‘The Walking Dead’: All 27 LGBTQ Characters in Shows & Comics

‘The Walking Dead’ is one of the most popular zombie post-apocalyptic TV shows of all time. In fact, it spurned out an entire universe consisting of multiple shows, including ‘Fear the Walking Dead,’ ‘Dead City,’ and most recently, ‘Daryl Dixon.’ And we haven’t even mentioned the comics that the show was actually based upon.

Since its early days, however, ‘The Walking Dead’ took pride in showcasing the human survival aspect of a zombie apocalypse instead of just, well, zombies and gore (although there’s a lot of that going on, too). They’ve also taken pride in their character diversity, inclusivity, and representation, which is what we’re here to talk about today.

There are a ton of LGBTQ characters in ‘The Walking Dead’ universe – in the comics, the main TV series, and all the spin-off shows – so I’m bringing you the ultimate list of all 27 LGBTQ characters in ‘The Walking Dead’ franchise. A little note – we’ll skip the video game characters, as there are just way too many games and ‘non-canon’ characters there.

The list is not ranked but rather alphabetically ordered.

Who was the first LGBTQ character in ‘The Walking Dead’?

The first openly gay character in ‘The Walking Dead’ comics was Aaron, who appeared an issue before his boyfriend, Eric. Eric eventually dies, but Aaron moves on and gets into a relationship with another prominent gay character, Paul ‘Jesus’ Monroe. In the show, however, Aaron loses Eric but never gets together with Jesus.

However, Aaron wasn’t meant to be the first LGBTQ character in the comics. In fact, the plan was to have Ramirez be the first gay character in the show. If you read ‘The Walking Dead Deluxe’ #50’s letters pages, you’ll learn that Martinez was actually meant to be the first gay character of the series.

Martinez was one of The Governor’s lieutenants, but he was smashed with an RV and then strangled to death by Rick Grimes as he was seen as a potential traitor. Seeing that his death was so violent, Kirkman opted against having his first gay character killed in such a brutal fashion. He said:

I remembered that I was planning to have Rick beat him to death—then I thought, probably not the best thing to do with your first prominent gay character.

1. Aaron

Aaron is probably the most well-known LGBTQ character in ‘The Walking Dead.’ Not only is he the first character on our list – but he’s also the first openly gay character in ‘The Walking Dead’ – both in the comics and the TV show.

Aaron was a recruiter for Alexandria that had a boyfriend/husband named Eric. However, Eric was killed, and Aaron stayed single throughout the rest of the series, devastated by the immense loss. That is, in the show. In the comics, he recovered from Eric’s death and eventually started a relationship with Paul Monroe, aka Jesus.

2. Alex

Alex was a Hilltop Nurse who appeared in ‘The Walking Dead’ comics. We haven’t seen the character in any of the shows or spin-offs, but he had a recurring role in the comics. He was Paul Monroe’s ex-lover, and the two remained close friends after their break-up. Alex then found love with Wes, who remained his boyfriend until the very end.

We don’t know what happens to Alex after the 25-year jump in Vol. 32: Rest In Peace, as his fate isn’t mentioned, but the last time we saw him, he was treating Aaron’s knife wound and encouraging him to get together with Jesus.

3. Alisha

Alisha was a member of Martinez’s Camp during Season 4 of ‘The Walking Dead.’ She was a survivor but quickly became an antagonist in the show. Before that, however, Alisha became the girlfriend of a fan-favorite survivor, Tara Chambler. When Martinez and his people attacked the Prison, Alisha warned Tara to run.

Eventually, she was killed by Lizzie with a shot to the head after Alisha was trying to kill Tyreese.

4. Alpha

Yes, you read that right! Dee, better known as Alpha, aka the leader of the Whisperers, is a bisexual character in canon. Although we never actually saw Alpha have a relationship with a woman, it was strongly hinted at her being interested in Hera – one of the Whisperers.

Also, it was confirmed in an interview in 2022 about the ‘Tales of the Walking Dead’ that Alpha was bisexual. Even though it doesn’t really play too much of a role in the grand scheme of things, it’s a cool piece of trivia and character development to add to the show.

5. Althea Szewczyk-Przygocki

Althea is not a part of the main series but rather a major character in the spin-off show ‘Fear the Walking Dead.’ Al, as she was better known, was a journalist, and she kept interviewing survivors even after the outbreak.

She had a relationship with Isabelle Russo, another survivor and a soldier from another organization. Their relationship was an important driving force for her earlier in the series.

6. Andrew

Andrew was a secondary antagonist in ‘The Walking Dead’ comics who was an ex-junkie and a convict in the West Georgia Correctional Facility. He met his boyfriend Dexter there, and they both had plans to kill Rick Grimes and his group when they entered the prison. A version of Andrew appears in the TV series, too, but his sexuality is never touched upon.

7. Carol (Comics)

In the TV series, Carol explicitly says, ‘I’m not a lesbian’ to Axel. However, in the comics, her character was much more complicated – and killed off much earlier. Now, I’m not sure if this is proof that Carol was bisexual or simply just losing it, but there was a moment when she proposed a three-way relationship to Lori where the two of them and Rick would all be together.

She says they don’t have to follow the old rules anymore – they could make new ones. If not bisexual, Carol was at least good with the idea of polyamory. Lori didn’t take her up on that offer, though.

8. Coco

Coco is a fairly new character in the franchise, first appearing in the new ‘Daryl Dixon’ series. Coco is a drag queen entertainer in an underground nightclub called Demimonde. The character appeared in the episode ‘Paris Sera Toujours Paris’, and is set to appear again in Season 2.

