The Walking Dead: 10 Best Antagonists

Shane's journey from hero to villain over the course of the first two seasons was both entertaining for Jon Bernthal's performance and crucial for redefining Rick as a character. Essentially driven crazy by his love for Lori and belief that his best friend didn't have what it took to survive, Shane's decision at the end of the second season to isolate Rick from safety and end his life still feels as much an attempt to take his place as it does an effort to goad Rick into killing him instead.

Bernthal elevated every scene he was present in, finding ways to humanize Shane through the simplest of expressions even as the show itself continued to strip the character down to dehumanize him. From putting an unwitting Rick in his gun sights in the first season to drunkenly attempting to force himself on Lori at the CDC to sacrificing Otis at the high school, it was clear that Shane's trajectory would inevitably necessitate Rick having to put him down.

In many ways, Rick wouldn't be the man he is today without Shane's fall from grace, and Shane's actions and death had a permanent effect on the group and the character dynamics within it that still lingers like a specter all these years later.