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"Mature Content!" |
| NOTE: This page is only about the version of Rick Grimes from the TV series. His counterpart from the comics was approved Near Pure Good. |
| “ | When I was a kid I asked my grandpa once if he ever killed any Germans in the war. He wouldn't answer. He said that was grown-up stuff, so I asked if the Germans ever tried to kill him. But he got real quiet. He said he was dead the minute he stepped into enemy territory. Every day he woke up and told himself, "Rest in peace. Now get up and go to war." And then after a few years of pretending he was dead he made it out alive. That's the trick of it, I think. We do what we need to do and then we get to live. But no matter what we find in DC, I know we'll be okay. Because this is how we survive. We tell ourselves that we are the Walking Dead. | „ |
| ~ Rick's iconic speech to his group after escaping Terminus. |
Richard D. "Rick" Grimes is the main protagonist of AMC's The Walking Dead franchise.
He is a former police officer who, after being shot and wounded by escaped convicts, awoke from his coma in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. With the help of fellow survivors, he was reunited with his family and quickly rose to the rank of leadership among his group.
While initially introduced as a respectable, law-abiding citizen and mild-mannered father who valued morality above everything else, as the series progresses, so too does Rick’s perspective about the world. As it becomes more apparent that the world they knew before the zombie epidemic is long gone, Rick’s mindset shifts to be more pragmatic with an emphasis on survival and keeping those he cares about safe, no matter what it takes.
He is portrayed by Andrew Lincoln.
His Good Ranking[]
What Makes Him Admirable?[]
Overview[]
- Before the apocalypse, he was an honorable police officer with a strong moral compress. And when the apocalypse broke out, he maintained that same level of honor for the longest time.
- He's saved thousands of people across the 11 seasons of the series and its spin-offs, many of whom were displaced refugees from other communities like Woodbury and Alexandria, as well as random strangers.
Main Series[]
Season 1[]
- After Daryl's racist brother, Merle, provoked T-Dog into hitting him by calling him the N-word, Rick intervened and handcuffed Merle for the group's safety.
- When Glenn was kidnapped by a hispanic gang named the Vatos, Rick was willing to trade all the weapons they had to get Glenn back.
- With the help of others, he defended the Atlanta camp from a horde of walkers.
- When Daryl tried to kill Jim after he revealed he was bitten, Rick pointed his gun at Daryl, stopping the attack, stating "We don't kill the living."
- He devised a plan to leave the camp and visit the CDC Headquarters, in hopes of finding a cure.
- He even offered to bring Jim along with them despite Jim being sick, hoping to save his life.
- When it became apparent Jim was going to die, he respected Jim's wishes and left him to die peacefully out in the woods.
- He saved his entire group by convincing Dr. Jenner to let them leave before the CDC exploded.
Season 2[]
- After Carol's daughter, Sophia, went missing, he spent weeks searching for her.
- Despite not supporting Hershel's belief that walkers were still human beings, Rick respected his wishes and didn't kill any walkers on the farm.
- After Carl was accidentally shot by Otis, Hershel's farmhand, Rick was willing to give up his blood (possibly dying in the process) to save him.
- When Shane started killing the walkers in Hershel's barn, Rick tried to stop him.
- He saved a random kid named Randell from being devoured by walkers, despite him being from a group that tried to ambush and kill them.
- While initially abandoning Shane to be devoured by walkers after their fight, he later comes back and rescues him.
- When Shane held him at gunpoint and threatened to kill him, Rick attempted to talk him out of it. After he was forced to kill Shane, he felt heavy remorse for killing his best friend.
Season 3[]
- He amputated Hershel's leg to save him after he was bitten.
- After the discovery that there were still prisoners leaving in the prison, he helped them clear out a whole cell block for them to stay in, in exchange for food.
- When he killed two of the prisoners, Rick spared Axel and Oscar when he realized they weren't planning to betray him.
- Along with Michonne, Daryl, and Oscar, he saved Glenn and Maggie from Woodbury after they were kidnapped.
- When he reunited with Morgan, the man he met after escaping the hospital in season one, and learning his son had died and he's been driven crazy, he helped ground him back to reality.
- He stops Michonne from killing him and tries to get him to come back to the prison and feels sympathy for his dead son.
- He helped defend the prison, and his group, from The Governor's attack.
- After Andrea died, he took in the displaced people from Woodbury to honor her.
Season 4[]
- He exiles Carol from the prison after she kills Karen and David. While his people saw this as cruel, it should be noted that she killed two of their own people without even giving them a chance to fight the infection.
- He tries to make peace with The Governor and says they can all live together. After Governor decapitates Hershel, he opens fire on him.
- He saves Carl and Michonne from getting raped by killing Joe and the Claimers.
Season 5[]
- He helps Glenn and other rescue the Crazed Man from Terminus's captivity, believing he is an innocent person. He then helps the rest of the group break out.
