Dwight (The Walking Dead)

Dwight
First appearance	Comic: Issue #98 Television: "Always Accountable" (Season 6 Episode 6)
Created by	Robert Kirkman
Portrayed by	Austin Amelio
In-universe information
Occupation	Soldier Leader of the Saviors (comic)
Family	Tina (sister-in-law) (TV)

Dwight Eisenhower is a fictional character in the comic book series The Walking Dead portrayed by Austin Amelio in the television series of the same name. Dwight is second in command to a group of survivors led by Negan called "The Saviors" who extort nearby communities for their supplies in exchange for protection against zombies, but Dwight despises Negan for holding his wife Sherry over him and becomes an uneasy ally of Rick Grimes as a double agent against Negan. After Negan's defeat Dwight becomes the new leader of the Saviors and incorporates them into the trade-route arrangement between the other communities.

Appearances

Comic book series

Before the outbreak Dwight served in the military and was married to Sherry, and was possibly a hunter due to his accuracy with a cross bow. After the outbreak occurred Dwight and Sherry took up residence in The Sanctuary community lead by Negan, but Dwight and Sherry struggled to maintain their keep due to Negan's high expectations. However, Negan offered Dwight and Sherry easier lives if Sherry became one of his many wives; she reluctantly agreed though this would mean that Dwight would never be allowed to so much as speak to her again. One night they violated their agreement and Negan had Dwight's face burned with an iron as punishment, and from then on Dwight pretended to hate Sherry, opening calling her bitch, to make her think he did hate her although he resented himself for doing so. Eventually Dwight joined Negan's army of "zombie exterminators" offering protection to the nearby Hilltop Colony and The Kingdom communities in exchange for half of their supplies weekly, threatening them with violence if they didn't comply, and Dwight served as Negan's right-hand man.

Something To Fear

After Rick Grimes kills several Saviors, refusing to partake in their arrangement, Dwight is sent by Negan to make example of those who refuse him. After finding Rick's home the Alexandria Safe-Zone Dwight ambushes and kills Abraham Ford with his crossbow and takes Eugene Porter hostage, then demands Rick to let him and his men inside. However Eugene viciously bites at Dwight's testicles allowing Rick and Andrea to kill Dwight's men but Dwight is able to escape. In retaliation Negan himself goes after Rick while he travels to Hilltop and sends Dwight and 50 other Saviors back to attack Alexandria but Andrea is able to kill at least a dozen of them and forced the rest to retreat, but Dwight is captured and held in the underground bunker. Andrea wants to kill Dwight for murdering Abraham and almost killing Eugene but Rick plans to consent to Negan's terms and releases Dwight so he won't anger Negan anymore than he already has. As Dwight leaves however it's revealed that Rick has tasked Jesus to follow Dwight back to his community.

What Comes After

As Dwight walks back home he notices movement on the bridge above him but fails to see Jesus following him and shrugs it off but another Savior crosses his path and informs Dwight he’s been followed, but is informed that John and Tara have captured Jesus. Despite resistance Tara manages to have him restrained and Dwight demands Jesus to be taken back alive and throw him into their truck but as they approach The Sanctuary Jesus manages to escape unnoticed. Dwight demands the other saviors not to tell Negan and Dwight is present for Negan’s return from Alexandria much to Negan’s surprise as he’d believed him killed in the Alexandria and expresses disappointment that he isn’t dead, much to Dwight’s anger. When Carl Grimes attacks them having snuck aboard the truck Dwight viciously beats the child in anger until Negan stops him, having taken a liking to Carl earlier, and later Dwight witnesses Negan ironing Mark’s face for sleeping with Amber who is now married to Negan and looks on with sympathy. When Amber tries to reach out to Mark, Dwight stops her and Sherry comforts her but as she tries to talk to Dwight he calls her a bitch and tells her to shut up but as Sherry walks away heart-broken Dwight appears engulfed in rage. Dwight later witnesses Negan’s ping-pong tournament and afterward deliberately drags Sherry away to have sex with in front of Dwight. Finally having enough Dwight approaches Ezekiel of The Kingdom and offers his assistance against Negan and Ezekiel contacts Rick and Jesus to meet with them, but Rick immediately distrusts him for killing Abraham but Dwight is surprised to see Rick show up at all as he assumed he’d fallen victim to Negan’s intimidation. Rick doesn’t believe Dwight to be a defector and tries to convince Ezekiel that Dwight is a spy who’s trying to uncover their plan to rebel against Negan, but Dwight informs Rick about Sherry and that Negan would have killed her if he didn’t kill Abraham but Rick eventually punches Dwight in the face. After Ezekiel stops them coming to further blows Dwight explains that Sherry chose to become Negan’s wife in order to make their lives easier, and they didn’t realize how much they needed each other until then and the one time they were caught together is when Negan burnt his face. Dwight admits he committed terrible acts for Negan he can’t make up for out of cowardice but insists he can help the leaders end Negan’s reign of terror and offers them everything he knows about Negan, even if Rick doesn’t trust him he asks to trust that his information will see Negan dead.

