Carl Grimes was a major recurring character in the survival-horror series The Walking Dead. He was the son of protagonist Rick Grimes and his wife Lori Grimes. Appearing between the Season 1 episode "Days Gone Bye" and the Season 8 episode "Honour", he is one of the longest-lasting characters in the series. He was portrayed throughout the series by Chandler Riggs.
Personality[]
Carl undergoes rigorous personality development throughout his lifespan on the show. When he first appears, he is a timid young boy with little understanding of how the world is changing around him, relying on the adults around him for guidance. As time goes on, he is taught the skills necessary for him to survive in the harsh world ruled by the dead, taking on a more active role in the survival of the people around him.
After having to struggle to survive for months between the Greene Farm's destruction and finding the West Georgia Correctional Facility, Carl has become battle-hardened and not so shy around adults. However, he does not appear to be completely immune to emotion, and he retains some of his child-like qualities, such as cracking a joke every now and then. During his time at the prison, Carl becomes significantly depressed after his mother dies during childbirth, in which he had delivered his newborn sister. He was also forced to shoot his mother in the brain to prevent her reanimation, which also had a profound impact on both him and his father, who spiraled into a manic depression following Lori's death. During this period, Rick became more focused on keeping his group alive and focused less on being a parent,
After the Governor launches an ill-fated attack on the prison, Carl mercilessly kills a young boy who was working for the Governor, thinking it was neccesary for the group's protection. Seeing how ruthless his son was becoming, Rick began spending more time with him and encouraged him to help the community in other ways, such as farming. After the prison takes in the surviving residents of Woodbury, Carl has become much more relaxed and accepts the fact that there is more to life than survival. Rick has taken his parental role more seriously and is stricter towards Carl. Although he still yearns for more excitement and is concerned with the possibility of the Governor's survival, Carl understands what his father is trying to do for him and tries to honour his father's wishes by attempting to be a kid again. Of course, he finds this difficult because of the many tragedies he has encountered and all the morbid things he has seen and done.
After the prison is destroyed by the Governor, the survivors become scattered, with Carl staying close to his father. Although they helped one another escape with their lives, Carl struggles to come to terms with what has happened. Scarred from the battle and subsequent loss of the prison, he is recurrently seen to have outbursts of intense anger and frustration, sometimes resembling meltdowns. Driven by a need to pin his anger on something, he directs his rage toward his injured father. Over the days that follow, Carl becomes concerned that the relationship between his father and he is coming apart and he admits to Michonne that he has recurring dark thoughts in his head, fearing that he might be becoming a monster like the Governor and some of the other hostile survivors they have dealt with.
After admitting his fears to Rick and Michonne, Carl's mental state begins to lift, which is largely owed to his growing friendship with Michonne. From Season 5 onwards, he is shown to consistently recover from bad situations quicker than the other members of his group, maintaining a level of optimism rivaled only by Glenn Rhee. By this point, he has truly come into his own, showing that he is a kind young man who wants to believe that not everyone in the post-apocalyptic world can be bad, choosing mercy over hostility when encountering new survivors. However, after arriving in Alexandria, a community that has remained safe and sheltered throughout the apocalypse, Carl is concerned that he will become weak if he gets used to living comfortably in a house, a concern that Rick and the others share. After Rick gets into an altercation with Pete Anderson and is locked up for it, Carl and the others in his group speak with Deanna Monroe, stating that Rick's leadership was what helped them all survive outside and that Alexandria will need him if it is to endure.
Following Rick's execution of Pete, both Rick and Carl become objects of resentment for Ron, Pete's son. Both Rick and Carl try to teach Ron the skills necessary to survive outside in the wilderness, but Ron's bitterness towards them keeps him from taking their lessons to heart. This comes to a head later on after Alexandria is overrun by a mega-horde of walkers and Ron attempts to kill the Grimes' to avenge his father, but Carl beats him down and bluntly reminds him that Pete was an "asshole" who abused his family. Even if the message had sunk in, Ron would soon after watch his mother and brother die, blaming Rick for it and attempting to shoot him. He was stabbed in the back by Michonne before shooting, but then pulled the trigger as he died and ended up shooting Carl, not killing him but destroying his eye. Alexandria would later be cleared of walkers and Carl would recover over the months that followed, though he would develop a rougher side to him due to the trauma he suffered. This trauma would only be exacerbated when Carl and his group encountered Negan and the violent survivor group known as the Saviors, who killed both Abraham and Glenn while forcing the others to watch.
Encountering Negan pushed Carl towards a path of vengeance and sadism as he would later attempt to infiltrate the Sanctuary and kill Negan. However, after being caught and forced to spend time with Negan in the Sanctuary, Carl demonstrated great fear towards him, as well as expressing self-consciousness about his appearance when Negan made him remove his eyepatch. During the preparation for the war against Negan and the Saviors, Carl continued to show his more mature side, no longer going against his father's wishes. He showed his bravery, and willing to fight, when he was the first one to fight the Scavengers when they held Alexandria at gunpoint and were distracted by Negan being attacked. Carl was even put in charge of safeguarding Alexandria while the Militia wages war with the Saviors, despite the presence of natural-born leaders such as Michonne and Rosita, a responsibility he took extremely seriously and achieved when he orchestrated Alexandria's evacuation during the Saviors' bombardment on the community.
