NOTE: This article is only for the comic version of Negan Smith. To see the article for the TV version, go to Negan Smith (TV Series).
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| “ | Frankly... I've just been defending myself from a bunch of ungrateful f-cks most of the time. But, mostly, I'm trying to restore order... Get things back to where they were before you came along and f-cked 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 goals. |
Negan Smith is one of the main antagonists in Image Comics' The Walking Dead horror comic book series. He is also the titular main protagonist of the spin-off volumes Here's Negan and Negan Lives.
Negan is introduced in Issue #100 of the comic series and is the charismatic, ruthless leader of a group known as the Saviors, who control numerous communities through intimidation and violence in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies.
He is known for his brutal and sadistic nature, often using a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, which he affectionately calls "Lucille," to enforce his will and punish those who oppose him. He becomes one of the primary antagonists in the series, particularly during the storyline known as "All Out War."
Biography[]
Here’s Negan[]
Before the zombie outbreak, Negan lived in Reston, Virginia, where he was a high school coach known for being tough and mean to his players. He was married to Lucille but had another woman on the side who didn't know he was married. When Lucille got sick with cancer, Negan confessed the truth to his mistress during an argument, and she left him.
When the zombie apocalypse began, hospital workers told Negan to leave with them, but he refused to leave his dying wife's side. Unfortunately, Lucille passed away when the power went out, which stopped her life-support machine. Moments later, she turned into a zombie. Negan ran from the hospital and encountered a boy in trouble with zombies. He helped the boy by using a fire extinguisher to fight off the zombies. In return, Negan asked the boy to kill his reanimated wife, Lucille.
A Larger World[]
After the outbreak, Negan meets a group led by a man named Dwight. Slowly, he takes control of this group and renames them the Saviors, ruling them with a firm hand. He also creates a deadly weapon by wrapping a baseball bat with barbed wire, naming it Lucille after his late wife.
Negan and his team, which includes over 50 people, make a deal with the Hilltop Colony. The Saviors promise to protect Hilltop from zombies and, in exchange, they get half of Hilltop's supplies like food and animals. Negan is very harsh and uses brutal violence as punishment, even ordering the death of Hilltop's leader, Gregory, for what he sees as disloyalty.
Something To Fear[]
Later on, Negan and his group, the Saviors, surprise Rick Grimes' group, catching them off guard. They say it's payback for their fallen friends and make a deal: everything from the Alexandria Safe-Zone now belongs to the Saviors, without Rick's agreement. Negan also shows off his weapon, Lucille, a baseball bat with barbed wire.
After talking about his new rules and deciding who to kill with Lucille, Negan picks Glenn. He brutally attacks Glenn, laughing as he struggles to stand. Glenn says his last words to Maggie before Negan beats him to death with Lucille.
Negan warns that the Saviors will return in a week to take half of everything, threatening more deaths if they resist. Rick swears to avenge Glenn, but Negan violently beats him before leaving the survivors to mourn Glenn's death.
What Comes After[]
Negan and his Saviors arrive at the Alexandria Safe-Zone for their first visit. They kill zombies and raid houses for supplies. Carl sneaks into their truck with a rifle and kills six Saviors when they return to their base. The Saviors surround Carl, and he demands to speak to Negan. Negan arrives and shows interest in Carl.
Negan takes Carl on a tour, revealing he leads a group of loyal followers. They live under Negan's control, with some trading freedom for a better life. Negan wants to get to know Carl better, but when he sees Carl's injured face (missing an eye), he mocks it, making Carl cry. Negan then demonstrates how he punishes those who defy him by burning their faces with a hot iron. Carl hands over a weapon and goes with Negan.
Later, Negan meets Rick, who's looking for Carl. Negan says he's eager to show Rick what he's done to his son, causing Rick to attack him. Negan clarifies that Carl is unharmed, and he wants to prove he hasn't harmed Carl.
March to War[]
Negan arrives early at the Alexandria Safe-Zone and learns they are low on supplies, so he decides to wait for Rick to return from a supply run. Spencer tries to get Negan to kill Rick and make him the leader, but Negan kills Spencer instead. When Rick returns with supplies, Negan demands everything as payment for Spencer's death, but Rick insists they only take their share. As they leave, Rick and others follow them, but Negan's backup team surrounds Alexandria and disarms them.
