The Walking Dead: Who Will Negan Kill?

We're all waiting on it... The arrival of Negan on The Walking Dead is imminent. We'll all meet him and his precious Lucille some time before season six comes to a close. With that fact, we're all wondering, "Who will he kill?"

First of all, by the end of his run on the series, his kill count will be much greater than one. That said, let's recap his introduction for those who don't know how it went, which is probably no one at this point, but we'll do it anyway.

When Negan arrived in The Walking Dead comic's issue #100, it was the most random and ruthless killing the series had ever seen. He and his band of "Saviors" lined up Rick, Michonne, Heath, Carl, Sophia, Maggie, and Glenn in the middle of the night. A degrading rant about Rick's disrespect and bad choices in crossing Negan followed and culminated with a deadly game of eeniee-meenie-minie-moe which ended with Glenn on the receiving end of Negan's barbed wire wrapped bat's home run swing. By the way, the bat is called Lucille, and she's a vampire bat according to Negan.

It was one of the most twisted, mentally scarring set of pages in The Walking Dead's history. So, when it is adapted to television, who will be on the receiving end of Negan's wrath?

There are a few candidates who are more likely than others. Many suspect the show will follow the comics, having Glenn bow out in the season finale without a skull, dying in front of his pregnant wife and fellow survivors. However, showrunner Scott Gimple has said that the season will take some "hard left turns" in comparison to the comics towards the end of this season, so for argument's sake, let's assume it isn't Glenn who gets killed.

Next in line would have to be Maggie. Sure, Maggie emerges as a leader at the Hilltop in the comics, but guess what, Andrea should be Rick's wife if we're going by the pages. Maggie had a strong moment of leadership while negotiating with Gregory, so it's entirely possible that her leadership reached its peak in those moments as her life would be cut short upon Negan's arrival. How awful would that be for the characters and viewers, alike? Glenn and his friends are forced to watch his pregnant wife take a baseball bat to the head. It would be a nauseating scene.

If not Maggie, though, Carol is viable option. The character has a visible soft spot for the pregnant Maggie and a hope to see her go on and become a symbol of the world's rebuilding. Her recent struggles and efforts to adjust to a new world, one where she doesn't have to kill, may result in Carol sacrificing herself in an effort to save Maggie. Imagine that, Negan selects Maggie, or even Glenn, and Carol offers herself up as a sacrifice to spare the couple the anguish she has already experienced herself. Witnessing Carol getting her head bashed is also a repulsive thought.

Ruling Carl and Rick out of danger is not unreasonable. The two simply have to live on and drive the show. I would be both shocked and proud of the series if it were to kill one of the two characters off but I have my reservations about how possible that really is. It also isn't necessarily something which would further any character's storylines, so like rooting for Daryl to get the bat, it's not very mature to hope Negan kills Rick or Carl.

Here's why Daryl won't die: his story isn't done. The characters would grieve over his loss but with Carol's new relationship with Tobin, no one would be particularly devastated. His character is one which never existed in the comics, so he's a wild card, but his role in the upcoming war with the Saviors is one which will be crucial.

In any case, it's going to be intense. Ross Marquand, Andrew Lincoln, and Lauren Cohan have all praised the brutality of the finale's script. Specifically though, Morgan actor Lennie James says, "Firstly, it is a phenomenal piece of writing, but secondly, one of the greatest introductions of a character that I can remember in any television series, let alone in our television series."

Long story short, the best bets to die upon Negan's introduction are Glenn, Maggie, or Carol. There's always the chance that the writers completely shock us with a curveball out of no where or even kill two people instead of one. We'll have to wait and see.

Are you ready for Negan?