| This article is about the TV Series character. You may be looking for his Comic Series counterpart or his Road to Survival counterpart. |
| “ | You know, you scared the hell out of people when we first saw you. (...) You scared the hell out of me. With that beard. The way you looked around like you were seeing things we weren't, hiding around corners. Turns out you were. Things moved slow here and then things just started moving fast. Too fast. But don't give up on us.
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Tobin is a survivor of the outbreak in AMC's The Walking Dead. He is a resident of the Alexandria Safe-Zone. Tobin is also a part of the construction crew alongside Abraham Ford, Bruce, Francine, Jake, Tommy, and Carter. Tobin had a brief romantic relationship with fellow Alexandrian Carol Peletier.
Personality
Tobin has shown to be a fair, caring, easygoing and hard-working man who rarely loses his temper, he holds a very strong presence in the community being an efficient worker and proven to be able with firearms marking his effectiveness to the safe zone. However he has shown on one occasion to be willing to sacrifice members of his crew to preserve the lives of others as exampled with Francine.
Despite this flaw, Tobin has proven to show a great deal of care for the residents of the community as he does whatever he can in order to help others in need, showing great levels of bravery and integrity. Despite the setbacks of the community impending peril Tobin has proven to be optimistic and practical to the people around him as exampled with Rick acting as a voice for the people of Alexandria and encourages Rick not to give up on them.
Pre-Apocalypse
Location Unknown
Not much is known about Tobin's life except that he had a family (consisting of children -- however, there has been no mention of a wife anywhere - through this it can be speculated that he may have had a wife at some point who perished prior or alternatively that he may have been divorced and that he raised his children as a single parent). He presumably lived somewhere near Alexandria, Virginia. Tobin worked in middle management in a blue-collar industry, most presumably in construction judging by his apparel and knowledge of the field.[1]
Post-Apocalypse
At some point during the outbreak, Tobin and his family made their way to the Alexandria Safe-Zone where they settled into the community and quickly became a trusted member of the Monroe family's inner circle. Upon being interviewed by Deanna he was officially appointed as foreman of the construction crew, alongside many others including Bruce, Francine, Tommy, and Carter. He helped managed the team in gathering materials from a nearby mall construction site to be used for the expansion, which took about 8 weeks.
Season 5
"Forget"
Tobin and another Alexandria resident enter the armory and request permission from Olivia to sign out weapons. He introduces himself to Carol Peletier, who is at the armory to gather ingredients for cookies, and offers to teach her how to shoot a gun. Later, Tobin can be seen socializing at Deanna Monroe's party, interacting with residents and the new arrivals.
"Spend"
Tobin and his construction team are starting the process of expanding the wall. While gathering materials from the mall construction site they are attacked by numerous walkers. During the gunfire, the lookout Francine is knocked from her perch atop a bulldozer's plow after Tobin accidentally shoots the lift's wires. Tobin reluctantly orders the rest of the construction crew to retreat behind the trucks instead of saving Francine, but Abraham rushes in and manages to save her life before killing the remaining walkers. Abraham confronts him over his behavior, and Tobin insists that he was simply following their system and tries to get Francine to back him up, but she instead punches Tobin in the face.
Tobin returns to Alexandria while Abraham takes charge of the construction crew and explains what happened to Deanna, Reg Monroe, and Maggie Greene. He recommends to Deanna that she name Abraham the new head of construction, as he sees him as a more fit leader than himself. She agrees, and Tobin leaves with Reg, promising that she will not regret putting her trust in Abraham.
"Try"
Tobin witnesses the fight between Rick Grimes and Pete Anderson in the streets. Rick points his gun at Tobin after he makes a move to stop Rick. Afterwards, he listens to Rick's speech before he is knocked out.
"Conquer"
Tobin is seen talking on the street as Rick greets him and walks on by. He is later present with his family and the other Alexandria members at the meeting to discusses Rick's fate, where he tells his worries about the safety of his family if they do not exile Rick. He is interrupted when Rick appears, carrying a walker that made it into the community.
Season 6
"First Time Again"
Tobin appears first alongside Father Gabriel Stokes, when the two are digging graves for Reg and Pete. Rick comes by and tells them to only dig one grave and that they do not bury killers within their walls. Tobin sympathizes but protests that it is not his decision, until Deanna comes along and agrees with Rick, ordering Pete's body to be dumped outside the wall. Tobin later attends a meeting where Rick reveals he and Morgan Jones discovered a massive herd of walkers trapped in a quarry nearby, and that they will soon get free. Tobin volunteers to help develop a plan to herd the walkers away from Alexandria.
