Tyreese Williams is a major character from the survival-horror TV series The Walking Dead. First appearing in Season 3, he is a rugged apocalypse survivor with a strong moral compass. Though a physically imposing man, Tyreese isn't violent by nature; he is willing to do whatever is necessary to protect the people he cares for, but would rather avoid bloodshed if possible. In spite of the hopelessness that dominates the post-apocalyptic world, Tyreese refuses to let it change the type of person he is. He is portrayed by Chad Coleman.
History[]
Season 3[]
Tyreese first appears in the episode "Made to Suffer" along with his younger sister Sasha and a few other survivors. They are seeking shelter when they happen upon the West Georgia Correctional Facility, sneaking in through a partially demolished wall. Though they encounter walkers as they enter, they are saved by Carl Grimes who introduces them to his group led by his father Rick.
Tyreese and Sasha are given time to rest from their journey while the prison occupants discuss letting them join their group. Ultimately, it is left up to Rick to make the final decision, but when he meets with Tyreese, he experiences a hallucination of his deceased wife Lori, yelling at her to leave him alone. Tyreese and his group think that Rick is talking to them and they take their leave. Not long after departing from the prison, they encounter people from the town of Woodbury and are offered shelter and protection. When Tyreese meets with the Governor, he provides him with a partial layout of the prison and offers to help protect Woodbury from Rick's group.
For a time, Tyreese and his group help in defending Woodbury, but soon come to realise that the Governor is not the benevolent leader he claims to be. After learning of the Governor's plans to wage all-out war on Rick's group, Tyreese and Sasha leave Woodbury and join Rick at the prison.
Season 4[]
While living at the prison, Tyreese becomes close with another former Woodbury resident Karen. Sadly, their romance does not last as a flu-like disease begins spreading through the prison and Karen is infected. Karen is later killed by an unknown assailant, her body set on fire. Tyreese becomes enraged and demands that Rick find whoever is responsible and punish them. Rick tries to console Tyreese, but only angers him further and Tyreese beats Rick in a furious rage. Daryl struggles to get Tyreese off of Rick, who retaliates by punching Tyreese over and over. Eventually Tyreese calms down and joins Daryl, Michonne and Bob on a supply run to get medicine for the flu victims.
During the supply run, the group's car becomes surrounded by a massive horde of walkers. Tyreese, stirring in his rage over what happened to Karen, becomes lost in his own emotions and remains in the car while the others flee. Daryl, Bob and Michonne make it to a clearing in the woods but have no hope that Tyreese has survived the horde's onslaught. Astonishingly, Tyreese does survive after fighting his way through the countless zombies with just a hammer to defend himself. Though unhurt, he collapses from exhaustion.
The supply group eventually recover from their ordeal and find the medicine they need to help the flu-stricken residents back at the prison. But just as one crisis is overcome, another emerges. The Governor returns to the prison, having taken charge of another group of survivors who are armed with a tank and demands that Rick and his people leave the prison. Rick tries to convince the Governor that both groups can live in the prison, but the vengeful Governor won't have it and orders his people to attack. The battle ends with the Governor and most of his people killed, the death of Hershel Greene and the destruction of the prison, forcing Rick's group to scatter into the wilderness.
Tyreese escapes from the prison with Rick's infant daughter Judith and the Samuels sisters Lizzie and Mika. For a day, he cares for the children alone, trying to keep them alive as they trek through the zombie-infested woods. They eventually reunite with Carol Peletier, one of their group who wasn't at the prison when it was destroyed, and together they follow a train line through the woods. Along the way, they discover signs and maps leading to a place called "Terminus" which is advertised as a survivors colony, offering sanctuary to anyone that comes.