History[]
Pre-apocalypse life[]
Before the rise of the dead, Carl was an ordinary boy living in King's County, Georgia. He attended middle school and enjoyed comics and video games, though in the months prior to the outbreak, his parents began having marital problems and he was witness to some of their quarrels. It is unlikely that Carl fully understood the nature of Rick and Lori's arguments, though following the outbreak, these issues would become irrelevant.
Season 1[]
Shortly before the outbreak, Carl's father Rick was shot by a criminal and hospitalized. Carl feared for his father's life, but when the dead began to walk, his mother Lori and his father's friend Shane Walsh took him to Atlanta in the hopes of making it to a military safe-zone. During that time, Carl was led to believe that his father was dead, but in reality, Rick was still just comatose and his hospital room had been barricaded to keep the undead from getting to him.
As Shane, Lori and Carl reached Atlanta, they witnessed the military's firebombing of the city. With Atlanta declared unsafe, the trio joined a group of other refugees as they established a camp just outside the city. During that time, Carl lived in relative safety and tried to make friends with the other children in the camp, becoming quite close with Sophia Peletier.
About a month after arriving at the Atlanta camp, Carl's spirits would be greatly raised when, to his surprise, his father was brought to the camp by Dale Horvath after he and a group of supply runners found him in the city. Carl was overjoyed, though also confused as Lori had previously told him that Rick was dead, but Rick assured him that his mother had every reason to believe as such. Unfortunately, not long after Rick's arrival, the camp was attacked by walkers and several people were killed before the undead were all dispatched. The camp was declared unsafe and the survivors decided to find a new place to make camp. They would make their way to the Center for Disease Control where Dr. Edwin Jenner would grant them shelter, but would not stay there for long.
After just one night within the walls of the CDC, the group discovered that the facility was due to self-destruct. Jenner sealed the facility to prevent the survivors from leaving, thinking it kinder to them to have them be instantly vaporized in the explosion of the building rather than suffer a short and brutal life outside that would end with a slow and agonizing death. Rick, however, was able to convince Jenner to release the locks and he, Carl and most of the group left shortly before the building exploded.
Season 2[]
Not long after leaving the CDC, Rick's group find themselves trying to navigate a highway clogged with abandoned vehicles. They suffer a number of tribulations during this time, such as T-Dog suffering an infection after cutting himself on a broken car door, Sophia going missing in the woods and a large herd of walkers making their way down the road. While the group are looking for Sophia in the forest, Rick, Shane and Carl come across a deer. Shane is about to shoot it, but Rick stops him while Carl takes the time to admire it. The serene moment is brought to an abrupt end when a shot rings out, a bullet piercing the deer and hitting Carl. The shooter, a man called Otis, runs over to find that his round struck Carl. Apologizing profusely, he quickly leads Rick to the Greene family's farm where he and his wife Patricia are staying.
At the Greene farm, Hershel Greene - a former veterinarian - treats Carl's wound. However, Carl has suffered significant blood loss and internal damage, requiring surgery. Hershel does not have all the necessary equipment needed to keep Carl alive after the procedure, and so Shane decides to go into the nearby town to find the supplies Hershel needs to save Carl. Eager to make up for his mistake, Otis volunteers to help Shane and the two search an abandoned high school for the medical supplies. They find what they need, but suffer injuries of their own which slow them down. As a horde of walkers follows them, Shane decides to shoot Otis' leg out and leave him to be devoured by the zombies, giving him time to get back to the farm with the supplies. When he gets back, he lies about Otis, stating that he was ambushed by the dead.
Although the surgery proves difficult and there is doubt that Carl will pull through, the boy does wake up and eventually recovers. By the time he wakes, the rest of the group have arrived at the farm, except for Sophia, who remains missing. Relieved and proud and Carl survived, Rick gives his son his sheriff's hat to wear. When Carl recovers, he pitches in around the farm along with the others. Wanting to do more to help the group, he asks Shane to teach him how to use a gun. Shane goes to Rick and Lori about it and Rick agrees that Carl will need to learn how to shoot in order to protect himself.
Carl wants to help in the search for Sophia, but it is later revealed by Glenn that Hershel is keeping zombies in his barn. Hershel claims that he is keeping them there because he believes that they are merely sick and that he might be able to treat them, but Rick and his group are more aware of what they truly are and fear that they are all in danger as long as the walkers remain in the barn. Against Hershel's wishes, Shane opens the barn and lets the zombies out so that he and Rick can dispose of them. The group is horrified to discover that Sophia was inside the barn as well, having died and turned while lost in the woods then being wrangled up by Hershel. Carl and the others look on in utter devastation as Rick fires a Magnum round into Sophia's brain, putting her down.
