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| “ | You tried to protect me from all this, and for the most part you did a good job, better than pretty much anything anyone could have. You're Rick Grimes. But this happened... I got hurt. I didn't make it through unscathed, and I have to carry this with me for the rest of my life. I know how I look. I know it's not normal and it's not easy to look at, It's not normal to look at me... without flinching. But somehow... she does it. She's special to me. I care about her. So I'm not going to leave her. I've finally found someone who can truly accept me for who I am, instead of who I was, or who my father is... so I'm going to hold onto that.
―Carl to Rick, expressing his loyalty to Lydia.[src]
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Carl Grimes is a main character first encountered in Issue 2 of Image Comics' The Walking Dead and is the Deuteragonist of the series. He is the son of Rick and Lori Grimes and the brother or half-brother of Judith Grimes. He joined Shane, along with his mother, to travel to Atlanta, Georgia, for the refugee camp, and is one of the last original Atlanta survivors. As time goes on, he slowly becomes hardened, due to the severe loss of life of both friends and family around him. He has also had to adapt to the new world which his father was reluctant for him to do, but has done so with as much brutality and animosity as Rick.
Characteristics and Role
Carl is an adolescent male Caucasian with black hair and brown eyes. He shares the same hair color with his mother; as the series progresses, he matures physically and grows out his hair. Carl loses his eye after being accidentally shot by Douglas Monroe. He used bandages for quite a while, then moving on with a half-covered dark sunglasses. Beginning in Issue 138, Carl slicks his hair back.
Personality wise, Carl is described as vindictive, blunt, and habituated. At the beginning of the series, Carl was a normal 7-year-old kid, playing with dirt and things alike. He seems to have a better notion of what's going on with the world, as he wanted to learn how to use a gun, much to his mother's displeasure. Carl matured pretty quickly when he saw Shane trying to murder his father, right before shooting Shane in the neck. He would remember this occasion several times in the future, but, still thinks Shane was a "bad man".
After losing his mother and little sister at the prison, Carl matures greatly, taking care of an unconscious Rick and fending off zombies all by himself. He turns into a battle-hardened child soldier, fully aware of the dangers of the new world. In Alexandria, he believes the residents are inept and stupid, as they are pretending everything's normal and there is nothing to worry about. After being shot and losing much of his recent memory, Carl regains some of his old-self, but, still retains a colder personality due to the apocalypse. Two years after the end of the war with the Saviors, Carl is shown to be much more emotionally stable and open to the people he cares about, shown by how he is more open with his father and Andrea. However, he is still cold and seems to have developed an explosive temper, shown by how he assaulted and nearly killed two boys who were hurting Sophia.
Carl's biggest weakness however, is his carelessness for what he does. For example, after he chases down Lydia and is captured by the Whisperers, this prompts Alpha to infiltrate Alexandria and kill 12 community members, including Ezekiel and Rosita, Carl being completely unaware of what consequences his actions would provoke. Following this, he becomes riddled with guilt, due to the pain that he has caused the communities, and does his best to help out with the effort to fight the Whisperers.
Pre-Apocalypse
Cynthiana, Kentucky
Not much is known about Carl's life before or as the outbreak began except that he lived with his parents, Rick and Lori Grimes and presumably attended primary school. Shortly before the plague hit, Carl's father, who was a police officer, was shot in the line of duty and fell into a coma.
Post-Apocalypse
Days Gone Bye
Carl's father was still in coma when the plague hit, so Rick's best friend and fellow officer, Shane, took him and his mother to Atlanta seeking for safety, as that was what Rick would've wanted. The city was already overrun by the time they arrived, but, luckily they managed to find a camp of survivors in its outskirts. Several weeks later and the camp's supply runner, Glenn, rescued a man in the city who turned out to be his father, who woke up from the coma and traveled to Atlanta to find them. He is beyond relieved to see his father alive again.
He learns how to use a gun, along with the rest of the group (much to his mother's displeasure), and even kills his first zombie during the night of the camp attack. Later, he witnesses Shane trying to kill his father, and shoots him in the neck, saving Rick.
Miles Behind Us
When the survivors begin to relocate to another spot, Carl is accidentally shot by Otis and brought to the Greene family farm, where he is treated by Hershel Greene. They remain on the farm for some time, until they are forced to leave by Hershel, after an argument with Carl's father. This forces them to hit the road once again, until Dale and Andrea stumble upon the prison while searching for supplies.
Safety Behind Bars
After the discovery of the prison, Carl is babysat by Chris and Julie, much to Carl's dismay. Sophia asks Carl to be her boyfriend, but Carl refuses.
The Heart's Desire
Carl is seen enjoying life at the prison. After Rick and Tyreese's fight, it is revealed that Carl was not worried of his father's condition, saying that "My dad's real tough. I wasn't worried at all."
The Best Defense
At the prison, Lori tells Carl that he'll have his own cell when Rick gets back. Carl is happy about it, and asks if Lori is worried about him. Lori says that she isn't, but, Carl states that he notices she's always upset when he leaves, but, says there's nothing to worry about. Lori agrees, but, she is still nervous when she tries to go to sleep. Due to Lori and Carol's strained relationship, Lori restricts Carl from playing with Sophia.
