The Walking Dead: 10 Best Antagonists

Michael Rooker's natural charisma was really the only thing going for Merle Dixon when we first met him back in season one, as the character was little more than the embodiment of so many "white trash" stereotypes. Despite that, the character's disappearance and subsequent absence throughout the second season marked him as a particular point of fan interest about where he had gone and what he was up to.

Season three revealed that he had survived the loss of his hand only to become a loyal servant of The Governor, one willing to hunt down and attempt to kill Michonne, kidnap Glenn and Maggie, and even commit brutal torture. Eventually, though, his relationship with The Governor was put on the rocks, and after an escape from Woodbury and an acknowledgment by a reformed Daryl that he's a scumbag, Merle followed his brother back to the prison, where no love was lost for him by any of Daryl's new family.

In spite of his selfishness and antagonism throughout the series, Merle's final act was to try and take out The Governor in order to give his brother a chance at a peaceful life with the people he cared about, an action that cost him his life and sent the tortured, caustic character out on a welcome poignant note.