Along their way to Terminus, Tyreese, Carol and the children come across an isolated house in the middle of a serene grove. With a plentiful supply of food and a defensible position, it seems that the five of them have a place where they can live indefinitely. Unfortunately, Lizzie begins exhibiting dangerously psychotic behaviour as she becomes angry when Carol kills a walker she was "playing" with. In an insane attempt to make Carol and Tyreese see the undead the way she does, Lizzie even goes so far as to murder her sister Mika, intending to let her turn and plans to do the same to Judith. Carol talks Lizzie down and at night she and Tyreese come to the painful decision that Lizzie is too dangerous to be around other people. The following day, Carol takes Lizzie out into the field and shoots her. After this, Carol confesses to Tyreese that she had killed Karen and David after they came down with the flu. She had done so in order to stop the disease from spreading, but Rick had stated that it wasn't her call to make and had her exiled from the prison. Carol tells Tyreese that she will accept whatever punishment he deems fit, but ultimately Tyreese forgives Carol, accepting that she did what she did for the continued survival of the group and will have to live with that decision for the rest of her life. The next day, Tyreese and Carol bury Lizzie and Mika and leave the grove to find Terminus.
Season 5[]
Tyreese, Carol and Judith continue trekking through the woods when they hear gunshots in the distance, possibly coming from Terminus. They find a shack occupied by a man called Martin who is talking on his radio and mentions a "boy with the hat" and a "chick with the sword". Tyreese and Carol realise that he's referring to Carl Grimes and Michonne and they sneak up on him, binding his hands with a seat belt.
While Carol attempts to breach Terminus to rescue Rick and the others, Tyreese stands guard over Martin and Judith. Martin realises that Tyreese must be a good person if he's protecting a baby and its that compassion that will get him and Judith killed, suggesting that Tyreese take the car outside and go. When Tyreese turns his back to Martin when a herd of walkers approach, Martin lunges towards Judith and puts his hands around her neck, threatening to break it and orders Tyreese to go outside and face the herd of walkers. Tyreese, however, kills them all with his bare hands and tackles Martin to the ground of the shack, punching him several times and saying that he is not going to kill him. When Rick and the others show up, Tyreese tells Carol that he killed the man because he was threatening to kill Judith.
After the group flee from Terminus, they later rescue Father Gabriel Stokes who takes them to his small, isolated church where they take shelter. The group stay for a short time, but find themselves being stalked by Gareth and a handful of survivors from Terminus. Tyreese helps to protect Judith and the mortally wounded Bob while Rick, Daryl, Sasha and Michonne dispose of Gareth and his group. Afterwards, the group are divided once again as Abraham and Rosita plan to take Eugene Porter on ahead to Washington D.C. under the belief that he can cure the zombie contagion.
The group later reunite in Atlanta after discovering that Beth Greene is still alive and being held at Grady Memorial Hospital by the surviving police force. While a plan is devised to get Beth back, it collapses when Dawn Lerner, leader of the Grady group, demands the return of her ward Noah who had escaped the hospital and joined up with Rick's band. The exchange ends in tragedy when Beth stabs Dawn and Dawn reacts by shooting Beth. Dawn then gets shot by Daryl in retaliation.
Death[]
Tyreese meets his tragic demise in the episode "What Happened and What's Going On". The group travel to Virginia to return Noah to his family at Shirewilt Estates, but when they arrive they find the camp in ruins after it is ransacked by unknown marauders. Tyreese and Noah investigate Noah's old house to find supplies, but whilst looking at a number of photographs on the wall, Tyreese is attacked from behind by a zombified child that used to be Noah's brother and is bitten on the arm. The wound is deep and the artery is ruptured, causing Tyreese to steadily bleed out. Noah goes to find help, leaving Tyreese on the floor. As he lies bleeding, Tyreese begins hallucinating, seeing apparitions of Bob, Beth, Mika and Lizzie who appear to be comforting him and saying that it's "better this way". He also experiences hallucinations of the Governor and Martin which are more confrontational, stating that he didn't do what had to be done in order to survive.
Tyreese is later found by Noah and Michonne who amputates Tyreese's bitten arm with her sword to stop the infection from spreading. However, this only hastens Tyreese's demise as he has already lost a large amount of blood. After the group leave the estates, Tyreese is stabbed through the temple by Michonne to prevent his reanimation. He is then buried in a field with all of the group members standing in commiseration as Gabriel offers a prayer for him.