Negan

"You ever hear the one about the stupid fuck named Rick who fucking thought he knew shit but didn't know shit and got himself fucking killed? It was about you. You got that right? (...) In case you haven't noticed... you're fucking fucked, you stupid fucker."

- Negan, who survived the attack from Rick's group and used them as hostages.

"Frankly... I've just been defending myself from a bunch of ungrateful fucks most of the time. But, mostly, I'm trying to restore order... Get things back to where they were before you came along and fucked everything up. You see... I know what it takes for people to survive... And it's someone like me. Someone to keep everyone in line, to keep everyone preoccupied so they're not focused on how goddamn miserable they are. I'm saving lives."

- Negan explaining his own goals to his enemy, Rick Grimes, after All-Out-War.

Negan (pronounced KNEE-GAN) is a character from The Walking Dead comic book series and one of the primary antagonists. He served as the primary antagonist from Volume 17: Something to Fear to Volume 21: All Out War, Part 2, and later a minor antagonist during Volume 22: A New Beginning.

Biography
Negan has a penchant for provocation and power games. The stronger the resistance to his will, the more he seems to enjoy the test of wills. With insight rarely associated to violent antagonists, Negan appears to both observe and appreciate the concerns and intentions of his opposite numbers. This gives him a serious psychological advantage in most contest of wills, as he is able to anticipate and pre-empt an enemy's plans.

Murdering Glenn
"You see, Rick, Whatever you do... No matter fucking what... You do not mess with the new world order. The new world order is this, and it's very simple, so even if you're fucking stupid... which you may very well be... You can understand it. Ready? Here goes, pay attention. Give me your shit or I will kill you. You work for me now, you have shit... you give it to me. That's your job."

- Negan threatening Rick Grimes and his group after his debut

At some point after the outbreak, Negan established "The Saviors" and fiercely ruled over his men. Negan, along with his team (which includes at least 50 or more other men), had made a deal with the Hilltop Colony; they would use the weaponry that the other group was lacking to kill all zombies wandering near their premises. In return, they would obtain half of Hilltop's supplies; such as livestock and crops. To get his point across, if a potential problem would arise, Negan and his men would resort to cruel and manic measures. If they sense they are being tracked or if they feel they aren't getting a sufficient enough amount of supplies, they beat or kill the people from Hilltop. The group also sends "messages" to the community, which are usually very deadly, such as Gregory being stabbed by Ethan.

Later, Negan, along with fifty other Saviors, snuck up on Rick's group and subdued Rick by surprise. They lined up all of the survivors from the van (Rick, Carl, Glenn, Maggie, Sophia, Michonne, and Heath), telling them that he wanted revenge for the Saviors that were killed. Without an agreement from Rick, Negan made a deal; everything that belonged to the Alexandria Safe-Zone, now belonged to the Saviors. He introduced his weapon of choice; Lucille, a baseball bat covered in barbed wire. After a long talk about the new world order and whom he should beat to death using Lucille. He finally chose his victim at random: Glenn. Maggie panicked, as Glenn attempted talking Negan out of it. Negan ignored him and smashed Glenn's skull in by slamming Lucille down hard on Glenn's head. Negan laughed and when Glenn attempted to get to his feet, the former remarked that "he's taking it like a champ" before swinging Lucille at Glenn, dislocating his jaw and beating Glenn to death. Negan told the mourning and crying group that the Saviors would be back in one week to collect half of everything that the Alexandria Safe-Zone owned, or there would be more killings. Rick vowed that he would avenge Glenn and kill Negan. Negan laughed at this, beat Rick with his bare hands and turned around, leaving the survivors with Glenn's corpse.

Visiting Alexandria Safe-Zone
"Um, who are you?"

- Spencer Monroe, standing behind the gate

"You better be fucking joking. Negan? Lucille? I know I had to make a pretty fucking strong first impression."

- Negan, responding to Spencer's question, with a grin.

