There are only a handful of kids among the main characters in The Walking Dead, and few survive to the end. But some make it all the way through, thanks to their strong spirit, perseverance, and great parental figures who guide them. Just because there’s an apocalypse doesn’t mean parenting ends. It’s just as difficult, if not more. Parents need to not only teach kids to be resilient, but also protect them from harm, and teach them how to protect themselves without fear.

The best parents in The Walking Dead possess all these qualities. While some have gone through tremendous hardship or have even lost their kids, they all exemplify what it means to be a parent. In a few cases, the kids they took under their wings weren’t even biologically theirs.

10Morgan Lost and Gained

First Episode
Last Episode
Status
Child’s Name

Season 1, Episode 1 “Days Gone By”
Season 8, Episode 16 “Wrath” (Crossed Over to Fear the Walking Dead)
Alive, Location Unknown
Duane (biological), Morgan (adopted)

Morgan is the first person Rick comes across in the apocalypse, a devoted dad just doing the best he can to protect his son. Duane sadly perished because of Morgan’s inability to shoot his reanimated wife (and Duane’s mother), and the anguish Morgan felt for years after literally drove him to madness.

As fans of the franchise know, Morgan later crosses over to Fear the Walking Dead where he eventually begins a relationship with Grace and helps her raise their friend’s now orphaned baby. The pair does whatever it takes to protect the little girl, who they name Morgan. Biology doesn’t matter, because to Morgan, Morgan Jr. is his daughter, through and through.

9Gabriel Is a Father Figure in More Ways Than One

Image via AMC

First Episode
Last Episode
Status
Child’s Name

Season 5, Episode 2 “Strangers”
Season 11, Episode 24 “Rest in Peace”
Alive, Co-leader at Alexandria, Running a Church There
Coco (adopted)

Gabriel doesn’t have biological kids of his own. But when Siddiq sadly passes, Gabriel steps up to the plate to help his girlfriend, Rosita, raise Coco. When Rosita perishes as well, it’s Gabriel who unofficially adopts Coco and raises her as his own. He doesn’t hesitate to take on the responsibility, knowing it’s what’s right. He feels genuine love for the child.

Gabriel arguably has one of the best character arcs on the show, so much so that fans believe he’s one of a few The Walking Dead characters who deserves his own spin-off. Gabriel grew leaps and bounds from the fearful, cowardly, remorseful priest he was when the group first met him. He became one of the best fighters of the group. He brought solace and comfort to others, and there’s no doubt he would do the same for Coco. He would be a wonderful role model for her.

8Aaron Became a Single Father by Choice

Image via AMC

First Episode
Last Episode
Status
Child’s Name

Season 5, Episode 10 “Them”
Season 11, Episode 24 “Rest in Peace”
Alive, Co-Leader at Alexandria
Gracie

Aaron felt an instant connection to Gracie when he came across the baby that Alpha was willing to let die. When a Whisperer claiming to be her aunt begged to see Gracie, Aaron was happy to oblige, albeit reluctantly. He respected that it was important for Gracie to know her biological family.

When Gracie and Judith were stuck in a basement filling with water (and walkers), Aaron put his life on the line to save them both. He was willing to die for Gracie, proving he was one of the most admirable fathers on the show. Everything he did from the point he took Gracie on as his own was for her. Once the fights were all over, he dedicated his time to raising her in peace in Alexandria.

7Daryl Dixon Steps Up Big Time as an Uncle

Image via AMC

First Episode
Last Episode
Status
Child’s Name

Season 1, Episode 3 “Tell It to the Frogs”
Season 11, Episode 24 “Rest in Peace”
Alive, On Missions for the Communities (appears in France in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon)
Judith, RJ (Niece and Nephew)

Daryl doesn’t have kids of his own, but from the moment Judith was born, he was drawn to her. Cuddling her in his arms and calling her “L’il Ass Kicker” is a fan-favorite moment and one of the few times (and arguably ever) that fans saw him smile. He was the first person to go searching for Sophia and the last to stop.

When Rick was presumed dead and after Michonne went looking for him, Daryl took on the responsibility of caring for Judith and RJ. His candid conversations with Judith, the lengths he went to protect her, and even their typical parental disagreements show that Daryl wasn’t “just” her uncle; he was far more than that.

6Maggie Raised Hershel Through Unimaginable Grief

First Episode
Last Episode
Status
Child’s Name

Season 2, Episode 2 “Bloodletting”
Season 11, Episode 24 “Rest in Peace”
Alive, Running Hilltop; Traveled to New York (appears in New York in The Walking Dead: Dead City)
Hershel

Maggie might have a fractured relationship with her teenage son in the spin-off series The Walking Dead: Dead City, but it’s clear she raised a strong yet playful boy. He is smart enough to do things like hide in a tree from enemies, and stop himself from shooting Negan, despite every instinct telling him to do so.

When Lance tries to manipulate Hershel to get information, he doesn’t fall for the trick. Maggie goes to great lengths to protect her son. She even, on multiple occasions, entrusts him to Negan against every fiber of her being because she knows it’s his best shot at survival. Raising him on her own while dealing with the grief of losing Glenn in one of the most brutal deaths in The Walking Dead proves Maggie is one tough cookie, and a solid mom.

