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| “ | After everything—after all the escape attempts—to right here, now. I think that the next leader—in the next decade—that might be you. After trying to get away so many times, after so many years... you've found yourself free—dead to us—you could have gone wherever it was you wanted to go. And you came back. You've become a powerful story. A power symbol, one the CRM may need to tell to win the hearts of the people who will see some of their freedoms "delayed" yet again. I sacrificed. Okafor sacrificed. I would expect the same from you, but you've said it: you already have. | „ |
| ~ Major Beale to Rick Grimes during his Echelon Briefing. |
Major General Johnathan Beale is the overarching antagonist of AMC's The Walking Dead television franchise.
He is a high-ranking survivor of the apocalypse and the commanding officer of the Civic Republic Military (CRM). A former Vietnam War veteran and Adjutant General of the Pennsylvania National Guard, Beale played a key role during the early days of the outbreak. Amidst the chaos of the Second Civil War, he successfully defended Philadelphia with help from defected U.S. military forces. This victory led to the city becoming the Civic Republic, with Beale appointed as Major General of its newly formed military force—the CRM.
Operating independently from the Civic Republic Council, Beale pursued a secretive and brutal plan to expand the CRM’s control by eliminating rival communities through bio-warfare, including the use of toxic gas. His forces succeeded in destroying Omaha, but his attempt to eliminate Portland was thwarted twice—first by a rebel group known as the Endlings, and later by Rick and Michonne Grimes during a pivotal uprising in 2022.
Beale was ultimately killed by Rick Grimes, and the Cascadia Forward Operating Base was destroyed, along with its chemical weapons. His death, along with the exposure of the CRM’s genocidal operations, led to the disbanding of the Frontliners (his elite soldiers), a major reformation of the CRM, and the Civic Republic opening itself to the outside world.
He was portrayed by Terry O’Quinn, who also portrayed the titular character in The Stepfather, Erik Pressman in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Man In Black in Lost, and voiced Professor Mystery in Phineas and Ferb.
Biography[]
Background[]
Jonathan Beale was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and grew up in a troubled home with an alcoholic father who broke his jaw when Beale was 15. Beale soon ran away from home and found work as a barback at a local VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) hall. The veterans there took him under their wing and helped raise him, becoming a source of guidance and inspiration. Wanting to follow in their footsteps, Beale joined the U.S. military, where he served two tours in Vietnam. After returning home, he continued his military career by joining the Pennsylvania National Guard, working his way up the ranks through hard work and leadership. He later had a son named Mason Beale.
When the zombie outbreak began, Beale was serving in the National Guard and was part of the effort to protect Philadelphia. As the outbreak spread, the federal government made the harsh decision to bomb major cities with napalm to try and stop it. Beale and his forces refused to give up the city, fighting back against both the undead and federal troops.
During the Battle of Fitler Square, Beale’s life was saved through unknown circumstances by a sword once owned by Revolutionary War General Hugh Mercer. The turning point came when Air Force Major Donald Okafor, whose wife was among the troops sent to "liquidate" survivors, defected and bombed Lincoln Financial Field, killing over 4,000 Marines and halting the federal assault.
Beale and his men eventually secured Philadelphia, holding it against both the dead and the government. However, when he received word of a large herd heading toward Pittsburgh—his hometown—Beale made the hard choice to abandon the city, leaving it and the remaining federal forces there to fall to the undead.
After the dust settled, Philadelphia became the Civic Republic, and the Pennsylvania National Guard was reformed as the Civic Republic Military (CRM), with Beale taking command as Major General.
Around two years into the apocalypse, Beale and Lt. Colonel Elizabeth Kublek launched Project Votus, a secret scientific program that had Dr. Lyla Belshaw experimenting on living test subjects to study reanimation and search for a possible cure to the virus.
By the eighth year of the apocalypse, CRM scientists warned that Portland, Omaha, and the Campus Colony—three cities that relied heavily on CRM support—would soon face famine, disease, and collapse. Beale believed that if these cities fell, the chaos would eventually spread to the Civic Republic itself. To prevent this, he approved a plan to wipe out all three cities, killing roughly 200,000 people, and taking their resources for the CRM’s own use.
The Walking Dead: World Beyond[]
Although he doesn’t make a physical appearance, Beale is mentioned several times in connection with the CRM’s genocidal actions and human experiments. Hope Bennett eventually meets Mason Beale, the general’s son, who is more interested in science than the military. Mason admits that his father wouldn’t approve of his interests, saying that Beale is fully focused on power and military strength.
