| “ | Enough, risking our lives for a little girl who's GONE! Enough! Living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us! Enough! Rick, it ain't like it was before! Now if y'all wanna live, if y'all wanna survive, you GOTTA FIGHT FOR IT! I'm talking about fighting, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW! | „ |
| ~ Shane's breakdown before breaking down the gate to the barn. |
| “ | What you know about what I can live with? You got no idea what I can live with, what I live with! You wanna talk about what I can do, Rick? How about what you can do? Here I am! Come on, man, raise your gun. [...] What happened, Rick, I thought you weren't the good guy anymore, ain't that what you said? Even right here, right now, you ain't gonna fight for them? I'm a better father than you, Rick! I'M BETTER FOR LORI THAN YOU, MAN! It's because I'm a better man, than you, Rick. Cause I can be here, and I'll fight for it. But you come back here and you just DESTROY EVERYTHING! You got a broken woman, you got a weak boy, you ain't got the first clue on how to fix it. Raise your gun! | „ |
| ~ Shane's last words. |
Shane Walsh is the overarching antagonist of the AMC survival horror TV series The Walking Dead, serving as the deuteragonist of Season 1, the main antagonist of Season 2, and the posthumous overarching antagonist of the rest of the series. He is Rick Grimes's former best friend, and the leader, later second-in-command of the group of survivors.
Prior to the Zombie Apocalypse, Shane was a police officer and Rick's partner on the police force, albeit one with womanizing tendencies. In the wake of the apocalypse, Shane became leader of a group of survivors in Atlanta, including Rick's wife and son Lori and Carl. Over time, he fell for Lori and began to develop a fatherly bond with Carl, both of which were disrupted after a presumed dead Rick came to the group, taking Shane's place as leader and reuniting with his family. Thus, over time, Shane became extremely envious of Rick, and would eventually attempt to kill him.
He was played by Jon Bernthal, who also played Frank Castle in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Personality[]
Prior to the apocalypse, Shane was a man of much looser morals than Rick. While the latter was committed to his wife Lori and attempted to fix their deteriorating marriage, Shane was an open womanizer whose tendencies dated back to high school. Despite this, he was a close friend to Rick, and genuinely saw him as a brother. When leaving Rick in the hospital during the walker attack, he was clearly very distraught, and still attempted to keep him safe despite not hearing a heartbeat. In honor of his friend, he would take it upon himself to try to protect Lori and Carl during the apocalypse. This would eventually develop into genuine attraction for Lori and a father-son esque bond with Carl.
Once Rick returned, Shane became envious due to Rick taking his position as leader of the group and Lori and Carl going back to him. Noticeably, after Lori ended their affair, Shane brutally attacked Carol's husband Ed as an outlet for his rage. Despite his anger towards Rick, Shane held a noticeably calm demeanor, outside of momentarily considering killing Rick while hunting and an attempt to rape Lori while drunk at the CDC.
However, after Shane sacrificed Otis to the walkers, his already unstable mental state deteriorated further, as he began to develop a far more hardened view of the apocalypse, and his guilt over Otis's death combined with his jealousy of Rick led him to convince himself that Rick was not built for the new world, and that he couldn't protect Lori and Carl. He routinely criticized Rick's leadership, and became reckless, stealing the guns and opening the door to the barn.
Despite this, Shane, while having valid points about surviving in the new world, was also a bit of a coward. He was clearly distraught about his murder of Otis, showed unwillingness to kill Sophia and Dale, and during his attempt to kill Rick, found himself unable to shoot Rick unless Rick shot him first.
Biography[]
| “ | Rick: Remember the name of that waitress at the Dairy Queen when we were in high school? I know you, Shane, well enough to know there's only one surefire way of engaging you in a conversation, and that is to start asking you about girls you did in high school. I don't want to, but I'm willing to do it if that's what it takes. Shane: Marianne. I told you about her in excruciating detail. Rick: Excruciating, my ass. Shane: You used to live for those details back in the day. Rick: Yeah. I was impressionable. And I may have been living vicariously through you. Shane: Well, why wouldn't you? My impressive list of accomplishments. I was an artist in his prime. Protege. Rick: You mean prodigy. Shane: Right. Prodigy. What you call, "young high school stud bangs 30 year-olds on the regular"? Rick: What 30 year-old were you banging in high school? Shane: PE teacher. Rick: Mr. Daniel? Shane: Mrs. Kelly. Rick: The girl's volleyball coach? Wasn't she married? |
„ |
| ~ Shane and Rick talking about Shane's "exploits". |
Shane was born in 1973 and during his childhood, he grew up alongside his best friend Rick Grimes in Georgia, where the two developed a strong bond together to the point where the pair came to regard each other as 'brothers'. Shane was an avid football enthusiast, playing on his school's team as number 22 (reminisce of by the necklace he wears). Throughout his high school years he was a known prankster, once stealing the principal's car. He had many casual relationships with girls and even once having sex with the high school women's athletics teacher.
