Which of The Walking Dead Characters Had the Best Development Over Time?
AMC's zombie show is widely regarded as a project with a cast of insignificant characters that were later developed into fan favorites.
Life after a zombie apocalypse cannot be the same, and Robert Kirkman knew this well before he wrote his bestselling comic book series The Walking Dead. The author introduces readers to a diverse group of survivors desperately trying to stay alive and not to lose their humanity.
Unsurprisingly, many of the characters changed over the course of the comic book's story: some of the good and loving individuals turned into horrible monsters, while seemingly terrible people completely changed for the better.
Fortunately, AMC decided to maintain this approach in writing the show, putting character development above all else, sometimes even to the detriment of the overall narrative in the process. Fans continued watching the series for 11 seasons with only one goal in mind: to find out where their favorite characters would end up, what decisions they would make under pressure and whether they would succumb to the temptation and lose their last shreds of humanity.
Since there were dozens of main characters in the original series, fans decided to find one that developed best over time, and the answer was unanimous.
Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon was at first a polarizing character – a selfish troublemaker, heavily influenced by his aggressive older brother, doing his bidding without giving much thought to the meaning of his actions.
He was a loner, and a very dangerous one – his recklessness sometimes could affect an entire group, possibly costing them their lives. And then everything changed.
Daryl managed to realize that his life before the outbreak was over, and there was little reason to continue living in his brother’s shadow.
Daryl became the man that all the other survivors looked up to, and people began to really care about him. He was kind and caring and everyone could count on him in a difficult situation. Fans enjoyed watching this controversial man grow as a person, proving once again that thoughtful character development is the key to making any show great.