5Rosita Did It All for Coco

Image via AMC

First Episode
Last Episode
Status
Child’s Name

Season 4, Episode 10 “Inmates”
Season 11, Episode 24 “Rest in Peace”
Died From a Walker Bite
Coco

Rosita perished in the final episode of the season, in one of the saddest deaths in The Walking Dead. Her death was one of the biggest tearjerkers on the show. Since she was bitten, she had the chance to say her goodbyes. She made sure Coco would be well taken care of, just as the little girl was when Rosita was alive. Rosita fought walkers with Coco in a carrier on her chest. She went ballistic when she thought Coco was in trouble, taking down enemies with military precision to get to her baby.

Even when Rosita was bedridden and ill from drinking tainted water, she did her best to continue to care for her child, not wanting to waste a precious second. While Rosita might have initially come across as a hardened woman, she proved that a maternal instinct was alive and well in her.

4Rick Fought Heroically for His Kids

Image via AMC

First Episode
Last Episode
Status
Child’s Name

Season 1, Episode 1 “Days Gone By”
Season 9, Episode 5 “What Comes After”
Alive at the CRM (Returned in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live)
Carl (biological), Judith (adopted), RJ (biological)

Arguably, everything Rick did was for his kids. He fought to make a better world for Carl and, eventually, Judith. He did everything in his power to protect them, even knowing that Judith wasn’t biologically his. It didn’t matter. She instantly became his. In one of the most gruesome scenes, when a group of men threaten harm to Carl, Rick actually bites one man’s throat in anger to stop them.

When Rick was taken away to the CRM, he tried everything he could to get back to his family, even chopping off his own hand, as revealed in the spin-off series The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. While Rick lost his way a few times, he always found his way back to his kids and lived up to his reputation of being The Brave Man.

3Carol Lost and Loved So Many

Image via AMC

First Episode
Last Episode
Status
Child’s Name

Season 1, Episode 3 “Tell It to the Frogs”
Season 11, Episode 24 “Rest in Peace”
Alive, Director of Operations at The Commonwealth
Sophia, Lizzie and Mika (unofficially adopted), Henry (adopted)

Carol has done awful things, nothing any human, much less a mother, should have to do. But she has shown tremendous strength and resilience. She began her journey with her biological daughter Sophia, who, after getting separated from the group, sadly perished. As the group moved from one community to another and met different people along the way, every child seemed to be drawn to Carol. She has a maternal vibe, even when she doesn’t want anything to do with kids.

While she terrified kids like Sam and had no choice but to execute Lizzie in one of the saddest scenes on The Walking Dead, it was always in the name of protecting others. The second Carol found out that Sam’s father was abusive, she sprung into action. When Judith was born, she was there to help Rick care for her, building a crib and even fashioning diapers. She took on the responsibility of teaching the kids in Alexandria how to use guns. When she got together with Ezekiel, she treated Henry like her own son. Carol was a magnet for kids, and while she lost so many of them along the way, it wasn’t for lack of trying to save them.

2Ezekiel Is the Dad Joke King

Image via AMC

First Episode
Last Episode
Status
Child’s Name

Season 7, Episode 2 “The Well”
Season 11, Episode 24 “Rest in Peace”
Alive, Running the Commonwealth with Mercer

Benjamin and Henry (adopted)

If the world were not an apocalyptic one, Ezekiel would be the corny dad of the neighborhood, with an infinite bank of dad jokes. He would be the one who entertained at parties and embarrassed his kids. While Henry and Benjamin were not Ezekiel’s biological children, once their parents were gone, he took it upon himself to care for them as if they were.

He was a doting dad who made sure both boys were trained to fight, but he did what he could to prevent them from ever having to use those skills. When Morgan came upon the group, he allowed him to train the boys in Aikido to further their skills development, as any good dad would. After Benjamin’s death, Henry looked up to Ezekiel even more. Later, Henry’s death devastated Ezekiel, so much so that it was part of why he fell into a deep depression for some time.

1Michonne Is the Most Badass Mom

 

First Episode
Last Episode
Status
Child’s Name

Season 2, Episode 13 “Beside the Dying Fire”
Season 10, Episode 13 “What We Became”
Alive, Left to Find Rick (appears in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live)
Andre (biological, deceased), Carl (partner’s son, deceased), Judith (adopted), RJ (biological)

Judith is a fan-favorite character in The Walking Dead, and she is the way she is largely because of how she was raised by Michonne. After losing her own child at the start of the apocalypse, Michonne became very guarded. When Carl was going through a tough time, however, Michonne was the only one who could get through to him. The two became best friends, and when Michonne started dating Rick, Carl became her pseudo-son. The same happened with Judith, who was just a toddler when Rick was taken away. Michonne cared for the little girl, raising her to be a skilled fighter. She also ensured that Judith kept up with her studies, attending school in Alexandria and finishing her homework every night.

Pregnant with Rick’s child right before he left, Michonne became a single mother of two when RJ was born. Leaving her kids was the toughest decision she ever made, but it paid off. In The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, her hard work finally brought their family back together. There’s no stronger mother on the show than Michonne.