‘The Walking Dead’ Character Spotlight: Negan
When it was first announced
that Jeffrey Dean Morgan would be
joining the cast of The Walking
Dead in his confirmed role of
Negan,
fans were ecstatic. Not just because Jeffrey Dean Morgan himself is
an amazing
actor, but because
the arrival of Negan has been long awaited. Negan is arguably
the most
talked about The Walking
Dead villain, and by far one
of the most violent villains Rick and his
group will find themselves
facing. Negan is extremely calculating and intelligent. Negan is known to be
an
incredible foul mouth,
something Robert Kirkman (one of the writers of The
Walking Dead
comics) has said he took from his
own personality.
Even
though I had read articles on social media, the
AMC website and in magazines
about Negan’s arrival, I still had the chills. Negan’s entrance on the
show
lasted approximately about
fourteen minutes, but his character was written
perfectly. Jeffrey Dean
Morgan had a perfect delivery of the
iconic comic book
villain. Andrew Lincoln was absolutely right when he said
that Negan had the
greatest
entrance ever written.
In the case of Rick and his group, Negan
expressed his anger in an eerily calm
way (which just made it even more powerful
and creepy) about how Rick and
his crew have killed dozens upon
dozens of Negans
men. In fact, he referred to it as ‘more men than he’s
comfortable
with’.
“You are so gonna regret crossing
me in a few
minutes,”
-Negan, The
Walking Dead
Despite his violent
tendencies, he has a
moral code. While Negan may be ranked as a primary
antagonist alongside The
Governor, Gareth and Alpha Wolf, he is the least ‘evil’ of the three of
them.
Negan does not really
enjoy killing people just for the sake of racking up his
kill count, he only
kills to keep people in check.
In regards to the Season 6
finale, Negan informed Rick that his reasoning
for killing one of Rick’s people
as a means of retribution; to put Rick in line. One thing Negan absolutely
hates
and will not tolerate is
sexual violence. Despite his violent and cold exterior,
Negan can (at times)
be reasonable and at times it is
revealed he has a sense of
empathy.
Negan believes that it’s his job
to ensure the survival of the
human race and build for it a new world. It’s why he named his group ‘The
Saviors’.
Aside from
Negan being a used car-salesman, not much is known
about his backstory at this current time. We
do know that his
weapon of
choice is his wooden baseball bat, Lucille, which is wrapped in barbed
wire.
Negan’s backstory is currently
in the works, and I hope that when The
Walking Dead returns in
October, pieces of his backstory will
be
incorporated.
Again, Negan’s entrance in this Season 6 finale was
incredible. I am extremely
excited to see where The Walking Dead
writers will be taking the
story in this upcoming season. I
cannot wait to see
more Negan.
Don’t forget to cast your vote with us, on
who you
think met Lucille’s fatal
swing.
Julia recently published her first novel, titled; Anomic. She is currently co-authoring a novel called ‘Snow Falls’. She has a B.A in Communications with concentrations in Professional Writing and Public Relations. She is also in the United States Army Reserves as a Military Police Officer, and is currently in the process of going back to school for her Masters Degree in Business. When she isn’t writing, she is co-owner of a film production studio called ‘Valentine Productions LLC’ and she frequently spends her weekends acting in films, or being a stuntwoman.