Carl Grimes

Carl Grimes
The Walking Dead character
Carl Grimes, as depicted in the comic book series. Art by Charlie Adlard.
First appearance	Issue #2 (comics) "Days Gone Bye" (TV series)
Created by	Robert Kirkman Tony Moore Charlie Adlard
Portrayed by	Chandler Riggs
Information
Family	Father: Rick Grimes Mother: Lori Grimes Sister: Judith Grimes
Significant other(s)	Sophia Peletier (comics)

Carl Grimes is a fictional character from the comic book series The Walking Dead and is portrayed by Chandler Riggs in the American television series of the same name, which airs on AMC in the United States. The character was created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore, and debuted in The Walking Dead #2 in 2003. In both forms of media, Carl is the son of primary protagonist Rick Grimes and is one of the longest surviving characters.

In the comic book series, Carl begins as a normal and innocent child, but as the events of the new world order force him to grow up, he becomes colder and competently makes sometimes brash decisions for the good of his group of friends. The character's development is similar in the television series, where he is a normal boy before adapting a callous and cold personality to survive. This behavior puts him into conflict with his father, who desires to maintain Carl's morality.

For his performance as Carl, Riggs was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Series - Leading Young Actor in 2012 and 2013.

Appearances

Comic book series

Carl is the only son of deputy sheriff Rick Grimes and his wife, Lori Grimes. When the dead rise, Lori takes Carl to a purported safe zone in Atlanta, Georgia, along with Rick's partner, Shane Walsh. Lori and Carl join a group of survivors on the outskirts of Atlanta, formed and led by Shane. There, they are eventually reunited with Rick. Despite being only seven years old, Carl is taught to shoot a pistol. This comes in handy when he saves his mother from an attacking walker. Later, he is forced to kill an unstable Shane in order to protect his father.^[1] Around the same time, he enters a romantic relationship as Sophia's boyfriend.

After the group buries Shane and leaves Atlanta, Carl is shot and wounded by ranch foreman Otis while searching for supplies in the woods. The survivors are brought to the farm of Otis' employer, veterinarian Hershel Greene, who successfully treats Carl. The group remains at the farm for several days until tensions cause Hershel to evict them.^[2]

They eventually find an abandoned prison. While there, Carl and the others enjoy the prison's luxuries, such as hot showers and open space. He is confronted with disturbing experiences, such as witnessing numerous counts of violence/death. While Rick was away with other survivors, he frequently gave Lori re-assurance about his well-being. Throughout Lori's pregnancy, Carl was thrilled with the idea of a baby sister and when Judith is born he is fiercely protective over her. When The Governor and his army attack the prison, Carl managed to escape with Rick, while his mother and baby sister were shot to death. Once they had reached relative safety from the attack, Carl and his father begin to mourn the death of Lori, Judith, and all those who fell during the battle.^[3]

Carl and Rick took refuge in an abandoned house and after a brief encounter with more zombies, Carl was under the impression he could defend himself. He then blames his mother and sister's deaths on Rick. However, his innocence comes out and he realizes that he was still scared of the outside world and needed his dad. After reuniting with Maggie and Glenn, he is reunited with Sophia at Hershel's farm and the surviving members of the prison assault. After new survivors stumble upon the farm, they move to Washington D.C.

During the journey, while returning to Kentucky with Rick and Abraham, he is nearly raped by a group of rednecks before his father manages to kill all of them. In the aftermath of their murders, Carl confesses to killing Shane and being a different person than he was before the apocalypse. Shortly after their return to the main group, Carl witnesses a fellow child survivor murder his brother, and he takes it upon himself to execute the child when he realizes no one is willing to do it.^[4] He feels deep grief, but does not regret his actions.