After a funeral service is held for Sophia and the zombified members of the Greene family, it is revealed to the group that Lori is pregnant. Carl is upset that his mother didn't tell him about it until that moment. He also insults Carol, who is mourning over the loss of her daughter, stating that she is stupid for believing in Heaven. Rick chastises his son for his outburst and Carl stomps off sulking. While outside, he sees that Daryl Dixon had left his gun by his vacant motorcycle and steals it. Running off into the woods with the gun, he spots a lone zombie stuck in the mud and taunts the creature, throwing rocks at it and aggravating it. He then raises the gun and prepares to shoot it, but in that time, the zombie pulls its leg free and lurches forward. Carl is startled and drops the gun, falling down in the mud. The zombie reaches for Carl, but the boy manages to get back on his feet and runs back to the farm. Later that night, the zombie that Carl had antagonized wanders onto the farm and feeds on a cow. Dale is outside alone at the time and spots the partially-eaten cow just before being attacked by the zombie, which tears open his abdomen. The others respond to Dale's pained screams and find him on the ground in agony. With no way to treat his terrible injuries, the group decide to relieve Dale's suffering and Daryl shoots him.
Realizing that he is responsible for Dale's death, Carl is left with tremendous guilt and sorrow. He confides in Shane, telling him he had stolen Daryl's gun and how he had taunted the walker. He asks Shane not to tell his parents, but Shane does so anyway. Rick talks with Carl in the barn and, rather than scolding him, explains to his son that he needs to accept the world as it is now, that he can't have the childhood his father wanted for him and that he needs to be prepared for the eventuality of death whilst doing whatever they can to avoid it for as long as possible. He ultimately lets Carl keep the gun, reiterating that he will need it in the future.
The following night, Shane and Rick go in search of Randall, a survivor from another group that they and Hershel had run into a few days ago. Randall had previously been locked up in the barn until his fate could be decided among the group, but Shane had released and then killed him. Now he was attempting to lure Rick to his death in order to take his family for himself. Carl wanted to join the search, but Lori instructed him to stay at the house. Defying his mother, Carl snuck out and went looking for Rick, finding him in the middle of a field standing over Shane's dead body. Carl is shocked and Rick tries to explain himself, he raises his gun and aims it in his father's direction. However, it is not Rick that Carl aims at, but Shane, who has reanimated as a walker behind Rick. Carl fires a shot and hits Shane in the head, putting him down. Rick turns around to see Shane lying on the ground with a bullet wound in his head, wondering how he turned when he hadn't been bitten.
Shortly after Carl put down Shane, a herd of walkers emerged from the woods, heading towards the Greene farm. Rick ushers Carl ahead and they start running towards the farm but get cut off from walkers, and so run to the barn instead. Back at the farm, Lori realizes that Carl is missing. As chaos ensues, Carl goes into the barn with Rick. They both start spreading gasoline onto the hay, and then Rick gives Carl a lighter and tells him to drop it when he says. Rick lets the walkers in, telling Carl to drop it when he is half way up the ladder, setting the barn on fire and killing more than a dozen walkers.
As the pair run, they find Hershel making a final stand in front of his house shooting walkers, but Rick convinces him to leave. After being saved, they go on the road just as the sun rises. Carl asks where his mother is. Rick says that they have to keep moving, and Carl begs him not to give up. Rick continues to try and persuade Carl to move on, but Carl just becomes angry. Just then, cars arrive with the rest of the surviving group members, including Lori. Rick's car runs out of gas and he later confesses to the group what Dr. Jenner had whispered to him back at the CDC: everyone turns regardless of how they die. Later that night, Carl is seen crying into Lori's shoulder as Rick talks to the group, revealing how Shane was killed.
Season 3[]
For ten months after the destruction of the farm, Rick and his group struggled to survive by scavenging whatever supplies they could from an abandoned village. This proved difficult with the large numbers of zombies present, the lack of usable supplies and Lori's pregnancy slowing her and the others down. During this time, Carl had learned a great deal about survival from his father and the others, having become a capable shooter and scavenger.
When the group locates the West Georgia Correctional Facility, Rick and most of the adults go about clearing the facility of walkers while Carl tends to Lori, who is well overdue to give birth at this point. After Hershel is bitten by a walker and his leg is amputated in order to save him, Carl watches over him while he recovers. When Hershel wakes up, Carl almost shoots him, thinking he had died and reanimated.
When the convict Andrew lures a group of walkers into the prison, Carl, Lori and Maggie get cut off from the rest of the group and are forced to lock themselves inside an empty utility room. Here, Lori goes into labour, but complications arise due to the lateness of the birthing. Without any proper equipment or a medical professional on hand, the only way to deliver the baby is by performing an emergency Caesarian section, which will kill Lori in the process. Lori is prepared to die for the sake of her child and makes her final farewell to her son, assuring him that he is strong and that he will endure in the harsh world they find themselves in. Once Lori has said her goodbyes, Maggie performs the C-section with a knife, cutting Lori open to deliver the baby and killing her. After the baby has been delivered, Maggie and Carl are about to leave the room now that the zombies have been cleared. However, Carl notes that his mother will reanimate if left as she is and he sorrowfully shoots Lori in the head to prevent this. He and Maggie then bring the baby outside where the others are situated and upon seeing that his wife isn't with them, Rick breaks down sobbing, realizing that Lori is dead.
