Merle Dixon

Aliases The Black Sheep (by Hershel) Gender Male Hair Color Gray Eye Color Blue Age Mid Teens (Daryl Series) Late 40s to Early 50s (The Walking Dead) Occupation Pre-Apocalypse Former U.S. Army Serviceman Drug Dealer Former Leader of the Savage Sons Motorcycle Club Former Supply Runner for the Atlanta Camp Former Guard for Woodbury Former Lieutenant of the Woodbury Army Family Mrs. Dixon - Mother † Will Dixon - Father † Daryl Dixon - Brother William Dixon - Grandfather † Jess Collins - Half-Uncle † Ethnicity Caucasian-American A seemingly stereotypical Southern redneck, Merle is boorish, surly, abrasive, combustible, violent, racist, misogynistic, volatile, extremely ill-tempered, and quick to express his beliefs. However, Merle is also extremely humorous in nature and is a thrill seeker, who gets joy by mentally and emotionally toying with others. Much like his younger brother, Merle is an expert tracker and hunter. He is deadly with firearms, and in the third season, his hand-blade attachment proves to be one of his deadliest weapons. He is an experienced bruiser, showcased in the first season when he dominated T-Dog in a fist-fight, and at the same time was able to fend off Rick Grimes, Morales, and Glenn Rhee simultaneously. He also showed his fighting abilities when he took down Martinez in the brutal battle-royal event in Woodbury, and was able to fend off Michonne's sword attacks with his hand-blade.

After being left behind in Atlanta, Merle was found by the Governor and eventually became his right-hand man and a key member of the Woodbury Army. During this time, he devolved into a ruthless killer who followed the Governor's lead without question, all the while striving to find his brother and take vengeance on Rick and T-Dog, who left him for dead on the roof in Atlanta. Though the Governor and Merle were allies, it seemed that Merle feared him to an extent and no doubt had issues with his authority looming over him at all times. While he was staying in Woodbury, Merle read many books, including the Bible, and even memorized verses of the Bible, showing that he is intelligent and also possibly religious. When he later comes across Glenn and Maggie Greene and kidnaps and takes them back to Woodbury as prisoners, his crueler side is shown as he brutally interrogates Glenn and almost kills him for information on the location of his brother and their camp. However, Merle was still not completely incapable of empathy, as he offered his condolences to Andrea over the death of her sister, Amy. After the prison group came to the rescue of Glenn and Maggie, Merle was then branded as a traitor and a terrorist by the Governor for lying about killing Michonne, which cost the Governor his eye and zombified daughter, and became an enemy of Woodbury. Merle escaped Woodbury alongside Daryl with aid from Rick and Maggie. It became apparent that between the Governor and Daryl, Merle was always loyal to his brother and knowingly discarded any chance of becoming a part of Woodbury again when he saw a chance to reunite himself with Daryl.

After joining the prison group, his personality began to slightly change, appearing to lose some of his violent and racist tendencies. Merle realized that he had to coexist with the prison group and that not doing so would damage his relationship with Daryl. This causes Merle to examine his past mistakes and reevaluate himself. He is even shown to be searching for some forgiveness from those of the group whom he had once wronged, such as Michonne. He later attempts to fulfill the potential deal made by the Governor and Rick, which was an exchange of Michonne for peace between the two groups. However, he has a change of heart and releases her, instead opting to take on the group of Woodbury soldiers who had been planning an ambush. This would be his biggest and final act of redemption, as after taking down eight Woodbury soldiers, he is killed by the Governor, reanimates, and is finally put down by his own brother. To the end of his life, Merle was a flawed man with issues that he kept himself from facing, but was never truly evil. He loved his brother, and it drove him to keep fighting in a world filled with despair. His final act of courage gave his brother and the rest of the prison group a fighting chance and, perhaps for the first and only time in his life, Merle truly found his place among others. Merle was born in the early to mid 1960s to Will Dixon in the mountains of Northern Georgia. Several years later, his younger brother Daryl was born. Both Merle and Daryl were abused and neglected by their alcoholic father and chain-smoking mother. Due to being the older sibling, Merle often protected Daryl from the abuse by taking most of it from their parents. Despite the poverty and abuse, Merle and Daryl tried to create some childhood together, such as watching the sitcom Mork & Mindy.

At a young age, the brothers lost their mother in a housefire, which had been caused by a cigarette while she was asleep or presumably drunk. The Dixons then relocated to living in a trailer. Over the course of several years, they were physically abused by their father. On one occasion, Will became especially violent. Merle took his father on and told Daryl to run away. However, Daryl eventually returned. Because of the lack of love and guidance he was given, Merle often acted out against society, which led him to frequently be incarcerated in juvenile institutions. He eventually became absent from Daryl's life, thus making Daryl resentful of him. When Merle turned eighteen, he abandoned the family and joined the U.S. Military, later claiming that he would've killed his father otherwise. Unknown to Merle, Daryl was left to suffer from the abuse, which resulted in severe scars located on his back. During his time in the army, Merle punched a sergeant, which got him dishonorably discharged. He was then court-martialed and sent to prison for sixteen months. Merle reconnected with Daryl after the latter had an altercation with their father. Daryl followed his brother's lead, and they entered into a drifter lifestyle, where the pair utilized their survival instincts. He became involved in the contraband of crystal meth and was also the leader of the Savage Sons Motorcycle Club. Merle had been incarcerated for half of his life for many different offences. One time, it was for mauling a drug dealer for cheating and embarrassing him.

At one point, the pair resided in Merle's drug supplier's house, where the trio watched TV and by noon had become intoxicated. A discussion turned violent, and the dealer punched Merle, to which Daryl retaliated by savagely beating the man. However, the dealer then threatened to shoot Daryl; a large argument ensued, which ended with the dealer punching Daryl in the gut, causing him to vomit. Merle and the dealer laughed the incident off. However, Merle would always care for his brother and look after his only support. In August 2010, Merle was arrested and jailed in Fontana, Georgia for drug possession. While he was in jail for drugs, sometime during the outbreak's onset, Merle escaped his cell and took camp on the roof of the Fontana Police Station. When he found a group of people whom he believed to be military (because they were dressed in uniforms)—in reality, it was scavengers led by Anna Turner—he shot at them, believing they wanted to take him back to jail. He killed many of them and injured some, specifically Noah Cruz and the survivors who hid in the buildings. He shot cars and set off their alarms to lure the walkers toward the survivors. This, however, caused trouble for his brother Daryl, who came looking for him. After figuring out the sniper is Merle, Daryl heads there. When Daryl finds Merle, he opens fire on Daryl (despite hearing his voice, thinking it is a ruse to let his guard down). When he lets Daryl in, he finds Merle burnt red by the sun and drunk. It is discovered that he has a fever and requires medicine.