At the outset of the apocalypse, Carl flees his small town with his mom, Lori, and his dad's best friend Shane, who soon becomes a surrogate father to the boy.

Carl worships both Shane and his father, who he believes is indestructible. When Rick turns up alive only to leave camp the next day for Atlanta, it is Carl who comforts his mom: "Everything that's happened to him so far… Nothing's killed him yet."

Carl proves equally resilient after he’s accidentally shot while searching for his friend Sophia. Waking up after surgery, Carl remarks to his dad that “I’m like you now,” since they’ve both been shot. “Then you get to wear the hat,” Rick replies, giving his son his iconic Stetson.

Carl is a kind boy — inquisitive and intelligent — but struggles to maintain his innocence in the face of unspeakable horror. When Sophia turns up a walker and Rick shoots her, Carl confides to his mother that “I would have done it too.”

Carl acts out even further as the weeks progress, showing fascination with the potential execution of a prisoner (“Do it, Dad,” he urges Rick) and toying with a walker stuck in a creek-bed, which later gets free and kills Dale.

Still, he is a child, and his role in Dale’s death shakes Carl profoundly. Handing Shane a gun he had stolen from Daryl, Carl vows to never touch one again. Rick convinces him otherwise, handing Carl back the gun and explaining, “People are gonna die… best we can do now is avoid it as long as we can.”

Having the gun proves useful when Carl stumbles upon his father and an undead Shane in the woods. Summoning a newfound courage, Carl aims at Shane’s head and pulls the trigger.

Video: Who Is Carl Grimes? »