The Walking Dead’s ultimate Big Bad, Negan, is a notoriously foul-mouthed, “bash heads first, ask questions later” kind of guy, with his hostile rivalry with Rick and the rest of his group resulting in multiple battles, a full-blown war, and the death of many characters on both sides. Using his signature barbed wire bat dubbed “Lucille” to enact his violence, this cruel tool has helped Negan maintain his power, with a bizarre instance of Lucille uttering actual words making her all the more terrifying as a weapon.
First introduced as an antagonist in The Walking Dead #100, Negan became an immediate and credible threat to Rick and his fellow zombie apocalypse survivors after he murdered Glenn with his bat, Lucille, by bashing Glenn’s head in, to gory effect.
In the additional material of The Walking Dead Deluxe #100 titled “Small Bites” — a micro-series that turns iconic Walking Dead events into intentionally comedic but still incredibly R-rated short stories — Negan once again uses Lucille to kill Glenn, only this time around, he’s egged on by Lucille to “Gimme brains!” with Negan gleefully acquiescing to her request moments later.
Negan’s Lucille Craves Blood and Brains and She Isn’t Afraid To Say It
The Walking Dead Deluxe #100 - "Small Bites" - 2024 (Derek Hunter)
A speaking role that adds even more disturbing layers to Negan’s already over-the-top characterization, Lucille revealing her ability to speak came about seconds before Negan introduced her to Glenn’s face, with Negan prefacing the moment saying, “…you see, Lucille here runs a tight ship, and this is just what has to happen…” — Lucille egging him on further with a singsong “Gimme brains!” Exclaiming, “As you wish, baby!” as he brings Lucille down onto Glenn with crushing force, Lucille talking not only turns her into a far more terrifying “character” but also one that peels back the curtain of Negan’s psyche.
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Making it so Lucille speaks not once, but twice (she gets overly excited after the first crack of Glenn’s skull, shouting “Gimme more!” in a deeply creepy way), this tale paints Negan — already a front-facing sociopath — in an even more sadistic light, with fans finally learning what really goes on in his head when Lucille gets insatiably “thirsty.” Oddly enough, this detail could have worked in regular Walking Dead comic continuity as a way to depict Negan’s frayed mental state, with precedence coming from the time when Rick imagined talking to his deceased wife on an unplugged telephone post-prison massacre.
Lucille Having an Insatiable Bloodlust Matches Her Owner’s Similarly Savage Mindset
The Walking Dead’s creator, Robert Kirkman, has already revealed that there are at least a dozen more “Small Bites” stories ready to be published, with the next few chapters likely continuing Lucille’s journey as a remorseless reflection of a character who is hands down one of the worst Walking Dead villains to have ever done it. In a sick and twisted way, Negan and Lucille were made for each other, with this comic short hammering home a disturbing symbiosis that highlights the raw but humorous nature of what this iconic Walking Dead villain hears whenever he starts to see red.
The Walking Dead Deluxe #100 is available from Image Comics.
The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead is a massive multimedia franchise that began with a comic book series created by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. The franchise gained widespread popularity with the launch of the television series The Walking Dead in 2010 on AMC, which chronicles the lives of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies, referred to as "walkers." The success of the original show has led to numerous spin-offs, web series, video games, novels, and other media. The franchise explores themes of survival, human nature, and the breakdown of society in the face of an existential threat, making it one of the most successful and influential horror series of the 21st century.
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