Rick Grimes

"Look, I fought him before. And after, we took in his old friends. They've become leaders in what we have here. Now you put down your weapons, walk through those gates... you're one of us. We let go of all of it, and nobody dies. Everyone who's alive right now. Everyone who's made it this far. We've done the worst kinds of things just to stay alive. But we can still come back. We're not too far gone. We get to come back. I know... we all can change."

- Rick to The Governor and his militia.

Rick Grimes is the main of AMC's The Walking Dead. He is a former police officer of the King County sheriff's deputy who was shot in the line of duty and fell into a coma only to wake up and find himself in the middle of an undead apocalypse. He travels to Atlanta, Georgia searching for his family, Lori, his wife, and Carl, his son, who have traveled to Atlanta with his best friend, Shane Walsh, in search of a safe-haven. Rick worked as a King County Sheriff's Department deputy in King County, Georgia, along with his partner and long-time best friend, Shane Walsh. Wounded in the line of duty, he was in a coma when the apocalypse occurred. When he awoke alone, he set off in search of his wife Lori and young son Carl, and along the way discovered what happened to the world.

Appearance
Rick is a fairly tall Caucasian man with a slim figure, and although his age is unspecified, he appears to be around his mid to late 30's. He has dark brown wavy hair, and through the first three seasons keeps facial stubble and eventually a small beard. His apparel and clothing changes throughout the seasons, but is most notably identified with his beige and brown police uniform, along with his brown US Cavalry/Sheriff's hat (which is later given to his son, Carl). He also keeps his brown police holster, which carries his favorite side-arm, his classic Colt Python .357 Magnum.

Personality
Rick is typically calm, smart, a good friend, and father, but will often stubbornly cling to his personal strong moral code which has resulted in numerous bad calls and extra stress within the group. In contrast to Shane, he is also a natural leader—a fact that caused frequent tension between the two. Rick's greatest fault, perhaps, is his uncanny ability to place responsibility on himself and set for himself goals that are impossible to reach. This has, on various occasions, put Rick at ends with both Lori and Shane, and often weighs heavily on his mind. Despite his faults, his combat skill and general care for all members of the group have led him to be looked up to, and allowed him to take the leadership role within the group. He is shown to be incredibly protective of his group and their well-being, having engaged numerous threats, even other living people to keep them safe. Rick's mental stability begins to become unhinged, particularly following Shane's death. His moral compass is challenged in many ways and he, in an attempt to prevent more death and loss, begins to shut everybody else out. Despite this, Rick was able to use his leadership skills and combat abilities to keep the group alive for many months following the destruction of the farm, and lead the group in taking the prison; using seemingly desperate survival tactics they had come to learn on the road all winter. After the death of Lori, Rick becomes very emotionally unstable, and it is not until just before the group learns of the Woodbury threat that Rick comes back to his senses, although evidently Rick has become a ruthless, uncompromising leader of survivors, contrasting his high moral code and values in the previous seasons. Following Andrea's death Rick seems to have regained some of his old self. During the timeskip, Rick relinquished his leadership position in order to focus more on raising Carl.