Following Lori's death, both Rick and Carl struggle to come to terms with what has happened, with Rick falling into deep despair. Carl is offered comfort by Beth and she asks what they are going to name his new sister, with Carl coming up with names of the women that the group had previously lost, including his mother's name. While Carl and Hershel are busy tending to the baby, Glenn and Maggie head out of the prison to try and scrounge up some baby formula. During this time, they are ambushed and captured by Merle Dixon who takes them to Woodbury. The two had managed to find formula, but it was left behind when Merle captured them. However, a lone survivor carrying a sword found the basket containing the formula and later arrived outside the prison fence. Carl and Rick meet the survivor at the fence and kill the walkers that had followed her, bringing her and the formula inside. The survivor introduces herself as Michonne and tells Rick and the others that she had been watching Glenn and Maggie when they had been captured, telling them that the pair had been taken to Woodbury, a town she had just escaped from. Rick takes Michonne and Daryl on a mission to rescue Glenn and Maggie, but before they leave, Rick speaks with Carl and acknowledges that his son had to shoot Lori, trying to comfort him. Carl also decides on a name for his new sister, deciding to name her Judith after his third grade teacher.
Some time later, after the Governor's first attack against the prison, Carl joins Rick and Michonne as they go scavenging for more weapons in their old hometown. During this time, Carl expresses his doubts about having Michonne join them, not yet trusting her. When they arrive in their hometown, Rick and Carl are shocked to find that the streets have been rigged with booby-traps and that there are large piles of burned bodies here and there. A man wearing armour and a motorcycle helmet attacks them from a rooftop, but Carl manages to shoot him, wounding him and causing him to fall. When Rick removes the attacker's helmet, he is shocked to find that it is Morgan Jones, the man who had helped him shortly after he awoke from his coma.
While Rick watches over Morgan at his hideout, Carl explores the town with Michonne in tow. He goes to visit his old house only to find it has burned down. He later visits an old cafe looking for a memento. His mother was friends with the owner who had kept a picture of her and he wanted Judith to at least know what her mother looked like. Michonne helped Carl get into the cafe and managed to keep the walkers inside distracted long enough for Carl to find the photo and get out. She also managed to grab a cat statue for herself while she was at it. After this adventure, Carl and Michonne realise that they can trust and depend on one another. After stopping by an old baby store to pick up a crib for Judith, the pair return to Morgan's hideout where Morgan is handing over his weapons to Rick. Carl apologises to Morgan for shooting him before, but Morgan tells him to "never be sorry".
In the days that follow, Rick and the group discuss leaving the prison and Carl is angered by the defeatist attitude of the others. Seeing his son's reaction, Rick reconsiders his decision and tells the others that they aren't going to leave, that they will fight against the Governor. While he organises a plan to defend the prison, he has Hershel take Carl to a safe spot in the woods just beyond the fences. This aggravates Carl as he wants to contribute to the prison's defence and dislikes the idea of others risking their lives for his sake.
When the Governor and his soldiers attack the prison, Rick and the others utilize flashbangs and coralled walkers to fend off the attackers. As the Woodbury fighters flee, Carl and Hershel catch a boy not much older than Carl running for his life. Carl holds the boy at gunpoint, demanding that he drop his weapon. The boy does as he is told, but Carl then shoots him through the head. When the survivors regroup, Carl is pleased to tell his father how he had done his part in protecting their home, but Hershel tells Rick how Carl had murdered a boy who was surrendering to them in cold blood. When Rick tries to discuss the event with him, Carl reminds him about how he had inadvertently caused Dale's death after failing to kill the walker that had disemboweled Dale, and how Rick had let Andrew live and thus caused the deaths of T-Dog and Lori. Later, after the Governor's violent outburst against his own people, Rick's group allow the remaining residents of Woodbury to join them at the prison. Carl disagrees with this decision and angrily walks away from his father.
Season 4[]
In the months since the Governor's last attack on the prison, the community has grown significantly and Carl is no longer the only child in the group. Carl has become more relaxed, able to enjoy things that children his age normally do. However, this has not detracted from his harsh development in the post-apocalyptic world as he still remains vigilant of possible threats to the community. He also scolds Lizzie and Mika Samuels when he finds them naming several walkers gathered outside the fence and behaving friendly towards them, reminding them that the walkers are dead and mindless creatures only interested in eating them. During this time, Carl has also taken up farming at his father's insistence, tending to the pigs living in the prison courtyard.
When a flu-like illness begins spreading through the prison, a number of residents succumb to it and reanimate, killing other residents before being put down. Around this time, Carol teaches Carl and the other youngsters about the proper use of knives, without Rick's permission. Carl refuses to keep this a secret from his father and tells Rick, who is saddened by this fact but also comes to understand that there is no going back to a pre-apocalypse way of life. As such, he decides that Carl has earned the right to have his gun back, realising that his son knows how to be responsible and use his weapons for the sake of defending himself and others.
While Rick is away from the prison, Carl joins Hershel in gathering medicinal herbs in the woods for the sick residents in quarantine. Some time later, after he and Rick have returned from their separate duties, the perimeter fence is breached and a large horde of walkers enters the prison courtyard, despite Rick and Carl's attempts to seal the breach. Rick brings Carl over to a cache of guns and quickly teaches him about how to properly use an M4A1 assault rifle. Armed and ready, the two work together to eliminate the horde, with Rick watching in admiration as Carl demonstrates complete control over the situation. Rick sees that Carl is no longer a child but a man, one that he can be proud of.
