The Walking Dead: 8 Characters Who Died Too Soon

Love or hate Beth's arc at Grady Memorial Hospital over the first half of season five, one of the best things to come out of it was Tyler James Williams' Noah. Beth's sudden death was a surprising but necessary shock to the system for Rick and the gang that set the tone for the rest of the season, but her final act - stabbing Dawn - only happened because Dawn couldn't keep her mouth shut about Noah.

As such, it seemed like Noah was destined to live on, the group immediately accepting him and going to Virginia both for him and to honor Beth. There, it was revealed that Noah's family was dead, the mysterious Wolves having blown through and destroyed his former community, and with the loss of Tyreese only further kicking the group while they were down, Noah just had to live to make it all meaningful.

In time, the group came to Alexandria, where the opportunity for a new beginning meant Noah could build a life for himself, but just when things were looking good, he was ripped to shreds in front of Glenn thanks to the cowardly actions of Nicholas. Noah's death was undoubtedly shocking and incredibly graphic, an unforgettably cruel end to an otherwise innocent character, which made it all the harder to have to say farewell when he had a whole life ahead of him.