The Walking Dead Character Lore
A little bit more meat than our usual Survivor-only licensed chapter (are these still called paragraphs?) since we have two folks to talk about (even though one of them is literally unplayable for some reason), and neither one is reduced to a singular paragraph. Still not quite pre-Ash levels, but it's not Leon.
Rick Grimes
Rick Grimes was a sheriff’s deputy who awoke from a coma to a strange new world. Reanimated by an unknown pathogen, the dead now walked the Earth, single-mindedly hunting the living. As society fell, so too did the constructs that were taken for granted. Rick was no longer an officer of the law, but a survivor like every living human in the early days of the apocalypse.
Due in part to his ability to adapt to the harsh new world without entirely sacrificing his morality, Rick became the de facto leader of a group of survivors. They scrambled to find food and shelter in a world overrun by “walkers”—the name given to the resurrected dead. Though they fared better than most, Rick lost countless friends and family members over the years, including his wife and son. Safe havens were often all-too temporary, as human-led conflicts proved deadlier than the walkers they sheltered from.
Despite hardships, there were moments of joy to be had. Rick discovered that even after all the trauma he endured and despite his endless sense of duty, he still had the capacity for intimacy. He fell in love with Michonne, a woman with keen wits matched only by her skill with a sword. Together they joined the community of Alexandria, finally finding some semblance of normalcy. Peace proved to be fleeting, and when a herd of walkers threatened the community, Rick acted as a decoy to lead them away.
Exhausted and gravely injured, he brought the walkers to a bridge and set off explosives.
Caught in the blast, Rick was thrown to the ground. Black fog billowed over his vision. He lost consciousness. Somewhere in the darkness, he heard Michonne calling for him. With the last of his strength, he reached out to her. But it was not her hand that met him—only the chilling fog and the crackling sounds of a campfire.
Michonne Grimes
Michonne enjoyed a comfortable life with her boyfriend and son before the world fell apart. When a horrifying new pathogen broke out, killing the living and reanimating the dead as walkers, she did everything within her power to protect her loved ones. But her boyfriend, Mike, couldn’t handle the pressures of survival. Walkers overtook the camp while Michonne was on a supply run, turned Mike, and devoured their son Andre.
Alone and emotionally hardened, she traveled with the dismembered, shambling corpses of her partner and his friend. For a long time, she didn’t let anyone into her life. Then she met the Grimes family.
Despite some initial distrust, Rick eventually invited her into the community, and they grew close over time. In Rick, she found a dependable partner in combat, a faithful friend, and, eventually, a lover. Even in the face of the direst circumstances—the collapse of their communities, the threat of other factions, the death of innumerable friends—the two propped each other up and safeguarded each other’s humanity. They settled into a new community, Alexandria, and over many months were able to adapt to, and thrive inside, the safety of its massive walls.
But nothing good ever lasts. Things started going off the rails, and Michonne watched as Rick sacrificed himself to save Alexandria. Despite having seen the bridge explode with him on it, she could not accept his death. She continued protecting her community and raising her young family, but she could not shake the feeling that he was out there, somewhere. Ultimately, she set forth alone into unexplored territory to find Rick, to find answers, and to reunite her family.
Before long, she began hearing a voice. Weak, at first, coming from the tree line. She unsheathed her sword and crept towards it. As she got closer, she could make out the voice: Rick. Michonne crept forward, entering what seemed like a burrow. Crawling ever forward, closer to Rick’s voice. When the tunnel became too narrow, she dropped her sword to keep moving. A pinhole of light appeared on the horizon. Not the sun, though: a campfire. And she found herself somewhere completely foreign, weaponless, surrounded by new dangers far more nefarious than walkers.