Character deaths in "The Walking Dead" show vs. comic

Question

Really, do not read this if you don't want spoilers. Even if you have seen the show but not read the comics, this could include unwanted spoilers. You've been warned.

The Walking Dead TV show has always loosely followed the story of the comic books, with some very significant deviations, including character deaths. Many of the characters that have died in the comic have also died in the show, but not typically in the same ways. For example, in the show, Bob gets eaten by cannibals, but in the comic, it is Dale who dies this way. Dale dies in a different way on the show.

So with all the excitement about the appearance of Negan at the end of this latest season, I've had several friends talk about how Glenn is the one who has died. My personal theory is that he is not because I believe it would be too obvious, and the TV show seems to be following a pattern of keeping deaths the same but happening to different characters. Another example of this more recent is the girl who is shot in the head with an arrow, which is the way Abraham is killed off in the comics.

So my question is: are there any characters on the show who have died the same way they died in the comics?

Answer 1

TL;DR: Yes.

Note: This answer has so many spoilers that it doesn't make sense to hide them all, and there is a bit of gore. If you don't like spoilers or gore, you might want to skip this answer (although if you don't like gore, you probably don't watch The Walking Dead anyway)

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Identical deaths:

• Amy: Bitten on the neck by a zombie.

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• Jim: Bitten by a zombie; asks to be left sitting against a tree so he can die and reanimate.

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• Pete: Executed by Rick at the behest of Alexandria's leader, after Pete accidentally slit the throat of the leader's spouse (in the comics, the leader was a man named Douglas Monroe and his wife's name was Regina; on the show the leader was a woman named Deanna Monroe and her husband's name was Reg; otherwise, the scenarios were the same).

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• Ethan: Throat slit by Rick after Ethan stabs Gregory in a failed assassination attempt on behalf of Negan; Rick then stands up, sees people staring at him, and says "What?"

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• Claimers/People who attack Rick and Carl on the road (on the show, they are "Claimers"; in the comics, they are unnamed): Rick tears one man's throat out with his teeth, then turns to the other, says "He's mine", and stabs him to death off-camera (Note: In the comics, Rick and Carl are with Abe; on the show, they are with Michonne, and Daryl is also there).

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• Cannibals ("Hunters" in the comics; "Terminites" on the show): Leader points at something, then has his finger shot off and futilely begs for his life, promising to leave Rick's group alone, before he and the rest are brutally killed in hand-to-hand combat.

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• Axel: Shot in the head outside the prison by the Governor's forces.

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Nearly identical deaths:

• Jessie and her young son: Attacked by zombies while trying to sneak through a herd; Jessie's son is attacked, then Jessie herself, and she won't let go of Carl's hand, so Rick chops her hand off with a hatchet, leaving her to die (in the comics, she only has one son - Ron; on the show, she has two sons - Ron and Sam - and Sam is the younger one)

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• The Governor: Shot by Lilly, one of his own (although on the show, he has already been run through by Michonne's katana before he is shot, he is still alive when he gets shot).

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• Herschel: Executed by the Governor (the only difference is the weapon used).

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Sort of similar deaths:

• Shane: Shot by Carl (different because Shane is still a human at this point in the comics, whereas on the show, Rick stabs Shane to death and Carl kills the zombie Shane).

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• The young siblings: One sibling is mentally ill and stabs the other, and has to be put down by someone else in the group. On the show, the siblings are girls, Lizzie and Mika, and Lizzie is older; in the comics, they are twin boys, Billy and Ben. On the show, Lizzie kills Mika and Carol shoots Lizzie; in the comics, Ben kills Billy and Carl shoots Ben (because none of the adults can bring themselves to do it). The person who shoots the kid then cries.

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Note: These are all off the top of my head, but I checked with the TWD wiki's page listing all the comic book characters, which groups characters by their status (i.e., "Alive", "Dead", "Zombie", or "Unknown"). As far as I can tell, I've listed every character who exists in the comics and the show, and who died in the same way in both versions of the story.

Answer 2

Yes, there are indeed characters in The Walking Dead TV show whose deaths mirror those in the comic series. (This answer extends from Season 7 onwards to add to this previous answer, which only covers character deaths until Season 6.)

I've had several friends talk about how Glenn is the one who has died.

Glenn Rhee

The speculation about Glenn’s fate was accurate. In a harrowing parallel to the comics, Glenn meets his end at the hands of Negan and his infamous bat, Lucille, after being captured by the Saviors and made to kneel. In both mediums, Negan savagely bashes Glenn's head with Lucille.

Spencer Monroe

Spencer’s demise in the TV series is a direct adaptation from the comics. After proposing that Negan should eliminate Rick and appoint him as the leader, Negan brutally disembowels Spencer with a knife. His reanimation and subsequent dispatch by Rick Grimes are additional details unique to the show.

David (Saviors)

In both versions, David’s heinous act of attempted rape—against Sasha Williams on screen and Holly in print—seals his fate. Negan, ever the enforcer of his twisted code of conduct, punishes David by stabbing him in the neck, a scene faithfully adapted from the comic. The TV adaptation adds a poignant moment where Sasha herself ends David’s reanimated form.

Gregory

In both versions, Gregory, the ousted leader of the Hilltop Colony, was executed by hanging after attempting to kill Maggie, his successor. The TV adaptation sees Gregory hanged by Daryl Dixon upon Maggie’s order following Gregory’s orchestration of an assault on Maggie and a subsequent attempt to kill her with a knife. In contrast, the comic book iteration depicted Gregory being hanged by Paul "Jesus" Monroe and Oscar, also under Maggie’s order, after his attempt to poison her.

Tammy Rose Sutton

Tammy’s tragic end comes at the hands of Alpha and the Whisperers, who decapitate her and use her head to mark their territory. This chilling event is faithfully adapted from the comic, underscoring the Whisperers’ brutality.

Alpha

Alpha’s death is consistent across both versions, with Negan slitting her throat and decapitating her. However, the TV series adds a twist by having Negan present her head to Carol, whereas in the comics, it is Rick who receives Alpha's head.