The Governor (The Walking Dead)

The Governor (real name Philip Blake in the TV series and Brian Blake in the comic and novels) is a fictional character from the comic book series The Walking Dead, and is portrayed by David Morrissey in the television series of the same name. Created by Robert Kirkman and artists Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn, the character made his debut in The Walking Dead #27 in April 2006. A primary antagonist of both series, the Governor is the seemingly charismatic leader of Woodbury, Georgia, who is revealed to be a brutal, insane leader that comes into conflict with protagonist Rick Grimes. The Governor is responsible for several deaths of primary characters in both forms of media. The character's origins are explored in the novel The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor, which was written by Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga.

In the television series, the Governor first appears in the show's third season. As with his comic adaptation, he is the leader of Woodbury; however, his disturbing motives are reflected in his authoritarian ways in dealing with threats to his community primarily by executing most large groups and only accepting lone survivors into his community. His dark nature escalates when he comes into conflict with Rick Grimes and his group occupying the nearby prison, whom he vows to eliminate, leaving several key characters dead both in Rick's group and his own and also has a relationship with Andrea. In the series' fourth season, he becomes alarmed by his cold ways and attempts to redeem himself upon meeting a new family, using the name Brian Heriot, although he reverts to his old persona to ensure the family's survival which leads to several more characters dead and forcing Rick and his family to abandon the prison.

In 2009, the Governor was ranked as IGN's 86th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time,^[1] and was ranked #28 on TV Guide's list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time. For his performance as the Governor, Morrissey was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 39th Saturn Awards.

Appearances

Fictional character biography

Aside from simply "The Governor," the character's name appeared to be Philip Blake; however, with the release of the novel The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor, it was revealed that his actual name was Brian Blake, and Philip was revealed to be his deceased brother.^[2]

When the dead began to rise, Brian and Philip gathered a small group, which included Brian's niece Penny, and were constantly on the run because of unsecured locations; the planned community called the Wiltshire Estates, where Rick's group coincidentally stayed, was one of these. Eventually, Brian's group came upon Woodbury, Georgia, a ravaged town being led by National Guardsmen who used fear to assert their authority. After becoming the last of his group, Brian rallied the townspeople against the Guardsmen and afterward declared himself "Governor" of the four blocks making up the settlement. Initially appearing a fair and strong leader, he became consumed with his sense of power and control, while at the same time becoming increasingly deranged because of his surroundings. He kept the zombified Penny tied up in his apartment, feeding her severed body parts of those who displeased him.^[3]

Comic book series

The Governor, as depicted in the comic book series.

Following Woodbury's capture and murder of stranded refugees from Atlanta, the Governor is met by Rick Grimes and his band of survivors when they explore the town. After initially acting hospitable, the Governor turns on the group. Attempting to find the location of Rick's prison refuge in order to collect supplies for Woodbury, he proceeds to cut off Rick's hand, mentally tortures Glenn, and has Michonne restrained, stripped and repeatedly raped.^[4] To learn the location of the prison, the Governor allows the survivors to escape the premises with the help of one of his guards, Caesar Martinez. However, Michonne stays behind and finds her way to his apartment, where she brutally tortures him. He loses his right arm, his fingernails, his penis, and his left eye. When Michonne rejoins the group and they ask her if the Governor is still alive, Michonne is uncertain.^[5]

The Governor survives with the help of Bob Stookey, a citizen who had medical experience, and is eventually able to find the prison. The Governor uses the murder of Martinez by Rick to rally the townspeople against the prison's inhabitants.^[6] Things do not go according to plan, as Rick's group puts up a tenacious defense that leads to a humiliating retreat. After a failed attempt to gain his way into the prison by use of Tyreese as a hostage and Tyreese's subsequent decapitation with Michonne's katana, the Governor crushes the fences with a tank. A bloody massacre ensues, leading to a high death toll and ultimately making the prison less secure and less habitable.

Tensions steadily rise within the Governor's group, as the ammunition they have remaining is limited and a handful of their own moral consciences come into play, especially when killing defenseless or young members of the opposing group. Both factors result in the remnants of his army turning on him, Lilly killing him, throwing his corpse to the zombies, and making a last-ditch attempt to fortify the prison.^[7]

