The Walking Dead is notorious for killing off, well, most of its main characters over the show's 11 seasons and 177 episodes. We saw so many fan favorites murdered by humans, killed in conflict, and obviously, bitten or ripped to shreds by the walkers.
While an actor's character getting killed off on The Walking Dead became a depressing ritual for the main cast, not all of those cast exits were big surprises. In fact, some of those exits were actually requested by the stars who played them. We call these cast members "The Ones Who Leave."
We shared five Walking Dead legends who asked to leave the show, but a few of those stars actually returned to the universe in one form or another.
Jeffrey DeMunn (Dale Horvath)
Last episode: "Judge, Jury, and Executioner" (Season 2, episode 11)
Jeffrey DeMunn is one of the original stars of The Walking Dead. DeMunn plays Dale Horvath, the grandpa of the group of survivors who settles at the quarry. DeMunn, who was fond of working with creator and director Frank Darabont in many other projects, asked that his character be killed off after Darabont was unceremoniously removed from his post.
After Darabont was forced out by AMC, DeMunn asked the new creative team to kill off his character, according to an interview DeMunn gave to Cleveland.com years later.
"Dale's death was my decision. I was furious about how Frank was pushed out of the show. I spent a week not being able to take a full breath. And then I realized, 'Oh, I can quit.' So I called them and said, 'It's a zombie show. Kill me. I don't want to do this anymore.' It was an immense relief to me."
Dale nearly dies in the explosion at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta with Andrea, as she volunteers to stay behind. Eventually, she feels guilty Dale stayed behind to die with her, and they leave the CDC just in time. Unfortunately, Dale only makes it to Hershel's farm in The Walking Dead season 2's 11th episode before a walker catches up with him before the farm is overrun shortly after Dale's death.
Dale has a much larger arc in the comics. He survives Hershel's farm and makes it all the way through the events and war at the prison before he ultimately meets his end. It would have been really interesting to see that storyline through, but DeMunn wanted out after AMC wronged his collaborator.
Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes)
Left: "What Comes After" (season 9, episode 5)
Returned: "Rest in Peace" (season 11, episode 24)
Andrew Lincoln is easily the most famous star of The Walking Dead. He was part of an incredible ensemble over the years, but The Walking Dead is largely the story of Rick Grimes; at least it was until Lincoln asked to leave the series.
It's well reported by now, but Lincoln left the series to return to England to live with his family. He told Entertainment Weekly as much at the time of his exit during season 9: "The plain and simple answer is that it was the right time for my family. The fact of the matter is, I can shut off my heart for a good distance, and I’ve had to do it for eight years, but I have to come home. It’s a very painful decision, but it’s the right decision.”
Rick officially exits the story in "What Comes After," the fifth episode of season 9. A severely injured Rick tries to outrun a zombie horde as he goes in and out of consciousness. Eventually, he leads the walkers across a bridge, hoping it will collapse. When it doesn't, Rick has a revelation, and she shoots some dynamite on the bridge, causing a massive explosion, destroying the bridge, and seemingly sacrificing himself in the process.
Fortunately, Rick is rescued by Anne, who convinces the CRM to pick them up via helicopter. That's the last we see of Rick Grimes until the series finale, "Rest in Peace," when we see Rick, again, getting rescued via helicopter.
Of course, Lincoln returned to the universe with Danai Gurira in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.
Lauren Cohan (Maggie Rhee)
Left: "What Comes After" (season 9, episode 5)
Returned: "A Certain Doom" (season 10, episode 16)
Lauren Cohan joined the cast of The Walking Dead in season 2, and instantly, she became one of the fan favorites of the cast. She starred in the series through season 9 before leaving the series in the same episode as Andrew Lincoln, episode 5, "What Comes After."
Maggie exits the story, but only for a short while, as Cohan asked for a break basically to explore other projects. Cohan starred in the short-lived ABC series, Whiskey Cavalier, alongside Scott Foley. We don't get a big grand exit for Cohan like we did for Lincoln, though her absence is felt.
Following Whiskey Cavalier's cancellation, Cohan returned to The Walking Dead briefly in season 10 episode 16, "A Certain Doom," which acted as a pseudo-finale of sorts. Cohan became a series regular by the time the show picked back up following the COVID-19 work stoppage in episode 17 of season 10 in 2021.
Cohan continued to star as Maggie through the final season of the series and into The Walking Dead: Dead City. In the series, Maggie teams up with Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), who killed her husband Glenn (Steven Yeun) in season 7, to find her son who was taken.
Dead City season 3 premieres on AMC on July 26.
Tom Payne (Paul "Jesus" Rovia)
Left: "Evolution" (season 9, episode 8)
Tom Payne joined the cast of The Walking Dead in season 6, much later than the other cast members on this list. Still, Payne, who starred in the series as Jesus, only made it a couple episodes more than Andre Lincoln and Lauren Cohan.
In season 9 episode 8, “Evolution,” Jesus was killed in the Whisperers War, which was all good with Payne. According to a Hollywood Reporter interview with Payne, he revealed that, while he didn't outright say that he asked to have his character killed off specifically, he was quite happy with the decision after sharing frustrations about Jesus in the show vs. Jesus in the comics.
“They were aware I wouldn’t be unhappy if they got rid of me. I expressed unhappiness last season. I was very frustrated with what the character had been doing. He arrived in a very cool way, and then he floundered at the Hilltop.”
Unlike with Lincoln, Cohan, and Dana Gurira, who is next on the list, Payne’s character was killed, and he didn’t return to the series.
Danai Gurira (Michonne)
Left: "What We Become" (season 10, episode 13)
Returned: "Rest in Peace" (season 11, episode 24)
Danai Gurira starred in The Walking Dead as Michonne starting at the very end of season 2. In no time, she became one of the fan favorites of the entire series.
Gurira’s career took off after becoming a Walking Dead legend, and she chose to leave the series in season 10, quite a long time after Lincoln and Cohan left the series.
Gurira’s last episode was in season 10 episode 13, “What We Become.” By that time, she was already part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starring in Black Panther, and contributing to a number of projects.
In an interview with THR, Gurira revealed that she was the one who asked to leave The Walking Dead.
"I was the one who said I needed to step away. Very bittersweetly, I felt it was time to give more of myself to other aspects of my journey as an artist. Painfully, I needed to walk away from the character, in terms of the show. So I left it up to them how they would navigate that exit."
Like Lincoln, Gurira returned in The Walking Dead series finale during a montage of the "the ones who live." She's in full body armor riding a horse, also equipped with body armor, into a giant horde of walkers.
Of course, Gurira also returned to The Walking Dead universe along with Lincoln in one of the best spinoffs, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. It's possible we could see Gurira return as Michonne again in the universe, but time will tell if that happens.
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