5 characters from the Walking Dead universe with whom Daryl Dixon was not in a romantic relationship, and 1 was

Daryl Dixon's love life is a maddening series of what could have been, whether you're watching from the sidelines or defending the OTP of your choice. Your journey is still unfolding The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – Carol's Bookbut it's hard to imagine him becoming attached to anyone after so many dead ends.

Norman Reedus is one of the only actors to appear in all 11 seasons of AMC's flagship series.. Daryl is a hugely popular character. Even a casual TWD One fan acknowledges that “if Daryl dies, we mutiny” as a battle cry. This franchise has a sex symbol for everyone, and he's the dirty, nonconformist antihero with a heart of gold. But the character himself, for lack of a kinder term, don't fuck. Daryl has had one romantic relationship in the franchise so far and it happened off-screen. This is not a trial! It is a personal observation and fascination of mine.

Daryl is what Holly Golightly would consider a wild thing. He belongs to no one and no one belongs to him. And like him Breakfast at Tiffany's heroine and his “nameless bum” cat named Cat, the truest companion Daryl has is his dog named Dog.

Why hesitate to partner with him, we ask ourselves. it's not like The living dead It's anti-romance. There have even been love triangles. It's like Daryl is a celebrity whose manager wants him to stay single for his image, so everyone in the audience will think they have a chance.

That hasn't stopped fans from sending him certain characters, sometimes based on moments from the series and other times on a vibe or feeling. People love trying to locate a loner. These potential partners are all different, which to me says more about the fan than it does about Daryl. He's calm and introspective, making him a good blank slate to imagine Daryl with anyone at any given moment, such as:

Carol and Daryl have talked about running away together. They exchanged friendship bracelets long before the Swiftie trend. Carol calls Daryl her pookie. (“She's not going to be all sweetheart,” Scott Gimple, who first wrote the sarcastic term of endearment in a Season 4 script, said of the choice of nickname in an AMC feature film.) But Carol asked Daryl directly if he wanted to “mess around” in Season 3 (“Seed”), and laughed when he shook his head. They've been best friends, nothing more, ever since. This is exactly the kind of platonic soulmate relationship that both audiences and critics claim is missing from television, most recently with the bear.

Although Carol has had multiple romantic and sexual partners in The living deadNot Daryl. So for the hoarders shipping this couple, the proverbial door is still open. Of course, there is always the possibility that Carol's book – or whatever they end up calling Daryl Dixon seasons 3 and 4: contains the long-awaited story from friends to lovers. Just remember that Carol isn't afraid to be direct and Daryl has a habit of keeping people he cares about at arm's length.

Ultimately, it's best for this relationship to remain platonic. Beth was a teenager when she and Daryl teamed up in Season 4's “Still,” the episode that launched this ship. The world doesn't need any more discourse on the age gap than it already has. But if it were two other characters, the standalone episode in which the two separate from the group, play “Never Have I Ever” with moonshine, reveal personal truths, and let off steam by committing some old-fashioned arson. have been a key plot point in a romantic arc. The two characters broke up shortly after this episode and Beth died minutes after reuniting. At the time, Reedus reflected in an interview with CinemaBlend that Daryl didn't understand and was “a little uncomfortable” with his feelings for Beth. That points to some kind of aversion to romance on his part, at least in the first third of the franchise. But again: teenager. We can let this be.

To my slight surprise, this is the number one romantic match for Daryl on the Archive of Our Own fanfiction site. (To be fair, it's significantly less popular on fanfiction.net, which is sometimes more reflective of older fandoms like The living dead.) Daryl replaced Shane as Rick's right-hand man in the early seasons. Given the solid monogamous marriage between Rick and Michonne, it should come as no surprise that this didn't become “canon,” so to speak.

But I do understand the appeal of exploring Daryl's weirdness. The lack of meaningful romantic stories with female characters, plus a vague and slightly problematic quote about co-creator Frank Darabont once wanting Daryl to be “prison gay,” entertained that possibility for years. In addition to Rick, fans have paired Daryl with Jesus, Glenn, Negan, and even Shane. I was once foolishly attentive to his camaraderie with Aaron; Ross Marquand's character saw Daryl's value in a way that other characters did not. He's the only person who got Daryl to dress up, for a party in season 5 (“Forget”) that they ended up missing together. That didn't turn into anything either, and it's not even a popular couple, but I still believe.

It wasn't long after Connie insisted on accompanying Daryl's search and rescue mission in Season 9 (“Guardians”) that fans took notice and began commenting on the spark between them. Daryl learned sign language so he could communicate with her better. For starters, he's not a particularly verbal character, so they made a good team. He smiled when he saw her, which is rare. Connie approved dog. Even Carol thought it was kind of ridiculous that they weren't together. She asked him about his feelings for her in season 10 (“Bonds”) only to receive a “It's not like that” from Daryl. Pooh-rent.

Their flirtatious impulse was cut short when Ridloff temporarily left the show to flirt with another jerk, Barry Keoghan, on Marvel's. Eternals. When Connie returned in season 11, Daryl dropped a bale of apples to run and give her a hug. But still nothing happened! This is a roadblock, although maybe Daryl had a romantic mental block about Connie because of what happened with Leah.

He one post-apocalyptic romantic relationship that Daryl had definitely happened during a time jump. In season 10 (“Find Me”), we learn that Daryl ran away while searching for Rick and lived with a veteran in the woods and her dog, the famous Hound, for about a year. It's hard to discern what exactly was different about Leah in a single episode, but it seems proximity, stubbornness, and a kindred loner spirit won him over. But even though Daryl was willing to leave his family of survivors behind and risk everything for her, The living dead It wasn't. She disappeared just as he was ready to tell her how he felt. When Leah returned in the final season, she was with an antagonistic group called the Reapers. Long story short, he threatened Maggie and Daryl killed her. So much for happily ever after.

It's important to note that the flashback episode was filmed during the early days of the pandemic, pre-vaccine. So the physical aspects of Daryl and Leah's relationship are only implied. The reason we don't even see Daryl and Leah kiss on screen is related to health and safety. Convenient, perhaps, but understandable.

What's interesting about Isabelle, aside from Poésy's moving performance, is how parallels can be drawn between her ex-partner, her relationship with her sister, and her alternate sense of hope and nihilism with the women of Daryl's past who came before her. She's even a leader who raises a child whose deceased biological parents had an affair behind them, like Rick!

Beth and Leah are dead. Connie is an ocean away. Carol is on her way. Rick is, again, very loved and married to Michonne. Is Isabelle the lasting, meaningful and passionate romantic interest for Daryl we've been waiting for? (If that's something you're hoping for right now; I've obviously stopped fighting.) Or will he fade away and go nowhere, like all those who came before? If there is one lesson we can learn from all this, it is not to get our hopes up. That impossible-to-pin-down post-apocalyptic image of the lone wolf is too tempting.