8 Reasons You're Allowed To Hate Daryl From The Walking Dead

Don't worry, it's okay to yank him off the pedestal.

By Jacob Trowbridge /

Daryl Dixon is the most popular character on television today. That might sound like hyperbole, but if you've ever typed his name (or the actor who plays him, Norman Reedus) into Google, you would know this to be true. And it's not hard to see why, either. As the loner redneck/ultimate pragmatist in a group full of codependent, emotional pinballs (a reasonable thing to be in a zombie apocalypse, to be fair), Daryl represents the kind of stoic badass we all would like to be in that situation. He acts as a blank slate for fans of the show to project themselves onto. And because of that, it makes it very difficult to find any flaws in him. Finding flaws in Daryl is like finding flaws in ourselves. And who wants to do that? Certainly not the fans of this show. But despite his status as the de facto fan favorite, there actually are some things wrong with Mr. Dixon. I know no one wants to admit this, but he is not perfect. And we do have several reasons to dislike him. It's just a matter of admitting it to ourselves.