Negan and The Saviors later arrived at the Alexandria Safe-Zone for their first offering. Spencer Monroe arrived at the gate, questioning Negan's identity, to which Negan laughs, referencing the events of Issue 100. Bemused that not everyone knew his name, Negan remarks that he "had to make a pretty fucking strong first impression" and asks him to get Rick. When Spencer left, Negan and the Saviors began killing the roamers surrounding the area. While the Saviors scavenged each of the houses for supplies, Negan made several rude comments about his beating of Glenn, about Olivia being overweight, and toward Carl when he threatened him. Negan also forced Rick to hold "Lucille" while he scavenged the Safe-Zone. When Denise threatened a Savior for taking important medical supplies and Rick attempted to reason with Negan, Negan told the group that their big walls are the only medicine they need. Before Negan departed, he retrieved "Lucille" from Rick and whispered, "I just slid my dick down your throat and you thanked me for it."

Situation With Carl Grimes
"I'd like to get to know you a little better, Carl. First, I want to tell how motherfucking smart you are, just in case you don't already know that. You're what, twelve? Who cares? I'd expect a kid your age to be running away, trying to get out --- having my people chase you all over this mill. But you stayed right with me. I barely even had to look at you. Because you knew that if you fucked something else up, I'd chase you down and break your little kid neck, right?"

- Negan, speaking to Carl Grimes.

He and his men depart from the Safe-Zone with supplies, but, unknown to him, Carl was hiding in the truck with an assault rifle. Once he and his men get back to their base, he is amazed to see that Dwight was still alive. "There is always next time, I suppose" he says, much to Dwight's disgust. A Savior finds Carl and Carl uses the rifle and kills six Saviors. They surround Carl and he demands to speak with Negan. When Negan arrives, Carl fires at them until he loses control of his gun. Dwight is about to kill him when Negan stops him and says "Is that any way to treat our new guest?"

Instead of taking immediate action against young Carl, Negan shows an impressive amount of interest in getting to know the child. He goes as far as to lead him through the Saviors facilities, revealing that he is the leader of a cult-like domain of selfless followers who bow to his every word and command. Many followers of his ranks are living on a point system in order to sustain their lives, though many give into his graces for a better living, most notably the women he considers his "wives". It is brought to his attention that one of his many wives, Amber, has committed adultery against him with her former lover. As he goes to handle the situation, he brings Carl along to see his wives and how he handles his affairs before degrading the terrified Amber in front of them all.

Afterwards, Negan and Carl share a private moment in his quarters where he reveals that he'd like to get know to Carl a little better, but, he gets distracted by Carl's bandaged face. He orders Carl to remove the bandages, showing interest in seeing the injury to his eye. Carl allows him to see it only after being threatened; removing the bandages to reveal the disturbing effects that being shot had left him with. Negan, in a state of disbelief and awe, jokingly mocks the deformity and goes as far as to ask Carl if he can touch the part of his skull showing through his exposed eye-socket, which causes Carl to finally break and cry. This appears to have an odd effect on Negan who takes back the gesture and apologizes, seeing that he has finally found a weakness in the child he finds so dangerous. They are interrupted by one of his followers who returns "Lucille" to him and leaves them alone once again. Negan reverts to coldness as he orders Carl to sing a song for him while he swings the bat dangerously close by. After this intense encounter between the two, they are interrupted once again and Negan is told that the iron is ready. Negan has Carl hold "Lucille" while he follows him to witness the event.

In a ritualistic fashion, complete with chanting from the followers answering to Negan's words, shows that whoever falls onto his bad graces are dealt with by having their faces burned by a searing iron. Tied to the end of a pole, the tool once used to straighten clothes is held over a fire before being handed to Negan who presses it against the victims face as punishment for their betrayal. In this case, it was the face of Amber's former lover Mark, who is left deformed in the same manner as Dwight with a portion of his face permanently scarred and leaving an exposed eyeball. After the ritual, Negan dismisses his congregation before turning to Carl who hands back "Lucille" and leads him away, contemplating what to do with him.

