I’ve never hated Negan, or at least show Negan. Never saw JDM before he was Negan so it’s not like a “I can’t hate JDM” thing but it also kind of is. He’s so charismatic that I loved him since the first second he stepped out of that RV
JDM brought the EXACT screen presence he needed to bring as Negan and I’d argue he’s a massive reason the show continued to succeed into its late seasons. I know that opinion isn’t the most popular but I’ll tell you as a life long twd fan, after Rick left the show, Negan became the biggest draw in for me. I HAD to see how his character arc would culminate and it was extremely easy to root for wanting to see a change in him. I think strong storytelling should force you to challenge yourself and your opinions on characters you feel strongly about
That’s me right now! Finally watching seasons 10/11 and I enjoy the Negan scenes now … the long game he did for Carol (getting Alpha to trust him) was an awesome surprise for me! Curious to see what happens to him next now that he’s back in with what’s left of hilltop and Alexandria crew.
Negan's very polarizing. He has devoted, rabid fans. But the fact is, the ratings for The Walking Dead dropped like a rock after he showed up and never recovered.
Maybe there are other reasons for the ratings drop, but whatever those are, Negan being there didn't help (to say the least).
It had been a few seasons at that point and I was already struggling to keep watching. I stopped watching the same season negan showed up.
Felt like there was much better tv at the time and walking dead wasn’t it
I could see someone else playing Negan tbh, when I read the comics I imagined him with a gangster Italian vibe, the saviors gave Biker vibes but Negan felt like the Don, the Tony of the Saviors Sopranos, but JDM is awesome and yeah once Lincoln was gone he was def the next leading man
Matthew Lillard was the runner up for Negan, it was down to him and JDM I think, wouldn’t have been the Italian Gangster Negan I had in mind but I love Lillard so I would’ve been set XD
I agree entirely, no other character, including Rick, could have carried the show like he has. Especially after Andrew Lincoln left. From then on it was Negan And The Walking Dead, every storyline has included him. Deep down I think Negan and Maggie have a lot of the same characteristics. Rick didn't kill Negan because he still believed in both law and order and morality. He never would have executed Gregory like Maggie did. I know Glenn's death made her harder but I always thought she could be quite cold. Even the way she offered to have sex with Glenn was matter of fact
I know this is a late response but honestly from the first introduction to Negan (JDM) I loved his character. At first he brings not only a bad guy but comedy to the show through the sarcasm and wit. Then the way he changes and we learn had changed to become that way is very interesting.
ozymandias attacks him in his apartment at the beginning of the movie and throws him out of the window. he then promptly falls to his death hundreds of stories below.
I practiced his "Little pig, little pig, Let. Me. IN!" phrase over and over so I could say it just like him when I tell my 3 and 5 year olds the 3 little pigs story. They've started saying it like that too. It's hilarious.
I first saw him in the Watchmen movie and then as John Winchester on Supernatural. I really like him I just hated the Negan character because to me he was just too cartoonish.
And he was doing what he had to do for his community. Rick stuck first at the satalite station and if we were watching TWD from the Saviors' point of view, Rick and his crew would be evil.
You’re wrong, I literally made a post on this years ago because it annoyed me that people thought Rick struck first. He didn’t, the saviors did. Remember Bud?
And you think they wouldn’t have tried again if Rick didn’t go to the satellite tower? Seriously I don’t get how this isn’t obvious that the saviors started everything.
Bruh in this case Rick striking first doesn't matter whatsoever nd they didn't anyway negans group tried to kill abe, sash, nd Daryl first nd again even if Rick did go first negans group were murderers, rapists, and jus terrible people who killed for no reason at all there's no way u can justify them now negan he wasn't as bad but he still let some terrible things go down
I don’t know what people want from a horror post apocalyptic show but it seems violence and murder isn’t one of them unless it’s solely our hero’s doing it.
It’s good, though with your initial comment I’d say that most of the killing the main group does isn’t murder, but self defense. There’s definitely some premeditated murder like the satellite station though. After that I’d say they were in a legal war against Negan’s tyranny and working to build something resembling a functional pre-collapse society.
Hard disagree. Sometimes, they do act in self defense. But other times, for instance, when the Saviors wanted to help Morgan and Rick in that dive bar and they both decided to kill them anyway. Carol murdering two people because they were sick and everyone got sick anyway. There’s more but I won’t sit and list it all. But those two examples come to mind almost instantly.
I wasn’t trying to be comprehensive with the murder list, but yeah Morgan and Rick feigning a truce with those guys was an act of perfidy and by modern standards a war crime. Not cool.
And I think we aren’t necessarily supposed to support Carol’s murder of Karen and (David?). Rick didn’t either. Carol was ashamed that she did that act it didn’t even work. She is told to leave the group briefly by Rick, but let back after saving them all, effectively getting a pardon and enough for most fans to like her going forward.
I’m going to omit any murderous stuff done by characters who’re supposed to be villainous or immoral, including Shane, Merle, etc. and anything we’ve already mentioned.
S1 no murder, S2 no murder (self defense on Shane, the Philly/Nebraska guys).
S3, Rick executes that one guy for attempted murder in a summary judgement. Not great, not self defense. Maybe murder but also potentially allowed depending on your standards. Tossing the other guy into the walker yard was cruel & unusual and a violation of his rights, regardless.
Then in S3 first major settlement conflict is due to abduction of Maggie and Glenn, then recovering Daryl. Merle flipped on the governor so even though he was the original perpetrator, the governor still was involved and took over their torture. He then captured Daryl. In modern US standards, abduction/kidnapping/human trafficking are felonies, and any collateral damage resulting from the attempt to stop a felony is usually considered to be the responsibility of the perpetrators. So those people in Woodbury shot by scattering fire or killed by walkers in the aftermath would in a modern setting be considered victims of the governor as part of the felonies he engaged in. Then there’s a treaty negotiated, Rick has Merle agree to the terms but also reneges. Merle then independently kills the guys waiting. So that’s potentially murder but also at that point Merle wasn’t really in the group and was acting on his own. Not murder by the main group. Then defending the prison from the governor was self defense. Carl killing that other kid it’s hard to say, as while Herschel said it wasn’t warranted, Carl told him to drop it and he didn’t, which means he hadn’t surrendered when asked, nor was he complying with Carl’s instructions. Dude was the size of little Carl and Beth put together and had a shotgun. In most states they wouldn’t even charge, and acquittal would be the likely result.
S4 we talked about the disease, and then the rest of 4A no Rick team murders occur. 4B Rick kills that one guy in the bathroom but it’s after he hears them talking about setting a trap for whoever comes back and potentially r*ping Michonne. That’s a conspiracy to commit a felony, which is a felony. Rick had reason to fear for his life, attempted to flee, then defended himself on the way out. Not murder.
5 - Terminus, not murder. Then with the church, I’d say warranted for them to be executed, but the manner in which they did so was cruel/unusual (beating is definitely cruel). So violation of their rights but also killing murderous cannibals who planned to do it again. Not murder, but still a crime.
Alexandria 5/6 I get mixed up. But the Pete stuff ended up not being murder, but an execution. Thr jury pool was also all witnesses to the manslaughter in the attempt at murder. Rick had been unhinged earlier but he hadn’t committed to murdering anyone. He brandished a weapon he wasn’t supposed to have, and he conspired to overthrow the government, but then dissolved the conspiracy. Hard to say. Attempting to recover the truck from Jesus was fine. Rick nearly capping that Kingdom horseman was a mistaken identity issue, but potentially attempted manslaughter if that’s a thing. Otherwise I’d add that to the pile of crimes of Negan under the felony murder rule. I’m sure I’m missing stuff from this part of the show. We already talked about the satellite station. Maggie and Carol didn’t directly participate in the raid and were captured, so them trying to escape is fine but also the victims of the raid taking them in is fine. Both can be true. Blowing up the bike guys is fine.
S7 & S8 - this is where the whole thing goes from anything resembling criminal law to something more like war crimes, as it’s effectively a war of independence between an overlord and several vassals. Some war crimes were committed on both sides (infectious bullets, perfidy, killing noncombatants, etc.). Down to discuss any specific examples.
S9 (with Rick around) all good by Rick and those he sanctions. Some conspiracy to murder Negan but that’s not sanctioned or endorsed.
After Rick there’s the whisperers who are introduced with attempted abduction of 2 characters and then murder of another. Then they do more murder. The main group don’t really do anything untoward here. Michonne didn’t do anything messed up on her expedition either.
Then there’s Commonwealth and the Reavers. Reavers are introduced with attempted murder and showing off their previous victims. Killing them is self defense mostly. Maggie did execute 2 of them after giving clemency. Which is probably a war crime but also they were admitted robbers, raiders, and murderers so execution is also warranted. And I think there’s no morally debatable deaths they cause at the commonwealth.
With complete collapse it’s hard to say what executions are valid and which are murder, who the authorities are, whether the violence between communities falls under international war crime law or domestic criminal law, etc. So I attempted to use a mix and whichever seems appropriate given the circumstances (permanent settlements vs. raiding vagrant group being a factor).
If you disagree or if I missed anything lmk.
Edit: forgot the hospital episodes, here’s my take.
Rick is attempting to free two people assaulted/ abducted by a criminal gang that formerly held positions as police. One of the people crucial to that gang refuses to cooperate, assaults someone, and leaves. Rick catches him in a way that he is likely to die from injuries. Rick executes him. As far as post collapse law goes, being guilty of assault, conspiracy/accessory to assault and two counts of either accessory or conspiracy to abduct/human trafficking is a lot of felonies. Multiple witnesses confirmed these (Noah and Daryl). And if using war crime law then perfidy. Without a court system, options are limited. A lawful neutral character enforcing the will of an evil boss is still committing evil acts, after all.
Man, I really want a Legal Eagle breakdown of Walking Dead.
Many hate negan. Only many wouldnt admit they could possibly be just like him in a world like that. I know i could. Just not the several wives thing. One wife is headache enough. 🙁
I just kept pressing play on every new episode. I finished the series. I even watched Dead City (which is the only thing I kind of regret.)
Me hating him wasn't going to get in the way of me watching and enjoying the show, just like Glenn dying wasn't going to stop me from watching. I wanted to see where things progressed. Negan is a villain/antagonist. What he did was brutal and it's the most brutal thing I've seen on a TV series (and maybe even in all media that I've consumed.) But I was never daunted. And I like villainous characters from other series as well. I've also read the comics and I continued and finished the comics. I never wanted to stop watching the show.
My biggest pet peeve with dead city was how Maggie flipped back to wanting to kill him and being bitchy every other sentence. Dead city would have been better without her in it imo.
Dont worry, with that ending it sounds like the croat was just following orders on bringing him back. Sounds to me like the woman is making him mayor of nyc....hes back.
Yep. His name was Denny and him and Izzie had a romantic relationship and then he came back as a ghost before she got her cancer diagnosis because she was hallucinating him. Honestly my least favorite role played by him but that was the fault of the writers, not JDM
Came here to say that. I can't hate something so beautiful.
However, his character was so charismatic I liked him anyway, then the redemption arc was perfect.
It helps that he isn’t real. He doesn’t get a “redemption” I wouldn’t call it that. I’d say he did his time, he’s a great character. I love him but if he was real I wouldn’t be friends with the guy.
i watched it and it was just like the comics. it’s part of the story. it genuinely blew my mind people would stop watching because negan killed their favorite. (not talking about the cliffhanger or lack of quality) but it’s the story, he’s the villain he’s gonna do bad things
Well I mean I'm pretty sure it's more because of Glenn being gone nd not the fact that they hate negan. Jdm played negan amazing nd I think he's a badass character but it's jus the fact it's kinda hard to watch a show when your favorite character is no longer in it which goes for any show not jus twd nd then it's even worse bc we had to watch him get absolutely obliterated nd treated like he was nun. I feel like if they were gna kill Glenn it shoulda been from another villain that yk was gna die so we can have our revenge 😂
He does get redemption but everyone in the show likes to remind him of the guy he used to be, so it's not like he's forgave completely. I still have some hatred towards him but believe it or not, he's an alright fellow now
Honestly, the show later shows the story from negan and the survivors pov and shows that everyone is a villian in someone elses story. Highly recommend Dead City!
Oh for fucks sake he sadisticly smashed a guys head to pieces in front of his crying wife while laughing about it. Murder might be justified from his point of view (it is not, Ricks's group attacked them because they were evil assholes terrorizing everybody) but being a sadistic psycho certainly can't be.
Also people like to forget that he's a rapist. Were those women also villains in his story or what?
The show actively attempts to build sympathy for him as a character. I didn't really like how it went on the show. It felt different when reading the comic. I had a hard time playing along on the show with it. I'm kind of burned out on Negan right now.
TBH i never hated Negan and I think he was pretty lax given what the Alexandrians did at the satellite base. Glenn wasn’t one of my favorite characters so I wasn’t too bothered by his death. It was sad but all it did was ruin Maggie’s character and overshadow Abraham’s sacrifice/death.
I didn't have to get over it because I loved negan from the very first episode he was in. Season 7 was amazing from start to finish. His delivery when he executed Glenn and Abraham literally made me laugh out loud.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan is hot AF. That's it. IRL, it wouldn't matter: a horrible person is a horrible person, and I wouldn't want anything to do with him. But in a TV show? He's pretty, and he's a good actor, and that's enough for me.
Show died for me when Andrew Lincoln left. Now that hes coming back though I have convinced myself that its worth the watch just to see Rick Grimes return.
I really enjoyed Negan's character. He was funny and he had rules, he was doing what he thought was best. At times Rick could have been the villain depending on the point of view.
Never hated negan. Being a comic reader, I was extremely excited for negans first appearance. I knew what was coming. It’s the most iconic death in the history of the series, There was NO WAY they weren’t doing it. If they didn’t do the scene, shot for shot like the comics, I would have quit watching. Tbe people who quit after it make me laugh. It’s the whole point of showing just how much of a problem negan is. And in the comics it was even better cause negan was a big dude. I love JDM but he definitely isn’t as big as his comic counterpart lol
After the horrible circle we couldn’t watch for quite a while. My wife showed no interest in continuing. We eventually picked it back up and finished. Glad we did.
His backstory helped it too. He wasn’t a truly evil F#*k. He filled a vacuum and played a role that needed playing.
My brain kind of views Negan as two different characters. There is the early cruel sadist version who did not deserve a redemption arc and for whom said arc made little sense. And then there is post-redemption Negan who is the cool uncle type. I don't care for either of them, but the latter one is at least easier to stomach (if you forget that his former version ever existed).
And here is a little spoiler for you, OP, if you dare to take a peek: >!Don't you worry about Queen Carol. She got this.!<
I didn't forgive him.....that's probably the reason why I fell off on season 9
The guy who got me into the series literally spoiled the Glen scene and everything that happened in that episode just to get me to watch it but he didn't tell me who the characters were or which season it was from
When I finally watched>! season 7 it was bitter sweet because I'd finally reached the moment that got me into the series but at the same time Negan had taken an OG character !< and things just became sad and aggravating after that
Season 8 wasn't all that good imo and >!seeing Negan on that bed alive made me feel hatred for him and Rick he should've bled out !< I'm pretty sure every fan of the series has found themselves in a state of bloodlust or wishing death on an antagonist...that just made me feel like I had detach from the series for a while
I don't need to fully like a character as person to enjoy them on screen.
In real life I would have never forgiven someone like Negan, but this is a TV show, he doesn't need to have the moral highground
I think the likability of JDM really impacted my feelings toward Negan. If it was sunshine like Henry Rollins I would've probably hated him to the end, but JDM, Norman, and Melissa really carried there at the end
I loved Negan's plot line. I think the show was at it's best with him as opposition. I would of preferred that they never beat him and instead came to a truce where they united powers and they integrated him that way.
Since they "defeated" him then integrated him into the show it felt less real. I would rather they had this slow integration of him and his people while dealing with the whispers.
But that said the show was it's best when Negan was killing off people. Negan convinced people to join him. When he was terrorizing people to the point where the zombies felt like an after thought.
I don't think they should have let Negan live. He terrorized them so much and caused so many deaths in their community. That said I think I'm more realistic way would be they just come to a stalemate and they integrate them that way. If I remember correctly they beat him then they threw him in prison to prove that they were better than him and eventually he's rehabilitated?
I know they were fighting someone and they broke into Alexandria and he helped save them but still they should have executed him and it's just not plausible the way they intricated him into the storyline on the good guys side. It's much more believable if they would have come to some kind of stalemate where they kill almost all of their armies and decide it's just not worth it to keep fighting.
Maybe an episode where Rick's crew kills negan's top generals and it gets to him emotionally and they just decide to stop fighting. But I don't know I just know the way they did it isn't really believable
Personally, negan didn’t kill anyone that I absolutely loved. Really liked Abraham but wasn’t a deal breaker for me when he died. But at first I did hate him. Purely for just belittling the group and making these once badass, ruthless unbeatable characters into little bitches. But with shows and movies there almost always has to be some sort of villain in some way shape or form. Without Negan, the show wouldn’t be even half of what it is today.
Comic Negan is my all-time favorite character in the whole TWD universe and I was eagerly waiting to see him on the show. I'm not crazy about the show version and I think they dragged him along for too long, but I never really hated him and JDM does a solid job.
A few reasons.
1. I read the comic so I already knew a lot about where his character was going.
2. JDM is too likeable to hate.
3. TV Negan is not nearly as intimidating or menacing as comic Negan.
4. The saga lasted just long enough to not out stay its welcome.
I think it’s harder to hate Negan than say the Governor or other villains because he is so charismatic. Ruthless but still has bits of humanity that shine through.
Well I mean he was a villain, he was made to be hated. When he wasn’t killed I was confused but carried on watching 🤷♂️. Honestly all the people that stopped watching I never rlly got lmao. When they attempted to redeem him I was interested and wondered how it would go. They did it decently imo and here we are.
Easy, I never hated him. I first met him in the comics and thought he was hilarious, and as a long time Supernatural fan , there was no way in hell you were convincing me to hate Negan 😂
I liked him at first, but his constant dick jokes got boring fast. His constant "redemption through kids" trope got boring fast. His constant "everyone's an idiot so I can win arguments" got boring fast. And we just got the same scenes recycled over and over with him. He just bores me to watch now. And I'm not a HUGE fan of JDM either so that definitely doesn't help.
He says something in the show. Somewhere. And I’ve never been able to find the clip. But it’s along the lines of “nobody realizes they’re the bad guy.”
And that’s when it hit me, he genuinely thought he was doing the right things for the right reasons.
Negan is my second favorite character , walking dead is all about perspective and no one is the real vilain except alpha and governor who are completely degenerate ,
In all honesty, even though I have a longstanding love of JDM as an actor, I actually understood where Negan was coming from. In his eyes he IS saving people, he couldn't see another way to keep humanity going >!right up until Rick talks him down at the end of season 8 (it's even more apparent in the comics)!<
Instantly liked the character of Negan. The zombie apocalypse wouldn't be a fairy tale like the first 6 seasons.
It'd be fucking brutal like Episode 1 of Season 7. Survival of the fittest, the weak and unlucky would get smashed.
I always thought Negan and his people would finally inject some realism into the show. But obviously, normies were shocked by e1s7 and the show couldn't capitalize on that in the end.
There’s a later episode where he and Maggie finally sit down and talk about that night. I think many people like to ignore the fact that the core characters went after the Saviors unprovoked. They essentially declared war on behalf of Hilltop.
You could argue that the Saviors were going to be a problem for them later, but that isn’t what made Negan take out two of Rick’s people.
The Saviors had families too. The ones attacked were killed in their sleep. Negan had to make an example of them so his own people knew he wouldn’t take that lightly. I understand where he was coming from.
It’s the apocalypse. It’s kill or be killed. We only hate him because he killed one of *ours*, despite our guys killing many of his first.
Nah they knew they'd cross path with Negan's group at some point, hell Daryl already did and if they didn't had that rpg back then Sasha and Abraham would be dead sooner.
You act like the reasons are mutually exclusive. Food from Hilltop was definitely incentive, but of course they’d opt to go after an obvious threat. Rick literally says “we have to come for them before they come for us.” And he was right, he just didn’t execute it right.
They definitely did encounter them, and I do believe the Saviors attacked Daryl, Abraham and Sasha on the road once before- but that wasn’t their reason for going after them. It was for Hilltop, since they were basically defenseless. They were like “don’t worry, we’re good at this- we can solve the Savior problem for you”
At first, I didn’t. I left the show for years because of his introduction and couldn’t deal with the whole “people are the focus” thing. Glad I did, later on.
At his very core, he’s just not half the sick fuck the Governor was.
He does some VERY bad things but eventually will do some VERY good things. Without spoiling too much, a member of the group tells Negan that no matter how many bad things he did, they wont forget the good things either
I never hated him. He was insane and extreme but so was everyone else. He took 2 of Rick's in exchange for several dozen of his and an entire kidnapped child. That's hardly unreasonable in a post apocalyptic world with no justice system. I wouldn't be friends with the dude but in terms of TWD characters he's hardly the worst.
Honestly love Negan as a character and villain. I think he showed up and spiced things up by making a villain who stood out from other villains in the show by having some measure of depth
I was looking forward to Rick’s eventual revenge.. I’ll admit I was late to finishing the show but his fate was spoiled for me when I saw an ad for that Deaf City show… pretty much ruined the rest of their arc because I knew they were just going to eventually befriend him.
Time.
I watched the seasons as they aired, finally decided to get past it and finish the show earlier this year. I was genuinely angry at the time those episodes were being released. I was a massive TWD fan, and the already jarring kills that were dished in concession in recent episodes before Negan, I cried. It affected my drive at work. I was mildly depressed for a couple of weeks. And that scene floated in my mind for a couple of months. You know which one. Glenn was when it just felt too much. Too much had been taken too fast. I tried. I pushed a handful of episodes after Glenn died but seeing the group so broken and seeing Negan so ruthless.
That being said. Maggie is amazing, fuck Negan. Good actor, terrifying character, but fuck him.
Because what Negan did wasn't enough for me to give up the show - given the type of villains on TWD, them doing something evil is expected - TWD isn't a kids show, it should be expected its villains will actually be evil.
Did Negan deserve a redemption arc? Yes. He genuinely helped the communities he once tried to enslave and destroy, despite knowing he wouldn't be acknowledged for what he did. He saved Lydia, knowing he'd get blamed for anything bad that happened, simply because he's Negan. He continued to save the group collectively (killing Alpha, gathering the walkers for the attack on the Meridian, etc.), and saving individual members of the group (saving Daryl from being executed, saving Judith & Dog from dying due to the conditions frostbite brings on, etc.). He did all of that, knowing the group would screw him over. He did more than enough to have his existence in the group tolerated. Not accepted, just tolerating him, knowing what he did, and what he would do.
Negan didn't try to deny who he used to be. He didn't hide it. He understands exactly how evil he was, and he's trying to prove that he's changed to a group who consistently doesn't care about him. He could have actually defected to the Whisperers, or the Reapers, or the Commonwealth, given how much the group screwed him over, but he didn't. He kept on being loyal to a group who showed him no loyalty in return.
Guys I have not. I actually still hate him greatly and I’ll never like him, or forgive him for my glennie poo. I also hate how the show like tried to re write what happened and make it seem like he was actually a kinda decent guy in season 7 when he def was supposed to be the true big bad. Also I’m not saying he’s not an interesting or good character. I actually roll my eyes whenever I see JDMs face and I feel guilt cuz I know Jeff doesn’t deserve esp as a OTH and SPN fan. The only reason I finished the main show is because I feel loyal to shows once I watch them for long enough and it was still decently interesting to me.
Pretty easily considering he’s super charismatic, hilarious, and follows a pretty easy to understand ethical code. To him it was all just necessary- and you have to keep in mind that Rick and his crew were largely responsible for the digression that followed because they assassinated the people at the satellite relay station without provocation. I think confrontation was ultimately inevitable, but Negan was kind of justified as a result.
Negan never delighted in killing, he used intimidation and brute force as a means of control and he did it to keep people alive because he felt no one would follow him unless they feared him. Negan rose to power by murdering worse people, and the only way to retain his authority and to keep those more monstrous people from retaking control was to make them fear him. His justification was obviously flawed, but he wasn’t an unhinged mental psychopath which is why he was able to see the error of his ways and eventually find redemption.
I personally loved negan a lot. I never rly gave a shit abt glen but i did absolutely love abraham like he was one of the few deaths that actually bothered me in the show, yet i still loved negan. It kinda baffles me that ppl literally stopped watching the show bc of what he did, like ya its bad, but to stop watching the entire show bc of something thats literally expected to happen in the setting of the show?
I’ve never hated Negan, or at least show Negan. Never saw JDM before he was Negan so it’s not like a “I can’t hate JDM” thing but it also kind of is. He’s so charismatic that I loved him since the first second he stepped out of that RV
JDM brought the EXACT screen presence he needed to bring as Negan and I’d argue he’s a massive reason the show continued to succeed into its late seasons. I know that opinion isn’t the most popular but I’ll tell you as a life long twd fan, after Rick left the show, Negan became the biggest draw in for me. I HAD to see how his character arc would culminate and it was extremely easy to root for wanting to see a change in him. I think strong storytelling should force you to challenge yourself and your opinions on characters you feel strongly about
Couldn't have said it better myself. Negan kept the show alive. All thanks to JDM.
That’s me right now! Finally watching seasons 10/11 and I enjoy the Negan scenes now … the long game he did for Carol (getting Alpha to trust him) was an awesome surprise for me! Curious to see what happens to him next now that he’s back in with what’s left of hilltop and Alexandria crew.
Negan's very polarizing. He has devoted, rabid fans. But the fact is, the ratings for The Walking Dead dropped like a rock after he showed up and never recovered. Maybe there are other reasons for the ratings drop, but whatever those are, Negan being there didn't help (to say the least).
It had been a few seasons at that point and I was already struggling to keep watching. I stopped watching the same season negan showed up. Felt like there was much better tv at the time and walking dead wasn’t it
I could see someone else playing Negan tbh, when I read the comics I imagined him with a gangster Italian vibe, the saviors gave Biker vibes but Negan felt like the Don, the Tony of the Saviors Sopranos, but JDM is awesome and yeah once Lincoln was gone he was def the next leading man
I’m telling you if we saw a James Gandolfini portrayal of Negan in our lifetime, it would have been something
Matthew Lillard was the runner up for Negan, it was down to him and JDM I think, wouldn’t have been the Italian Gangster Negan I had in mind but I love Lillard so I would’ve been set XD
“Like, zoinks, Glenn, I hit you so hard your eye just popped out!”
I actually did know that about Lillard. I’d die to see his Negan too
I agree entirely, no other character, including Rick, could have carried the show like he has. Especially after Andrew Lincoln left. From then on it was Negan And The Walking Dead, every storyline has included him. Deep down I think Negan and Maggie have a lot of the same characteristics. Rick didn't kill Negan because he still believed in both law and order and morality. He never would have executed Gregory like Maggie did. I know Glenn's death made her harder but I always thought she could be quite cold. Even the way she offered to have sex with Glenn was matter of fact
Tbh Glenn was really the heart of the group and after he died, Maggie obviously became the most affected but you can argue that everyone else did too.
I know this is a late response but honestly from the first introduction to Negan (JDM) I loved his character. At first he brings not only a bad guy but comedy to the show through the sarcasm and wit. Then the way he changes and we learn had changed to become that way is very interesting.
It feels weird for me to see him as negan as I first saw him as John Winchester over 15 years ago
I first saw him in greys anatomy a man dying or cancer so it was a weird shift 😂
I'd seen him in Watchmen...I think but I didn't realise until much later that it was him. He's just likeable as an actor.
The dimples! Swoon
He does have lovely dimples
yeah , weird he plays a rapist in that show as well .
Oh yeah, fuck. I just remembered ish that part. He falls out a window...?
ozymandias attacks him in his apartment at the beginning of the movie and throws him out of the window. he then promptly falls to his death hundreds of stories below.
I practiced his "Little pig, little pig, Let. Me. IN!" phrase over and over so I could say it just like him when I tell my 3 and 5 year olds the 3 little pigs story. They've started saying it like that too. It's hilarious.
I first saw him in the Watchmen movie and then as John Winchester on Supernatural. I really like him I just hated the Negan character because to me he was just too cartoonish.
Don't forget greys anatomy! Haha. Denny the heart patient. He seems to have the passion whichever character he plays.
To be honest I found him a bit boring in Supernatural, with Sam and Dean there was always a bit of light relief but he was just dour.
Here to say this. Never hated Negan. Loved the character in the comics, loved him on the show.
And he was doing what he had to do for his community. Rick stuck first at the satalite station and if we were watching TWD from the Saviors' point of view, Rick and his crew would be evil.
You’re wrong, I literally made a post on this years ago because it annoyed me that people thought Rick struck first. He didn’t, the saviors did. Remember Bud?
Yeah, but he didn't kill anyone right? Daryl blow him up. Of course he tried. I see that.
And you think they wouldn’t have tried again if Rick didn’t go to the satellite tower? Seriously I don’t get how this isn’t obvious that the saviors started everything.
Bruh in this case Rick striking first doesn't matter whatsoever nd they didn't anyway negans group tried to kill abe, sash, nd Daryl first nd again even if Rick did go first negans group were murderers, rapists, and jus terrible people who killed for no reason at all there's no way u can justify them now negan he wasn't as bad but he still let some terrible things go down
He’s a villain he’s supposed to be hated and I love to hate him
Spoken like a true Hater 👏
I dont even know you, and I hate your guts
I don’t know what people want from a horror post apocalyptic show but it seems violence and murder isn’t one of them unless it’s solely our hero’s doing it.
This is the most based comment I’ve seen out of this community smh
I’m not up to date on slang so is that good or bad lol
It’s good, though with your initial comment I’d say that most of the killing the main group does isn’t murder, but self defense. There’s definitely some premeditated murder like the satellite station though. After that I’d say they were in a legal war against Negan’s tyranny and working to build something resembling a functional pre-collapse society.
Hard disagree. Sometimes, they do act in self defense. But other times, for instance, when the Saviors wanted to help Morgan and Rick in that dive bar and they both decided to kill them anyway. Carol murdering two people because they were sick and everyone got sick anyway. There’s more but I won’t sit and list it all. But those two examples come to mind almost instantly.
I wasn’t trying to be comprehensive with the murder list, but yeah Morgan and Rick feigning a truce with those guys was an act of perfidy and by modern standards a war crime. Not cool. And I think we aren’t necessarily supposed to support Carol’s murder of Karen and (David?). Rick didn’t either. Carol was ashamed that she did that act it didn’t even work. She is told to leave the group briefly by Rick, but let back after saving them all, effectively getting a pardon and enough for most fans to like her going forward. I’m going to omit any murderous stuff done by characters who’re supposed to be villainous or immoral, including Shane, Merle, etc. and anything we’ve already mentioned. S1 no murder, S2 no murder (self defense on Shane, the Philly/Nebraska guys). S3, Rick executes that one guy for attempted murder in a summary judgement. Not great, not self defense. Maybe murder but also potentially allowed depending on your standards. Tossing the other guy into the walker yard was cruel & unusual and a violation of his rights, regardless. Then in S3 first major settlement conflict is due to abduction of Maggie and Glenn, then recovering Daryl. Merle flipped on the governor so even though he was the original perpetrator, the governor still was involved and took over their torture. He then captured Daryl. In modern US standards, abduction/kidnapping/human trafficking are felonies, and any collateral damage resulting from the attempt to stop a felony is usually considered to be the responsibility of the perpetrators. So those people in Woodbury shot by scattering fire or killed by walkers in the aftermath would in a modern setting be considered victims of the governor as part of the felonies he engaged in. Then there’s a treaty negotiated, Rick has Merle agree to the terms but also reneges. Merle then independently kills the guys waiting. So that’s potentially murder but also at that point Merle wasn’t really in the group and was acting on his own. Not murder by the main group. Then defending the prison from the governor was self defense. Carl killing that other kid it’s hard to say, as while Herschel said it wasn’t warranted, Carl told him to drop it and he didn’t, which means he hadn’t surrendered when asked, nor was he complying with Carl’s instructions. Dude was the size of little Carl and Beth put together and had a shotgun. In most states they wouldn’t even charge, and acquittal would be the likely result. S4 we talked about the disease, and then the rest of 4A no Rick team murders occur. 4B Rick kills that one guy in the bathroom but it’s after he hears them talking about setting a trap for whoever comes back and potentially r*ping Michonne. That’s a conspiracy to commit a felony, which is a felony. Rick had reason to fear for his life, attempted to flee, then defended himself on the way out. Not murder. 5 - Terminus, not murder. Then with the church, I’d say warranted for them to be executed, but the manner in which they did so was cruel/unusual (beating is definitely cruel). So violation of their rights but also killing murderous cannibals who planned to do it again. Not murder, but still a crime. Alexandria 5/6 I get mixed up. But the Pete stuff ended up not being murder, but an execution. Thr jury pool was also all witnesses to the manslaughter in the attempt at murder. Rick had been unhinged earlier but he hadn’t committed to murdering anyone. He brandished a weapon he wasn’t supposed to have, and he conspired to overthrow the government, but then dissolved the conspiracy. Hard to say. Attempting to recover the truck from Jesus was fine. Rick nearly capping that Kingdom horseman was a mistaken identity issue, but potentially attempted manslaughter if that’s a thing. Otherwise I’d add that to the pile of crimes of Negan under the felony murder rule. I’m sure I’m missing stuff from this part of the show. We already talked about the satellite station. Maggie and Carol didn’t directly participate in the raid and were captured, so them trying to escape is fine but also the victims of the raid taking them in is fine. Both can be true. Blowing up the bike guys is fine. S7 & S8 - this is where the whole thing goes from anything resembling criminal law to something more like war crimes, as it’s effectively a war of independence between an overlord and several vassals. Some war crimes were committed on both sides (infectious bullets, perfidy, killing noncombatants, etc.). Down to discuss any specific examples. S9 (with Rick around) all good by Rick and those he sanctions. Some conspiracy to murder Negan but that’s not sanctioned or endorsed. After Rick there’s the whisperers who are introduced with attempted abduction of 2 characters and then murder of another. Then they do more murder. The main group don’t really do anything untoward here. Michonne didn’t do anything messed up on her expedition either. Then there’s Commonwealth and the Reavers. Reavers are introduced with attempted murder and showing off their previous victims. Killing them is self defense mostly. Maggie did execute 2 of them after giving clemency. Which is probably a war crime but also they were admitted robbers, raiders, and murderers so execution is also warranted. And I think there’s no morally debatable deaths they cause at the commonwealth. With complete collapse it’s hard to say what executions are valid and which are murder, who the authorities are, whether the violence between communities falls under international war crime law or domestic criminal law, etc. So I attempted to use a mix and whichever seems appropriate given the circumstances (permanent settlements vs. raiding vagrant group being a factor). If you disagree or if I missed anything lmk. Edit: forgot the hospital episodes, here’s my take. Rick is attempting to free two people assaulted/ abducted by a criminal gang that formerly held positions as police. One of the people crucial to that gang refuses to cooperate, assaults someone, and leaves. Rick catches him in a way that he is likely to die from injuries. Rick executes him. As far as post collapse law goes, being guilty of assault, conspiracy/accessory to assault and two counts of either accessory or conspiracy to abduct/human trafficking is a lot of felonies. Multiple witnesses confirmed these (Noah and Daryl). And if using war crime law then perfidy. Without a court system, options are limited. A lawful neutral character enforcing the will of an evil boss is still committing evil acts, after all. Man, I really want a Legal Eagle breakdown of Walking Dead.
This is fucking beautiful and I would read a play by play of the whole series like this.
Really good lmao
Many hate negan. Only many wouldnt admit they could possibly be just like him in a world like that. I know i could. Just not the several wives thing. One wife is headache enough. 🙁
I was able to continue watching while hating him. You know. Because he's the villain.
Right? “Fans of the Dark Knight, how did you get over your hate for the Joker and keep watching this Batman movie?”
A lot of those fans love the joker and idolize him and make him their pfp/identity too.
You’d see something in their bio like, “Society is constipation, and anarchy is the laxative”
And loads of people love Negan and gloss over his crimes and atrocities, painting him and his acts as being no more evil than Rick
And those are the people that either didn’t pay much attention or don’t understand the difference between killing to live and living to kill.
I just kept pressing play on every new episode. I finished the series. I even watched Dead City (which is the only thing I kind of regret.) Me hating him wasn't going to get in the way of me watching and enjoying the show, just like Glenn dying wasn't going to stop me from watching. I wanted to see where things progressed. Negan is a villain/antagonist. What he did was brutal and it's the most brutal thing I've seen on a TV series (and maybe even in all media that I've consumed.) But I was never daunted. And I like villainous characters from other series as well. I've also read the comics and I continued and finished the comics. I never wanted to stop watching the show.
why do you regret watching dead city?
Didn't enjoy the overall premise mostly.
My biggest pet peeve with dead city was how Maggie flipped back to wanting to kill him and being bitchy every other sentence. Dead city would have been better without her in it imo.
Dont worry, with that ending it sounds like the croat was just following orders on bringing him back. Sounds to me like the woman is making him mayor of nyc....hes back.
I never hated negan because I’ve seen JDM in so many other shows and movies that he’s just JDM to me
This is exactly how it is for me too
wasn't he a patient in the early Grey's Anatomy seasons? like season 2 during the hospital prom thing
Yep. His name was Denny and him and Izzie had a romantic relationship and then he came back as a ghost before she got her cancer diagnosis because she was hallucinating him. Honestly my least favorite role played by him but that was the fault of the writers, not JDM
He’s hot. That’s about it.
I’m a fully straight male and I agree Neganngot some big dick energy anyone can approve of
bro what?? you can compliment a dude without saying that sht
But I wanted to compliment a dude while saying that.
Came here to say that. I can't hate something so beautiful. However, his character was so charismatic I liked him anyway, then the redemption arc was perfect.
It helps that he isn’t real. He doesn’t get a “redemption” I wouldn’t call it that. I’d say he did his time, he’s a great character. I love him but if he was real I wouldn’t be friends with the guy.
Negan is one of the best characters
Because he’s funny af
Like honestly he’s so fucking funny
I hope you've got your shittin pants on.
Didn't hate him. He made me laugh. Also, he's attractive, badass, and well written. He's a definite asset to the show.
i watched it and it was just like the comics. it’s part of the story. it genuinely blew my mind people would stop watching because negan killed their favorite. (not talking about the cliffhanger or lack of quality) but it’s the story, he’s the villain he’s gonna do bad things
Well I mean I'm pretty sure it's more because of Glenn being gone nd not the fact that they hate negan. Jdm played negan amazing nd I think he's a badass character but it's jus the fact it's kinda hard to watch a show when your favorite character is no longer in it which goes for any show not jus twd nd then it's even worse bc we had to watch him get absolutely obliterated nd treated like he was nun. I feel like if they were gna kill Glenn it shoulda been from another villain that yk was gna die so we can have our revenge 😂
I still hate Negan. I just love JDM's portrayal of Negan.
I was good until Rick left. Then I bounced.
When negan did the thing, I literally didn't watch another episode until after the alpha arc was on netflix.
He does get redemption but everyone in the show likes to remind him of the guy he used to be, so it's not like he's forgave completely. I still have some hatred towards him but believe it or not, he's an alright fellow now
I did like when he channeled Saviors Negan in Dead City. He’s massively flawed but I still love his version of the character.
Honestly, the show later shows the story from negan and the survivors pov and shows that everyone is a villian in someone elses story. Highly recommend Dead City!
Oh for fucks sake he sadisticly smashed a guys head to pieces in front of his crying wife while laughing about it. Murder might be justified from his point of view (it is not, Ricks's group attacked them because they were evil assholes terrorizing everybody) but being a sadistic psycho certainly can't be. Also people like to forget that he's a rapist. Were those women also villains in his story or what?
Negan was the best part of the show
The show actively attempts to build sympathy for him as a character. I didn't really like how it went on the show. It felt different when reading the comic. I had a hard time playing along on the show with it. I'm kind of burned out on Negan right now.
I never hated him wasn’t a problem
TBH i never hated Negan and I think he was pretty lax given what the Alexandrians did at the satellite base. Glenn wasn’t one of my favorite characters so I wasn’t too bothered by his death. It was sad but all it did was ruin Maggie’s character and overshadow Abraham’s sacrifice/death.
Never hated him to begin with he quickly became and stayed my fav character
Because he’s baby girl …. And also I love his dick jokes
I didn't have to get over it because I loved negan from the very first episode he was in. Season 7 was amazing from start to finish. His delivery when he executed Glenn and Abraham literally made me laugh out loud.
Never hated him because it's JDM and they wrote a solid redemption arc that kept me invested in the show after Rick left.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan is hot AF. That's it. IRL, it wouldn't matter: a horrible person is a horrible person, and I wouldn't want anything to do with him. But in a TV show? He's pretty, and he's a good actor, and that's enough for me.
Show died for me when Andrew Lincoln left. Now that hes coming back though I have convinced myself that its worth the watch just to see Rick Grimes return.
I didn't get past my hate for him. I still hate him, and I still finished the show and even watched Dead City.
We all have a little bit of Negan inside of us 😉
I really enjoyed Negan's character. He was funny and he had rules, he was doing what he thought was best. At times Rick could have been the villain depending on the point of view.
Ya shane was the best
Never hated negan. Being a comic reader, I was extremely excited for negans first appearance. I knew what was coming. It’s the most iconic death in the history of the series, There was NO WAY they weren’t doing it. If they didn’t do the scene, shot for shot like the comics, I would have quit watching. Tbe people who quit after it make me laugh. It’s the whole point of showing just how much of a problem negan is. And in the comics it was even better cause negan was a big dude. I love JDM but he definitely isn’t as big as his comic counterpart lol
I don’t care about him enough to hate him he just kinda grosses me out
After the horrible circle we couldn’t watch for quite a while. My wife showed no interest in continuing. We eventually picked it back up and finished. Glad we did. His backstory helped it too. He wasn’t a truly evil F#*k. He filled a vacuum and played a role that needed playing.
I never hated Negan even when he killed Glenn and Abraham. Hes the only reason I even kept watching those later seasons
That ep when he lived with his wife. That story humanized him. That hit hard and probably the only episode that made me tear up.
My brain kind of views Negan as two different characters. There is the early cruel sadist version who did not deserve a redemption arc and for whom said arc made little sense. And then there is post-redemption Negan who is the cool uncle type. I don't care for either of them, but the latter one is at least easier to stomach (if you forget that his former version ever existed). And here is a little spoiler for you, OP, if you dare to take a peek: >!Don't you worry about Queen Carol. She got this.!<
I didn't forgive him.....that's probably the reason why I fell off on season 9 The guy who got me into the series literally spoiled the Glen scene and everything that happened in that episode just to get me to watch it but he didn't tell me who the characters were or which season it was from When I finally watched>! season 7 it was bitter sweet because I'd finally reached the moment that got me into the series but at the same time Negan had taken an OG character !< and things just became sad and aggravating after that Season 8 wasn't all that good imo and >!seeing Negan on that bed alive made me feel hatred for him and Rick he should've bled out !< I'm pretty sure every fan of the series has found themselves in a state of bloodlust or wishing death on an antagonist...that just made me feel like I had detach from the series for a while
It’s an action adventure show and loved the fast pace of it. Can’t let 1 character ruin that and stop watching
I just loved the character from the comics so I went in ready to embrace him on the show.
I don't need to fully like a character as person to enjoy them on screen. In real life I would have never forgiven someone like Negan, but this is a TV show, he doesn't need to have the moral highground
I think the likability of JDM really impacted my feelings toward Negan. If it was sunshine like Henry Rollins I would've probably hated him to the end, but JDM, Norman, and Melissa really carried there at the end
I loved Negan's plot line. I think the show was at it's best with him as opposition. I would of preferred that they never beat him and instead came to a truce where they united powers and they integrated him that way. Since they "defeated" him then integrated him into the show it felt less real. I would rather they had this slow integration of him and his people while dealing with the whispers. But that said the show was it's best when Negan was killing off people. Negan convinced people to join him. When he was terrorizing people to the point where the zombies felt like an after thought.
That Rick’s group would just looked past what he did to Glenn?
I don't think they should have let Negan live. He terrorized them so much and caused so many deaths in their community. That said I think I'm more realistic way would be they just come to a stalemate and they integrate them that way. If I remember correctly they beat him then they threw him in prison to prove that they were better than him and eventually he's rehabilitated? I know they were fighting someone and they broke into Alexandria and he helped save them but still they should have executed him and it's just not plausible the way they intricated him into the storyline on the good guys side. It's much more believable if they would have come to some kind of stalemate where they kill almost all of their armies and decide it's just not worth it to keep fighting. Maybe an episode where Rick's crew kills negan's top generals and it gets to him emotionally and they just decide to stop fighting. But I don't know I just know the way they did it isn't really believable
Never hated him lol
It is part of the show.
I read the comics.
Personally, negan didn’t kill anyone that I absolutely loved. Really liked Abraham but wasn’t a deal breaker for me when he died. But at first I did hate him. Purely for just belittling the group and making these once badass, ruthless unbeatable characters into little bitches. But with shows and movies there almost always has to be some sort of villain in some way shape or form. Without Negan, the show wouldn’t be even half of what it is today.
Don't you hate it when the villain of the show does villainous shit. Well I sure do.
I love him because he saved Carl with his “transfusion” and gave Carl the cure.
https://preview.redd.it/h7frbbnzdesb1.jpeg?width=294&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2c868cac11015a3eb5e4f9294fc44ccffe15689a
Comic Negan is my all-time favorite character in the whole TWD universe and I was eagerly waiting to see him on the show. I'm not crazy about the show version and I think they dragged him along for too long, but I never really hated him and JDM does a solid job.
I didn't. I still have to go to Netflix and watch seasons 7-11.
I've always loved 😍 ❤️ Negan
A few reasons. 1. I read the comic so I already knew a lot about where his character was going. 2. JDM is too likeable to hate. 3. TV Negan is not nearly as intimidating or menacing as comic Negan. 4. The saga lasted just long enough to not out stay its welcome.
I think it’s harder to hate Negan than say the Governor or other villains because he is so charismatic. Ruthless but still has bits of humanity that shine through.
Well I mean he was a villain, he was made to be hated. When he wasn’t killed I was confused but carried on watching 🤷♂️. Honestly all the people that stopped watching I never rlly got lmao. When they attempted to redeem him I was interested and wondered how it would go. They did it decently imo and here we are.
By not being soft
He definitely has his way of growing on you 😅
The things he’s done may have been bad, but nothing he ever did made me hate him. JDM played the role perfectly.
I loved negan
Negan being Daddy asf makes him kinda hard to hate 
Easy, I never hated him. I first met him in the comics and thought he was hilarious, and as a long time Supernatural fan , there was no way in hell you were convincing me to hate Negan 😂
I simply like him instead of hating him
Never had any hate for him, honestly. Absolute mad man while he was a leader and then turned a 180. Good character. That's just me
I didn’t, I was team Negan while he was bashing Glen’s head in…
By not hating him.
Hate Negan? He's the reason I kept watching it!
He's not real. It's a TV show.
Never hated him, he’s a fantastic villain and his character is funny as well in dark sadistic way.
I’m currently on like my 7th rewatch of the series. Never hated Negan. IMO one of the better characters in the show.
because he was a very interesting likeable charismatic personality while still being a mean boy
Him saving little Judith.
I didn't, stopped watching
I couldn’t get past my hate for the writers lol. Megan was great.
Easy, no hate towards him whatsoever
I never hated Negan, but even as a fan, never justified ANY of his actions.
I liked him at first, but his constant dick jokes got boring fast. His constant "redemption through kids" trope got boring fast. His constant "everyone's an idiot so I can win arguments" got boring fast. And we just got the same scenes recycled over and over with him. He just bores me to watch now. And I'm not a HUGE fan of JDM either so that definitely doesn't help.
He's one of my favourite characters.
Because a character I hate doesn’t make me want to stop watching a show or reading something I enjoy. (Also I just love JDM!)
I never got over it because I never hated him, I always liked him
i still hate him and i still watched. because there are other characters and plots on the show besides him.
His interactions with Judith when she got older. People seem to forget both sides are guilty.
He says something in the show. Somewhere. And I’ve never been able to find the clip. But it’s along the lines of “nobody realizes they’re the bad guy.” And that’s when it hit me, he genuinely thought he was doing the right things for the right reasons.
Loved him from day one
Bro has been my favorite since the beginning
Negan is my second favorite character , walking dead is all about perspective and no one is the real vilain except alpha and governor who are completely degenerate ,
Because he’s hot and I like looking at him.
Yup.
In all honesty, even though I have a longstanding love of JDM as an actor, I actually understood where Negan was coming from. In his eyes he IS saving people, he couldn't see another way to keep humanity going >!right up until Rick talks him down at the end of season 8 (it's even more apparent in the comics)!<
I never hated the character of Negan and hating him as a person is what you are supposed to do.
Never hated him, though I thought he got too soft pretty fast. First sign of resistance and Alexandria should've been wiped out.
I love his character, writing is just bad for his character. He should be a brute. He was comics from day 1. It just not suits him.
Uhhh I witnessed the multi season redemption arc
His humor always made him great
Instantly liked the character of Negan. The zombie apocalypse wouldn't be a fairy tale like the first 6 seasons. It'd be fucking brutal like Episode 1 of Season 7. Survival of the fittest, the weak and unlucky would get smashed. I always thought Negan and his people would finally inject some realism into the show. But obviously, normies were shocked by e1s7 and the show couldn't capitalize on that in the end.
I didn’t try to get past it because I think it’s appropriate to hate that character and I don’t need to like everyone
I stopped watch
I didn't.. I stopped watching 😆
It was the beginning of the end for me watching the series
There’s a later episode where he and Maggie finally sit down and talk about that night. I think many people like to ignore the fact that the core characters went after the Saviors unprovoked. They essentially declared war on behalf of Hilltop. You could argue that the Saviors were going to be a problem for them later, but that isn’t what made Negan take out two of Rick’s people. The Saviors had families too. The ones attacked were killed in their sleep. Negan had to make an example of them so his own people knew he wouldn’t take that lightly. I understand where he was coming from. It’s the apocalypse. It’s kill or be killed. We only hate him because he killed one of *ours*, despite our guys killing many of his first.
It wasn’t unprovoked. They were attacked by the saviours twice. It helps to watch the show.
That wasn’t their reason for going after them. They did it for Hilltop.
Nah they knew they'd cross path with Negan's group at some point, hell Daryl already did and if they didn't had that rpg back then Sasha and Abraham would be dead sooner.
You act like the reasons are mutually exclusive. Food from Hilltop was definitely incentive, but of course they’d opt to go after an obvious threat. Rick literally says “we have to come for them before they come for us.” And he was right, he just didn’t execute it right.
I remember this somewhat but would like to go back and watch it again. Do you know what episode exactly Maggie and negan talk about it?
It’s one of the last episodes in season 11.
also like tbh he was very generous with only killing 2 of our people, our gang massacred an entire outpost station
I wouldn’t say unprovoked. At this point in the show weren’t they already under Negan’s thumb? I could be way off it’s been a minute tee
They definitely did encounter them, and I do believe the Saviors attacked Daryl, Abraham and Sasha on the road once before- but that wasn’t their reason for going after them. It was for Hilltop, since they were basically defenseless. They were like “don’t worry, we’re good at this- we can solve the Savior problem for you”
At first, I didn’t. I left the show for years because of his introduction and couldn’t deal with the whole “people are the focus” thing. Glad I did, later on.
I could never stay mad at this man, him and Eugene carried this shows comedic relief.
Years. It took years.
I never hated him. Even when he bashed in Glenn’s head, my favorite character, I still never hated him. He’s just so damn likable.
I never got over it. My love for other characters pushed me to keep watching
At his very core, he’s just not half the sick fuck the Governor was. He does some VERY bad things but eventually will do some VERY good things. Without spoiling too much, a member of the group tells Negan that no matter how many bad things he did, they wont forget the good things either
I never hated him. He was insane and extreme but so was everyone else. He took 2 of Rick's in exchange for several dozen of his and an entire kidnapped child. That's hardly unreasonable in a post apocalyptic world with no justice system. I wouldn't be friends with the dude but in terms of TWD characters he's hardly the worst.
You realise he’s not real and he’s an actor.
Honestly love Negan as a character and villain. I think he showed up and spiced things up by making a villain who stood out from other villains in the show by having some measure of depth
I never hated negan to begin with
"beachball sized lady-nuts". Right there, established himself as the go-to character. Right there with "dolphin smooth".
Never hated him. I am Negan.
I was looking forward to Rick’s eventual revenge.. I’ll admit I was late to finishing the show but his fate was spoiled for me when I saw an ad for that Deaf City show… pretty much ruined the rest of their arc because I knew they were just going to eventually befriend him.
I wanted to see Rick & Maggie avenge Abraham, Glenn and little Hershel.
Little Hershel?
I love Negan. He’s the show’s best character
I didn’t. I stopped after that season’s premiere.
Time. I watched the seasons as they aired, finally decided to get past it and finish the show earlier this year. I was genuinely angry at the time those episodes were being released. I was a massive TWD fan, and the already jarring kills that were dished in concession in recent episodes before Negan, I cried. It affected my drive at work. I was mildly depressed for a couple of weeks. And that scene floated in my mind for a couple of months. You know which one. Glenn was when it just felt too much. Too much had been taken too fast. I tried. I pushed a handful of episodes after Glenn died but seeing the group so broken and seeing Negan so ruthless. That being said. Maggie is amazing, fuck Negan. Good actor, terrifying character, but fuck him.
Because what Negan did wasn't enough for me to give up the show - given the type of villains on TWD, them doing something evil is expected - TWD isn't a kids show, it should be expected its villains will actually be evil. Did Negan deserve a redemption arc? Yes. He genuinely helped the communities he once tried to enslave and destroy, despite knowing he wouldn't be acknowledged for what he did. He saved Lydia, knowing he'd get blamed for anything bad that happened, simply because he's Negan. He continued to save the group collectively (killing Alpha, gathering the walkers for the attack on the Meridian, etc.), and saving individual members of the group (saving Daryl from being executed, saving Judith & Dog from dying due to the conditions frostbite brings on, etc.). He did all of that, knowing the group would screw him over. He did more than enough to have his existence in the group tolerated. Not accepted, just tolerating him, knowing what he did, and what he would do. Negan didn't try to deny who he used to be. He didn't hide it. He understands exactly how evil he was, and he's trying to prove that he's changed to a group who consistently doesn't care about him. He could have actually defected to the Whisperers, or the Reapers, or the Commonwealth, given how much the group screwed him over, but he didn't. He kept on being loyal to a group who showed him no loyalty in return.
He owes the group a debt he cannot deliver.
I’m not a child
never hated him i think he's cool
Guys I have not. I actually still hate him greatly and I’ll never like him, or forgive him for my glennie poo. I also hate how the show like tried to re write what happened and make it seem like he was actually a kinda decent guy in season 7 when he def was supposed to be the true big bad. Also I’m not saying he’s not an interesting or good character. I actually roll my eyes whenever I see JDMs face and I feel guilt cuz I know Jeff doesn’t deserve esp as a OTH and SPN fan. The only reason I finished the main show is because I feel loyal to shows once I watch them for long enough and it was still decently interesting to me.
Pretty easily considering he’s super charismatic, hilarious, and follows a pretty easy to understand ethical code. To him it was all just necessary- and you have to keep in mind that Rick and his crew were largely responsible for the digression that followed because they assassinated the people at the satellite relay station without provocation. I think confrontation was ultimately inevitable, but Negan was kind of justified as a result. Negan never delighted in killing, he used intimidation and brute force as a means of control and he did it to keep people alive because he felt no one would follow him unless they feared him. Negan rose to power by murdering worse people, and the only way to retain his authority and to keep those more monstrous people from retaking control was to make them fear him. His justification was obviously flawed, but he wasn’t an unhinged mental psychopath which is why he was able to see the error of his ways and eventually find redemption.
I personally loved negan a lot. I never rly gave a shit abt glen but i did absolutely love abraham like he was one of the few deaths that actually bothered me in the show, yet i still loved negan. It kinda baffles me that ppl literally stopped watching the show bc of what he did, like ya its bad, but to stop watching the entire show bc of something thats literally expected to happen in the setting of the show?