Is The Walking Dead's Shiva Tiger Real Or Computerized?

The Walking Dead's season 7 trailer raised a lot of eyebrows with its Hall H debut at San Diego Comic Con on Friday. Coming in under a lot of pressure following the controversial season six cliffhanger, the first look at the show's seventh season had to carefully tease what's to come when the AMC series returns this fall.

The Walking Dead's season 7 trailer proved the show has still got it. Dancing around the question of "Who did Negan kill?" was made easy. Audiences were left with a new conversation. This time, it wasn't a question but, instead, excitement of the appearance of a certain non-human character: Shiva the tiger.

"I was asking Scott, 'How are we doing this this?'" The Walking Dead's Robert Kirkman said in a press conference in San Diego, acknowledging that a real tiger is "very dangerous for the actors."

When he heard there wouldn't be a tiger, Kirkman was relieved, yet excited she would still be brought to the show. "Great, no real tiger, I can still come to set!" Kirkman jokes. "That sounds awesome because I would not have come to set if there was a tiger. There's no real tiger at all, it's all magic."

After the panel concluded, I had the chance to speak with executive producer Greg Nicotero about the show's new furry companion. While the tiger we saw in the season 7 trailer was completely computerized, he says that is not always the case. In fact, he directed the episode which introduces Ezekiel and Shiva, so he knows a thing or two about how Shiva is being brought to our TV screens.

In short, Shiva is a combination of CGI and some form of animatronics on set. The short clip released was computerized but that will change with later looks.

The Walking Dead returns for its seventh season October 23.