Not long after the sick residents have been treated, the prison is once again attacked by the Governor, who is now leading a new group of survivors who are equipped with a tank. Despite Rick's attempts to reason with him, the Governor refuses to be swayed and launches the attack, causing catastrophic damage to the prison. Although the Governor and his army are defeated, the prison is declared lost as countless walkers are drawn by the sounds of battle. Hershel is killed and the other survivors are forced to scatter into the wilderness. Before leaving together, Carl and Rick attempt to look for Judith, but all they find is a bloodied baby seat, leading them to believe that Judith is dead.
After leaving the prison, Rick and Carl make their way to a village, taking refuge inside an empty house. Both are exhausted and traumatised, but Carl is more angry than anything else. While Rick lies unconscious from a combination of thirst and exhaustion, Carl furiously berates him for his failure to protect everyone at the prison, even going so far as to say that he would be just fine if his father died. He later visits another nearby house to look for supplies, narrowly evading walkers while coming away with a large can of chocolate pudding which he eats peacefully while sitting on the roof. After nightfall, Carl returns to the house he had left Rick in and finds his father crawling around on the floor in the dark. Thinking that Rick had died and reanimated while he was gone, Carl falls to the floor and cries quietly, unable to bring himself to put his father down. He sits and waits for Rick to kill him, but then Rick suddenly speaks, whispering to Carl that he shouldn't go outside as it's not safe. Carl breaks down as he cradles his father's head in his arms, admitting how afraid he really is.
The following morning, both Carl and Rick are elated to see that Michonne is still alive when she arrives on the front door of the house. For a while, the trio enjoy some levity until Carl mentions Judith in conversation, lowering the tone to a somber one as they all believe Judith to be dead. Carl and Michonne later go out to scavenge for supplies, during which time they talk about their past lives with each other, showing how close they have become. When they come back to the house, they arrive just in time to see Rick leaving and urging them to stay quiet and turn around as the house has been occupied by a group of hostile survivors.
A couple of nights later, Rick, Carl and Michonne are squatting in an abandoned car when they are ambushed by Joe and his group of Claimers. The trio are shocked to discover that Daryl is with the Claimers, having been the one to track them down. Joe has two of his companions beat Daryl to the ground while another attempts to rape Carl. Rick, watching his son being manhandled, goes berserk and ferociously kills Joe by biting out his jugular vein. The other Claimers are shocked by the sight of their leader's gruesome demise and Daryl and Michonne take advantage of the moment, killing their attackers. The Claimer that attempted to rape Carl begs for his life, but Rick shows no mercy and guts him while Carl watches in horror.
The following day, Carl is still trying to come to terms with the savagery he witnessed the previous night when he and the others reach Terminus, a supposed safe-haven for apocalypse survivors. They are greeted by the settlement's leader Gareth, who asks that they hand over their weapons. However, Rick notices that some of the Terminus residents are wearing items taken from members of his own community and demands answers, but he, Carl, Michonne and Daryl are forced to run for their lives when Gareth's people start shooting at them. The group is herded towards a boxcar and are forced inside under the threat of death. Inside the boxcar, they find that several other survivors from the prison are also there, as well as some new faces.
Season 5[]
Carl and the others are not held captive for long as Terminus soon finds itself under attack from an unknown enemy. The attacker uses fireworks to draw a large number of walkers to the fences and creates a breach after shooting at a large gas tank, allowing the undead to pour into the settlement. In the confusion, Rick and the others manage to escape while leaving their captors to struggle against the zombies. It turns out that the mastermind behind their escape was Carol Peletier, who had previously been banished from the prison after killing two sick residents. Not only that, but both Tyreese Williams and baby Judith had survived the fall of the prison. Rick and Carl were overjoyed to find that Judith was alive and well. The group was largely reunited and had gained additions such as Tara Chambler, Abraham Ford, Rosita Espinosa and Eugene Porter, but Beth Greene was still missing.
After the fall of Terminus, the group found themselves taking temporary shelter in a small church occupied by its pastor, Gabriel Stokes. During this time, they made a plan to search for Beth while Abraham and Rosita continued their mission to take Eugene to Washington, although this plan would fall through when Eugene admitted to lying about knowing how to cure the zombie pathogen. Later, the group would reconvene and discover that Beth was being held at a hospital in Atlanta by the surviving remnants of the city's police force. After Noah, a boy working at the hospital, had escaped from captivity, he was found by Rick's group and told them where Beth was being held. The group traveled to the hospital after capturing two officers and negotiated for Beth's release, but Dawn Lerner demanded to have Noah back as well. During the exchange, Beth attempted to kill Dawn by stabbing her with a pair of scissors, but Dawn then shot her, which then led to Rick shooting Dawn. After that, the remaining officers let the group leave with Noah without further trouble.
With no clear goal in mind, the group decided to take Noah back home to his village. When they arrived, however, they found the village had been ransacked by unknown raiders and the undead had been allowed to wander into the place to pick at the remains. While the group searched for anything of use, Tyreese was bitten by a walker and later died of blood loss. The remainder of Rick's group spent a great deal of time travelling on foot, suffering from lack of food, water and sleep. After days of walking down a deserted country road, they came across a barn and took shelter as a storm rolled in. The following morning, the group were approached by Aaron, a man claiming to have come from a fortified community who invited Rick's group to join them. Rick and co. were initially wary of Aaron's intentions, having spent so long trying to survive in the wilderness, but after some reassurance and explanation the group agreed to go with Aaron back to the Alexandria Safe-Zone.