Meeting With Rick Grimes' Group
"Still --- here I am, friendly as a fuckless fuck on free fuck day."

- Negan speaking to Rick Grimes, with a huge grin.

Negan runs into Rick while the latter was on his way to find Carl. Negan then tells Rick how eager he is to show him "what he has done to his son". He is then attacked by Rick in a fit of rage before revealing that Carl is fine and he meant that he is eager to show Rick "that he has done nothing to his son".

Second Visit To Alexandria-Safe Zone
"You wanted to take over... why not just kill Rick and take the fuck over? You know why? ...Because you got no guts."

- Negan, speaking to Spencer Monroe before killing him.

Several days later, Negan arrives at the Alexandria Safe-Zone a few days ahead of schedule; he's informed that the community is "practically" out of supplies and that Rick went out looking for more. Negan decides that he will stay in Alexandria until Rick returns from the supply run. He makes an offhand comment about Olivia's weight, who overhears it and starts to cry. He tries to apologize, but, she merely slaps him. Despite several Saviors offering to kill her, Negan dismisses them. Negan is later approached by Spencer Monroe and asks for a little background on the Safe-Zone. After awhile, Negan gets impatient with Spencer and wants to know why he came to him. Spencer then tells Negan that Rick is not a suitable leader for the community and asks that once Negan kills him, Spencer be given control over the Safe-Zone. Negan feels insulted that Spencer would wait until Rick is gone to tell him this. He responds by telling Spencer that Rick may hate him, but, he has guts unlike Spencer who acted like a coward. Negan then slashes Spencer's stomach killing him almost instantly, remarking that he had guts after all. He then orders one of his men to clean the mess up "before a kid sees it."

Negan asks Denise, who witnessed the attack, where Spencer lived so he could go and shoot some pool. Rick later returns and confronts Negan, who casually blows him off. Rick demands to know what happened or he won't leave Alexandria alive. After picking up Lucille and praying to give him strength, Negan drops the excessive profanity he normally uses and tells Rick that he feels like he's "bent over backwards to show how reasonable I can be" in regards how he brought Carl back to the Safe-Zone safely and hints about how Spencer wanted to have him kill Rick.

Ambush By Rick's Group
After seeing the supplies gathered by Rick, Negan initially demands all of it, but, then decides to take nothing as payment for killing Spencer. Rick insists that they take their share and Negan has no objections. As they are driving back to the foundry, Negan notices Rick and a few others were following them. An instant later, the driver is shot and killed. Confused and angry, Negan takes Lucille and sees Rick pointing a gun at his head. Suddenly, a gunshot is heard and Rick's gun is destroyed as well as the other's who came out with him. Negan remarks on how stupid Rick and the others are by using bullets on the roamers instead of saving them for 'the much more dangerous thinkers' (aka the living.) Negan reveals that before every pickup, he has a back-up team armed with guns surround the Safe-Zone and guard the area while himself and the others go in and salvage for supplies. With a crazed smile on his face, Negan leans in to Rick and says that him and the Safe-Zone residents are 'fucking fucked.' Negan smiles and says that in a stand-off situation, snipers tend to give away their position after several shots. He clarifies that Rick's 'sniper bitch is as good as dead', causing Rick to try and strike him. As Negan holds him off, Carl shoots off a portion of Lucille, causing the Saviors to open fire at the Safe-Zone walls. Negan orders them to stop and is shocked and angry about the damage to Lucille. Rick tackles him from behind, but, Negan subdues him once more. He calls Carl a one-eyed asshole and shouts for Carl to be thrown over the wall, saying "I want him to pay for what he's done!" Rick tries to object, but, Negan beats him and issues an ultimatum: "Give me the boy or I'll bash in all four skulls of the people out here!" Negan admits that he liked Carl at first and that he never had a kid of his own; if he did, he wanted them to be like Carl. Rick says that if Carl dies, their agreement is over, but, Negan states that it already IS over. He orders his men to line up Rick, Heath, Nicholas and Holly, then begins to decide which one to kill first. He notices a figure falling from the bell tower and smugly repeats that he knew Rick's sniper was good as dead, not realizing that it's not Andrea, but, Connor.