Television series

Before the outbreak, Philip Blake and his brother were raised by an abusive father. As an adult he worked an office job, was married and had a daughter named Penny. 18 months before the outbreak Philip lost his wife in a car accident. He felt guilty ignoring her last call, as he was busy with work at the time. During the early days of the outbreak Philip and Penny survived and found a community in Woodbury and Philip became good friends with Milton Mamet but Penny was bitten and turned. Unable to accept her death, Philip locked her up in a private room in his office. When the community was leaderless, they picked Philip to lead and began calling him "The Governor", a nickname which remained. Losing his daughter made him cold, severe and paranoid about losing his community, and he executed any outsider groups he saw as a threat, making cover stories to keep the people in the dark, while allowing some smaller groups to move into Woodbury if he deemed them to be an asset and not a threat to his leadership. At some point, the Governor encounters a dying Merle Dixon, who along with Caesar Martinez and Milton, served as his lieutenants and advisers while he had Milton research a means to reverse the walker virus in the deluded hopes of saving Penny. He was also known to have had affairs with many of the Woodbury women.

Season 3

The Governor first appears in "Walk with Me", the third episode of season three, having forcibly taken Andrea and Michonne from the woods after Merle discovers them near a downed military helicopter. Woodbury, under his rule, is a community that thinks of him as a kind and caring leader. He murders the surviving soldier, Lt. Welles, after Welles tells him where the rest of his squad is. When the Governor arrives at the squad's encampment, he and his men kill them all and take their supplies. In the episode "Killer Within", the Governor works on convincing Andrea and Michonne to stay in Woodbury, although Michonne notices bullet holes and bloodstains on the National Guard vehicles, which increases her suspicions. He is more successful at befriending Andrea, and he reveals some of his past to her, including his real name. In the episode "Say the Word", it is shown that the Governor has a zombified daughter named Penny, whom he keeps hidden, feeds body parts to, and grooms affectionately while playing the lullaby Bye, Baby Bunting. Michonne uncovers clues that indicate he is mentally disturbed, including a notebook that begins as a sort of urban planning diary that devolves into lists of names followed by pages of tally marks. He allows Michonne to leave town, but she is unable to convince Andrea to leave with her. The Governor leads Andrea to a gathering for the townsfolk: a sparring match between Merle and Martinez surrounded by chained, toothless walkers. The spectacle shocks Andrea, who describes it as "barbaric", but the Governor insists it is "fun" and teaches the residents to not be afraid. In the episode "Hounded", Andrea confesses to the Governor that she did enjoy the fights of the previous evening, and he and Andrea begin a sexual relationship. He sends Merle to find and kill Michonne, and although Merle fails to kill her, he returns with two captives, Glenn and Maggie. Merle lies to the Governor and claims that Michonne was killed. In the episode "When the Dead Come Knocking", the Governor conceals his activities from Andrea while he interrogates Maggie and Glenn. When he threatens to shoot Glenn, Maggie gives him the information about the prison and their group. In the mid-season finale "Made to Suffer", during Rick's foray into Woodbury to rescue Glenn and Maggie, Michonne kills Penny, the Governor attacks Michonne, and in self-defense she stabs him in the hand and the right eye with a glass shard. Realizing that Merle lied to him about Michonne, the Governor calls a town meeting, where he claims the town has been attacked by terrorists brought by Merle and he brings forth a captured Daryl, reuniting the brothers. The Governor orders them to fight to the death, and the town calls for their blood, as a shocked Andrea looks on.

