Simply put, there would be no TWD without Rick. In many ways, it's not a show about the zombie apocalypse, it's a show about Rick Grimes trying to keep his family and friends safe in the zombie apocalypse. Rick is after all the first person we meet, and hopefully will also be the last to leave. A true hero, but not without his flaws, whose likeability and accessibility as a character is thanks to some great talent from actor Andrew Lincoln.
Daryl is TWD's blackest sheep. As a loner and a true outsider, a man who's basically made to survive in the apocalypse, it's no wonder he's a fan favourite. One of the show's great pleasures upon reviewing it is to witness Daryl's growth and transformation, from an annoying, uncooperative and hopeless fool trying to be like his brother Merle, to the strong hero and equal to Rick that we know today. All while retaining his lone wolf personality.
Carol is another character who, like Daryl, has grown in the apocalypse, from a mousy, browbeaten trailer park housewife to an unstoppable survivor and possibly the strongest of them all. One of the few who could make it on her own all the way to the end, without a doubt, both physically and mentally. However, it is the moral challenges that she has undergone that is the most interesting thing about her. She's killed innocent people, even friends and children, for the sake of the group and their own sakes. Things which resulted in an overburdening sense of guilt that threatened to break her completely at the end of the sixth season, which I hope and feel she'll eventually work her way through.
The show's most iconic character, Michonne is just a bad-ass through and through. How can she be otherwise? Wielding a samurai sword and sporting marvellous dreadlocks, she will always provide TWD with the coolest zombie kills and is ultimately just a joy to watch whenever she's on screen. Of course, like most characters in the show, she's grown and revealed a sensitivity and personality that provides a level of depth and realism which is so rare in action series and so distinctive for the show.
Although he took a season to grow into his subsequent role, Hershel was in many ways the heart of the show, acting as both godfather to the group and its spiritual anchor. A farmer who had his fair share of struggles in life long before the apocalypse, dealing with family issues and battling alcoholism, maybe it was simply his experience that made him so wise and reliable. But it was also just that sort of person he was, an embodiment of true Christianity, who was upon reflection simply too good for this world.
There are multiple reasons why Glenn has become a TWD favourite. First of all, he was the first member of Rick's group, and basically saved his life. He is also the show's first nerd, a pizza delivery boy who had enough smarts and energy to stay alive. At heart, a humble man who has shown again and again to possess true courage and a tenacious and inspirational positivity. His kindness and selflessness is unequaled, and he has become an integral member of the group, essential to the continued popularity of the show.
Morgan was the first man Rick met, and even though he only appeared in the pilot episode, and again in the 12th episode of the third season, when he returned at the tail-end of the fifth season he was such a welcome face that you realize what a huge impression he made upon you despite his brief presence. A lot of that is down to Lennie James, who really brings Morgan alive and turns him into such a compelling character with his deep, brittle voice, his marked tone and dignified gravity. Having lost wife and son, having lost his mind and returned from it as a man of peace with a totally different view of the world to Rick and his group, wherever the show is going from here, Morgan's role in it will be of utmost importance and interest.
8 Eugene Porter
Eugene is an important character because he mostly provides the show with something it doesn't necessarily have a whole bunch of, namely comic relief. Even a realistic horror survival drama like TWD needs its moments of lightness, and you can always rely on Eugene to supply them. Other than that, he has proven to be a resourceful and valuable member of the group, with skills that are handy when there are other things than killing to be done, and is also quite likeable because he is an avid reader with a rather flowery command of the English language for a Southern redneck.
9 Shane Walsh
It's a shame that things went the way they did with Shane, because he was the perfect partner to Rick Grimes. He was Rick's best friend, and as his deputy, they could have achieved so much together, if he hadn't gone insane with jealousy for Rick's wife. There is something that Jon Bernthal manages to do with the character, along with the writers and producers, that makes him so utterly likeable even though he's violent and rather dumb.
Until the arrival of Negan, the Governor was TWD's main villain and Rick Grimes' archenemy. He was the yin to Rick's yang, a compelling character who underneath a cover of charm and sympathy was basically a fascist dictator, although deep down he may just have been a man who had lost everything and would do anything to retain some sense of control. David Morrissey is such a great actor in the way he portrayed that internal breakdown behind those twitchy and insincere smiles, and in the end it wasn't all too obvious if the Governor truly was a power-mad psychopath, or if circumstances and experience had made him such.
