Let's face it. If you were to suddenly be fighting for your life during a zombie apocalypse, you would want a good team of people surrounding you. "The Walking Dead" has produced myriads of characters that would be able to help you rampage through zombies like it was a piece of cake. But if you had to choose, who would REALLY be the ones you would want with you?
In order to keep things relatively objective, each character is going to be ranked on scales of 1-5 for offensive capabilities, defensive capabilities, special skills, and relative health. Since every character has flaws, their liabilities will also be factored in. So let's pick, who ya got?
1. Daryl
This seems like a no-brainer. Daryl has versatile offensive skills, equally effective at both short and long distance walker killing. He's stealthy as well, which adds an asset to his offensive game, and leads him to being a 5. And if you need someone to defend you, Daryl is a good guy to have your back. Because of his long distance arrow wielding, he's an optimal defender for any group. Plus, he's just badass in general. Another 5. Add in the facts that Daryl can hunt and track and he becomes even better. Lastly, due to the fact that he remains relatively healthy throughout the series (or just works through the pain better than anyone else), and Daryl is top dog in the pack. Compared with the rest of the characters, he's the least likely to be a liability.
Score: He's a perfect score of 20. +1 for badassery
2. Glenn
Batter up, because Glenn is another home run hitter against walkers (yeah, I tried too hard on this pun). If you need anything ever Glenn would be the one to get it for you. In "The Walking Dead" universe, Glenn is the definition of the comeback kid:
(1) Because he constantly goes out for supplies and always comes back and...
(2) because many times he gets into situations where anybody else would die, and he somehow survives.
While not as good offensively (3) as Daryl, Glenn's defensive strategies always seem to work better than anybody else, making him a definite 5.
Special skills: nearly invincible (4).
Health: almost dies of from the flu (3).
With Glenn, he'll do whatever it takes to save Maggie, potentially making him a liability in a fight.
Score: 15 for Glenn. -1 for eternal Maggie love
3. Rick
Every group needs a leader. While Rick may be slightly insane, he is shown to be one of the best strategists in the show. He has an insane ability to map out plans to take on any amount of walkers, making him one of the best offensive characters you could have on your team. He's incredibly resourceful, and could probably use just about anything to kill a walker.
And other than Michonne, he's just about the best at hand-to-hand combat (5). As for his defensive skills, Rick seems to always get himself and the group into the worst situations, even though his intentions are good. He's also pretty crazy, which makes enemies for the group.
Defensive liability: 3.
Special skills: moral boosting, quick thinking, neck biting, among many (5).
As for health, Rick has questionable mental health (4).
Score: 17. -3 for being honestly insane (but at least it's a functional insane).
4. Michonne
I strongly believe that any group needs a strong female to show the guys how things are done. Michonne, next to Daryl, is probably one of the most badass characters that the show produces. She makes walkers her slaves. She fights with swords. She basically was surviving on her own when she first was introduced. Her offense and her defense are both killer (ha, killer). She's quick, resourceful, and she arguably kills walkers in the coolest way out of every other character.
I mean, come on, she uses a katana, which I guess is only good for short distance fighting (4.5 for offense and 5 for defense).
Special skills: smart as hell, independent as hell, and cool as hell.
Health: no huge problems.
Michonne is a solid 19.5. Like Daryl, +1 for badassery
5. Abraham
Every team needs a person with special linguistic skills, a.k.a. quotable lines. Abraham provides some of the best quotes from the show. And while that does not apply to the four categories for ranking, it's a hilarious bonus. Abraham is incredibly strong, brave, and wise.
When going out to fight a bunch of walkers, you'd definitely want an experienced soldier like Abraham on your team, but his temper does often get in the way of his fighting (offense and defense: 4). On any team though, you need a right amount of risk, which he certainly supplies.
Special skills: profanity (5).
Abraham struggles with PTSD, which largely affects his mental health (3).
Score: Abraham adds up to 16. +2 for "suck my nuts."
Honorable mentions: Herschel (my personal favorite character) for continually saving asses. Carol, for coolest transformation. And Carl, for still having that damn hat.
Who would you choose for your team?
