Every Death on The Walking Dead That Matters

People die during a zombie apocalypse. That's something The Walking Dead knows all too well.

Before the show returns for the second half of Season 6 -- which sounds like it will add quite a few names to its already-existing body count -- we decided to look back at the folks who have already fallen in this seemingly never-ending war against the undead.

Feel free to pay your respects as we look back at the most significant deaths in the show's history, in chronological order.

[WARNING: The following list contains spoilers, obviously. Read at your own risk.]

Ed Peletier (Adam Minarovich)
Died: Season 1, Episode 4
Although The Walking Dead had bashed in plenty of zombie brains (and even killed a horse!) by this point in the show, this was the first major blow dealt to the crew of survivors. Ed was eaten by a herd of walkers who attacked the survivors' camp outside of Atlanta, but because of Ed's abusive treatment of his wife Carol and daughter Sophia, it was hard to be too upset at this loss. In fact, the most telling moment surrounding his death is when Carol volunteers to take a pickaxe to his head to prevent reanimation, unleashing years of repressed anger and emotion in the process.

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Amy (Emma Bell)
Died: Season 1, Episode 4
Andrea's kid sister Amy died after sustaining two fatal walker bites in the same attack that killed Ed (plus a dozen or so other unnamed characters). Even though we'd only just gotten to know the bond these sisters had, it was no less heartbreaking to watch Andrea suffer as she held Amy in her arms. And don't even get us started on the next morning when Andrea had to put a bullet in Amy's brain after she turned.

Jim (Andrew Rothenberg)
Died: Season 1, Episode 5
Jim was doomed from the start. He quasi-predicted the deaths of his fellow survivors when he woke up from a dream and randomly started digging holes - holes that eventually became graves for his fellow comrades. Although Jim initially appeared to survive the walker attack, Jacqui later discovered he was bitten. The group debated whether or not to kill Jim, but they eventually agreed to take him on their journey to the Centers for Disease Control. When his fever worsened on the way, however, Jim told his pals to leave him behind. They left him on the side of the road where he, after refusing to take Rick's gun, presumably died and joined the ranks of the walkers.

Jacqui (Jeryl Prescott Sales) and Dr. Edwin Jenner (Noah Emmerich)
Died: Season 1, Episode 6
Everything was looking up for the survivors when they made it to the CDC. Hot showers, real food (and booze!) and comfortable beds -- what could go wrong? But as with most locales on The Walking Dead, the CDC proved to be not much of a safe haven. After Dr. Jenner informed the group that the building's backup generators were almost out of fuel and that the building was about to self-destruct (it's protocol, man!), most of the gang went scurrying for the exits. But not Jacqui and Jenner. No one should have to endure a catastrophic explosion alone, right?! Jacqui, having seen firsthand the painful deaths of Jim and Amy, decided to check out of this crazy new world. And Jenner, who had already lost his wife in the search for a cure, bravely went down with his ship.

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Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vince)
Died: Season 2, Episode 3
While most of the drama to this point was of the man-vs.-zombie variety, Otis' death marked a turn toward the darker side of survival. While scavenging at a local high school for medical supplies for Carl (whom Otis accidentally shot while hunting), Otis and Shane were trapped by a horde of walkers. Although they made their best efforts to escape, Shane ultimately was forced to shoot Otis and leave him behind for the walkers to munch on so that Shane could flee. While Shane was a far cry from the sadistic killers we'd later meet, he was one of the first to fully commit to the "me or them" mentality.

Sophia Peletier (Madison Lintz)
Died: Season 2, Episode 7
Actually, we're not sure when she died, but the reveal that Sophia - whom the group had been searching for since she disappeared into the woods in the Season 2 premiere - was among the zombies in Hershel's barn was an emotional gut punch. After Shane flew into a rage and started killing all the walkers Hershel was hiding, the entire group was shocked to see Sophia come shambling out. Even Shane was temporarily dumbfounded, which forced Rick to reluctantly step forward and put Sophia down for good.

Dale Horvath (Jeffrey DeMunn)
Died: Season 2, Episode 11
The group's moral compasses often have a hard time on The Walking Dead. (See also: Glenn almost dying multiple times.) As one of the first members of the group to realize Shane was dangerous, and the only person opposed to killing Rick's prisoner Randall, Dale wasn't afraid to speak his mind, even if it isolated him. Unfortunately, walkers don't really care about impassioned speeches. While walking alone one night, Dale was attacked and disemboweled by a lone walker. (Of note: Carl had provoked the zombie earlier in the day and didn't tell anyone, thus beginning the era of "stupid Carl" hate.) Once the rest of the group came to Dale's aid, Hershel informed Rick that he couldn't save Dale, and Daryl volunteered to put Dale out of his misery.

