Glenn Rhee

Glenn
The Walking Dead character
Glenn, as depicted in the comic book series.
First appearance	Issue #2 (comics) "Days Gone Bye" (TV series)
Last appearance	Issue #100 (comics)
Created by	Robert Kirkman Tony Moore Charlie Adlard
Portrayed by	Steven Yeun
Voiced by	Nick Herman (video game)
Information
Occupation	Pizza delivery boy
Significant other(s)	Maggie Greene

Glenn Rhee is a fictional character from the comic book series The Walking Dead and is portrayed by Steven Yeun in the AMC television series of the same name. He is also voiced by Nick Herman in the video game of the same name, by Telltale Games. In the comics, he was known simply as Glenn and was not given a last name, while in the television series, he mentioned that his parents were Korean immigrants who lived in Michigan. Glenn was Maggie's boyfriend-turned-husband, and takes the role of surrogate father to Sophia following the suicide of her biological mother.

Appearances

Comic book series

Resourceful and clever, Glenn made it out of Atlanta and came upon the group of survivors on the outer limits of the city. Due to his knack for scavenging, Glenn is often nominated to sneak into the city and find supplies. His use of MacGyver-like tactics to outsmart and kill zombies enabled him to successfully recover guns for Jim.^[1] Not long after Shane died, Glenn developed a nascent crush on Maggie, but his shyness initially prevented him from acting on his feelings.

Glenn settled into a prison-turned-refuge with Maggie, and helped the group find fuel and supplies. He was later imprisoned by the Governor, an encounter that left him with physical and mental scars; Glenn was beaten and forced to hear The Governor brutally rape Michonne in a neighboring cell.^[2] After his escape and return to the prison, Glenn grew to love Maggie and proposed to her with a ring stolen from a zombie's finger; Hershel married the couple shortly after. Soon after their marriage, Glenn and Maggie volunteered to join the group that traveled to the Army Center to prevent enemies from Woodbury from using its fuel for their vehicles. The group was attacked by Bruce and his friends. Glenn, distracted, allowed Andrea to snipe Bruce and Michonne to kill the rest of the attackers. He fiercely defended the prison from a front gate sniper tower. With the group divided on what to do next, Glenn decided to leave with Dale and Andrea in the R.V. at the last minute, saving Sophia and Maggie's lives (at this point, Sophia saw him as a surrogate father).^[3] He, Maggie, and Sophia stayed at Hershel's farm with Dale and Andrea.

When the group encountered survivors at the farm, Glenn did not like or trust Abraham Ford, Rosita Espinosa, or Eugene Potter. However, he agreed to accompany them to Washington for Eugene's mission rather than stay at the farm any longer. On the road, Maggie attempted to hang herself and Glenn fought with Abraham, who intended to shoot her. Glenn cut down Maggie and performed CPR, breaking down in tears, but soon flared into rage at Abraham when the group realized she was still alive.^[4] Glenn's focus shifted from scavenging to caring for his new family and supporting Maggie after the death of her entire family. With the rest of the group, he traveled to the Alexandria Safe-Zone. Glenn was suspicious of the Safe-Zone's community but adapted more rapidly than Rick. Glenn's useful skills and agility made him a suitable applicant to once again be a scavenger and a replacement for the wounded Scott. Glenn's new job made Maggie unhappy, due to the danger he would face and they argued which resulted in Glenn leaving the house for a bit.

Rick asked Glenn, due to his loyalty, to steal back their guns and weapons, which were taken by Douglas Monroe, when they first came to the Safety-zone. Glenn made a distraction for the Community's survivors while he looked for the location of the weapons for Rick. Rick and Glenn found the armory, and Glenn snuck in. Rick distributed the weapons amongst the members of their group.^[5]

Fearing another attack after the Saviors attempt to break into the community, Glenn convinces Maggie to leave the community with him and Sophia, and head toward the Hilltop Colony, which he believes to be a much safer place. As they were camped on the road after driving halfway to the Hilltop, they are ambushed by The Saviors. Because of the number of Saviors already killed by Rick and the group, Glenn is selected and viciously bludgeoned to death by the leader of the Saviors, Negan, while helplessly crying Maggie's name. Rick and everyone else are left with Glenn's mangled corpse as The Saviors drive away, with Rick swearing to avenge Glenn's death as soon as possible.^[6]

His death initially leaves the group shattered, with Maggie quickly descending into an emotional mess and Rick on the verge of yielding to Negan's power. Glenn's body is later driven by the group to the Hilltop, where it is to be buried in a matter of days. To honor Glenn's final wishes, Maggie chooses to remain at the Hilltop with Sophia and start a new life while awaiting their baby.

