Character from The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman (comics), Frank Darabont (TV), Telltale Games
Rick's best friend and partner who kept Lori and Carl alive when Rick was in a coma — then couldn't give them back, and the apocalypse gave him permission to stop trying.
Shane was right about almost everything — that's the tragedy. The barn walkers needed to die. The group needed to be harder. Softness would get people killed. He was the first character to understand what the world had become, and it destroyed him because nobody else was ready to hear it. He loved Lori. Whether it was real love or the desperate attachment of a man clinging to the last human connection he had is the show's first great ambiguity. He protected Carl with genuine devotion. When Rick returned, Shane couldn't simply hand the family back because the relationship was real to him — and possibly to Lori. His descent from loyal partner to dangerous narcissist happens in the space between being right and being righteous. He murdered Otis and left him as walker bait. He planned to kill Rick. He told himself it was all for the group's survival, but the audience and Shane both know it was for Lori. Rick killing Shane is the show's original sin — the moment Rick crossed a line he'd spend nine seasons trying to walk back.
Broad and muscular with a shaved head, dark eyes, and the aggressive physicality of a man who fills doorways on purpose. Jaw perpetually clenched. Wears tight-fitting shirts and cargo pants. After his descent begins, he shaves his head — a visible shedding of the civilized man he used to be. His body language is confrontational: wide stance, arms crossed or hands on hips, always positioned to challenge.
Also known as: Shane, Walsh, Brother