Simon is a supporting antagonist in AMC's survival-horror series, The Walking Dead. He is a high-ranking member of the Saviors and the right-hand man of Negan Smith. He is portrayed by Steven Ogg.
Overview[]
Simon served as the right-hand of Negan for quite some time, which afforded him a great deal of authoritative power within the Saviors, second only to Negan himself. He is often shown to be a calm, hardworking and charismatic man who takes a business-like approach to most situations whilst maintaining a wry sense of humour. However, he is also ruthless and calculating, much like Negan. His veneer of civility belies a cruel, psychotic and bloodthirsty temperament. While Negan considers people a vital resource and should not be killed unnecessarily, Simon would rather slaughter anyone who continues to defy the Saviors.
History[]
Early life[]
Little is known about Simon's life prior to his service for the Saviors. Before the apocalypse, he lived in Virginia and sold subprime mortgages to unsuspecting customers, always managing to smooth-talk people into giving him what he wanted.
Early on in the outbreak, Simon was a part of a group of survivors who had taken refuge in an abandoned factory. The group's leader proved to be inept, and would be killed by Negan when he and his small band of Saviors arrived to claim the factory as their Sanctuary. Simon and his group were indoctrinated into the Saviors, with Simon himself being appointed as Negan's second-in-command. Under their leadership, the Saviors would soon absorb large numbers of other survivors into their ranks, growing to include over 600 people.
Season 6[]
Simon would first appear in the Season 6 finale "Last Day on Earth". By this time, the Saviors were aware of the Alexandria Safe-Zone and the growing friendship between them and the Hilltop Colony, a settlement that had been pressed into their service. After Rick Grimes' people had massacred an entire outpost, Simon has the Saviors intercept a convoy attempting to reach Hilltop, setting up roadblocks along every path between there and Alexandria. Rick's convoy is soon corraled into a clearing where the Saviors force each of the survivors to their knees as Negan makes his introduction, informing them all that they are now to work for him. But before they can be allowed to go home and begin producing for the Saviors, Negan has to kill one of their group in order to establish dominance, bringing his bat down on Abraham Ford.
Season 7[]
After killing both Abraham and Glenn, Negan then takes Rick on a trip into the wilderness in his RV to put him through a test to prove his loyalty. Meanwhile, Simon and the other Saviors stay behind to watch over the rest of Rick's group. They wait without incident until Negan and Rick return, with Rick having apparently gotten Negan's message. Rick and co. are allowed to return home and begin producing for the Saviors, who all return to the Sanctuary along with Daryl Dixon as their prisoner.
With the Alexandrians now apparently brought to heel, Simon goes to meet with Gregory, the leader of the Hilltop, informing him that Alexandria is now under the Saviors' control. The two of them discuss how the Saviors have been providing a great service to the Hilltop by protecting it from the undead and that anything that might cause the Hilltop to back out of their arrangement would not go well for them. Gregory accepts this quite readily, having never had any faith that Rick's people could protect Hilltop from the Saviors. When Simon asks Gregory if anything had been happening at the settlement that he should be aware of, Gregory indicates toward his closet, where Maggie Rhee and Sasha Williams are both hiding. Simon opens the closet, but Maggie and Sasha are hidden behind some large boxes and he doesn't see them, though he does notice two boxes full of bottles of scotch which he happily takes, along with half of the supplies in Barrington House and a painting in Gregory's office.
When Daryl escapes from the Sanctuary, Negan orders Simon to organize a search for him. Suspecting that Daryl will most likely return home to Alexandria, Simon leads the Saviors there. When they arrive, Rick asks why they have come before the appointed tribute time. Simon explains that he believes Rick may be harbouring Daryl and has the Saviors turn the town inside out as they try to find him. They come up empty and Simon remarks that the town pantries are bare, to which Aaron replies that there is very little left outside to scavenge. Simon mocks the Alexandrians for being inept before he and the Saviors pack up and leave.
Some time later, Simon would pay a visit to the Hilltop in order to recruit their doctor, Harlan Carson, whose brother who previously worked at the Sanctuary had been killed by Negan. In exchange, Simon offers Gregory a crate full of aspirin. During their meeting, Gregory pulls Simon aside and hints towards the residents losing faith in him, which could result in someone less loyal to the Saviors (Maggie) taking over. Simon gives Gregory a hand-written note that will grant him entry into the Saviors' satellite outpost should he ever need to seek their help. The Hilltop residents gather at the gates and watch Simon and the Saviors leave with Harlan.
When Eugene Porter is brought into the Sanctuary as a new asset, Simon is initially skeptical of him, believing that he may still be loyal to Rick's people. After Negan is impressed by Eugene's technical know-how and his loyalty is easily bought with creature comforts, he assures Simon that he has nothing to worry about. Later, after learning that the Alexandrians have been plotting to fight back against the Saviors, Negan, Simon and Eugene arrive in Alexandria. Rick's people had planted explosives on the roads for the Saviors, but because of the betrayal of their new "allies", the Scavengers, the explosives fail to detonate when triggered. Negan reveals that he had been told about the explosives by the Scavengers, all of whom have turned their guns on the Alexandrians.
