterpart of the town of Woodbury is powered by solar panels and has a large library, in addition to vegetable plots and hot showers, unlike its Comic Series counterpart.
- In the TV Series, counting both credited actors and the background cast, Woodbury has had at least one hundred seventy-five (175) different people living in the town throughout Season 3, despite the "official" population count standing at 73 (according to Rowan).
- This was a production oversight as the number seventy-three at the time accounted for all of the characters and extras present for the filming of "Walk With Me", not accounting for the newer extras that would appear throughout the season to replace those no longer working on the show.
- This is the first community that has staged a gladiator fight in a walker arena, the second being the Heaps.
- In the video game Unturned, there is a town named Burywood referencing The Walking Dead.
- Woodbury appears in the archival footage shown at the beginning of "Lockdown" as Judith narrates past events of the show to the audience before the episode's story begins.
- In the real-life town of Woodbury, the majority of the population (56.5%) are African-American, though this doesn't appear to be the case in the Comic or TV Series. This implies that the majority of Woodbury's population in the post-apocalypse are not the original residents, but are likely made up of refugees from other parts of Georgia.