Television series

Glenn, as portrayed by Steven Yeun in the television series

Glenn is first seen rescuing Rick from a horde of zombies in the city of Atlanta, where Rick is hiding in a tank. Using a radio to talk to him, Glenn guides Rick to the location of his group, including Andrea. They find themselves trapped in a department store initially, but manage to escape, with Glenn driving a Dodge Challenger to distract the zombies around the city while the rest of the survivors get away in a truck.^[7] They meet up with the rest of the survivors at the Atlanta campsite, where Glenn helps distribute supplies and assist others when needed. He later goes with Rick, Dixon, and T-Dog to find Merle in the city and help Rick regain the guns previously dropped near the tank. However, Glenn ends up getting kidnapped by a nursing home crew posing as gang bangers, who try to exchange him for weaponry. Glenn is released, but his group then finds out that the truck which they used to drive to the city is missing, leaving them with no choice but to return to the campsite on foot. Glenn and the rest of his teammates return to the camp just in time to witness a herd of zombies invade and kill many of the survivors.^[8] In the wake of the massacre, he assists in dealing with the corpses and insists that the group bury their people instead of burning them as they did the walkers they previously killed. Ultimately, he and the rest of the group leave the campsite and head to the CDC,^[9] where, for a brief time, they enjoy the luxuries it offers. They are on the road again, however, following the self-destruction of the CDC building.^[10]

In Season 2, Glenn continues to be a valuable asset to the group, helping to repair the RV and scavenging items from abandoned cars on the highway.^[11] When Carl gets shot, he and everyone else are ultimately lead to Hershel Greene's farm, where he sparks up a friendship with Hershel's daughter Maggie. They have sex while on a pharmacy run together, and, when Maggie expresses afterward that their fling was a one-time thing, Glenn continually tries to convince her that their romance should continue. Genuine love begins to form between the two, which leads them to consider a serious relationship. This consideration appears to stop, however, when Maggie feels frustrated and betrayed by Glenn when he does not keep his promise that he will not reveal that zombies are in the barn. She forgives him soon afterwards however, and they start to engage in a relationship.^[12] Before Glenn and Rick leave for town to find Maggie's father, Maggie tells Glenn she loves him. Glenn leaves before saying it back. In town, Glenn is wracked with embarrassment and guilt after freezing during a shootout with outsiders. He blames the inaction on his deep love for Maggie, and apparently breaks up with her.^[13] In the season finale, when the farm is overrun by walkers, Glenn plays a big part in its defense. During the chaos, he convinces Maggie to abandon the farmyard for the meantime so as to avoid any further danger. He later assures her that her family is safe, and seeing the right opportunity, confesses his love for her. The two eventually reunite with the other survivors at the highway. After discovering that Rick kept secret the fact that they are all infected, Glenn is among the survivors who grow wary of Rick. He and Maggie contemplate leaving camp and abandoning Rick's leadership. They, however, dismiss such thoughts after Rick taunts the group with the option of leaving on their own.^[14]

Six to seven months afterward, Glenn has become increasingly proficient at fighting zombies. He and Maggie continue to have a strong relationship.^[15] While out on a supply run one day, he and Maggie are ambushed and captured by and brought to Woodbury for interrogation. There, Merle brutally beats Glenn while trying to find the whereabouts of their camp. Despite this, as well as being forced to fight a walker while strapped to a chair and having the Governor threaten to shoot Maggie, Glenn remains unbroken. When he is rescued by Rick's group, Michonne takes him back to the car they had arrived in (leaving the prison group's red wagon back in Woodbury). While they remain behind, Rick and Maggie set off smoke grenades, killing several Woodbury residents and rescuing Merle and Daryl in the process. Glenn shows great frustration (at one point bludgeoning a walker pulled from a nearby vehicle) when he finds out that not only is Merle going with them, but Rick had not taken the opportunity to kill the Governor as well (still believing that he raped Maggie when they were held captive). They return to the prison without Merle and Daryl, but Glenn's relationship with Maggie begins to fall apart, despite her claims that the Governor threatened to cut off his hand if she refused to bow down to him. With Rick starting to have breakdowns while meeting Tyreese's group, Glenn decides to impose himself as leader of the group, thinking about killing the Governor when he will not be expecting it. As he leaves on a scouting mission, he misses an attack made on the prison by the Governor, which results in Axel's death and the destruction of the main security gates. Towards the end of Season 3, Glenn begins to let go of some of his anger, and his relationship with Maggie improves to the point where he asks Maggie to marry him. She says yes.

Video game

Glenn's appearance in the first episode of The Walking Dead video game is his first chronological appearance in the franchise. The character is voiced by Nick Herman. Lee Everett (the player character) works with Glenn in "A New Day", revealing that they are both from Macon, Georgia. Glenn volunteers to go out and scavenge for the survivors hiding out in Lee's family's pharmacy, but is pinned down by walkers at a local motel while trying to rescue a trapped girl, and the player must go out to save him. The girl, who has been infected, ends up killing herself. Glenn decides to leave the group at the end of the episode and return to Atlanta to find his friends, tying into his comic and television appearances.^[16][17]

Development

Casting

Steven Yeun was announced to be part of the main cast in May of 2010, along with Laurie Holden.^[18] In May of 2011, he received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in Television.^[19]

It has been confirmed by Glen Mazzara that Glenn's last name is Rhee, but it has never been mentioned on-screen in the TV Series. Glenn's last name is also listed on his page on AMC's official The Walking Dead site.^[20]

References

External links

• Glenn at AMC
• Glenn at the Internet Movie Database