The Walking Dead‘s Negan has been one of the most talked about characters on television, in part because of how he talks.
The character was first made famous by Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead comics. First appearing in issue #100, the character dropped an impressive number of F-words before, during, and after bashing the skull of Glenn Rhee. He belittled the group with vulgar phrases even the most creative swearing folks had never thought up themselves.
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While AMC’s TV adaptation has had to tone the villain’s language down a bit by comparison to Kirkman’s comic book source material, Jeffrey Dean Morgan‘s character has still managed to push the boundaries for some unforgettable lines of dialogue…
No Exceptions
Upon his introduction, Negan laid down a few ground rules. The first day, which he referred to as “career day,” was when the group had to sit by and watch as he killed one of their own. If anyone tried to interfere, things would only get worse.
“I will shut that s— down,” Negan called out. “No exceptions!”
The line has become synomous with the character. While it is not tremendously creative, it defined Negan’s presence on the character as he proved to be a “man of [his] word,” and killed Glenn when Daryl didn’t abide by the rules. He did, in fact, shut that s— down.
Thanks
The Season Seven premiere was only the beginning for Negan’s terrible reign on The Walking Dead. The character would assert his dominance once more in Episode 7×04 by heading to Alexandria earlier than expected to claim half of their stuff.
After being shown around the entire Safe-Zone and taking his pick of the community’s goods, Negan demanded Rick thank him for the service he was providing. After Rick uttered the words “thank you” to the villain, he ripped a line straight from the pages of The Walking Dead comics.
“In case you haven’t caught on, I just slid my d— down your throat, and you thanked me for it,” Negan said. It’s an unforgettable moment and so crude that it’s almost surprising it made the broadcast cut.
Strength
Several times throughout his tenure on The Walking Dead, Negan has called upon Lucille for help. While he is always seen talking to his precious barbed wire wrapped baseball bat, the villain is actually speaking to his late wife by the same name.
“Lucille, give me strength,” Negan says, several times, including after his murder of Spencer Monroe and, more recently, when trying to find the patience to deal with Father Gabriel in the trailer outside of the Sanctuary.
In Episode 8×05, The Big Scary U, Negan revealed the existence of his pre-apocalyptic spouse named Lucille to Father Gabriel which is something comic book fans have been looking forward to since reading the Here’s Negan backstory special.
Freaky-Deaky
Often times, Negan’s dialogue stands out for its sexually explicit references and innuendos. There was no exception to his being drawn to such dialogue when he first visited Alexandria.
Just before the vulgar line he said to Rick mentioned earlier, he found Deanna Monroe’s camera which contained the interviews of Rick’s group upon their arrival in Alexandria. Before watching the tapes, Negan brought the camera to Rick and referenced some potentially explicit footage.
“What do we have here?” Negan asked Rick. “Fingers crossed for a little freaky-deaky!”
He went on to make jokes about Rick’s beard, which were equally unforgettable, though far less explicit in nature.
Happy Hour
Continuing with Negan’s sexually explicit language, the earlier episodes of Season Seven explored his Sanctuary and the Saviors’ way of life.
Quickly, it was revealed Negan had transformed Dwight’s girl Sherry into one of his wives. This means Negan regularly engaged in sexual activity with her and others while if any other Saviors tried to touch their own girlfriends they would be burnt, like Dwight’s face. After offering Dwight some time with his wife, Negan is rejected, and has a little trouble understanding it.
“I just said it was happy hour at the p—- bar and you’re telling me no,” Negan says to Dwight.
It’s the kind of language which could entertain an audience but also train them to hate the villain who believes he is in control of such choices.
Fifty Percent
Negan’s visit to Alexandria in the Mid-Season Seven finale came with a slew of one-liners and unforgettable moments, often because they were quite despicable.
After barging into Rick’s house and waiting for the leader of Alexandria to come back home, Negan was informed by Olivia that the group was starving.
“Starving… You?” he asked her, implying that the heavier set survivor had seen no food shortage. “I’m sorry for having been so rude to you just now,” he went on. “It’s looks like we’re gonna be a while awaiting your fearless leader’s return. If you’d like, I think it would be enjoyable to screw your brains out. You know, if you’re agreeable to it.”
Olivia promptly slapped him, queuing up a surprising line from the villain: “I am fifty percent more into you, now.”
Guts
The same visit to Alexandria would be the last day on earth for Spencer Monroe. After he suggested Negan help him overthrow Rick in favor of his own leadership and partnership with the Saviors, Negan questioned whether or not Spencer had any real guts.
“I gotta ask, if you wanna take over, why not just kill Rick yourself and just take over?” Negan asked. “You know what I’m thinking? Because I have a guess. It’s because you got no guts.”
He then drove a gigantic knife into Spencer’s abdomen, spilling his insides out in front of the entire community. “How embarrassing,” Negan called out. “There they are! They were inside you the whole time! You did have guts! I’ve never been so wrong in my whole life!”
It was a near shot-for-shot recreation of Spencer’s death in The Walking Dead comics, making it all the more unforgettable for fans of the title.
