The question of whether or not The Walking Dead's Daryl is gay has been a topic of interest among some fans, due in large part to comments made by series creator Robert Kirkman earlier this year regarding the character's sexuality, which has remained unaddressed on the series. Tonight, Kirkman went on record to clear the situation up. In his exact words, "Daryl Dixon is actually straight."
(No Walking Dead mid-season finale spoilers ahead.)
Robert Kirkman was among the guests to appear on tonight's episode of the Walking Dead post-episode talk show Talking Dead. A fan asked when Daryl was going to get some action on the show -- and not killin' zombies action, but you know, action action -- and Kirkman addressed the "hubbub" he caused when he talked about Daryl's sexuality a while back.
"We play Daryl Dixon as being somewhat asexual on the show. I think that he is a very introverted character. I think that's some of his appeal. I do have to clear something up though. In The Walking Dead letters column in the old comic book that I do, there was a question that made me mention that there was a possibility early on about making Daryl Dixon's character gay and it caused quite a hubbub online. I just wanted to make it clear that I was saying the possibility is there. I would've been fine with it, the network would've been fine with it. But we ultimately didn't do that. I can make it official, Daryl Dixon is actually straight.
Robert Kirkman went on to confirm that they'll be introducing a very prominent gay character from the comics during the second half of the season.
So that answers that. Daryl is not gay. Which may or may not matter to fans.
As mentioned, this topic goes back to a few months ago when Kirkman responded to a fan question about Daryl's sexuality by saying that they have "very specific ideas about Daryl's sexuality (or the seeming lack thereof)," and that they'd address the subject "if there's ever a quiet period in the show where he's not consistently distracted by cross bowing."
Kirkman never specifically said what Daryl's sexuality was, but his vague answer led people to speculate. The Walking Dead showrunner Scott Gimple later commented on the topic, pointing out that Daryl's a very guarded guy and that "the fact that there's still a question as to what Daryl's orientation is in Season 5 absolutely speaks to [that]."
The topic came up again when Norman Reedus did an interview talking about how he reacted when original TWD showrunner Frank Darabont brought up the idea of Daryl being gay, which got the topic circulating again.
So it's been a conversation for a few months now, and given the popularity of the character and the close connections Daryl formed with some of the female characters in the series -- mainly Beth and Carol -- it's understandable that people might wonder why we haven't seen Daryl involved in a romantic arc with any other character, male or female. We could argue that there are walkers everywhere, but Daryl wouldn't be the first character to find time for love amidst the zombie walker-biter-rotter apocalypse. And yet he remains something of a loner, at least when it comes to romance. Based on Kirkman's original comment, I'm inclined to continue believing that this situation is more complicated than Daryl's sexual orientation, and that there may be a back-story that would shed some light on it.