This Sorrowful Life
After his father returns from trying to locate a downed chopper, and his father’s experiences at Woodbury, Carl is forced to get used to his father without the use of his right hand. When his father Rick chases after Woodbury's Caesar Ramon Martinez, who plans to alert Woodbury where the prison is, Carl asks Tyreese whether his father loves him, because he is always leaving him, and Tyreese assures him that he does love him, and that his going out there all the time means he's trying to protect him, along with everyone else.
The Calm Before
Carl is pleased with the birth of his sister, Judith, and likes her name. Carl calls Judith 'cute' and 'lucky' to be born into this family. Lori tells Rick of how she is pleased with Carl's growing independence in this new world. After Carol's suicide, Carl tries to comfort Sophia to no avail.
Made to Suffer
When Woodbury attacks the prison, Carl is one of the few to be there, until the prison falls to The Governor and his men, and barely escapes with his father. Lori and Judith are killed before they leave the prison. Carl looks back to see what happened, but Rick makes him keep running. Once they reach relative safety from the violence taking place at the prison, Carl and his father then begin to mourn the death of Lori, Judith, and the others lost in the assault.
Here We Remain
While wandering the area, and after an attack by two zombies, Carl and Rick take refuge in an abandoned house, and after a brief encounter with another three zombies, Carl is led under the impression that he can defend himself from now on, and even blames his father for his mother's and sister's deaths. However, afterwards he realizes he needs his dad still and is scared without him. When on the move again, heading back to Hershel's farm, Carl is rescued by Michonne who also survived the prison attack and informs the duo that she was tracking someone from the prison. After traveling further and then reuniting with Maggie and Glenn, Carl is reunited with Sophia and the surviving members of the prison battle that left prior to the Governor's second attack. One morning Carl is woken by a shot and, seeing the new arrivals Abraham Ford, Rosita Espinosa, and Eugene Porter, who bring hope that society has not crumbled, Carl and the remaining survivors accompany the arrivals and proceed to take the long journey to Washington, DC.
What We Become
Along the journey, Rick decides to take a detour to his hometown in Kentucky, and brings Carl and Abraham along. It is during this trip that a band of road bandits attack and attempt to rape Carl. However, Rick manages to break free by biting one of the bandits, and with the help of Abraham frees Carl. Later on Carl, Rick, and Abraham discuss similar situations that they were involved in, where they committed acts of in-human violence in order to protect, which prompts Carl to talk about shooting Shane in order to save his father's life. After visiting their hometown, and reuniting with Morgan Jones and his zombified son Duane Jones, the four head to the police station in order to retrieve supplies. During this time Morgan constantly stares at Carl, remembering how Duane used to look, which freaks Carl out. On the return trip to the interstate junction, the four encounter a zombie herd numbered in the thousands. Initially Rick tries to drive the car into the herd in order to escape; however, when the car gets jammed over the mass of bodies, the survivors flee on foot in hopes of escaping. With Carl firing behind them, Abraham quickly grabs him and carries him on his back. After a failed attempt at distracting the herd, they return to the main group and flee by truck out of the area.
Fear The Hunters
Carl shows remorse after killing Ben, and cries quite regularly at night about it. His father talks to him about killing the cannibalistic hunters (though he believes he is talking to Abraham) and Carl tearfully admits to killing Ben.
Life Among Them
Since Ben's murder, Carl has been very reluctant to talk about what he's done to his father. Eventually, Rick does confront his son as to why he killed Ben. To which Carl tearfully replies that he did it for the same reason Rick killed several people in the past, because it needed to be done and because none of the others would. Upon hearing his answer, Rick explains to him why he did a lot of bad things in his past, and tries to remind him that even good people do bad things.
Rick urges Carl to never lose sight of that and if killing becomes too easy, that's when good people become bad ones. Carl then cries and cries, saying that killing Ben still haunts him. He cries night after night and how he missed Ben. He feels tremendous guilt, but, strongly believed he had to do it because Ben was dangerous. Carl also admits he planned on keeping it a secret from his father, but, after hearing him talk at the bonfire, he just couldn't. He then assures his father that he does love him, even after all the bad things he's done to keep the group alive. He loves his father because he's done so much for them. Both cry in each other's arms, with Rick apologizing to his son.
Too Far Gone
Carl, along with his father and the rest of their group, successfully travels and makes it to the Alexandria Safe-Zone. While Carl is at first shown to be very happy to find others and have real food, he's shown to be having problems adjusting to the community. In the beginning he and a boy named Mikey have a fight over his gun. When he refuses to let Mikey see his gun, Mikey pushes him down, to which Carl returns the gesture. Rick makes him understand that it is not good to fight with the other kids, to which Carl tries to apologize. But Mikey refuses and pushes his hand away, leaving Carl hurt. Later on at night Carl believes he won't make many friends with the kids that live in the safe-zone.
During a small daytime-Halloween meant for the kids, Carl does not want to trick-or-treat. He tells Rick that he hates being in the safe-zone because it all feels pretend. And while Rick tries to let his son know he can enjoy himself and be a kid, Carl shows worry about leaving. He goes on to say that he doesn't want to let down his guard and that he is afraid of being weak and dying.
