Morgan Jones (TV Universe)

This article is about the TV Series character. You may be looking for his Comic Series or Social Game counterparts.

Morgan Jones
Actor	Lennie James
Gender	Male
Hair	Black
Age	Early to mid 40s
Occupation	Unknown
Family	Jenny Jones - Former Wife (Deceased) Duane Jones - Son (Deceased)
Ethnicity	African-American
Status	Alive
First Appearance	"Days Gone Bye"

“

See because the good people, they always die. And the bad people do too. But the weaker people, the people like me, we have inherited the earth. ―Morgan to Rick Grimes

”

Morgan Jones is a main character and survivor of the outbreak in AMC's The Walking Dead. He is the husband of Jenny and father of Duane. While evacuating, Jenny was bitten and succumbed to the infection, causing Morgan and Duane to seek refuge in King County, Georgia, where the Grimes family lived. After the loss of his son (who was bitten by Jenny), Morgan was living a life in denial, hoping to redeem himself by killing the invasive walkers. At the end of "No Sanctuary", it is revealed that Morgan has partly redeemed himself and is on a journey to find Terminus before Rick Grimes' altered sign turns him away. After stumbling across a map leading to Washington, D.C., with a familiar name on it, he heads north until he crosses paths with Daryl Dixon and Aaron, recruiters for the Alexandria Safe-Zone, who bring him to the town where he is reunited with his long lost friend, Rick Grimes.

Overview

Personality

Morgan is a smart but damaged man. Before the dead started to rise, it was assumed that he was a family man and went out and provided for his wife and son. But the apocalypse took its toll and after his wife was turned into a zombie he was able to cope due to him still having his son, Duane, to look after. Morgan is like Rick Grimes in some ways as they are both survivors doing all they can to provide for their family and to keep them safe. However, unlike Rick, Morgan views every life as precious and even refused to kill two members of the Wolves who had attempted to kill him as he was camped out in the woods. After Rick left to find his family in Atlanta, Morgan began to get reckless, which eventually led to the death of his son. The next time Rick encountered Morgan, he was a changed man, who had become insane and intensively grief-stricken with the death of his family, so he claimed to redeem himself by killing all of the zombies in King County. Since then, however, he has found his sanity again and has regained part of his former self, once seeking out sanctuary at Terminus before a sign for the community redesigned to warn that Terminus is "no sanctuary" turned him away. Afterwards, he found a map to Washington, D.C, with Rick's name on it and he set out on a quest to find his old friend, which he eventually did after being brought to the Alexandria Safe-Zone with recruiters Daryl and Aaron, only to find Rick executing Pete Anderson.

Pre-Apocalypse

Not much is know about Morgan's life before the apocalypse, except that he had a wife and a son.

Post-Apocalypse

Season 1

"Days Gone Bye"

Fiercely protective, Morgan Jones barricaded himself and his son in a house in Rick's neighborhood. Though his wife, Jenny, died, he decided to let her go outside instead of putting her down. Despite the dire conditions, Morgan still endeavored to create normalcy for Duane, such as correcting his son's grammar and engaging in mealtime prayers. But both remained haunted by the loss of Jenny, who returns to the house regularly as a walker. Morgan and his son, Duane, first encounter Rick Grimes outside of his house in King County, Georgia. Duane knocks the unsuspecting survivor in the back of the head with a shovel, as he and his father assumed that he was another walker. When he hears Rick speak, Morgan realizes that he is not and brings Rick into their hideout.

Upon Rick's awakening, Morgan interrogates Rick upon the cause of his wounds before the two's friendship can thoroughly take place. On learning that Rick has been in a coma, Morgan brings him up to speed on the current events as best as he can, introducing the previously confused Rick to the reality of the epidemic upon the country. He also tells Rick that the government was gathering people in the major cities, giving Rick the idea to continue to Atlanta to try and find his family, Lori and Carl. Rick then thinks of traveling to the King County Sheriff's Department, for which Rick still has the keys, to gather supplies.

Morgan drives him over and Rick provides the pair with weapons and other supplies in exchange for their kindness and help. Morgan rejects Rick's offer to join him on his way to Atlanta, but tells Rick that he will join up with him in a few days, with the excuse that Duane can learn to shoot in the interim. Rick gives him a walkie-talkie and tells him to radio him in when he approaches Atlanta so they can meet up.

On returning to the house, Morgan tells Duane to read his comic books before heading upstairs. He goes through the photo albums Jenny brought with them, selects a picture of her, and sticks it to the window frame. He aims his rifle, and after shooting a couple of zombies to lure his wife out, he trains his gun on his undead wife; yet he cannot bring himself to kill her. He attempts several more times, yet each fails in kind. Morgan and Duane's whereabouts are unknown for the rest of the season.

Season 3

During the time Morgan is absent from the series, he and Duane live around King County the whole year. One day, while clearing a store, Duane is bitten by his own undead mother and Morgan is finally forced to shoot her. After Duane's death, Morgan starts to lose his sanity, believing he has the mission to clear all the walkers from town. He starts to set up traps and writes down names of people he knew that turned that were put down by his own traps.

