One of the biggest differences between The Walking Dead television series and the comic book was the death of Carl Grimes, and the comic book proves what a bad idea it was. Throughout its run, fans of The Walking Dead television series had to become accustomed to the idea that none of the characters were safe. There were many shocking deaths in The Walking Dead, but based on how important his character was in the comic books, Carl’s death in The Walking Dead was perhaps the most upsetting in the entire series.

In both the comics and the show, Carl was the son of Rick Grimes and Lori Grimes. In the comic books, he was arguably the second most prominent character in the series, only behind Rick. AMC’s adaptation of The Walking Dead also made Carl one of the central characters, and Chandler Riggs’ version of the character was quite similar to his comic book counterpart. However, Riggs’ time as Carl Grimes was cut short when the writers surprisingly killed him off in The Walking Dead season 8. The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman’s thoughts about Carl make his death in the show even more disappointing.

Carl Grimes Being The Walking Dead’s Strongest Character Makes His TV Death Even More Confusing

Carl Survived Until The End Of The Walking Dead Comics

While the show did make some story changes from the comic book from time to time, AMC’s The Walking Dead did follow a lot of the same story beats. Season 8 of The Walking Dead depicted the comic book’s “All Out War” saga, during which Rick’s group was at war with the Saviors, led by Negan. The recently released The Walking Dead Deluxe #101, which depicts the aftermath of Negan’s bloody introduction, includes a letter from the original issue, in which Robert Kirkman revealed that Carl is the strongest character in the series. Kirkman wrote:

Carl is quite possibly the strongest character in the series…he handles this stuff better than anyone…which should be terrifying. He’s got a lot of life left in him…I think.

While Kirkman unexpectedly killed off many characters in The Walking Dead comic books, Carl stayed alive until the very end of the series. Meanwhile, in the television show, Carl was surprisingly bitten by a walker and eventually died in season 8, episode 9. Carl’s death in The Walking Dead was controversial at the time because Riggs didn’t want to leave the show, and was actually told that his character would not die anytime soon. However, the writers for The Walking Dead ended up changing their minds, and following Carl’s death, the series changed forever.

Why Carl Was So Vital To The Walking Dead’s Overarching Story

Carl Is Perhaps The Most Important Walking Dead Character

Throughout The Walking Dead’s comic book run, many theorized that it was all a story being told by Rick, who had survived the zombie apocalypse. However, the ending of The Walking Dead comic book revealed that Carl was actually telling his daughter the story about her deceased grandfather, Rick, who had saved countless lives. Therefore, after The Walking Dead’s epilogue jumped years into the future and focused on Carl’s family, it becomes clear that he was always just as important as Rick.

As one of the younger characters in the series, Carl also always represented the future generation. Being with his son motivated Rick to try and create a better world. In the television series, Judith Grimes, Rick and Laurie’s daughter who was born during the zombie apocalypse, largely takes over Carl’s role from the comics. While she is still an effective character, she is not as impactful as Carl would have been, since viewers watched Carl from the very beginning of The Walking Dead.