Daryl Dixon


Daryl Dixon is a fictional character from AMC's horror drama series The Walking Dead portrayed by actor Norman Reedus. He appears as a major character in The Walking Dead and as the titular character of its spin-off series The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. He also serves as the main protagonist of the last three seasons of the original series, replacing Rick Grimes. The character was created for the television series by writers Frank Darabont, Charles H. Eglee and Jack LoGiudice specifically for Norman Reedus, and does not have a counterpart in the comics on which the series is based. The character was introduced in the first season as a southerner and expert tracker, living in the shadow of his older brother, Merle. Despite his initial bad temper and volatility, he is tolerated by the core group of survivors due to his survival skills and fearless efficiency in killing walkers. Following the events of Merle's disappearance, Daryl lets his guard down and starts to bond with the group, particularly Carol Peletier after her daughter's disappearance, and Beth Greene after the two split off together in the fourth season. The character becomes the cooperative right-hand man and protector of protagonist Rick Grimes and leads several supply runs. He is one of the longest surviving characters of the television series and one of the core members of the original Atlanta group. His origin is explored in the 2013 video game The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, and he stars in the mobile game The Walking Dead: No Man's Land.
Daryl has been well received by fans and critics. Initially a member of the recurring cast, Reedus was upgraded to series regular after the first season. Following Andrew Lincoln's departure as Rick in the ninth season, Reedus got top billing and took over as the series' main protagonist.
In September 2020, it was announced that Reedus and Melissa McBride would lead their own spin-off series set for a 2023 premiere, following the conclusion of The Walking Dead eleventh and final season. However, McBride exited the project prior to filming and it was reworked to focus on Daryl. The series, titled The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, premiered in September 2023 with its first season. Ultimately, McBride joined the main cast as Carol in Daryl Dixon second season—with the sub-title The Book of Carol—in a return to the show's original concept.

Appearances

In their childhood, Daryl and his older brother, Merle, lived with their abusive, alcoholic father, Will. He was raised by Merle, though Merle was often away. Daryl had significant periods of time alone and, throughout these lonely periods, learned to fend for himself and adopted a hard-boiled survivalist mindset. When the outbreak occurs he and Merle fend for themselves and drift around, avoiding walkers. Unlike his brother, Daryl has never been to prison, and was offended when Beth revealed to him that she had believed he had during a drinking game.
During the first season and for much of the second, Daryl rides his brother Merle's Triumph Bonneville chopper with the Nazi German ᛋᛋ insignia prominently displayed on the fuel tank. In the final episode of the second season, Daryl jokes that he could identify Glenn by his driving, due to Glenn being Korean. Daryl usually has a serious demeanor, but occasionally makes wry comments and jokes to break the tension. By the third season, he has become a responsible, trusted and loyal member of the group. His priorities are tested when he learns that his brother is still alive and working for an opposing group in Woodbury run by The Governor.

Season 1

Daryl is first introduced in the episode "Tell It to the Frogs". Having been a hunter to secure wildlife for nourishment of the survivor group outside of Atlanta, he is furious to learn they left his brother Merle handcuffed to plumbing atop a skyscraper in the city, and puts most of his anger on Rick Grimes, the newcomer of the group. Daryl joins Rick and others to return to the city, finding that Merle escaped by cutting off his hand. Daryl becomes one of the group's key fighters, but falls in under Rick's orders as they abandon Atlanta, driving his brother's motorcycle.

Season 2

The group settles onto Hershel Greene's farmstead as they look for Carol Peletier's missing daughter Sophia after a walker attack. Daryl aids in the search, and tries to help Carol cope with her feelings.
During one solo outing, he is knocked from a horse and suffers hallucinations of Merle, complaining that he is spending time searching for Sophia and not for him, before returning to the group. After Sophia is discovered to have already been turned into a walker and hidden away in Hershel's barn, Daryl helps Carol to cope with her loss. He helps protect the group as they deal with a potential threat of hostile survivors nearby, and to help evacuate the farm when it is overrun by walkers.

