The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead both have their fair share of horrible characters you love to hate. It just so happens that many of those characters are children.
You wouldn’t want to be a kid in the Walking Dead universe. Children die left and right between both shows, even those we thought were untouchable. But the apocalypse hasn’t done well to many of these kids’ psyche, resulting in them becoming unhinged. Let’s take a look at the biggest troublemakers.
Penny Blake
We didn’t actually know Penny before she died and turned into a walker. Maybe she was a great kid who behaved herself and didn’t create dangerous circumstances. Maybe she was lovable, kind, and clever. Unfortunately, we’ll never know.
Poor Penny didn’t die die when she died. She reanimated into a walker, and her crazy dad kept her ‘alive’ on a leash. In his defense, she’s violent and constantly hungry for human flesh, so he can’t exactly let her wander around freely.
Nevertheless, Penny was justifiably crazy and murderous, and it was a blessing to us all when Michonne stabbed Penny through the head.
Ron Anderson
Ron tried to kill Carl, what other reasons do you need to hate this guy?
Angry at Rick for having killed his abusive father, and angry at Carl for ‘stealing his girl,’ Ron sought out vengeance against Carl. You’d think after one botched attempt, he’d give it a rest, but nope. Surrounded by walkers who just killed his brother and mother, Ron decided it was a good time to try to kill Rick. He screwed that up too, and ended up shooting Carl in the face, making him lose an eye.
Bye, Ron, you aren’t missed.
Carl Grimes
Carl grew up to be a great kid, but he didn’t start that way. The moment he put that sheriff’s hat on, his head grew two sizes too big. He thought he was the big man on campus who didn’t have to answer or listen to anyone. And look where that got people, Carl! It got them killed!
Over time Carl grew up (and grew into the hat), but it took a long time for that to happen. Of course, when he finally did mature, it meant the end for his character.
Henry
His brother died and that’s very tragic, we get it. Henry’s goal of justice for Ben made sense, but that didn’t make his attempts any less frustrating.
Ezekiel and Carol refused to give him a gun, for good reason. He’s a child, with obvious rage issues. Giving an angry, hurt child a dangerous weapon is definitely a bad idea. But this kid doesn’t understand logic or respect authority.
Instead of letting adults take care of the situation, Henry decided to commandeer a gun for himself, and tried to determine who killed his brother. Of course, his attempt failed. In fact, he failed in a frustratingly consequential way. Henry went into the pen where the Saviors were kept, instead of shooting through the fence. Of course, the Saviors got out, and Henry didn’t even manage to figure out who killed Ben, let alone actually kill the guy.
Chris Manawa
Chris is probably the most popular character to hate from Fear the Walking Dead, and his death brought many a cheer. The new world brought out the worst in him, turning him into an emotionless killing machine.
Related: Fear the Walking Dead season 2 finale: 5 killer moments
Typical bratty teenager, Chris never listened to his dad, he was entitled, and worst of all, impulsive. Nobody could keep a handle on this kid, and you never knew what trouble he’d get himself, or others, into. Given the chance, maybe Chris would have ended up becoming a ruthless leader for Madison or Rick’s group to take down. Guess we’ll never know.
Lizzie Samuels
You have to wonder what a girl like this would have turned out like had an apocalypse never happened. How would her psychotic tendencies have manifested in a normal world? You can bet they would have in some way, because this girl is nuts.
Lizzie refused to kill walkers because she believed them to still have some humanity left. She also believed she could communicate with them, and would feed them. Rabbits, on the other hand, definitely deserve to die and have no humanity. Go figure.
Unable to keep her crazy in check, Lizzie eventually draws her gun on Carol, tried to smother Judith, and kills her own sister just to ‘prove’ that walkers and people are the same.
No, Lizzie. That’s not how that works.
Sam Anderson
Destined to die from the get-go, Sam Anderson’s only purpose on The Walking Dead was to follow Carol around, and to provide shock value in death. Really, though, it seemed his only purpose was to annoy the audience. We begged for his death. And even in death, Sam still managed to piss everyone off.
Like most children on The Walking Dead, and now Fear the Walking Dead, Sam had a troubled past, and was seemingly incapable of adapting to this new world. He spent a large part of time on the show whining and hiding, refusing to come to terms with reality. Funnily enough, it’s when he decides to be brave that he screws it up for everyone, getting not only himself killed, but ultimately his mother and brother as well.
Word to the wise: it’s probably not a good idea to just stop moving when you’re in the middle of a sea of walkers.
Charlie
As the only child on this list who’s killed one of our people, Charlie takes the cake as the worst kid that’s ever been on The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead. She killed Nick, and with or without context, it’s unacceptable. Maybe if Nick hadn’t been looking at the flowers…