Later on, Shane and Rick studied at college together for police administration where they eventually graduated and became employed as deputies stationed at the King County Sheriff's Department, with Rick assigned as his partner. He became acquainted with several other colleagues including Lambert Kendal and Leon Basset. He also became friends with Linda and Diane from dispatch. The two patrolled and responded to emergencies as well as criminal altercations and incursions, thus they became effectively affiliated with the local residents of the neighborhood. Shane also served as a gun instructor, teaching several young kids how to shoot.
He was very close to Rick's family and helped them out on numerous occasions such as repairing the Grimes' family basement sink after Rick had previously broken it. Throughout his adult life, Shane never married, and instead stayed a womanizer. He did however have several true relationships in his life enough to trust these women with a key to his house, but they never worked out.
Season 1[]
One day, Rick and Shane were conversing in a car during work, with Rick professing that he and his wife Lori had gotten into a big argument that their son Carl was a witness to. Following that, the two received a radio broadcast about a high-speed pursuit, and rush to the scene. In the ensuing firefight, Rick is shot and falls into a coma. After bringing him to the hospital, Shane tells Lori about the incident and comforts her. Shane continues to look after his comatose friend, up until the hospital is suddenly invaded by mutated humans, which Shane comes to call "walkers". As the government shoots patients who they assume are infected, Shane attempts to get Rick out, but is unable to hear his heartbeat. He then leaves the hospital but keeps Rick's door closed in case he is alive.
Despite his friend's "death", Shane took it upon himself to protect Lori and Carl in the ensuing apocalypse. He would come to become leader of a group of survivors, including pizza-guy Glenn, Fisherman Dale, hillbilly brothers Daryl and Merle, T-Dog, sisters Amy and Andrea, Carol and her daughter Sophia, and Lori and Carl. He would also develop a relationship with Lori, which the two attempted to keep hidden from the rest of the group, and developed a fatherly bond with Carl.
Six months after the infection first began, Rick awoke from his coma, and set out to find his family, eventually coming across Andrea, Glenn, T-Dog, and Merle. He arrived at the camp, reuniting with his family and best friend. Despite this, this was much to Shane's dismay, as with Rick back, Lori ended their affair, accusing Shane of lying to her. In a fit of rage, Shane took out his anger on Carol's abusive husband Ed, threatening to kill him if he ever stepped out of line. Shane also openly criticized Rick's decision to go after Merle after he was forced to leave him in the Walker-infested city.
While Rick was away, the group's camp was attacked by Walkers, leading to the death of Ed and Amy. Shane blamed Rick for taking valuable resources and people away from the camp during the attack. Later, while scouting the nearby woods, Shane points his shotgun at an unknowing Rick, considering killing him, only to stop upon realizing he was being watched by Dale. The two then have yet another argument over where to go: Shane argues the group go to Fort Benning, a secure military base, while Rick instead argues to head to the CDC, which was working on a supposed cure to the virus. Ultimately the group decided to head to the CDC, which was completely abandoned, save for scientist Dr. Edwin Jenner.
There, Shane drank too much, and went to Lori, professing that he was still in love with her, causing them to get into another argument. Shane then attempted to rape Lori, causing her to scratch and claw at him, leading him to stop. When Rick later questions Shane's new injuries, he claims he did them in his sleep while eyeing Lori. When Jenner traps the group in the CDC building, which is about to explode, in order to give them a painless way out, Shane lashes out and threatens Jenner with a shotgun, momentarily calmed down by Rick. However, most of the group are able to escape the building and continue on their way.
Season 2[]
While on the road to Fort Benning, Sophia runs away from Walkers, and the group sets out to find her. Shane's enviousness of Rick grows, and he begins to consider leaving the group. Lori begs him not to, which is overheard by Andrea, who in the wake of her sister's death, feels there is no place for her in the group. After coming across a deer, Carl is shot by a man named Otis, who takes the three to a farm run by a doctor named Hershel. Lacking supplies, Shane and Otis go to a nearby high school to find the necessary supplies to save Carl. The two are confronted by Walkers, and are chased throughout the school, eventually leading to Shane breaking his leg. With the two lacking bullets and supplies, Shane shoots Otis to leave him as food for the Walkers, leading Otis to tear parts of Shane's hair out. Shane returns with the supplies and shaves his head to hide the evidence of his struggle with Otis, claiming he sacrificed himself instead.
