The 15 Bloodiest Deaths on 'The Walking Dead'

Image via Complex Original

Season 6, Episode 16: “Last Day On Earth”

Technically, we don’t witness too much blood in the last bone-chilling seconds of the season 6 finale, as Negan goes in on someone’s dome with his barbwire-coated bat, Lucille. But the way in which the bashing is shown—from the perspective of the character being hit, with blood dripping from their foreheads—will resonate with viewers years after The Walking Dead ends. We’ve seen inhumane, merciless deaths occur all throughout the series, but this one, a smiling Negan transforming one of the group’s members into bits, is unforgettable and unforgivable.

Season 2, Episode 13: “Beside The Dying Fire”

Poor Patricia. Here, she looked like she was going to survive, hand in hand with Beth as they tried to escape Hershel’s walker infested farm. But that doesn’t happen: Patricia gets snatched up by a walker, with the blood thirsty corpse going right for her neck and releasing a river of blood that attracts several other walkers close by. Compared to future episodes, it’s a tame death, but at the time this was one that highlighted the savagery of the walkers. 

Season 4, Episode 16: “A”

Not everyone can be saved in The Walking Dead. For example, in the very beginning of “A,” a man screams for help and Carl runs to his aid. Then, right as he’s about to pop one off at the walkers surrounding the stranger, Rick grabs him and tells him they can’t help the man. Soon enough, we see the dude get his eye eaten out, as the rest of the walkers chow down on him.

Season 3, Episode 4: “Killer Within”

T-Dog was taken from us way too soon. He had earned his keep within the group and proved to be helpful on a number of occasions, ultimately becoming one of Rick’s right hand men. His death, as heroic as it was, was also fucked up. Sacrificing himself to save Carol when the two run out of ammo, a walker takes out a big chunk of T-Dog’s neck. Sure, by now we’ve seen a number of neck chomps, but this particular one is just fucking brutal.

Season 5, Episode 1: “No Sanctuary”

“No Sanctuary” kicked off season 5 well, as we learn that the group stumbled upon a team of cannibals who put them on the chopping block to become processed food for the Terminus squad. And one of the steps to becoming human chum? Getting your skull cracked in with a bat before having your throat slit, which is what happened with Sam (the missing guy Rick and Carol found in “Indifference”). The poor guy was the first one to go in such a way, as we saw from the jump how ruthless the people of Terminus were.

Season 3, Episode 6: “Hounded”

If there’s anyone that’s considered a badass within the group (aside from Daryl), it’s Michonne. The sword wielding survivor has proved to be one of the most important members of the team, and has provided a number of bloody deaths. Like this one. Having to fight off Merle and a flock of walkers, Michonne crawls to her trusty sword, swings, and makes a slice so deep in a walker’s stomach that all of its guts descend on her. Absolutely fucking disgusting? Yes. But that’s why we love this show.

Season 3, Episode 2: “Sick”

A lesson learned in The Walking Dead: sometimes humans can be more inhumane than the undead. In “Sick,” a prisoner named Big Tiny gets scratched in the back by a walker, and before he can even make a case for why they should keep him alive (or at the very least, discuss ways of killing him in a slightly less painful way) Tomas brutally smashes his head in. We see Tomas get sprayed with the blood of his former ally, but then the image of Big Tiny’s brain is made for all to see after the bloody beating. Needless to say, it’s no surprise that karma pays Tomas a visit before the end of the episode.

Season 2, Episode 13: “Beside The Dying Fire”

Alongside Patricia, Jimmy also dies in a gruesome manner in “Beside The Dying Fire,” driving Dale’s RV to the entrance of Hershel’s barn to rescue Rick and Carl only to get eaten up by a gang of walkers. Dude straight up gets his leg chopped up by one, while another goes to town on his neck. Hershel’s farm was a sanctuary, but Jimmy and Patricia’s bloody deaths serve as a reminder that refuges rarely last long in the world of The Walking Dead.

Season 5, Episode 14: “Spend”

Aiden’s poor judgment makes it a little difficult to feel sorry for his death, but still, it’s pretty bad. Imagine walkers not only feasting on your body like a buffet and clawing through your insides, but also being left immobile because you’ve been impaled by several metal bars? Anytime you’re stuck surrounded by walkers it’s going to suck. But this one hurt a little more than most.

Season 6, Episode 3: “Thank You”

Some really fucked up deaths happen in “Thank You,” and this is one of them. At first, it looks like David is going to climb over the fence and see his lovely wife, but a sea of walkers pull him down and devour him. The moment is bloody but also just terrifying, because David is pushed up between the fence as the walkers attack him from behind. He can’t even turn to face them, as one walker chomps on his arm and another his neck.

Season 2, Episode 4: “Cherokee Rose”

Of course we have to honor the infamous Well Walker who gets halved when the group attempts to pull him up from a well to get some water. At first everything seems fine, but then he gets stuck, and eventually his bloated body rips at the middle and his guts descend into the well. This was one of the first instances in which we saw a zombie get got in such a detailed and slightly comedic fashion. Obviously, the water from then on was undrinkable.

Season 3, Episode 10: “Home”

Two walker deaths taking the top five? Duh. Daryl, in peak badass mode, saves a mother from getting devoured by a walker that’s crawled into her car, but in the most brutal way possible. He pulls on the walker’s legs and gets its head right in between the trunk lid and car bumper, then closes the the thing on its head. Check out that brain matter—it looks like a large mess of strawberry jelly. 

Season 6, Episode 9: “No Way Out”

Very rarely do we ever see children in The Walking Dead get devoured, but Sam’s death was an exception. Unable to walk through a path of walkers, his cries catch the attention of a couple of walkers who quickly overpower him. But the worst part of his death? The fact that one of the walkers actually goes for his head. Like, this undead monster is the realest one of them all for straight up going to the kid’s dome.

Season 6, Episode 3: “Thank You”

Nick wasn’t the best guy to have around, especially in moments of extreme pressure. Still, it was sad to see him go the way he did on “Thank You,” even if he inadvertently almost led to the Glenn's death. (But also, he did save Glenn sort of, so maybe all of his moments of cowardice cancel out?) We see Nick take his own life from his perspective, a shot to the face that splatters blood all over Glenn before the latter falls into a pit of walkers underneath Nick’s body. Here, it’s just gruesome, especially because we're led to believe that this was Glenn’s fate. All in all, it's one of the more vivid deaths we’ve seen in the series.

Season 5, Episode 14: “Spend”

Right as Noah was becoming a fan favorite, he met his demise in what was the bloodiest death to occur on The Walking Dead. Stuck in a set of rotating doors with Glenn and Nick, Noah gets grabbed by a walker. At first, it doesn’t look like Noah’s death is going to be shown, but then he’s shoved up against the glass door and eaten to death as a terrified Glenn looks on. Watching the blood spray against the door, and then seeing a walker bite a chunk of Noah’s mouth, is what nightmares are made of. The horror of this death not only capitalizes on sheer gore but also claustrophobia, as Noah is packed in tight between this glass door and a horde of walkers.