I was a hairdresser in my former life, so I pay attention to hair in many aspects of my life, including The Walking Dead characters. Even though it is set in an apocalypse, the series has given us many great hairdos. Many characters have changed their hair, while others have kept the same. Below is a ranking of the characters according to who has the best hair.
Much time and effort goes into choosing hairstyles and fashions for characters in any series or film. A whole team puts forth the effort to help build a character’s personality by their style, whether hair, fashion, weapon, or SFX, to help us learn about a character. In an apocalyptic setting, you would think it wouldn’t matter much, but as fans of The Walking Dead know, it makes the character more interesting.
Over the course of the 12 years that The Walking Dead aired, we’ve seen many changes in characters and are introduced to new ones with unique styles. It might seem a bit meaningless in a ‘zombie’ series, but it keeps it exciting and gives cosplayers more to work with when recreating their favorite characters for their costumes.
Who has the best hair in The Walking Dead?
Below are the top 10 characters ranked by their hair. Nothing else, just great hair.
10. Rosita (Christian Serratos) comes in at number 10. She kept her locks long and tried to remain stylish in a ZA. She has worn it in piggy tails, braids, and loose and loves to wear hats to accessorize. I was never a big fan of hers initially, but since she gave birth to sweet little Coco, she has changed for the better. Sadly, Rosita met her demise in the series finale episode.
9. Princess (Paola Lazaro)gets kudos to her for finding hair color at the world’s end. And why not? She had been alone for a very long time, so she had to find things to occupy her time. Princess got her happily ever after, as was seen in the one-year time jump of the series finale. Fun fact, Lazaro shared with me during a panel interview that the one food that Princess would scavenge for is brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts and consider it a special treat.
8. Daryl (Norman Reedus), what can you say about Daryl’s hair? People always say he needs a bath, which he probably does, but there have been times when his hair looks great on the show. Personally, I loved the short-haired Daryl in the earlier seasons. Daryl will go on to France for his next adventure in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, and from the first release images, it doesn’t appear he will change anything with his hair just because he is living in France.
7. Eduardo (Peter Zimmerman), who didn’t love this man-bunned Hilltop hottie? And where the heck did he go? We saw him guarding the gate at Hilltop and other things, then…poof; he was gone. Kang did say he was alive, living at Hilltop, but now that Hilltop is gone, it is hard to say what became of him. But his hair was excellent, and he deserves a space on this list. Zimmerman, who played Eduardo, has gone to make music and start PLZ pictures.
6. Heath (Corey Hawkins) is another character who mysteriously disappeared and had great hair. Those braids and the black-rimmed glasses really worked for Heath. It would be nice to see him again or at least learn what became of him. Since leaving the series, Hawkins has been a busy guy; check out his IMBD page for all his projects.
5. Eugene (Josh McDermitt) ever since Eugene came on the scene, his mullet has received a lot of attention. With a do that is supposed to be business in the front and party in the back, Eugene is mostly business. When the season 9 time jump occurred, Eugene had grown his hair and was sporting an extremely long braid. Eugene got a happy ending by finding the woman of his dreams, Max (Margot Bingham), and having a child with her.
4. Carol (Melissa McBride), long or short, Carol can pull it off. I prefer her short hair but don’t really hate the long. Carol growing her hair out was a sign that she felt comfortable with the people in her life. She had kept her hair short so that Ed, her abusive husband, couldn’t grab hold of it while he was beating her. Again, hair might not seem so important in their world, but in Carol’s world, it was symbolic. In the series finale time jump, Carol again sported short hair as it was a time of change for her.
3. Michonne (Danai Guiria), talk about hair! This girl has some great locks. When she first arrived in the series, she was hooded, and comic book fans were hopeful she had her iconic look. And they were not disappointed. Whether her hair is down, wrapped with a scarf, or the newest side-swooped version is incredible. Unfortunately, Guiria has left the series but will return in a Rick and Michonne spinoff series in 2024.
2. Ezekiel (Khary Payton), check out this guy! His hair is fantastic, and his eloquent way of saying anything makes him stand out. Payton has taken another iconic comic book character and done it justice. During the series finale, Ezekiel was in his element as he took over the leadership of the Commonwealth community.
1. Jesus (Tom Payne), of course, Jesus gets the top rank for his long-flowing locks. Whether up in a man bun or free-flowing, he is the best-coifed man in the apocalypse. And, yes, that was his natural hair and beard. He posted a photo on his IG celebrating the second anniversary of the birth of his Prodigal Son character Malcolm Bright when he cut those long locks off.
We must shout out to the absolute worst hair in the apocalypse. There is no reason for this cut, and as someone who cuts hair, this makes me cringe.
Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh), what in the holy bowl cut hell is happening with those bangs? Sorry, Pollyanna McIntosh, you are a dream, but even she has to know this hair was awful. Luckily she got a new do after the short time jump into season 9, along with a name change. Change is good, right? Then she reverted to the awkward hair when she crossed over to The Walking Dead: World Beyond spinoff series as Warrant Officer Jadis Stokes. She will appear in the Rick & Michonne spinoff and we will wait to see what new do she is sporting in this series.
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