No Way Out
After zombies invade the community, Douglas Monroe, the leader of the community, begins shooting haphazardly at the zombies. Meanwhile, Rick, Carl, Jessie, Ron, Michonne and Dr. Denise Cloyd are leaving the house which they had previously took shelter in, covered in the guts of a walker. While walking out, Ron and Jessie get bit. Jessie is holding onto Carl's hand, and won't let go, leaving Rick no choice but to severe the hand. As they turn around and flee, Douglas he is overtaken by a group of walkers, he fires his gun and accidentally shoots Carl in the head, destroying his right eye and taking out a chunk of his face. Rick takes him to Dr. Denise Cloyd and asks her to save his life.
We Find Ourselves
Later, Denise is able to patch Carl up, but he does not immediately wake up. Rick comes to talk to him about the manageable threat of zombies, and asks him to wake up. Days later, Carl is still in a coma. Suddenly, he starts to cough, but it is unknown if he is waking up or reanimating.
Denise informs Rick that the cough didn't necessarily mean anything, and that Carl isn't out of the woods yet. She says when he wakes up, it is ultimately unknown what condition he will be in. In the following issue, he finally wakes up and immediately asks, "Where's Mom?". Rick then begins to stress over explaining to Carl again what ordeals have taken place. After explaining the death of his mother and sister, Carl shows little sadness and this continues to worry Rick. Denise explains that it is okay to take Carl home after a couple of days of recovery, and the two begin to settle in once more. It is unknown exactly how badly his memory has been affected.
A Larger World
Carl, along with, Rick, Michonne, Glenn, and Andrea, are brought to the Hilltop Colony by Paul Monroe. There, they are shown around and introduced to Gregory, the leader. Another resident of the colony, Ethan, returns from a failed mission where all of his companions were killed except for himself and a woman named Crystal. Ethan then tells Gregory he has a message for him from a man called Negan and stabs him. Rick tackles Ethan to the ground and in the struggle cuts his throat, while the rest of the residents stare at him, shocked. Later while Paul tells the group about the Saviors, headed by Negan, it is Carl who initially suggests that Alexandria can fight off and/or kill the Saviors in exchange for supplies. This line of action is eventually approved by both Paul and Gregory.
Something To Fear
As Carl returns to the safe-zone from the Hilltop with his father, Andrea, Glenn and Michonne, they are ambushed by a small group of Saviors. Carl watches as Andrea and Michonne slaughter the Saviors, leaving only one lone survivor. After Rick sends the Savior to deliver a message to Negan, Carl tells his father that he agrees with the fact that the Saviors deserved what they got and that he is remembering more of the past everyday. The next morning, Carl walks in on his father and Andrea in bed together. Rick tries to explain to Carl the awkwardness of the situation to which Carl claims he already knows about sex. The conversation is cut short by the sound of gun shots. Rick tells Carl to stay inside the house as he goes to battle the Saviors, who are responsible for the shots. Carl later attends Abraham's funeral after his untimely death at the hands of the Dwight, one of the Saviors. Rick later decides to get help from the Hilltop and assembles a group consisting of Glenn, Maggie, Sophia, Michonne, Heath, and Carl himself to travel to the Hilltop.
The group follows the same route that Paul showed them to the Hilltop; however, they are unable to make it there in one night and they decide to stop for the night. During the night, Negan and the Saviors show up and ambush the group. Negan demands half of everything the safe-zone owns, and has to punish them for killing so many Saviors. Carl watches with the rest of the group as Negan smashes Glenn's head to bits using his baseball bat that he calls 'Lucille'. Negan tells them that the Saviors will be back for their first offering in one week and leaves the survivors with Glenn's body. Maggie then punches Rick repeatedly, calling him a coward for not having done anything, and Carl pulls out his gun on Maggie and claims he will put it away if Maggie stops hitting his father. However, Sophia attacks Carl for pulling out a gun on Maggie. The group then wraps Glenn's corpse in a blanket and they continue on to the Hilltop.
What Comes After
After saying an almost tearful goodbye to Sophia, Carl returns with Rick and the others to Alexandria. After hearing what happened when the Saviors attacked, Carl agrees with Andrea that they should fight back to show Negan and the Saviors that they "aren't to be fucked with." He is visibly angry with Rick's decision to let Dwight, who was taken hostage, go back to Negan and the other Saviors. When Negan and the Saviors come to collect supplies from the safe zone, Carl threatens Negan, saying he'll soon realize how dangerous they all are. As Negan and his Saviors leave, Carl hides under some mattresses in one of their trucks, ambushing the Saviors as they open the door and killing several, before being brutally beaten by Dwight, and then taken hostage by Negan.
However, while Negan is usually cold and dispassionate, the harsh demeanor of Carl leaves an impression on him, as Negan, while claiming he's still going to punish Carl, starts to mentor him into the ways of the Saviors, acting curious and concerned about his past and bluntly claiming that, in his eyes, Carl is going to become a serial killer.
Negan states that he has done something to Carl at the end of Issue 106. Later it is revealed that Negan actually did nothing to Carl to show Rick that he can be reasonable. He later returns to Alexandria.
