Carl Grimes
Carl Grimes is a fictional character and is one of the main protagonists in the comic book series The Walking Dead and was portrayed by Chandler Riggs in the American live-action television series of the same name. The character was created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore, and debuted in The Walking Dead #2 in 2003. In both forms of media, Carl is the son of Rick and Lori Grimes.
In the comic book series, Carl begins as a mean and coldblooded child, but as the events of the zombie apocalypse force him to grow up, he becomes colder, and sometimes makes brash decisions for what he thinks is the good of the group. The character's development is similar in the television series, where he adopts a callous personality, putting him at odds with his father, who wishes to maintain Carl's childhood morality and innocence as much as possible. Upon reflection, Carl eventually regains his sense of morality while still keeping his survival edge. At the same time, his father begins to lose his morality, which eventually puts Carl into conflict with him for various reasons, particularly in regards to helping strangers in need.
Riggs' portrayal of Carl was well received among fans and critics alike. For his performance as Carl, Riggs won the Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor in a Television Series in 2014 and 2016. He was also nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Series – Leading Young Actor in 2012, 2013, and won in 2014. Carl's death caused backlash from fans due to Carl's importance in the comics.
Appearances
Comic book series
Carl is the only son of sheriff Rick Grimes and his wife, Lori Grimes. When the dead rise, Lori takes Carl to a purported safe zone in Atlanta, Georgia, along with Rick's partner, Shane Walsh. Lori and Carl join a group of survivors on the outskirts of Atlanta, formed and led by Shane. There, they are eventually reunited with Rick. Despite being only seven years old, Carl is taught to shoot a pistol. This comes in handy when he saves his mother from an attacking walker. Later, he is forced to kill an unstable Shane in order to protect his father.After the group buries Shane and leaves Atlanta, Carl is shot and wounded by ranch foreman Otis while searching for supplies in the woods. The survivors are brought to the farm of Otis' employer, veterinarian Hershel Greene, who successfully treats Carl. The group remains at the farm for several days until tensions cause Hershel to evict them.
They eventually find an abandoned prison. While there, Carl and the others enjoy the prison's luxuries, such as hot showers and open space. He is confronted with disturbing experiences, such as witnessing numerous violent deaths. While Rick was away with other survivors, he frequently gave Lori re-assurance about his well-being. Throughout Lori's pregnancy, Carl was thrilled with the idea of a baby sister and when Judith is born he is fiercely protective over her. When The Governor and his army attack the prison, Carl managed to escape with Rick.
During the journey, while returning to Kentucky with Rick and Abraham Ford, he is nearly raped by a group of rednecks before his father manages to kill all of them. In the aftermath of their murders, Carl confesses to killing Shane and being a different person than he was before the apocalypse. Shortly after their return to the main group, Carl witnesses a fellow child survivor murder his brother, and he secretly kills the child when he realizes no one else is willing to do it. He feels deep grief, but does not regret his actions.
When they arrive at a gated community in D.C., Carl is unable to fit in with the other children because of his horrific experiences in the dangerous outside world and the false sense of security the other children had. During a zombie attack, Carl is shot in the face, losing his right eye, and in a coma for weeks. When he wakes up and again is taken care of by Rick, he shows a much more negative outlook, berating his father for all of the horrible things that have happened in his life.
When Rick decides to attack a group of enemy survivors known as the Saviors, they retaliate by killing Glenn Rhee. Rick decides to create the illusion of falling in line with their leader, Negan, but is actually trying to find more information about the group when Carl decides to sneak into one of the Saviors' vans and launch an assault on them, ending with him as Negan's new "guest". Negan takes a liking to Carl, although the feeling is not mutual. Not long after, Carl is returned to Rick unharmed. He accompanies Rick to "The Kingdom", a neighboring settlement led by Ezekiel. There, they plan to go to war with the Saviors. Carl stays back in the Safe Zone while Rick ventures out to Negan's stronghold for war.
After the roughly four-year time gap, Carl decides that he wants to leave the Safe Zone to journey to The Hilltop and start an apprenticeship with Earl Sutton, the blacksmith. Shortly after arriving there, two boys attack him and Sophia, and Carl fights back with a shovel, nearly killing them.
In the final comic, Carl is an adult and married to Sophia. After killing a wandering walker belonging to Maggie Greene's son Hershel, he faces criminal charges in a society where the threat of zombies is largely ignored and forgotten, but he is cleared of all charges with Michonne being his judge. He is last seen telling his daughter, Andrea Grimes, the story of his father, Rick, and how his efforts paved the way for a safer world for everyone.