Randall Culver (Michael Zegen)
Died: Season 2, Episode 12
Yes, Randall was only on the show for a short time, but he set so many things into motion. Most notably, he brought the tension between former best friends Rick and Shane to a head, as the two debated whether or not Randall should be killed. When Rick refused to act, Shane led Randall into the woods and snapped his neck, then claimed Randall had escaped. (Of course, this was all part of a trap Shane was setting.) During the "search," Daryl and Glenn discovered a zombified Randall and killed him, even though they were confused about why he had turned into a walker at all.

Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal)
Died: Season 2, Episode 12
Upset with Rick's leadership (and that Rick's return ended his relationship with Rick's wife Lori), Shane lured Rick into the woods during the search for Randall in an effort to kill him. However, when Rick seemed to be handing over his gun to Shane, he actually stabbed Shane in the heart and killed him. As Rick was trying to explain the killing to Carl, who saw the whole thing, Shane (like Randall) mysteriously turned into a walker, and Carl shot him in the head. (Rick would later reveal that Dr. Jenner told him everyone is infected with the walker disease and will turn after their death.) Although plenty of people died before him, Shane's death was a clear signal that no character, no matter how major, was truly safe.

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T-Dog (IronE Singleton)
Died: Season 3, Episode 4
Although his death, like many others, came at the hands of walkers, T-Dog at least got a hero's exit. After being bitten during an effort to close the gate that had let in a horde of zombies, T-Dog vowed to get Carol back to the secure block of the prison. When their path was blocked by a couple of walkers, Carol insisted that they try to find another way. But T-Dog charged the zombies and told Carol to escape. "I'm dead, just go!" he said, sacrificing himself. His devoured remains were later discovered by Rick & Co.

Lori Grimes (Sarah Wayne Callies)
Died: Season 3, Episode 4
One of the most emotional deaths in the show's history. When the stress of the zombie attack on the prison sent Lori into labor, Maggie informed Lori that she was losing too much blood. Lori insisted that Maggie perform a C-section in order to save the baby and, knowing she likely won't survive the procedure, said her goodbyes to her son Carl. Although Maggie successfully delivered the baby, Lori did indeed die, forcing Carl to make the incredibly difficult decision to shooting his mother to prevent her from reanimating. Rick is destroyed by news of Lori's death, which causes him to have a bit of a mental breakdown for the remainder of the season.

Oscar (Vincent Ward)
Died: Season 3, Episode 8
Blame this one all on Rick. Oscar, one of the surviving prisoners who proved himself trustworthy enough to join Rick's group, volunteered to tag along on the mission to rescue Maggie and Glenn from Woodbury. However, during the escape, Rick (still reeling from Lori's recent death) had a hallucination that one of the Governor's soldiers was Shane. While Rick was confused and unable to shoot, the soldier shot and killed Oscar. A distraught Maggie then shot Oscar again to prevent him from turning.

Axel (Lew Temple)
Died: Season 3, Episode 10
Another of the surviving prisoners, Axel was the first casualty in the Governor's assault on the prison. Just as he was starting to bond with Carol, their conversation was cut short by a bullet from the Governor's sniper rifle, fired through Axel's head from afar. Hey, everybody's death can't be a major production!

Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker)
Died: Season 3, Episode 15
Tasked with turning Michonne over to the Governor in order to end hostilities between Woodbury and the Prison, Merle eventually let Michonne go and planned his own attack against the Governor. After being captured by the Governor's soldiers during the shootout, Merle was beaten by the Governor, who bit off two of Merle's fingers and broke his arm before shooting him in the chest. Later, Merle's brother Daryl discovered his reanimated corpse, and heartbreakingly stabbed his only remaining family member in the head seven times.

Milton Mamet (Dallas Roberts)
Died: Season 3, Episode 16
After betraying the Governor, Milton was severely beaten and ordered to kill Andrea, but he used the knife to try to kill the Governor instead. The Governor easily disarmed Milton, stabbing him multiple times in the stomach before leaving him to die and turn into a walker. Milton told Andrea to free herself before he turned, and even though she was unable to do so in time, she eventually stabbed Milton's reanimated corpse in the head with a pair of pliers.