After arriving in Alexandria, Carl is interviewed by Deanna Monroe and talks about his experiences surviving in the post-apocalyptic world, particularly about how he was forced to shoot his mother to prevent her from reanimating. He tries to get used to the idea of living in a town again, although he expresses to Rick his worry that living in relative safety will make him weak. However, he does meet the local children and attempts to befriend Enid, though he catches her climbing over Alexandria's wall more than once. He tries to get to know her, but Enid responds coldly to him and tells him that she feels that people aren't meant to live in safety anymore.
Several days after the group's arrival in Alexandria, Rick gets into a fight with Pete Anderson after learning that he has been beating his wife, Jessie. Fearing the consequences of his father's actions, Carl tries to stop Rick as be beats Pete to the ground. Rick is later locked up in a cell while Pete is forced to move into another house. Afterwards, a meeting is held to decide the fate of Rick and his group, with Carl and the others telling Deanna and her council that they relied heavily on Rick's leadership skills and would likely not have lasted as long without him. While the meeting is in session, Rick suddenly appears dragging a walker corpse in tow, telling everyone that the gate had been left open. After hearing everyone's statements and watching Rick protect the community once again, Deanna decides that Rick and his people will be allowed to stay. The only objecting voice is Pete, who walks in on the meeting carrying Michonne's sword and demanding that Rick be exiled. After Pete accidentally kills Reg Monroe with the sword, Deanna tells Rick to execute him, and he does so.
Season 6[]
When Alexandria is threatened by a colossal herd of walkers, Rick leads the effort in corraling the undead and leading them away from the town. While this is happening, Carl stays behind the town walls taking care of Judith, but walkers aren't the only threat to Alexandria as the town is attacked by a group of raiders calling themselves the Wolves. While most of the Wolves are killed and one of them is captured, the wall is breached during the attack and the crashed truck used by the Wolves continuously blares its air horn, drawing the herd back towards Alexandria.
Efforts to redirect the herd ultimately fail and Alexandria is overrun. The residents take shelter indoors as the undead flood the streets, with Rick, Carl, Jessie, Ron, Sam and Deanna finding themselves trapped inside a house. A frightened and enraged Ron goes into the garage and Carl goes to check on him, but then Ron locks the door and draws a gun on Carl. Ron hates Rick for killing his father and decides to kill Carl out of revenge, but Carl fights back and manages to disarm him. He states that he understands his feelings against him and Rick, but reminds him that his father was an "asshole".
A short while later, Rick devises a plan for them all to escape from the house by butchering a walker and using its blood and guts to disguise their scent, allowing them to walk among the undead undetected. Deanna, who was bitten earlier, stays behind to distract the zombies already in the house while the others escape through the front door. While the Grimes' and Andersons walk amongst the horde, Sam panics, urinating himself and whimpering which attracts nearby zombies. As the creatures tear into Sam, Jessie tries to help him only to be attacked herself. As she is still holding on tightly to Carl's arm, Rick is forced to cut off her hand to save Carl. Watching his mother and brother die, Ron completely snaps and draws his gun, preparing to shoot Rick. Suddenly, Ron is impaled through the back by Michonne, but pulls the trigger as he dies. While he misses Rick, the bullet strikes Carl in the face, destroying his right eye.
When Carl collapses, Rick grabs him and Michonne carves a path through the crowd of zombies to the infirmary. Carl is left in Denise's care while Rick and Michonne go back outside and begin killing zombies left and right. The residents of Alexandria watch through the windows of their homes and, inspired by Rick and Michonne's bravery, decide to take up arms and help them in defending the town. Soon, most of the townsfolk have joined in, courageously slaying every walker in sight. The battle lasts all through the night and by dawn, every walker has been killed without any further loss of life among the residents. After the battle, Rick sits beside Carl's cot in the infirmary, telling him what he had seen and how he understands what the people in Alexandria are truly capable of. He states that he wishes to expand Alexandria as Deanna had wished for and how he wants Carl to see the new world they find themselves facing. It is then that Carl wakes up, gripping his father's hand tightly and smiling.
Two months later, Carl has recovered from his gunshot and has a bandage covering his eye socket. Not wanting to let his trauma stop him from being a kid, he and Enid head outside the walls to explore. While outside, he and Enid encounter a walker that they both recognise. Enid suggests killing the walker, but Carl disagrees. Instead, he decides to lure the walker, getting it to follow him as he heads closer to Alexandria, having earlier seen Michonne and Spencer near the perimeter. As Carl reaches the two, the walker following him is revealed to be Deanna. Later, after Deanna has been put down, Michonne asks Carl why he lured Deanna to her and Spencer instead of dispatching her himself. Carl tells her that it should be done by someone who loved her, and so he allowed Spencer the chance to put her to rest.
