Now many people who watched The Walking Dead probably thought the same a me when Negan made his first appearance "what a jerk, what's his problem?". I'll admit it I was sceptical of the character to begin with but the more I watched the more I fell for the Negan charm. When you look back over it all I can't help but think can you really call him a villain? I mean he's not really done anything much worse than Rick the shows protagonist has he? Let's take a look:
Negan and Rick both have a gang that'll follow them anywhere.
Negan has a large amount of followers that are willing to follow him to hell and back and will do anything that is required to survive. Granted they are very brutish however when you look at Ricks group they've gone to war with just as many groups of people and have stolen from and killed many other people and his group will follow him blindly without ever questioning him until much like Negans people the end of season eight.
Both Rick and Negan have stolen and threatened other groups.
So when we first find out about Negan we find that he controls the people of the Hill Top group, meaning that they have to give him food, supplies and at some stages even people. Yes granted all he offers in return is protection which seems cruel but the Hill Top was a self sustaining settlement so they didn't always need to risk people to go scavenge for the offerings. It wasn't until Rick came along when the Hill Top when the problems started. During this time even Rick stole and threatened people from other groups, remember when Rick took all the guns from oceanside?
Rick is becoming very similar to Negan
When we first meet Rick he was a stand up officer of the law and his word means everything to him. he's the stereotypical family man where he would do anything for his family. As we progress through the story Rick gets pushed to his limits and becomes more and more corrupt. by the end he convinces his hostages and gives them his word that they can go back to the hilltop with him if they agree to let him go, some of them agree to this only to be brutally killed by Rick. He killed Pete in Alexandria granted Pete was abusive but would the Rick we meet in season 1 kill every abusive person he came across? No! He would have taken him in to custody and let the court of law decide his fate.
But Ricks still a good guy right?
His morality has gone completely of the rails, if we met Rick at this point we would dislike him just as much as we did Negan, but we as an audience will not fault Rick we've followed him from the very beginning we know exactly what has happened to him and why he does what he does and so we can justify his actions. where as when we are first introduced to Negan we just see him as a controlling sociopath, who kills seemingly for the sake of it and we don't like Negan because he kills off characters we had grown to love and care for. It's not until later on when we see the vulnerable side of Negan and find out about his back story, being a teacher and having a wife that we realise he is human, and he's done the same as Rick he's made the most of the situation and did what ever he could to survive.
The world around them have changed
The only thing that justifies his actions is that we have to remember that the society that we are used to has completely broken down here, there's no over ruling government there's no officials to keep the peace and help people, by the last season of walking dead humanity has gone backwards where it's back to basics and there's no enforceable law now. People have to find a way to survive that suits the situation. Negan took control buckled down and gave people a lose version of reality that they're used to, he gives people work that they are able to albeit working in factory like conditions or working as a lackey but in exchange they've stayed safe, fed and watered. Ricks people were constantly in danger and on the move because they get involved in things they cant handle and whenever they find a new settlement that'll take them in they constantly try to take charge of it. When they got to Alexandria the people there were very fortunate to live in a reality where the zombies aren't really a problem and a lot of people there hadn't even held a gun before because it simply wasn't needed. Couple of episodes later Ricks taught everyone combat, they all hardened veterans and before you know it they try to control a giant herd of zombies and failed and Alexandria was attacked by a group called the Wolves and the more innocent residents were killed while the toughened residents were trying to control the zombie heard. This ends with Alexandria being in Ricks complete control and one of the first downfalls of the settlement.
So in my opinion Negan is no more a villain than Rick can be considered a good guy granted Rick cares more for his people than Negan...Providing you can prove your worth and make your way to his inner group...
so How many people have you killed? How many Walkers have you killed? Why?
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