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The Walking Dead is full of terrible, problematic, or just plain detestable characters that deserve little more than a brutal death. Throughout The Walking Dead's 11-season run, these cannon fodder characters are either kept alive merely for some short-lived drama or to be a momentary antagonist. Either way, these characters never tend to find favor with the fans either through bad writing or by design.
Despite this fact, some of these characters end up sticking around far longer than they should. This leads to them either doing more damage to either the show or its characters than they would've if somebody had gotten wise and just simply killed them sooner.
8 Sophia - Season 2
The search for Sophia in season 2 was not one of the show's finest moments. It dragged on for roughly half the season, with multiple characters going out to look for her only to find no trace. It isn't like this plotline was particularly rewarding in the end either.
If anything it had a completely predictable outcome. No one who watched the show was expecting Sophia to survive alone out in the wild with zombies all around her. It was only a matter of time until she ended up in Hershel's barn as a zombie.
7 Gregory - Season 9
Gregory was always an insufferable little coward who only cared about his power. The longer he remained alive, the more attempts he made to screw over Maggie and the other survivors. He even bent over for Negan during the war with the saviors and seemed perfectly happy to be his puppet if it meant being in charge of Hilltop.
Maggie finally has enough of his scheming and has Gregory Hanged in season 9 after he attempts to kill her. His self-important existence meets its end with a short drop and sudden stop.
6 Aiden Monroe - Season 5
Talk about being an unlikeable jerk, Aiden is virtually nothing like his respectable parents. Hell, even his cowardly brother is less annoying than he is. Aside from being rather irresponsible and reckless, he is very egotistical and selfish.
These traits manifest in many ways, becoming visible as he blasts his obnoxious Dubstep mixes to nearly everyone's displeasure when he's getting into pointless fights with other characters like Glenn, or the manner in which he is killed, which is pretty much entirely his own fault.
5 Jared - Season 8
While he only serves as a tertiary antagonist at most, Jared is one of those characters that fans love to hate and see get their comeuppance in brutal fashion. Before this happens though, the audience needs to sit through his antics and let their hate for him fester in response. Jared routinely beats other characters, belittles them, steals from them, and has even murdered indiscriminately.
He is little more than a bully in a post-apocalyptic trapping. Fortunately for just about everyone, he is devoured by walkers after a short fight with Morgan.
4 Brandon - Season 10
Brandon is little more than a deluded fanboy of Negan and the saviors. He tries so hard to get Negan's attention that he follows him around through the wilderness, constantly talking to him about the old days and how they're "both Negan."
Eventually, the former leader gets sick enough of him that he tells him to leave, though Brandon mistakes this as a test due to his blind devotion. Negan then finds that Brandon has ruthlessly killed a mother and her child, causing him to brutally kill Brandon with a rock.
3 Nicholas - Season 6
Being a coward is one thing, but being a dishonest coward is another. Nicholas exhibits both of these traits to a tee. Not only does his cowardice get people killed, he even has the gall to lie about it to Deanna. He also comes into conflict with Glenn in particular, almost killing him while outside Alexandria's walls. Glenn is fortunately able to turn the tables but stops short of killing him.
Given Nicholas' fate in season 6 (namely, having a pivotal role in the show's weakest moment), Glenn arguably should've just killed the guy at this moment. It certainly would've saved him and the fans a lot of frustration.
2 Randall - Season 2
The problem with Randall as a character is that his fate was extremely obvious to anyone who was familiar with The Walking Dead up to that point. Despite that, the guy sticks around for multiple episodes where the principal characters debate whether to kill him or not over and over again. It isn't like Randall is that interesting a guy either. Most of his dialogue is him begging for his life. He doesn't do anything but be an annoying obstacle that slows down the pace of the show.
Shane, bless his psychotic little heart, is finally able to put Randall out of everyone's misery, by bringing him out into the woods and snapping his neck. Granted, this was part of an unhinged plan to kill Rick Grimes and steal his family but hey nobody's perfect.
1 Pete - Season 5
Pete is a character that viewers saw was going to be a problem from a mile away. As soon as it was revealed that he was violent towards his family, fans were getting flashbacks to Ed from season 1, Carol's abusive ex-husband. Pete seems like a mild-mannered surgeon who has probably helped a lot of people during the post-apocalypse, but underneath is an angry and abusive wretch of a man.
Rick sees this and vows to put a stop to it, first by delivering a substantial beating (similarly to what Shane did to Ed in season 1), and finally by executing him in the season 5 finale, but only after he'd killed Reg Monroe, Deanna's husband.