”Buddy, are you still there? I just don't know. It seems like you're trying to speak... but you just took a hell of a hit!”
Negan is considered by many fans of
The Walking Dead as the best villain in the series, and there are lots of reasons to think so – Clearly intelligent, manipulative, strong, and brutal, Negan is everything Rick is and is not, and it’s what kept Negan in the forefront when such figures as the Governor and others have disappeared into the wastes of the zombie apocalypse. Personally, I always will like the Governor more, especially the TV series version…but I would be remiss if I didn’t include Negan. Fewer figures in either series has had more impact on the survivors than Negan, and that says something.
For this write-up, I’m going to focus on just the first few issues of Negan and the TV series. I’ve not read TWD for about fourteen months, so I need to catch up, but as always I like featuring characters when they first appear anyway.
Negan
F: Ex (20)
A: Gd (10)
S: Gd (10)
E: Ex (20)
R: Gd (10)
I: Ex (20)
P: Ex (20)
Health: 60
Karma: 50
Resources: Typ (04)*
Popularity: 10/-20 (Amid the Saviors of Sanctuary, amid the Alexandria survivors).
Talents:
Negan’s skills are still shrouded in mystery, but they include:
Leadership*
Blunt Weapons
Sharp Weapons
Firearms
Brawling
Weapons Specialist: Lucille * (See Lucille)
Knowledge: Small Unit Tactics
Knowledge: Home Area
Knowledge: Savior Operations and Laws
Knowledge: Survival
Knowledge: Teaching
Knowledge: Sports Coaching
Knowledge: Small Business Operation (Used Car Dealership)
Powers:
Brutal man in brutal times:
Negan is a brutal man who absolutely uses his brutality to enforce his will or to maintain the Saviors upon the survivors. Negan’s brutality is matched only by his cunning, his own warped sense of honor, and his dedication to maintaining his ‘people’. Negan has also shown he understands people far better than people would expect, and has few people he finds worthy of respect, his main enemy Rick Grimes being one of them. Negan’s brutality and downright remorselessness are hallmarks, and have given him several advantages when dealing with others:
- Sizing up a person: Negan can size up a person through small cues and behavior marks, determining if they could be trusted or the sort of person they are. When first encountering Negan, Negan gains a +1CS Intuition check to ‘get a feel’ for how a person works, how group dynamics work, and where the weakest link is. Negan often uses this feeling to determine how best to hurt the groups he deals with.
- Remorseless: Negan is completely remorseless and simply doesn’t feel in the wrong when acting – AS such, Negan’s reputation is deserved as being heartless. In situations in which Negan must make a Psyche FEAT regarding choices, such as save a group of people from walkers, etc….Negan can instead choose to ignore such. Negan actually loses karma if he shows unwarranted mercy.
- Saviors: While Negan leads the Saviors, Negan has backup with anywhere between 10 – 20 willing fighters who are extremely loyal to Negan. As such, Negan can call upon a small group and does so when expecting trouble.
- Impression: Should Negan be in a situation where he must make a personal appearance, he will ensure that it is memorable. Negan will kill people to make a point, and loses no karma doing so…Negan does not lose karma for killing.
Lucille
Lucille is reinforced baseball bat which has further been modified to be wrapped in barb-wire. It is Negan’s primary weapon and the symbol of his authority. In addition, Negan talks to it, concerned about how it is treated and apologizes to it when events happen where Negan must use it.
The Baseball bat is made of Typ (06) material and is further enhanced to protect it against Gd (10) physical damage. Lucille does 10 Points Blunt damage
and 10 points sharp Edged damage. Negan will never throw Lucille as an attack.
Contacts:
Negan’s contacts are usually his subordinates, although it can be argued that Carl Grimes is now a contact.
Limitations:
Honorable in his own fashion: Negan is honorable in a way – He absolutely despises rape and will go out of his way to punish rapists, usually killing them even if among his own people. Negan is brutal in all dealings, but follows his own rules to the letter.
Reputation: Negan has a terrible reputation and is well-feared in the Alexandria/Hilltop area. Negan never goes in disguise and is easily recognized simply based on that reputation.
Borderline Psychopath: Either crazy from the events of the zombie apocalypse or simply unhinged beforehand, Negan is a little off, often talking to Lucille and simply unwilling to not be as brutal as he can be.
After-Death Limitation: Infected: Like all survivors in the world, Negan is infected with whatever turns the dead into zombies. If Negan’s Health ever reached 0 and he loses all endurance, Negan will turn into a zombie within 10 - 100 rounds.
Notes:
I’m going on what I’ve read and seen so far regarding Negan’s portrayal. I understand that Negan’s weapon Specialist skill may place him in the superhuman range if you specifically went by the rules, but I think that it makes sense. I think that Michonne could match Negan for a short time, hence I wanted to keep their abilities slightly together. I think that Negan’s power-like abilities fit what’s been seen and what I review, and I think the fact that Negan has remained in the books for so long is quite a bit thing too…Negan is more the antithesis of Rick than any other character, and I looked over my Rick Grimes write-up to see how I could mechanically connected the two. As always, debate is welcome as I am missing part of Negan’s story and need to get back to reading the books.