The Walking Dead’s Negan Was Originally Going To Have A Different Name

If names have power, then imagine how jacked Negan must be? The villain has experienced a massive surge in popularity as The Walking Dead‘s Season 6 finale ended with Negan bashing his barbed-wire bat into someone’s face. Clearly, one of Rick’s group members isn’t going to make it very far into Season 7, and the stunning cliffhanger was all made possible because of Negan’s homicidal urges.

But would you still be scared of the guy if his name was, say, Nagus?

According to creator Robert Kirkman, Negan was originally going to be called Nagus, but the name was changed before the character was brought to the page. At a Skybound panel during San Diego Comic Con, Kirkman explained, “Every now and then I just make up a word and then I look it up and it’s a name….So he was Nagus for a long time, and then I realized that the Ferengi high commander on Deep Space Nine was called the Grand Nagus. And I was like, ‘Oh, that’s where I got that! Oh, okay. Uhh, maybe he’s Negan.’ So that’s how that happened.”

Maybe it’s just me, but the name Nagus doesn’t seem to hold the same weight – or power – that Negan wields. Sure, the vicious character still would’ve carried a big stick and taken control of a post-apocalyptic gang, but the name still seems off.

Just image the confusion Deep Space Nine fans would’ve felt coming into The Walking Dead to find yet another Nagus awaiting to nag them. The wrinkly alien could not look more different from Negan. And, no, Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s sizable ears cannot even begin to compare to Nagus’ gigantic pair.

Still, the two characters do have their smarts in common. Homicidal or not, both are regarded for their intellect as Nagus was known as one of the greatest business mind of all-time. Negan also sports some intensive tactical know-how; Otherwise, how would he have taken command of his ragtag group?

Negan will obviously return for The Walking Dead‘s Season 7 this October to resolve the last season’s horrific cliffhanger. SDCC is slated to release the series’ first teaser trailer for the new season, and fans are extremely hopeful they’ll get a few glimpses of Negan during the exclusive reveal.