As Carl begins to heal, Shane begins to form a bond with Andrea, instructing her on firearms. Despite this, the death of Otis weighs heavily on Shane's mind, and he begins to have deteriorating morals. While discussing their old lives with Rick, Shane tells him that he thinks Sophia is dead, and that the search for her is pointless. When Daryl returns with Sophia's doll, Shane claims the group is delusional, and that the search for Sophia is a terrible idea.
Later, Shane begins training other members of the group, including Carl, in firearms. He tutors Andrea privately, but mentions Amy's death to her, much to her anger. In order to make it up, he takes her to a walker-infested neighborhood for a lead on Sophia, where Andrea manages to take down some walkers, leading to her and Shane having sex in the car. When he returns, Shane is confronted by Dale, who believes that Shane is a danger to the group.
After discovering that Hershel has a horde of walkers inside his barn, Shane becomes even more critical of Rick's leadership, and tells him that they should leave, leading to Rick confessing that Lori is pregnant. Shane then talks to Lori about how he knows the child is his, to which she responds that it is Rick's no matter what. He also tracks down and threatens Dale, who has taken the guns, and gives the firearms to the rest of the group. When he witnesses Rick helping Hershel wrangle Walkers, Shane goes mad, and starts shooting at the walkers, claiming they aren't human anymore, and that Rick is wasting the groups time. He then unlocks the barn and shoots all the walkers with help from T-Dog, Andrea, and Glenn. Eventually, the final Walker exits the barn: an undead Sophia, who Rick then executes.
In the aftermath, Hershel becomes angry with Shane, attempting to demand that he get off the farm, which the rest of the group have taken to living in. When Hershel leaves the farm to relapse into his drinking habits, believing that he messed up massively, Rick and Glenn go after him, which in turn leads Lori to go after them. When Shane discovers this, he goes after Lori and brings her back by lying that Rick has returned, and inadvertently reveals to the whole group that Lori is pregnant. When Rick returns with Randall, a member of a group who had attacked them, Shane attempts to convince the group to kill Randall, fearing that he will go back to his group and start a war between the two communities.
Rick ultimately chooses to bring Randall out to a random place in the middle of nowhere to give him a fair shot, to Shane's dismay. While on the road, he also tells Shane about his knowledge of the affair, and how he will do anything to keep his family safe. After arriving at a prison, Rick and Shane leave Randall, only for him to profess he knows Hershel's daughter Maggie. At this revelation, Shane attempts to kill Randall, only to be stopped by Rick. Shane then professes he genuinely believes that Rick cannot protect his family, which leads to the two having a brawl, causing nearby walkers to attack them. After escaping the prison, Rick tells Shane that Lori and Carl are his, and that he must follow his lead.
Rick decides to have a group vote over whether or not to kill Randall, which Dale openly opposes. Ultimately, all but Dale and Andrea vote for killing Randall. However, Carl walks in during the execution, leaving Rick unable to pull the trigger. Later, Dale is killed by a walker, much to the sadness of the rest of the group. Later, Lori opens up to Shane about how she is thankful for him protecting her and Carl, but that they will never be together again. The final straw now pulled, Shane goes to Rick to tell him that he is focusing more on Randall than Carl, who is extremely guilty for having freed the walker that killed Dale.
Shane as a walker attempting to kill Rick before he is killed by Carl.
Shane goes to an imprisoned Randall and secretly takes him out of the barn. Despite initially claiming that he wants to join Randall's group, Shane breaks Randalls neck, injures himself, and lies to the group that Randall escaped and attacked him. Shane, Rick, T-Dog, and Glenn search for Randall, where Shane's true intentions become clear: To get Rick away from the group in order to kill him, thus taking back Lori and Carl. While T-Dog and Glenn are attacked by an undead Randall, Rick deduces Shane's true intentions. Shane confesses his belief that he is better than Rick, and that Rick's return only destroyed everything. Rick seemingly refuses to defend himself, attempting to give Shane his gun, only to then stab him in return. Rick tells a dying Shane that it was his own fault for his death and breaks down emotional at having to kill his brother.
Suddenly, Carl appears, to the shock of Rick, who attempts to comfort his son. Then, Shane re-animates as a walker, causing Carl to shoot Shane in the head, finally killing him.
Season 3[]
While Rick and the group are attempting to escape Woodbury, Rick sees a soldier and hallucinates him as Shane. Rick then kills him.
Season 9[]
Long after nearly everything has been taken from him, Rick is encountered by a hallucination of Shane, who congratulates him on his accomplishments, but criticizes his decision to not kill Negan.
Trivia[]
- Jon Bernthal, Shane's actor, said that in his version of events, it would've been revealed that Shane's gun had no ammo, implying that he wanted Rick to kill him.