- He and the group saves Father Gabriel from the walkers.
- He leads the plan of saving Beth and Noah.
- After Beth is killed, he stops his group from killing the rest of the Grady Memorial officers and offers to take anyone who wants to come.
- Upon arriving in Alexandria, he gladly accepted the role of Peace Officer.
- He restrains Pete after finding out he beats his wife and kids.
Season 6[]
- He takes the walkers out of the quarry and tries to move them somewhere else.
- He tries to save Jesse and her family by camouflaging themselves in walker guts.
- He fights against the walkers by himself until everyone else comes and join him.
- He and Daryl go on a supply run and he convinces Daryl to keep Jesus alive.
- With the help of the others, he helps deliver Maggie to the Hilltop doctor when she suffers a severe contraction related to pregnancy complications.
- He led the assault on The Saviors, believing it would help the people of the Hilltop colony.
Season 7[]
- He finds the hidden guns and gives them to Negan after he threatens to kill Olivia.
- He finally rebels against Negan after Spencer and Olivia's death.
- He and Michonne take out a horde of walkers.
- He admits to Michonne that he regrets killing Shane and while Judith isn't his biological daughter, he stills loves her regardless.
Season 8[]
- After killing Gracie's biological father unknowingly, he decides to let Aaron adopt her.
- He decides to give mercy and spare Negan to honor Carl's wish. He reforms the Saviors and makes a treaty with the other communities and leads the effort to rebuild society.
Season 9[]
- He tries to lead the horde away from the communities himself.
- He attempts sacrifice himself by blowing up the bridge that the horde is crossing while he is still on it. Thankfully, however, he survived.
Seasons 10 & 11[]
- Despite being held captive by the CRM, Rick makes numerous attempts to escape and return to his family. After failing countless times, he leaves behind a trail for Michonne to discover where he's been taken.
The Ones Who Live[]
Season 1[]
- He saved a young girl who was scared and lost in a crowd of walkers. He did this knowing it would compromise his chance at escaping and reuniting with his family.
- He saved Michonne's life by coming up with a fake explanation of what happened after she managed to shoot down one of the CRM's helicopters, lying and saying she actually saved him from the person who did it.
- He tried to convince Michonne to escape the CRM without him because he believed it was the only way she'd ever escape, since someone would have to stay behind to cover for them.
- When Michonne was trapped under fallen rubble, Rick fought off walkers and helped save her life.
- After reconnecting with her and learning about his new son RJ, Rick decides to leave with Michonne to go back to his family.
- He helped Michonne rescue strangers from walkers then offered them food.
- After the strangers tried to rob them at gunpoint, Rick and Michonne spared them if they promised to not hurt anyone else again.
- He tried to convince Michonne to not kill Jadis.
- After Jadis was bitten, he put her down before she could turn. Despite their animosity, Rick was shown to regret her death and even looked away as he pulled the trigger rather than enjoying killing her.
- He killed Major General Beale during the Echelon Briefing after learning of his plans to wipe out every major civilization left in the United States so the CRM reign could prosper. In the process, Rick rejected offers such as potentially rising to lead the organization himself one day and CRM protection for any of Rick's loved ones when the organization's genocidal march across North America began.
- Though Rick killed thousands of CRM soldiers, it was justifiable, as the Frontliners were preparing to commit genocide against the city of Portland, Oregon -- which was home to 87,000 people, as revealed in The Walking Dead: The World Beyond. Additionally, the Frontliners and Force Command were not innocent; they were fully aware of the CRM's genocidal plans and were fully committed to carrying them out. None of the regular infantry troops, who are confirmed to have had no knowledge of the organization's true plans, were present, just the Frontliners and Force Command.
- Rick originally planned to expose what he had learned to the Civic Republic's leadership so as to have them rein in their rogue military. However, with their plans to commit genocide set to begin in 18 hours and knowing he couldn't reach the East Coast in time, he was forced to take immediate and drastic action.
- With his actions, Rick finished what the Endlings started in The Walking Dead: The World Beyond, stopping the destruction of Portland which the Endlings had successfully delayed two years before and exposing the CRM's crimes as was the group's intentions, particularly Jennifer Mallick, Dennis Graham and Silas Plaskett.
- With Michonne's help, his actions not only prevented the CRM from carrying out its genocidal plans against Portland, but also prompted the Civic Republic's government to investigate its military for crimes against humanity. This led to significant changes in how the republic operates, including a major initiative to help relocate displaced or kidnapped citizens, reuniting countless people with their long-lost families, including Rick and Michonne finally being reunited with their kids after many years apart. The Civic Republic, for the first time ever, was opened to travel to and from the outside world for the first time rather than it being a secret that the CRM killed to protect.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
- He is very arrogant and prideful.
- He refused to listen to Glenn and Hershel's warnings about The Governor and insinuated that the prison could withstand whatever firepower he brought. However, this wasn't the case, since the Governor later attacked the prison, killing Axel and attempting to kill everyone else there by releasing walkers.