A few days later, Tobin meets with Olivia, Spencer Monroe, Francine, and Carter. Carter urges Tobin and the rest to help him kill Rick. Although skeptical about Rick's leadership, Tobin is against Carter's plan, and when Eugene Porter is caught spying on them Tobin tries to convince Carter not to shoot him. Tobin watches as Rick arrives and defuses the situation by disarming Carter and sparing his life.
Tobin and the rest of survivors that will redirect the quarry herd head out to go over the steps of their plan, which they intend to put into action the next day. When they reach the quarry, the trailer on the far side of the quarry falls, allowing the herd to emerge onto the road leading to Alexandria. Tobin enters one of the trailers blocking the other exit and moves it, allowing the herd to emerge onto the other road, and quickly rejoins his team on foot, being in charge of dispatching or herding any walkers along the west side of the road. Tobin maintains radio communication with Rick, who is leading the team on the other side of the road.
"Now"
Tobin and his team have returned to Alexandria and help cleanup in the aftermath of the Wolves attack. Alongside Bruce, Tobin gathers the bodies of the deceased Alexandrians and Wolves and takes them to the graveyard. When Rick is heard yelling from outside the walls, Tobin rushes to the gate with his knife at the ready. He witnesses Rick enter the town just ahead of the herd. Tobin gathers with the rest of the town near the section of the wall where a Wolf crashed a truck, which has been reinforced, and listens as Rick reassures everyone that they will survive the herd and they just need to stay smart and patient. Tobin watches with concern as Deanna leaves without saying anything, and calls after her but is ignored. Tobin later witnesses Jessie Anderson putting down Betsy, who turned inside her house after committing suicide.
"Heads Up"
Tobin is first seen helping Rick with the wall. Rick assures Tobin the wall will survive as long as they shore it up. Tobin recalls the day that Rick and his group got to Alexandria. Tobin remembers how scared everyone was when they saw Rick stroll through the gates with his beat up group and his beard. He then goes to say that he and the others were reluctant to change their way of life when Rick gave his speech shortly before the deaths of Pete and Reg. Tobin then acknowledges that Rick has been right all along and that he and the others will fight. "Don't give up on us," Tobin urges to Rick. Tobin, along with many of the other residents of Alexandria, notices the watchtower outside leaning towards the wall and then runs and watches in horror as the Alexandria tower falls and destroys a part of the wall.
"Start to Finish"
Tobin is first seen having been knocked down on the ground due to the impact of the watchtower after it fell on a part of the community's wall, which then allowed the herd outside to enter Alexandria. He is then helped up by both Tara and Rosita where they all flee from the oncoming herd.
"No Way Out"
Tobin is among the townspeople taking refuge in Father Gabriel's church, along with Anna, Judith, and Bob. He witnesses Rick slaughtering zombies by himself in the streets and is inspired to join the group as he sees other townspeople arrive to help. Before he leaves the church to fight, he listens to Gabriel's speech about courage. He is among the residents to battle zombies for hours until they are all killed. After the bloody cull, he rests outside the infirmary with the other survivors.
"Not Tomorrow Yet"
As Carol hands out homemade cookies to the children and other residents, she stops by Tobin's new house, located in the recently-expanded part of town. She gives him a container of cookies and they both flirt. He is also present at the church with many of the other townsfolk, discussing the Saviors and the plan to kill them all as a part of their new alliance with the Hilltop Colony. That night, Carol walks by Tobin's house and the pair share a cigarette, talking about Carol going on the Savior mission. He admits that Carol is capable of doing things that terrify him, and explains his view that she can do such things because of her motherly instincts. He adds that many Alexandrians see her as a mother figure, but she's something else to him and they kiss. Ultimately, Tobin decided to stay behind at Alexandria and defend it instead of killing the Saviors at their outpost.
"Twice as Far"
As the days pass in Alexandria, Tobin is seen kissing Carol on the porch swing before leaving his house. One day, Tobin finds a letter from Carol in his living room explaining her departure from Alexandria.
"East"
Tobin enters Carol’s bedroom, where she hides the bag she was packing. She notices he has cut his hand, to which he replies happened while he was helping to build the new guard tower. He assures her he went to the infirmary and reminisces about Denise. They kiss and he is later seen in her bed when she sneaks out.