In the mid-season premiere "The Suicide King", the fight between Merle and Daryl is broken up when the prison group attacks, allowing the brothers to escape while the Governor looks on. The Governor withdraws to his apartment as the town is in unrest after the attack. Andrea confronts him about her friends' presence in town, and then goes out to calm and inspire the townspeople. In the episode "Home", the Governor asks Milton where his loyalties lie, and asks him to keep tabs on Andrea. The Governor and his men then attack the prison, as Rick Grimes's group runs for cover and gunfire erupts on both sides. A bread truck crashes through the prison's inner and outer gates and stops in the yard. The Governor smiles as the back door opens and walkers stream out. The Governor gleefully sprays machine gun fire in the air and then drives off as the survivors struggle with the walkers. In the episode "I Ain't a Judas", the Governor proceeds to rally Woodbury against the prison survivors, labeling them terrorists and raiders. Andrea wants to leave to negotiate peace with the prison, but the Governor discourages her, implying that she will not be welcomed back if she leaves. When Milton tells the Governor that Andrea asked him to help her sneak out, the Governor tells him to go with her. The Governor welcomes Tyreese, Sasha, Allen and Ben to Woodbury, after Rick kicked them out of the prison, and they volunteer to help out around Woodbury with whatever is needed, supplying him with a layout of the prison. Andrea returns to Woodbury and is allowed back in, where she warily resumes her place at the Governor's side. In the episode "Arrow on the Doorpost", encouraged by Andrea, the Governor meets with Rick in a secluded area to offer him peace in exchange for Michonne, giving him two days to think about it. The Governor returns to Woodbury and secretly orders Martinez to set an ambush at the barn, to kill all of Rick's group and bring Michonne to Woodbury so he can torture her. In the episode "Prey", Milton tries to talk the Governor out of killing the prison group, and when this fails Milton reveals the Governor's plans and his dark, sadistic, duplicitous nature to Andrea. Andrea flees for the prison, and the Governor hunts her down personally, bringing her back to Woodbury and strapping her in the dentist's chair that he meant to use on Michonne. In the episode "This Sorrowful Life", Merle kidnaps Michonne at Rick's suggestion to turn her over to the Governor, but lets her go and instead lures walkers to the Governor's meeting place to ambush the Woodbury army. After Merle shoots at them as they're distracted and kills eight of the Governor's men, both directly and caused, then the Governor shoots and kills Merle, leaving his body to reanimate as a walker, which is later killed by Daryl. In the season final "Welcome to the Tombs", the Governor brutally beats up Milton after learning that he burned the walkers which allowed Merle's ambush to happen and then shows him Andrea tied up and orders him to kill her. Instead Milton tries in vain to kill him only for the Governor to stab him numerous times and leaves him to bleed out, locked the door behind him, which causes Milton to reanimate and cause Andrea's death. He then leads his army into the prison to kill Rick's entire group, the exception of Tyreese and Sasha who wants nothing to do with it, but Rick and the others have set a trap, expecting his arrival. Ambushed and outgunned by a prepared Maggie and Glenn in riot gear, the Governor's army flees the prison in terror. The Governor stops the fast-fleeing convoy, and, in response to their protests against returning to the prison, he opens fire and slaughters them all, sparing only Martinez and Shumpert, his two best henchmen. Only Karen escapes his rampage by playing dead under a corpse. The Governor, Martinez, and Shumpert are last seen driving off as Rick and Tyreese bring everyone from Woodbury to the prison and leave Woodbury to be overrun.

Season 4

In season four, Michonne has been actively hunting the Governor, but is failing in her endeavor and intends to continue her search into Macon, but Daryl and Tyreese talk her out of it and she ceases her hunt. The Governor does not appear in this season until the fifth episode "Internment", during which he is very briefly shown hiding just outside the prison.

The following episode "Live Bait" reveals that, just after massacring his own people, the Governor sets up camp with Martinez and Shumpert. When he does not try to stop a walker from killing him, Martinez shoots it and, believing the Governor to be broken, he and Shumpert abandon him. The next day the Governor drives back to Woodbury, which is overrun with walkers, and burns down the entire town. After several months alone intentionally trying to let the walkers kill him, he finally collapses on the street. He looks up to see a young girl, about the same age as Penny, in the window of a nearby apartment building; he pulls himself back to his feet and investigates. He finds the Chambler family residing inside, consisting of sisters Lilly and Tara, their father David, and Lilly's daughter Meghan. Lilly and Tara initially hold the Governor at gunpoint, but they later confiscate his pistol and allow him to stay in an apartment across the hallway. After hearing about how the Governor has survived the last few months, they ask him his name. He tells them that it is "Brian Heriot", a name he saw painted on the side of a barn while staggering aimlessly through the countryside. Lilly later comes to the apartment where he is staying and offers him some food; he accepts it, but after she leaves, he throws the food out of the window and continues eating a can of tuna he found. He goes to their apartment to return the plate and is invited inside. He runs some errands for the family, such as getting the backgammon set that one of David's old war friends had in his apartment on the floor above them, since playing backgammon is the only thing that makes Meghan happy. Brian finds the backgammon set and a few rounds of ammo in the apartment. He kills David's reanimated friend and takes a revolver. He returns to the Chamblers' apartment, gives David the backgammon set, and leaves. Lilly asks Brian to get some oxygen tanks for David, who has cancer and whose last tank is running out of oxygen. After several struggles with walkers at a nearby nursing home, Brian is able to escape with two oxygen tanks. Lilly thanks him and cleans a minor head wound that he received. She lets Meghan stay and watch him while she goes back to their apartment; Meghan asks him how he got his eyepatch, and he tells her that he was trying to help someone he cared for, but lies about the circumstances and leaves out that he was trying to kill Michonne. Later, he is teaching Meghan how to play chess when Lilly reveals that David has died. Brian tells the family to leave David's room, as he knows that David is about to reanimate, but Lilly wants another minute alone to say goodbye. David turns and nearly bites Tara, but Brian is able to save them by bashing in David's head with one of the oxygen tanks. After he buries David, he burns his photo of his wife and Penny. That night, he goes to the Chamblers to say goodbye, but Lilly insists that he stay. Brian says they cannot go with him, but Lilly says he has become a part of their family. Brian and Lilly become lovers, and Brian saves Meghan when she falls into a pit of walkers, killing them with his bare hands. Gunfire can be heard in the background, but it stops soon after Brian kills the walkers. He hugs Meghan and promises that he will keep her safe from anything that may harm her. He hears a surprised voice coming from outside the pit. He looks up and sees Martinez standing above him.