"Clear"

When Rick, Carl, and Michonne go on a run into King County, Morgan holds them at gunpoint from a roof. They have a shootout, and, while trying to pursue Rick, Carl ultimately shoots Morgan in the chest. Rick pulls off Morgan's shirt, revealing that he was donning body armor. They drag his unconscious-self into his building, avoiding his traps, and lay him down on a bed. For safety measures, his hands are bound by Rick. While Rick is reading the strange writings on the wall, he discovers that Duane reanimated, and decides to stay and wait for Morgan to wake up. While Michonne and Carl go on a run, Rick waits for him to wake up, but Morgan grabs a knife that was taped to the side of the bed. He attacks Rick, claiming that he is not familiar with anyone anymore. He stabs Rick in the upper-left chest. Rick knocks the weapon away, pointing his gun at Morgan's head, and Morgan pleads Rick to kill him.

Morgan is tied up again and, after patching himself up, Rick finally manages to make him remember that the two know each other. Morgan says that he tried to contact Rick every morning for several weeks, but he never answered the radio, before explaining what happened to Duane. He is offered to join Rick's group at the West Georgia Correctional Facility, but he realizes that Rick is taking a lot of guns, meaning that they are preparing for a war. Morgan claims that Rick, Carl, and his people will die either by bullets or by walkers, and refuses to join them, not wanting to see anyone else die. While clearing out the walkers caught on his traps, Carl approaches Morgan and tells him that he is sorry for shooting him earlier. Morgan remarks to Carl, "Don't ever be sorry."

While leaving King County, Rick, Carl, and Michonne watch as Morgan prepares to burn the corpses of the walkers he captured.

Season 5

"No Sanctuary"

Morgan is seen hiking to Terminus on the railroad tracks. He stops walking and examines the Terminus sign changed by Rick weeks before, before taking off his mask and beginning to follow cross-shaped markings left on trees by the people of Terminus.

"Coda"

Morgan is seen following the Terminus markings to the elementary school where the Terminus members held Bob when they cannibalized his leg. Morgan comes across a walker pinned under debris and shushes it before stabbing it in the side of the head with a knife. He then follows the markings to Father Gabriel Stokes's church where he walks inside and creates a makeshift shrine at the altar. Morgan then kneels and prays in the front of the shrine before laughing. He explores around the church and finds a map to Washington, D.C., lying on the floor. He picks it up, reading the message Abraham Ford left for Rick, and realizes that his friend is still alive out there.

"Conquer"

Morgan is first seen sleeping inside of a car. Outside, he is fixing a mug of hot chocolate before a fire as a man approaches him and holds him at gunpoint. He is revealed to be a member of the Wolves and demands all of Morgan's things, planning to kill him afterwards. As another member attempts to stab Morgan from behind, Morgan dodges the man and attacks both men with his staff, asking them to stop before knocking them unconscious and placing them in the back of the car he was previously sleeping in. He blows the horn, checking to make sure there are no walkers nearby so the men are left in a safe area. When Daryl Dixon and Aaron, two recruiters from the Alexandria Safe-Zone, become trapped inside of a van surrounded by walkers after they fell for a trap set by the Wolves, Morgan saves the two men. Aaron offers him to join them at Alexandria but Morgan refuses, showing them the map he found of Washington, D.C., with Rick's name on it. Morgan, realizing that Rick is at Alexandria, accompanies Daryl and Aaron back to the town and witnesses Rick executing Pete Anderson. He says "Rick?" as the two stare at each other.  

Season 6

Morgan will appear in this season. 

Killed Victims

This list shows the victims Morgan has killed:

• Jenny Jones (Zombified)
• Numerous counts of zombies and presumably unnamed people.

Relationships

Jenny Jones

“

She, uh... she died in the other room, on that bed in there. There was nothin', I could, I could do about it here. That fever, man: her skin gave off heat like a furnace. I should have, I should have put her down, I should have put her down, I know that, but, you know what, I just didn't have it in me. She's the mother of my child. ―Morgan to Rick over the death of his wife.

”

Morgan was Jenny's husband and he loved her dearly. At the start of the outbreak, after Jenny succumbed and subsequently reanimated, Morgan could never bring himself to killing her because he had loved her so much. Torn between putting her down to let her finally rest in peace, and having a false idea of her still "alive" in the world, Morgan eventually gets a sniper rifle; with a picture of Jenny on the window, he shoots the walkers on the street. But after taking aim at his dead zombie wife's head for several long moments, he is unable to pull the trigger and eventually breaks down in tears.

Months later, Morgan and Duane are looting a store when Jenny attacks and bites Duane. Only after this is Morgan able to put her down.

Duane Jones

“

Hell yes, you're gonna learn. But we gotta do it carefully, teach you to respect the weapon. ―Morgan to Duane over the responsibility of a firearm.

