The Walking Dead: Khary Payton Reveals Shiva Tiger’s Importance To Ezekiel

The biggest moment of The Walking Dead‘s season 7 trailer was when Ezekiel’s tiger Shiva let out a roar, letting us all know the team behind the show went forward with adapting the big cat from the comics to television.

Fans of The Walking Dead unfamiliar with its comic book source material may have been left a little puzzled by the beast, though. Who is Shiva and why does Ezekiel keep a tiger around? Khary Payton, the actor portraying Ezekiel, has spoken and answered just that.

“Shiva is the beginning and the end for Ezekiel,” Payton explains. “She’s one of the reasons that he didn’t lose hope when this whole thing started. She’s this beautiful unique creature in the middle of this dark, dark time, and so she’s beloved, and she’s also a symbol to him of what it means to be different in the context of the world that you’re living in. It’s like she’s a constant reminder every time he looks at her that there’s beauty in the world. She started off as his protector and now he feels like that relationship is reversed and she’s this giant, powerful symbol that he feels a real kinship with and a need to protect. So she’s kind of the end all, be all for him. I think Shiva’s a really appropriate name for her because she’s hallowed in his eyes. She’s holy in his eyes.”

As for acting with the tiger, it’s never actually there. At best, Payton may be standing next to an animatronic version of Shiva but the showrunners elected not to bring a real tiger to the set.

“It’s just another beautiful way that I get to use my imagination,” Payton says. “As far as I’m concerned, Shiva’s as real as the people standing next to me — as Morgan or Carol or any of the other people who move among the Kingdom itself. So I really don’t think of it as CG or mechanic. All I know is that she’s real to me. I’ve done a lot of video games where there’s literally nothing standing in front of me. I’ve done, you know, a lot of voiceovers where there’s literally nothing standing in front of me, I’ve got to make it all up, so this is just another situation where my imagination gets to be used in another context, so no matter how good they bring it to life, it’s already alive in my head.”

The Walking Dead will return for its seventh season October 23 at 9 PM ET on AMC. For complete coverage, insider info, and more all season long, be sure to follow me on Twitter @BrandonDavisBD and check out The Walking Dead on ComicBook.com on Facebook.

(via EW)