In 2025, fans of The Walking Dead Universe got two treats: The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 3. With any season of any post-apocalyptic television show comes the expectation that characters, whether big or small, will be killed.
Some in more brutal ways than others. Anyone who has watched The Walking Dead could tell you how some character deaths are often more formulaic and predictable than not.
Extras and minor characters often hardly last a single episode, animals sadly included. So, for our list, we looked into three character deaths that really surprised us.
Bruegel
The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2 was a season of many surprises, from fake-out deaths to ones we simply were not expecting. Bruegel was one of those deaths we were both saddened and surprised to see occur.
While The Croat and The Dama remained at the top of the villain list for the spinoff, Bruegel was introduced as a new villain of sorts. As the leader of one of the groups that ruled a section of Manhattan, based within the Metropolitan Museum of Art, his death was a complete waste.
Considering both Croat and Dama survive this season, (yes, Dama's survival was a twist), it was surprising to see Bruegel go considering he was one of the better villains of the franchise as a whole. We owe it to both the character and the actor, Kim Coates.
Sneaky, charismatic, intelligent, yet a show pony at his core, Bruegel stole the screen every chance he got. While we'll admit his death was satisfying, as not only was it Negan who killed him, but he did so with the methane everyone was willing to die for.
TWD villains don't have a specific lifespan or screen time, but for us, we were bummed to see Bruegel go so soon when we believed his treacherous ways could have been explored further. Especially considering Dead City is still ongoing.
Ginny
Perhaps the most heartbreaking and surprising death this year was Ginny. Quiet, reserved, but a fierce warrior, she found herself under Negan's wing when her father was killed.
Negan took it upon himself to be her guardian while fleeing his home from New Babylon enforcers in order to protect his wife and son. When he decides to aid Maggie in her mission to rescue her son Hershel Jr., Ginny followed against Negan's orders.
Worried she'd die, he forced her to leave by telling her he had murdered her father. By the time season 2 rolls around, Ginny, consumed by her hatred for Negan, wants revenge and follows Maggie back to the city.
Only this time, Maggie is forced to go back, all due to the methane everyone covets so much. Ginny's quest for revenge makes her reckless, and while fending off walkers in Central Park, she is wounded but refuses to speak of it to anyone.
This wound is ultimately what saves Negan when Ginny finally finds him and holds him at gunpoint. Before she could pull the trigger, she faints.
Negan does everything possible to save her, but it's not enough. Ginny turns, breaking Negan's heart.
TWD seems to have a penchant for making Negan's life miserable at every turn. Just when things are finally looking up for the changed man, they crumble down.
We believe her death was purely for shock value and to continue making Negan's life miserable. The fact that Ginny was so young made it all the worse.
Antonio's cat
Animal deaths are often more depressing than human ones, as animals are innocent bystanders, completely unaware and unprepared for a world ruled by walkers. In Daryl Dixon season 3 we had our animal death that completely devastated us, Antonio's cat.
We quickly learned that the feud between Antonio and Fede went beyond their disapproval of Fede's niece Justina dating Antonio's son Roberto. While we don't get the full story, we can safely assume it has something to do with Antonio's deceased wife.
As Roberto recovered from his failed mission to rescue Justina from Guillermo, Fede took his moment to get the young man out of his way forever. What Fede didn't account for was Carol's observation that Roberto's condition worsened due to poison, which had killed Antonio's cat.
Carol puts the pieces together that Fede cannot be trusted, insisting that they flee to a better location while waiting for Daryl to return with Justina. Antonio's cat, who was very rarely seen, had taken a liking to Carol instantly.
It is the cat's death that rattled us, for the simple fact it was just an innocent cat. It did nothing wrong.
It just so happened to eat poisoned food and died, in a matter of speaking, so Carol could discover what was happening to save Roberto.
Stream The Walking Dead: Dead City and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon on AMC+.