Season 7[]
When Rick and his people find themselves being threatened by the Saviors, Carl is among the convoy heading towards the Hilltop Colony to provide support to them. However, the Saviors block every route the convoy can take, eventually forcing them to a stop. The Saviors' leader, Negan, introduces himself to Rick and his friends, telling the group that they now work for him and must produce, scavenge or steal anything of use and give half of it to the Saviors, or else be killed. Since Rick's group had previously killed a group of Saviors stationed at their satellite outpost, Negan decides that someone among the group has to die right there and then. After a tense game of Eeny-Meeny-Miney-Moe, Negan brings his barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat down upon Abraham, beating him until his head has been reduced to pulp. Daryl is enraged by Negan's actions and manages to strike him before being forced to his knees again. Because of that outburst, Negan decides to kill another member of the group to make sure his message sinks in, this time killing Glenn.
After killing Abraham and Glenn, Negan then takes Rick away in his RV. Later in the day, they return and Negan demands that Rick cut off one of Carl's arms or he'll kill the entire group. Rick wails his unwillingness to mutilate his son, but Carl tells him it is okay. With great hesitation, Rick raises a machete in preparation to amputate Carl's arm, but before he brings the blade down, Negan stops him, satisfied that Rick has become submissive. He then allows Rick's group to return home so that they can begin producing for him, but takes Daryl back to the Sanctuary with him.
Carl is infuriated by Negan's actions and is disheartened by the rest of the group's willingness to submit to him. When the Saviors make their first visit to Alexandria, he threatens a Savior with a gun, but soon lowers it when Negan warns him of what he'll do if the boy pulls the trigger. A few days later, he decides to take action and kill Negan, travelling to the Hilltop while the Saviors are on a supply run and sneaking into the back of one of their trucks. When the trucks return to the Sanctuary, Carl is discovered and he shoots a Savior before demanding to see Negan. When Negan appears, he calls Carl "adorable". Rather than confronting Carl, he decides to bring the boy into the Sanctuary and shows him what goes on there.
While in the Sanctuary, Carl is introduced to Negan's harem of wives and Negan tells him to take off his eye bandage. After making several distasteful comments, Negan suggests that Carl leave the bandage off as he looks more "badass" without it. He then orders Carl to sing a song and Carl, terrified, begins singing "You Are My Sunshine" as Negan casually swings around Lucille. Finally, Negan shows Carl the furnace on the factory floor and what he does to those who are disloyal to him, punishing a Savior who had slept with one of his wives by burning his face with a hot iron while Carl watches in horror.
Later, Negan takes Carl home to Alexandria and decides to spend some time there, putting Carl and the other residents into a constant state of unease. Rick is away when he arrives and so he talks business with Spencer Monroe. Spencer, disgruntled with Alexandria's situation and blaming Rick for everything that has gone wrong, tries to convince Negan to kill Rick and put him in charge. Instead, Negan publicly kills Spencer by disembowelling him in the middle of the street. Rick returns in time to witness this and is mortified, but Negan explains what happened and claims to have done him a favour. Suddenly, a shot rings out as Rosita attempts to shoot Negan, only to hit his bat instead. Negan then orders Arat to kill someone, resulting in Olivia's death. After finding out that Alexandria still has some leftover guns and that Eugene had made a bullet for Rosita, Negan confiscates the remaining weapons and takes Eugene back to the Sanctuary.
Following these events, Carl works with his father and their allies in organizing a resistance movement against the Saviors. They try negotiating with King Ezekiel of the Kingdom and Gregory of the Hilltop and later dismantle an explosive tripwire trap on the road to claim the explosives. He later joins the excursion to Oceanside to acquire the community's guns in order to fight the Saviors. After gaining the support of the Scavengers, everything seems set to begin fighting back. However, when the time comes to confront Negan, the plan seemingly falls apart as the Scavengers betray the Alexandrians.
Negan tells Rick that he knew of his plan to defy and attack him, as Jadis had revealed his plans and he offered to let her live if Rick turns over all their guns. Even then, Negan will still execute one Alexandrian of Rick’s choosing. If he refuses, Negan will kill them all. Rick insists on seeing Sasha, who had been captured by the Saviors days prior. Negan taps Lucille against the casket, knocking. When he opens the casket door, a reanimated Sasha attacks him. Carl then leads the attack against the Scavengers and the Saviors during the distraction. Eric and Aaron follow Carl's lead and help against the attack.
Those on the guard posts open fire on the Saviors outside. Michonne fights Farron on the balcony. In the chaos, Rosita is shot, and shortly after is escorted away by Tara. Rick tries to join the fight, but Jadis holds him at gunpoint.
In the streets below, The Saviors and Scavengers have gained control of the situation; some Alexandrians have been killed, and the rest are in custody. Carl is surrounded by over a dozen Saviors. Jadis leads Rick to Negan and orders him to kneel beside Carl. She reminds Negan of their deal – twelve people in exchange for the Scavengers' help in the attack. Negan swiftly bargains her down to 10. They look on in horror as a body plummets to the ground from Michonne's balcony post.