After the Endlings expose the CRM’s crimes, the scientists at the research facility turn against the CRM. They take Mason hostage in an attempt to force Jadis to cooperate. Hope tells Mason the truth about his father’s actions, including the murders of thousands, but Mason refuses to believe it. He insists that his father would never do such terrible things.
In response to the rebellion, Jadis contacts Beale to request backup and to speed up the planned gas attack on Portland. However, the Endlings manage to destroy the supply of toxic gas before it can be used and race to Portland to warn the city about Beale and the CRM’s plans.
Afterward, Jadis puts the blame on Lt. Colonel Elizabeth Kublek for the CRM’s failures, and Kublek is taken into custody to stand trial for treason, with Beale having personally signed her arrest warrant.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live[]
About six years after being taken by the CRM, Rick Grimes is approached by Major General Beale while observing the Civic Republic from across the river. Beale explains some of the CRM's history to Rick and Donald Okafor's role in it. Beale tells Rick that normally they wouldn't have let people like Rick and Pearl Thorne into the consignment program, let alone the CRM itself, but Okafor had stood up for them. Beale questions Rick's motives, especially given Rick's repeated escape attempts. Beale decides to ask Rick a question, although Beale doesn't expect him to answer and nor does Rick have to: is Okafor up to anything that he should know about. Rick, having been approached by Okafor to help change the CRM from the inside, lies that Okafor is not, pleasing Beale with his answer. Beale asks how Rick survived and he simply responds that it was through sacrifice. Beale ultimately decides to just sit and enjoy the view with Rick for awhile.
After Okafor is killed by Michonne and Nat, Beale personally presides over his funeral, commemorating Okafor's sacrifice. After the funeral, Beale approaches Rick and Thorne and tells the two that he had warned Okafor that they weren't worth the trouble and he's still not sure about them, particularly Rick. Beale just doesn't know if Rick can be trusted and he thinks of the ancient Greek word "pharmakon" whenever Rick's name comes up, meaning both poison and the cure. Beale gives Rick a copy of the same book that Beale had given to Okafor when he wasn't sure if he could trust the man and pulls Thorne aside to talk to her privately.
When Thorne returns from her meeting, she reveals to Rick that Beale had promoted her to Command Sergeant Major and gave Thorne the Echelon Briefing, the revelation of all of the CRM's secrets that only ten percent of the force knows about. The two have to prepare Cascadia Forward Operating Base for the upcoming opening summit. According to Beale, every CRM commander is going to be there, every senior officer, decision maker and the entire elite Frontliner force. Beale also asked Thorne about Michonne, meaning that with more than 17,000 people in the CRM, Michonne is on Beale's radar, and she reflects on Thorne now.
After the fight with the herd at Cascadia Base, Thorne tells Rick that he's being recalled by Beale for a promotion and a full briefing and he is moving up in the organization. However, Michonne's daring mid-air escape with Rick interrupts this.
While chasing after the couple, Jadis reveals that Rick had finally gained Beale's trust before the escape. Believing that Rick was starting to see the bigger picture of things, Beale was going to give Rick the Echelon Briefing the second that he returned and reveal to him the true scope and size of the CRM's plans to rebuild the world. Michonne decides to return to the CRM with Rick so that Rick can get the Echelon Briefing and they can stop Beale and his plans once and for all.
After returning to Cascadia Base, Rick is brought before Beale who is personally eliminating walkers gathered at the perimeter fence. More impressed than ever by Rick's survival and the fact that Rick had returned after being given the perfect chance to finally escape, Beale takes Rick to his office to give him the Echelon Briefing, laying their weapons on the desk between them. Beale admits that he's given the briefing to 2,533 people in the past, but never to someone like Rick Grimes. Rather than being a regular Frontliner, Beale tells Rick that he believes that Rick has the potential to be the next leader of the CRM itself within a decade. The two men share details of their pasts with each other, with Rick admitting that the worst thing he'd ever done to protect his loved ones was to kill a man with his teeth like a walker while Beale shares his military past. Beale reveals that the Pennsylvania National Guard had at first defended both Philadelphia and Pittsburg, the latter of which was Beale's own hometown, but they had abandoned the latter city and the federal forces that they were fighting there to its destruction after spotting a massive herd coming, one that their enemies hadn't detected.
