The Walking Dead Villains: Who ISN’T The Worst, Part 7

Negan

When I first found out about Negan, long before he was due to arrive on the show, I never thought I’d find myself in this position. I never expected, not only that I’d be arguing the virtues of Negan, but, that I’d feel the argument being so strong.

If ever there was a character that defied expectations, and blurred the line between good and evil so well, it’s Negan. Negan is at once the devil and its advocate, and he made his case with three simple words.

“We’re not monsters.”

With those words, I think Negan might have done more to get the audience to sympathize with him than any soliloquy could. He acknowledged how both he and his group are seen, and dispelled it as a mischaracterization.

It’s strange to say that Negan and The Saviors are “mischaracterized”, considering what they’ve done over the season. Negan alone killed Abraham, Glenn, Spencer, and Dr. Carson this season. With that under his belt, the idea of The Saviors being “mischaracterized” would seem absurd.

Yet, when you look at the other side of Negan that was on display this season, you realize that idea might not be as absurd as first imagined.

The point Negan was trying to make to Sasha when he told her that The Saviors weren’t monsters was that, the reputation his group has amassed isn’t necessarily who they really are.

As we saw in “Sing Me A Song”, when Negan gave Carl the tour of The Sanctuary, “The Saviors” is not just an arbitrary name. To Negan, The Saviors are the saviors of humanity. This isn’t just something Negan sells to get his group to follow him. He believes it.

In some ways, it’s hard to argue with him. The Saviors have levels of sophistication far beyond many of those they collect from. They have their own economy, their own division of labor, their own social hierarchy, and, if you want to look at it that way, their own trade network. Things we often associate with true civilization, The Saviors already have.

To further this idea of The Saviors, or at least Negan, being mischaracterized, let’s take a deeper look at some of the interactions we’ve seen with him this season.

Of particular note is his relationship with Carl. Throughout this season, we’ve seen Negan express a great admiration for Rick’s son. Even after Carl gunned down several of his men (Attempting to kill Negan himself), rather than punish Carl, Negan gave him a tour of his base.

Stranger still, after returning Carl to Alexandria, we watched as Negan enjoyed himself whilst touring Rick and Carl’s home. Judith even fell asleep in his arms. We ended the episode with an image of Negan holding Judith, almost like a doting father. This sets the image we had of him at the start of the season completely on its head.

Perhaps the best example of Negan being mischaracterized, however, comes from his interactions with Sasha in “Something They Need”.

Incidentally, you might have noticed I omitted David from the list of people Negan killed, here’s why.

Negan’s interaction with Sasha began with him interrupting David’s attempt rape her as she sat in her cell.

In short order, Negan told David not only that his behavior was unacceptable, but that he wouldn’t want to be in a place where it was. A moment later, Negan informed David he was not accepting his apology, and put a bowie knife through his neck.

Here, we have a startling contrast. Negan, who often murdered people to get his point across, deemed rape beyond the pale. And, he murdered David to get his point across.

What this shows us is that, while Negan is brutal, he isn’t a man without morals. Strange as it might seem to outsiders, Negan and The Saviors have their own code that they (Or at least Negan) adhere to.

For Negan, his brutality mirrors the brutal world he now lives in. He realizes, in order to get people to understand that he means business, he sometimes needs to resort to violence. However, Negan doesn’t want The Saviors to be barbarians.

Negan can’t stomach the idea of his troops using things like rape as a means of keeping those they collect from in line, nor can he stand the idea of them raping their prisoners. Most of those Negan takes prisoner, he attempts to recruit, he doesn’t want that tainted by his minions violating those potential recruits.

Strange as it might seem, I think Negan is, in his own way, attempting to do good.

I think Negan has an idealized notion of what The Saviors can be. For him, this period might simply be a rough patch in what he hopes will be The Saviors’ long history.

I think Negan hopes that, one day, The Saviors could reorganize the Washington D.C. area, with the other communities not cooperating because they have to, but, because they want to.

Negan may see his actions as the rough and necessary first steps toward putting humanity back on its feet. In his mind, neither he nor The Saviors are monsters, just people doing what they have to to achieve something great.

Next: Who IS Redeemable?