Even some of the actors aren’t happy with how their characters were changed…

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Adapting a comic book into a TV series is never going to be an easy task, but making changes from the source material is sometimes necessary to make the adaptation possible, or to improve on issues of the original story.

The Walking Dead started out as a very faithful adaptation, but as the series has progressed it has gotten further and further from the original vision seen in the comic series. Some of these changes are great: as many people know, Daryl doesn’t feature in the comics, and he has gone on to be one of the most recognisable characters of the entire show.

Other characters, such as Carol, are unrecognisable when compared to their comic counter-parts as well. It’s good to keep things fresh for the comic readers, and exploring alternate story arcs can allow for the characters to grow in interesting ways. The Grove is one of the best episodes of The Walking Dead, and we wouldn’t of gotten it without Carol’s character being changed.

Sadly, not all character changes are good. Sometime the writers stumble and just accidentally end up making them less likeable, or they make them make poor decisions that don’t feel right for what that character is supposed to be. With The Walking Dead, it’s usually a flip of a coin.

10. Gabriel (Better)

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In the comics Gabriel is by no means a bad character, playing a crucial role in demonstrating just how far gone Rick and the group have become after the traumatic events of the prison battle. But sadly he fell to the background too often in the comics, whereas his television counterpart played a much more consistent and prevalent role through the years.

Gabriel in the show quickly assimilates to the peaceful lifestyle of Alexandria but does not forget how much he owes the group regarding his survival. While he initially betrays Rick and the group, he quickly corrects his mistakes and learns to take things into his own hands, even going as far to kill another human at the Sanctuary base. His constant determination to prove himself to Rick as well as tussling with his own faith led to him leaving Season 5 a changed man.

Gabriel became the new moral compass of the group and eventually was able to re-earn their trust. This in itself was a great arc for the character, but Gabriel gained further depth when he became blind for a short while, which eventually resulted in his right eye staying that way permanently. This further challenged his faith and gave his character even more layers compared to the version we saw in the comics.

9. Lori (Worse)

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The Lori we see in the comics is a very different character to what we see in the show. While she certainly has her flaws, they all feel human and whenever she argues with other characters it feels genuine and makes sense for her character. She’s less sceptical of Rick and a better mother to Carl in every way.

Lori in the TV show just seemed to be written to infuriate fans. Her constant back and forth on how to handle the situation with Shane was extremely inconsistent, especially her reaction after learning how Rick killed Shane in self defence. Her constant unloading of Carl onto other characters became a joke among the fan community and the scene where she crashes her car on an empty road is nothing short of infamous.

It’s unfortunate, as Sarah Callies was great in the role and finally got to shine in the third season, although she only lasted four episodes. If we had gotten more of the Lori we saw in those four episodes of the third season, things wouldn’t have been too bad.

8. The Governor (Better)

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Due to how the comic series and television series decided to tell the story of the prison arc, we got two extremely different versions of the Governor. While in the comics the Governor is absent for a prolonged period of time, there is only a small period of time where the character goes missing in the show, and this was followed by two whole episodes dedicated to exploring where he had been.

The Governor from the comics is pure evil. He truly is a monster, cutting off Rick’s hand upon first meeting him and torturing Michonne and Glenn. While it was a bit disappointing that this brutality was lost with the version of the character we saw in the television series, in trade we got a much more developed take on the character. We spent more time with him, better understood his motivations and got to wait in fear for his inevitable return.

Compared to the television series, the comic Governor just comes across a bit one dimensional. While his character was expanded upon in novels, this was an extension of the comics and most fans haven’t read them.

7. Andrea (Worse)

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Andrea is easily one of the best characters in the comics. She’s loyal to the group, resourceful, develops consistently throughout the series and has a heartbreaking send off just before the end of the series. Andrea in the television series enjoyed none of these things.

For some reason the writers seemed insistent on making Andrea unlikable during Season 2, having her shoot Daryl for no good reason. Things got much worse during Season 3 however, when Andrea chose to stay with the Governor over returning to the old group. While her motivations are understandable to a certain degree, the character reached a point where there she should’ve gotten out of Woodbury to help protect her friends. Having witnessed The Governor’s collection of zombie heads in fish tanks, it’s unbelievable she stuck around.

Perhaps the biggest mistake however was the fact that Andrea was killed off incredibly early into the show’s life. She didn’t really get any development with the core group during Season 3, leaving the character feeling wasted when she was killed. Laurie Holden voiced disappointment at the handling of her character once she had left the show.

6. Hershel (Better)

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While Hershel in the comics is an interesting character to have in the group, he isn’t as likeable and profound as TV counterpart. He actually goes through with kicking Rick and the rest of the group off of the farm, going as far to point a gun at Rick’s head to show how serious he was. This is just something you couldn’t ever imagine Hershel from the show doing.