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Andrea (Laurie Holden)
Died: Season 3, Episode 16
Andrea should have listened to Michonne and left Woodbury long, long before. Her storyline and death is one of the biggest departures the show has made from the comic book series, in which she is still alive. Unable to free herself from her handcuffs before Milton turned, Andrea was bitten by Walker Milton on the neck. When Rick and Michonne found her, she asked the group to let her kill herself. Rick handed her his gun and walked away, but Michonne stayed by her friend's side one final time.

Caesar Martinez (Jose Pablo Cantillo)
Died: Season 4, Episode 7
After abandoning the Governor following his assault on his own people, Martinez reconnected with his former leader when the Governor got trapped in one of Martinez's screamer pits. After Martinez rescued the Governor and drunkenly suggested they "share the crown" and run the camp together, the Governor hit him with a golf club and lowered him into one of the zombie pits. Didn't Martinez know you can never trust a psychopath?

Hershel Greene (Scott Wilson)
Died: Season 4, Episode 8
Chalk up another death for those in the moral compass camp. When the Governor planned to launch another attack against the prison, he kidnapped Michonne and Hershel outside the prison gates and took them hostage. After Rick didn't surrender outright, and instead suggested that the Governor should live alongside Rick's group at the prison, he sliced Hershel's neck. A huge firefight emerged, and as Hershel tried to crawl away, the Governor finished the job by decapitating Hershel with Michonne's sword. (Michonne later came across Hershel's reanimated head and finally put him out of his misery.)

The Governor (David Morrissey)
Died: Season 4, Episode 8
The Governor's reign of terror was finally brought to an end during the battle for the prison. After murdering Hershel, the Governor advanced on the prison only to be tackled by Rick. As the two men scrapped it out, the Governor got the upper hand - but before he can take Rick out, Michonne impaled the Governor with her sword and left him to die in pain. However, Lilly, having lost her daughter because of the Governor, coldly shot him in the forehead, quietly avenging the many, many deaths he caused.

Mika Samuels (Kyla Kenedy)
Died: Season 4, Episode 14
There are plenty of ways to die on The Walking Dead. Being killed by your psychologically disturbed older sister shouldn't be one of them. Alas, that was the fate of young Mika, whose sister Lizzie -- still grieving the loss of her pet walker and in an attempt to prove that walkers are just as normal as humans - stabbed her to death while Carol and Tyreese were away. Carol unfortunately had to finish the job so Mika didn't reanimate.

Lizzie Samuels (Brighton Sharbino)
Died: Season 4, Episode 14
After Lizzie killed her sister (and could have killed Baby Judith), Carol and Tyreese had the awful conversation about what they must do about Lizzie. Although killing a child is terrible - especially for Carol, who lost her own daughter - the duo reasons that Lizzie can't tell between the living and the dead and is a threat to all of their safety. Carol led Lizzie into the backyard and, after instructing her to look at the flowers, shot her in the back of the head. Brutal.

Gareth (Andrew J. West)
Died: Season 5, Episode 3
The biggest surprise about Gareth's death (other than the sheer brutality of it), was how quickly it occurred. Just two episodes after Rick & Co. escaped Gareth's clutches at Terminus (and after Rick vowed to kill Gareth), the Terminans launched an ambush at Father Gabriel's church. However, Rick had lured them into a trap and quickly gained the upper hand. After Gareth rationalized his group's cannibalistic ways and swore that if Rick let him live, the groups would never cross paths again, Rick's response was a swift and simple no thank you: He hacked Gareth's head with his machete as Tyreese, Abraham and others gutted the rest of the Terminans. This scene made it clear that Rick was no longer taking any chances.

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Bob Stookey (Lawrence Gilliard Jr.)
Died: Season 5, Episode 3
At least Bob got to have the last laugh when he died. After Gareth & Co. kidnapped Bob and began feasting on part of his leg, he revealed that he had actually been bitten by a walker. "Tainted meat!" he screamed, laughing. Gareth's group returned Bob to the church where, after the Terminans had been dispatched, Bob spent his last hours resting peacefully with Sasha by his side. Even in death, Bob chose to find the good. He urged Rick not to let the evil win out and even died with a smile on his face after having a dream about Sasha. Although Sasha wanted to stop Bob from reanimating herself, her brother Tyreese stepped in instead, and put a blade through Bob's temple.

