Ezekiel is the self-proclaimed king of a community of survivors known, fittingly for his title, as the Kingdom. He is one of the major opponents of Negan, forming a strong bond with the Hilltop Colony for trading goods and later coming together with them and Rick's group to combat the villain. It's revealed that he was a zookeeper before the zombie apocalypse, and has known Shiva since she was born. Wait, who's Shiva? Oh, just his PET FREAKIN' TIGER! While Ezekiel would be somewhat interesting in his own right, this is the reason that he pretty much has to appear. Shiva is able to bite and eat the zombies without getting sick, so having a tiger prowling around and tearing walkers to shreds would be ridiculously awesome and exciting to see.