Carl is then seen outside the Alexandria Safe-Zone fighting zombies with Michonne. After successfully killing a few zombies he is attacked by one that was in his "blind spot". He shoots it, but, not in the right spot and Michonne kills it with her katana. Michonne then helps Carl inside the gates, but he complains that he dropped his hat. He then says he is useless with his eye, but, Michonne says he is not useless and cheers him up.
Later he overhears Rick telling Andrea about The Kingdom and his plan to attack Negan and the Saviors. He tells his father that he can't be kept away from such a plan, which his father replies that he was about to go tell Carl about it. He then lowers his head and smiles, happy to know that he will help talking down the Saviors.
Rick takes Carl, along with a small group, to The Kingdom. While at The Kingdom he is very impressed, stating that it is cool. Later when discussing whether or not they should trust Ezekiel he states that if Jesus trusts him, he trusts him.
March To War
Carl is seen behind the walls of the safe-zone. After Negan punches Rick in the face, Carl responds by shooting at him. However, he misses Negan and instead hits Lucille, which angers Negan greatly. Negan then demands that they throw Carl over the wall or he will kill Rick, Holly, Nicholas, and Heath.
All Out War - Part One
Carl is seen talking to Rick. Rick states that Carl did good, but, Carl feels he failed because he shot, missed, and then hid behind the wall. Rick then says that he did the right thing. They then argue on whether or not he should be included in the assault at The Sanctuary. Carl then agrees that he should stay, but, tells his father to make sure to kill Negan. After Rick's speech to the community, Carl questions why Andrea is staying behind. She then says that Carl is in charge of the community while Rick is gone and he gets a little embarrassed.
When a small group returns to Alexandria he immediately asks about his father's whereabouts, Michonne calms him down saying everything is going with the plan. After his father arrives, Carl (most likely in jest) says he's late, to which he replies that this is war and not always he'll be able to follow schedules. He is part of the meeting with Rick and a few more survivors regarding the success of the initial attack, Rick then says the safe-zone needs to be prepared, as that will most definitely be the first place to be attacked. Just as he finishes, a bomb explodes outside, breaking the windows.
They all go outside, with Rick climbing the wall to see what happened, finding Negan with a large group of soldiers outside, holding Holly hostage. Much to everyone's surprise, Negan releases Holly as a peace offer, she enters the safe-zone with a bag over her head, guided by Rick's voice.
Denise takes her in, pulling the bag from her head, revealing that Holly is now a roamer. The zombified Holly lunges at Denise, biting her arm. As everyone is distracted Negan yells, "ATTACK!"
The Saviors then proceed to throw grenades over the safe-zone walls, blowing up and burning several houses. Rick, Andrea and Carl run together trying to escape the chaos but a grenade explodes just a few feet away from them, knocking them down. Carl passes out for an instant, and is taken to the infirmary by Rick. Later it is show that Carl was just knocked out, but states that he's alright. He leaves the safe-zone with his father shortly after along with everyone else.
All Out War - Part Two
During the assault on the Hilltop Colony, Carl assists Andrea and the others inside the house to shoot Saviors. Later he rescues Rick and Nicholas outside, and is present when Dr. Carson warns the group everyone injured by the Savior's weapons will most likely die no matter how minor their injury is. Later on after Nicholas dies, Carl comforts Mikey by saying that he should cherish the memories he has of his father. When Rick confronts Negan outside of the Hilltop, Carl tries to get to Rick but is held back by Maggie.
When Negan is taken inside the Hilltop, Carl agrees with Andrea about wanting to kill Negan for murdering Glenn and all of his other crimes. Rick disagrees, saying that's not who they are anymore. Feeling betrayed, Carl decides to take matters into his own hands and sneaks into Negan's room to kill him. As he is about to pull the trigger, he's caught by Rick, Andrea and Michonne. He tells Rick that he's wrong about keeping Negan alive; "I have to do this." Rick tells Carl that killing Negan would make them worse than him since "he let us both live when he had the chance to kill us." Carl asks if that means Negan will get away with killing numerous people; Rick insists that Negan will be punished but will be done so in a civilized way.
A New Beginning
Two years after the events of "All Out War", Rick married Andrea and Carl starts calling her "mom". Carl is first seen trying to convince his father to have a "talk", later revealed to be a permission to move to Hilltop and be Earl Sutton's Blacksmith apprentice. After some convincing, Rick agrees to "think about it". Later that night, Carl goes to the basement of an unknown house and talks to a figure in the shadows. Saying how he, Mikey and some other boys went to a girl's house after class, and that she showed them her breasts. He says it was cool and all but he kind of had a crush on her, but after this he's not sure. Remarking how he doesn't have someone who does that sort of thing. The figure says that it's nothing wrong and the girl probably just wants some attention. He then says to Carl that he enjoys the talks, that it's good for him to keep track of time and days. Carl says he's leaving, before he leaves, the figure asks him if, after all this time, all the things they've shared and the talks they've had, Carl still wants to kill him. He turns around and faces the person behind bars, simply saying: "Yes, Negan. You know I do."
