Origin
Carl is the son of Rick and Lori Grimes . His mother Lori, his father’s partner Shane , and Carl tried to make it to Atlanta after the Zombie outbreak but could not make it into the city. The stayed at a camp on the outskirts where they were reunited with Carl’s father Rick. There at the camp Carl was taught how to shoot even though he was only seven. Later he saved his Mother from a Zombie by killing it with his gun and even his father when Shane tried to murder Rick after Shane went crazy because Rick came back and ruined Shane’s and Lori’s affair.
Creation
Carl was created by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Tony Moore. His first appearance was in the second issue of the massive hit Image series The Walking Dead: The Walking Dead #2 – Days Gone Bye 2.
Major Story Arcs
When the survivors began to relocate to another spot, Carl was shot by Otis and brought to the Greene farm, where they remained for some time till they were asked to leave by Hershel Greene after an argument with his Carl’s father, this forced them to hit the road once again until Dale and Andrea stumbled upon the prison while searching for supplies.
At the prison life for Carl began to settle down with only the minor disturbance of seeing his father Rick beat up Thomas, an inmate that killed Hershel’s daughters Rachel and Susie . It was at this time that Lori gave birth to Carl’s (half) sister Judith whose father is believed to have been Shane. After his father returned from trying to locate a downed chopper, and his fatherâs experiences at Woodbury, Carl was forced to get used to his father without the use of his right arm. When Woodbury attacked the prison, Carl was one of the few to be there till the prison fell to the Governor and his men, and barely escaped with his father. Once they had reached relative safety from the violence taking place at the prison, Carl and his father then began to mourn the death of Lori, Judith, and all those that had died, that they cared about.
While wandering the area, and after an attack by two Zombies, Carl and Rick then took refuge in an abandoned house, and after a brief encounter with another three Zombies, Carl was led under the impression that he could defend himself from now on, and even blamed his father for his mother and sister’s deaths. However afterwards he realized he needed his dad still and was scared without him. When on the move again, heading back to Hershel’s farm, Carl was rescued by Michonne who had also survived the prison and informs the duo that she was tracking someone from the prison. After traveling further and then reuniting with Maggie and Glenn , Carl is reunited with Sophie and the surviving members of the prison that had left prior to the Governor’s second attack. One morning Carl is woken by a shot and seeing the new arrivals Abraham , Rosita and Eugene who bring hope that society has not crumbled, Carl along with the remaining survivors and the arrivals, proceed to take the long journey, to Washington DC.
Along the journey, Rick decided to take a detour to his hometown in Kentucky, and brings Carl and Abraham along. It is during this trip that a band of road bandits attack and attempt to rape Carl, due to his father resisting them. However Rick manages to break free by biting one of the bandits, and with the help of Abraham frees Carl. Later on Carl, Rick and Abraham discuss similar situations that they had been involved in, where they committed acts of in-human violence in order to protect, which prompts Carl to talk about shooting Shane in order to save his fathers life. After visiting their hometown, and reuniting with Morgan and his zombified son Duanne, the four head to the police station in order to retrieve supplies, during this time Morgan constantly stares at Carl, remembering how Duanne used to look, the end result of a freaked out Carl. On the return trip to the interstate junction, the four encounter a Zombie herd (the largest Abraham has seen an estimated to be 2000 Zombies in size). Initially Rick tries to drive the car into the herd in order to escape, however when the car gets jammed over the mass of bodies, the survivors flee on foot in hopes of escaping. With Carl dragging behind, Abraham quickly grabs him and carries him on his back. After a failed attempt at distracting the herd, they return to the main group and flee by truck out of the area.
When they arrive at the community Carl is unable to fit in with the rest of the kids because he knows the true danger of the world outside and he has done some terrible things himself. After the No Way Out storyline Carl ends up getting accidentally shot in the face by Douglas the former leader of the community and he is left in a critical state though he is not dead. He falls in a coma but wakes up disfigured with one eye remaining after few days. He suffered some memory loss were he forgot his sister, Lori’s death and shooting Billy (eventually having nightmares about the fact). Carl is frustrated because finds it hard to read with one eye which he has to clean everyday and starts being harsh on Rick by indirectly blaming him for what happened.
Other Media
Television
The Walking Dead
Carl appears regularly on the successful TV show based on the ‘The Walking Dead’ comic. He is played by the young actor Chandler Riggs and has appeared in every episode of the 3 seasons.