Eric Raleigh is a supporting character from The Walking Dead, appearing between Seasons 5 and 8. He was a member of the survivor community of Alexandria and was married to Aaron, whom he worked with to recruit new members for the community. He was portrayed by Jordan Woods-Robinson.
History[]
Pre-Apocalypse[]
Before the dead walked the Earth, Eric worked for an NGO delivering food and medicine to needy people in the Niger River Delta. Because of his childhood growing up in nature, Eric was comfortable traversing Nigeria's terrain. Through working in the NGO, Eric met Aaron and the two became good friends who worked well with each other.
Sometime after, Eric and Aaron started dating. On their fifth date, Aaron confessed his love for Eric, to which Eric replied "I had a hunch", reciprocating his feelings as well. The two became romantic and work partners and lived together in Washington, D.C. During their relationship, however, Eric and Aaron were victims of homophobia and were constantly seen as outsiders.
When the outbreak began, Eric and Aaron were among the first to be relocated to the Alexandria Safe-Zone. After the military abandoned the safe-zone, former congresswoman Deanna Monroe chose to stay and rallied the civilians into remaining in order to attempt rebuilding civilization. Because Eric and Aaron worked for an NGO, survived dangerous terrain, and had to negotiate with hostile people, she saw the two as perfect recruiters for the safe-zone. Over 18 months, Eric and Aaron provided the safe-zone with dozens of good and hard-working people.
Season 5[]
Eric and Aaron are out in the wilds, observing the roads for people that they might be able to recruit. During the scouting mission, Eric came across a licence plate to add to Aaron's collection. However, a horde of walkers neared his location and Eric hid under a car. The undead pushed the car's rear, forcing one of the back wheels onto Eric's ankle. Eric was able to limp away and fire off an emergency flare to call Aaron back. Instead, however, he is saved by Rick Grimes and his group, whom Aaron had encountered earlier. He and Aaron later lead Rick and his people back to Alexandria where Eric's injury is treated.
While Eric is recovering, he and Aaron consider recruiting Daryl Dixon to replace him as a scout, given his experience of surviving and tracking out in the wild. They even give Daryl a motorcycle that Aaron had been repairing and Daryl becomes fast friends with the couple. However, not all of Rick's people adjust well to life within the community, having lived out in the wild for so long. Rick even gets into a fight with Pete Anderson not long after arriving in the safe-zone and the community holds a meeting to decide whether or not Rick should be allowed to remain in Alexandria. Carol offers an impassioned speech in defence of Rick, stating just how terrible things are beyond the town's walls and that Alexandria will need people like Rick if it is to survive. Eric is pleased by Carol's words and fully supports Rick's group, believing that Alexandria needs them.
Season 6[]
Eric is still recovering from his foot injury when Alexandria is threatened by both a colossal herd of zombies and a band of marauders known as the Wolves. Despite his condition, he remains steadfast in the face of these perils. While he is in no condition to fight, he offers emotional support for others when they are struggling. He survives the Wolves' attack and also survives when the undead overrun Alexandria. Having largely recovered by this time, he and Aaron rally the other residents to support Rick, Michonne and their friends as they attempt to eliminate all of the walkers in the town, bringing the entire community together to fight back and wipe out the herd.
Season 7[]
When the Saviors effectively take over Alexandria, Eric is mostly uninvolved with the events that transpire while Rick formulates a plan to fight back against Negan. However, this changes when Tara Chambler leads him, Rick, Aaron, Michonne and several others to Oceanside, a community that had previously fought the Saviors. Tara attempts to negotiate with Natania, Oceanside's leader, urging her to give the Alexandrians guns in order to fight the Saviors. When negotiations fail, the group execute their Plan B: using explosives to distract the Oceansiders and take hostages in order to force Natania to give up the guns. Natania instead takes Tara hostage, but is knocked out by her granddaughter Cyndie. However, because of the explosives and gunfire, it lures in a small herd of walkers. Eric, Aaron, and the others of Rick's group shoot the herd while being assisted by the Oceansiders. After the battle, Eric helps the group take the guns from Oceanside, promising to bring them back when the war against the Saviors is done.
Following their arrival back to Alexandria from Oceanside, the group discovers Dwight's change of allegiance from the Saviors to Rick and the community to ruin Negan - warning them about an attack by Negan because of a mole alerting him of resistance from Rick and the community. With the Scavengers' help, Eric and the community prepare for the battle with Negan and the Saviors using Oceanside's guns.
On a truck, Eric guards the wall of Alexandria with Aaron. When Negan and the Saviors arrive, the explosives that Aaron, Daryl, and Rosita prepared failed to go off. At that moment, the Scavengers betray Alexandria. One of the Scavengers aim their gun at Eric and Aaron. However, when a reanimated Sasha attacks Negan, Carl leads the attack against the Scavengers and the Saviors during the distraction. Eric and Aaron follow Carl's lead and help against the attack. Eric and Aaron fight the Scavengers and Saviors, followed by the assistance with the Kingdom and Hilltop residents. After driving out the Scavengers and Saviors, the community prepares for war.
Season 8[]
As the war against the Saviors rages, Eric takes part in an operation to raid a Savior outpost for weapons. Arriving in front of a café in armoured vehicles, the Militia open fire on the Saviors in the courtyard. The battle is long and while the Militia seem to have the advantage, they do not win without casualties. Eric is wounded when he is struck in the abdomen by gunfire. Aaron comes to his aid and pulls him out of the line of fire, setting him down by a tree. He offers to stay with Eric, but his husband tells him to get back into the fight as the others need him more at that moment. The two kiss and reaffirm their love for each other before Aaron heads back to the battle.
After the battle, Aaron returns to the tree to find that Eric is gone. Noticing the large patch of blood on the trunk, he then looks out across the field to see a herd of walkers in the distance and Eric staggering his way towards them. While Aaron was fighting, Eric had bled out and then reanimated afterwards. Aaron breaks down in tears as he watches Eric's reanimated body shuffle away.