Hershel Greene

Hershel Greene is a fictional farmer, veterinarian and apocalypse survivor featured in The Walking Dead multimedia franchise. He was originally introduced in issue #10 of The Walking Dead comic book series by Image Comics in June, 2005. A live-action version of Hershel Greene was featured in the AMC survival horror series The Walking Dead. Played by actor Scott Wilson, he was introduced in the second episode of season two titled, "Bloodletting". He made eleven appearances in total in that season. With season three of the show, Scott Wilson was one of the series regulars, but was billed as a guest-star. He appeared in fourteen episodes of from the season. Wilson appeared in the first half of season four, but only made six appearances (eight credited) as his character was killed off in episode 4x08, "Too Far Gone".

Biography
Hershel Greene was an elderly family man who lived on a large farmhouse in rural Georgia. He was a country doctor, but also operated a farm with several horses as well as chickens and presumably other livestock. Hershel used to have a severe drinking problem, but through his faith in God, and the love of his wife, was able to overcome his addiction. Hershel's life was turned upside down however when a zombie outbreak occurred and consumed most of the southeastern United States.

Hershel watched as friends and family succumbed to the virus, but refused to believed that these people he once knew were now the walking dead. He believed that they were in the advanced stages of an inexplicable illness - one that hopefully could be cured. When the virus began affecting members of his family, he had his farmhand Otis corral them into the barn. There they remained locked up and fed a steady diet of live chickens. Deep down however, Hershel knew that there was no cure for these people.

While on a hunting trip, Otis accidentally shot a young boy named Carl Grimes. Carl's father, Rick Grimes, a former Sheriff's deputy, brought Carl to Hershel's farm in the hopes that he could save him. Hershel had his family as well as members of Rick's caravan gather medical supplies and were able to save Carl's life. Hershel did not want Rick and his followers to remain on his land, fearing that they might uncover his secret - or worse, that their presence might invite more walkers to the area.

Rick convinced Hershel to let them stay, but Hershel was adamant that Rick needed to control his people and that they needed to respect his rules. Rick agreed, but it was nearly impossible to maintain any sort of control among the group, particularly when it came to trigger-happy hotheads like Shane Walsh. Hershel was also bothered when one of Rick's younger group members, Glenn sparked up a romance with his daughter, Maggie.

Eventually, Rick and the others learned about the walkers in the barn. Tempers heated up and while many from the group wanted to leave, Rick was desperate to keep the unit together. Shane Walsh unlocked the barn and began shooting all of the walkers that stumbled out after them. Hershel looked on in horror, but nothing was as disturbing as the emergence of a young girl, Sophia Peletier, the daughter of one of Rick's group, Carol. Hershel knew that Rick and the others had been searching for Sophia, but was unaware that Otis had discovered her and had locked her in the barn. Rick was forced to shoot Sophia in the head, destroying her.

Hershel was devastated by the barn massacre and resorted to drinking once again. He went down to the Carriage Bar by himself to drink his sorrows away and underwent a severe crisis of faith. Rick and Glenn caught up with him, but they encountered even more trouble when a rogue group of survivors tried to kill them. Hershel managed to avoid the following exchange of gunfire and helped an injured enemy who had been speared through the leg. They brought him back to the farm where Hershel dressed his wounds.

Not long after, more walkers began to emerge on the Greene farm, and the group was overwhelmed. A fire started and the barn and stables burned to the ground. Hershel was nearly killed by a walker, but fortunately, Rick was able to destroy it before it could bite him. There were several casualties during the conflagration, including two of Hershel's children. He had little choice but to join Rick's group and leave the area.

Hershel survived the coming winter and even grew a beard in the process. He accompanied the group to the West Georgia Correctional Facility and even fought alongside Rick, killing walkers until they were certain that the area was secure. Despite its foreboding infrastructure, everyone agreed that the prison would make for an adequate safe haven and even held the promise of food, weapons and medical supplies.

During their stay, a pregnant Lori Grimes asked Hershel what might happen if her child was stillborn. Would it reanimate itself and tear her apart from the inside? Hershel tried to allay Lori's concerns, but even he could not guarantee her that everything would be okay.

While securing the cell block, the group was attacked by two groups of walkers that boxed them in. While they evaded the initial attack, Hershel made the mistake of stepping over a prone walker, not realizing that it was still active. The walker bit him on the leg and the others had to pull Herhsel into a sealed room whereupon Rick promptly hacked his leg off at the knee before the infection could spread. Hershel lived, but now had to walk around on a crutch.

Shortly thereafter, Lori Grimes died in childbirth, which had an extremely adverse affect on her husband. Rick Grimes began hallucinating, which also affected his judgment as leader. Hershel continued to serve as Rick's conscience, and occasionally had to become quite stern with him to snap Rick back to normal.

Over the span of several weeks, the group found themselves in armed conflict with Philip Blake, aka the Governor, who was the leader of a community known as Woodbury. During the first exchange between the prison group and the Woodbury people, they succeeded in driving them off. The Governor, having gone completely insane, turned against his own people, slaughtering many of them before disappearing. Rick brought the remaining Woodbury refugees to the prison.

During this time, a deadly virus began running rampant throughout the prison. Hershel's medical skills became increasingly necessary and he also served as something of a spiritual leader to those living there. He worked closely with a doctor from Woodbury named Caleb Subramanian, in treating the infected residents.

Ultimately, the Governor returned with a new group of people to get his revenge against Rick Grimes and the people at the prison. This time however, he had the benefit of a tank. The Governor captured Hershel Greene and a woman named Michonne and a tense stand-off occurred at the gates of the prison. Rick pleaded with the Governor to lay down his weapons, stating that they could all learn to co-exist. The Governor hoarsely whispered "Liar" and then beheaded Hershel using Michonne's katana. This led to a firefight between the factions that resulted in the destruction of the prison gates and the death of the Governor. After the ordeal was over, Michonne came upon Hershel's severed head, which was no reanimated. She finished him off by plunging her blade through it.

Notes & Trivia

 * The character of Hershel Greene was created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Charlie Adlard for The Walking Dead comic book series. The character was expanded upon in The Walking Dead television series by director Ernest R. Dickerson and writer Glen Mazzara.


 * The comic book counterpart to Hershel Greene is introduced in issue #10 of The Walking Dead, which is part of the "Miles Behind Us" storyline.


 * In both the comic book series and the TV show, Hershel Greene is killed by the Governor. In the comics, he is shot in the head. In the TV series, he is beheaded.

Family

 * Josephine Greene - First wife, deceased. Dies prior tot he onset of the series.
 * Annette Green - Second wife, deceased. Dies prior to the onset of the series.
 * Maggie Greene - Daughter.
 * Beth Greene - Daughter, deceased. Shot and killed by Dawn Lerner.
 * Shawn Greene - Stepson, deceased. Becomes a walker prior to the series and is kept in the barn. Shot by Shane Walsh.
 * Glenn Rhee - Son-in-law, deceased. Beaten to death by Negan.
 * Hershel Rhee - Grandson from Maggie and Glenn.