In the episode "Dead Weight", Martinez takes in the Governor, accepting his new facade as "Brian", and the girls and lets them join their camp. Among the camp are brothers Pete and Mitch Dolgen, who have a working tank. While scouting for supplies the four find walker bodies cut up with the words "liar", "murderer" and "rapist" written on them, the last one with a photo of a family resembling the Governor's, greatly implied to be a warning from Michonne. When it becomes clear that Martinez may not be able to keep them safe and offers to share power with Brian, Brian kills him by throwing him into a pit of zombies. Pete takes command, and Brian later kills him as well after he displays an inability to kill a group of other survivors to take their belongings. Brian tells Mitch who, though angry that Brian murdered his brother, understands why after Brian explains his plan to find a sanctuary. Brian plans to rally the camp and use the tank in a second attack on the prison. In the ending scene when scouting the prison he sees Michonne and Hershel, and prepares to shoot them. In the mid-season finale "Too Far Gone", Brian instead takes Hershel and Michonne hostage and informs the camp of his plan to take the prison. He says Rick's group destroyed Woodbury and killed Penny, and that they are murderers and thieves but that there are good people among them, and tells his camp that he plans to use Hershel and Michonne as leverage to force Rick's group out of the prison without killing anyone. Michonne vows to kill Brian, while Hershel tries to reason with him but Brian becomes angered when Hershel calls him "Governor", warning him not to use that name again. Upon arriving at the prison with his army and tank, Brian tells Rick that he is going to give their group a chance to leave without anyone getting killed. Rick tries to plead with Brian, stating that they can co-exist peacefully, but Brian calls him a liar and executes Hershel as a fire-fight ensures. Lilly, with Meghan's corpse in her arms, arrives in time to see him murder Hershel. Brian dispassionately shoots Meghan to prevent reanimation before ordering his people to kill everyone in the prison. Brian uses the tank to roll over the fences and goes into the fight himself, only to be tackled by Rick. The two of them fight, and Brian eventually pins Rick and brutally beats him before beginning to choke him to death. Before he can finish him, Brian is stabbed through the back by Michonne, who decides to leave him to bleed to death. Towards the end of the episode, a dying and barely-conscious Brian is shot in the head by Lilly. In the opening of the next episode "After", his corpse is seen lying on the ground, with both legs torn off, his chest ripped into, and a bullet hole in his forehead.

Season 5

In the mid-season premiere "What Happened and What's Going On", the Governor appears along with Beth Greene, Bob Stookey, Martin, and Lizzie and Mika Samuels during Tyreese's hallucinations after he is bitten on the forearm by a walker and is dying. While Beth, Bob and the girls comfort him and assure him he did the right thing and assure him it is ok, even better, to let go, the Governor and Martin taunt him about his past actions and inability to do what is necessary because of his morality. Governor especially criticizes Tyreese's choice to forgive Carol for murdering Karen despite claiming to have shown him what is needed to survive, that he didn't adapt to what was needed. However Tyreese stands up and confronts the Governor saying that he "didn't show him shit" and people like him will always die but people like Tyreese do get to live, but the Governor "pushes" Tyreese to the ground while still pressing his point. After Tyreese's arm is cut off by Michonne, he begins to bleed out and sees Governor and Martin belittling him once more.

Casting and development

The character is portrayed by British actor David Morrissey. Glen Mazzara, when asked about the direction of the character for the third season of the show, described the Governor as a narcissist, who sees himself as the future savior of civilization and is willing to resort to the most extreme of measures to achieve his ultimate goal.^[8]

Despite making few appearances, the Governor's daughter plays a key role in his mentality and actions. He secretly cares for the undead Penny in his apartment, as revealed in the episode "Say the Word", brushing her hair and singing to her, and tells Michonne that she does not need to suffer, implying that he still believes Penny is alive and is "under the grip of a terrible, terrible illness".^[9]

The Governor's eye patch in the television series was placed on the opposite side to that of his comic book counterpart.

References