Beware, the article contains spoilers!

Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) woke up from a coma, alone and afraid, only to realize he was in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Since that fateful day, fans of AMC’s The Walking Dead have been closely following Rick’s journey.

However, the show isn’t all about Rick. Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), has been on the show since season one and has a huge base of loyal fans. They’ve even started an “If Daryl dies, we riot” campaign. I guess the show has taken that into major consideration since he hasn’t been killed off yet.

The long-running, eight-season series first debuted on Halloween, 2010. Since then, fans have seen their favorite characters kick ass, defeating villains and slashing zombies.

Many characters have come and gone on the show. Let’s pay tribute to those we lost:

• Glenn Rhee(Steven Yenn)
• Sasha Williams (Sonequa Martin-Green)
• Beth Greene (Emily Kinney)
• Sgt. Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz)
• Hershel Greene (Scott Wilson)
• Lori Grimes (Sarah Wayne Callies)
• Andrea Harrison (Laurie Holden)
• Tyreese Williams (Chad L. Coleman)
• Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal)
• T-Dog (Irone Singleton)
• Dale Horvath (Jeffrey Demunn)
• Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker)

and many more.

My favorite part of The Walking Dead is that it’s not just zombies who get in the way of Rick and his team — it’s people. Bad people. One of my favorite villains on the show is Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Utterly ruthless, Negan holds nothing back. He uses his precious bat, Lucille to smash anything — zombie or person — that gets in their way. In the first episode of season seven, which premiered last year on October 23rd, 2016, Rick and his group are being held by Negan and the saviors, members of Negan’s team. Negan killed off one of the most famous characters of the show, Glenn Rhee, a veteran since season one. His character died by a beating from Lucile.

For a lot of fans, this didn’t come to a surprise to them because Glenn died the same way he did in the comics. Me though? I remember how shocked I was watching that horrific scene, having to rewind three times.

The Walking Dead is also known for it’s many famous memes. Every time I go on Facebook to read fan reactions about Sunday’s episode, the comment section looks more like meme city. About half of the comments are written responses, while the other half are memes. My personal favorite is of the character Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride), saying “Look at the Flowers”. Back in season four, Carol shot Lizzie Samuels ‘Of Mice and Men’ style. She believed Lizzie couldn’t handle this world because she thought zombies were her friends. I know to some this may not seem like a funny meme, but if you’re a fan of the show, you get my dark sense of humor.

Carol is a perfect example of The Walking Dead’s incredible character development. She went from being an abused housewife in season one to a bad ass zombie slayer. After the death of her daughter Sophia, Carol became a strong, independent woman. She fights and kills for Rick’s team; they’re her family now. My favorite scene of Carol is when she helped Rick and his group escape Terminus in the premiere of season five by blowing it up. She really held nothing back in that episode.

The Walking Dead is a mix of many things: violence, romance, shock factors, drama, and horror. It combines a wide variety of genres, making the show very unique. I’ve grown attached to all the remaining characters, especially those who have been around since season one.

Season one through seven are on Netflix and the show is also on Hulu as well.

What’s your favorite memorable moment of the series? Favorite character? What do you look forward to this season? Let me know in the comments below.