Beale shows Rick aerial photos of herds millions strong and reveals that the CRM's attempts to cure the zombie virus have gotten nowhere and possibly never will before he begins revealing all of the CRM's secrets to Rick. Beale confesses to the genocides in Omaha and the Campus Colony and reveals that the CRM has spies in a number of communities across the world, collecting survivors for testing purposes and manipulating their political system if they become a threat. In addition, their scientists have predicted that humanity will go extinct within the next 14 years if drastic measures aren't taken. This isn't just because of the dead, but because of starvation and lack of resources. The CRM will be attacking Portland the next day, extracting all of the city's children and then killing the remaining 87,000 people with chlorine gas. This tragedy will allow the CRM to declare martial law over the Civic Republic itself and begin a march on the other survivor communities out there, eliminating them all in order to ensure the Civic Republic's survival alone.
Placing his sword in front of Rick, Beale instructs Rick to swear on the sword, reminding Rick of Okafor's last words to "swear on the sword" As Rick refuses to swear, Beale realizes too late that Rick isn't on his side and grabs his sword to attack as Rick flings a knife into Beale's right shoulder. The two men engage in a brief duel, where Beale is revealed to be absolutely insane as he declares that his true intentions are to ensure humanity doesn't end while the world itself will, but Rick easily overpowers him and steals his sword, using it to impale Beale through the hand as Beale curses Okafor with his last words. Declaring that Beale is wrong, Rick stabs the insane man in the heart with his sword, finally killing Major General Beale.
Beale subsequently reanimates and is taken along with the reanimated corpse of a Frontliner by Rick and Michonne to the tent containing the chlorine gas. Taking inspiration from Michonne's friend Nat, the couple rig a large number of grenades up to the many canisters of poison gas and connect the cables to Beale and the Frontliner before starting them up walking in opposite directions. Outside of the tent, Rick and Michonne are confronted by Thorne who has realized the truth and attempts to stop them. As a zombified Beale emerges from the tent, Thorne is left distracted and in shock, giving Rick and Michonne the chance to take cover under a water drenched flag. Beale and the Frontliner reach the end of the line, pulling all of the grenades on the pins. The chlorine gas detonates in a massive explosion that consumes Beale and the Frontliners. The explosion and the released chlorine gas kill everyone except for Rick, Michonne and Thorne who is able to get a gas mask. Fighting through Thorne and the zombified Frontliners, Rick and Michonne manage to escape.
With Beale, the entirety of the CRM Force Command and the whole Frontliner force dead, Beale's plans are foiled and Rick and Michonne expose the CRM's crimes to the Civic Republic Council. Appalled by the CRM's horrific acts, the CRC votes unanimously to take control of the CRM themselves while changing the rules keeping the city separate from the rest of the world. Discovering that most of the CRM was unaware of Beale's actions, the Civic Republic expresses hope that the organization can be reformed into something better and begins sending out the military to aid other survivors and communities in need.
External Links[]
Trivia[]
- He does not appear in the comics, as he—along with the CRM and its entire storyline—is completely original to the TV version of The Walking Dead universe.
- His character was written to embody the central theme of the franchise: the real villains aren't the undead—it’s the living. While Beale believes he’s acting in his people's best interests, the cruel choices he makes and the countless lives he’s willing to destroy in the name of survival show that he’s just as dangerous—and in many ways, as monstrous—as the flesh-eating walkers.
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 Villains
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Silk Stockings (Bruegel)|
New Babylon Army (Lucia Narvaez)
Season 1 Power of the Living (Marion Genet, Stéphane Codron, Sabine, Capo, Dr. Lafleur, Martin, Richard, William, Philippe Poulin, François, Jèrèmie, Michel Codron, Henri, R.J. Gaines) | Demimonde (Quinn, Armand, Rodo, Bernard, Anna Valery) | Juno | Maribelle | Guillaume Season 2 Power of the Living (Marion Genet, Sabine, Dr. Lafleur, Michel Codron) |
Union of Hope (Losang, Sabine, Jacinta)
Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6 Season 7 Season 8 Troy Otto | Troy's Group Shrike | Crane | Russell
Video Games Season 1 Stranger | Larry | Save-Lots Bandits | Jake | Gary | Drew | Linda | Jolene | Bart St. John Family | Brenda | Andrew | Dan | Crawford Oberson | Logan | Vernon | Clive 400 Days Nate | Roman | Roman's Group | Marcus Crabtree | Roberto | Season 2 William Carver | Carver's Group | Troy | Tavia | Bonnie | Johnny | Russian Group Arvo | Buricko | Vitali | Natasha | Roman's Group | Roman | Winston | Victor | Ralph Mike | Jane | Kenny | Michonne Norma | Randall | Monroe Colonists | Gabby | Jonas A New Frontier Joan | The New Frontier | David García | Badger | Max | Clint | Lonnie | Rufus Scavenger Group | The Final Season Lilly |
The Delta
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Marlon
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