- When the Hilltop colony informed Rick about their trouble with the Saviors, Rick blindly attacked one of the Saviors' outposts, killing a bunch of their men, and then bragged about it any time he encountered other Saviors. In addition, many of the Saviors were asleep when they were killed and so they weren't even given the chance to fight back.
- Negan would later state that this was the reason for the line-up and killing Abraham: seeking justice for the loved ones of the people whom Rick had killed. On one instance, when meeting Simon for the first time, Rick confidently displayed his assault rifle, telling them to "get lost" before his group kills more of them.
- Even after Negan beat Abraham and Glenn to death in front of them, Rick told Negan he was going to kill him, not backing down under pressure until Negan tried to force him to cut Carl's hand off.
- Throughout the entire war with the Saviors, Rick's arrogance was on full display, as he did many things to try and intimidate Negan, like counting down from 10 to give Negan a chance to surrender then recklessly opening fire on the Sanctuary as "warning shots" when he didn't comply.
- Before Michonne was able to convince him to escape with her, Rick wanted to stay behind and continue fighting for the CRM, believing he alone could get them to change their corrupt ways.
- Rick later revealed that at least some of this was due to the trauma of his losses and not wanting to go home and face that again, particularly Rick's inability to remember his son's face. Ironically, Rick turned out not to be entirely wrong, as Major General Beale later told Rick that within a decade, Rick could be the leader of the CRM. When Michonne, upon hearing this, stated that apparently he really could do it alone, Rick was happy to be doing it with her instead.
- He's an anti-hero, since some of his heroic acts were self-serving.
- He admitted to Jessie that he only did something about her abusive husband because he liked her and wouldn't have done anything otherwise.
- His slaughtering of Gareth and his group of cannibals from Terminus was also partially motivated by revenge and sadism, given his smirk while performing the deed, and later admission that he enjoyed killing them.
- Likewise, his conflict with Negan was partly motivated by his ego and no longer wanting to submit to Negan.
- His method of leadership can be ruthless and totalitarian at times.
- He was willing to kill Randall for being a potential threat to the group if they let him go. However, he was very hesitant to do it and ultimately didn't follow through after Carl almost witnessed his execution.
- After Shane's death, Rick declared that his group was no longer a democracy, and that from then on, he'd be calling all the shots. Rick would later recognize his mistake and form a leadership council instead, even stepping down fully as the group's leader until circumstances forced Rick to step up again.
- Any time someone questions his authority, he becomes defensive and argues that he's simply doing what's necessary for them to survive, and that the people criticizing him need to "live in the real world".
- He threatened to usurp the leadership of Alexandria, believing that their way of life was going to get them killed and they needed to change.
- He can be very controlling and manipulative.
- He tried to coerce Michonne into escaping the CRM without him and even had an elaborate scheme to trick her into doing so, since he believed she didn’t belong there and was needed back home with their children. While he may have had her best interests in mind, he did this without telling her or asking for her input, and in the process, put both their safety at risk, since Michonne later returned to the CRM against his wishes and had her cover blown.
- He's extremely lethal, having a human kill count in the thousands. While some of these kills were in self-defense (like Joe and The Claimers or the Hunters), others weren't: primarily the dozens of Saviors killed during their dispute. However, he often shows remorse for these kills when all is said and done.
- While his killing of Joe was particularly brutal, Rick would later call it the worst thing that he's ever done to protect someone that he loves, comparing it to the way that walkers kill - showing he can be remorseful for his kills even why they are justified.
- He has made many morally reprehensible decisions, including:
- Leaving Andrew to be devoured by walkers after overtaking the prison.
- Leaving a random guy to die and coming back for him just to loot his corpse.
- Causing a public panic and beating Jessie's abusive husband nearly to death in Alexandria, then waving his gun around at everyone, which nearly saw Rick exiled from the community. He later executed Pete with Deanna's permission.
- Killing dozens of Saviors in their sleep during a raid on one of their outposts.
- Killing a group of reformed Saviors after giving them his word.
- Assaulting Okafor and threatening to kill him for intercepting his message to Michonne. Although, this was also motivated by his concern for Alexandria due to Okafor learning about his home and potentially endangering it from the message.
Trivia[]
- His original counterpart from the comics is considered Near Pure Good due to being more noble and heroic, and ultimately redeeming himself by the series' finale.
- Ironically, this means that he and his son Carl Grimes' TV and comic counterparts are opposite of each other: While Comic Carl is Inconsistently Admirable and TV Carl is Near Pure Good, Comic Rick is Near Pure Good and TV Rick is Inconsistently Admirable, what is also ironic, his comics self dies while his son lives, while tv self lives but his son die.
External Links[]
- Rick Grimes on the Heroes Wiki
- Rick Grimes on the Walking Dead Wiki
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 Inconsistently Admirable
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