Alpha (The Walking Dead)

Leader of the Whisperers, she wears walker skin to survive.

Alpha is a fictional character from the comic book series The Walking Dead and its television adaptation, where she is portrayed by Samantha Morton. She leads the Whisperers, a group that wears the skins of walkers to move among the undead undetected. In the television series, she first appears in the ninth mid-season premiere.

Quick Facts

Series

The Walking Dead

First

Comic:
"Issue #132" (2014)
Television:
"Adaptation" (2019; The Walking Dead)

Last

Comic:
"Issue #157" (2016)
Television:
"Dee" (2022; Tales of the Walking Dead)

Portrayed by

Samantha Morton

Occupation

Leader of the Whisperers

Creator

Robert Kirkman

Adapted by

Angela Kang (The Walking Dead)

Children

Lydia (daughter)
Comic:
Conner (son-in-law)

Facts from the source article.

Appearances

Alpha is the leader of the Whisperers, a group that disguises itself with zombie skin, and the mother of Lydia. She approaches the Hilltop Colony with her people, demanding the return of her daughter, who is held prisoner there. When Carl Grimes pursues the Whisperers, he is taken captive. Alpha infiltrates the Alexandria Safe-Zone, buying a sword at a fair, and after meeting Rick Grimes, she allows Carl and Lydia to leave on the condition that no one crosses the new border she has marked.

On their way back, Rick and his group discover that Alpha has decapitated twelve residents from Alexandria, the Hilltop, the Kingdom, and the Sanctuary, placing their heads on pikes to mark the boundary. After Negan appears to have joined her group, he fatally slashes Alpha across the neck and decapitates her. Flashbacks reveal that Alpha killed her husband Frank and their group of survivors early in the outbreak, deeming them weak. She is eventually murdered and beheaded by Negan, who had formed an intimate relationship with her; he delivers her head to Carol Peletier, with whom he had been working.

Her reanimated head is placed on the pike border by Carol, then retrieved and put down by Beta, who uses a piece of her face to repair his broken walker mask.

Development and reception

Samantha Morton portrays Alpha on The Walking Dead television series, beginning with the ninth season. Her casting was announced in July 2018, and her first appearance as the Whisperers' leader is in the episode "Adaptation." Morton joined the main cast as of the episode "Omega," for which she cut and shaved her real hair on camera. She described the act as feeling real and representing Alpha's transformation from a caterpillar to a butterfly, though not a pleasant one. On Rotten Tomatoes, the critical consensus for "Omega" notes that the episode uses an unreliable narrator to flesh out Alpha, making her more unnerving, though some viewers may find the flashback structure and side plots laborious. The consensus for "Guardians" states that the episode provides Alpha a plump opportunity to demonstrate her villainy, while still withholding crucial context about her motivations.