Negan taunts Rick, saying Andrea is dead, and threatens to kill Carl. Rick warns that if Carl dies, their agreement is off, but Negan doesn't care. He lines up Rick and others to decide who to kill first when someone falls from the bell tower, but it's not Andrea; it's Connor. Nicholas pleads for his life, and Negan berates him and asks the others to request Nicholas's death to save themselves. Heath refuses, and Negan begins choosing a victim.
Paul "Jesus" Monroe intervenes, disarming Negan and holding him hostage. Jesus fights off the Saviors until Ezekiel and his group arrive. Negan escapes, returns to the Sanctuary, and declares war against Alexandria.
All Out War[]
Rick's army goes to the Saviors' base and asks Negan to surrender. Negan refuses, and they learn Hilltop is now under his control because Gregory joined him. Negan orders Dwight to bring more Saviors to fight Rick's army. During the battle, Rick's group breaks the Sanctuary's windows, releasing a herd of zombies inside. Negan saves Holly from a zombie. Later, Negan wrongly thinks Holly killed one of his men and orders her taken away.
Negan's outposts are attacked, leading to the deaths of many of his men. He then bombards Alexandria. Negan tries to negotiate but tricks the Alexandrians by sending a zombified Holly. He orders his men to surround Alexandria and throws a grenade inside before retreating. Negan captures Eugene, who refuses to work for him. Negan threatens Eugene but leaves him alive. He then uses infected weapons to attack Rick's forces. Negan and his Saviors attack Hilltop, but Rick survives. Negan believes he's won when Rick is shot with an arrow. Later, he thinks Rick is dead and that the war is over.
Negan offers Hilltop surrender terms, but Rick refuses. Rick proposes cooperation, but Negan attacks him. Rick slashes Negan's throat but saves him to witness their new civilization. Negan is imprisoned and kept alive by Rick, who wants him to see their progress.
A New Beginning[]
Two years after the war, Carl visits a shadowy figure in a basement. The figure enjoys their talks but asks if Carl still wants to kill him. Carl says yes, revealing the figure as Negan, who thought they were friends. Negan talks to Rick about Carl and claims they're still friends. Rick disagrees, saying Negan will die in his cell. Negan insists he won't. Magna and her group check the jail and Negan tries to trick them into freeing him, but they don't believe him and leave him in his cell.
Life And Death[]
Later on, Negan gets a bath and haircut from Olivia, but Andrea watches him and calls him a monster. Olivia doesn't properly lock his cell, but Negan stays inside with the door open. When Rick comes by, Negan teases him about how he could have harmed Alexandria without anyone knowing. He claims he stays in the cell as a sign of goodwill and to help rebuild trust. Rick locks the cell and leaves, and Negan mocks him, saying Rick keeps him alive to prove he's a good person and the only one who can fix the world.
Call to Arms[]
Negan is in his cell when Brandon Rose, who holds grudges against Rick, Carl, Sophia, and the Whisperers, proposes helping Negan escape. Negan considers it. Later, Rick and Michonne find Negan's empty cell. After escaping, Negan and Brandon enter Whisperer territory. Brandon wants Negan to pit Rick against the Whisperers, but Negan kills Brandon. He joins the Whisperers and Alpha, claiming his love for her.
Negan lives with the Whisperers but doesn't earn Beta's trust. He intervenes to stop an assault, angering Alpha. They talk, and Negan reveals his emotional numbness. Alpha breaks down, and Negan decides to kill her. Negan slits Alpha's throat, beheads her, and says, "wait until Rick gets a look at you."
The Whisperer War[]
A week after vanishing, Negan brings Alpha's severed head to Rick and Andrea, seeking their trust. He claims he's changed during his time in prison and wants to fight alongside them. Rick agrees to release Negan but keeps him isolated in an outpost, monitored closely. After they win the war, Negan realizes he was wrong and leaves on his own.
In a Letter Hacks section, the creator confirms Negan won't return to the series. If he did, he likely wouldn't have his barbed-wire baseball bat, as it seems he moved on from it in his last appearance.
Rest in Peace[]
In the final issue, set 25 years later, Negan is shown to be alive but living in isolation. He avoids contact with other survivors, survives on food left by Carl, and continues to mourn his late wife, Lucille.
