The Walking Dead: If [insert character] dies do we riot or celebrate?

The number of original cast members is dwindling on The Walking Dead so we asked readers for their reaction to losing the remaining cast members. The response was decisive.

There’s a well known saying among fans of Daryl Dixon on The Walking Dead: “If Daryl dies, we riot.” With the impending death of Carl Grimes and the departure of Lennie James’ Morgan for Fear the Walking Dead, the number of characters who have been with the show from the start is dwindling.

Pretty soon fans will be left with Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride) and fans were loud and clear about how they feel about losing these core characters. Fans were also vocal when asked about Negan.

We asked fans on Twitter a very simple question: “If [Insert Character] dies, we…” and the response choices were “We riot” or “We celebrate.” Here are the results:

As you can see, fans were very clear that they do not want to lose Rick, Carol or Daryl. 91% of fans said they would riot if Rick Grimes was killed off, followed by 84% for Carol and 79% for Daryl. This was obviously not a scientific study, but the results do suggest that fans do not want to lose the original characters. Norman Reedus expressed his concern about losing the core characters, saying that it would change the fabric of the show.

When it comes to Negan, reactions were mixed:

Many fans were clear that they love Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s portrayal of the character, but they want Negan’s reign of terror to end.

The next few seasons of The Walking Dead will be telling. We know Andrew Lincoln feels there is still a story to tell for Rick Grimes, but he sees an end for his character while Norman Reedus has expressed willingness to play Daryl Dixon forever. Melissa McBride has been mum on the subject of contract renewals and how long she plans to stay on the show.

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With showrunners willing to deviate from canon by killing off major characters, all bets are off now, even when it comes to Rick. Carol’s story is already a major deviation from the comics while Daryl Dixon is uncharted territory given that his character doesn’t appear in the comics. There’s a lot of uncertainty about how this will all play out, but it’s clear that fans feel strongly about keeping these three characters in The Walking Dead universe.