Beth Greene (Emily Kinney)
Died: Season 5, Episode 8
Perhaps one of the most frustrating deaths, many fans were angered by how the show dragged out the "Beth is missing" storyline only to kill her off. After suffering under Dawn's leadership at Grady Memorial Hospital, Beth finally got the chance to be reunited with her friends when Rick arranged to exchange two of Dawn's men for Carol and Beth. When Dawn insisted that Noah also be handed back over, Beth snapped, and futilely tried to stab Dawn with a pair of scissors. Dawn, instinctively, pulled her gun and shot Beth in the head, ending the reunion before it even started. Beth's sister Maggie, of course, was devastated.

Dawn Lerner (Christine Woods)
Died: Season 5, Episode 8
As villains go, Dawn was hardly as imposing as previous threats. So, it's not much of a surprise that her exit was a little less of a production. After she instinctively (some could even argue accidentally) shot Beth, Daryl instantly took his revenge and shot Dawn in the head as well. And that was that.

Tyreese Williams (Chad Coleman)
Died: Season 5, Episode 9
The Walking Dead's teddy bear in many ways, Tyreese was often tortured by his desire to not kill others. When the group traveled to Noah's home in Virginia, Tyreese did his best to support Noah after he learned that his family had all been killed. Unfortunately, Tyreese got bitten by the walker version of Noah's younger brother, which led him to hallucinate visions of Bob, The Governor, Lizzie, Mika, and Beth - both before and after his arm is amputated by Michonne and others. Although they tried to get Tyreese back to the rest of the group, he died in the car and Michonne put him down permanently. Thus falls another moral compass.

Noah (Tyler James Williams)
Died: Season 5, Episode 14
Sometimes on The Walking Dead, your fate depends directly on the people you surround yourself with. Unfortunately for Noah, when he went on a scavenging trip with Glenn and a couple of cowards from Alexandria, he wasn't in the best company. While trying to evade a group of walkers, Noah, Glenn and Nicholas became trapped in a revolving door with seemingly no way out. Despite Glenn's warnings to stay put, Nicholas selfishly slides the door just enough to escape, allowing the walkers to grab and devour Noah while Glenn watches on in horror.

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Reg Monroe (Steve Coulter)
Died: Season 5, Episode 16
This was a simple case of wrong place, wrong time. As tensions between Rick and Alexandria mounted, Rick stormed into a town meeting carrying a dead walker to show the timid Alexandrians that their town is not as secure as they thought. Pete, seeking revenge on Rick after their previous brawl over Rick's closeness with Pete's wife Jessie, charged at Rick with Michonne's sword. Reg simply stepped up to prevent things from getting out of control, but Pete slashed Reg's throat while pushing him away. So much for doing the right thing!

Pete (Corey Brill)
Died: Season 5, Episode 16
Sometimes justice is swift. After Pete (accidentally?) killed Reg, Rick was ready to take Pete out once and for all. Rick turned to Deanna - who, while still processing the death of her husband, told Rick to proceed. Rick wasted little time putting a bullet in the wife-beater's head. The things Rick Grimes will do for love!

Nicholas (Michael Traynor)
Died: Season 6, Episode 3
Even though Glenn tried his best to bring the good out of Nicholas following Noah's death (and his attempt on Glenn's life), that same old coward reared its ugly head in Nicholas' final moments. When Glenn and Nicholas were trapped in an alley full of walkers, Nicholas gave up and shot himself in the head, knocking both he and Glenn into the arms of the hungry horde. Although it appeared Glenn was being ripped apart, he managed to escape while the walkers feasted on Nicholas. Thanks for nothing, bro.

Deanna (Tovah Feldshuh)
Died: Season 6, Episode 8
Although Deanna spent several episodes in a funk after her husband's death, she eventually became more motivated than ever to make Alexandria grow and thrive, with the help of Rick and Michonne. Unfortunately, her epiphany came just as one of Alexandria's walls collapsed and a herd of walkers stormed in. Deanna was bitten in the melee and, after imploring Rick and Michonne to save their little community, she asked to be left alone to die. But when the time came, rather than go quietly, Deanna stood and took out as many walkers as possible before presumably being overtaken. It was quite a blaze of glory.

Which deaths affected you the most? Who do you think will die next?