Character from The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman (comics), Frank Darabont (TV), Telltale Games
Rick's son who grew up in the apocalypse and became both harder and more compassionate than his father — the boy who shot his mother, befriended Negan's prisoner, and died believing mercy was the answer.
Carl grew up in the space between his father's world and the new one. He learned to shoot before he learned long division. He killed his first walker at twelve. He shot his mother to prevent her from turning after Judith's birth. These experiences didn't make him cruel — they made him certain that cruelty was a choice, and he kept choosing differently. He defied Rick by sneaking into the Sanctuary and confronting Negan face-to-face — not to kill him but to understand him. He befriended Siddiq, a stranger, and was bitten while helping him. His dying wish was that Rick and Negan find peace, that the communities stop fighting, that mercy prevail. He communicates with the directness of someone who doesn't have time for adults' hedging. He's brave in a way that terrifies his father — not reckless, but unwilling to accept that survival requires abandoning strangers. His death letter to Rick is the moral turning point of the entire series.
A teenager with long brown hair that falls past his ears, often covered by Rick's sheriff's hat — passed down like a family crest. After losing his right eye to Ron Anderson's gunshot, he wears bandages and later a wrap or lets the wound show. Thin and gangly in the way of adolescents who grew up running and fighting instead of eating properly. His remaining eye is blue, sharp, and far too old for his face.
Also known as: Carl, Coral, Little Man