The Walking Dead: Who Is Jesus?

The Walking Dead is back in full swing and won’t be slowing down any time soon.

To keep up with the pace, rather than kill characters and remove cast members from the show, the next few episodes will likely do the opposite: introduce characters and add cast members.

A few months ago, Tom Payne was cast for the role of Paul “Jesus” Monroe, a fan-favorite character from the comic books. With how closely The Walking Dead’s midseason premiere followed its comic book parallel, we can expect new characters to closely portray their comic book counterparts.

So, who is Jesus?

In the comics, Jesus is a member of the Hilltop Community, a location we have yet to see on The Walking Dead TV series.

Upon his introduction, Jesus is able to fight off Michonne and Abraham, eventually demanding to see their leader. He was already well-aware of the Alexandria Safe-Zone. He is cool and collected, throughout. Upon meeting Rick, he informs him of his community and several others, offering to begin trade with the Safe-Zone if they’ll do the same. The Hilltop, however, is when Negan’s story starts to unravel. Gregory, the Hilltop’s leader, informs Rick of Negan’s brutal demands which only the beginning of a crazy story arc.

As the character of Jesus is explored further, we see his true, more serious colors. While his early appearances show him as a humorous, laid back, and trusting individual, he turn out to be quite serious. He strongly believes in fairness and equality.

These traits make him a great adviser and lead him to become a right-hand man for Rick Grimes in the comics and, later, Maggie Greene as she becomes the leader of the Hilltop Community.

Will Jesus be the same character on The Walking Dead TV series? No one knows for sure just yet but seeing how crucial he is to the comics, there is only so much that can be changed if The Walking Dead wishes to continue closely following Robert Kirkman’s source material.

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 PM ET on AMC.