Hershel was closer to his comic counterpart in the second season, but after Dale left the show due to creative differences, someone had to step up to the role of moral compass. But Hershel was more than that, acting as a proper father figure to both Glenn and Rick, challenging them both when they lost their way while also being there for them during their lowest points.

Hershel eventually exited the show when the Governor returned and cut off his head with Michonne’s sword. As brutal at that sounds, the real kicker was just how much everyone was going to miss the old farmer and his wise words. When he made a brief return during Season 9 fans were ecstatic and for good reason.

5. Carl (Worse)

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To be fair to the television show, Carl was always going to be at a disadvantage as he grew up quicker than the story could progress. While Carl remains a child for a long time in the comic series, by the fifth season Chandler Riggs was already fifteen. By this point many of the story points meant for Carl didn’t really work as well.

Where the writers should’ve tried to adapt to this, they didn’t, which led to Carl making child-like decisions despite practically being an adult by the end of his time on the show. His end on the show is another reason he can’t match Carl in the comics, as he misses out on key developments that happen after the group have dealt with Negan.

The final panel of the comic being Carl reading the story of Rick Grimes to his daughter is a fantastic ending to The Walking Dead and is perhaps the perfect final image for the story to end on. We were sadly robbed of this in the TV series, and Carl never quite matched his comic counterpart.

4. Carol (Better)

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The differences in characterisation between the comic version and the version of Carol we see in the show are perhaps some of the wildest. While Carol was initially quite timid, nervous and quiet like her comic counterpart, she really hardened up during Season 3 and by Season 4 she was far from being the pushover she once was.

Carol’s story line in the comics is still good, examining how the trauma of societal collapse would affect people in different ways, but seeing Carol emerge from an abusive relationship amidst a zombie apocalypse as a much stronger character offered a really great transformation to witness. The role she plays in freeing the group from Terminus is nothing short of fantastic to watch, but perhaps the best change was her role in the story line revolving Lizzie and Mika.

As we enter the last chapter of the show’s life, it’s interesting to note that Carol is the only survivor from Season 1 to still feature on the show, bar Daryl. If you told any comic fan that Rick wouldn’t last as long as Carol in the show back when it was first announced, they almost certainly wouldn’t have believed you.

3. Tyreese (Worse)

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I must admit, Tyreese is probably one of my favourite characters in the comic series. Meeting the group shortly after Shane’s demise, Tyreese and Rick form a solid friendship that sees the pair relying on each other for survival and confiding in the things they had done to get this far. The pair also clash a couple of times as Tyreese isn’t just a yes man to Rick, but someone who is willing to stand for what he believes in.

Tyreese in the show couldn’t be more different. While Tyreese in the comics is a furious, strong willed character, TV Tyreese is much more fragile and less adapted to the zombie apocalypse. His arc revolving around forgiving Carol for what she did to Karen is great, but after this he doesn’t play much of a role. He doesn’t kill Martin, who leads the Hunters back to the group, and never seems to acknowledge his mistake in sparing him.

He then exited the show with a whole episode dedicated to him, which was pretty good, but nothing on the character we got in the comics.

2. Shane (Better)

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Shane is the first true antagonist of the story, clearly demonstrating that the real threat would quickly turn from the dead to the living as people became hardened survivors. But what many fans of the show don’t realise is that Shane never left Atlanta in the comics. He was killed off directly after the walker attack on the camp that claimed Jim and Amy.

Compare this to the TV series and you can see why fans prefer the version we saw in the show. Shane’s slow descent into jealously and instability made for some great episodes, and was arguably the strongest element of Season 2. While things were maybe dragged out for a bit longer than needed, it was better than the character being killed off before we got a chance to know him.

The show also has the benefit of having Jon Berthal portraying Shane, easily one of the best actors to ever feature on the show. There’s a reason people still remember Shane despite the fact he’s not been a part of the show properly for eight seasons.

1. Jesus (Worse)

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You can’t even compare Jesus from the comics to the version we see in the show. Even Tom Payne, who was a fantastic casting for the character, spoke out about his disappointment. Relegated to a side character on the show, Jesus was so much more in the comics.

When we first introduced to Jesus in the show things seemed promising. He was funny, outsmarted Rick and Daryl and demonstrated some pretty great martial arts skills. But he never really reached the heights of his comic counterpart. Jesus was one of the only characters Rick trusted during the early days of the war against Negan, and he played a key role in the fight against The Saviours. He fought Negan hand to hand, took on entire groups on his own and even at one point caught a grenade mid air and threw it back.

We saw nothing like this in the show, with Jesus often being stuck at the Hilltop. This might be because the writers decided to take a different approach to the All Out War story line, but it doesn’t excuse how they turned one of the most badass characters into a forgettable side character. The best we got was a fight with Morgan.