Carol Peletier

"You don't have to like what I did, Rick. I don't. I just accept it."

- Carol to Rick Grimes about killing Karen and David.

TV Series
Carol Peletier is one of the main protagonists and a survivor of the outbreak in AMC's The Walking Dead. During the initial outbreak, Carol evacuated with her abusive husband, Ed Peletier, and her daughter, Sophia Peletier, to Atlanta. They eventually joined a camp of survivors. Following the deaths of her husband and daughter, Carol formed a close bond with fellow survivor Daryl Dixon. After the death of their father, Lizzie and Mika Samuels look to Carol as a parental guardian.

Overview
At the outset of the series, Carol is a kind-hearted and soft-spoken woman, though often meek and defenseless (especially when it comes to facing her husband Ed Peletier). She has always remained extremely protective over her daughter Sophia, attempting to shield her from the various dangers of their surroundings. After Ed is beaten half to death, and becoming even stronger following his actual death, she begins to develop thicker skin and draws a new found boldness inside of her. Carol continues this development throughout the second season, standing up for herself much more and deepening her connections within the group.

She is shown to be a devout Christian, having constantly prayed for the well-being of herself and Sophia. She fervently holds onto her beliefs even after Sophia's death, insisting that her daughter is in heaven.

As opposed to her Comic Series counterpart, Carol in the TV series becomes stronger and more independent as the first season moves along. The inclusion of Ed as her husband, according to Robert Kirkman in The Walking Dead Chronicles, was to give her a solid foil to produce the strength needed to survive that the comic counterpart didn't have.

Trivia

 * Carol's actor, Melissa McBride, is the only Co-Star to be promoted to a Series Regular.
 * Carol has appeared in the most episodes of any female character to date.
 * Carol is currently the longest-living female character in the series.
 * Carol is the only female character who has appeared in every season of the series thus far.
 * Carol has a mild case of claustrophobia.
 * It is interesting to note Carol's short hair is throughout the TV Series. This is speculated by the fact that she was abused by her late husband, Ed Peletier, who might have prevented her from growing her hair out long to assert control and make her less "attractive" to other men (for the same reason he never allowed her to wear pretty clothes, as she tells Lori)
 * ​Due to her short hair, Axel humorously mistakes her for a lesbian in "Made to Suffer."
 * Originally, Carol was supposed to be killed in the episode, Killer Within, but the producers eventually decided against it.
 * Carol is one of the few remaining survivors left from the original Atlanta group, the others being Rick, Carl, Glenn and Daryl.
 * ​Also, Carol is the only known female survivor from this group that is still alive, since Miranda and Eliza Morales haven't been seen since.
 * Carol has killed all of the Samuels family members seen in the TV Series either directly or before reanimation.
 * Carol is very different from her comic book counterpart:
 * Carol is much older than her Comic Series counterpart, being somewhere in her mid-40's; whereas in the Comic Series, she is 24.
 * Her hair is shorter in the TV Series; whereas in the Comic Series, it's longer.
 * In the TV Series, Carol outlives her daughter.
 * In the TV series, Carol is seen to develop a high level of emotional stability, and later emotional detachment when she kills Karen and David.

Comic Series


Carol is a character first encountered in Issue 3 of Image Comics' The Walking Dead and is the mother of Sophia and one of the survivors of the original Atlanta band. She is good friends with Lori and was seen with Lori most of the time. Carol begins a relationship with Tyreese, who eventually cheats on her, leading her mental health to become unstable and leading her on a path of self-abuse and eventually, suicide.

Characteristics and Role
A relatively calm and collected individual at first, Carol's friendly and normal attitude served as a facade to hide some of her underlying mental instabilities, which would later reveal themselves and eventually lead to her untimely death.

One major theme throughout Carol's time in the comics is her need for companionship among the daily chaos, due to the fact that she is a weak and dependent person. The people around her kept her balanced and helped the woman maintain the image of a sane individual. However, once she no longer received this support from them, she gradually began to slip and lose the control that she initially had over herself. The boundaries between rationality and irrationality became blurred to her, as she fully believed that she and the Grimes could be a family together.