Personality[]
Negan has a unique personality. He 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 preempt an enemy's plans.
He is also shown to be a very intelligent, logical, clever, and brilliant strategist. While he can be very intimidating, dangerous, and brutal, he is also a strangely charismatic man with a twisted sense of humor, and with this humor comes frequent cursing. Also, while he can be very casual and jolly when speaking to an ally or enemy, he has a temper that can frighten just about anybody. Despite being violent, sadistic and murderous, he does have a compassionate and insightful side to him that comes out at times: this is shown when he makes fun of Carl's damaged eye and when Carl begins to cry, Negan quickly apologizes to the poor boy.
Also, when Negan makes fun of Olivia's weight and makes her cry, he regrets it and apologizes to her, and then offers to have sex with her if she wants to, but an offended Olivia slaps him in the face, causing Negan's men to aim their guns at her, ready to kill her. However, Negan orders his men to stand down since he knows that he crossed the line. This shows that whenever Negan crosses the line when he insults someone without measurable gain, he almost immediately tries to make up for it and can't bring himself to ignore it. Furthermore, Negan always follows his moral code, as much as he loves violence, he absolutely hates sexual violence (finding it "unseemly"), and he will not hesitate to kill anyone who commits sexual violence of any kind, friend or foe. He believes that if anyone in his group of Saviors are to commit rape, then their goal of rebuilding civilization can never be achieved.
As well as his dislike towards rape, Negan also dislikes killing people at random, which is never shown by any of the other main antagonists in the series, save for Chris and The Hunters. Negan really only wants to install fear in other people and tries to keep as many people alive as possible, hence why he called his group "The Saviors". Also, he is willing to spare anyone whom he sees as potentially useful and can be reasonable during negotiations, and he is a man of his word as he promises to help communities clear out walkers near their homes and will not destroy their communities, as long as they give him half of everything they have once a week.
Unlike other villains in the past, such as The Governor and Thomas Richards, Negan is always true to himself and is a very honest and dependable man; it is not really in his nature to lie, even if his honesty is brutal. Despite seemingly having little empathy and remorse, he can occasionally be remorseful. Unlike many other villains throughout the series, Negan does not underestimate his enemies, at least not as much as other villains do. He knows full well how battle-experienced and dangerous Rick and his group are and as a result, he admires their skills and views them as extremely useful for his cause, hence why he keeps them alive. However, he does kill one of their group members, Glenn, when they kill a dozen of his men, showing that while he wants to keep potentially useful survivors alive in order for them to work for him, Negan does not tolerate other survivors killing his men, and will give the survivors a severe but fair punishment by killing at least one member of their group.
He also has a weird and disturbing relationship with his baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, "Lucille", indicating that he is an objectophiliac. However, it is later on revealed in his back-story episode "Here's Negan" that he named his baseball bat after his deceased wife, Lucille, whom he loved and he wanted to dedicate his bat to her. We see that Negan still mourns the loss of his wife and loves her deeply, years after her death and admits that she was his "true" wife.