All Out War

After the milita of the communities lead by Rick, Jesus and Ezekiel attacks The Sanctuary Negan orders Dwight to rally a counterattack and agrees but deliberately hesitates to give Rick more time to, as planned, kill enough Saviors and to lure any zombies nearby. Though the plan succeeds Holly is captured by Negan who he believes is Rick’s girlfriend, unaware it’s Andrea he actually needs, but she reminds him she was with Abraham and looks at Dwight with disdain. Dwight later helps Negan and some other saviors clear out zombies trying to get into The Sanctuary and later, reluctantly, takes part in Negan’s counterattack on Alexandria. First using a zombified Holly as a Trojan horse which kills Denise Cloyd and then begins throwing grenades into the safe-zone but orders the saviors to spread out, since they will be easier targets. After Jesus manages to toss one of the grenades back Dwight tells a group of saviors to hold the grenades longer so they can’t be tossed back but as they start panicking Dwight grows tired and shoots them all. Jesus sees this and still acts suspicious of Dwight but he again insists he is on their side. Dwight is later present with Negan and Carson after Eugene is captured and demands Eugene start building bullets for them rather than Rick but he refuses. After Negan and Carson leave Dwight sneaks back into Eugene’s cell and tries to convince him of his arrangement with Rick so Eugene doesn’t give into Negan’s demands but Eugene doesn’t believe him and accuses him of playing both sides and that if he had defected he would have put a knife through Negan’s head while asleep, but Dwight insists that he is going to kill Negan when the time is right and not when there are too many people who’d kill him for his betrayal. Before he can continue both men notice Carson watching them but shows support for Dwight’s actions as he desires to get back to Hilltop to be with his brother Harlan Carson, and that others are against Negan too. Negan later orders all his men to soak their bladed weapons and arrow heads in zombie corpses so anyone stabbed, regardless if they survive will be killed by the infection. After forcing the Alexandria and Kingdom residents back to Hilltop Negan launches an attack on the colony where Dwight is forced to kill some members of the communities but after sneaking up on Rick, Negan orders Dwight to kill Rick. Although he hesitates Dwight shoots Rick in his lower back but Dwight secretly switches one of his zombie coated arrowheads for a normal one so Rick won’t be infected. After falling back Negan camps close to Hilltop and Dwight joins him near a fireplace where Negan is happy with excitement, believing Dwight shot Rick with an infected arrow, and believes Rick will be dead soon and the militia crippled. The next day the saviors line up outside Hilltop’s gates where Rick alone emerges to talk to Negan, enraged that Dwight didn’t kill him, and he manages to deceive Negan with talks of consenting to the arrangement before slitting his throat. As Rick and Negan fight Dwight orders the saviors to stay back allowing the other community members to open fire on them and Dwight drops his cover and begins firing on other saviors, even saving Ezekiel from one. After Negan passes out from blood loss and Rick from exhaustion Dwight reveals his alliance with Rick to the community members, and declares himself the new leader of the saviors and orders them to stand down. Though resistant Dwight insists they don’t have to fear Negan anymore and can leave peacefully with the other communities and they consent to his leadership.