Negan taunts Rick about Andrea's supposed demise and Nicholas interrupts him, pleading for his life. Negan berates Nicholas for doing this and accuses him of being a coward, he asks Rick, Heath or Holly to ask him to kill Nicholas and that if they do so, he will spare them. However Heath tells him no and he begins to pick which one of them he will kill, however he is interrupted when Paul Monroe grabs a Savior by the foot and uses him as a shield from the Saviors bullets. Negan tells his men to stand down and when he does this Paul leaps out of a trench and kicks the nearest Savior in the face. Paul orders Rick and the others into a trench and proceeds to fight his way towards Negan. When Paul reaches Negan he manages to disarm him and hold him hostage. Paul stalls the Saviors until Ezekiel and his men arrive, Negan breaks free from Paul and runs to a truck, where he retreats back to The Sanctuary with his men.

Return To The Sanctuary
Negan is later seen back at The Sanctuary where he gives the Saviors a speech about them being the dominant force in the world and that they need to remind people of that and then states that they are going to war.

Defending The Sanctuary From Rick Grimes' Group
Rick and his army arrive at the Sanctuary, where Rick offers Negan the chance to surrender. Negan then reveals that he kidnapped Gregory and forces him to pledge his (and that of the Hilltop's) allegiance to Negan and the Saviors or be killed. When only eight people deflect from Rick's side, Negan angrily berates Gregory and kicks him off the balcony. When a firefight ensues between Rick's army and the Saviors, Negan rescues Holly from being killed by a zombie and takes her as a hostage, mistaking her to be Andrea. When Negan catches one of his men, David, attempting to rape Holly, he expresses his hatred of sexual violence by telling David "We don't rape." and stabbing him in the neck before telling Holly that the Saviors are not monsters. Negan is then informed that Rick's army has taken one of his outposts, causing him to order his men to fortify the others.

Attacking Alexandria-Safe Zone
"But I do things I don't want to do... All the fucking time."

- Negan talking to his hostage, Eugene Porter

He arrives at the Alexandria Safe-Zone with Holly and The Saviors. When he gives Holly over, she is revealed to have been killed and already zombified. Negan and his Saviors start throwing grenades at the Safe-Zone and retreat when Maggie and her forces arrive. Before fleeing, the Saviors kidnap Eugene and Negan attempts to force him to make ammunition for the Saviors, but he refuses.

Attacking Hilltop Colony
Negan soon comes up with the idea of using weapons smeared with zombie blood in hopes of infecting Rick's army with the virus. When Negan and the Saviors attack the Hilltop, they start slaughtering and infecting residents before Negan sees Rick and has Dwight shoot him with his crossbow. Unbeknownst to Negan, Dwight's crossbow bolts were not infected and therefore Rick is not infected with the virus. Negan is informed that Eugene had escaped along with help from Carson, Amber and Mark, but Negan says he'll deal with them later.

Post-War
When he arrives at the Hilltop to gain their surrender, Negan is shocked to see Rick alive and angrily turns to Dwight. Rick tells Negan to look at him and asks why he is doing this. Negan says he's doing it to save lives and Rick calls him the stupidest person in the world. He then tells Negan that they should coexist together and just when Negan starts to agree with him, Rick slashes his neck with a knife. Rick then tells the Saviors that he will save Negan's life if they leave and never come back. Rick also reveals that the knife he slashed Negan with was not infected. Negan attacks Rick and the army starts to fire on the Saviors. During the fight, Negan manages to break Rick's leg before passing out. Negan awakens in the Hilltop, where he will kept locked up for the rest of his life to see the survivors live life without the threat of Negan.

Imprisonment
"After all this time... all these talks... the things we've shared. Do you still want to kill me?"

