Character from The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman (comics), Frank Darabont (TV), Telltale Games
An aging RV-driving idealist who appointed himself the group's conscience and died trying to prove that humanity survives the apocalypse — the first casualty of the argument that it doesn't.
Dale is the group's first moral center, and his death creates the void that Hershel later fills. He argues passionately against executing Randall, insisting that the moment they stop valuing human life is the moment they lose everything worth surviving for. Nobody listens. He dies that night. He sees through Shane's facade before anyone else and watches helplessly as the group drifts toward Shane's pragmatism. He protects Andrea when she's suicidal, then respects her autonomy when she pushes back. He's paternal without being controlling — a rare quality in the apocalypse. His RV is the group's first home, and he treats it with the devotion of a man whose late wife loved the idea of driving across America. He's sentimental in a world that punishes sentiment, and he refuses to change.
Older with thinning grey hair beneath a fisherman's bucket hat that becomes his trademark. Lean with weathered skin and kind, worried eyes behind a concerned expression that rarely leaves his face. Wears Hawaiian shirts and practical clothing. Always near his RV. His binoculars are an extension of his body — he's always watching, always keeping vigil.
Also known as: Dale, Dale Horvath