Season 3

Rick's group find and secure a prison as a new shelter. In dealing with this, Rick's wife Lori dies after giving birth to her daughter, and Rick is devastated, having hallucinations of her and unable to make decisions. Daryl steps up to help lead the group alongside Hershel during Rick's lapse. His friendship with Carol strengthens after she was feared lost dealing with the walkers.
The group is forced to deal with the Governor from the nearby Woodbury community, who seeks to kill them and take their supplies for himself. In rescuing two of their allies kidnapped by the Governor, Daryl discovers Merle is still alive, having escaped Atlanta, but working for the Governor. After the Governor considers Merle a traitor, Daryl helps him to escape and returns with him to the prison. Rick's group knows the Governor seeks to capture Michonne or else attack the prison, but Rick's hallucinations leave him unable to make the decision, and Merle takes Michonne himself to the Governor, with Daryl following him after discovering his absence. Merle had a change of heart, lets Michonne go, and sacrificially ambushes the Governor's men. Daryl arrives to find the reanimated corpse of Merle, killed by the Governor, and cries as he is forced to put his brother down. Rick's group fends off a major attack by the Governor, driving him away, and bring the survivors of Woodbury to the prison.

Season 4

Rick has recovered from Lori's death, and he, Daryl, and Hershel lead the growing population. A flu-like epidemic strikes the prison, killing many before a cure is found. Carol takes initiative to kill two who have shown signs of the flu in secret, and when Rick discovers this, evicts her from the group, upsetting Daryl.
The Governor, having obtained more men, launches a fatal assault on the prison, forcing the survivors to flee in separate groups. Daryl rescues Beth Greene, who is catatonic after watching the Governor behead her father Hershel. After days of traveling, Beth opens up to Daryl, and the two get drunk on moonshine as they talk about and let go of their pasts. A few days later, the two are briefly separated while fleeing walkers, and Daryl sees Beth kidnapped by men in a car with a white cross on it. He tries to follow them but is caught by Joe and a small group of bandits, the Claimers, and they force him to stay with them. The group later captures Rick, Carl, and Michonne, but Rick and Daryl fight back when they attempt to rape Carl and Michonne, killing all of the Claimers.
The four travel to Terminus, a safe haven according to signs along a railroad track. Though the community seems open, they find evidence that their friends have been captured. The four are taken prisoner and taken to the others, with Rick asserting they messed with the wrong group.

Season 5

Rick's group escapes Terminus after discovering they engage in cannibalism with the help of Carol, who had launched a walker horde on the site. After meeting Gabriel Stokes at his church, the group makes plans to head to Washington D.C. While Daryl and Carol are catching up, they see a car drive by with a similar white cross on it, and they give chase. This leads them to find that Beth was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, where she was forced to work on patients by corrupt cops. After Carol is captured, Daryl leads Rick's group to try to rescue them. Carol is saved but Beth is killed in a standoff with the cops, and Daryl returns her body to the church to bury her.
The group continues on, eventually meeting Aaron, a recruiter for the Alexandria Safe-Zone in Virginia, who offers them sanctuary there. Like Rick, Daryl remains skeptical given the lack of survival experience the residents have, but accepts Aaron's offer to assist them in finding more recruits. Daryl and Aaron find the community is being watched by the Wolves, exiles from Alexandria that seek revenge. After walking into a Wolves trap, they are rescued by Morgan Jones, Rick's friend before he met the rest of the group in Atlanta, and they bring him back to Alexandria.

Season 6

Rick and the others of his group are put in charge of Alexandria after proving their survival skills. To get rid of a walker horde trapped in a nearby quarry, Rick plans to parade them far away from Alexandria. Daryl, along with Abraham and Sasha, leads the parade. However, the Wolves launch a surprise attack, breaking the parade, though Rick instructs Daryl to lead the remaining away. The attack breaches the walls of Alexandria, allowing walkers to swarm in. After leading the remaining walkers away, Daryl is briefly waylaid by Dwight and his wife Sherry. He finds a fuel truck, regroups with Abraham and Sasha, and quickly deals with a group of men working for Negan. They ignite the truck in Alexandria to lure the walkers away from the citizens to dispatch them.
As Alexandria is recovering, Carol opts to leave on her own, concerned about seeing others she cares for die, leaving Daryl upset. Rick and Daryl meet Paul "Jesus" Rovia and are introduced to the Hilltop community. They request help dealing with the Saviors, a brutal group that demands supplies as a periodic offering. Rick, Daryl and others launch an attack on a Savior outpost, appearing to kill Negan and all of the Saviors. Later, Daryl encounters Dwight again with other men who claim to be Saviors working for Negan. After reporting this to Rick and the others, Daryl patrols to track down the Saviors but is soon captured. He is brought to a clearing along with Rick and several others of the group that has been captured by the Saviors, and they meet the real Negan, who wields a baseball bat wrapped with barbed wired named "Lucille". Negan prepares to kill one of the group in retaliation for the attack on the Savior compound and force them to swear loyalty to him.