When they arrive at a gated community in D.C., Carl is unable to fit in with the other children due because of his horrific experiences in the dangerous outside world and the false sense of security the other children had. During a zombie attack, Carl is shot in the face, losing his right eye, and in a coma for weeks.^[5] When he wakes up and again is taken care of by Rick, he shows a much more negative outlook, berating his father for all of the horrible things that have happened because of him.

When Rick decides to attack a group of survivors known as the Saviors, they retaliate by killing Glenn. Rick decides to create the illusion of falling in line with their leader, Negan, but is actually trying to find more information about the group when Carl decides to sneak into one of the Saviors' vans and launch an assault on them, ending with him as Negan's new "guest".

Television series

Carl Grimes, as portrayed by Chandler Riggs

Carl is Lori and Rick Grimes' son and Judith's elder brother. Upon learning of his father's shooting days before the outbreak, he is devastated. When the outbreak begins, Shane and Lori take him to the supposed safe zone in Atlanta. On the way there, he is told that his father is dead, and he gradually began to accept it.^[6] In season one, after they set up camp with other survivors on the outskirts of Atlanta, Carl begins to look at Shane as a father figure, as he does various activities with him such as fishing. Carl appears to be oblivious to Shane and Lori's ongoing sexual relationship. When Rick returns, Carl is overjoyed and Lori restricts Carl's interactions with Shane. After walkers overrun the campsite, killing and injuring many quarry survivors, Carl and the group travel to the CDC, where they enjoy the facility's amenities. Following the CDC's destruction, they start traveling again.^[7]

In season 2, Carl is shown to be yearning for more responsibility within the group, such as helping to scavenge for supplies. While searching for the missing Sophia, he is shot and wounded by a man named Otis, who leads them to a nearby farm.^[8] The owner, Hershel Greene, operates and saves his life. While in recovery, he begins to develop a colder mindset, which worries Lori. This new mindset continues to develop following the reveal of Sophia as a walker. He denies the idea of heaven and shows disrespect towards his elders.^[9] In the season's penultimate episode, Carl saves his father by shooting Shane, who had become a walker.^[10] His gunshot attracts a horde of walkers and so the group is ultimately driven off the farm.

In season 3, six to seven months later, Carl has evolved into a child soldier of sorts; he has grown more proficient with weapons, and has adapted a more mature demeanor, as well as a more responsible role within the group. He has grown distant from Lori and shows a developing crush on Hershel's seventeen-year-old daughter, Beth. After watching his mother die while giving birth via C-section, a distraught Carl shoots her per her request to prevent reanimation. While Rick, Oscar, Daryl and Michonne head out to attack Woodbury, Carl is left in charge of protecting the others inside of the prison. Upon the arrival of Tyreese's group, he takes the initiative to lock them all out of his cell block. In the finale, Carl kills a teenage member of The Governor's army, who failed to drop his gun, despite professing to surrender, when the boy stepped closer to Carl, Hershel (who was unarmed), and infant Judeth. Carl tells Rick he did not want to take his chances by letting someone else live who could potentially kill someone in their group; he brings up how he did not kill the walker on the farm that killed Dale and how Rick's decision to not kill Andrew and The Governor resulted in the deaths of Lori and Merle, respectively. Carl also appears angered by Rick's decision to take in Woodbury's remaining survivors, who generally appear to be less able-bodied. In season 4 Carl has turned to farming along with his father, Rick tries to encourage Carl to be a kid, but Carl hardened by what he's seen and done is reluctant to do so. He does go to "Storytime" that is hosted by Carol which turns out to be teaching the kids how to use weapons when needed. He tells his father. After an infection breaks out in the prison Rick lets him carry a gun again. In the mid season finale he tells Daryle he has a clear shot on The Govenor, but Daryle tells him to not take the shot as a firefight would break out. During the fight he saves his father before finding his sister's carrier empty and bloody. Devastated Rick and Carl leave the prison as walkers invade with Rick telling Carl "Don't look back."

References

External links

• Carl at AMC
• Carl Grimes at the Internet Movie Database