Martha (Fear The Walking Dead)

Martha, also known as The Filthy Woman, is a major antagonist in AMC's Fear the Walking Dead.

She is the widow of her late husband Hank who died in a car crash at the start of an apocalypse, who tried for hours to get help to rescue him but ultimately failed. She would then become a delusional serial killer hellbent on executing other survivors for working together. She serves as the main antagonist of the second half of Season 4.

Personality[]

Despite not knowing much about her life before the start of the apocalypse, she seemed to act like how most people would in an end of the world scenario, panicking and trying to leave the area to escape death. However, following the death of her husband due to no one volunteering to help, she would suffer a psychotic break and develop a primative method of survival. She would assess every survivor she comes across and either deem them 'weak or strong', typically executing those who go out of their way to help other survivors, perhaps as an act of vengeance for how no one helped her when she needed it.

She is also shown to have developed psychopathic tendencies, such as using the reanimated corpses of her victims as weapons to kill others, and laughing at Morgan when he couldn't warn his group about how she had poisoned their water supply with anti-freeze.

Appearance[]

Martha is an African-American woman with dried dirt all over her face and body, as per her nickname from Morgan's group as the 'filthy woman'. She also has dirty dreadlocks and later develops an infection under her right shoulder, partly from where she was shot, but later after she willingly let her herself be bit by a walker.

Biography[]

Martha's story begins with a horrific car accident. She and her husband, Hank, are involved in a crash that leaves Hank impaled by a guardrail. Martha frantically tries to flag down passing cars, but no one stops to offer assistance. As she sits beside the wrecked car, a figure approaches. Initially hopeful, Martha quickly realizes it's a walker. In a brutal act of survival, she kills it with a nearby rake.

Clinging to hope, Martha holds Hank's hand, assuring him that help will arrive. However, the next morning brings only tragedy. Hank dies and reanimates, forcing a heartbroken Martha to kill him. That night, she buries Hank, an act that marks a turning point. The trauma and isolation drive her insane.

The following day, a truck driver named Stevie arrives at mile marker 54, placing a supply box on the ground and writing a note. Martha approaches, introducing herself and correcting a grammatical error on Stevie's note. When Stevie expresses gratitude, Martha coldly replies, "I don't help," and stabs him in the throat with a stick. This is her first kill, fueled by a newly formed, twisted ideology.

Her violence escalates. Another truck driver arrives, leaving a supply box. Martha ambushes him, using the zombified Stevie as a weapon, killing him. Over the following days, she repeats this pattern, murdering several more truckers by attacking them with the turned bodies of their colleagues. She is methodical and ruthless.

Martha's focus shifts to identifying "Polar Bear," the person behind the supply box network. She ambushes a driver named Purvis, demanding information. When Purvis refuses, she kills him. She then uses the truck's CB radio, attempting to contact Polar Bear. Instead, she reaches Morgan Jones, who explains he accidentally hitched a ride to Mississippi.

Morgan's accidental arrival provides Martha with a new target. Communicating with him over the radio, she delivers a cryptic message: "Take what you need, leave what you don't," a perversion of the supply box philosophy. Later, Martha eavesdrops on Morgan's distress call to his friends in Texas – Alicia, June, and Luciana, and also, Wendell, Sarah, and Jim Brauer. She writes the same message onto the cheek of the zombified Purvis, whom she keeps impaled, declaring her intention to travel to Texas.

Martha's first direct interaction with Morgan is deceptive. Unaware of her true nature, Morgan stumbles upon her and offers supplies. She ominously warns him to "be careful" and proceeds to contaminate a bottle of water, replacing clean water with dirty water and sealing it with a lighter.

She continues her campaign of terror, manipulating mile markers to mislead a man named Quinn, preventing him from reuniting with June. Martha then uses a walker to attack Quinn, watching as he is bitten. She captures Quinn, ties him up in the back of a SWAT truck, and writes "People You Know" on his face, preparing him to be her next weapon.

Martha's communication with Morgan's group intensifies. She radios June, informing her of Quinn's death. Morgan recognizes her voice, and Martha reveals she knows him through Althea's tapes, recordings of survivors' stories. She warns Morgan to stop leaving supply boxes, claiming it makes people weak.

Her attacks become more direct. Martha radios Alicia while she's talking to Morgan, taunting them. She then uses Althea's SWAT truck, heavily armed, to ambush Morgan and his group, opening fire on their vehicle. She states her twisted philosophy, "You lose people... You lose yourself."

In a flashback, her past trauma with Hank is shown again. Then, in a flashback, after meeting Stevie, she reveals "I don't help" instead of her name and she kills Stevie.

In her war against Morgan, Martha goes after her, after finding her truck, with a knife. Martha releases zombified Quinn onto June. Wendell shoots Martha in the chest, and Morgan puts down Quinn. The truck explodes attracting more walkers. Martha drives off in the swat truck.

An injured Martha ambushes Alicia and Charlie, opening fire on them. She claims she can make them stronger, mirroring her twisted ideology. Alicia tries to reason with her, offering help, but Martha collapses, weakened by her gunshot wound.

Captured by Alicia's group, Martha is present when they communicate with Morgan, who is trapped. She warns Luciana that their rescue attempt will end badly, but is ignored. When Alicia, June, and Luciana barely escape a herd of walkers, they find Martha has escaped.

Martha's final acts involve marking the corpse of Jim, a member of Morgan's group, with his brewing recipe. She tells the reanimated Jim, "You're strong now, let's go make him strong too," referring to Morgan.

She confronts Al, another member of Morgan's group, with the zombified Jim. Martha reveals she watched Al's tapes, admiring her strength. She orders Al to deliver a message to Morgan but is refused. Martha attacks Al with Jim, knocking her unconscious, but leaves her alive with a video message for Morgan, vowing to make him strong.

Morgan, having left his friends, contacts Martha. She directs him to mile marker 54, where he finds the zombified Jim and the wreckage of Martha's car. He discovers Martha lying on Hank's grave, weak and infected. Morgan takes her in a police car, attempting to help.

On the road, Morgan tries to get Martha to take antibiotics, but she refuses. She finally reveals the story of Hank and her inability to help him. Suddenly, June radios Morgan, informing him they are all sick. Martha asks for the medicine, but it's a ruse. She attacks Morgan, causing a crash. She marks his face with "I lose people... I lose myself." Morgan wakes up with a leg injury, and Martha reveals she has been bitten and taunts him. Morgan then realises that his group had drank the water that Martha had laced with poison.

Morgan, enraged, nearly chokes Martha to death but stops himself, demanding that she tells him what she poisoned them with. She finally relents and coldly reveals that she spiked the water supply with anti-freeze. He handcuffs her to the car, preventing her from harming others after she turns, and walks away. Thankfully, Morgan manages to reach the gas station just in time to tell them what the group has been poisoned with, and finds an old truck containing ethanol, which they drink to nullify the anti-freeze and saves everyone from being poisoned.

Defeated, Martha sobs. The next day, Morgan returns with his group. They find Martha's severed arm and the reanimated Martha staggering around. Morgan finally puts her down with his staff and buries her. The experience solidifies Morgan's resolve to help others, a direct contrast to Martha's destructive path. He believes Martha's descent was a result of the lack of help she received, and he vows to prevent others from suffering the same fate. As such, Morgan makes a speech that he now wishes to stay in Texas to build a community of survivors to help eachother, rather than return to Alexandria.

Navigation[]

Martha (Fear) on the The Walking Dead Wiki.

Villains

Television
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Season 1

Merle Dixon | Edwin Jenner | Ed Peletier | Bank Robbers

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