10 most heartbreaking deaths in The Walking Dead universe, ranked

9. Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker)

When viewers first met Merle, he was a racist, abusive person who only looked out for himself. This is partly due to his horrible upbringing and the life forced upon him by absent parents. In season 3, episode fifteen, “This Sorrowful Life,” Merle sets out to save the prison but loses his own life.

When it was discovered that Merle used a hacksaw to take off his hand to escape the rooftop in Atlanta, it was assumed he would die of blood loss. But in season 3, Merele returns as a henchman of The Governor (David Morrissey), a job he relishes. When he is reunited with his brother Daryl (Norman Reedus), he is altered from the man he knew before.

Eventually, Merle decides to take matters with the Governor into his own hands and plans on killing him to save the prison. He goes to the feed store, the designated meeting spot, and sets up to kill the Governor. Sadly, his plan backfires; he is bit by a walker, discovered by Martinez (Jose Pablo Cantillo), and then beaten and shot by the Governor.

Since he was trying to redeem himself, this made his death rather sad. But the worst part is that Daryl finds him in his reanimated form and is forced to kill him. Stabbing him repeatedly in a rage for all the years of abuse, Daryl collapses in tears, losing his last surviving relative.