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Negan's Fate In 'The Walking Dead' Comics May Surprise You

by Megan Walsh

Negan is one of the biggest threats Rick and his people have faced on The Walking Dead, and he'll be a difficult one to defeat. His huge army and stockpile of weapons give him an edge over the ragtag alliance that opposes him, but Rick is determined to defeat Negan despite the odds. Can the comics offer any hints about how this whole thing turns out? How does Negan die in The Walking Dead comics? Negan haters, prepare to be disappointed (I know I was): Negan doesn't die in The Walking Dead comics. In fact, he's still kicking to this day.

Though a character's popularity doesn't necessarily mean they're safe from meeting a sticky end in this particular fictional universe, Negan is hugely popular with a portion of the reading audience. Perhaps that kept him going for so long, or perhaps writer Robert Kirkman just felt his story wasn't over yet. It has definitely taken some unexpected turns. After the resolution of Negan's conflict with Rick, he almost became a part of the gang in the comics — albeit one who murdered a bunch of their loved ones and can't be trusted. It may seem unbelievable, but it was a process that took years to unfold.

The show may be building to a huge battle between Negan, Rick, and their respective communities, but that has happened already in the comics. In an arc titled "All Out War," everything finally came to a head. The battle was vicious. Negan coated all his people's weapons in zombie viscera so anyone struck would be immediately infected even if the wound itself wasn't fatal. Negan pressured Dwight (who was a secret double agent fighting for Rick at that point) into shooting Rick with an arrow, but luckily for him Dwight used a normal one. Negan didn't get the memo, however, so he thought Rick was a goner.

That allowed Rick to reappear at the last minute and take Negan down for good — in a manner of speaking. He slashed Negan's throat, but the injury didn't actually kill him. Instead Negan was placed in a jail cell in the basement of a house in Alexandria, where he remained for at least two years, the monotony broken by the occasional chat with Carl or Rick. A character named Brandon Rose, who has yet to appear on the show, released Negan, but only because Brandon wasn't a fan of Rick's leadership. Negan ultimately killed Brandon for this out of a strange loyalty to Rick.

After that, Negan infiltrated the newest group threatening Alexandria: the Whisperers. He got in good with their leader Alpha, then killed her and presented her severed head to Rick like a cat dropping a dead bird at its owner's feet. It's the thought that counts, I suppose. Though Alpha was gone, the Whisperers weren't totally eradicated and the fight against them continued with Negan joining Rick's team.

It's not clear if the show will follow that storyline or deviate from it, but there are some signs that The Walking Dead will remain faithful to its source material. The jail cell Morgan built in Alexandria felt like obvious foreshadowing for Negan's ultimate fate, and Negan has already taken on a big role in the show very quickly. There's no reason to believe The Walking Dead won't follow the comics, so Negan probably isn't going anywhere any time soon.

But that doesn't mean he'll live forever, either. There's no telling what the future may hold and Negan has made countless enemies over the years. Rick may one day feel able to work side by side with him, but something tells me not everyone will be able to share the sentiment.

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