Negan is shocked to know that after all the time they've spent together and all the things they've shared with each other, that Carl still wants him dead. In response, Carl simply says he's sorry and leaves, leaving a quite disheartened Negan behind. In the following day he is seen taking Josh to his room, hoping to sell some carved items in exchange for a hooded sweatshirt. Later he is seen sitting in the porch waiting for Rick to get home. He complains how he did nothing the whole day, reaffirming his wishes of taking part in a trade. Before he can go on, Rick states he must save his strength for the following day, as they'll be traveling to Hilltop so Carl can start his blacksmith apprenticing under Earl Sutton, which Carl is immensely grateful for.
The following day, he packs up his belongings for the journey, musing how he can fit everything he's got in only two duffle bags. Before he leaves, he goes to visit Josh, delivering him the unicorn from the other day and saying goodbye. Before he leaves, Anna gives him a letter, asking him to read it after he arrives.
During the trip, his father continuously tries to make him open the letter, joking that it is a love letter. While stopping for lunch, they are ambushed by a group of roamers. Carl stays back at Rick's request, who proceeds to dispatch them with his hatchet, but fails to do so, prompting Carl to shoot the rest. The guard who's supposed to keep that road clear shows up, and is aggressively lectured by Rick. After the matter is settled, the pair continue with their journey.
The pair arrives at the Hilltop, where Carl enthusiastically greets Earl Sutton, delivering a carved boar figure, which Earl remarks "looks more like a pig". He is visibly disappointed when he learns that another boy is already apprenticing with Earl, and that he won't be the only one.
Whispers Into Screams
While spending time together, Carl and Sophia are attacked by two boys in retaliation for Sophia protecting Brian earlier on. Carl seemingly runs away, but then returns with a shovel and attacks the boys, beating them almost to death. After having his injuries from the brief fight bandaged, he defends himself from the boys' parents, affirming that his actions were necessary, but to no avail as the parents demand a punishment. To avoid further trouble, Maggie places Carl in a cell next to a prisoner.
Lydia, the prisoner, asks Carl why he has been put in the holding cells. Carl tells her about his fight with the Hilltop bullies and she is surprised that he would be punished for protecting the leader's daughter. Carl goes on to tell her about their community's philosophy regarding killing and their desire to return to civilization, leaving her relieved to know that she won't be executed. Lydia explains that she was on her first "outing" when her group encountered Jesus' group. Her people had encountered dangerous people before and made a preemptive strike. Soon after, Carl is released from the holding cells and convinces Maggie to untie Lydia. Later, he visits Lydia and finds her crying in her cell. She confesses that she's scared and feels alone. She misses the dead, saying that having them around made her feel safe. To make her feel better, Carl gives her his cowboy hat, telling her that it had made him feel safe and secure through everything he had been through.
She then says that the hat isn't exactly helping her to feel better, and in fact, it's Carl himself who is making her feel better, and that she enjoys talking to him. She is then interrogated by Maggie and Paul afterwards, but refuses to say anything. Later, Carl vouches for her and she is released and left under hid watch. During the tour, they sit alone in a hill overlooking the town, where she tells him that it's cold, and they cuddle.
After a while, she asks to see his eye, and after some resistance, he agrees to let her take off his glasses. Much to his surprise, she tells him that "it is sexy" and suddenly climbs on top of him, asking if he ever had sex. Speechless, he doesn't know how to react and she just asks him if she can show him, to which he replies "Okay" as they both hold hands on top of Carl's hat.
After they're done, Lydia remarks on how nice it was, comparing it to her past experiences. Carl is somewhat alarmed to know that on certain occasions she was forced to do it, saying that what her people forced her to do is wrong, whether they see it as a rape or not. She tells him she doesn't want to go back.
After Alpha, Lydia's mother, and the rest of The Whisperers arrive, Carl argues with Maggie on whether or not to return Lydia to her people, but is shut down, being forced to let Lydia go, but not before kissing her.
After she leaves, he has another brief argument with Maggie, but is instantly rebuked and told to leave. Later, Sophia checks up on him, only to find his room empty: He has left Hilltop to go after Lydia.
Life and Death
When he stops to rest in the woods, Alpha approaches him, asking why he followed them. Carl responds he wanted to make sure Lydia is safe, and makes it clear that it was his decision to do so, and the Hilltop has nothing to do with it. After a brief conversation, he is allowed to travel with them to their camp.
Carl, Lydia and the Whisperers continue their journey. He is told that they don't have a fixed location, instead they "live off the land" the way they were meant to, without shelter, instead huddling together for warmth. They finally arrive at the camp.
Some time later, Carl aggressively confronts Alpha, who reminds him that he's still their captive, and the only reason he's there is because she must learn more about his people. Alpha then leaves the camp.
Hours pass until she returns, now with Rick. The two reunite, and Carl apologizes for scaring him. The two talk, with Rick telling him that he must leave, as the Whisperers are dangerous. Carl refuses to go without Lydia. When Rick tries to take him by force, he pushes his father's hand away, telling him that ever since his eye was taken and he was disfigured, no one would look at him without flinching, even him and Andrea. He tells him that that Lydia is the only person who accepts him the way he is, and she is the only one who looks at him like he is normal.