Victims[]
- Andy (Caused or Direct)
- David (Caused or Direct)
- Crystal (Assumed, Caused or Direct)
- Ethan (Indirectly Caused)
- Abraham Ford (Indirectly Caused)
- Glenn Rhee
- Spencer Monroe
- David
- Holly (Alive)
- Charles (Caused or Direct)
- Betsy (Caused or Direct)
- Mr. Orson (Caused or Direct)
- Mrs. Orson (Caused or Direct)
- Denise Cloyd (Indirectly Caused)
- Nicholas (Indirectly Caused)
- Kal (Caused)
- Brandon Rose (Alive)
- Alpha (Alive)
- Unnamed Kingdom Survivor
- Numerous counts of zombies and unnamed people (Caused and Direct)
Quotes[]
| “ | I am gonna beat the holy f-ck f-cking f-ckity f-ck out of one of you! | „ |
| ~ Negan |
| “ | You ever hear the one about the stupid f-ck named Rick who f-cking thought he knew shit but didn't know shit and got himself f-cking killed? It was about you. You got that right? | „ |
| ~ Negan to Rick Grimes' group. |
| “ | Look what you did. Carl didn't know a damn thing. | „ |
| ~ Negan to Rick after the latter cuts his throat, signaling the former's defeat once and for all. |
| “ | Pissing our pants yet? Boy, do I have a feeling we're getting close. | „ |
| ~ Negan's first words in the series when meeting Rick's group for the first time. |
| “ | EASY PEASY LEMON SQUEEZY!! | „ |
| ~ Negan's memorable quotes |
| “ | Hehe. | „ |
| ~ One of Negan's quotes from Tekken 7 |
| “ | What I don't get is after all these years you STILL think I'm the bad guy. I'm not, NO ONE is! You know what, Maggie? Maybe everyone is. Ask yourself one question: have many husbands and fathers have YOU killed? | „ |
| ~ Negan defending himself to Maggie. |
| “ | You're going to f--king beat this, okay? Stop all this goddamn negative thinking. You're like a health ninja who's going to broadsword the f--k out of this cancer. You're going to... I need you to know that you are everything to me. I'm not perfect... Hell, I'm a f--king piece of dog s--t. You deserve so much better. Did I do this to you? Did I f--king cause this? If I'd been there for you... and not... If I didn't... Would you have been strong enough to fight this? | „ |
| ~ Negan talking to his wife while she is dying from cancer. |
| “ | You see, Rick, whatever you do... no matter f--king 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 f--king stupid -which you may very well be - you can understand it. Ready? Here goes, pay attention: Give me your s--t or I will kill you. You work for me now. You have s--t, you give it to me. That's your job. | „ |
| ~ Negan threatening Rick Grimes and his group after his debut. |
| “ | I'd like to get to know you a little better, Carl. First, I want to tell you how mother f--king 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 f--ked something else up, I'd chase you down and break your little kid neck, right? | „ |
| ~ Negan, speaking to Carl Grimes. |
| “ | Still... here I am, friendly as a f--kless f--k on free f--k day. | „ |
| ~ Negan speaking to Rick Grimes, with a huge grin. |
| “ | You wanted to take over... why not just kill Rick and take the f--k over? You know why? ...Because you got no guts. | „ |
| ~ Negan, speaking to Spencer Monroe before killing him. |
| “ | No f--king way... no f--king way. F--king f--k! | „ |
| ~ Negan after his group's being attacked by Rick's group. |
| “ | But I do things I don't want to do... All the f--king time. | „ |
| ~ Negan talking to his hostage, Eugene Porter. |
| “ | 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. |
| “ | You want my help or you wouldn't be here. Sit the f--k down. And I'll help. | „ |
| ~ Negan talking to Rick about the situation with The Whisperers |
| “ | Protecting the weak is the whole f--king basis for civilization. If you're not protecting the weak, you're not civilized. You're f--king animals. | „ |
| ~ Negan talking to Alpha about herself and the Whisperers. |
| “ | You! You f--king broke her! YOU BROKE LUCILLE!! | „ |
| ~ Negan, enraged at Beta |
| “ | I'm not making f--king excuses. I know what I did was f--king f--ked up one side and f--ked right back down the other. You helped me see that. You helped me see another way. That's why I sat in your cell. That's why I brought you Alpha's head. That's why I just saved your f--king life. | „ |
| ~ Negan to Rick. |
Trivia[]
- Negan is the second major primary antagonist in the Comic Series, the first being The Governor and the third being Alpha.
- Out of all three of the antagonists, Negan has the longest lifespan and is the only one still alive.
- Also, while still a bad guy, Negan is the least evil of the three, because unlike The Governor, Negan does not really like killing people, he only kills to keep people in line, 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, and unlike Alpha, Negan does not kill children or pregnant women. And unlike Alpha, Negan hates rape and does not allow anyone in his group to rape anyone (Alpha allowed many of her male Whisperers to rape her own daughter, Lydia and other female Whisperers, numerous times because she believed that it would make them "stronger").
- Also, each of the three major antagonists has a different status: Negan is alive, The Governor is dead, and Alpha is undead.
- He is also the only one of the three that redeemed himself.
- In many ways, Negan is more morally correct and honorable than Rick Grimes.
- Charlie Adlard has confirmed that Negan is based on actor and musician Henry Rollins.