Simon and Dwight remove a coffin from their flatbed; Negan announces that Sasha is inside, alive and well. He offers to let her live if Rick turns over all their guns, lemonade and pool equipment – and Daryl. Even then, Negan will still execute one Alexandrian of Rick's choosing using Lucille. If he refuses, Negan will kill them all. Rick insists on seeing Sasha. Negan taps Lucille against the casket, knocking. What Negan and Simon are unaware of is that Eugene had earlier given Sasha a suicide pill, which she took during the ride to Alexandria. When the casket is opened, Sasha emerges as a walker and attacks Negan. One Savior comes to Negan's aid, only for the zombified Sasha to kill him. Simon then quickly runs to Negan's aid and brings him to cover as Negan calls for his men to attack.
After the Saviors have seemingly won the battle, Simon is present among the group of Saviors inside Alexandria as Rick and Carl are lined up and as Negan is about to hit Carl with Lucille, warriors from the Kingdom arrive under the leadership of Ezekiel to assist Alexandria. The battle is then joined by Maggie and the soldiers from the Hilltop. Due to the overwhelming forces of Alexandria, the Kingdom and Maggie's troops from the Hilltop, Simon hops back into the truck he drove in on, along with Negan and Dwight, and drives them away from the battle, making their retreat. This marks the beginning of an all-out war between the Saviors and Rick's allies.
Season 8[]
Following the battle at Alexandria, Simon and the rest of the Saviors' higher-ups meet with Negan to discuss how to respond to this act of defiance. Simon invites Gregory to the Sanctuary where they discuss where the Hilltop stands in the conflict. Gregory assures Simon that he and the Hilltop stand with the Saviors, although Simon had seen Hilltop residents following Maggie's leadership during the battle at Alexandria and has doubts about Gregory's assurances. Believing that the Hilltop will never kneel to them again under Maggie's leadership, Simon proposes a scorched-earth response by slaughtering everyone at the Hilltop and destroying the entire settlement as an example to everyone else. Negan disagrees with this proposal, considering killing that many people to be a waste of potential resources.
The Militia later arrive at the compound and Simon and Gregory step outside with Negan and Eugene to greet their visitors. Simon urges the Hilltop members of the Militia to go home and that Gregory had stated the Hilltop stood with the Saviors, but the Hilltop fighters make it clear that they no longer regard Gregory as their leader, but Maggie. Simon is enraged by this and decides that Gregory is no longer useful, kicking him down a flight of stairs before retreating back inside the Sanctuary along with the other lieutenants. Negan, meanwhile, finds himself on the ground floor where he is surrounded by walkers.
Simon meets with Gavin, Regina, Dwight, and Eugene again and the lieutenants discuss what to do in the event of Negan's death. Regina mentions that they should send their workers to distract the walkers while they alert the outposts, but Eugene refuses to do that, as he insists they are valuable. Dwight agrees and says to Simon that if they are not gonna lead the Saviors out, he will. The meeting is soon interrupted when dozens of workers assemble outside the meeting room, complaining about the loss of power and the danger presented by the walkers outside. Simon orders everyone to go back to the factory floor, but one of the workers draws a gun and attempts to shoot him. Just then, Regina guns down the worker, saving Simon. Negan then walks in along with Gabriel Stokes, explaining how he is gonna take a shower, eat a sandwich and then have a "talk" with Simon about an apparent mole among the Saviors' ranks.
The following night, the Saviors launch a three-pronged operation against the Militia, carrying out attacks on Alexandria and the Kingdom while Simon intercepts a Hilltop convoy heading towards the Sanctuary. Having captured Ezekiel's right-hand man Jerry, Simon threatens to kill him after stopping Maggie's convoy. He tells Maggie that the Kingdom and Alexandria are about to be wiped out, but the Hilltop is still considered useful and will be spared so long as Maggie agrees to get everybody to fall in line. He shows her a large wooden box, telling her that he will put her in it and bring her to Negan alive so that he can then kill her publicly, or alternatively, the Hilltop surrenders immediately and the only cost of their defiance will be one of their people's lives. He then draws a gun and shoots Neil, telling Maggie that they are now square as long as she agrees to his terms immediately. Maggie tells Simon what he wants to hear and asks to borrow the box, supposedly to bury Neil in. Simon agrees and has Jerry released before his crew depart.
