Hershel Greene (portrayed by Scott Wilson) is a major character from the survival-horror TV series The Walking Dead. First appearing in Season 2, he and his family initially waited out the zombie outbreak in the relative safety of their farm which was isolated from any urban areas. Originally believing the living dead to merely be sick, he found himself in for a rude awakening after meeting Rick Grimes and his band of survivors. While initially blind to the horrific reality of the apocalypse, Hershel has since come to be a close friend and sage councillor to Rick and the other members of his group.
Personality[]
Hershel is the quintessential stubborn farmer. He believes strongly in what he considers to be right and was known to be uncompromising in defence of his morals. He also cares deeply for his family and protecting them (particularly his daughters Maggie and Beth) is one of the few times he would go against even his own moral code and do what needed to be done. As of Seasons 3 and 4, Hershel is shown to be a skilled diplomat, often talking down the other survivors from taking disastrous actions or talking them into taking the right ones, though these talks do not work as desired with everyone.
History[]
Pre-apocalypse[]
In his youth, Hershel had a strained relationship with his father due to the latter's alcohol abuse. This habit was a trait that Hershel would inherit as he too turned to drink in his middle years, even going as far as pawning his father's pocket watch which had been handed down from previous generations to pay for his habit. Hershel did eventually sober up with the help of his wife Josephine who also bought the watch back.
Before the apocalypse, Hershel was both a farmer and a veterinarian. His wife died due to sickness when their daughter Maggie was 6 years old and he remarried years later, much to his daughter's chagrin. Fortunately, Maggie gradually warmed up to Annette and her son from her previous marriage, Shawn.
When the undead outbreak occurred, Annette and Shawn were bitten by zombies and infected, eventually turning themselves. Hershel, not believing their deaths and thinking they were merely under a disease of some kind (as the television/radio broadcasts seemed to imply) had his farmhand Otis put them in the barn for holding until what seemed like an epidemic to him would blow over. He barricaded his remaining family and friends within the farm and had Otis continue to wrangle the zombified townspeople that came onto the premises and put them in the barn.
Season 2[]
Hershel and the rest of the Greene family make their début in the Season 2 episode "Bloodletting". His farmhand Otis returns to the farm from hunting accompanied by Rick Grimes who is holding his wounded son Carl in his arms. While hunting a deer, Otis accidentally shot Carl as well. While Hershel's veterinary skills are enough to stabilize Carl temporarily, he needs better equipment to ensure the boy's survival. Otis and Shane Walsh go into town to raid an abandoned school for necessary supplies, but only Shane comes back from this excursion. He tells Hershel that Otis sacrificed himself to help Shane get away, but in truth, Shane crippled him and left him as bait for the walkers.
Hershel succeeds in operating on Carl, but he is hesitant to allow Rick's group to stay on his farm. The survivors become quite friendly with Hershel's family, especially Glenn Rhee who is attracted to Maggie, much to Hershel's annoyance. However, during the time that the group camp out by the farm, Glenn discovers that Hershel has been rounding up walkers and locking them in his barn. Unable to keep the secret from his group, Glenn warns them and a confrontation results between Rick and Hershel. Hershel explains that the walkers are merely victims of a terrible disease, but Rick and the others know better having survived out in the ruined world while the Greenes have been safely sheltered on their farm. It is only after Shane witnesses Hershel wrangling a walker that he aggressively makes the old farmer aware of their true nature, shooting the captive zombie multiple times and watching it continue struggling until being shot in the head. Shane then opens the barn, allowing the captive walkers inside to get out. He and the other survivors then kill the group of walkers, included among them the zombified body of Carol Peletier's previously-missing daughter Sophia.
For a brief time after the barn massacre, Hershel is in shock and escapes into drink at a bar in the deserted nearby town. After a discussion with Rick, he pulls himself out of his despair and returns to the farm, now knowing the hard truth about the undead and willing to help Rick and the others survive. He also comes to accept the blossoming relationship between Maggie and Glenn, even handing down his father's pocket watch to Glenn.
In the season's finale episode "Beside the Dying Fire", Hershel joins the rest of the group in fending off a herd of walkers that swarm onto his land. Though the group all fight valiantly, there are simply too many undead for them to deal with and Hershel reluctantly flees along with the others.
Season 3[]
Ten months after his farm is overrun, Hershel remains with Rick and the others. While all of the group members who escaped the farm are still alive, the winter has been unkind to them; the group have barely been surviving by scavenging from abandoned houses and have no secure shelter. In this time, Hershel has been unable to properly groom, having grown a full beard and longer hair.
Fortunately for the group, they discover the West Georgia Correctional Facility in the Season 3 premiere episode "Seed". After spending one more night under the stars, the group go through the difficult task of clearing the undead from the prison. Unfortunately for Hershel, he is bitten in the leg by a zombie. Rick and the others attempt to save Hershel by amputating his leg to stop the infection from spreading, though the shock and blood loss cause Hershel to lose consciousness and for a while his survival is left uncertain. Luckily, Hershel eventually recovers from the amputation. Though missing a limb, he refuses to be treated as an invalid and continues to help the group however he can. He largely acts as an advisor to Rick and helps him to come to terms with the loss of his wife Lori who died giving birth to their daughter Judith.
Throughout this season, Hershel acts as both an advisor for the others and their physician (since his veterinary talents make him the only medical professional in the group). It is thanks to his wise council that Rick is able to competently lead as he struggles with his grief and is able to protect the prison from the wrath of the Governor, who has vowed to destroy Rick's group in retaliation for the loss of his eye and his daughter (who was already undead, anyway). After the Governor's failed attack on the prison, Hershel joins Rick in welcoming the surviving residents of Woodbury into the prison.
Season 4[]
In the months since the Governor's assault, the prison community has expanded and is thriving. Around this time, Hershel has stopped using crutches and now walks using a wooden prosthetic leg. As the prison's population has grown, a system of government has become necessary and Hershel now sits as a member of the prison's leading council.
The stability of the prison is threatened when a flu-like virus begins spreading among the population. Several people are killed by the disease and reanimate as walkers, which only increases the danger to the others. Whilst Rick is searching for food and Daryl and several others are trying to find medical supplies, Hershel does his utmost to help the sick back at the prison, working with Dr. Caleb Subramanian to relieve the suffering of the patients and to manage their symptoms until the scouting parties come back. Though he is one of the only remaining able-bodied people left in the prison, Hershel maintains an iron resolve and manages to keep many of the infected alive until Daryl's party returns with much-needed medicine.
Death[]
In the episode "Too Far Gone", Hershel and Michonne are outside the prison fence disposing of their dead. They are ambushed and captured by the Governor who holds them hostage, intending to use them to force Rick and his group to leave the prison so that the Governor and his new group can claim it for themselves. Hershel tries to get the Governor to see reason, but the Governor has made his decision and refuses to be swayed.
When the Governor and his group arrive at the prison gates with their hostages, they demand that Rick and his people leave immediately or be destroyed. He holds Michonne's sword to Hershel's neck to make his point, but Rick tries to convince him that they needn't be enemies any more and that they can live together. The Governor dismisses Rick's pleas and brings the sword down on Hershel, slashing deep into his neck. He then orders his group to attack.
Hershel barely holds on to life after his neck has been cut so deep. Still restrained, he tries vainly to squirm away, but the Governor finishes the job and severs Hershel's head completely with a few more hacks.
In the episode "After", immediately after the battle, Hershel's severed head can be seen reanimated and still lying in the grass. Michonne returns to the prison and spots Hershel's head, stabbing it through the brain and ending his state of un-death.