He reaffirms that she is special to him and that they care about each other. He states that he has finally found something good in this world and that he wants to hold on to it. Rick, defeated, sighs and says that he understands. Rick is then taken by Alpha to talk.
Later, Lydia tells Carl that he should leave, as Alpha is not friendly with outsiders. When Rick and Alpha returns, he announces that they're leaving. Carl refuses to leave without Lydia, shouting that the Whisperers rape Lydia and her mother acts like it's normal, much to Rick's horror. Lydia finally admits that it is true and that she hates it.
Alpha strikes her, calling her too weak to live among them. She banishes Lydia from The Whisperers, disowning her. Alpha announces that she marked their border, and that if Rick's people cross the border into her territory, her herd will cross onto theirs. Secretly, she tells Rick that she has no condition of giving Lydia the life she needs, but he has. Rick, Carl and Lydia leave the camp unharmed.They meet up with Andrea, Michonne and Dante, and arrive at the "border": a series of decapitated heads on spikes, survivors from the all communities, slaughtered. One of the severed heads is Josh, at the sight of seeing Josh's head Carl starts too cry.
No Turning Back
The group is in shock seeing the severed heads. Carl, Andrea and Lydia start putting down the decapitated heads. Suddenly, Michonne tackles Lydia to the ground and demands to know if she knew Alpha would do this, and whether the Whisperers have done this before.
Carl pulls his gun and Dante tells Michonne not to do this. Michonne realizes she is being unreasonable and gets off, helping Lydia up. Lydia tells the group she thinks Alpha is scared of them. Michonne tells Carl to holster his gun and he does. asks what happened to their bodies and Lydia tells them they were probably skinned. Down the line, Lydia sees Carl crying as he has found Josh's head. He explains that he was a good friend and it's been a while since he lost one of those. Lydia hugs him and apologises.
After Rick and Andrea inform the communities of the recent massacre the members get angry at Lydia and want to go to war with the whisperers. Rick says that Lydia is not safe here while everyone is angry about the recent events. Andrea agrees to escort Carl and Lydia to the Hilltop until the hostility blows over and they can form a more concrete plan.
Sometime in the night, Andrea wakes Carl and has him get prepared for the trip to the Hilltop, explaining the situation and that Lydia is downstairs and ready. Carl asks his father if they'll be safe at the Hilltop seeing as Alpha killed some of their residents, but Rick assures him that he will have a word with Maggie about the matter. Andrea, Carl and Lydia begin their trek in the night.
Well on their way to the Hilltop, Andrea, Carl and Lydia meet Gus, a patrolman. He asks if things are alright, and Andrea pleasantly asks him to not let anyone know that he'd seen her. He obliges. Lydia start questioning Andrea for asking Gus to lie for her. Out of her growing suspicion, she starts asking why anyone wants to hurt her. Andrea and Carl try to get her to realize that people will want to blow off steam in any way that they can without thinking clearly.
Lydia, still refusing to believe this starts become irritable, explaining that her mother doesn't care about her, and the plans Eugene's made wouldn't work. Andrea tries to deny this and respond that her mother does care about her, and Carl even tell her that Andrea can be trusted. Lydia finally speaks her mind, asking if they had Gus lie because she was being taken back to her mother. Pulling a gun on Andrea, she demands that they tell her the truth. Lydia keeps pointing her gun at Andrea. Carl points his gun at Andrea as well, and then he quickly aims to Lydia, and tells her she will not hurt his mother.
All three lower their weaponry and sort the conflict out. Carl, Andrea and Lydia arrive to the Hilltop, and are greeted by Eduardo. Andrea quickly informs him that no one can know Lydia is in the Hilltop. Lydia apologizes to Carl for pulling a gun on Andrea, and Carl apologizes to her as well. The two hug and Lydia states that Carl is the best, which Carl responds that he is being good to everyone only because of his father.
Soon the group arrives at the Hilltop and gets settled in. Carl and Lydia share a room, and later have sex again, something that is witnessed by Andrea.
Call To Arms
Maggie tells Andrea it is now safe for Carl and Lydia to return to Alexandria, but Andrea notes that Carl will likely want to stay at the Hilltop.
While Carl is working, he is informed by Earl, who had just arrived from Alexandria, that it is now safe for Lydia to return to Alexandria. As he is going to inform Lydia, Carl is stopped by Maggie, who tells him that Rick wants his return home, but Carl tells her that he intends to stay at the Hilltop. Later, Carl awakes to find Lydia watching him, and she tells him she wouldn't be there without him.
The Whisperer War
Carl is seen talking with Michonne. He tells her he wants to go to Alexandria to help with the war, but Michonne says that he needs to stay at the Hilltop and defend it if necessary. Carl and Lydia are keeping watch, but Lydia insists if the Whisperers come in full force, it won't matter if they see them coming. She tells him that he should be scared, and tells him how the Whisperers function. Lydia then tells Carl that she doesn't love him. He says that she's lying, but she denies it and tells him furthermore that they can still spend time together, but what they have isn't love.
Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Carl has killed:
- Shane (Alive)
- Ben
- Oscar (Zombified)
- Josh (Zombified)
- Olivia (Zombified, along with his fellow survivors)
- Carson (Zombified, along with his fellow survivors)
- Ken (Zombified, along with his fellow survivors)
- Luke (Zombified, along with his fellow survivors)
- Tammy Rose (Zombified, along with his fellow survivors)
- At least 8 unnamed Saviors
- Numerous counts of zombies
Relationships
Rick Grimes
Rick and Carl have both seen their bad and good moments. Carl has noted he needs his father, when Rick isn't available. After the assault on the Prison, Carl told him (while he was in coma) how bad he is at protecting their friends, saying that he's the biggest reason why most of their original group members are dead. This aside, Rick continues to do everything he can to keep Carl safe. However, all the experiences that Carl has been through have hardened him to the point where he doubts his father's leadership to the point where Carl decides to take matters into his own hands and sneaks into the Saviors' hideout with Abraham Ford's rifle to kill as many Saviors as possible. When Carl is brought in on Rick's plan, he shows his support and wants to be by his father's side whenever possible. Since the capture of Negan, Carl has felt more safe and, in turn, has allowed himself to open up more to his father and other people about his feelings. Lori Grimes
Carl mostly stayed by his mother's side. The two shared a close bond, as he often looked to her for reassurance about the world they were living in (but more specifically, about Rick) and also gave her reassurance as well. Though, he gets quite frustrated whenever she set limitations for what he could and could not do. He is still shown to love her nonetheless and is distraught when he finds out about her death at the Prison. Carl asks about Lori when he wakes up from having been shot in the head, and isn't as traumatized as he was when Rick reminded him of her death. Judith Grimes
Carl liked his new sister, and was a bit jealous of her, because she would never know anything about life before zombie-apocalypse. Carl has said many times he misses his mother and sister. After being shot, Carl lost all memories of his little sister, though still noted that "it's sad that she's dead". Sophia
Despite being initially revolted with Sophia (after she planted a kiss right on his cheek), he eventually agreed to be Sophia's boyfriend. Being his childhood 'girlfriend', these two seem to like each other. Carl was shown to be a little uneasy when Sophia claimed Maggie was her real mother, but she later tells Carl that it makes her feel better. Nevertheless, their bond has grown stronger over the issues as seen when Carl comforts Sophia after Glenn's death and was almost on the verge of tears when hugging her goodbye as Sophia and Maggie decided to stay in Hilltop. When they are reunited at the Hilltop, Sophia shuns Carl for being mean to her thus ending their "relationship". Years after the event, they have since mended their relationship and seem to be good friends again. Sophia seems specially happy when she learns that he'll be moving to Hilltop. Carl went to great lengths to protect her, beating two boys almost to death just to defend her, and is visibly worried about her state after being attacked. He vehemently defends what he did in order to protect her. AndreaAndrea would often babysit Carl and they are shown to be friendly. Carl seems happy about Rick and Andrea's relationship, even asking Andrea to move in with them. Even though he is initially confused when he sees her in bed with Rick (as he thought Andrea was in a relationship with Spencer), he is later shown to be happy with Andrea living with them. After over two years having Andrea be with his father, Carl starts to call Andrea "mom", showing that they have a strong and positive relationship, and he sees her as his mother. Andrea, in return, refers to Carl as her son, and has taken the role of his surrogate mother. Shane
Carl had always been wary of Shane. Despite the man being generally nice to him, he was very uncomfortable watching his interactions with Lori. In Issue 6, Carl killed Shane by shooting him in the neck in protection of his father. Later on, in Issue 17, Lori explained to Carl that Thomas was a "bad man", Carl responded "Bad man like Shane?" signifying that Carl saw Shane as a horrible person for trying to murder Rick. Glenn
Carl and Glenn did not have much interaction, but Carl was angered by Glenn's murder. During a conversation with his father, Carl asked Rick to kill Negan, because he was "pissed off about Glenn". When Carl sneaked into Negan's base to try to kill him, he referred to Glenn as his "friend". Tyreese
Michonne
Michonne and Carl have established a caring relationship. After the bloodbath of the Prison assault, Carl often seeks protection from Michonne. He also seems to care greatly for her, as evidenced by his overjoyed hug when he first saw her after The Prison and his refusal to leave her to deal with roamers alone outside of Alexandria. When Carl calls himself useless, because of his eye, Michonne quickly reassures him that he is not. Two years after All Out War, the two continue to have a good relationship. Michonne is shown to respect Carl more, telling him that he needs to stay at the Hilltop not for his own protection, but to protect the community. Morgan Jones
Morgan was happy when he finally met Rick's son. At first, Carl was very concerned about him, but started to warm up to him later. Morgan was the only one who knew that Carl had killed Ben. Before Morgan's death, Morgan finally revealed this to him and told him more about what he thought of him, noting how brave he is. Josh
Though having very little time together onscreen, Carl and Josh seemed to share a stable friendship. Carl was shocked and saddened upon finding out about Josh's death, saying he hasn't lost a friend in a long time. Negan