- Negan in his prison cell, asking Carl Grimes

Two years after the war, Negan tried to become friends with Carl so he could convince him to let him out of the jail, but the plan failed. Later on, Magna and her group later come down to see who was in the jail. When they walk down the stairs to where Negan is being held, Negan grabs the bars to his cell and asks if they're here to rescue him, saying that "they're animals." He begs them to release him and claims Rick is a monster who locked him up and tortured him for speaking out against him. However, Magna doesn't believe him, so Negan admits he was lying but had to give it a try. Magna and her companions leave the cell. Negan sits down on bed quietly and said "Damn" as his escape plan failed again.

Conversation With Rick
After Negan takes a bath, Olivia leaves his cell gate open. However, instead of escaping, Negan just sits in his cell, gate open. Later on, Rick goes downstairs, and much to his shock, Negan is sitting inside his cell, while the door is open. Negan sarcastically welcomes him home. Rick reaches for his gun, only to be taunted by Negan about his leg and his "grandpa" appearance. Negan then questions Rick about the gun, since he could have easily sneaked behind and subdued Rick, but instead he decided to stay, as to make Rick trust him a little. He goes on and say that he could have booby-trapped the safe-zone, he could have started a fire in the house to kill Rick and Andrea while they're asleep or that he could have simply raped Andrea without anyone knowing. Much to Negan's surprise, Rick still says that nothing has changed and that he has no trust in Negan. Knowing that nothing he says will work, Negan proceeds to taunt Rick about the reason why he's keeping him here, only to prove to himself and no one else that he has mercy, and that he wants others to believe he's a good person and the only one who can fix the world.

Giving Rick An Advice
Rick goes to Negan for help, and the latter smiles. He fills him in on everything that has happened since they've come into conflict with this the new group The Whisperers. Negan gives Rick an advice to keep his group happy, even if that means lying to them, touting his expertise as leader of the Saviors, some of whom disliked him. Rick leaves, and Negan dons a grin. When Negan hears the chants and cheers of Rick's name at a later town meeting, Negan smiles and says, "atta boy."

Escape With Brandon Rose
Later on, Negan is approached in his cell by Brandon Rose, who has the keys to the cell and wants to release Negan so they can inform The Whisperers of Rick's plan to attack them, and they can come back to kill Rick and the other members of the community. Negan, impressed by Brandon's words, tells him that he'll think about it. When Rick and Michonne arrive after being told that the keys are missing, they find an empty cell.

Television Series
Robert Kirkman and Scott M. Gimple stated that he will likely appear in a later season. There has been much speculation across the internet as to who would be capable of playing a character as unpredictable, intimidating and violent as Negan while still being able to deliver his twisted sense of humor.

He made his full debut in the Season 6 finale  'Last Day On Earth', and he is played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

Negan serves as the primary antagonist of the second half of Season 6 and Season 7.

Murdering one of Rick's group
While Rick Grimes and his group (consisting of his son Carl, Eugene Porter, Abraham Ford, Sasha Williams and Aaron) take Maggie to the Hilltop, They get surrounded by Negan and his Saviors. They have also captured Daryl Dixon, Glenn Rhee, Michonne and Rosita Espinoza.

Season 6

 * "Last Day on Earth"

Season 7
(TBA)

Trivia

 * Negan is the second primary antagonist in the Comic Series, along with The Governor and Alpha
 * Out of all the antagonists, Negan has the longest lifespan.
 * Also, out of all the antagonists, Negan, while still a bad guy, is the least evil of the three, because unlike The Governor, Negan does not really enjoy killing people, he only kills to keep people in check, and he absolutely hates sexual violence (The Governor was a vicious rapist who raped Michonne multiple times). Plus, unlike Alpha who is a feral individual, Negan wants to rebuild civilization, but in a darker way, and unlike Alpha, Negan does not kill children or pregnant women.
 * Charlie Adlard has confirmed that Negan is based on actor Henry Rollins.