Do we like them?

Do we like Rick Grimes?

A character from The Walking Dead (2010–2022)

Our score: 7 out of 10. Mostly yes. He's a loyal leader who keeps trying to rebuild a decent world, though he'll do dark things for his people. You'd back him, and you might wince while you do.

Rick Grimes is a sheriff's deputy in rural Georgia who is badly hurt in the line of duty and wakes from a coma to find the world overrun by the dead. The Walking Dead follows him as he searches for his wife and son, then becomes the heart of the survivor group around him.

Early Rick is a lawman with a strong moral compass. He believes in rules, fairness and second chances, and he's the one who tries to keep the group human. He's also stubborn and can be rash. His leadership is often a mix of hard choices, bad calls and blunt force, and the group argues with him about it.

We score him a 7 because the good outweighs the bad. He's fiercely loyal and brave, and over the years he keeps looking for a way to build something lasting instead of just running. The hit to his score comes from the times he gets paranoid or violent, when it's hard to say whether he's protecting the group or just being brutal.

The apocalypse changes him a great deal. Over the seasons he goes from a straight-arrow cop to a hardened, sometimes frightening leader, then partly finds his way back to hope, and the story keeps asking what that cost him. His long arc continues in the later spin-off The Ones Who Live.