Rick Grimes, a leader, a father, a mentor, a friend, but most of all, a zombie/human face bashing badass! Not many characters have endured through 6 seasons of The Walking Dead, but those who have, are now different people altogether. The same goes for the show’s protagonist Rick Grimes who went from being a Naïve Good Guy to a Strategic Badass. Rick has undergone such massive change through the course of 6 seasons and has encountered such pivots that documenting them all is impossible. Here’s a look at the moments and stages in the series that now define who he is.
The Family Man 
The Walking Dead begins with Rick alone and takes the most conventional plot line, finding family. Rick is portrayed as a family guy ever since the early stages of the show. As stunned and confused as he is with all that’s going on around him, he is focused on finding his family and is optimistic about their survival. In his own words to Merle, he will stop at nothing to find his family and whoever comes in his way will fail.
A Man of Rules 
Right after he reunites with his family, Rick assesses the situation and decides that rules need to exist to sustain humanity. He realises the severity of regulation in sustenance of humanity and he therefore bounds himself. His first and primary rules becomes “To only kill the dead”. This reflects his ethical yet impractical stage which soon comes to an end.
A Survivor 
Reality strikes Rick towards the end of season 2 when the Barn is finally opened and out comes little Sophia. It is at this moment that Rick realises that the same rules don’t apply anymore and the world has, infact changed. He further makes his first human kills when he kills 2 people on a run who he thinks are a threat. But his image as a survivor-on-all-costs is solidified when he has to kill his best friend Shane. And from that moment on he becomes a rock. Not afraid to kill many, to save the few.
Insanity 
Rick’s transformation from the good guy to a survivor ends up in him overcompensating. Where he wanted to give second chances, he kills people instantly. Where he wanted to forgive his wife, he shuts her off completely. He isn’t happy, he isn’t better off, he just doesn’t know how to cope. Things get even worse when Lori dies. The guilt, combined with that of killing Shane drives him towards hallucinations and insanity. It takes him a long while to come back to his senses and find middle ground.
The Badass 
The Prison massacre leaves Rick with only his son and Michonne, and troubles him deeply. Rick finally realises that it isn’t a world of democracies and talks anymore. Its survival of the fittest. When Joe takes it too far, Rick chews off his neck! Although Daryl tries to convince him of that person not being him, Rick accepts that this is what he is, and if not, he has to be. Season 5 ends on a perfect note with regard to Rick’s complete transformation from a naïve good guy to a strategizing badass with the final quote “They’re screwing with the wrong people! “.
