It takes nerves of steel to survive the zombie apocalypse, although some of us would probably be able to pull it off. However, it takes a serious sadistic streak to thrive under those circumstances. Few characters on AMC's The Walking Dead have ever managed to embody that idea quite like Negan, as the man clearly knows how to lay down a serious ass whooping. It has become hard to keep track of all of his kills in the midst of all the carnage, but it now looks like Negan has achieved no less than 47 confirmed kills since his debut only a few short months ago.
One incredibly astute Reddit user broke down the total of kills from the first half of The Walking Dead's seventh season, and Negan emerged as the clear winner of the bunch. Although he didn't consistently murder other humans over the course of the first half of Season 7, he bookended the premiere and the finale with some pretty intense killings. He kicked off the season by performing some batting practice on Abraham Ford's cranium, and then (shockingly) moved on to Glenn when Daryl acted out and punched him in the face. Following those dramatic deaths, his hands remained relatively free from human blood until the midseason finale -- during which he gleefully gutted Spencer and brought the Monroe bloodline to a bloody conclusion.
In total, that brings Negan's on-screen human kill count to 3, but it's worth mentioning that he went around the block a few times before meeting Rick's group. He had roughly 21 Polaroid photos of smashed heads in the Saviors compound, which leads to a total human kill count of 24.
Of course, out of all those human deaths, there's one that will stay with us forever:
Then there are the walkers, and Negan got much busier with them on-screen over the course of the season. He killed 21 during the season premiere while trying to break Rick in the middle of the woods, and then another two when he came to make Alexandria pay for protection -- one with Lucille, and one with a candlestick. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!
When we look at the numbers, there's no question that Negan has been the most deadly character so far in Season 7. With regards to walkers, Rick Grimes is a distant second with 14 kills, and Carl Grimes is second in human kills with the two Saviors he took down at The Sanctuary. Negan is currently running the table when it comes to the body count, and we have a feeling that will continue for quite some time -- even as the rebellion begins.
The Walking Dead will return to AMC on Sunday, February 12 at 9 p.m. EST. Check out our midseason premiere guide for more information related to all of the most highly anticipated spring TV debuts!
