The Walking Dead is a TV show that seems to kill off its characters faster than it can even introduce them. It’s hard to count how many different characters have been killed for just about every imaginable reason, in just about every imaginable fashion. Anyone who ever goes into an episode of TWD expecting their favorite characters to come out alive doesn’t understand the show that they’re watching.
However, like any show, there are some deaths on TWD that just totally work and make complete sense, and there are some that are the absolute opposite. It doesn’t really matter how these characters died or why these characters died, because these deaths were just badly written and had no logical explanation. None of the characters on this list should be dead, or at the very least should not have died in the way they did. Needless to say, watch out for heavy spoilers throughout!
Lizzie Samuels
Look, we understand that Carol is oftentimes the character who has to make the hard decisions because no one else is willing to, but was there really no other option in this scenario? Lizzie was an extremely confused kid, but she was still just a kid. She had time to learn and understand what was so wrong about her behavior and perspective.
On one hand maybe it was slightly merciful, because coming to the realization that she murdered her little sister would probably be difficult, but Carol shouldn’t have had to live with that on her conscience, especially when there had to be another way.
Denise Cloyd
The randomness of deaths on The Walking Dead can be difficult to deal with sometimes, but this particular death was bordering on absurd. Dwight outright explains why Denise dies: basically because Dwight was aiming for Daryl but just missed.
That seems like an awfully convenient excuse for why one of the most popular characters was in danger but didn’t actually get hurt or killed, but it’s also a difficult twist to believe. So, Dwight is such a poor shot that he was aiming for Daryl and winds up hitting Denise, but he somehow hits Denise with one of the most perfect head shots in the history of TWD?
Reg Monroe
In the grand scheme of things, Reg Monroe was obviously a fairly minor supporting character. It was clear that Dr. Pete was a problem that needed to be handled post haste, but it’s pretty bizarre that Pete became a man who randomly kills an acquaintance literally overnight.
Reg’s death was obviously a plot device that was used to give Rick a reason to immediately kill Pete in front of the rest of the Alexandrians (and Morgan) with their support, but it was so strange and out of nowhere that it made its role as plot device way too obvious.
Noah
Something that The Walking Dead typically does a really good job with is demonstrating how random, pointless, and sudden that death can really be, especially in this post-apocalyptic world. While Noah’s death may be one of the best in terms of how memorable and incredibly gory it was, it is another plot twist that really stretches the bounds of believability.
Using the revolving door was actually an interesting idea, but it’s tough to buy the idea of Glenn and Noah getting stuck on one side and Nicholas getting stuck on the other, and it’s even tougher to buy the idea that Nicholas could out-muscle Glenn and Noah at the same time.
Arat
Don’t get us wrong, Arat is one of the characters on TWD who absolutely deserved to die, but it still doesn’t mean that she logically should have died. Arat didn’t get a lot of development as a character, but we do know that she distinguished herself as enough of a badass that Negan wanted her to be one of his very few close allies.
Arat also knows what she did to so many of these people, and she could just as easily survive on her own or find another group. No-one that savage would rely on the kindness of other people for their survival, and if she had any sense she wouldn’t have given anyone the opportunity to exact revenge on her.
Sasha Williams
Sasha obviously had to be written off of The Walking Dead because Sonequa Martin-Green booked the leading role on Star Trek: Discovery, so the questionable nature of her death can be somewhat excused by the fact that the writers had to get rid of her character really quickly. However, Sasha is way too smart to pull a move like she did.
Or rather, she’s too smart to literally gamble her life like that. Yes, her walker form did throw Negan for a loop and give the group a window, but a lot of things had to go exactly right in order for that to happen, and Sasha wouldn’t have just killed herself for the small hope of things going right.
Shane Walsh
Up until very recently, Rick Grimes was obviously always the lead of The Walking Dead. Killing Shane Walsh was a necessary experience for Rick to become more of the ruthless leader that he needed to become. But that doesn’t mean that Shane getting killed made a lick of sense.
Rick is undoubtedly one of the toughest dudes in the history of the show, but so is Shane, and Shane was more brutal and unforgiving than Rick ever was. So, there is no way that Rick would have gotten to the point where he was willing to kill Shane before Shane got to the point where he was willing to kill Rick.
Carl Grimes
Carl Grimes’ sudden death certainly proved controversial. If the writers really wanted him to die, then they should have figured out a better way to make that happen. Something that The Walking Dead doesn’t seem to have evolved on is how its characters would die, even though it really should.
The thing is, if any character is still alive in a later season of TWD, then they have clearly distinguished themselves as extremely capable survivors. They shouldn’t be dying because of a rogue walker or two. That is exactly why Carl dies, though, and it really made no sense.
Tyreese Williams
In the same vein of Carl’s death, characters who are as badass as Tyreese should not be taken out by one rogue walker. Tyreese isn’t just your average tough dude, he’s a man who managed to keep two children and a baby alive all on his own for quite a while.
The amount of situational awareness and brute strength that would take is incredible, so some random walker jumping out of the closet and biting him is just too absurd to be believed. Obviously, he ultimately died of blood loss, but it was too hard to suspend disbelief about Tyreese even being bitten in the first place.
Beth Greene
Beth Greene’s death was perhaps one of the most absurd in the show’s history. In any normal circumstance, it would be no surprise if Beth died (she wasn’t a survivor on the level of most of the other characters), but her accidental shooting was so unexpected and bizarre that it was hard to even tell what happened on the first episode watch.
TWD clearly wanted to kill Beth off no matter what, but almost any other death would have made more sense than the one she actually got.