”

Morgan, father to Duane, is shown to love and care for his son very much. This is shown as when Duane is upset, Morgan immediately goes to his side to comfort him. Despite the circumstances of the new, post-apocalyptic world, Morgan still tries to raise his son into a morally good man, as stated as he frequently corrects Duane's grammar and proper manners. Duane's death at his undead mother's hands has caused Morgan to lose his grip on sanity, and has made him vengeful to both walkers, and people.

Rick Grimes

“

I have to clear. ―Morgan to Rick.

”

Morgan and Rick have an interesting introduction to each other. After Rick left the hospital, weak and ragged, Morgan mistook him for a walker and Duane knocked him unconscious (with a shovel). Rick woke up, tied to a bed and was questioned. After Morgan learned that Rick wasn't bitten, Morgan offered Rick shelter and food. The next day, Rick took Morgan and Duane to the police station for scavenging the remaining guns and supplies as well as to let them use the facilities to have a hot shower. After Morgan and Duane collected the weapons, Rick gave them a vehicle. Morgan thanked Rick, saying that he is a good man and wished him the best of luck. 

Later on, Rick, Carl and Michonne return to King County to retrieve guns and ammo from the police station that Rick worked for. As they wander the town, they see main street completely fortified and traps all over the place. They walk through it, avoiding the traps, only to come under fire from Morgan, who has lost his mind after losing his son and doesn't recognize who they are. After a short shootout, Carl appears and shoots Morgan in the abdomen, a non-fatal wound due to him wearing body armor. Rick realizes who it is and drags an unconscious Morgan to his apartment. After tying Morgan down to a bed, Rick looks at the walls, which are covered with information regarding Morgan's life after Rick left. Morgan wakes up and attacks Rick with a knife and manages to stab Rick in the upper-left shoulder. The two exchange their life stories after Morgan realizes who he's with. Morgan doesn't have a grip on reality and Rick tries to convince him to come away with him, Carl and Michonne, to which Morgan declines, saying that he "needs to clear". Rick packs up the car and Michonne asks if Morgan is "OK", to which Rick responds "No, he's not."

When Morgan finds the note Abraham left for Rick he seems overwhelmed with joy to see Rick is still alive out there. However when he arrives at Alexandria with Daryl and Aaron he appears disturbed after watching Rick execute Pete, but Rick appears stunned to see his old friend again.

Carl Grimes

“

Hey son, don't ever be sorry.... ―Morgan telling Carl to never feel remorse for his actions.

”

Morgan and Carl first interact while on a supply run in King Country. Before learning of Rick's relationship with him, Carl shot him in his bulletproof vest when Morgan attempted to shoot Rick. Carl also later held Morgan at gunpoint while he was unconscious.

Before returning to the prison, Carl attempted to apologize to Morgan for shooting him, stating that he had no choice but Morgan coldly told him to never feel remorse for his actions.

Michonne

“

I think he's dangerous. ―Michonne to Rick about Morgan.

”

Michonne and Morgan do not interact directly with each other, however before learning of Rick's relationship with him, Michonne attempted to kill Morgan in order to steal his rifle and stop him from killing her, Carl and Rick. Michonne was clearly distrustful of him and believes that Morgan is dangerous and possibly insane due to the booby traps and strange writings, but did show concern for him as he asked Rick if he was alright although Rick said he wasn't. Michonne's reaction to Morgan's arrival at Alexandria remains unseen.

Daryl Dixon

“

Why? Because all life is precious, Daryl. ―Morgan to Daryl when he asks why he rescued them.

”

Morgan and Daryl first interact when he rescues him and Aaron when they are trapped in a van surrounded by walkers after falling for a trap set up by the Wolves. Daryl asks why he rescued them, to which he replies that all life is precious and is eventually recruited by Daryl and Aaron to Alexandria when Daryl becomes aware of Morgan's connection to Rick when he shows him the Washington D.C. map that Abraham left for Rick that he picked up in Gabriel's church.

Aaron

Morgan and Aaron first interact when he rescues him and Daryl when they are trapped in a van surrounded by walkers after falling for a trap set up by the Wolves. Grateful, Aaron tells him of Alexandria and though he refuses at first but upon learning of their connection to Rick, Aaron takes him back.

Appearances

TV Series

Season 1

• "Days Gone Bye"

Season 3

• "Clear"

Season 5

• "No Sanctuary" ^{(No Lines)}
• "Coda" 
• "Conquer"

Trivia

• The scene in which Morgan appears to shoot his wife is shot from the same angle, and is almost identical, to a scene in the episode from Jericho called "Crossroads" where the same actor, portraying Robert Hawkins, is defending the town of Jericho.
• According to Talking Dead, the producers planned for Morgan to come back in the second season. However, Lennie James was too busy to be able to reprise his role as Morgan at the time.
• Morgan is currently the only recurring character who has been alive for the entirety of the series' run, also being one of the three surviving characters who appeared in the series premiere.
• According to his interview on Talking Dead, Lennie James trained for his fight scenes with Stephen Ho, one of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.