Life And Death

In the 2 years since Negan’s defeat Dwight has incorporated the Saviors into the trade-route arrangement with the communities but has become stressed with the heavy burdens of leadership, and he and Sherry have divorced but still remain close friends. When delivering a share of supplies from The Sanctuary to Alexandria Dwight approaches Rick and asks to speak to him and confesses that it was necessary for him to take leadership during the war, but feels unfit to lead anymore. Rick tells him to discuss it with the residents of The Sanctuary and hold an election.

No Turning Back

After 12 members of all 4 communities are murdered by The Whisperers the Saviors head back to The Sanctuary but Laura suggests Dwight stay behind and assist Rick, but he confides in her that he doesn’t want to be leader anymore, but Laura insists that his people need him now more than ever and can’t quit.

Television series

After the outbreak occurred, Dwight, Sherry and Tina and two teenagers named Carla and Delly were forced into the forest to escape a large group of walkers, but Carla and Delly were separated from them. Sherry set fire to the forest to kill all the walkers within it but this indirectly resulted in Carla and Delly's deaths. The three later came across a group who offered protection in exchange for their service which they agreed. They eventually grew resentful of "kneeling" and the three, escaped from the community. However men were sent to find the three and ambushed them on a road 20 miles away from the Alexandria Safe-Zone.

Season 6

In the episode "Always Accountable", Dwight, Sherry and Tina ambush Daryl Dixon, mistaking him for part of the group they just left, and Dwight threatens to kill him if he tries anything. Daryl tries to convince Dwight he is not who they think he is but they do not believe him. They tell Daryl they are not going back to the community, and Daryl is their insurance in case they are found while they look for Patty(a fuel truck). Eventually they find an abandoned factory overrun with walkers and deduce that Patty must have been taken. Tina faints and Daryl steals their supplies and runs, but after learning Tina is diabetic he returns with the supplies. Shortly after a group led by Dwight tells Wade he is not going back but Wade demands he and the girls give back everything they took. Daryl helps them escape, and lures another man, Cam, into a walker trapped in a tree that bites his arm. After Wade amputates he is called off and they return to their home and Dwight realizes Daryl is not with the group. They find a greenhouse where they find out that Delly and Carla were killed, but the two girls emerge as walkers and kill Tina. As Dwight and Daryl bury them, Daryl invites Dwight and Sherry to come back to Alexandria. On impulse he holds Daryl at gunpoint and demands his crossbow which he reluctantly hands over. Dwight and Sherry also take his bike and leave him behind, and Sherry says she is sorry, but Daryl simply says "you're gonna be".

Dwight returns in "Twice as Far", scoring his signature half-burnt face. While Daryl, Rosita, and Denise are on a supply run, Dwight shoots Denise through the back of the head with Daryl's crossbow and emerges with a group of Saviors and the captured Eugene. Dwight then demands that Daryl and Rosita take him and his Saviors back to their home base, but they refuse. Daryl then coldly tells Dwight that he should have killed him back in the burnt forest. Suddenly, Eugene bites Dwight's testicles and Abraham emerges from the bushes and kills many of Dwight's Saviors, resulting in a firefight between Daryl's group and Dwight's group. However, Dwight and the Saviors manage to escape. In "East", Daryl leaves Alexandria to avenge Denise's death and kill Dwight. but Glenn, Michonne and Rosita chase after him to stop him. While Glenn and Michonne are separated from Daryl and Rosita they are ambushed by Dwight and captured and used as bait to lure Daryl and Rosita out. As Daryl realizes the deception Dwight appears and shots him in the back but says "You'll be alright". In "Last Night on Earth", Dwight brings Daryl, Michonne, Glenn and Rosita into the middle of a route between Alexandria and Hilltop where Negan has Rick, Carl, Maggie, Abraham, Sasha, Eugene and Aaron. As Negan addresses the group for the recent attacks on his people he considers killing Maggie due to her ill health but Glenn tries to charge Negan, and Dwight tackles him and threatens to kill him if he tries that again. Dwight then watches as Negan kills a random unknown member of the group.