The Walking Dead may be a television show about zombies, but those are not the primary villains on this AMC series. Instead, as the long-running series has proven, the Walkers may be dangerous but the truly evil beings are the people who have survived the apocalypse. Of course, evil is also in the eye of the beholder.
For every Walking Dead villain that the show's survivors have met, there are ways in which Rick Grimes or Daryl Dixon could actually be called the villains of that particular story. Was Negan truly evil or was he reacting to the actions of Rick and the survivors? With that said, there were also some really despicable people who were beyond redemption.
Updated on January 31st, 2022, by Shawn S. Lealos: The Walking Dead gains more villains every season. The show will finally end its run with the eleventh season, and this will bring the Commonwealth fully into the picture. However, the Commonwealth itself is not villainous.
While the giant community will play a role in the finale as the story ends, there will still be villains. There are good and bad people in every community and the Commonwealth has its fair share of dubious individuals, with at least one genuine bad guy. There is also a new group on the road that is making life hell for the survivors in the final season that might be stronger than any group they have faced in the first ten seasons.
Pete Anderson
Pete was a personal antagonist to Rick in Season 5, being the abusive husband of Jessie, a woman Rick had an attraction towards. A bull of a man, he even fought Rick to a stalemate, with plans to kill Rick once their rivalry escalated.
Ultimately, Pete was killed off rather meekly, as he lacked the flair needed to be an overarching antagonist. Rick got the sweet taste of victory by being the one to shoot Pete in the head and end any threat he might have posed in the future.
The Living
What’s interesting about this group is that the faction only made an appearance once in the series, yet was one of the main antagonistic forces of Season 2. That’s because the Living was the group who attacked Rick and company, following the group became convinced the Living were after them.
It was due to their threat that Shane killed off Randall and used the fear within the Farm to try and take Rick’s life. Of course, while the idea of the Living was scary, the fact that they barely showed up means they can’t place too high.
The Claimers
The Claimers in season 4 brought the wrath of Rick Grimes and company, as they reached a level of depravity seldom seen but accurate, given the status of the world. In the episode "A" the group that had Rick, Carl, Daryl, and Michonne captured and then sealed their own fate.
One of the Claimers, Dan, took things too far with Rick and Rick descended into one of his most vicious and violent moments ever on the show when he killed him.
Nicholas
When the survivors reached Alexandria, Rick, Daryl and Carol proved that they were not good people, scheming to steal the entire community from the peaceful living survivors there. In order to weigh out this antagonistic behavior, The Walking Dead added people living there that were worse.
These included Pete, who was an abusive father and husband. However, even worse was Nicholas, who was a coward that allowed his friend Aiden to die, was directly responsible for the death of Noah, and then tried to kill Glenn. When he finally took his own life, it proved that not everyone could be rehabilitated and clouded Glenn's outlook somewhat.
Sebastian Milton
Sebastian is part of the Commonwealth, easily the most powerful group that ever showed up on The Walking Dead. While he might seem overly dangerous right now, he is as dangerous as it gets in the world of The Walking Dead.
This is because the Commonwealth has all the power and can eliminate anyone who is deemed a threat. The group wants to treat the world like it used to be, and will banish or kill anyone who tries to hurt it. Sebastian is the son of the Commonwealth's most powerful figure, and he is also a spoiled, arrogant jerk. Anyone who read the comics will know how destructive Sebastian really is.
Dwight
Out of all The Walking Dead villains, Dwight is the one who received some redemption. He was part of the Saviors and was one of Negan's right-hand men. He also had his wife taken by Negan and had his face burned with a red hot iron as punishment.
However, he was also evil, as he is the man who shot Denise in the eye with an arrow, killing her. He and his wife also betrayed Daryl before that when he tried to help them. Add in his part in helping Negan kill Glenn and Abraham, and he was pure evil -- at least until he turned on Negan and helped Rick defeat the Saviors.
Jadis
Jadis was the leader of the Scavengers and she was a true backstabber, working both the Saviors and Alexandrians equally. She did some things that made her worse than Rick, constantly switching sides and then betraying those people for her own good.
After Simon showed up and slaughtered all her friends and fellow survivors, she seemed to change by letting Negan live, although remained in with the mysterious Helicopter Group to hand abducted people over to them. She "saved" Rick this way in the final scene that anyone saw him on The Walking Dead.
Gregory
Gregory was the worst kind of villain by mentality. He was a politician that only cared about himself and his own status, above that of even his own people. He lived in the biggest house in The Hilltop and bowed down to do anything Negan told him, turning his head when his own people died.
When Rick and Maggie tried to help, Gregory betrayed them and went to Negan. Gregory was so slimy, that Negan didn't even like him. Finally, at the end of the war, Gregory tried to betray Maggie and have her killed and found himself hanging by his neck for his sins.
Lizzie
This is a controversial addition. Lizzie was a villain but also a child who was disturbed. The problem with the apocalypse is that the medicine that children need is not available so they are left with their own problems.
Lizzie believed that the walkers were not to be feared and could be loved and return to who they were before. She killed her own little sister Mika and then tried to kill Judith to prove it. The moment Carol had to put her down was heartbreaking.
Dawn Lerner
Officer Dawn Lerner was an interesting Walking Dead villain, in that she did what she felt she needed to do in order to help her people survive. She barricaded them in the upper level of Grady Memorial Hospital. She would also send people out to find survivors who needed help to give them a safe place to stay.
Fans got to know her in season 5 when she helped save the lives of Beth and Carol. However, her rules at the hospital involved forcing those who were saved to work off the cost of the medical supplies in labor, which wasn't that bad of a thing. However, Dawn killed Beth and it was enough to make her a legitimate villain.
