Why Walking Dead changed Negan’s original name

Despite being one of the most iconic pop culture villains of recent decades, UndeadNegan was almost completely different. Not only did the post-apocalyptic killer originally have a different name, but his story was supposed to end with a brutal death. However, several changes transformed him into the character fans know today, and one of them was all thanks to Star Trek.

Image Comics is currently publishing The Walking Dead Deluxeadding Dave McCaig’s colors to the original black-and-white comics by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, and Tony Moore, as well as including Kirkman’s creator commentary. In The Walking Dead Deluxe #95Kirkman notes that the issue includes the first mention of Negan (although not his first appearance). In the ‘Cutting Room Floor’ creator’s commentary, Kirkman notes that Negan would immediately be called “Naygus” until he realized that the name already belonged to the leader of the Ferengi in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Although Wallace Shawn’s character is actually called ‘the Nagus’ and is worlds away from Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s portrayal UndeadKirkman’s most iconic villain, Kirkman changed his name when he realized it wasn’t an original creation, writing:

Its name was changed before it went to print, thankfully, when I realized I wasn’t making up a cool word from scratch like I thought, and was actually just remembering something that lived in the depths of my superhero, horror, and sci-fi addled brain. .

Walking Dead’s Negan was originally Naygus

Writer Robert Kirkman says it came from “Deep in the depths of my superhero, horror, sci-fi addled brain”

Negan entered Undead Canon as the leader of the Saviors – a cruel group of survivors who demand tithes from other groups, torturing and killing to maintain their fearsome reputation. Negan’s (and in the TV adaptation, Abraham) murder of Glenn is one of the UndeadRick’s most horrific moments, though the villain is eventually arrested by Rick’s survivors and comes to believe in their vision of humanity, ending the series in a penitent, self-imposed exile from the Commonwealth and human society at large.

Negan is known for being Undeadis the most unpredictable character, as well as his habit of saying whatever is on his mind (no matter how foul-mouthed) and wielding Lucille the Vampire Bat – a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire with his wife’s name on it. . Thanks to the character’s unique behavior and extensive redemption arc, ‘Negan’ is one of the most recognized names in modern pop culture. However, it could easily have been ‘Naygus’ who graced the pages of Undead – which may have caused problems for the character’s iconic status when fans realized the name was already taken.

In Star Trek In lore, the title ‘Nagus’ is given to the leader of the Ferengi Alliance, with the first version fans know of being Nagus Zek. The character appears in Star Trek: Deep Space as a cunning leader who expands the role of women in Ferengi culture, which is highly patriarchal and focused on commerce. The fact that the character was played by The princess bride and My Dinner with André actor Wallace Shawn gave him extra staying power, and that may have played into how fresh and unique Negan felt as a villain. However, a name change isn’t the only change Kirkman has made on the road for Negan fans to know.

Negan’s Story Should Have Some Huge Differences

Negan narrowly escaped a brutal death at the hands of Maggie

One of the reasons The Walking Dead Deluxe is so popular among fans of the franchise is that Kirkman is constantly revealing the changes he made to the story along the way, and there is a very from them. For a story that has such clear character arcs, stakes, and eras, it’s shocking how many times Kirkman made major changes – for example, planning to kill Rick instead of Shane during the opening confrontation.

In Negan’s case, both his origin and his ending were almost too different. In The Walking Dead Deluxe #76Kirkman explains that There was a time when Negan was intended to be the character known as ‘Davidson’. Davidson is never seen in the series, but he was the former leader of the Alexandria Safe-Zone, exiled after he began terrorizing his “subjects” and replaced by Douglas Monroe. Monroe’s persistent paranoia regarding Davidson leads him to suspect Rick, and Kirkman originally intended for Davidson to return as an antagonist. Kirkman considered Negan to be a ‘reborn’ Davidson with a new name and group, but ultimately decided against it, writing:

Would it have been better if Negan was Davidson? Would it have made more sense to combine everything? Bah! I say no.

Kirkman also changed his mind about how Negan’s story would end. Chatting with InsiderKirkman revealed that Negan was planned to die in Walking Dead #174executed by Glenn’s ex-partner Maggie. Kirkman further confirms that he changed the moment because of a request from artist Charlie Adlardwho said he was “a little unconvinced” for the scene and was more interested in Negan continuing to seek redemption, calling the development very cliché. Adlard wrote:

This is absolutely no criticism of you, but rather a criticism of the West [at least] literature/entertainment, where, because most of us consider the death penalty – hence the saying eye for an eye – abhorrent, we carry it out in fantasy. Almost no Western villain can escape without dying in the end. We as an audience always demand the ultimate punishment for our fantasy bad guys. It’s a shame we didn’t break the mold with Negan… the worst of the bad guys, but very far on the path to redemption and forgiveness, who pays the usual ultimate price – death. Imagine, if he lived, what could we say about our society?

In the published issue, Maggie refuses to shoot Negan and shut him down, instead telling him he must live with Glenn’s murder. This concept went even further in the TV adaptation, where the characters ended up getting their own spin-off with The Walking Dead: Dead City.

Despite the changes, Negan became Robert Kirkman’s favorite character

The shameless villain could say things no other character would say

Perhaps it’s because of these changes and the way they came about that Kirkman called Negan his favorite character. Kirkman has named Negan his favorite character on many occasionsincluding The Walking Dead Deluxe #95where he writes: “I hate to admit that he ended up being my favorite character in the book. Terrible person, no doubt…but incredibly fun to write.” Early in the series, Kirkman shares his notes, including comments he considered too harsh for other characters to say, with Negan eventually giving him the chance to include these types of lines in the story. In The Walking Dead Deluxe #42 (more than 50 issues before Negan’s debut), Kirkman reflects:

If only there was one character in this book who could say anything harsh, rude, and hurtful I could think of, and it would be the character…

Ultimately, Negan came together through the skill of the creative team and the right creative alchemy, making it all the more impressive that so many details were already planned to be different. Undead fans almost got an entirely different villain named Naygus – someone whose origin and arc were much less unique and who possessed an accidental connection to Star Trek.

Source: Kirsten Acuna, Insider