Carl bitterly hates Negan, and this is provoked by him killing Glenn, and reaches a point where Carl risks his life to get revenge, when he sneaks into Negan's truck in order to kill him.[2] It appears though, that Negan likes and admires Carl because of how hardened he is. It is shown that he may even have some higher opinion of the child, such as respect, as he is shown to be sincerely concerned and apologetic after making fun of his exposed gunshot injury. Carl returns Negan's admiration for him by accompanying him throughout the Savior's base without even trying to run or take action, also questioning the leader out of his wives, which one was actually his. Negan may very well be catering Carl to become a protege of some sort, as he is shown to be more impressed by the boy rather than angered by his violence against his men. However, since Carl shot Lucille, Negan now wants to kill him, even menacing The Alexandria's citizens to kill Rick, Nicholas, Holly, and Heath in front of them if Carl weren't sent to him. However, once Negan was imprisoned by Rick's group, he began to have friendly conversations with Carl, becoming a mentor and friend to him. Despite this new friendship, Carl expressed that he still wanted to kill Negan. Paul Monroe
Despite not being seen interacting much, they are in good terms, as showed by the fact that Carl was the first to fully trust Jesus when being held as prisoner at the Safe-Zone, and that Jesus fully trusted Rick's group because of Carl. He also has a high trust in Jesus's judgement, stating that he trusts Ezekiel as long as does, too. Mikey
Upon meeting each other, Carl mentioned to Mikey he had a gun. Mikey wanted to see it, but Carl told him no, which caused Mikey to shove Carl. Carl shoved back, knocking Mikey onto the ground. He refused Carl's apology and went to go tell his dad about what happened. The two were not seen to interact much following this until the final stages of the war against The Saviors, when Carl comforts Mikey about his father Nicholas' death, showing that they have since stabilized their relationship. In the two-year timeskip their relationship improved vastly. Carl mentioned that him and Mikey, along with a few other boys were invited to a girl's house after class where she showed them her breasts. Anna
Anna and Carl have a positive relationship, it is mentioned by Carl that he liked her and she even went as far as showing him her breasts (and for some other boys). Later, she writes him a letter and asks him to read it after he arrives at Hilltop. Rick jokingly says it's probably a love letter. After reading the letter, Rick's guess proves to be right, revealing that Anna indeed has feelings for Carl. Lydia
Lydia and Carl first met in the Hilltop's jail, bonding with each other during their stay. Eventually, Carl vouches for her and she is released, left under his watch. During the tour, Lydia privately asks him to see his (missing) eye, after some reluctance, she is allowed to take off his sunglasses. Much to his surprise, she says it's sexy, and suddenly climbs on top of him, asking whether or not he ever had sex. Not receiving an answer, she simply asks him if she can show him, to which he replies "yes", and they make love. Carl later shows that he truly does care for Lydia as he followed her when she left the Hilltop with The Whisperers, and refused to leave several times unless she were to come with him Maggie Greene
Earl SuttonCarl seems to respect Earl. Carl moves to the Hilltop just to work as a Earls apprentice as a blacksmith. When Carl gets up there he notices that a new member named Rolland is Earl's apprentices instead and gets jealous. Carl then tells Earl he came up there to be his apprentice, and Earl then tells Carl, "Carl? Who told you I could only have one apprentice?" Which Carl then fella a little embarrassed, Earl then ask Carl if he can start tommorow which Carl replies "Absolutely!" |
Appearances
Trivia
- Creator Robert Kirkman's father is named Carl.[3]
- Carl was the first person to kill a living person (Shane) in the Comic Series.
- Carl is one of only four surviving members of the original Atlanta group, the others being Sophia, Andrea, and Rick.
- Every member of the Grimes family (excluding Judith & Jeffrey) have been shot at some point in time.
- Rick got shot prior to the apocalypse by an unnamed criminal, causing him to fall into a coma. He was later shot in the torso during the first attack on the prison by Woodbury and was pierced by an arrow in All Out War by Dwight.
- Carl was shot in the shoulder by Otis and later in the eye by Douglas Monroe. Both times being accidental.
- Lori was shot in the back through the heart by Lilly Caul.
- Carl, Andrea, and Brian Blake are the only people to survive a gunshot to the head in the comics.
- Carl is one of five characters to receive a permanent eye injury in The Walking Dead Universe, the others being his TV Series counterpart, Brian Blake (along with his TV Series counterpart,) and Kenny from the video game.
- Carl's birth month is April.[4]
- Carl lost his virginity to Lydia.[5]
- Both in the comics as in the TV series, Carl is the first minor to be shown driving a vehicle.
- Carl is the one with the second highest number of appearances in the Comic Series, the first being his father.
- A fan asked via Reddit which characters are the hardest and easiest to write, and Kirkman answered that Carl is "fun to write."
- There is some ambiguity regarding Carl's age after Robert Kirkman stated during the 2014 NYCC that Carl is "13 or so years old", which contradicts the timeline, in which he should be 11 by this point of the story.[6]
References
- ↑ NYCC 2014 - Robert Kirkman: "There's always been a limitation with Carl because he was so young. He's definitely not an adult now, but he's a few years older, he's 13 or so..."
- ↑ Issue 104 (November 14, 2012)
- ↑ Issue 54, page 26, "Letter Hacks"
- ↑ Issue 82, page 15
- ↑ Issue 137
- ↑ NYCC 2014: The Walking Dead