Television series
Carl is Lori and Rick Grimes' son and Judith's elder half-brother. Carl loved both his parents, even though they began to have marital issues. Upon learning of his father's shooting days before the outbreak, he is devastated, even wanting to give a blood transfusion to help which his mother talks him out of. When the outbreak begins, Shane Walsh and Lori take him to the supposed safe zone in Atlanta. On the way there, he is told that his father is dead, and he gradually began to accept it but had little time to mourn. On the way to Atlanta when traffic is backed up Carl, Lori and Shane meet Carol, Ed and their daughter Sophia who Carl quickly becomes friends with. They set up camp with other survivors on the outskirts of Atlanta, Carl begins to look at Shane as a father figure, as he does various activities with him such as fishing and learns some survival skills from him, but appeared to be oblivious to Shane and Lori's ongoing sexual relationship. Carl and Rick are both ambidextrous.Season 1
Carl along with Lori and Shane are part of the survivor group camping in a quarry outside of Atlanta, and has made friends with Sophia, Carol's daughter. When Rick is found and brought back to the camp, Carl is overjoyed to see his father alive, and Lori instructs him to distance himself from Shane. The group is forced to abandon the camp and leave Atlanta.Season 2
As Rick's group heads to Fort Benning, they are forced to hide themselves from a horde of walkers amid a jam-up of cars on a highway, during which Sophia goes missing. The group splits up to search for her, and Carl joins Rick and Shane. They spot a deer, but as Carl approaches it, he is accidentally shot by Otis, a farmhand from Hershel Greene's farm nearby. They race Carl to Hershel who operates to remove the bullet fragments. The operation is successful, but Carl is bedridden for several days, leading Hershel to allow Rick's group to stay on the farm while he heals.Once Carl heals, he helps out around the farm and the survivor's camp, but Lori notices he has a colder demeanor. Carl becomes more distant from the group. Shane starts to go crazy and opens a locked barn then the group finds that Sophia has become a walker and was herded among other walkers of Hershel's family and friends into his barn, believing they can be cured. Rick's group is forced to put down all of the walkers, including Sophia. Later, Carl heads into the woods alone, finding a walker stuck in a mud pit. He aims a gun to dispatch it but instead tries to taunt it, and the walker lurches forward, freeing itself. Carl runs back to camp but fails to mention the walker. Later that day, Dale is attacked by the same walker, and the group is forced to euthanize him, Carl feels regret for not having killed the walker when he had the chance. Carl learns that Lori is pregnant, but she is unsure if it is Shane's or Rick's child; Glenn and Rick head out to the bar to find Hershel to save Beth after she attempts to kill herself. After their arrival, two "trusted" people from another group draw on them resulting in Rick, Glenn, and Hershel shooting and killing them. As the night continues, more people from their group come looking for them. They leave Randall impaled on a fence in pain as walkers build up. Hershel pulls Randall's leg off to save him. Daryl beats him to gain information about his group of 30 people. Shane decided to lead Randall into the woods snapping his neck and lying to the group by scraping his nose on tree bark saying Randall "hit him and ran off." As rick and Shane arrive back at the farm, Rick calls him out. Shane draws on Rick, then he stabs Shane to death. Shane shoots a gun attracting a large group of walkers as Carl watches. Carl pulls out a gun and aims it at Rick; however, he does this to fire at the reanimated body of Shane who is about to attack Rick. This is when Rick took the scientist's words into perspective. "We are all infected". Daryl and Glenn find no scratches or bites on Randall's undead body. Carl and Rick lead quite a few walkers into the barn. Then Carl burns the barn. Rick's group and the Greenes are forced to abandon it.
Season 3
Rick's group comes to an abandoned prison that they make their new shelter, and spend time clearing it of walkers. They also must deal with a few living prisoners, one of whom turns on the group and is abandoned to walkers by Rick. The prisoner gets his revenge by leading walkers into a breach into the prison. The group is forced to split up, and Carl helps to cover Lori and Maggie. The events have caused Lori to enter into childbirth, but she knows she requires a C-section that will likely be lethal, and says her goodbyes to Carl as Maggie operates. Her daughter is born safely, but she dies, and a traumatized Carl is forced to euthanize his mother to prevent her reanimation. When Carl and Maggie regroup with Rick and the others, carrying the child but without Lori, Rick becomes shellshocked, and spends numerous days mourning over Lori's loss and unable to provide leadership. Carl helps to see to his sister, whom he named Judith, while Daryl, Hershell, and Glenn take up leadership roles.The prison community becomes the target of the nearby Woodbury community, led by the vengeful Governor, who seeks revenge on Michonne, whom the prison group has taken in cautiously. Glenn and Maggie are captured, and Rick leads a group to recover them, leaving Carl in charge. While Rick is gone, Carl encounters a group of survivors led by Tyreese, one who had been bitten by a walker, and he allows them shelter of the prison but locked away from the rest of the group, though says he will ask Rick to evaluate them when he returns. Rick's group returns successfully, but Rick is still troubled by visions of Lori, and when Carl introduces him to Tyreese's group, Carl interprets Rick's cries of "Get out!", which he is shouting at his hallucinations, as his decision to refuse Tyreese's group to stay. Carl leads them out and apologizes for Rick's lack of understanding.
With war between the prison and Woodbury becoming more likely, Rick, Carl, and Michonne drive to Rick's hometown to retrieve weapons from the sheriff's station. Carl remains concerned about Michonne, but Rick seems to trust her. Rick is surprised to find Morgan Jones, the man he first met after waking from his coma, still in his town, and while Rick sees to Morgan, Carl goes to obtain supplies for Judith with Michonne's help. However, his first stop is a local bar to get a photograph of his family as a memento for Judith, but the bar is filled with walkers. Michonne assists Carl in getting the photo safely. As they return to the prison with weapons and supplies, Carl tells Rick that he believes Michonne is one of them, having gained trust in her.
When the Governor attacks the prison, Carl helps in its defense, including killing a terrified teenager compelled to fight when he was advancing on the unarmed Hershel and Judith. Carl later tells Rick he didn't want what happened to Dale, caused by his inaction, to happen to anyone else. The Governor is chased away, and the Woodbury group is integrated into the prison, as Rick finally has come to terms with Lori's death and finally sees Judith as his daughter.