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Major General Johnathan Beale is the overarching antagonist of The Walking Dead franchise.
He is the leader of the Civic Republic Military, always staying in the backgrounds as he has people such as Elizabeth Kublek carry on with their actions. His main goal and motivation seems to take over the United States by eliminating other communities using bio-warfare, such as the toxic gas.
He was portrayed by Terry O’Quinn, who also portrayed Stepfather in The Stepfather, Erik Pressman in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Man In Black in Lost, and Professor Mystery in Phineas and Ferb.
Biography[]
Background[]
Johnathan Beale was originally from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, growing up with an alcoholic father who caused him to run away at 15. Beale started working as a barback at a VFW where the veterans raised him. Inspired by this, Beale signed up for the military and served two tours in Vietnam before returning home where he continued his military service by joining the Pennsylvania National Guard, rising through its ranks.
He later had a son named Mason Beale.
When the zombie outbreak started, Beale was a part of the Pennsylvania National Guard, defending the city of Philadelphia. When federal forces tried to contain the outbreak by bombing every major city with napalm, Beale and his forces resisted. During the Battle of Fittler Square, Beale's life was saved by Revolutionary War General Hugh Mercer's sword which had been in the middle of being evacuated, or possibly stolen, when the truck carrying it was caught in the bombings. Finally, U.S. Air Force Major and pilot Donald Okafor defected and bombed Lincoln Financial Field where 4,000 Marines - including his own wife - were gathering to "liquidate" any survivors, killing everyone there. Ultimately, Beale and his forces managed to secure the city from both the federal forces and the undead. The National Guard also defended Beale's hometown of Pittsburg, but after learning that a massive herd was coming that the federal forces hadn't detected, Beale chose to abandon the city in the dead of night, leaving Pittsburg and the federal forces there to fall to the dead.
Subsequently, the city became the Civic Republic of Philadelphia while the Pennsylvania National Guard reorganized into the Civic Republic Military with Major General Beale as its leader.
About 2 years into the apocalypse, Beale and Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth Kublek organized Project Votus where scientist Dr. Lyla Belshaw experimented upon survivors to study reanimation and try to find a cure for the zombie virus.
About 8 years into the apocalypse, the CRM's scientists predicted that their allies, the cities of Portland, Oregon, Omaha, Nebraska and Omaha's Campus Colony, had grown too dependent upon the CRM for survival and would never be self-sustaining. As a result, the cities would eventually fall to famine and disease with the chaos potentially spreading into the Civic Republic itself. Beale authorized the extermination of the cities by the CRM and the seizing of their resources for the CRM's own usage despite there being around 200,000 people combined in the cities.
The Walking Dead: World Beyond[]
Although Major General Beale doesn't physically appear, he is mentioned a number of times in reference to the CRM's acts of genocide and experimentation. Hope Bennett also meets Beale's son Mason who is more interested in science than the military, something that Mason says his father would not be happy about as Beale is all about the military.
After the Endlings expose the CRM's crimes, the scientists at the CRM's research facility rebel, taking Mason Beale as a hostage in order to secure Jadis' cooperation. Although Hope exposes Beale's crimes to his son, Mason refuses to believe that his father is capable of such atrocities, insisting that Beale would never do such a thing.
Following the rebellion, Jadis contacts Beale for reinforcements and to move up their attack on Portland with poison gas. However, the Endlings manage to destroy the gas before it can be used and make their way to Portland to warn the city of Beale and the CRM's treachery.
Jadis subsequently blames the events on Kublek and, with Beale signing the arrest warrant himself, imprisons Kublek to face trial for treason.
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 "when the time comes, swear on the sword. Don't let it take." As Rick fails 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, ending with Rick overpowering Beale and impaling him through the hand. Declaring that Beale is wrong, Rick stabs Beale 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 with 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 entire CRM Force Command and 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.
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 Villains
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