Origin
Abraham first appears along with Rosita and Eugene on Hershel’s farm shortly after the events of the prison. Abraham explains that the purpose of their visit to the survivors is to re-aquire supplies for their trip to Washington, and he quickly invites the other survivors to tag along.
Prior to meeting up with the survivors, Abraham was a Sergeant in the military and later a sports coach, who with his family, were living with a community hiding from the walkers in a supermarket. One day after returning from a supply run with Rosita, he discovered his wife and daughter had been raped by the rest of the community and his son forced to watch, resulting in Abraham brutally killing the culprits with his bare hands, disgusted and terrified by his brutal murders, his family ran from him in the night, the next morning he searched for his family and found their eaten corpses, being forced to shoot his daughter in the head. It was sometime after that that he discovered Eugene and began the journey to Washington in hope to find a safe zone and cure.
Creation
Ford was created by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard. His first appearance was in Image‘s The Walking Dead #53.
Here We Remain
Initially there is hostility between Abraham and the others, particularly with Rick Grimes and Andrea, their first encounter being Andrea holding Abraham and his two group members at gunpoint, Abraham quickly saves Glenn from a surprise attack by 2 walkers with a hidden knife. At first, Abraham seems respectful and obeys Andreas demands; but quickly springs to action and disarms her after she is distracted by Eugene explaining what a Herd is. He explains that he simply wants to sleep there for the night and not be shot, and thanks Rick for allowing them to spend the night.
The next day, Abraham apologizes for hitting Andrea and they begin discussing the nature of Abraham’s protection of Eugene, which Abraham compares to a hobby or a job, stating that it ”keeps me occupied, keeps me sane.” They are interrupted by a horde of infected that Abraham helps dispatch, using only a pitchfork and a knife to reduce noise.
What We Become
One night on their way to Washington D.C. Maggie Green attempts suicide, while she is incapacitated he attempts to shoot her in order to prevent her reanimating to which Rick quickly objected to, threatening him at gunpoint. That night Abraham congratulates Rick for saving Maggie but warns Rick that if he ever threatens him again he will not hesitate to kill him, to which Rick replies that next time he has him at gunpoint he won’t hesitate to blow his head off. That morning Abraham witnesses a walker assaulting Rick, resulting in a hesitant Abraham saving him.
During a supply run and mission to rescue Morgan Jones and his son Duane at Rick’s hometown, they run into a group of bandits who attempt to rape Carl. Abraham assists in rescuing him and stops Carl from watching Rick beat one of them to death. That night Abraham, Rick, and Carl confine to each other of the bad things they’ve done and the people they’ve killed, forming a bond and mutual understanding of one another, even telling each other their backgrounds.
After gathering some supplies from Rick and Carl’s hometown, and recruiting Morgan Jones, the four of them make the trip back to the survivors. During this trip that they stumble upon The Herd (the largest any of them had seen), and immediately tried to break through, resulting in the car been totaled, continuing on foot, Carl is almost killed, until Abraham quickly rescues him and carries him with one arm the rest of the way. Upon regrouping with the rest of the team, the survivors make a quick and frantic get away from the herd, and on continued their way to Washington DC.
Fear The Hunters
On the road to DC, Abraham and the group stop to scavenge for supplies and discover that young Ben has brutally murder his twin brother Billy. Abraham is the first to suggest to euthanize Ben before he can harm anyone, indirectly influencing Carl to execute him. Giving time to let Dale and Andrea mourn their losses, until they are attack by a group of infected, during which Abraham rescues Carl again. Later that night Abraham is seen having sex with Rosita, leaving the group to deal with the threat of the Hunters.
After Dale’s mysterious disappearance, Abraham is part of the search party and is almost overwhelmed by a roamer. After the first search, the group decides to head to Gabriel Stokes‘ church. Abraham acts as a voice of reason during Rick and Andrea’s panic; telling them to calm down and think logically, expressing respect for the group and Rick.
The next day, Dale is found legless infront of the church and is quickly rescued, Abraham is the first to suggest that the Hunters are trying to kill moral and mess with them until they are easy prey, he and Rick agree to attack them quickly and effectively. Abraham, Rick, Glenn, Andrea, and Gabriel go to hunt down and kill the Hunters, after a brief standoff, the group brutally tortures and executes the cannibals, to which Gabriel watches in horror.
Life Among Them
Sometime on the road it is revealed to the group that Eugene lied about being a scientist, this enrages Abraham and he viciously attacks Eugene, almost killing him until he is held back by Rick. Later that day, he is visited by Rick, who asks if he is still mad at Eugene, to which he replies that he is mad at himself for falling for Eugene’s lies and killing innocent people on the road to D.C. for no reason. The conversation is cut short by the arrival of Aaron, who asks if he can speak to the leader of their group and is knocked out by Rick. Abraham helps Rick carry Aaron back to the main group to interrogate him, when Aaron awakes he quickly explains that he is part of a large community and works as a recruiter. A group of walkers interrupt the questioning and Glenn lets Aaron go. After Abraham and the rest of the survivors have dispatched the infected, they decide to give Aaron a chance and head to his supposed community.
As they travel to the community, they encounter Eric, Aaron’s lover. Abraham threatens to kill them both unless they reveal any other hidden group members, to which they both plead and explain that Eric is just backup in case anything goes wrong. Later during the trip, Rick confines in Abraham that he thinks Aaron’s offer is too good to be true and ask if he has a good read on him, to which Abraham replies that he use to think he was able to see through lies but now is unsure, but he agrees to keep an eye on Eric and Aaron.
As they approach the community they are interrupted by a nearby flare going off and after some investigation they find a corner pair of Heath and an injured Scott. Abraham begins to dispatch of the group of infected, they almost get overwhelmed until they are saved by Tobin and his men, who bring them back to their group and escort them to Alexandria.
After arriving and being assigned the role of construction worker, Abraham comments on how different life is in the walls than out of the walls and states that it’s weird. Abraham voices his concern to Rick and suggest that all the group sleep in the same house for the first couple of days, for safety.
Later at Douglas Monroe‘s welcoming party, Abraham confides in Rosita that he is worried to go back outside the walls and is glad that he can live a semi-normal here.
Too Far Gone
Abraham awakens after an apparent nightmare for his first day as a construction worker and assists them in working.
Trivia
- Resembles famous Chicano actor Danny Trejo