Similarities Shared by Grumpy Bear and ‘The Walking Dead’s’ Negan

When I woke up today I did not see myself comparing Negan to Grumpy Bear from the Care Bears yet here I am thanks to Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Instagram post I revisited yesterday as featured above. While at first I found this oddly adorable, and became slightly envious I do not own a Grumpy Bear onesie, my mind went one step further. The more I thought about the cuddly grumpy blue bear, the more I realized he and Negan have an odd amount of similarities. These five particular reasons have me wishing they discovered this onesie lying around in the apocalypse.  Well, actually these are five reasons why Negan and Grumpy Bear are one in the same.  Though I insist that an opportunity was missed to make him wear it while he rotted away in his jail cell.

5. Tough Love

Grumpy Bear was never afraid to let us know the truth. He’s a blunt little bear and has a no nonsense attitude that Negan adopted somewhere along the way. While some might view the two characters the harsher among their groups, the truth is they have no time to beat around the bush. Instead they make sure that their thoughts are clear and that’s why we get their true reactions because nine times out of ten we are receiving their gut reactions. While Negan was not quite as bad as Simon, he still believed in asserting his power and making sure that people knew not to cross him. He even makes sure zombies know not to cross him. Thankfully for Tenderheart Bear and Braveheart Lion, Grumpy only used an iron for clothes and his words for battles.

4. Love for Children

Negan has a soft spot for kids. Despite making Carl sing the song that Lori used to sing to him once upon a time, for a short time period I felt Carl leaning more toward Negan’s mentality of life. In many ways, despite Rick never admitting so, Carl’s death crushed Negan just as much as anyone in our core group. Why? Because him and Grumpy Bear are prone to adopting problem children as their own and making sure to reach out to ensure these children prosper. Though Carl was on the so-called wrong side in Negan’s eyes, he never truly wanted to harm him. In fact, Negan admired him the way Grumpy Bear admires the problem children because in an odd way he understands them better than the other Care Bears.

3. Surly Attitudes

When things are not going their way they are not the easiest people to get along with.  Negan has no problem swinging his bat hard upon a table whereas Grumpy folds his arms over his chest and makes a sound in frustration.  Regardless of whether or not these two characters can get past their attitudes, they tend to become angry instead of reaching a zen state and remaining chill. They also typically do not warm up to new people right away.  They have trust issues that bring out their surly attitudes quicker than normal which leaves a bad first impression with others at first.  Once you get past their attitudes though you quickly learn that on some level they do care about those they consider their people.  It’s just a matter of conquering their attitudes that remains tricky at first.

2. Black Sheep

In many ways Negan and Grumpy Bear are the black sheep of the group. While Negan gained a whole group of survivors to follow him under what I can only describe as the Savior regime, Negan is his own minority of how one should live in the apocalypse. Most of the Saviors are gone. Either Carol murdered them or have become functioning members of Hillside. With no one to currently lead, Negan has managed to become a bigger outcast than when he was merely stuck inside of a jail cell. The odd part about both Negan and Grump Bear is that they somehow manage to be the black sheep yet apart of a group setting that aids them when push comes to shove.  Negan will quickly have people willing to cast a Care Bear stare at those whose ideals are not his own.

1. Cynical Natures

Even though Negan is currently behind bars right now, when Rick was engaging in conversation with him, Negan still had the nerve to remind him that evening the world Rick was creating would inevitably come crashing down around him. He also insisted that they were just getting the world ready for him once more. Negan does not believe that there’s much good in people anymore. I think this is partly his backstory and partly because of the point he made upon arriving back at the sanctuary when Simon had everyone believing he was dead and gone. Some people are so much worse than Negan that he appears to be a mere grumpy blue bear in comparison.

Ultimately, neither Negan and Grumpy Bear appear all that cuddly on the outside. However, once they allow others the opportunity to get to know them most people realize they are not all that bad. In fact, most of the time they help those in need unless Lucille is thirsty that day.

What unique character comparisons have you made?  Make sure to let us know what you think in the comments below.