First thing is first we need to get the obvious out of the way, this article will contain spoilers so if you haven't seen any of "The Walking Dead" season 7 or are not up to date click away. Now that's done I love Negan. Don't get me wrong I'm still hurting from the deaths of Abraham and Glenn and I am struggling to adapt to the new power structure that we are seeing this season, Rick isn't the leader? What's that about? We are only four episodes in (five if you are American) with the fifth premiering tonight on FOX. But Negan and his Saviours have already made a lasting impression on twd fan base and if the comic book is anything to go by, we can expect them round for a long time.
Charismatic Individual
Negan is unlike anything "The Walking Dead" has ever seen before, we have had villains but nothing like this. We've had The Governor. Dick. We've had Gareth. Dick. We've had Paula. Dickess. Then we had the Wolves. But Negan is on another level, he has got the backing of the Saviours and has uncountable men behind his back and communities under his thumb. For the first time in the franchise, we have been introduced to a world with functioning communities however they are all under the control of a dictator and Rick, for the first time since the Atlanta group set foot on Hershel's farm is not in control.
The one thing that can't be taken away from Negan is his charisma, the way that he controls his men, the way they drop to their knees at his presence is remarkable.
He is always in control, always smiling at Rick and the other survivors, he knows that he is untouchable. What is so fascinating about his character is the way that he owns the screen, Jeffrey Dean Morgan does such a fantastic job playing the role. Every time he is on the screen I can't take my eyes off him. You can see by the way he presents himself that he loves the control he has over Rick and the other communities, he is so intelligent in the way that he manipulates his enemies into submission and his sense of humour and charisma is what is so annoying because it makes him so likable.
Control
That is how he keeps the communities and the Saviours under his thumb, through asserting complete control. The burned mattresses from episode 4 sent a clear message 'we don't need your stuff but we will take it just because we can'. We already knew the control of "The Walking Dead" was taken from Rick in the season 6 finale with the survivors on their knees, beaten and confused, waiting to see which one of their adopted family was going to be brutally murdered.
I have never seen the introduction of a character have such dire gratifications as Negan's, his arrival on the show has completely erased "The Walking Dead" world that we once knew and introduced us to a dictatorship where he is the star man. If you read the comic, then you know how the situation plays out but for those who haven't then you will be able to know that this is the most exciting time of the franchise. While many are waiting for confirmation about a potential introduction of The Whisperers (don't google them) I'm going to enjoy this ride that Negan is taking us on.
Like Robert Kirkman himself said, if we were watching with Negan as the protagonist from the beginning then we would be loving what he did to Rick's group but that's the problem of having an anti-hero as the protagonist.
The worse part about it is the fact that both murders were justified, if Rick didn't attack the Saviours then Abraham would be alive and if Daryl didn't punch Negan then Glenn would be alive. But that just shows the control that he currently has over the events of the show, he has taken to beloved characters from us with his first action, in the last, Olivia nearly died over a missing weapon. For the first time, every action has a reaction with Negan and Rick knows that otherwise he wouldn't have made Michonne give up her weapon. Until Rick reverts to his old self, we are stuck under the autocratic control of Negan.