9. Cole

Another LGBTQ character from a spin-off series is Cole, who had a big role in Season 4 and a big return in Season 6. Cole’s major love interest in the show was Victor Strand, and he was a survivor living in the Dell Diamond Baseball Stadium Community.

He was presumed dead for a while, where in fact, he formed and led his own group before being shot in the head by Alicia Clark. As far as we know, his only love interest in the show was Victor Strand, another major character in the series.

10. Denise

Denise was the doctor in Alexandria after Pete Anderson was executed. She was in a relationship with Tara Chambler, but it fell apart just as it became somewhat more serious. Denise got accidentally shot with a crossbow through the eye by Dwight, who was aiming at Daryl but misfired.

11. Dexter

I’ve mentioned Dexter before when talking about Andrew. In the comics, Dexter was a convict who survived the outbreak by remaining trapped in the prison cafeteria. Andrew was his boyfriend before both of them got killed. While there’s no character named Dexter in the show, a version of him does appear in the TV series as well.

12. Eric

Eric was quite an important LGBTQ character in both the comics and the TV series. He was one of the first gay characters in ‘The Walking Dead’ along with his boyfriend, Aaron. In both the comics and the show, however, Eric died. The difference is his boyfriend eventually moved on in the comics, starting a relationship with Jesus, whereas in the show, Aaron never falls in love again.

13. Felix Carlucci

Felix was a character from ‘World Beyond,’ a spin-off show from 2020-2021. Felix was the head of security in the Campus Colony of Omaha and quite an important character in both seasons of the show. He had a husband named Will, and they both remained alive at the end of the show.

14. Frank

Frank was – and is – a survivor who appeared in ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ as the husband of Victor Strond. The couple also had an adopted son named Klaus. Although we haven’t seen too much of Frank in the show, only appearing in Season 8 for the first time, he’s an important LGBTQ character, seeing that he and Victor are the only gay couple in the show with a child.

15. Isabelle Russo

Isabelle Russo appeared in ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ and was the girlfriend of Althea Szewczyk-Przygocki, one of the main characters of the show. Isabelle was a former soldier and pilot, and she appeared in seasons five through eight.

16. Juanita Sanchez

Juanita, aka the Princess, appeared in both the comics and the TV series as a quirky, somewhat goofy, but incredibly kind-hearted character. Although in the comics, she has a boyfriend named Mercer, who she stays with until the end. Juanita was revealed to be pansexual. Interestingly, the actress portraying Princess, Paola Lazaro, is also pansexual.

17. Kelly

Kelly is a character from ‘The Walking Dead’ series that quickly became a fan-favorite. Portrayed by Angel Theory, Kelly lost her hearing during the apocalypse but survived until the very end. While the character was never explicitly confirmed to be gay or LGBTQ in any way, there are hints at it being the case throughout the series, making the fans believe it to be the case.

18. Livits

Livits was a minor character in the main show, and was a soldier for the Commonwealth Army. He and another Commonwealth Army trooper, Zell, had a secret intimate relationship, indicating both are gay or bisexual, at least. Livits dies at the East Gate when walkers start climbing the walls of his community.

19. Magna

In both the comics and the main TV series, Magna was a very important, powerful LGBTQ character who most famously shared a romantic relationship with fellow survivor Yumiko. In fact, both actresses portraying Magna and Yumiko said multiple times that they really made it a point to make the kiss between them happen on screen, stating their pride in representing the LGBTQ community as clearly as possible.

20. Jesus

Paul Monroe in the comics, or Paul Rovia in the live-action TWD universe, was commonly known as Jesus, and he was one of the main characters of the series. Originally from Hilltop, Jesus made first contact with Rick Grimes, which opened up a whole new world for Rick and his group.

Paul was a gay character in both iterations, having been with a nurse named Alex and later with Aaron. In the show, the relationship with Aaron never materialized after Eric’s death due to Jesus getting killed by the Whisperers.

21. Tara Chambler

Tara is a lesbian character in both the TV show and the comics. After being the last survivor of her entire family and helping Glenn escape the prison, she later became a resident of Alexandria and fell in love with Dr. Denise Cloyd. Before that, she had two other girlfriends – Sam and Alisha. Unfortunately, Tara was killed, and so was Denise.

22. Thomas Abigail

Another LGBTQ character from ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ was Thomas Abigail. Victor Strand was his boyfriend for a while in the show, but he died quite fast in the show, having only appeared in three episodes of Season 2.

23. Victor Strand

One of the most prominent characters of the ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ series was Victor Strand, a gay man who had numerous relationships throughout the show, including Thomas Abigail and eventually, his husband, Frank, whom he had a son with. Victor was sometimes an antagonist, but he’s still a very awesome character who survived to the end of the show along with his family.

24. Wes

After Alex broke up with Jesus, he started a relationship with Wes after a while – another Hilltop member and survivor. The two stayed together up to the last time we saw them. After the big 25-year gap in the comics, their future and fate were never addressed.

25. Will

Will was one of the main characters in the ‘World Beyond’ series, who was the husband of Felix Carlucci in the Campus Colony. Will was later transferred to New York before going on the run and finding refuge at the Perimeter. Once it fell, though, he remained in an underground mall with a group of survivors, including his husband. At the end of the show, Will was still alive.

26. Yumiko

Yumiko’s most well-known and most important relationship in ‘The Walking Dead’ is Magna, as previously mentioned. The two remained a couple to the very end and even became wives. Yumiko became a lawyer in the Commonwealth and reunited with her brother there.

Both she and her wife stayed alive until the very last episode of the show.

27. Zell

Lastly, Zell was a minor character in the main series. He was a smaller antagonist and a secret lover of his fellow Commonwealth Army soldier, Livits. The two had sex in secret, enjoying a gay relationship they tried to hide from other people, but were discovered by Princess.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!