8 Times Negan Was an Asshole in 'The Walking Dead' Season 7

Negan, portrayed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the vicious leader of the Saviors, has been ruining the careful peace of the zombie apocalypse for a while now on The Walking Dead. The Saviors were doing their thing, terrorizing the Alexandria crew’s residents, for a while before Negan finally showed his face in the Season 6 finale. Season 7, promised to be unbelievably brutal (it is), has delivered blow after blow of senseless violence, most of it at the hands of Negan. He is what those of us in the know like to call “an asshole.”

Not only is Negan a brutal SOB with deep-set issues and an unhealthy desire to be the alpha male in any situation, he’s also obsessed with humiliating his victims to the point of a breakdown. Oh, and he carries around a bat wrapped in barbed wire named Lucille, a phallic symbol that he treats in an oddly sexual manner.

Here are eight times Negan was a total asshole in The Walking Dead Season 7.

8. When he gutted Spencer after calling him an “orphan”

Poor Spencer. As much of a childish dick as he could be, no one deserves the end he got. After playing around with Spencer’s mind, reminding him over and over again that his life started falling apart when Rick and his crew arrived at the Alexandria Safe-Zone, Negan pulls out his enormous knife and thoroughly guts Spencer in front of everyone. It’s a terrifying, blood-gushing shot as Spencer’s innards pour out of his body, and he falls to the ground before bleeding to death. Negan is an asshole.

7. All the times he made fun of Carl’s eye and Olivia’s weight

In a traditional bully ploy, Negan really likes to point out people’s physical attributes in order to belittle them. He must have been a joy to have around in middle school. And while Negan certainly likes to mock everyone, his biggest targets are Carl for his missing eye and Olivia, the keeper of the pantry at Alexandria, and her weight. As if Negan could be any more of a child, he expresses “concern” to the members of Alexandria that Olivia is looking out for the pantry. Negan is an asshole.

6. That time he killed the Saviors’ one and only doctor

Dr. Emmett Carson, the Sanctuary’s only doctor, is dead because of Negan. After Dr. Carson was kinda-sorta framed by Dwight, Negan took his revenge by threatening Dr. Carson with a hot iron (as he is wont to do) and then, in a final act, throwing him into the furnace where he burned alive. It’s horrifying, it’s cruel, it’s senseless, and Negan is definitely an asshole.

5. Oh, and the season opener where he killed Glenn and Abraham

Season 7 started with a bang, with Negan finally doling out the pain that was promised to Walking Dead fans since the Season 6 finale. Instead of killing one character, Negan killed two beloved members of Rick’s posse: Abraham and Glenn. He beat them so hard with his bat, Lucille, that Glenn’s eye popped out of his head and Abraham’s entire head was reduced to a mushy pile of brain matter and shattered bone. The noise alone was enough to inspire disgust, let alone the sight. Negan is an asshole.

4. When he kidnapped Sasha

Sasha, while on a suicide mission with Rosita to infiltrate the Saviors’ Sanctuary, got herself captured by Negan. This was, honestly, inevitable. In the comics, Negan turns Sasha into a zombie before releasing her back to the members of Alexandria. Her adopted family removes the bag from her head only to reveal what Negan has done. It’s almost certain that the same fate will befall Sonequa Martin-Green’s Sasha in AMC’s tv show. Negan is an asshole.

3. And when he almost made Rick chop Carl’s arm off

One of the reasons Negan is so horrible is because his version of torture-porn revolves around emasculating the men on The Walking Dead. This first becomes apparent in the first episode of Season 7, back when Negan almost forced Rick to chop Carl’s arm off to match his wounded eye. The result is alpha-male Rick being reduced to a shivering, weepy mess, and Negan laughing in the face of his fear. Luckily, Carl makes it out with both arms intact. But Rick definitely suffered some psychological trauma. Negan is an asshole.

2. He stole his followers’ wives for himself

Who does this? Season 7 reveals that Negan has multiple wives that he takes from his followers. He sleeps with all of them on the regular, and despite his being, supposedly, put off by the thought of his people raping other people, he still is most likely raping his wives every night, since they’re with him against their will. Seriously: fuck that. When is this asshole going to die?

1. Ultimately: he sets everyone up for failure

Negan’s whole deal with the Saviors is about forcing the surrounding communities to give up half their resources in order to feed him and his Saviors. That keeps the Saviors from having to do too much work beyond bullying the other communities from giving them what they want. But that habit is, ultimately, not going to work out in anyone’s favor.

There are only so many resources in the zombie apocalypse. Even if you can grow more food and raise more pigs, that’s not going to stop toilet paper and antibiotics from running out. Something will, inevitably, go wrong. And the Saviors’ inability to take cares of themselves without the assistance of other communities will eventually bite them in the ass. Negan, that asshole, will be responsible for the demise of his own people.

The Walking Dead’s Season 7 finale premieres this Sunday, April 2, on AMC at 9 p.m. Eastern.