Deanna Monroe is an important supporting character in AMC's The Walking Dead. Appearing in Seasons 5 and 6, she was the leader of the Alexandria Safe-Zone. She was portrayed by Tovah Feldshuh.
History[]
Before the zombie outbreak, Deanna was a congresswoman from Ohio. With her natural leadership skills and exceptional ability to read people, she won the re-election and was highly regarded by her community.
When the outbreak occurred, Deanna and her family were out of state. Though they tried to return, the military re-directed them towards a safe-zone established in Virginia. The military personnel left to deal with the growing undead threat, but never returned. At some point, Deanna was appointed as the head of the community within the safe-zone, possibly being the only politician within it. At the time of the outbreak, construction of a shopping mall in the area was underway, and so Deanna and the other residents of the safe-zone used the materials on the site to build up walls to keep the zombies out.
Eighteen months since the initial outbreak, Alexandria was thriving. The community had supplies, power and weapons, but still required more people to ensure its long-term survival. Deanna believed that the community needed people who had experienced the terrors of the post-apocalyptic world, and so she sent Aaron and Eric Raleigh out in search of survivors that would contribute to Alexandria's growth. Aaron and Eric would eventually return with former cop Rick Grimes and his children, along with a number of survivors from Atlanta, all from different backgrounds who had bonded together by surviving the outside world's many perils together.
After interviewing Rick and each member of his group individually, Deanna and the other residents of Alexandria officially welcomed them into the community. It took some time for many of them to adjust to a state of safety after being outside for so long, but soon Rick and his group were given jobs within the community. Rick became Alexandria's new constable, charged with keeping the peace within the walls. Doubts were raised about Rick's position after he demanded Deanna banish Pete Anderson for abusing his wife Jessie and their children, but Deanna remained certain that she had made the right choice, even after an incident where Rick beat Pete in the middle of the street.
Two nights after the fight between Rick and Pete, Deanna called a meeting to discuss what to do about Rick. To gain a better understanding of Rick's mindset, she met with the members of his group who all seemed to support him, with the exception of Father Gabriel who had warned Deanna earlier that Rick's group weren't to be trusted. Rick, who had been placed in a cell after his fight with Pete, had escaped and found that the gate had been left open, allowing zombies to enter. Rick dispatches the walkers and then takes one of the corpses to the meeting, laying it before everyone in order to illustrate his point. Shortly after, Pete barges in wielding Michonne's sword that he had taken from her house. He yells that Rick doesn't belong in Alexandria and Deanna's husband Reg tries to calm him down, only for Reg to shove him aside and accidentally slit his throat with the katana blade. While Pete is restrained, Deanna wails as her husband bleeds out. She then tells Rick to kill Pete and he does so, shooting Pete in the head.
After Reg's death, Deanna meets with Gabriel, telling him he was wrong about Rick. Even after the tragedy of losing her husband and having to execute Pete, Deanna still believes that having Rick in Alexandria is for the best. Later, while Rick is organising efforts to direct a mega-horde of zombies away from Alexandria, Deanna makes plans for Alexandria's expansion. She shares these plans with Michonne and expresses her wish that Rick eventually assume leadership of the community.
After enduring an attack by the Wolves and the appearance of half the mega-horde of walkers at its gates, Alexandria faces its most dire crisis. The damaged church tower outside the wall collapses, destroying a section of the wall and allowing the horde to flood into the streets. Everyone runs to their homes to take shelter, but Deanna is set upon by a walker and falls against a sawing table, badly cutting herself on the saw-blade. Rick helps her up and they take refuge in the Andersons' house along with Carl, Judith, Michonne, Gabriel, Jessie and her sons Ron and Sam. While Michonne tends to Deanna's wounds in Sam's room, she finds that Deanna had also been bitten.
Death[]
In the episode "Start to Finish", Deanna succumbs to infection after being bitten by a walker. Before she dies, she speaks with Rick about her plans for Alexandria and how she remains confident that she made the right choice by letting him and his group in. She also tells Rick that she wants him to take her place as leader of the community.
When Rick and the others decide to try and escape from Jessie's house, they coat themselves in walker blood and guts to hide their scent and move among the horde unnoticed. Deanna is left behind with a revolver so that she can kill herself before she turns, but as the zombies come upstairs, she decides to go down fighting and shoots as many of the undead as she can before she is overwhelmed. The last that is seen of Deanna is her screaming at the oncoming swarm of zombies.
In the episode "The Next World", two months have passed since Rick and the people of Alexandria have taken back their home. During this episode, Michonne follows Deanna's last surviving son Spencer into the woods. Spencer is carrying a shovel with him. After a while, the two come across a walker in the woods which Michonne is shocked to discover is Deanna. Carl and Enid were also in the woods and had earlier spotted Deanna, and Carl decided to lure Deanna into Spencer's path so that he could put her down himself. Michonne grabs Deanna from behind to restrain her while Spencer slides a knife into the back of his mother's head, puncturing her brain and ending her undead existence. Spencer then buries his mother's body at the foot of a tree where he has carved a 'D' into the wood.