- Henry Rollins also auditioned for the role of Negan in the TV series, due to partially inspiring the character, but the role was eventually given to Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
- Negan in both the Comic Series and TV Series are different in some ways. In the Comic Series, Negan is a very tall and physically imposing man with a shaven face, square jaw, and his leather jacket's zipper is on his left side, whereas in the TV series, while still very tall, he is thinner, has a stubble, his jaw is more round, and his leather jacket's zipper is on his right side, which is more appropriate since men's leather jackets have the zipper on the right side, while women's leather jackets have the zipper on the left side. In addition, TV Series Negan is more sadistic, disrespectful and depraved than his Comic counterpart, shown when he kills two people in Rick's group, Abraham and Glenn, instead of just one, Glenn, like in the comics, and even wanted Rick to chop off Carl's left arm or else everyone in Rick's group would be executed by Negan's men (though Negan soon reveals that it was a test and he just wanted to scare Rick into complete submission, which indeed worked), something that his Comic counterpart never did. TV Series Negan also spends far more time mocking and torturing his victims and admits that he enjoys killing people (especially men, whilst he admits that he does not enjoy killing women) under the right circumstances, while his Comic counterpart confesses to Rick in private that he does not enjoy killing people, men or women.
- Also, it is strongly implied that in the TV Series, during his debut, Negan purposely, not randomly, selected Abraham because of the man's imposing size and fearless demeanour, and Negan felt somewhat intimidated by him and felt that it was too dangerous to keep the larger man alive. Negan also probably believed that removing Abraham from Rick's group would leave the group at a certain practical disadvantage. Therefore, Negan was most likely just messing with Rick and his group with the "eenie, meeny, miney, moe" game and had already chosen to kill Abraham even before the game. Even Abraham's actor, Michael Cudlitz, agrees that Negan's game was simply a front for him to observe each member of the group and determine who was the logical choice to take out. His seemingly random choice of Glenn as his second victim supports this interpretation as well, given that Glenn had previously interrupted him. In the Comic Series, however, Negan's victim, Glenn, truly appears to have been a random selection since he gave several reasons as to why he couldn't decide as to who was going to get "Lucilled".
- In the comics, Negan's right-hand man is Dwight but the Savior that appeared in Issue 97 and 100 came close as well. In the TV Series, Negan's right hand man is Simon and the initially shared a very strong relationship. Simon is the second in command of the Saviors. The differences is that while Dwight wants to overthrow Negan as revenge, Simon wants to betray Negan out of disagreement with Negan's ideology and for the Saviors' means of survival, seeing that it would be more effective to destroy the Militia completely and find other communities to extort and potentially raid.
- From Issue 100 to Issue 111; Negan had a red scarf around his neck in the comics. However, after Issue 111, Negan has not been shown wearing that since. In the TV Series; Negan's scarf is much larger and he has been seen wearing it from time to time thus far. In Season 8 and 9; Negan has not been seen wearing the scarf. In Season 10, Negan's original leather jacket and the red scarf returned.
- He is the first major antagonist in The Walking Dead to later become a anti-hero and redeem themselves.
- He is also one of the two main antagonists who survived the end of the Comic Series, the other being Sebastian Milton.
- Negan was originally planned to be killed off on three separate occasions in the Comic Series:
- In an earlier draft for Volume 17: Something to Fear, he would've been killed of in the end of volume. It would've depicted Rick bringing Negan's decapitated head to Maggie in a box, saying "I'm sorry".
- He was planned to be killed in Issue 108. However, Robert Kirkman stated that he liked Negan "too much" to kill him off.
- He was supposed to be killed by Maggie Greene in Issue 174, but Kirkman changed his mind while writing the issue.
- When writing Issue 100, Glenn was originally supposed to be killed by Rick Grimes in order to save his son. Kirkman disliked this idea, and thus Negan was born.
- In the Letter Hacks for Issue 182, it was stated by Robert Kirkman that Negan wouldn't be making any more appearances past Issue 174. He reiterated this statement in the Letter Hacks for Issue 192.
- However, he was shown to still be alive in Issue 193 and the spin-off comic Negan Lives.
External Links[]
- Negan (Comic Series) on the Heroes Wiki
- Negan (Comic Series) on the Walking Dead Wiki
[]
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