Negan vows to kill Carl and cut off Rick's hands as punishment for Rick's collusion. Rick swallows his fear and furiously reiterates his pledge to kill Negan, regardless of the threats he makes. As Negan prepares to strike Carl with Lucille, Shiva leaps onto a nearby Scavenger and mauls him. Negan and the Saviors scatter as warriors from the Kingdom arrive. Rick reaches for a gun as a nearby Savior is gunned down by Maggie, who has arrived with the Hilltop fighters. Rick and Carl join the fight. Negan and his men leave under a hail of bullets and gives his attackers the middle finger before escaping. Jadis and the Scavengers retreat as well.
Season 8[]
With the breakout of war between Alexandria and the Saviors, Rick and Carl go scavenging for supplies they will need in the struggle to come. As they search for fuel at an abandoned gas station, they encounter a lone man who appears dishevelled and starving. Carl tries to talk to the man, but Rick fires off a shot and sends the stranger running. He tells Carl that they are in no position to trust anyone they don't know, though Carl disagrees. Later on in the day, Carl returns to the gas station alone where he leaves behind some food and a note of apology for the stranger.
Some time later, Carl goes searching for the mysterious man and finds him in the woods, offering him food and water. Carl introduces himself to the stranger, who tells him his name is Siddiq. He then asks Siddiq his group's standard list of questions when meeting potential recruits, asking him how many walkers he's killed, how many people and why. Siddiq explains that he's killed 237 walkers to honour his mother, because she believed killing them freed their souls. Carl then invites him to Alexandria. On their way to Alexandria, Carl and Siddiq come across a small group of walkers feeding on a dead elk. Carl suggests they kill the walkers to honour Siddiq's mother. After a slight struggle, they kill all the walkers and continue towards Alexandria.
In Alexandria, while the others prepare for their final assault on the Sanctuary, Carl sits alone in a room in contemplation. He writes a letter to Rick and upon sifting through a pile of papers, finds Enid's 'just survive somehow' note. Later, Michonne finds Carl bringing supplies to a sewage entrance under cover of darkness. Carl tells her that the items are meant for Siddiq. The duo's conversation is interrupted by Negan who, having had the lookouts silently taken out, bangs Lucille against the safe haven's gates and offers them a deal over a loudspeaker: either the people of Alexandria can line up in front of their homes, decide who's going to be the offering for Lucille, have Rick killed in front of everyone and then everyone can move on with their lives, or the Saviors will bomb the safezone with grenade launchers. Negan gives the survivors three minutes for them to decide.
Carl quickly formulates an escape route from Alexandria. Michonne refuses to leave their homes to the Saviors, but Carl insists they follow his plan. As Negan and over two dozen Saviors are preparing to torch Alexandria to the ground, they are interrupted by Carl who tries to defuse the situation. He says that there are children and his sister taking refuge at the town; however, Negan states that they also have young people at the Sanctuary, as well as a baby at an outpost whose fate Negan is wondering about. Carl offers his life as a punishment in the hopes that it would stop the Saviors from attacking. Negan is stunned and asks Carl if he wants to die, to which he replies he doesn't, but will, and is willing to give up his life if it means less blood will be shed.
As Negan and Carl are having their emotional conversation, Daryl leads a convoy of trucks, acting as a decoy, smashing the walls at the back of the safezone and through a roadblock of vehicles set up by Dwight, Laura, and other Saviors who subsequently chase the convoy. Carl takes the distraction to his advantage and runs off, with Negan cursing out the boy and ordering his men to begin the bombardment. As buildings explode around him, Carl covers his escape with a trail of smoke bombs, and watches as Gabriel's church is torn apart by an explosion.
As the Saviors continue their bombardment, Carl and other Alexandrians release smoke grenades throughout the dark streets to provide cover as they flee. Shellshocked, he takes a moment to catch his breath beside one of the residences, but hears a window break, and escapes just in time as the building and others nearby explode. Negan's troops smash their way through Alexandria's gates. He orders the Saviors to capture Carl alive, destroy every other house, and send Rick to him when he arrives. Carl evades capture and descends into the sewers. When Rick and Michonne join them, they see Carl laying on the cold, hard floor, and looking sweaty and tired. Carl lifts his shirt, showing Rick an unmistakable bite on his abdomen, explaining that it happened as he helped Siddiq. Rick and Michonne reel in horror as reality sets in.
As Carl's health deteriorates, he tells his father the hopes he had for the future, not just for himself but for everyone. He gives Rick a stack of letters he had written earlier on and has Daryl take hold of Judith. He takes off the hat that Rick had given him years ago, passing it over to Judith and telling her it was now hers. Siddiq kneels down beside Carl and offers to give him medicine to ease his symptoms, but Carl refuses as others may need it more later. Siddiq thanks Carl for everything he had done for him and promises to honour him after he is gone.
A while later, the bombing of the town has ceased and the survivors move out of the sewer. Carl is carried out by Rick and Michonne who take him to the ruined church. There, Carl confesses his guilt over killing the boy he had encountered during the Governor's attack on the prison and how killing became easier after that. He points out that Rick had made the choice to stop fighting the people of Woodbury and that he needs to do the same again with the Saviors, telling his father about his vision of the future and how he hopes that he will make it happen. After saying his final, tearful goodbyes to his father and Michonne, Carl decides to end his life before the sickness claims him and ensure that he doesn't reanimate. After Rick and Michonne step outside, the sound of a silenced gunshot is heard as Carl shoots himself in the head.