The Walking Dead: 10 Characters Who Were Changed From The Comics

6) Dale

Wise old Dale was the group’s moral compass in the first two seasons of The Walking Dead – until he had his guts ripped open by zombies. It was a horrible way to go for the character, for sure. Compared to his death in the comic books, however, it was a walk in the park.

On the page, Dale is bitten on the neck by a zombie. While walking in the forest at night, he’s kidnapped by a group of cannibals who proceed to eat him alive. Delirious with pain, Dale laughs at them, screaming “tainted meat! tainted meat!” Realizing that he’s been infected, the cannibals return him to the group where he finally passes away surrounded by his friends. At least the TV version of the character got a relatively quick death.

The other big difference between the two versions is that Dale lasted a lot longer in the comics. It’s rumoured that Dale’s early exit from the show was due to Jeffrey DeMunn requesting to be written out after his good friend Frank Darabont left the role of showrunner.