In the morning, he reads the letter Carol left him and goes to inform Rick. He tells Rick she must have left during the night as Rick prepares to go after her.
Season 7
"Service"
Tobin stands outside with Kent and Francine and watches the Saviors ransack their houses. Later, Tobin is among the townspeople present at the church when Rick informs them that he is no longer in charge and that all guns need to be turned over to the Saviors.
"Hearts Still Beating"
Tobin will appear in this episode.
Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Tobin has killed:
- Numerous counts of zombies
Relationships
Bruce
Tobin and Bruce appear to have a close friendship, having worked together for several years as part of the construction crew, the two seem to respect each other and are mostly seen together in Alexandria.
Francine
Tobin and Francine do not appear to have a stable relationship. Although they have worked together for several years while part of Alexandria, the two tend to ignore each other except when Tobin issues orders as construction foreman. During the walker attack on the construction site, Francine fell from a moderate height and found herself encircled by walkers. Tobin initially wanted to let the walkers have her so they could escape with their supplies, but Abraham stepped up and saved her from the walkers surrounding her. After seeing that Abraham had saved her, Tobin decides to help him, believing that he could kill the walkers without getting anyone on his crew killed. Once the walkers were finished, Francine promptly strode over to him and punched him in the face for even suggesting that they leave her. Tobin appears remorseful of his thoughts and submits himself to Deanna's questioning about the incident. He steps down as foreman due to his low self-esteem and belief that he had failed the moment he had considered leaving her.
Carter
Tobin and Carter appear to have a mutual relationship, both have presumably worked together during their time as members of the construction crew, upon conversing in the armory when Carter devised a plan to overthrow Rick, Tobin heavily disagreed and appered slightly disturbed by his actions (in almost killing Eugene) which is ultimatly resolved when Rick diffuses the situation. It is unkown what Tobin's reaction was to Carter's death.
Deanna Monroe
Tobin and Deanna appear to have a good friendship as he generally respects her leadership.
Reg Monroe
Tobin and Reg appeared to have a good friendship and held a genuine amount of respect for each other, during the town meeting when Pete accidently slit Reg's throat, Tobin was shocked and greatly saddened by his friend's death.
Abraham Ford
Tobin seems to respect Abraham and his bravery. Abraham was the only member of the construction crew to step up and save Francine during the walker attack on their construction site. Soon after that Tobin realizes that Abraham is more fit to lead the construction crew than he is. Tobin later has a discussion with Deanna about Abraham, stating that he is stepping down as leader of the construction crew and giving the position to Abraham.
Rick Grimes
Though the two have had few interactions, Rick and Tobin appear to have a mutual friendship, even when Rick pointed his gun at bystanders (Tobin included) and ranted about Alexandria. Tobin did not appear angered but more concerned for his mental state. The next day, when Rick recovered, he greeted Tobin, to which the latter replied, which implies that he does not hold any ill thoughts towards Rick. However, during a meeting deciding Rick's fate, he suggested that they might have to exile Rick, which shows that Tobin might have a slight fear of him. Rick, however, states that he is willing to teach the Alexandria residents how to survive, Tobin included.
However, Tobin, alongside Spencer Monroe, Francine, and Olivia, were found by Eugene Porter listening to Carter to make a plan to take down Rick, showing that they have a potentially strained relationship. Their relationship gets much better, as he and Rick are able to work closely together in the effort to lead the herd away from the community. When Tobin helps Rick fix the wall, he recalls Rick's first day in Alexandria and how scary he and the others looked when they stepped inside. Tobin then goes on to talk about how reluctant he and the others were to change their way of life. He acknowledges that Rick was right all along and that he will fight with Rick, of which Rick approves and who is happy with Tobin's urge to survive.
Carol Peletier
When Carol first comes to Alexandria she and Tobin's relationship is off to a great start by Tobin offering her his help on how to shoot a gun. Much later, one night while sharing a cigarette Tobin reveals his real feeling for Carol. Which begins a brief romantic relationship with each other. However the relationship ends when Carol leaves Alexandria after refusing to ever kill anymore. They have yet to see each other since then.
Appearances
TV SeriesSeason 5Season 6
Season 7 |
Trivia
- Tobin's name is an abbreviation of the Hebrew name 'Tobiah' meaning 'Goodness of God' - this is likely a reference to his friendly and easygoing attitude.
- Tobin is one of the few characters in the TV Series to outlive their Comic counterpart.
References
- ↑ According to Jason Douglas