Thunderdome
Why The Walking Dead’s Carol Peletier is the Most Badass Woman Ever
“Promise not to ever tell anyone what you saw here…And you will get cookies. Lots of cookies.”
Thunderdome is a Fanfare series where our writers good-naturedly debate some matter of pop culture and then leave it to the readers to decide. Read each post and vote at the bottom!No woman in storytelling is more badass than Carol Peletier, the unlikely hero of The Walking Dead.
Single-handed, she eliminates multiple Walkers (zombies) with only a knife. Think of her as the John Wick of zombie apocalypses.
She teaches others how to survive a zombie apocalypse, including children.
She admits when she makes mistakes, which is difficult for anyone, making her badass.
She is ruthless when it comes to protecting those she loves.
She is always prepared for the worst with a knife or gun up her sleeve. It has saved her numerous times.
However, this is all badass fluff. The truth of Carol’s badassness is more complex. It comes from a deeper source.
Most badass women are born badasses, which makes the rest of us women believe we cannot be badasses.
Carol Peletier is different. She was not born a badass.
Carol transformed from meek to mighty.
Carol’s story in the Walking Dead begins as a housewife. Married to her abusive husband, Ed, Carol is entirely unable to defend herself. After a walker kills her husband, she hammers a pick-axe into his head OVER and OVER with a little more enthusiasm than necessary so that he won’t become a walker — a spark of strength lights in her character.
After the death of her daughter, Sophia, Carol realizes the truth of the world she is in: you fight, or you die.
In that truth, three elements of Carol are born. Together, they make her the most badass of women and an inspiration to us all.
1 — Carol makes the tough decisions.
“You don’t have to like what I did, Rick. I don’t. You just accept it.”
The losses in Carol’s life created a woman who would do anything to protect her group. She recognizes the cold, hard facts of a situation while others wallow in the emotions. Sometimes those facts lead to unthinkable acts, and she is willing to do the follow-through, sacrificing herself for the good of the community.
The most profound example of this quality is the famous “Look at the Flowers” scene in season 4. Carol’s been traveling with Tyreese, baby Judith, and two young sisters, Lizzie and Mika.
Lizzie has a weird fondness for Walkers. She feeds them and tries to play with them. Lizzie isn’t right in the head. Carol knows it, and her sister, Mika, knows it. While Carol worried, it never occurred to her Lizzie’s fondness for Walkers would lead her to kill her sister.
Lizzie kills Mika to show everyone that the dead are alive. She smiles wide as she shows Carol and Tyreese what she has done and pulls a gun on them when they try to stop Mika from turning into a Walker.
After the situation is under control, Carol and Tyreese discuss what to do. Carol sees the truth.
“She can’t be around other people.”
Tyreese tries to find another way, but Carol knows. Lizzie is a threat to everyone around her. In a world saturated by threats, you eliminate the ones you can.
Carol doesn’t want to do it, but she will. Carol makes the tough choices and follows them through.
As she tells Lizzie to “just look at the flowers,” tears brimming in her eyes, Carol cocks the pistol and shoots her. It’s a gut-wrenching scene. Your heart breaks for Carol while at the same time admiring her strength.
2 — Carol uses her wits first and saves the day.
“That woman, she’s a force of nature.” ~ Rick Grimes
Carol is a small, slender woman with short grey hair. Only by looking into her steel blue eye would you realize you were about to get your ass kicked.
Because Carol uses her brain first to eliminate her enemies.
For example, in Season 6, Carol and the rest of Rick’s group have joined the walled-in utopian city of Alexandria. Carol, thinking ahead, has been playing helpless homemaker to hide her badass identity, just in case.
She’s just popped a casserole in the oven when she sees her neighbor attacked by a member of an enemy group known as the Wolves. She tries to rescue her neighbor (too late) and kills the Wolf. She realizes the Wolves are attacking Alexandria.
Carol sees the Wolf has a red “W” painted on his forehead. She puts on the Wolf’s jacket and, with his blood, paints a “W” on her forehead. She puts on a bandana mask and moves into the city.
The other Wolves think Carol is an ally in her disguise and do not attack her. She has free reign to walk right up to the Wolves and kill them.
Carol runs to the armory before the other Wolves get there to secure the weapons. The citizens of Alexandria are not allowed to carry weapons within the city walls. She gathers weapons in a bag and continues killing the Wolves as she hands out guns to the members of Alexandria, allowing them to defend themselves.
Carol uses her wits and saves the day. All in time to arrive home just as the casserole timer goes off. A hearty meal for a job well done.
3 — Carol realized you have to figure out who you want to be and become it.
“You said I could survive. You were right.”
Carol is the true definition of self-development. She looked at who she was, what she had been through, and her current situation. Through self-reflection and self-awareness, Carol analyzed it all. She decided she needed to change to survive. And she did change.
She became the badass woman we know and love today.
Carol’s transformation is the most dramatic and complicated of all the Walking Dead characters. Life with her abusive husband, her daughter’s death, and the world she lives in took Carol from a helpless woman to a courageous soul.
Anyone who has been through a transformation can testify that transformation takes guts. It’s not easy. You face some hard facts, make tough choices, and change.
Carol reminds us that we, too, can be badass and choose who we want to be.
Carol continues to transform. Her friendship with Morgan makes her rethink killing everything that poses a threat. Maybe there are other options as well. In Season 9, Carol admits, “I’m still trying to figure things out.”
We don’t all live in a Zombie apocalypse like Carol. However, we are living in a pandemic. It is a reminder that the real world constantly changes. We learn and grow; otherwise, we don’t adapt. If we don’t adapt, we don’t live and thrive.
Carol’s transformation inspires all women to step up, find our voice, use our brains, and learn to stand our ground. We might not need to fight zombies, but there are plenty of other monsters out there to fight. Carol is the badass woman who shows us we can all be badass. She inspires the rest of us to become more than we ever thought possible.
That makes her a leader of badass women — and the most badass woman of all.
What say you?
Based only on the arguments presented (you have read all of them, haven’t you?) and not on personal preference: who wins this bout? Voting closes on February 10 at 6:59 AM.The other entries:
