Every Walking Dead Hero Ranked

"The Walking Dead" is filled with zombies, danger, and endless conflict, but what keeps audiences coming back week after week are the stunning moments of heroism, big and small. The show demonstrates that even in the worst of times, people will find ways to care for each other and to make the world a better place one step at a time.

Some characters on "The Walking Dead" are valiant warriors who fight the dead and living alike to keep their families alive. Others are quiet heroes who contribute to humanity simply by insisting that its best virtues aren't left behind in the apocalypse. Without either group the survivors of the zombie virus would find themselves much worse off.

These are all the heroes who have been fighting for each other on "The Walking Dead" for over a decade, ranked.

Andrea is part of the initial group of survivors who makes it out of Atlanta with Shane. She and her sister Amy escape with the others and form a close bond with Dale. When Amy dies in the Season 1 episode "Vatos," Andrea becomes untethered and unmotivated to go on surviving. Dale convinces her to keep going, and Andrea starts learning how to shoot and fight for herself in the apocalypse.

Andrea meets Michonne, and they help each other survive through the winter between Seasons 2 and 3. They drift apart when Andrea wants to join the community in Woodbury, before she comes to realize that the Governor is evil. Andrea doesn't take an opportunity to murder the Governor herself because she feels for him and believes in Woodbury, but she ultimately decides to side with Rick and the others at the prison, even if it means the Governor will kill her. 

Many characters in "The Walking Dead" start out opposed to the main group of survivors before joining them and becoming an important part of the family. Tara spends the early days of the apocalypse hiding out in an apartment building with her father, sister, and niece. The Governor moves into their building after the fall of Woodbury, and he convinces Tara's family that they will be better off out in the world. Tara is with the Governor when he attacks the prison, and she loses her entire family in the battle.

Tara is horrified by what she sees at the prison. She makes it a goal to redeem herself and helps Glenn on his quest to reunite with Maggie after he lost her in the prison battle. Tara stays with the group for years and becomes a leader at the Hilltop before she's killed by the Whisperers.

Rosita is a survivor, warrior, friend, and mother. She's first introduced alongside Abraham and Eugene as the three of them are traveling to Washington D.C. to deliver a "cure" for the zombie virus to the government. Rosita isn't as closely tied to the mission as Abraham, so she's more willing to go along with Rick's group when the two encounter each other. She and Abraham have a close relationship on the road, but it begins to fall apart when they reach Alexandria.

After Negan kills Abraham, Rosita is lost and isolates herself from the group while pursuing revenge. When the war ends, Rosita is able to settle and make a life for herself in Alexandria. She and Gabriel raise her daughter Coco after Siddiq's death, and Rosita struggles to find the line between needing to fight and needing to stay safe and alive for her daughter.

Jerry is one of the earliest members of the Kingdom, and he becomes King Ezekiel's most trusted guard and advisor. Among the ever-increasing crowd of survivors, Jerry stands out because of his beaming smile and unwavering optimism. Jerry is the first character in "The Walking Dead" who finds ample time for jokes and laughs.

Looks can be deceiving, and underneath Jerry's cheerful surface is an intimidating and versatile fighter. Jerry joins the war against the Saviors and fights for the freedom of the communities. Not quite a decade later, he picks up arms without hesitation when the Whisperers threaten everyone's safety. When the Kingdom falls, Jerry helps to keep its spirit alive as he and Ezekiel lead their people to the Hilltop, then to Alexandria. Whether he's fighting enemies, checking on loved ones, or simply raising his children, Jerry exudes heroism.

When the zombie virus finally collapses society, Lori believes that her husband Rick is dead in a hospital. Shane and Lori begin a relationship soon after he helps her escape Atlanta with Carl. When they discover that Rick is alive, Lori quickly breaks things off with Shane, but she later confesses to Rick that she doesn't know which of them is the father of her unborn child.

Despite all the conflict she experiences in the apocalypse, Lori never gives up on trying to keep her family together. She is willing to do anything to sustain her marriage and her children. Lori is a constant source of affirmation for young Carl, even in the worst of moments. When she's forced to deliver her daughter via a C-section in the prison, Lori knows she won't survive the birth. Her last words are encouragement to her son as she tells him that he will "beat this world" someday.

Hershel's youngest daughter transforms her painful apocalyptic experiences into motivation to care for other people. Beth lives through the early days of society's collapse on her father's farm. There she loses friends and family, and she considers giving up on survival altogether. Beth pulls through her inner struggles by dedicating herself to fighting for her family and the other survivors.

At the prison, Beth helps care for Judith and the other children. She works to keep up morale while the group fights with the Governor and Woodbury. After the prison falls, Beth grows close to Daryl before she's abducted and taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. There she meets a boy named Noah, who desperately wants to escape the hospital so he can return home to see his family. When she sees an opportunity, Beth sacrifices herself to guarantee Noah's freedom.

Paul Rovia gets the nickname Jesus because of his long brown hair and well-kept beard. He's a recruiter and supply runner for the Hilltop community when he first meets Rick and the other survivors. Jesus connects the Alexandrians with Hilltop and begins the process of forming a coalition between the communities. When Maggie becomes Hilltop's leader during the war with the Saviors, Jesus is one of her most trusted advisors.

Jesus begins turning the tide of the war by refusing to kill a group of Savior prisoners. He wants a peaceful society and that means only killing when it's necessary. Some of the Saviors Jesus saves become valuable members of Hilltop and even fight back against their old comrades. Years later, when Maggie leaves Hilltop and the other communities behind, Jesus is voted in as the new leader.

Aaron becomes a member of Alexandria shortly after the community is formed. It's his job to explore the world outside the walls and find new people to become community members. He finds Rick's group when they are at their lowest point. They treat Aaron with suspicion and outright hostility, but he can see beneath the surface of their behavior and invites them back to Alexandria anyway.

During the war with the Saviors, Aaron and his boyfriend Eric adopt an orphaned baby they name Gracie. Eric doesn't survive the war, but Aaron goes on to raise Gracie, become a leader in Alexandria, and fight against the Whisperers. Through all the pain and conflict, Aaron never loses the optimistic view of humanity that led him to searching for new survivors day after day and inviting Rick's group back to his home.

Abraham is a fearsome fighter and a loyal friend. He loses his wife and children early in the apocalypse, and the loss nearly pushes him to suicide. At the last moment, Abraham meets Eugene, who claims to know the cure to the zombie virus, and the two begin a journey to Washington, D.C. Along the way Abraham meets Rosita, and the two fall in love. When the three of them meet Glenn and the other survivors, they all end up trapped inside a train car at Terminus.

Abraham helps the survivors fight their way out of Terminus. When Eugene finally confesses that he never had the cure, Abraham pulls himself together by realizing that protecting his new friends is now his purpose in life. He helps the group get to Alexandria, and there he works to strengthen the community until he's killed by Negan.

Most heroes in "The Walking Dead" have taken human lives to defend the people they love most. Tyreese is unique because he believes in holding onto his pre-apocalypse humanity. He refuses not only killing but also hatred. When Carol finally confesses that she's the one who killed Tyreese's girlfriend Karen to stop a sickness from spreading through the prison, he forgives her.

Without a doubt, Tyreese's most heroic action is saving baby Judith from the prison when the Governor destroys the fences surrounding it. Tyreese takes Judith with him even though he knows that a baby is a liability in a world filled with zombies and despite having no idea if he'll be able to reunite her with her father. If it wasn't for Tyreese, Judith would have died a horrific, albeit more comic accurate, death way back in Season 4.

Eugene's struggle for survival in the apocalypse has led him back and forth across the line between good and evil. When he's first introduced in Season 4, Eugene is being escorted from Texas to Washington D.C. by Abraham and Rosita. He told them that he's a government scientist with the key to curing the zombie virus, but in "Self Help" he confesses that it was all a lie. Later, when the survivors are fighting the Saviors, Eugene joins Negan's team to save his own skin.

Though he makes some bad decisions, Eugene is still one of the most valuable heroes on "The Walking Dead." He turns on the Saviors by sabotaging their bullets, which leads to Rick and the other communities winning the war. He provides for the communities with his technical expertise and saves countless lives with his intellect. In the process, he learns how capable he is and comes down firmly on the side of good.

Sasha suffers loss after loss throughout her time on "The Walking Dead." Shortly after Sasha and her brother Tyreese join the survivors at the prison, she falls for a man named Bob. Their relationship is cut short when Bob gets bitten by a walker while the group is staying at Gabriel's church. When the group finally makes it to Virginia, Sasha loses her brother to yet another bite. At Alexandria, Sasha begins recovering from her losses when she enters a relationship with Abraham, but then the Saviors show up and Negan brutally murders Abraham in front of her.

When Abraham dies, Sasha is blinded by rage. She leads a solo assault on the Savior's Sanctuary compound and gets captured by Negan. Sasha knows that Negan will use her against her friends, so she decides to sacrifice herself for everyone's benefit. Eugene slips her a suicide pill which Sasha uses to transform herself into a zombie while Negan drives her to Alexandria in a coffin. Her surprise attack on Negan gives Rick's survivors the opening they need to fight back against the Saviors.

Rick Grimes's son is part of the first generation of kids who come of age in the midst of the apocalypse. Carl faces more hardship in his young life than most people ever do. In Season 2 he gets shot, and his best friend Sophia dies. In Season 3, he's forced to kill his own mother before she turns into a walker. Because of all the conflict, Carl has difficulty finding the line between doing what's necessary for survival and holding onto what makes him human.

Rick and Hershel pull Carl back from the ledge and teach him that killing and violence isn't always the right path. Years later, Carl does the same for his father when he urges Rick to find a solution with the Saviors that doesn't lead to endless killing. Carl's death in season 8 was a major departure from the comics, but it serves to inspire Rick and the others' belief in a civilization not quite so different from the world before the zombies.

Of all the heroes in the show, Daryl may be the most comfortable with life in the zombie apocalypse. Even before the fall of civilization, Daryl was an outsider who spent much of his time outdoors and getting up to trouble with his brother Merle. When the walkers come, Daryl already has the tools he needs to survive.

Daryl is hesitant to stay with the group after losing Merle in Season 1, but he decides to stick around and ends up becoming Rick's right hand man. Without Daryl's hunting and tracking skills, the entire group would have starved to death before ever making it to the prison. Like Carol, Daryl is more than capable of surviving on his own, but his loyalty to Rick keeps him fighting for the rest of the group, even years after Rick's apparent death. He's slow to open up to other people, but Daryl still holds onto his love and sense of humanity even after years of life-or-death struggle.

There's no doubt that Rick Grimes is the greatest hero in "The Walking Dead." If the show ever had a protagonist, it was Rick. In the first episode, he wakes up in a hospital bed in the middle of the zombie apocalypse and immediately sets out to find his family. Once he does, he becomes determined to secure safety for the people he loves.

For eight seasons, Rick leads the main group of survivors through thick and thin, from Atlanta all the way to Alexandria in Virginia. He may not always make the right decision, but everything he does is for the good of the group as a whole. Whether it's giving an inspirational speech or mowing down whoever stands in his path, Rick is always capable of doing what needs to be done. The group wouldn't be where they are without Rick, and though he left "The Walking Dead," his story is far from over.