Following the fall of Alexandria and the Kingdom, Negan sets his sights on the Scavengers and orders Simon to make sure that they fall in line as well. Simon reiterates that the Scavengers aren't trustworthy and that they should kill them off and be done with it, but Negan reminds him that people are a resource and that killing them all would be wasteful. Simon becomes frustrated by Negan's decision but their conversation is then interrupted when Negan is informed that a package arrived for him. He and Simon head for the Sanctuary meeting room where they find the box that Simon had given to Maggie. The box clearly has a zombie locked inside it and a message is written on the lid, stating that there are 38 more Saviors where this one came from. Negan opens the box and uses a nail gun to put down the zombie inside, seeing that it was Dean, one of the Saviors from the satellite outpost who had been captured by the Militia. After witnessing this, Simon tries to tell Negan once more that the Hilltop won't back down and that they need to be wiped out, but Negan angrily retorts that Simon needs to do his job, telling him to go to the Heaps.
Simon leads a group to the Heaps to meet with the Scavengers where he discusses their previous actions in helping Rick supposedly attack the Sanctuary while it was already surrounded by walkers. Jadis explains that she and her people ditched Rick when things went south, but Simon demands a proper, heartfelt apology from her as well as all of her people's weapons. Reluctantly, the Scavengers hand over their guns and Jadis tells Simon that she feels remorse over her previous actions. Simon, however, is determined to be rid of the Scavengers once and for all and shoots one of them, stating that he doesn't believe that Jadis is being sincere. When Jadis apologizes again, he shoots another Scavenger. He then tells his Saviors to gun down all of them, leading to a massacre. Jadis runs out of sight before falling down beside one of her murdered friends and pretending to be a corpse. The Saviors overlook her and continue killing until all of the other Scavengers are dead before leaving. When Simon returns to the Sanctuary, he lies to Negan and states that he delivered the message to the Scavengers.
After conferring with Eugene, Negan decides upon a new shock-and-awe tactic to threaten the Hilltop into compliance: sniping at them with projectiles tainted with walker blood, wounding them and causing them to die of infection and turn, creating chaos inside the settlement. The Saviors load up on zombie guts and drive towards the Hilltop, but along the way, Negan's car is rammed off the road by Rick. The Savior convoy comes to a stop and Simon and Dwight search for Negan. As they search, Simon expresses his doubts about Negan's leadership to Dwight and asks for his perspective on it. Dwight feigns ignorance and lets Simon draw his own conclusion, which comes down to the need to do away with Rick and his allies and seek out new communities. The duo later find Negan's wrecked car, but no sign of Negan himself. Simon deems that Negan is more than likely dead and he and Dwight rendezvous with the other Saviors to deliver the news. With Negan MIA, Simon declares that he is now in charge of the Saviors.
Simon decides for the Saviors to continue with the proposed assault on the Hilltop, but with the end goal now being total extermination. His army rolls up to the gates of the Hilltop and he radios Maggie, telling her that her choices have now doomed her people. Maggie informs Simon of the 38 Saviors she still has imprisoned, but Simon makes it clear that he doesn't care about them and orders his people to attack. The Saviors attack using tainted blades and arrows, leading to several Militia members and some of the imprisoned Saviors being wounded. However, the Hilltop proves to be more than adequately defended and many of the attacking Saviors are killed. Infuriated that his plan is failing, Simon orders the Saviors to retreat.
Following the botched attack on the Hilltop, Simon is met by Gregory, who had escaped along with the imprisoned Saviors. At first, he tries to assure Simon that he had nothing to do with the deaths of his soldiers, but Simon informs him that he now leads the Saviors and that they no longer have any kind of working relationship. Gregory then dares to talk down to Simon, telling him that he doesn't have the necessary leadership qualities to make people fall in line and that he can help him in that regard. Simon is angered by this, but decides to let Gregory live and work for him, but only as a lowly servant.
When Negan unexpectedly returns to the Sanctuary, Simon is forced to fall in line. He apologizes for the disaster that occurred at the Hilltop and prepares to face whatever punishment Negan doles out, but just as Negan contempletes on using Lucille to beat him to death, he suddenly tells him that all is forgiven. Afterwards, Simon later meets with Dwight and his supporters out in the Sanctuary courtyard to discuss killing Negan. However, Dwight had tipped Negan off beforehand and the Savior leader has Simon's supporters shot. Negan then goes off on Simon for going behind his back and killing off the Scavengers, but despite Simon's treachery, he is willing to give him a chance at leadership by facing him in a fight to the death.
Inside the factory, the Saviors watch as Negan and Simon prepare to fight one another. Simon gives a speech about how he would do what needs to be done in order to keep the Saviors going, then in the middle of the speech, throws a punch at Negan, taking him by surprise. Though Simon appears to have the upper hand initially, Negan soon overpowers him and knocks him to the floor. He then gets down and strangles Simon, telling him how he had ruined the Saviors' last chance at peacefully bringing Rick's people to heel and that he now has no choice but to wipe them all out. Negan then crushes Simon's windpipe, killing him.
After death, Simon reanimates as a walker and Negan has him chained to the fence outside the Sanctuary. He does not remain there for long as the Saviors are later defeated in their final battle with the Militia and, when the surviving Saviors return home, they dispose of all the walkers on the fence, Simon included.